Hey everyone. It’s been awhile since I’ve updated and I just wanted to write a quick blog to check in. These past two weeks have been a wonderful mixture of busy and relaxing, but I’m ready to get back to work.

Fourth of July weekend was an overall success. The Goose Rocks Beach 5K was held on Sunday, July 5th and I set a new Personal Best, coming in at 23:14. That was good for 100th overall, out of over 700 runners. I saw the Portland Sea Dogs get pounded (dog pun) and two long fireworks shows. One highlight was listening to an enthusiastic old man sing all four verses of the Star Spangled Banner (who knew). A lowlight was being forced to endure “Proud to Be an American,” perhaps the worst song ever made by a human.

Lobster was eaten twice. Once from the shell and once on a lobster roll. I almost braved the McDonald’s lobster roll for my third of the trip, but I elected to wait until later in the summer for that one.

The reliability of available Allagash and Shipyard beers is an appreciated feature of traveling to Maine. I was sad to return home, but everything has a beginning and end.

I’ve got a lot of ideas for upcoming blog posts. The final trip reports for St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm are forthcoming, complete with photos of all your favorite Russian palaces, Finnish kites and that sexy Swedish infrastructure. I’ll be writing an analysis of Westeros from A Song of Ice and Fire (that’s Game of Thrones for all you illiterates). A longer rant about the South may be on the way, too. Marathon training begins next week and periodic updates are in the works. Plenty of other thoughts in the nascent stage, too.

Stay tuned for your regular programming.