Balloon Theory

Unfortunately happiness for me seems to be like the air inside a sealed balloon. You want more happiness in one part of your life? Well, we’ll have to squeeze it out from somewhere else, and the surrounding sadness will occupy the void created. It happened again yesterday. I’m not in a position to tell you exactly what’s involved, but I consider this all to be rather serious, and it’ll probably mean a whole new round of doctor appointments for me.

[Update #1: Not related, but I just read that former Warrant lead singer Jani Lane, has died in Los Angeles; he was 47.]

[Update #2: For those you who attended the 2008 Colorado InviHash this snippet from the recent “Dougherty Gang” story might amuse you — “Lee Dougherty ran from the crash and was shot in the leg by Walsenburg Police Chief James Chamblerlain after she pointed a machine gun at him, according to the affidavit.” I’m glad we didn’t have to deal with the Walsenburg Police Chief. ;)]

La Lavanderia Es Vacío
For the longest time last night I was the only one doing laundry in the lavanderia. I don’t know where everyone else was, but it did make for a quite laundry experience; that was until the maintenance man dropped the glass lamp housing for a ceiling fan from a height of about ten feet onto a linoleum tile floor. SMMMMMMAAAAAAAAASH! What was funnier about the incident was that it all unfolded as I was answering a phone call from ITP-Reader Betsy. Because of the noise I went outside to field the call and when I returned inside the maintenance man apologized for the inconvenience he assumed he caused.

While doing laundry I continued reading Bob Mould’s autobiography. For a while I thought that I was the World’s Worst Stalker as I read that Mould and his then partner Kevin were spending time in Atlanta, with intent of moving here, and had put an offer on a house near Piedmont Park, until they awoke to the news on September 11th, 2001. On that day they canceled the offer they’d just made on the house and drove a rental car from Atlanta back to their New York loft. I had no idea one of my musical heroes considered moving ITP.

For those keeping score at home I did not eat out last night. Instead I ate some pasta that I had leftover from a meal prepared earlier in the week. So far I’ve not eaten out nor have I gone out drinking since last Sunday. You might think this a minor achievement, but for me its rather a good start. If I could just start reducing my portion sizes and getting healthy enough to exercise I might just lose a pound or two.

Power Outage? Yeah, We’ve Had A Few
I returned home yesterday to find that my part of town had a major power outage during the day and experienced a brown-out as soon as I entered the house as well. This morning when I went to get my new bicycle I noticed that the tv projector was on, but the lamp was not on, and nothing I could do would turn it off. If economic times were better and I’d not already purchased a replacement lamp for this projector I’d turn this misfortune into a buying opportunity, but as it stands right now all I could do is unplug the damn thing and put it onto the ever-growing “Deal With This” list.

Introducing: “BlackJack”
I’ve settled on naming the new bicycle “BlackJack” as a nod to its predominant color and an homage to the Jackmobile. Though neither of us is ready for a ride, it still missing a speedometer/odometer and perhaps not quite properly adjusted for its new rider, and me, well, six months out of shape and in some pain for the past few days.

Speaking of BlackJack’s lack of speedometer/odometer, it appears as if the front forks are rather large, and have something called SpeedTrap compatibility built into them. Anyone know about this? Anyone recommend using, or staying away from, these computers?

I hate to say it but I just went down to the car and brought BlackJack up to the office even though it was double-locked on top of the Jackmobile. Why? Because about a month ago someone had their bike stolen from our parking garage, and his bike was locked to the bike rack. I’ve yet to ride this bicycle and I’m not about to let some asshole steal it from me before I do.

Off Again
I’m blowing out of town to head to Lake Hartwell this weekend. I’m taking BlackJack, my iPad, and a growler of Monday Night Brewing’s IPA. Somewhere along the way I need to stop and buy fixings for a big salad to be eaten with tomorrow night’s dinner. One of the take-aways from listening to “In Defense of Foods” was that I need to eat more plants, specifically leaves.

My New Reduction Plan
Has nothing to do with weight, it has everything to do with time and attention. I’ve decided to start slicing things from my life. Upload photos to Flickr which are riddled with watermarks? That’s your right, but I’ll no longer be a contact. Have a podcast which doesn’t provide me with valuable information or entertainment? I’ll be deleting your podcast from my RSS reader. Spew nonsense constantly on Twitter or Facebook? (I am certainly guilty of this behavior) Be prepared to be dropped as a Follower or “Friend” respectively.

These are not threats, by all means do whatever they hell you want to do to make yourself happy. I’ve just decided to declutter my life and this is one of the easiest ways for me to start.

Stats & Goals
Daily
Current Mood – concerned
Current Music – listening to the “Breakfast Club” podcast from CBC Radio 3
Website Of The Day – BlackJack is a , a Trek 2.3 to be exact.
Mode Of Transportation To Work – my car
Exercise (b)Log – stair climbing, 6 flights
Morning Weigh-In – not Wednesday

Monthly
Foot Mileage – 0.0 miles
Wheel Mileage – 0.0 miles
Pushups – 0
Situps – 0
Stairs – 42 flights

Consecutive Days Of Bed-Making (Longest Streak) – 0 (0)

Vegetarian Days – 0
Carnivorous Days – 11

Marta Rides To Work – 0
Bike Rides To Work – 0

August Goals
– “Completely” recover from the bike crash
– Ride my bike no fewer than 150 miles
– Not to get sick for the entire month
– Not get fired from my job
– Run at least once
– Eat vegetarian no fewer than five days
– Lose two pounds

2011 Goals [will be a little more fluid than in past years]
– Reduce my weight by 25 pounds based on the my weight as measured on February 1st
– Completely read the book Daily Negations which I received as a Christmas gift.
– Run Sharpened Stone as a real business — one which does not get penalized.
– Save $500 for the sole purpose of donating to charitable organizations of my choice
– Attend at least one professional photography workshop
– Enter no fewer than three photographic competitions / gallery showings
– Ride in no fewer than five 50 mile or 50K bike rides
– Run in no fewer than two one half-marathon
– Submit at least one application under the name “Sharpened Stone” to Apple’s iOS store

The Unmeasurable
– Continue backing up all data, including the off-site storage
– Become a proficient programmer in Objective-C
– Do not create a solution for something which is not a problem
– Eat smaller portions

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]