rundangerously

Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac - 100 years old today in heaven!

2022-03-12T11:58:00.004-05:00

Today is the 100th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's birth! In honor of this milestone, have to read some Kerouac today. My choice will be a bit counterintuitive, "October in the Railroad Earth" - but seems right for this wintry March day :D

Never Forget - 20 Years Later

2021-09-11T14:18:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that 20 years have gone by since the terrorist attacks of 2001. But whatever the number of years that pass, I will continue to post a "Never Forget" message on its anniversary. Keep the faith and never give in to the forces of evil.

Never Forget - 19 Years Ago

2020-09-11T11:24:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe it's now 19 years since the terrorist attacks of 2001. But even if it's 29 years later, I hope that on every anniversary I can post a "Never Forget" message on this blog.
I will add that this year, given the aftermath of Covid-19, things seem very different in NYC. Lower Manhattan, even now in September, is a veritable ghost town. It's difficult to image life in the city returning to "normal" under the circumstance.

But we bounced back from 9/11 and we'll certainly bounce back from Covid-19.

Keep the Faith!

New Article -- Pinch-Hitting for the IRS: Second Circuit Adopts Phanton Regulations

2020-06-29T16:15:00.001-04:00

The University of Missouri School of Law's Business, Entrepreneurship & Tax Law Review has just published my newest Article: "Pinch-Hitting for the IRS: Second Circuit Adopts Phantom Regulations to Curb a Monster Abuse of Financial Derivatives."

It's been a few months since I posted about my last article (on PTIN user fees), but if you're interested in relatively esoteric tax topics, here is the link to this one - on my SSRN author's page.

PPTC: Running Together --- Apart, Virtual 5K

2020-06-19T12:14:00.001-04:00

I had a great time this morning (humid as it was) running a 5k on the high school track! It was a little more than an actual 5k (Strava has it a 3.2 miles), but not quibbling.

My 8:22 pace was pretty fast, relatively speaking, to anything I've run lately. I did manage one mile in just under 8 minutes a few weeks ago (for Global Run Day), but this is more realistic, if sustained effort.

Many thanks to the Prospect Park Track Club for organizing this one!!

Global Running Day - NYRR Virtual Mile :D

2020-05-29T14:21:00.001-04:00

Wow, I just snuck in under 8 minutes! It was a surprise because this morning the humidity was 90+ and running was tougher than my trip to the track last Saturday (when the same high humidity didn't feel as bad because of the light drizzle)!

Anyway, more than happy to run a 7 minute mile :D

This isn't the way I normally "celebrate" global running day. In the past would head down to Van Cortlandt Park and run a mile on the flats/parade grounds. That seems soooo long ago!

A Rainy Morning at ... the Track :O

2020-05-23T13:19:00.002-04:00

I didn't plan on doing laps at the track this morning. I had planned on doing a 10+ miler up and back to White Plains. Instead, as I ran up the post road it was the lousy weather (drizzle + fog) that made me think the track was a better (and much shorter) destination!

So my long run wait until tomorrow. Despite the unexpected visit, I had planned to go to the track this week. I wanted to do a mile on the track as a warm-up to the actual mile for the NYRR Virtual Global Running Day Mile - that begins on May 28 and runs until the official Global Running Day (6/3). The laps weren't speed work by any definition.

I was pleasantly surprised to run two sub-8:20 miles (through rain covered glasses)! Those were the first sub-9 minute miles that I've run in quite a while (probably late last Fall/early Winter). The track conditions weren't great - slippery, actually. But it felt great to run fast enough to feel the oxygen debt building up - haha :D

Next time I will actually toss in a few intervals during the 8 laps!

NYRR Virtual Brooklyn Half :D

2020-05-16T13:15:00.001-04:00

Wow, it wasn't easy - but I ran the 13.1+ miles for my virtual Brooklyn Half Marathon this morning :D

It was the longest distance I've run in long time (going back to last Fall?). I did a 10 miler two weekends ago, but it wasn't the distance that threw me off. My route planning was something of a fail because it had been planned as straight out and back course - 6.5 miles up to White Plains and back. Instead, my return route was a mile shorter (brain freeze) and got back here with just 11+ miles. That was a big oops moment and it resulted in something of a hodgepodge for the last 2 miles. Still - mighty happy to get it done!

In an interesting (for me) observation, my 10:11 pace - it was sub-10 for most of the run - was a solid minute faster than my pace (11+) for the virtual NYC Half 5k I ran two months ago! Granted, that one was an easy jog around the neighborhood. But the base re-building program is paying off :D

Winter in May :O

2020-05-10T16:51:00.001-04:00

Woke up yesterday morning and was glad I hadn't put away the winter running gear. With 22+ mph winds, the low 30's had a real feel in the low 20's! In a change from my normal weekend routine - running on the Bronx River Parkway - I switched over to the Leatherstocking Trail. My ulterior motive wasn't running portions of the Paine to Pain course (which I did) - but rather have the woods act as a barrier to some of the winds (which they didn't).

As sign of the times - "park users practice safe social distancing."

Astonishingly, while runners, walkers and others did that -- a full grown deer was standing on the trail as I approached. That wasn't astonishing. What made me do a double take was that it made no effort to move as I got closer! It wasn't until I slowed down and reached into my pocket for my phone that it decided to run off. Apparently it was photo-shy - not runner shy!

This morning it was noticeably warmer and less windy - but still chiller than a "normal" day in May.

Last, but certainly, not least: Happy Mother's Day!

Albany Virtual Law Day 5k

2020-05-07T20:30:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I ran the Fred Weisburg Law Day 5k in Darien. So long, in fact, that I don't believe the race is still run! Be that as it may, since no races are actually being run because of Covid-19, what better way to participate in a different law day race than virtually?

This event wasn't done via Strava. Instead it was on the honor system. Runners could email in their results to be included in a finishers list. I can't say that I "raced" 5k - or the "fastest" 5k portion of the 4.1 miles I ran. But I did the entire run in under 40 minutes so I guess the 5k clocked in with a sub-10 minute pace :D

Anyway - it was a great excuse to get outside and run!

Easy 10 Miler this Weekend

2020-05-03T20:30:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe that I ran 10 miles yesterday, my longest run of the year! I've run past this statute dozens of times - it's across from the White Plains Train Station. It's the first time I stopped to take a selfie there :O

It was great weather to be outside. This was the second time in as many weeks that I took to the northern leg of the Bronx Riverway Greenway. Today, to balance it out - so to speak - I ran down the southern leg. Can't say the weather was as great - but it was still great to be outside!

Poem in Your Pocket Day - 2020

2020-04-30T21:30:00.000-04:00

Given the Covid-19 Crisis that's overtaken everything in April this year, wasn't sure I'd find a poem to post this month - much less have a pocket to carry it around in :O

This one has been inspired by the short bio on Houdini that I'm currently reading. How great was it to stumble across this - and with the great fortune to have a link to the poet actually reading it!

Enjoy :D

Houdini

By Kay Ryan

Each escape

involved some art,

some hokum, and

at least a brief

incomprehensible

exchange between

the man and metal

during which the

chains were not

so much broken

as he and they

blended. At the

end of each such

mix he had to

extract himself. It

Was the hardest

part to get right

routinely: breaking

back into the

same Houdini.

Back to the Northern Leg of the Bronx River Greenway

2020-04-27T10:41:00.001-04:00

It's hard to believe this sunny and WARM run was just two days ago! I finally made it back to the northern leg of the Bronx River Greenway on Saturday morning. It's been a few months since I've run there; instead putting in the miles on the southern portion of the Greenway. The start of this leg is at the Hartsdale Train Station - there is a gap between the two sections from the Scarsdale to Hartsdale stations.

Since then it's been rainy (Sunday) and cold (in the 30's again this morning)! Hard to believe it's Spring - and it's not expected back into the 50's until at least tomorrow!

World Book Day - 2020

2020-04-23T15:00:00.000-04:00

Can't pass up the opportunity to promote reading - on World Book Day!

Given that everyone is housebound during this Covid-19 crisis, what better time is there to catch up on your reading?

Here's my latest read:

Two Very Different Weekend Runs

2020-04-20T09:03:00.002-04:00

The first run, on Saturday, took me by one of my favorite spots - Duck Pond. The weather was raw, gray - and the wind chill brought the low 40's temperature down into the low 30's. As an added incentive, got to wear my running tights one more time this month. The high point of this run was catching random bits of one of my favorite smells - wood burning fireplaces :D

The second run, yesterday, again took me by Duck Pond. This time the weather was easily 20 degrees warmer (and the sun had fought its way out). Gone were the tights and hat, replaced by shorts and a cap. Gone too was the jacket, replaced by a vest. No wood burning fireplaces this time, but some hardly souls must have had enough cabin fever to fire up the charcoal barbeques on their decks - the random aroma in my neighborhood :D

My New Article: D.C.Circuit Upholds IRS Authority to Impose PTIN User Fees

2020-04-10T07:48:00.000-04:00

Seems strange to have my (mostly) running blog include posts about Tax...

But, since the Houston Business and Tax Law Journal has just published my new article, "D.C. Circuit Affirms IRS Authority to Require Practitioner Tax Id Numbers & Impose a User Fee: Montrois v. United States," why not share it?

If you are interested in the topic, here is the link to the article via my SSRN Author Page.

A pair of weekend runs --

2020-04-05T17:30:00.000-04:00

I managed to get in an eight+ miler yesterday and another 4 miler this afternoon. The eight miler was especially fun, and probably my longest run since New Year's day. I've basically been running 4 days a week, with those runs ranging from 4-6 miles each. Not a lot of mileage!

But, with the weather getting warmer, and a bit more sunshine as an added incentive, I plan to add an extra day (5) and by the end of the month, hopefully, yet another (6). A rather slow crawl to rebuilding my mileage base -- but having fun in the process :D

Life During Distance Learning

2020-03-28T21:30:00.000-04:00

Or should it be captioned, "during social distancing?" Either way, apologies to the Talking Heads - because this might be life imitating art :O

It almost seems quaint that this week was when we planned to return to in-person teaching after a 3-week hiatus from the classroom. Instead, the rest of the Spring semester will be conducted via distance learning. Very strange to only interact with my students via Blackboard/Zoom instead of actual classrooms.

From a practical perspective, the only real change is in testing. Otherwise it is the same syllabus, material and assignments. The coursework will get done, but the give and take of the classroom will be missed.

Hopefully, some semblance of teaching normalcy will return by Summer session?!

Until then, running is the only distance that I can embrace (apologies for the lame pun) :D

NYC Half Marathon Virtual 5K

2020-03-15T13:04:00.001-04:00

This morning I ran an easy 5k around the neighborhood to complete my NYC Half virtual 5K. Not only did they cancel the actual NYC Half Marathon today, but the Taconic RR's also cancelled their St. Patrick's Day races. In non-race news, my neighbor also cancelled her annual St. Patrick's day party last night.

As for me, while I missed seeing my neighbors at the annual party, I had planned to drive up to FDR Park for the St. Patrick's Day races. Not to run one, but to volunteer - and socialize with my running friends. I don't miss running actual races - but I do miss the races themselves, and seeing my friends at them :(

Welcome to My SSRN Author Page :D

2020-03-01T09:06:00.000-05:00

Finally - and I say that with a smile because this week I finally set up my author page at SSRN.

If you're interest in checking out my publications and current research topics, please don't hesitate to visit the page. The articles, or abstracts, can be viewed with registration. I've added my most recent publications - and hope to, periodically, upload more of my older articles.

Happy reading :D

It's Official - 2020 NYC Marathon Email :D

2020-02-27T17:36:00.000-05:00

The Official "You're In" email from the NYRR's arrived yesterday. Even though I have guaranteed entry (and signed up 2+ weeks ago) - it was still great to receive the "news" :D

The best part, however, was seeing my officemates expression when I asked him if he had gotten his notification email (he had guaranteed entry via 9+1). He didn't know the emails had been sent - so watching his face when he checked and saw the gif do it's countdown was pretty cool! This will be his first NYC Marathon since the 1980's!

I guess it's time to get serious about rebuilding my base mileage :O

NYC Marathon 2020 - I'm In :D

2020-02-10T12:24:00.001-05:00

I signed up for the NYC Marathon this morning - it will be, hopefully, my 17th NYC Marathon :D

With that entry, my semi-retirement from racing (not running) has come to an end. The last time I entered a road race was way back in the Spring of 2019. While my official training for the marathon won't kick off until the summer, I will certainly jump back into the local racing scene much sooner (probably by the Spring)!

National Pizza Day - 2020!

2020-02-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

Can't pass up a shout out to National Pizza Day - my second favorite food on earth, inches behind Sushi :D

Here is snapshot from my dinner tonight - a flatbread spinach & mushroom from the Cheesecake Factory (not your typical go-to for pizza, I know).

Back to regular (round) pies after today :O

"Professor Is In" Profile published in "Opportunitas"

2020-02-05T10:57:00.001-05:00

This month the Pace faculty & staff newsletter, Opportunitas, included a profile of yours truly for the "Professor Is In" column! The cropped photo of me that they used for the story is a few years old, but I still resemble it :D

Groundhog Day - 2020

2020-02-02T08:10:00.002-05:00

Hurray - Phil did not see his shadow this morning! He predicts we'll get an early Spring :D

Not to jinx his prediction (although the stats from the National Weather Service below don't point to a very reliable prognosticating performance!) - we've had a relatively mild "winter" so far. I can only count one day of real (that is to say "have to shovel") snow so far.

Either way, don't pass up the opportunity to watch Bill Murray's classic today :D