Friday! Holiday! Hugh Jackman!

quote du jour: I’ve always felt that if you back down from a fear, the ghost of that fear never goes away. It diminishes people. So I’ve always said ‘yes’ to the thing I’m most scared about. -Hugh Jackman

It's Friday,it's a holiday weekend, and I've gotten lil'ipad to play nice with blogger. Maybe.* So of course I needed a picture of Hugh.

*I still can't get the Preview button to work, and most of the text runs off the edge of the screen, so you have to guess at what it really says. But it's better than it was.

Photo: http://www.allaboutjackman.com/

Interior dialogue, with gratuitous Hugh Jackman pic

Quote du jour: “I have never taken any exercise except sleeping and resting.”
Mark Twain

Me: I need to put up a post on my blog.
Inner critic:Why? Nobody ever reads it.
Inner paranoiac: Besides, even if someone does read it, they'll give you advice!!!
Me: Because I need to hold myself accountable. I can go a few weeks keeping up the daily exercising without blogging about it, but something always happens to derail me, and once that happens, it's hard to get back into it.
Inner slug: Stop! I'm blushing.
Inner defeatist: Look, it's simple. This week, you've been working 10 hour days. Add that to the 3 hours of daily commute and 8 hours of sleep, and that leaves you one hour in the day to eat, exercise, shower, weed the yard, mow the lawn, and whine about how tired you are. What do you expect?
Me: The only solution I can see (aside from not working 10 hour days) is to build exercise into the commute.
Inner selves: Why not just put up a picture of Hugh Jackman exercising instead?



Exercise du jour: Callanetics this evening. Next week, plan B.


Photo courtesy of Cool Guyz

Don't ask, don't tell

Egad, I got tagged. That's what I get for being so quiet.

One reason I haven't been posting is that if I share any issues, people will try to tell me what I should do, even if I'm not even remotely asking for advice. In fact, i wasn't sure I should even mention it. I'm afraid of getting some well-intentioned commenter saying "you don't want people to offer advice? Well here's what I think you should do about it..."

it sounds like a simple enough, even trivial issue. But it's not really. Not if it stops me from posting. It inhibits me. ("You find it inhibiting? Here's what you should do...") I mean, if i post about a problem and you want to tell me what you did in a similar situation, that's wonderful. I'll sit at your feet and listen attentively. I'd love for you to share your experiences of life. Just don't want people telling me what to do with mine.

Posted from DPad on my iPad

Update:it's Friday!

Ha! He's a swinger! I always suspected...

Photo courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spacey/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Dashing... very dashing indeed

Quote du jour: For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.
- Doug Larson

Where the frack did the week go?

Oh, right. At work.

I've been putting in a little extra time trying to come up to speed on this insanely convoluted workflow. It's all good. Or it will be all good. I think. No one else is asking me to push myself; I want to do it. I won't feel at ease until I'm able to sink my teeth into the job and rip it to shreds.

That metaphor really doesn't work. Makes me feel like I'm supposed to masticate, which is a nasty word. I mean just the way the word sounds is nasty.

I'm tired. That makes me ramble more than usual, which is saying something. Still, walked two miles yesterday, thanks to Crabby's timely comment. Plus, I've discovered the company website has walking maps. They've even got a map for walking inside. If I went around the inside perimeter of the building, it would be almost 3/4 of a mile. That might come in handy when it's absolutely stinking rotten outside in the winter. (The building doesn't have any stairs, alas.)

Best Moment in Science du jour: Best abstract ever. (From the Annals of Improbable Research.)

Exercise du jour: I have to be home early today to let in contractors. (Hence all the insane work hours to make up the time ahead of time, if that makes any sense.) So no lunch walks. I am going to find time to fit in the elliptical. Somehow. I promise.
Done! Go figure. I sit at a desk for hours at a time, and I can just *feel* the knee swelling up. But half an hour on the elliptical? If knees were kittens, this one would be purring. Very strange.

Photo courtesy of Eva Rinaldi Live Music.

A week of weird and whacky whys & wherefores

Quote du jour:
Oh, do not ask 'what is it?'
Let us go and make our visit.
- T.S. Eliot

Things I have broken this week:
1 laptop
1 treadmill
1 Mustang with only 10,000 miles on it

Number of miles driven in the Mustang before it freaked out:
1302

Number of miles crawled in after the Mustang got fussy:
2.76 (at 10 miles an hour)

Number of mothers who forgot to call the doctor back and tell him that she felt better, thus causing the police to come by to check on her while I was in the pool: 1

Number of cups of spinach said mother insisted I should eat during my visit: 13

Number of pounds lost: 3

Hmmn... maybe that balances things out.

Exercise du jour: cycling, walking, ellipticalling. Spent 11 hours sitting in the car yesterday, so I have some work to do today.


Magnificently attitudinal beast (and actor) courtesy of Edison618.

For you, more Hugh

Quote du jour:Luck is preparation meeting opportunity. - Oprah Winfrey

Another morning spent in seminars. Now I get to spend the afternoon outdoors. It's too beautiful to stay indoors. For all you office workers, I'll leave Hugh up here for you to look at.

Exercise du jour30 minutes gentle bicycling. See how Damn Knee feels about that.

Photo courtesy of CoolGuyz.

All is well

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All is well.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
Really.
All is well.
Would I lie? To you?


Well, all right. I'm a bit worn out by the past week of highly intensive Being A Good Job Hunter sessions. It's work, being out there looking for work. Still, I can say I have not been bored, which is my criterion for a Good Week.


Exercise du jour: Today, I want to push the envelope, or at least the knee. Going to try 30 minutes on the elliptical.

Fail. Made the mistake of trying to kneel on the damn knee last night, and it's been complaining all day. Will try again tomorrow.

My date with Hugh Jackman

[This actually took place a few months ago, and I never got around to mentioning it before.]

For once, I spent Mother's Day at my mother's house. When I found out that Hugh Jackman was trying out a one-man show, I told my mother that I'd take her for her Mother's Day present.

Mother: "Hugh who?"

I explained that he was an actor, singer, and dancer. I mentioned that he was best known for a science-fiction movie where he turned into a sort-of Wolverine character... my voice trailed off as I saw her face set into that forced "that will be lovely, dear" expression. The poor woman was clearly anticipating an unpleasant afternoon.

When we got to our seats in the Curran theatre, she looked around in some surprise and whispered "There are people my age here!" I am sure she was anticipating being surrounded by teenagers and people wearing Star Trek outfits.

Hugh (yes, we’re on first-name basis... I mean, we spent the afternoon in the same room, what else?) was trying out a one-man show of his favorite songs, mostly show tunes. Oklahoma!, Carousel, stuff like that. The man can sing. The songs were mostly arranged traditionally, though he also threw in a surprisingly effective rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ with didgeridoo accompaniment.

In between, he talked about how he ended up where he is, and chatted with the audience. His dad was in the audience. (On opening night, Nicole Kidman showed up.) He told a story about the first time he played Carnegie Hall. His father was in New York at the time, so Hugh (first-name basis, remember?) picked him up on the way to the theater. His father showed up in black tie, and Hugh told him that it was a casually dressed event. His father refused to change. "MY son is appearing at Carnegie Hall. It is a black tie event."

Apparently, the national motto of Australia is "I'll have a go." That seems to have been the way he made the choices that led him to being on stage at the Curran on Mother's day. He didn't have any interest in performing when he was young; he was more interested in rugby. But a high school friend mentioned that the school was putting on a performance of Music Man, and it was a chance to meet girls, so "I decided to have a go." His first performance was as one of eight salesmen in The Music Man, the opening scene. He still remembered all the lines in the scene even today. To prove it, he sang all eight parts with a rapid-fire delivery, with only a snare drum for accompaniment.

Hugh seemed to thrive on the interaction with the audience. Once, during a rendition of Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’ he commented on how hot it was and tugged at his collar. A woman in the audience yelled “Take it off” and he shot back “I will if you will.” He went down into the audience, along the front row, gyrating his pelvis to the rhythm. At one point he looked down at the man seated directly in front of him and grinned. "You're trying so hard not to look, aren't you." I'm not sure what the man said in response, but Hugh laughed.

I got the feeling he was still trying the show out, he would comment on how some jokes got a laugh one night and not the next. Very off the cuff except for the singing and dancing, which he’d clearly worked on. And he was clearly having great fun.

Back home, I heard my mother mentioning to my sister that "he was quite a good singer, actually." I think she was still feeling relieved that there were no references to Star Trek.




Photo courtesy of Surrealistic Scenes

Looks like Hugh should get a -- no, that's too easy

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Quote du jour: You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
Mae West

Okay, fine. Here's a picture of my favorite hunk. But I don't want to hear any jokes that include the words 'Hugh' and 'head.' This is a classy blog, she said with a straight face.

Site du jour: Rock, Paper, Scissors -- are you smarter than a computer? This site (might require free login to the New York Times) lets you play rock, paper, scissors against a computer that learns from watching you play. The question is: do you learn from watching you play? Can you win?

Exercise du jour: I'm going for it. Me and my cycling friend Binchy (a.k.a. the Bianchi Eros Donna). Might get wet. Might get to post 50 miles under Cycling for this month.

Get up and go... while you can

Quote du jour: We should consider every day lost in which we do not Dance at least once.
- Nietzsche

Hugh photos du jour: A whole page of photos of Hugh running on the beach. Some day, summer will come again. Maybe.

Let's see. I can get up, go out into the cold and the dark, and pedal to work.
Or, I can go back to bed, where it's warm and comfy, and dream about running away to a tropical island.

Motivation du jour: Woman Dies in her Cubicle. No One Notices.

Ever feel like no one notices all the effort you put into your job?

Well, hopefully they at least notice you’re alive and breathing. If not, you could find yourself in the same situation as Rebecca Wells, a 51-year-old woman who died in her cubicle Friday in Los Angeles County.

Though she died on Friday, she was unnoticed at her desk in the Department of Internal Services until Saturday. The county coroner is yet to determine the cause of death.

When she passed away, Wells, who worked in risk management, was performing an audit. Despite not noticing the deceased, one of her coworkers remembered, “She was always working, always working.” Maybe, after this event, her coworkers will check on one another more often.

I swear, that makes me want to get up and work out. I can't (yet) rearrange my life so that I no longer have to sit in a cubicle for ten hours a day, but I can make sure to include time in my day for doing something besides sitting.

Exercise du jour: Cycling! I'm going for it!
Done! Well, as much as I could do. I am soaked to the skin, cold, and a bit grumpy. It's not that I think the Fates are conspiring against me, but -- oh, who am I kidding. All day, no rain. When did it start raining? A couple minutes before I started my ride. I hadn't gone two miles before I was soaked to the skin. As soon as I got home? Yep, that's when it stopped pouring. It's going to be warm and sunny all weekend. Until I head back to work. Then, they're thinking snow.
Coincidence? Ha!

Me & Alfred Hitchcock

Yes, it's a photo I used once before. But it's cold outside, and this photo is hot.

Number of migraines: 1
Number of days entertaining said headache: 4
Minutes of exercising accomplished: 20 (on Tuesday)

Le sigh. At least I made it to Friday. Why does a headache leave you feeling wiped out? I mean, it's not as if I were working out or anything. Unfair, I call it.

Site du jour: Celebrities riding a bicycle. Somehow, I hadn't associated Alfred Hitchcock with bike riding. Sadly, no pictures of Hugh on the site. Yet.

Exercise du jour: Call me optimistic, if you will, but today the aim is to ride the bicycle. If Hitchcock can do it, why not me?
Done! Alfred was an inspiration. Or else having the wind at my back made the ride seem easier. 12 miles and all's well.


Photo courtesy of Barbara.Doduk

If it's Friday, that means...

If it's Friday, it's time for Hugh... oh hell, it's ALWAYS time!

Quote du jour: I am of the firm belief that everybody could write books and I never understand why they don't. After all, everyone speaks. Once the grammar has been learnt it is simply talking on paper and in time learning what not to say. - Beryl Bainbridge

Site du jour: This site probably would appeal only to people who like snark or who like writing that pays attention to things like spelling, grammar, and diction ... so you'll understand why I liked it. Reasoning with Vampires. The blogger parses the Twilight books according to the rules of English grammar. Funny.

Exercise du jour: 2 miles jogging at an easy, relaxed pace -- my knees have been bothering me since I got on that dratted bike. I think it must need a tuneup or something like that. I mean the bike needs a tuneup. Unless there are tuneups for knees.

Photo courtesy of cool guyz.

Blogland needs more pictures of Hugh Jackman

Quote du jour: When I became an adult I put away childish things, including the fear of seeming childish and the desire to be very grown-up.
- C.S. Lewis

Site du jour: Finger length indicates athletic ability. An odd study lifted from Dr Mirkin.

Having a ring finger that is longer than your index finger is associated with greater athletic ability in men (American Journal of Human Biology, Mar-April 2009) and in women (British Journal of Sports Medicine, December 2006). The longer your ring finger is compared to your index finger, the better athlete you usually are (Strength Conditioning Research, published online August 20, 2010).

The ratio of the ring finger to the index finger is determined by how high your testosterone levels were in the uterus before you were born. Testosterone stimulates bone growth. Men exposed to higher levels of testosterone in the uterus also tend to have higher levels of testosterone later on.

On the average, men tend to have longer ring fingers, and women tend to have longer index fingers. The higher the testosterone in utero, the greater the length of the ring finger and the more "masculine" the resulting child - whether male or female. The difference between men and women in digit lengths usually is greater on the right hand.

In men, a longer ring finger is also associated with increased risk for prostate cancer; see the 12/5/10 eZine.

Exericse du jour: Jogging 3.5 miles at lunchtime.

Photo courtesy of Nehmans2020.

Size does matter?

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Study du jour: The bigger the trees, the smaller the crime rate? Houses with big trees have less crime.

Huh? I want to believe this, 'cause I don't want any delinquent squirrels getting up to anything criminal in my yard. But it still seems like a silly study.

Goal for the month: 30 day purge: Still going through the endless piles of stuff that I took out of the garage so I could actually... brace yourself... park my car in the garage. Sometimes it seems like I'm not actually making any difference to the pile; I'm just taking it on faith that things are going to get better. Kinda like when you eat right and exercise and the scale just sneers at you, refusing to budge. Keep going anyway.





Goal for the week: I swear, nose to pillow. 9 p.m. Me.
I'm going, I'm going! Okay, so it's 9:01 p.m. That's close enough, isn't it?
(Whaddya mean, 'no'? Sheesh, talk about strict... )

Exercise du jour: Walking to/from work. Yes, even if it rains. Sadly, I won't shrink in the rain. (Or there'd be a lot more people coming to Oregon for weight loss visits.)

Another Friday, another picture of Hugh

You're not the only one who's happy it's Friday...

Study du jour:

Interesting. A study from Stanford suggests that people who feel pain but also have a strong sense of being in love are better able to cope with pain than people who are isolated and do not feel loved and appreciated.

"It's important to recognize that people who feel alone and depressed may have very low pain thresholds, whereas the reverse can be true for people who feel secure and cared for.

All the pieces are starting to fit together rather neatly...

Goal for the week: Yes, again with the getting up early and out the friggin' door. I just know this is going to become second nature. In another decade or so.

Exercise du jour:30 minutes rowing

Photo of Hugh courtesy of Nala WarriorLioness

Now that's what I call a contest

Missed Chance du jour: What's this? I had a chance to pay money to get hot and sweaty with Hugh Jackman? Why did no one tell me of this before? I think it was Very Selfish of you all to keep this information to yourself. Hmph.

Exercise du jour: 2.5 miles jogging. I will redeem myself from my failure yesterday. Need to get in shape in case Hugh holds another contest.

Update du 11:14 pm
Finally! Made it before midnight. Barely.

Photo courtesy of Cool Guyz

“Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday.”

Hugh found his love life had gotten much simpler
since he invented his own puppet woman.

Quote du jour: A man works all his life in a glass factory, one day he feels like picking up a hammer. - Harold Diddlebock (Harold Lloyd)

Some weeks, making it to Friday feels like I've achieved a tremendous victory.
This is one of those weeks.

Exercise du jour: Back to cycling. 8 miles minimum. They've stopped doing work on the ducts, so the allergies should be okay. I hope.
Done! Plus, five miles walking.

Photo courtesy of Gandalf.
(The guy on Flickr, not the wizard. I think.)

We made it to Friday! Now, if it would only stop raining...

Quote du jour:“If you could actually get rid of your special power which alienates you from the rest of the world, would you do it? It's a metaphor very much about intolerance, I think, fear of anything that's different. If you could choose to not be Jewish or not be gay or not be African-American. Life maybe is not as easy if you're a minority. Would you take the opportunity to change that if you could?” - Hugh Jackman

Site du jour: http://yearofgiving.wordpress.com/lend-a-hand

This guy got laid off from his job and is looking for another one. But that's not what his blog is about. He's giving away $10 a day every day for a year. Each day he finds someone, learns their name, gives them the 10 and asks what they plan to do with it. The 'lend a hand' page describes people he's met who have specific needs; these range from needing a job to needing a new music stand to finding someone to help a woman file her Social Security Disability claim. One man wants information on low-cost housing in Guatemala, another man wants ideas on what he should put on the signs that he holds up when he stands outside the Vatican's embassy in DC.

Exercise du jour: 3 miles walking, 30 minutes cycling
Done! Well... pretty much. All right, so I forgot the cycling part, okay? Completely left my mind until midnight, by which time I figured it would have to count on another day's tally so screw it.


Photo courtesy of Flickr (Gandalf)

Three questions

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Who am I? Not sure yet. More caffeine is indicated here.

Where am I? Back home after a week traveling. In my absence, the weeds/lawn/green stuff have grown several feet. Anybody got a scythe I can borrow?

Why am I here? Not sure, but I suspect to do some serious gardening. Will squeeze in some exercise while I'm at it. (Yes, I know mowing the lawn is exercise, but somehow it doesn't count as lose-weight exercise. Not to me.)

Exercise du jour: At least 30 minutes of cycling, since I'm going to return the rental car and cycle back. Will try for another 30 on the stationary in between doing Useful Stuff.

Color me easily amused

Today's a roadtrip day. Might not get any exercise at all, but since I usually post a picture of a Hugh on Fridays, and this made me laugh, I thought I should post this video.