Best Runs of the Year

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The New York Times has a great collection of anecdotes from all types of runners on their best runs of 2022. Here’s one:

I’m 63 years old and took up running during the pandemic. I’m very slow. But I get it done: 3.5 miles, three times a week. I was running on the East River Esplanade and enjoying the first crisp day of autumn when I ran by a young man sitting on a bench strumming his guitar. This was probably the third time I’d run past when I heard “Fitness! Hey, FITNESS!” I looked over and he gave me a thumbs-up and shouted, “Looking good!” Women of a certain age tend to disappear, never to be seen. So, being recognized for trying to better myself felt magical.

— H.K. Watts, 63, New York

Year-End Awards

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Fabulist. Trump and Putin started the year with a HUGE lead, but Bankman Fried and George Santos closed FAST. Tie. Women are notably underrepresented, but honorable mention goes to The Good Wife who said I looked “sexy” a few days ago.

  • Trump
  • Putin
  • Bankman Fried
  • Santos

Worst Billionaire

  • Elon Musk

Athlete. Tie.

  • Katie Ledecky
  • Roger Federer
  • Gustav Iden

Song

  • Kate Bush, Running Up That Hill

Car . Don’t take it just from me.

  • Rivian R1S

T.V. show. Tie.

  • White Lotus
  • Grand Design

Personal Tech. Tie.

  • AirPods Pro
  • Apple Watch Ultra

Life Affirming Twitter follow. And I’m not even a “cat person”.

  • Patrick Skinner @SkinnerPm

Animal

  • Nutria

Podcast

Movie

  • Banshees of Inisherin

Investment

  • Cash

Bike Ride. Tie.

  • McKenzie Pass, Sisters, Oregon
  • Victoria coast with the daughters

Person. Tie.

I need to keep better track of my reading because I can’t recall my favorite books of the year. In the non-fiction category, The Power of Fun by Catherine Price.

Time to Pivot

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This fall I taught three classes with a total of sixty students. Only a third made the time to formally evaluate me. Fortunately, the feedback I received from 17 of the 20 was either moderately or extremely positive. However, in each class, there was one person who took the time to express moderate to extreme displeasure. In one instance, a student was convinced I was way too hard of a grader. I was surprised by how unhappy the other two were since they masked it well. I wish I had understood their unhappiness during the semester.

I do my best to take my students’ thinking seriously. One of the dissenters dropped this bomb in the comments, “The instructor is ineffective at teaching this subject and should consider pursuing a different career.”

My initial reaction was to be defensive and say to myself, “What are they talking about? They should see their peers’ feedback.” But that’s not respecting the student’s point of view, which is the foundation of my teaching philosophy.

So, upon further thought, I am considering the following:

• Professional golfer

• Subsistence farmer

• Constitutional lawyer

• Hip-hopster/rapper

• Cult leader

• Ski lift operator

• TNT NBA studio host/analyst. . . when EJ retires

Additional suggestions welcome.

“A Staggering Loser”

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Like lots of news organizations today, the Los Angeles Times is digging into the Former Guy’s tax returns:

“The picture that emerged showed that for all Trump’s claims to be a great businessman, his core businesses — a sprawling network of hotels, golf courses and other properties — have lost millions of dollars year after year.

‘He’s a staggering loser,’ said Steven M. Rosenthal, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.”

If he lied about his business acumen, what else might he have embellished?