The Explorers' Club
№ CCCX - The Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France (the "Old Cathedral"), Saint Louis.







Commentary: The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis (the "New Cathedral") is a much larger, more impressive structure, though it lacks the historical firsts & scenic locale of the Old Cathedral. Remember, kids, there can be only one cathedral in a diocese. Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City? Not a cathedral. The Pope's cathedral, in his capacity as the Bishop of Rome, is the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, outside the walls of the Vatican.

Operation ÖSTERREICH
I equalled yesterday's record time precisely today. The times were exact to the second (I didn't pay attention to the tenths or the hundredths of a second); I freely admit that my timing procedure is too suspectible to variance for competition, but I'm also satisfied that today's time, even if not exactly the same was yesterday's, is still two minutes faster than what was, up until Thursday morning, the best time I'd even done. At the peril of courting hubris, I declare progress to have been made!

Also, I've discovered that ambient temperature is the single largest factor in determining how much I sweat during my daily constitutional, more important even than mine own level of exertion. I've pushed myself mightily in the last two days, yet my T-shirt has been less sweat-soaked than on less swift laps on hotter days. The temperatures have been autumnal & the Accursed Sun has been obscured by clouds, & my feet have been soaked by the occasional puddle, sometimes hidden beneath a mat of wet leaves. The key now is to continue to push, to embrace the old S.K.P. Machine élan.

The Victors
Tomorrow is the annual football game 'twixt the University of Michigan's valiant Wolverines & Michigan Agricultural State College University's dastardly Spartans. This is the most bitterly divided day of the year in the State of Michigan, a pair of peninsulas in which almost every citizen has an allegiance to one or the other school, including many who are alumni of neither institution. The "great divide" cuts across families & friendships; I am spared the indignity of having kin who are Spartans (though my family line is lousy with Buckeyes, an even greater shame), but I have several kith who boast of that ignominious distinction. The divisiveness has been less this week than is usual in the days leading up to the U. of M.-M.S.U., because Michiganders have been united in cheering on the Detroit Tigers' sweep on the New York Yankees in the baseball playoffs. Have no fear, the internecine vitriol will still be at a fever pitch by kickoff tomorrow afternoon, for the Tigers easily disposed of the Yankees, the team most of America loves to hate, & now Michiganders can resume our annual backyard brawl.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Avril Lavigne, "What the Hell" from Goodbye Lullaby (T.L.A.M.)