Tom's Blogz

Yesterday, I ran the Cowtown Marathon. I had been training for this since the start of the school year in August. I woke up at 5:00 AM, and we started around 7:30. We came from Dickier's Arena, down into the Fort Worth Stockyards, and then down North Main Street, where there were thousands of runners.  As we ran, all kinds of things were going on. There were volunteers offering water and Gatorade, while others handed out donuts, candy, and pickles. There were also a shocking number of people offering shots of Fireball and Tito's, while a block down, you'd have a priest blessing people with Holy Water. There was live music every few miles, and a memorial for local veterans who lost their lives for our country. Some parts were crowded, others sparse. We ran up by TCU and back down through the Trinity River parks.  Two things stuck out to me. The first was how it became socially acceptable to just throw your trash wherever on the road. Don't get me wrong, I get it. Being e...

After a long day, filled with classes, studying, meetings, and conversations that drained me, I decided it would be good to take a walk. I took the long way around campus, looping in between the library and Robert Carr Chapel. Then I followed the sidewalk along University Drive back towards home, where the shake oaks and foliage lifted their arms up over the walkways as if to shelter us from sun and rain.  It was a cloudy day, but warm. Spring was coming soon, although the grass had yet to green up. As I passed the Winston-Scott Building, something caught my eye--twin Texas live oaks. These were a little bit younger than the large ones on University, nonetheless majestic. But what stuck out to me wasn't the trees individually, but the way they were paired together.  Both stood as the natural gate towards the science building, making a grand entrance. However, the tree on the left side was a tad smaller, and its branches and canopy condensed inward, like a cloud. On the other h...

I am training for the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon this year, so I've spent quite a few long runs on the Trinity River. Typically, the runs aren't "enjoyable," as I'm huffing and puffing, thinking about how nice it will be when this is all over. However, my past run was truly enjoyable, at least for the first 10 miles.  From TCU, I took the trail alongside Woodshed Smokehouse and then headed the way towards downtown. I noticed many waterfowl--birds I could not recognize. They looked like a mix of a duck and a goose and were dark in color, and they were usually alone or in small pairs.  Seven miles in, and I had passed the town hall. The trail started to curve around the frame of the city, and on one side, you could see many developed skyscrapers, while on the other was a mix of undeveloped and abandoned land, mostly industrial. As I went deeper down the trail, the path seemed to sink below the city, and larger bridges towered over me. I think the bridges must be ho...

On the first day of my Texts and Treks class, I felt really excited and grateful to be there. This class comes right after my machine learning class, which is very heavy in coding, Python, and financial analysis, so Texts and Treks feels like a refreshing break. It gives me the chance to slow down, discuss the environment, ground myself, get outside, and even do some volunteer work, which I truly appreciate. During my walk, the first place I went was the pollinator garden, which is probably one of my favorite places on campus, if not my absolute favorite. It feels like such a natural part of Texas, and I love how peaceful and beautiful it is. Since it’s January and still pretty cold, all the plants were dead, and there weren’t any pollinators yet, but I’ll still be reporting on the garden and hoping to see them soon. After that, I went to the gym, where I noticed how beautiful the sky was. It was a cloudy day, and the sun was breaking through the clouds, creating this really cool glo...