Disaster averted

Quote du jour
Captain Sheridan: Are you trying to cheer me up?
Susan Ivanova: No sir, wouldn't dream of it.
Captain Sheridan: Good, I hate being cheered up. It's depressing.
Susan Ivanova: In that case we're all going to die horrible, painful, lingering deaths.
Captain Sheridan: Thank you, I feel so much better now.
- Babylon 5


Sunday afternoons flat out stink.

The combination of a weekend ending and having to face the thought of going back to work is hard to take. Especially on winter afternoons, when it gets dark so early. For some reason, that makes it seem like Monday's coming all that much sooner.

Anyway, that's my only explanation for the sudden impulse I gave in to:


I don't even like frozen pizza. It's as if the imp of bad eating simply wanted me to buy something bad, anything. It was sick of me being good.

Funny thing is, I bought the stuff and took it home, then realized that I didn't want to actually eat it. The eyes and the taste buds conspired to convince me that they really, really needed this stuff. The stomach said "Hell no!"

So disaster averted. Maybe just the act of buying the stuff was enough to satiate the impulse, some kind of shopping therapy? I have no idea, but I'm not complaining about the money I spent. It's cheaper than a therapist.

Like, y'know, totally, dude

see more Political Pictures

Quote du jour: Be yourself; everybody else is already taken.
- Oscar Wilde

Yesterday while eating lunch I looked down and realized an awful truth: I was eating tofu and bean sprouts. It was a bit embarrassing to realize that I was living up to the stereotype of a typical Californian.

But what the hell. I am a Californian; my family has lived there for several generations. Maybe I'm just now starting to blend in. While I haven't started wearing Birkenstocks and doing macrame, I do find being Californian a wonderful excuse for any new thing I want to try.

Sample conversation

Other people: What, you're doing something new and different? Why?
Me: I'm from California.
Other people: Ohhhhhh.... I see. [Patting me on the arm.] You poor thing.

Why is this -- do people in Peoria never try doing anything new?

Exercise du jour: 2.5 miles jogging.

I don't know if it's stubborn or stupid, but I'm still trying for to jog outdoors in winter. Today is supposed to be warmer. Also wetter, but that I can deal with. I've got a towel, and I know how to use it.
Done. Finally. Didn't have any kind of pace -- I'm not feeling great -- but I told myself that sweating is a good way to kick a virus out of your system. If it turns out that it makes things worse, then I guess I'm screwed. We'll see.

A brief philosophical interlude on habits, exercise, and paving the road to hell

Quote du jour: We are what we repeatedly do. - Aristotle

Why on earth would anyone write such a boring blog as this one? All I do is track exercise and log my ignoble failures. What's the point in that?

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. - Samuel Johnson (attrib)

The reason for these goals and whatnots is that I'm trying to develop habits. Good ones, I mean, not the come-home-and-eat-something-deep-fried type of habit, which has always been so appealing in the past. While I vary the type of exercise that I do, I am getting into the habit of doing something exercise-wise six days a week. And with the tracking of habits designed to make more more organized, space-wise and time-wise, I'm making sure that I can have the time available and the space needed to concentrate on exercise.

It is so easy to get to the end of the day, having spent the whole day rushing around trying to keep up with everything I'm "supposed" to do, and then realize at the end that it's too late and I'm too tired to get any exercise in.

[That sentence is way too long and disorganized in itself. Skip it and move on.]

A habit is something you do without thinking; I still have to think, and prepare, and goad myself to get things done. It is hard not to feel tied to a To Do list sometimes.

On the plus side, I am getting better at getting back into exercising after a slump. And I've grudgingly conceded that sometimes vegetables aren't all bad. Even been known to eat my green leafies.

Why do good habits seem so boring? That's another question. I'm just aiming to get to the point where I don't have to think about making time for exercise and healthy food.

Goal for the month: The 14th day of the 30-day purge of stuff.
Did a leeetle bit today. Okay, maybe 20 minutes' worth, if you want to be honest. Yesterday kind of burned me out, organizing-wise. Tomorrow, she is another day.



Exercise du jour: 200 squats challenge, week 3.

13
16
10
10
13
Done! Somehow, this seemed harder and easier both. Does that make sense? Of course not. But it's true: the knees seemed to accept what I was asking them to do, they're bending more and complaining less. At the same time, the amount of repetitions seems a lot more than last week, though the difference between last week's high and this one is only 5 squats. Which ain't squat, frankly. (It's going to take a while before I stop making squat jokes. Bear with me.)

My own personal archaeological dig

Move over, Xenia, there's a new archaeologist in town.

I was originally supposed to go into work this weekend, but they pushed that off until next weekend. And since this was a traditional dark and stormy night weekend, I thought I might as well do something useful while I was listening to the rain.

So I spent most of the weekend sorting through the layers of stuff in my garage. Like a tell, you can tell* a lot about my life by looking at the stuff I've kept for so many years.

Sorting through a heap like this involves time travel. I'd hit certain boxes that were micro-capsules from the past, mini-representations of entire eras in my past. It's tiring to sort through things; you end up re-living the memories and sometimes you dig up some pretty heavy stuff. I have always set great store by my storage, and it's traditionally been very hard for me to get rid of things.

Now, however, my biggest question, with most of this stuff, is "why?"

This weekend, I got rid of things that I'd kept for 10, 20, even 40 years. In some cases I have no idea why I was saving them. Is this a sign of old age? Am I evolving into a more spiritual being, detached from material possessions?

Or maybe my psyche is starting to feel like I'm on a sinking ship and I need to lighten the load.

p.s. Xenia, why don't you warn people that a large part of archaeology involves fighting off big, ugly, scary-looking spiders? I do feel someone ought to have mentioned that somewhere along the line.

Exercise du jour: 30 minutes rowing.

Fail. Fail, fail, fail, fail. There are times when life gets in the way, and then there are times when you look at the schedule and say "WTF? Who scheduled this in today's list? Even Superman would have said "The heck with this," and gone back to the drawing board.
In other words, goals created in theory had no basis in tonight's reality. Not that I'm all that much in favor of reality, in general.

*Hey, it's Punday. You're supposed to make puns. Nobody said they had to be good puns.

Uppity neighbors

Well? Aren't you going to share that pumpkin pie?

Thanksgiving means sharing what you have with the natives. Does that still apply when the natives are really annoying? The rest of my neighbors don't sit on my fence and stare at me while I'm working at my computer, which is a major plus in their favor.

I'm wondering if those pictures you see of St. Francis of Assisi hanging out with squirrels weren't photoshopped. Squirrels have some serious attitude. The ones 'round my place, at least. (Don't believe me? If you click on the picture above, it enlarges. Check out the look in that rodent's eye. He looks like he's going to go for my throat. I've got mutant killer squirrels for neighbors.)

All the older portraits and frescoes of St. Francis show him hanging out with birds, wolves, or people. Who can be annoying too, but at least they don't sit on your fence and stare at you while you type.





Exercise du jour: Couch to 5k Week 2 Day 1 Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
Done! Plus an hour's worth of yoga, she said smugly.

Rest day, at least technically

Day of rest. No exercise today.

No formal exercise, anyway.
Still have to rake the leaves, clean the house, rake some more leaves, spread mulch in the front yard, rake still more leaves, put up shelves in the laundry room, leaves, and spend a couple hours updating a user guide for work.

Hopefully you're off doing something much more exciting.

Update du 7:30 pm. My arms are aching. They weren't this sore yesterday, but they're sure making up for lost pain. Ow.

No rest for the wicked. 30 minutes brisk cycling. (Somebody ate all her dog food, and I haven't got the car fixed yet.)


My fur-covered partner in sloth courtesy of:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpockele/ / CC BY 2.0

Ouch! I've been tagged!

Yikes!


Oh. Turns out I haven't been marked down. Nunhead Mum of One has tagged me with answering questions.

1. What are your current obsessions?

It's either me or the weeds in the front yard. One of us has got to go. Also, I tend to worry obsessively about the high probability of losing my job. (But since that mostly likely won't happen for another 4 or 5 months, why not be proactive and Take Steps instead of worrying? I know, I know...)

2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear most often?

My comfy old Shakespearean T-Shirt (Midsummer Night's Dream) that I got in Ashland.

3. What was for dinner?

Salad, bell peppers, carrots... and a couple of butter crisp cookies that undid all the good of the veggies.

4. Last thing you bought?

Drugs. Non-hallucinogenic steroids so that the dog will grown big and tough like Wolverine stop having allergies.

5. What are you listening to?

Rumpole & the Reign of Terror.

6. What five items could you not leave the house with?

Keys, cell phone, purse, iPod, my sanity. Well, four out of five, anyway.

7. Favourite holiday spots?

Always Mendocino, though right now I can hear Washington Park calling...

Photo of Mendocino village courtesy MeganPru

8. Reading right now?

Just finished Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Lots of research, which could've been condensed. The actual point of the book was summarized in 8 points in the epilogue.

9. 4 words to describe yourself:

Easily Distracted by BSTs (Bright Shiny Things)

10. Guilty pleasure?

Did I mention those butter crisp cookies yet? Oh, I have.

11. Who or what makes you laugh until you’re weak?

Friends, family, things my girlfriend and I have argued about... lots of things, actually.

12. First spring thing?

Snowdrops always show up first, then the daffodils and tulips. Now it's the annual Neighborhood Rhododendron Race. Why do my neighbor's always blossom first? Just on the totally unreasonable grounds that they get twice the sunlight? I think they cheat somehow.

Still, do they have fancy pink-and-white striped tulips? I think not...

13. Planning to travel to next?

Saving up my pennies ... and aspirin... for a family reunion in August down in San Francisco.

14. Best thing you ate or drank lately?

I'm sure I mentioned those butter crisp cookies already once or twice.

15. When did you last get tipsy?

If I could remember, I wouldn't have been tipsy...

16. Favorite ever film?

Just one? Off the top of my head I'd say "American Dreamer" or "Hear my Song" or something oldish like that.

17. Care to share some wisdom?

Avoid negative people. They don't improve the scenery or the situation.

18. Favorite song?

For some reason I'm going through an odd Laura Nyro retro crush at the moment. Couldn't narrow it down to one song.


19. Last text message you received?
This mysterious woman back east wished me a Happy Easter. She tends to text me when I'm not in a position to text back. Sneaky.

20. What would you change about yourself?

I'd like to be taller. Much taller. Tired of being one of the vertically challenged.


Rules of the meme
Respond and rework
Answer questions on your own blog
Replace one question
Add one question
Tag 8 people

Hmmn... I was going to pass on that last one, since some people don't like being tagged. But then I thought I'd nominate people who wouldn't feel a smidgen of guilt at passing if they didn't feel like being tagged. So, the nominees are:

BCB
McB
Theresa (it's not as if she has any Big House Party to plan for or anything...)
Xenia She's been tagged already. Damn.
GP
Lori (bit tricky, since she doesn't have a blog. I suppose she could always *ahem* guest post at the Bar & Grill?)
OH, who likewise appears to be blogless at the moment. I suppose she could always help Lori; that way they'd only have to answer a few dozen questions each. I'm sure they'd be great together.
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