Martha Graham, one of the great artists of the twentieth century — Picasso-level stature and influence in her field — entered my life late, in my 30s, when recording Julliard dancers for my art at Lincoln Center. They were perfect people to learn from, dancers actively learning her, describing a “Martha Graham revolution” I’d never heard of before. I’d feel bad about learning about her so late, but since then[…] Keep reading →

I also added a couple pictures to the post about my mom running her first marathon at age 66.

I finally posted the pictures for my two-and-a-half year old post on my friend Dave and I swimming across the Hudson River. They’re at the bottom of the post. An awesome day with an badass friend doing rockstar stuff.

I’ve written before how I like to read the results of the finishers of marathons I run, especially the last and oldest. From the publicly published information, it’s the most inspiration you can get. I’m sure it barely scratches the surface of what some athletes overcome to finish, but I look for inspiration where I can. Since I registered for last year’s New York City marathon lottery (but didn’t get[…] Keep reading →

“Josh, that rowing machine is the best purchase you’ve ever made!“ — Josh’s abs

A few years ago I stopped eating partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and high fructose corn syrup. I learned more than I expected from it. The change affected more than my eating habits. I didn’t know how healthy they were, nor did I care, since I eat plenty of unhealthy food. The issue was not that partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is bad for you. Lots of things are. Nor was it[…] Keep reading →

I’ve run a few marathons. In New York they publish the finishing times in the paper the next day. For some reason I would look at the later finishers to see the oldest ones. I don’t know why. I guess I found it inspirational. In the ones I’ve run a 91 year old man and an 88 year old woman finished. I used to tease my mom: “You could train[…] Keep reading →

On a scorching August day, running along the Hudson I passed a sign: “Runners: Free T-shirt for Interview.” I stopped and agreed to be interviewed. A sports apparel company was interviewing runners for a commercial. They had constructed a small plywood hut with the cameras inside that was air-conditioned. They had me wear a shirt over the one I had been running in to cover their competitor’s logo. The interviewer[…] Keep reading →

By the second day of silence at last week’s five-day meditation retreat, the mental static of everyday thoughts had mostly passed. During the 9am-11am session we switched techniques from focusing on breathing to scanning the body for sensations and letting them pass. After one or two scans I found I could hardly sense anything subtler than, say, my shirt on my arm. Frustrating. Another scan brought me back to my[…] Keep reading →