Miles's blog

It has been a long time since I blogged. I wish I could say it is because I have been so busy, but not really. Mostly I have been looking for a place to live, finding a place, moving in, and adjusting to the new lifestyle.

I have rented an apartment in Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford is about 45 minutes away from New York City. It is a city of about 125,000 which has a fairly new downtown area, anchored by a large (seven-story) shopping mall. My apartment is in a 25-year old building directly across the street from the mall, and about a 15-minute walk from the train station (I measured it yesterday when I came back from New York in a downpour). It is a fairly-decently-sized one bedroom with a small kitchen. Amy Payton wanted a picture of the view but there is no view really. The apartment overlooks a grass courtyard and I can clearly see I-95. Beyond there a mile or so is the water but I can’t see it.

Life here is different in ways hard to describe. First of all gas is about 60 cents more per gallon. Wow, that hits you. Fortunately I should not have to drive all that much. Everything is densely compact so there are few spread out shopping malls. Most places you go in a car you have to pay to park. I did however find a McDonalds with free parking and in the next town there is a Walmart with a parking lot. The grocery store has free parking too.

There are three movie theaters within walking distance, along with a Target, Macy’s, Saks, Radio Shack, etc. Several fine restaurants are attached to the mall, and of course there is a food court. All in all everything I need is pretty close.

Stamford is a major stop on the train line and has a large station. Amtrak stops here, which is unusual. That means should I wish to take the train to Boston or Washington I need not transfer at Grand Central in New York. There is a small airport in Westchester County nearby, but I expect most flights I take will be from the New York airports.

Stamford is on the coast of the Long Island Sound and does have beaches. I went to one briefly but of course it is too cold to spend much time on a beach. I understand there are many parks and historic sites nearby so hopefully I will be able to explore them. By the way, my good friend Noel Blum grew up in Tarrytown, New York, not far from here. I stayed several days in a hotel near Tarrytown and took a drive into his hometown. It is a nice, old community with many very nice homes. Tarrytown is further to the west and is on the Hudson River.

I actually miss being on the road. I was basically on an extended vacation for a month, not working or thinking about work or money or responsibility. Perfect lifestyle for me. Now that I am settling in the reality of my new life is becoming a reality. But I have no regrets about this change and feel good about everything. No, I do not miss being a deputy D.A. Candace. Sorry. I do miss my good friends, and it is strange to not go to work. But the idea that New York is on the end of a train ride is exciting. I read the New York Times today with the idea of seeing what I could do this weekend. I am thinking of taking in an exhibit at the Whitney Museum. Maybe next week I will try to catch a show.

I finally made it to the New York area. After a long drive from Cleveland, I stopped in New Jersey, less than an hour from New York. Now I have to find a place to live and actually implement the lifestyle change I have been talking about for so long.

After making this drive across the country, I can state definitively that I am not going back. I don’t think I could survive a drive like that again. If things don’t work out in New York I will have to sell my car and fly back to Denver. Yesterday’s drive across Pennsylvania was a battle against the wind. I stayed an extra day in Cleveland, not something I had planned on. The weather on Friday was stormy across the east so I decided to wait it out. The plan worked as I had no rain yesterday.

I do wish I could have stopped to sightsee yesterday. I had no idea how pretty western Pennsylvania is. Thick forests filled with trees showing many hues of fall colors. Colorado mountains turn gold in the fall as the aspen trees change, but eastern forests have leaves of gold, red, brown, and orange. Mountains run throughout the length of Pennsylvania, and although they are small compared to the Rockies, the drive takes you through some magnificent scenery. At points the highway is high above a river valley, where the view for miles is of gorgeous forests surrounding a wide river. I wish I could have stopped, but the signs on the road prohibit it.

So I just drove and drove. Now I am on the doorstep of New York. One more night in a hotel, then on to the extended stay and the search for a new home. I have arrived in New York just as the Occupy Wall Street protests are expanding. Yesterday they took over Washington Square Park and then continued to Times Square. Without commenting on the protests themselves (which I plan to do in later blogs), I am wondering how this takeover of New York will affect day to day life. I will probably not be living or even going regularly to parts of the city the protests will affect, but what is to stop them from taking over a subway station, or even a subway train? Meg lives not far from many of these areas and she is more likely to be impacted.

Meg returns to New York today from Denver where she was working with students from her high school. I am so proud of her for taking the initiative to contact the dance department and ask for this opportunity. Teaching, of course, is an established way for dancers to earn money, and this will look good on Meg’s resume. She enjoyed herself and it appears many of the students liked working with Meg. She is a great role model for them. We were talking and we realized that we could not think of a single dancer from Denver School of the Arts who went on to work as a professional dancer in New York. Some have become professionals across America, and DSA graduates in other disciplines are doing very well, but Meg may be the only DSA grad to ever work regularly as a professional dancer in the dance capitol of America.

It was nice to plan to get together with her this week. Now this will be a common occurrence.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was great. The exhibits and displays contained so much information and memorabilia that after a while I was on overload and had to just start skimming. The Hall has major displays for Elvis, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones. They present a great deal of information on the early influences of rock and roll. Everywhere throughout the museum there are displays of the artists and music. Lots of music.

The only thing the museum is bad about is the thing they should be best about—presentation of the inductees. Instead of a hall with plaques or busts or even just signs, all they have is a hall of autographs. There is a film with video of each inductee by year, but it is a pretty brief presentation with no narration. Of course there is information about the artists throughout the museum, but I wish there was a real collection of information about each artist, and all the other inductees. There is very little explanation about the sidemen, and other non-performers. I am sure there is individual information about each hall of fame member because there is an extensive display about the 2011 new members. So I was disappointed I could not read about each member separately.

Everything else about the museum was terrific. From Janis Joplin’s psychedelic-painted car to Jimi Hendrix’s vests to John Lennon’s piano there was so much information. I loved seeing Mick Jagger’s jumpsuit, Les Paul’s guitars, and, amazingly enough, Lada Gaga’s raw meat dress. (No, it is not all rancid. Apparently as soon as she took it off they made efforts to preserve it which in essence turned the meat into beef jerky.)

The latter is in an exhibit which I know my daughter would love—Women Who Rock. This started way back with women from before World War II, including Mama Maybelle Carter. There is even a “digital jukebox” of one hit wonders. (Including, Meg, “Disco Duck.” She has never forgiven me for slipping that into her iPod when she wasn’t looking.)

It was definitely worth coming to Cleveland to the this museum. Tomorrow I head to Canton about an hour south of here for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I am back on the road and back to blogging. The past 10 days have been like an escape from my life. I meant to stay in Chicago for three days, it ballooned into 10. No particular reason except I was having a good time. I should have blogged more, but I was enjoying myself and watching baseball every night, and time just sort of slipped away. Since the whole idea of this change was to write more, I just kind of escaped from everything.

Now I am back to traveling and back to blogging, although I can’t vouch for the quality of what I am going to write. I want to write some penetrating blogs about politics, the Occupy Wall Street protests, and the baseball playoffs. But nothing really comes to mind. Instead I will just give you a travelogue.

Today I am in Indianapolis. I came here specifically to see the Motor Speedway. I am not an auto racing fan, but I watch the Indy 500 every year. I can’t tell you why. I think it is the spectacle. Just like I am not a golf fan, but I watch the final round of the Masters. No other auto races, no other golf tournaments. But these are the premier events of their sports, and for some reason I like to watch. So when I was planning my trip from Denver to New York, I noticed Indianapolis on the map. I decided to make a slight detour to see the track.

I was fortunate that they were doing their full grounds tours today, which they do not do every day. I went online and made a reservation. Many of the people there just blundered into the tour, but I had planned around it. I am so glad I did. The tour was great.

Our tour guide was a former Goodyear Tire executive who lives in Indianapolis and has worked as a guide for a long time. He was knowledgeable, personable, and amusing. The tour begins on a small bus which took us right onto the track. We cruised around at 25 miles per hour on a raceway where the pros go in excess of 225. We spent about 15 minutes getting around, they take about 38 seconds. Still, I had goosebumps as we circled the most famous racing oval in the world. (Dave informed us the track is a rectangle with rounded corners and not an oval. To me a rectangle with rounded corners IS an oval, so that is what I am going to call it.)

To our left was the infield, big enough for a golf course; to our right the famous padded Styrofoam walls topped by high fencing protecting rows of benched grandstands. There are no individual seats anywhere around the track. Everyone is on benches. Remember, people arrive hours before the race, which takes about three hours. In other words, the 350,000 or so fans are out in the hot sun or cold rain or stiff wind for a long, long time on hard metal benches.

The bus stopped at the start/finish line marked by the fabled “yard of bricks.” The Speedway was paved with bricks in the early years, and when they resurfaced with asphalt, as a nod to tradition they left three feet of the original bricks. To stand on this famous spot was exciting. Some people kissed the bricks, apparently a tradition for race winners. I took lots of pictures and the tour guide was nice enough to take one of me. On tv the track looks so huge, but standing there imagining race cars driving three wide at 230 mph the track seemed way too narrow. Too soon (maybe 10 minutes) they made us reboard the bus.


We drove past the track medical center and to the back of the famous “pagoda” building, a 10-story structure with track and race offices. The front of course faces the track. They brought us into the conference room where the post-race press conference is held, to the 350 seat media room, and to the timing and scoring area where dozens of people track race. At the end of that space was the broadcast television booth. Then we toured one of the suites, where for $50,000 you can bring 80 of your closest friends to watch the race. That, of course, does not include whatever you spend on catering. (Figure another $100 or so apiece.)


There is one strange aspect to these areas. Each one is filled with televisions. The media keeps track of the race through tv’s more than by watching, and yet the tv sets throughout the track are at least 15 years old. I was surprised. The tv in my room at the Courtyard by Marriott is nicer. I expect changes will be made soon.

Finally, they drove us through the garage area, known as “Gasoline Alley.” None of the garages were open but we could see the entire area.

The tour began and ended in the Hall of Fame and museum which houses numerous former race-winning cars. They have the first two and many others from the 20s through the 90s, but none from the current decade, which I thought was strange. Apparently most of these museum pieces still run. This year, I was informed, the first two race winners were driven on the track as part of the pre-race festivities. Wow. Those things are 100 years old and still run. I spent almost an entire hour in the museum itself. All in all the tour was great; completely living up to my expectations. Watching the race will never be the same again.


I went into downtown Indianapolis, which was quiet on this national holiday. I walked on their Canal Walk, which is a nice path next to a 19th century canal. I stopped by Lucas Oil Field, home of the Colts and site of this season’s Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they only offer tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

All in all a good day in Indy. On the road tomorrow to Cleveland. The weather is predicted to stay good for a couple more days, but rain is coming by the end of the week.

Not much to write about. I am STILL in Chicago. Been here for 10 days. I meant to stay for three. But I have been having a good time, and I want to see the Indianapolis Motor Speedway tour which is available next on Monday, so I just stuck around. Tomorrow I leave for Indianapolis, so the Odyssey will continue.

I did read with interest about the verdict in the Eastwood case. Alexis has been kind enough to keep in touch, and I have been curious about the case. I suppose the finding of NGRI was no shock in light of the psychiatrists' opinions, but the jury's decision that he was sane on one count was surprising. He knew it was wrong to have the gun but not to shoot kids with it? Of course, the major concern with NGRI verdicts is not the defendant's submission to the state hospital, but the hospital's subsequent, and inevitable, decision to allow release. Eastwood is pretty clearly crazy, and obviously violent and dangerous, but in five years or so the same shrinks who said he was nuts will say he is well enough to live among us. That's when the record made in the trial will make a difference. Hopefully there will be enough of a record made of how dangerous he is that when they go to let him go the judge will require enough safeguards.

I looked to see if they had made the nominations for the Colorado Supreme Court. I have hopes my friend Bob Russel will be appointed. He, of course, was nominated last time. Bob would be a terrific Supreme Court justice. He is brilliant, and yet grounded. Maybe this time. I did not see any announcement yet.

Meg is back in Denver for a while. She is working with the students at her old high school, Denver School of the Arts. She took the initiative to ask the dance teacher if she could do a piece with the students and he agreed. Meg is having a great time. She is really impressed with the kids. I hope this goes well. I am very proud of Meg for doing this.

The weather is still glorious here. Summer-like, with highs in the 80s and not a drop of rain. I keep thinking I had better hit the road before Mother Nature decided to make a change. The forecast is pretty good most of the week, so I should have no trouble.

I am still in Chicago. I will be here until Sunday or Monday when I go to Indianapolis. Although I have been here for a week, there is still a lot to see and do. Today I went with my brother Mark while he was a guest on a local radio show to talk about baseball.

My brother has been involved with baseball for a long time. He has coached, been an official scorekeeper for a professional team, and a color man on radio broadcasts. Today he was invited into the studio of a broadcaster he knows to talk for an hour with former sportswriter about the playoffs. I was allowed to tag along. Although I did not expect to speak, I was called to the microphone to answer “what happened to the Rockies.” Geez. My real answer would have taken up their entire hour. I tried to give a somewhat succinct but still cogent answer. Then I was asked about the Ubaldo Jimenez trade. I expressed support for the move. I have no idea if I was professional-sounding or even lucid. That was the extent of my involvement. It was fun. I would love to be on the radio.

My brother does a far better job putting himself out there than I do. He has done a lot of interesting things. In addition to the baseball work, he has officiated the state championship high school swim meet, and appeared on the television broadcast of that event. (He was a champion swimmer in both high school and at the masters level.) He and his sons are developing a website called stadiumsusa.com to provide information about thousands of professional, amateur, and college athletic facilities. The website not only gives the basics about directions, dimensions, and history, but it describes the food which is available, local hotels, and other information travelers would want to know. (He gave me a stadiumsusa.com shirt). Now he is talking about a stadiumsusa television show where they would travel around the country showing the ins and outs of the facilities. I think it is a great idea. I have offered my services. Heck I can write. I hope I can write. If I can’t this entire idea is a pretty bad one. (Mark Randall, you shut up.)

Sometimes it is daunting to see what others have done. My friend Carron Barrella wrote a book and she has been actively working to get it sold. She does book signings, has a website, published it on Kindle and iTunes. I did none of that for my book. I will need to learn to do all these things for my writing. I guess it doesn’t matter if I know how because I know people who know how. Hopefully they can teach me. After all, the one thing no one can really teach you is how to write in the first place. If I can write, I can learn to sell.

I spent most of the day in downtown Chicago. It has changed a great deal since I lived here, even since I last visited. I think I was here last about 10 years ago. The main change is the new Millenium Park. This is a new area which boasts an unusual sculpture nicknamed “The Bean.” It is a highly reflective, curved metal sculpture which is pretty large. People flock to it. I took a lot of pictures.

The park also has a music venue with a bandshell and a nice lawn which was being reseeded. There are two fountains, including the very unusual Crown Fountain. It is hard to describe. The fountain has a pair of pillars on the ends of a flat sheet of pavement. The pillars are perhaps 25 feet high and they are basically video screens. On each is projected a close-up image of a face. Water runs down the pillars and onto the flat plate between them, which is covered with a thin sheet of water. The pillars have a jet of water which sometimes shoot a stream of water out of the mouth of the projected face. I am sure this description makes no sense. I will upload a picture.


Then I walked down to the lake. The weather was glorious today—sunny, warm but not hot, and completely still. The lake was smooth as glass. Lake Michigan is, of course, one of the Great Lakes, and is so big you cannot see across it. I walked by a couple of yacht clubs and saw a lot of sailboats. They always have unusual names. One was named Skidmarks.”Another was “Cyn’s in Paradise.” Few were actually being used.

I walked to Navy Pier. When I was a child Navy Pier was basically a rundown former military base. Sometime in the past 40 years they made it into a major shopping and dining area. It is really nice. They were celebrating Oktoberfest and I joined in by having a bratwurst. I declined a beer, so in their eyes I doubt I joined in at all.

Instead of walking back the way I came, I decided to return via Michigan Avenue, Chicago’s premier shopping area. I did not go up to the nice shopping part which was the opposite direction, but I did make a point of visiting the large Marilyn Monroe sculpture outside the Tribune Tower. It was difficult to get a good picture because there were so many people looking up her dress.

I finished my stroll by walking by the venerable old building which used to house a Chicago Institution, the department store Marshall Field & Co. The building is still there sporting a plaque containing the old name, but I noticed it is now a Macy’s. I did not go in. Heck I can go to a Macy’s anywhere. I should have gone in I suppose, because the building is the same.


All in all it was a very nice day, aside from some awful traffic going to and from the city. Still, now that the weather is good, Chicago is a nice place.

I am staying in Chicago with my brother Mark and his wife Sue. They have a very nice house in the suburbs which they have lived in for 33 years. Mark and Sue have been married for 41 years. That is amazing. They were only 21 years old at the time, so they had a lot of years to be married, but 41 years together is a remarkable accomplishment.

The year they got married the biggest hit record was by the still-together Beatles. Nixon was in his first term, Watergate years away. The war in Vietnam still raged; America lost over 2500 men. I Dream of Jeanne finished its final season, and Monday Night Football started a month after their wedding. Their marriage has outlasted All My Children which began in 1970 and, of course, was cancelled this year. Baseball’s designated hitter was two years in the future. Terry Bradshaw was the first pick in the NFL draft and Willie Mays still patrolled center field for the San Francisco Giants.

Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Phil Mickeslon, and both Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer were born in 1970; Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Vince Lombardi, and Gypsy Rose Lee died. Russia was still part of the Soviet Union. Mainland China was known as “Red China” and we had no diplomatic relations with them. Music was played on vinyl records, primarily, although some people listened to Chicago Transit Authority on eight-track cassettes. The opening of Disney World was a year away, The World Trade Center two years, and the Boeing 747 was in its first year of service.

The first personal computer, the Datapoint 2200 was introduced that year, but real home computers like Commodore 64 was 12 years in the future. Mandatory use of zip codes on letters was only three years old. The minimum wage was $1.60. Gas was 36 cents a gallon, the average income in America was $8700 and a stamp cost six cents. The average home cost $27,000. Apollo astronauts would still be going to the moon for another two years, although Apollo 13 had just happened four months before the wedding. There no mulitplexes, newpapers published both morning and afternoon editions and Chicago had maybe six television stations. FM radio was only for strange classical music.

I still couldn’t drive, I wore big black glasses, and I had an acne problem. When they got married I still had not been on my first date or written my first newspaper article. I think I was about 5’5” tall and weighed 120 pounds although I was 15. I wanted to be a sportswriter, having rejected my earlier desire to be a lawyer. Our baby sister was 10. My mother, about seven months away from dying of her long battle with cancer, looked radiant.

Neither of our parents supported my brother’s marriage. He was 21, too young they said for the union to last. Now 41 years later I guess he has the last laugh.