stark ranting

Walking together on the dirt road you haven't seen in years, you glance up at the piercing stars set against an empty canvas. You need her hand in yours. The darkness around you reminds you of the warmth and comfort you felt crawling under the covers of your parent's bed as a child.

The night air motionless with anticipation waits for you to move.

Your hands softly embrace. No words are spoken. No words are needed. You both know the same feeling. You reach up to touch her cheek as your eyes strain to take in her beauty in the dim light of the stars above. You feel the warmth of her cheek before your fingers find their way. Waves of emotion move through your chest, into your throat. Your vision blurs as your eyes water. You lean forward to press your lips against hers. Did it last a second? An eternity? It's difficult to tell. You reach your arms around her and hold on so tightly that you feel her heartbeat against you. The moment is forever locked away in your heart.

Posted by stark at 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I ran the Carlsbad 5k this past weekend. It was great to run in a big race again. I felt pretty good and ran 19:30, which is shitty compared to my high school times, but what can you do. I hope I can find a couple of races a month and get my times down to something respectable.

Posted by stark at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was running through a canyon the other day that I usually find dry and barren, but on this particular day after a heavy rain it was green and lush with flowering plants. I was amazed by the transformation. Just a mere week earlier it had appeared to be completely devoid of life. The plant life was able to endure the harsh desert conditions, waiting in stasis for the opportunity to thrive again. I thought to myself that this is the way of Mother Earth. This is the way it's always been. Earth's climate has not always been so temperate as it is now. There were times of ice and times of darkness, and despite all of the disasters and calamity, our planet continues to sustain life. I felt a great sense of relief as I came to comprehend this truth. The potentially catastrophic effects of our foolishness and arrogance may lead to our own extinction, but that which gave us birth will undoubtedly persist. As I ran through the rows of proud desert plants thinking about the future, I was overcome with a mixture of joy and sadness at the thought of the richness and beauty of life that will flourish on this planet when our species no longer inhabits it.

Posted by stark at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A group of my co-workers and I took a day off work and drove up to Big Bear because we've been killing ourselves trying to solve this really challenging problem. Here's a couple of short video clips, right-click the link and select "Save Target As".

Snowboarding video 1

Snowboarding video 2

Posted by stark at 05:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)