urbantrappistblogastery

One main factor in my decision to move to Washington rather than Fairbanks was my hope in cities. Or rather, in multiplicities. Not to say that Alaska lacks variety (catch salmon/hypothermia! hunt moose/civilization! see glaciers/Russia!), but an international hub like the District offers uncountable (and, sometimes, unsavory) possibilities. Just ask [...]

When I finally started to run on my own, I thought there was a hierarchy about who could say hi to whom. If you were clearly the superior runner, then it was your privilege whether or not to acknowledge the turtles plodding around you, and woebetide any such slowpoke so uppity as to think [...]

Thanks for understanding the latest grad school-induced hiatus. Now that I’m acclimated to a city with real public transportation, real crime, and a real hyperobsession with politics, I decided to reflect upon what I no longer have.
I shall miss some things about Cincinnati:

The excitement for under-.500 sports teams. Here, people want to [...]

In any new city, it’s a personal imperative to explore. Through internet browsing, daylight runs, and nighttime wanderings, I work to find the places. Internal loci as well: the monastic rhythm during my retreat at Gethsemani, artistic inspiration in a trip to NYC, or the full pursuit of a new passion while returning [...]

In my itchy roots fashion, I am again transplanted. But rather than a modest shift between Ohio gardens, I am now trying to grow on the concrete grid of our capital, the heart of darkness in politics and crime (but I repeat myself!) Minimally acquainted with the city, I already see how little [...]

Thanks to Netflix (the greatest thing in film since technicolor), I watched Into Great Silence, an experience of the Grande Chartreuse Carthusian monastery, an austere order pitched in the French Alps that happens to make delicious liqueur. It’s so good (and chromatically distinctive) that the grassy yellow elixir inspired a crayon. You [...]

“Why is he running?” This question has led to hilarity (as you’ll read below), but first let it lead to reason. Admittedly, runners are relatively low on the athletic food chain. Indeed, you’d have to eat at least three runners to match the caloric content of one football player. Moreover, runners [...]

First, I don’t know who lubed up the footballs, but I give him/her a standing offer for a personal homebrew.
I had a pretty slow day, so I didn’t workout until late. Running home a little after 7 (yes, I missed kickoff, but as soon as I walked in, Err McNair coughed it up), I [...]

Usually, one sets off fireworks over a field, barred away from the humble spectators. In Little Italy, they use the main street, sending the explosions just a couple stories high and raining ash on everyone. Occasionally, a salvo tumbles over and fires combustibles into the crowd. No one flinches, they just walk [...]