It had been building up for 97 days.
I hadn't been to my gym since Sept. 3. I know this because it's been so long that I lost my swipie-card for the gym, and when the guy behind the counter ran my information the screen showed Sept. 3 as my last visit.
The past three months have not been good for my physical fitness. Some personal turmoil in September and my thesis in October and November conspired to keep me away. Sometimes in life you have to prioritize, and I had to put the gym on the back burner. The unfortunate side effect is that I'm much flabbier and fatass-ier than I was Sept. 3. It was all the more disappointing because I'd lost a decent amount of weight over the past year.
Friday I made my return to the gym, at which time I discovered that I couldn't find my swipie. They gave me a new swipie, but I was still nervous. My gym has a cool program where I can work with a small group of fellow gym members and a personal trainer for free. I didn't know if the others at the gym would judge me, and didn't know how long I'd be able to work out before fatigue got the better of me. Five minutes into the workout, my right tricep began to ache.
But everything returned to normal. I got through wind sprints, crunches, manmakers and a bunch of other exhausting exercises with only a couple of 30-second breaks. I'm sure I wasn't as good at them as I was Sept. 3 (and I'm already a little sore, which usually doesn't happen until a day or two later), but to a certain extent it'd like riding a bike. Most importantly, I didn't die.
I'll try my best to get to the gym four or five times a week in the next two weeks before my residency. Life is returning to normal, and it's worth it.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
2 1/2 Pages
Readings are always nerve-wracking. Partially because I always kind of wing it and wait until the last minute to figure out what part of my novel I'm going to read. Partially because it's a long drive to Fairfield.
Yesterday, I also drove a long way in a pouring rain. I got to the Fairfeld bookstore, drenched, and hen I dug out my piece I realized it. I had decided to read 2 1/2 pages and I only brought 1 1/2 of them with me.
Luckily, I also brought the second copy of my thesis down too (I was supposed to bring it down last week and forgot). So I took out the missing page, trying to be extra neat since it is a thesis page, and was able to perform my reading as normal.
We almost got hit by a car after the reading, but other than that little miscue it was great to catch up with everyone again.
Yesterday, I also drove a long way in a pouring rain. I got to the Fairfeld bookstore, drenched, and hen I dug out my piece I realized it. I had decided to read 2 1/2 pages and I only brought 1 1/2 of them with me.
Luckily, I also brought the second copy of my thesis down too (I was supposed to bring it down last week and forgot). So I took out the missing page, trying to be extra neat since it is a thesis page, and was able to perform my reading as normal.
We almost got hit by a car after the reading, but other than that little miscue it was great to catch up with everyone again.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Club Millionaire
So I joined Club Millionaire at the beginning of the fall TV season, which earns me points for answering Who Wants To Be a Millionaire questions correctly. If you collect enough points you can win stuff (which I don't really care much about) and possibly be invited to be a contestant on the show (which is more interesting).
I've collected 650-some-odd points and today I tried to get more when I got the following email:
Dear Club Millionaire Members,
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are sorry to announce that, as of Tuesday, December 6, 2011, all activity related to Club Millionaire will be discontinued. We apologize for any disappointment this may cause and thank you for your participation of the Club. In the coming months, we will be exploring other options related to development and operation of a new Millionaire rewards program. Should a new Millionaire club be launched, please be assured that any points you've accumulated, thus far, will be transferred into the new program.
We appreciate your loyalty to "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and hope you will continue to be an active viewer of the program.
What the hell happened? How do you mess this up? What are "circumstances beyond our control" when you're giving away free prizes. I mean, the only other club I'm in is Club Penguin, and that's because my friends' kids asked me to join, and Club Penguin has never had these problems.
This is the kind of mystery that keeps me up at night.
I've collected 650-some-odd points and today I tried to get more when I got the following email:
Dear Club Millionaire Members,
Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are sorry to announce that, as of Tuesday, December 6, 2011, all activity related to Club Millionaire will be discontinued. We apologize for any disappointment this may cause and thank you for your participation of the Club. In the coming months, we will be exploring other options related to development and operation of a new Millionaire rewards program. Should a new Millionaire club be launched, please be assured that any points you've accumulated, thus far, will be transferred into the new program.
We appreciate your loyalty to "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and hope you will continue to be an active viewer of the program.
What the hell happened? How do you mess this up? What are "circumstances beyond our control" when you're giving away free prizes. I mean, the only other club I'm in is Club Penguin, and that's because my friends' kids asked me to join, and Club Penguin has never had these problems.
This is the kind of mystery that keeps me up at night.
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Best of the Holiday Specials
Last year around this time I blogged about the 10 best and worst songs of the holiday season. This year I'll switch it up and do the five best Christmas specials.
(Before you complain, in this case it'll be all Christmas, since none on the list are Hannukkah or Kwanzaa of Festivus-oriented, though it's about time someone writes a screenplay for "A Charlie Brown Festivus.")
Here goes:
5) "I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown" -- The obscure little brother of the Peanuts made-for-TV-special franchise, it appropriately follows Linus and Lucy's obscure little brother Rerun as he goes on a quest to get a dog for Christmas. Coincidentally, Snoopy's skinny bro Spike just happens to be up from Needles for the holidays. It's a Christmas miracle!
4) "Prep and Landing" -- ABC seems to roll out a new P&L episode every Christmas and the first one (2009) was the best, but it's good shit. Nice to see a new special that's well done. Wayne and Larry have to get Timmy's house prepared for Santa's arrival. Wayne, who got passed over for promotion, is sulking and it jeopardizes the arrival. I know it's a cartoon, but this was actually really suspenseful.
3) "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." -- Stop motion animation at its finest from the old Rankin-Bass folks. Like Rudolph and the dentist elf Hermey, I think we've all felt like we were part of the Island of Misfit Toys at one point in our lives. Add to that the stress of making sure Christmas doesn't get canceled, being chased around by the Abominable Snowman, and this is funny and suspenseful. Some of the musical numbers were a little iffy, and I always felt like Yukon Cornelius was a little creepy, but this timeless classic is worth sitting through the whole hour.
2) "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation" -- I mean, Phineas and Ferb are so well done anyway, but it's a stroke of brilliance to take them out of the usual setting of summer vacation and into winter break. They try to save Danville from being bypassed by Santa thanks to a misunderstand. Meanwhile, Agent P and Doofenschmirtz battle over figgy pudding and bad Sal Tuscany records. Again, some of the musical numbers are a bit goofy, but a great way to spend a December evening. (Ad, actually, there is a Hanukkah reference in this one.)
And...
1) "A Charlie Brown Christmas" -- I mean come on, did you think it was gonna be anything else?
That's what Christas is all about, Charlie Brown.
(Before you complain, in this case it'll be all Christmas, since none on the list are Hannukkah or Kwanzaa of Festivus-oriented, though it's about time someone writes a screenplay for "A Charlie Brown Festivus.")
Here goes:
5) "I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown" -- The obscure little brother of the Peanuts made-for-TV-special franchise, it appropriately follows Linus and Lucy's obscure little brother Rerun as he goes on a quest to get a dog for Christmas. Coincidentally, Snoopy's skinny bro Spike just happens to be up from Needles for the holidays. It's a Christmas miracle!
4) "Prep and Landing" -- ABC seems to roll out a new P&L episode every Christmas and the first one (2009) was the best, but it's good shit. Nice to see a new special that's well done. Wayne and Larry have to get Timmy's house prepared for Santa's arrival. Wayne, who got passed over for promotion, is sulking and it jeopardizes the arrival. I know it's a cartoon, but this was actually really suspenseful.
3) "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." -- Stop motion animation at its finest from the old Rankin-Bass folks. Like Rudolph and the dentist elf Hermey, I think we've all felt like we were part of the Island of Misfit Toys at one point in our lives. Add to that the stress of making sure Christmas doesn't get canceled, being chased around by the Abominable Snowman, and this is funny and suspenseful. Some of the musical numbers were a little iffy, and I always felt like Yukon Cornelius was a little creepy, but this timeless classic is worth sitting through the whole hour.
2) "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation" -- I mean, Phineas and Ferb are so well done anyway, but it's a stroke of brilliance to take them out of the usual setting of summer vacation and into winter break. They try to save Danville from being bypassed by Santa thanks to a misunderstand. Meanwhile, Agent P and Doofenschmirtz battle over figgy pudding and bad Sal Tuscany records. Again, some of the musical numbers are a bit goofy, but a great way to spend a December evening. (Ad, actually, there is a Hanukkah reference in this one.)
And...
1) "A Charlie Brown Christmas" -- I mean come on, did you think it was gonna be anything else?
That's what Christas is all about, Charlie Brown.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Reading
In all the chaos associated with my thesis, I forgot that I'm giving a reading of my novel-in-progress Wednesday at the Fairfield University Bookstore (the bookstore formerly known as Borders).
It's 1499 Post Road, Fairfield, Conn., and it begins at 7 p.m.
Now to figure out which passage I'll actually read from.
It's 1499 Post Road, Fairfield, Conn., and it begins at 7 p.m.
Now to figure out which passage I'll actually read from.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Ambulance Chaser
I get some weird suggestions on Twitter. Last night was one of the weirder ones. Twitter suggested, in my "Similar to you" box, that I follow a personal injury attorney.
I decided to tweet about this. Aside from forgetting to use an apostrophe, I thought it was a good expression of my disdain at the accusation levied against me.
Apparently not. A few hours later I got followed by a divorce attorney. Now everybody will think there's a smarmy side of me. Plus, I'm not married, so I'm not in the market for a divorce attorney.
I'm dying to see how long this attorney continues to follow me.
I decided to tweet about this. Aside from forgetting to use an apostrophe, I thought it was a good expression of my disdain at the accusation levied against me.
Apparently not. A few hours later I got followed by a divorce attorney. Now everybody will think there's a smarmy side of me. Plus, I'm not married, so I'm not in the market for a divorce attorney.
I'm dying to see how long this attorney continues to follow me.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Bobby Valentine
I'll give Bobby Valentine credit -- at least he's a New Englander, though he's from the part of New England (southwestern Connecticut) that tends to root for the Yankees.
Bobby V. has a reputation. It's a reputation for taking bad teams, turning them around to the point where they're competitive and then flaming out before they become good enough. It happened in Texas. It happened with the Mets.
Then he went to Japan and won a Japan Series. And then he came back here and became agonizing as color commentator for ESPN, to the point where, whenever the Red Sox played on Sunday night, I had to mute the TV and listen to the radio color commentary.
He's a smart guy. And he knows he's a smart guy. That's the problem. Eventually teams tuned him out.
He's now the manager of the Red Sox. I'm not a fan of this move. It smacks of the Red Sox trying to make a splash again after their epic September collapse, rather than selecting a good manager.
In 2000 I wasn't a fan of the Patriots hiring Bill Belichick either. I wanted the Pats to make a run at Mike Martz, who was the hot coordinator at the time. I'm happy to say I was wrong (really wrong. Barely two years later Belichick and the Patriots beat Martz and the Rams in Super Bowl 36).
I hope I'm wrong again.
Bobby V. has a reputation. It's a reputation for taking bad teams, turning them around to the point where they're competitive and then flaming out before they become good enough. It happened in Texas. It happened with the Mets.
Then he went to Japan and won a Japan Series. And then he came back here and became agonizing as color commentator for ESPN, to the point where, whenever the Red Sox played on Sunday night, I had to mute the TV and listen to the radio color commentary.
He's a smart guy. And he knows he's a smart guy. That's the problem. Eventually teams tuned him out.
He's now the manager of the Red Sox. I'm not a fan of this move. It smacks of the Red Sox trying to make a splash again after their epic September collapse, rather than selecting a good manager.
In 2000 I wasn't a fan of the Patriots hiring Bill Belichick either. I wanted the Pats to make a run at Mike Martz, who was the hot coordinator at the time. I'm happy to say I was wrong (really wrong. Barely two years later Belichick and the Patriots beat Martz and the Rams in Super Bowl 36).
I hope I'm wrong again.
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