Sunday, October 12, 2014
The march to complete Prison Professor is heating up. I received an invitation to speak at symposium on federal prison reform that the UC Hastings Law School is sponsoring next February. Before attending that conference, I need to have a working version of Prison Professor up and running. That means I’m writing feverishly to complete the project. If I am productive this week, I should generate another 15,000 words of content. This work will be in addition to the daily I must complete on my job. For example, today I wrote grant requests to continue funding our nonprofit, The Michael G. Santos Foundation. I’ve written a number of grant requests that have been successful generating several hundred thousand dollars in funding. Those resources have allowed us to generate products and services that we’ve designed to improve the outcomes of our nation’s criminal justice system. I still have passion for reforming that system, as I consider our nation’s wrongheaded commitment to mass incarceration to be one of the greatest social injustices of our time. It’s a big issue, influencing the life of every American citizen. Obviously, I don’t know the outcome of our grant request. It’s like fishing: I cast a line and work to generate interest. The next phase of the process will be for a committee to review the request I wrote. If I pass that hurdle, the committee will as for a more comprehensive proposal, including a budget narrative. So, a lot of work ahead—though I don’t expect the second phase of the request will take place for a few months. We’ll see. All I know is that I’ve got more work on my plate than I thought possible. Fortunately, I’m accustomed to working long hours, seven days each week. And fortunately, my wife supports these efforts.
Days since my release from prison: 426
Miles that I ran today: 12
Miles that I ran so far this week: 12
Miles that I’ve run during the month of October: 90.39
Miles that I ran so far in 2014: 1,954.41
Miles that I need to run in order to reach my annual goal of 2,400 miles: 445.59
Miles I’m ahead of schedule to reach my 2,400-mile goal by the end of 2014: 75.39
My weight for today: 168