Never give up, never slow down
Never grow old, never ever die young

— james vernon taylor

—

One of the questions I am most often asked on street corners and speakeasy establishments is whether I ever regret becoming a journalist when I could have had a lucrative career as a professional cake decorator.

The answer, of course, is an emphatic hell yes. But in my early years, there was still hope that cake decorating could become an Olympic sport, and I didn’t want to lose my eligibility by accepting money. Doesn’t the concept of amateur sports seem like a long, long time ago? Those were the days, my friend. I thought they’d never end.

But, of course, they did. Competitive cake decorating was ahead of its time, and working for newspapers meant free coffee, although a day or two old. And so I set aside my dream.

But I still put on an occasional show. Mo’s 30th birthday is tomorrow, so I decorated her cake for the occasion. OK, the icing and sprinkles were already there. But I added a hyper-realistic drawing of Max the Cat, along with what may be “MO” or possibly “ND,” an homage to Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger.

Jackson Pollock died in the summer of 1956. I was born around the same time. I suppose we will never know if reincarnation is real, but it’s obvious that the cake mimics Mr. Pollock’s drip style. Which is mostly because I couldn’t figure out how to make the icing squirter squirt. Which is likely how the whole abstract impressionist movement began.

Which of course brings us to today’s run.

Another day on the indoor track, but I think I discovered the key to moving a little faster, which is this: Move a little faster.

Back to almost 15:00 pace for 4 miles, which puts me back where I’m supposed to be, at least in the abstract. Still a lot of a-fib, but I don’t think anybody had to use the paddles on me, so I’m calling it a success.

Never give up, never slow down. Never grow old, never ever die young. Best birthday song ever.

I’m so lucky to have Mo in my life. And she is so lucky to have an in-house cake decorator. Life always seems to work out just fine.

Let’s eat cake.