I do like to exercise, and try to do at least two good workouts a week: Recently it's been a lot of running with pushups and pullups mixed in. This is consistent with my Three Goals of Fitness (with sub-goals):
1) Self Preservation in case of animal attack or apocalypse: Be able to run away from someone or something at a good speed for at least a mile. In case s**t goes down and it gets weird. Also be able to pull myself up into a tree should the need arise.
2) To wear clothes that look good on me, and not have to buy more because I got fat. 34 nevermore.
3) To play with my kids: Have enough energy to run around with the kids, to lift them and wrestle, ride bikes, climb hills, etc. Be fully physically present for them. Corollary to this is to have enough cardiac health not to keel over during these activities.
That's it. That's all I want. Not looking to bench press my weight, or build up a swimmers upper body. Not looking for a six pack - I'm a goofy looking guy and putting some muscles on that isn't necessarily all that productive.
I was telling my friend Paul about this, and he said "that's totally Paleo". Apparently Paleo exercises are all tuned around primitive survival skill type exercises. And I guess it is. Not sure I'd do that well against a saber tooth tiger, however.
Wednesday, May 08, 2013
Monday, May 06, 2013
Changes for Isaac
This past weekend, Isaac had his performance at Circus Juventas - his third year in the program. Unfortunately, of the three performances he was only able to make one of them - the first missed because I was out of town and it just couldn't work, the third because he had been up the night before puking (and yes, the test came back as STREP). But It didn't really matter that much, because after 3 years, his performance was relegated to jumping rope, 3 rotations in a German wheel, and a whole lot of "Ta DAA" standing around.
I feel like in years past, once you made it past the toddler stage, there was a bit more to see with the Kinders, but this year, it was more of just a Toddlers Plus sort of routine. I didn't really see them developing any new big skills. And of an hour class, I saw Isaac on his butt at least half of that time while other people did things. Add to this, there was a very solid line (physical and virtual) between the class and the parents, and I don't believe I exchanged more than 5 words with his teachers, and whenever I did, they looked at me like I was a little nuts.
As I was starting to figure out that their show was going to be something of a dud, that he wasn't being trained for anything flashy, I started watching around the other practice areas, at the other older kids doing their more advanced skills... and truth be told, over the course of the year, I watched them all do ONE thing over and over and over and over again, with refinements. The lady on the rope swing did her routine twice a week, and yes she got better and better at it, but she was up there for 10 min total over the hour. The rest was talking and watching.
It made me think of polar bears in a zoo - the way they just sort of do the same routine over and over, and you see them walking in that loop, stepping on their well worn footprints - you can set your watch to them. Now, I understand that Circus is a PERFORMANCE, and you're performing a ROUTINE, and you simply need to do that routine over and over until you get it RIGHT. But watching, I was wondering - how much exercise are they getting really? If we moved into a more advanced class, how much fun would working that same skill over and over be? In general, Circus is a lot less about the tumbling and exercise and more about the Theater and Performance.
And for a lot of kids, that works out well - I also liked theater to a point, but I also remember that in my Children's Theater days that it was a LOT of sitting around and waiting and waiting and waiting and NOT fidgeting or you'll get yelled at. I am not sure Isaac has that temperament.
I was having doubts about whether we'd want to continue in the program next year. Isaac solved the problem for me: After his show, he said that "Circus is a lot of sitting around - maybe I'll come back when I'm a teenager. I want to do Karate and Soccer now"
So after 3 years of saying "Isaac goes to Circus School", we're hanging it up: We may revisit in a few years, but we're going to focus on sports where he can run his little tail off pretty much non-stop (Soccer!),
I feel like in years past, once you made it past the toddler stage, there was a bit more to see with the Kinders, but this year, it was more of just a Toddlers Plus sort of routine. I didn't really see them developing any new big skills. And of an hour class, I saw Isaac on his butt at least half of that time while other people did things. Add to this, there was a very solid line (physical and virtual) between the class and the parents, and I don't believe I exchanged more than 5 words with his teachers, and whenever I did, they looked at me like I was a little nuts.
As I was starting to figure out that their show was going to be something of a dud, that he wasn't being trained for anything flashy, I started watching around the other practice areas, at the other older kids doing their more advanced skills... and truth be told, over the course of the year, I watched them all do ONE thing over and over and over and over again, with refinements. The lady on the rope swing did her routine twice a week, and yes she got better and better at it, but she was up there for 10 min total over the hour. The rest was talking and watching.
It made me think of polar bears in a zoo - the way they just sort of do the same routine over and over, and you see them walking in that loop, stepping on their well worn footprints - you can set your watch to them. Now, I understand that Circus is a PERFORMANCE, and you're performing a ROUTINE, and you simply need to do that routine over and over until you get it RIGHT. But watching, I was wondering - how much exercise are they getting really? If we moved into a more advanced class, how much fun would working that same skill over and over be? In general, Circus is a lot less about the tumbling and exercise and more about the Theater and Performance.
And for a lot of kids, that works out well - I also liked theater to a point, but I also remember that in my Children's Theater days that it was a LOT of sitting around and waiting and waiting and waiting and NOT fidgeting or you'll get yelled at. I am not sure Isaac has that temperament.
I was having doubts about whether we'd want to continue in the program next year. Isaac solved the problem for me: After his show, he said that "Circus is a lot of sitting around - maybe I'll come back when I'm a teenager. I want to do Karate and Soccer now"
So after 3 years of saying "Isaac goes to Circus School", we're hanging it up: We may revisit in a few years, but we're going to focus on sports where he can run his little tail off pretty much non-stop (Soccer!),
Saturday, May 04, 2013
On Shaving
Up to about two months ago, I was happy in my routine: I would shave with my Norelco 5 times a week, and touch up with a Gillette Mach 5 twice a week to get the longer hairs. I don't have a particularly THICK beard, and this allowed me to get'er done in just a few minutes a day. Occasionally I'd get a nick from the Mach5, and usually the Norelco left me a little red-faced without the closest of shaves, but it worked.
Then one day I saw an article describing www.harrys.com - a new venture from the entrepreneurs who founded Warby Parker - hipster eyewear for only $99, plus a pair donated for every pair bought. If I hadn't just moved to progressive lenses, I'd be rocking about 5 styles of Warbys. Anyway, the story was about how they thought the Gillette thing was a total rip-off, that $4-5 a blade was completely unreasonable (and you know what, it is), and they wanted to offer something similar or better for a better price.
So I ordered up their starter kit: Aluminum handle, 4 blades, and a tube of really nice shave cream for $25. And I used it, and I liked it a lot. I posted on Facebook about how much I liked it, and I went ahead and ordered some replacement blades - and to buy 16 blades and two more tubes of cream, it was $30, which is well less than half what that costs for Gillettes, plus I love the cream, did I mention that? Makes my face feel nice.
My razor to Norelco ratio upped to half/half. These blades were getting close, and no nicks, and my face feels good.... win win. And that's when it happened.
A chorus of voices taunted me - the REAL good shave out there is the dual-edge Safety Razor- get a beaver brush, a tub of soap, a handle, and feather blades, and rock this old school - a step up from the straight razor to be sure... and once you get your kit together, blades are like a DIME apiece and last just as long. It's way more manly and economical.
Allright. I had already done one move - it couldn't hurt to try another. I went to Amazon and found the gear I needed. The investment wasn't THAT much - about $75 total, with enough blades to get me through to 2018 I'm sure. Plus, the gear looks so good, and feels so... manly. I was very excited to try this out.
Of course, this led to quite a few boxes being delivered for my folly. The initial Harrys Box. The refill boxes. The brush box. The Safety razor box. The Blades box. The razor/brush stand box. Bella noticed the amount of shaving stuff and made some comments: A few days later, an Amazon box arrived (with a BOOK in it) - she opened the door, picked up the box, and said "More SHAVING stuff for Dad!" and tossed it inside with disdain. Ah, my princess.
My first day, I learned how to use a styptic pencil. I had massive cuts on my neck and chin. I spent an extra 20 min in the bathroom moisturizing and hoping that my family would not laugh at me (or scream) when I emerged. Day two was a little better, but I re-opened a few of the previous nicks. Day three a little better than that, but my nerves left large areas under-shaved, including my adam's apple, which I'm SURE I would simply lop off in one flick of the wrist.
Now don't get me wrong, I liked the experience - working up the lather, the feel of the heavy metal shaver, the danger of unwrapping the loose blade and carefully placing onto the handle - it felt good, like home made bread instead of store bought. It was a good experience, but one that would take a lot more practice.
I went on a trip last week and brought both my Norelco and a Harrys kit, and wound up using only the Harrys. It's now to the point that I'm 4 shaves Harrys, 3 shaves Safety Razor, zero shaves Norelco in a week. If I need to put on a tie (meaning flipping up the shirt collar on my neck), it's no question it's a Harrys morning - there's just too much nick-risk with the Safety Razor.
I'm at a point where I'm wondering whether continuing with the Safety is a good idea, when I can get a good shave at a good value from the Harrys. I feel like if I got sucked into a time vortex, my Safety Razor skills would come in handy in the 1930s. I also do enjoy the ritual. But shaving with the Safety is sort of like petting a ferret: It's quite possible to do, a lot of times, you're going to get bit, and it's not nearly as relaxing as petting a more domesticated animal, like say a rabbit or dog. If I could get to the point where the Safety was more like petting a CAT, one that might capriciously swat at you occasionally, but is generally a pretty safe bet...
I'm giving myself permission to evaluate this whole experiment, and I may revert to my old pattern, or a 100% Harrys mode. As Pamela told me: One of the guys advocating for the Safety Razor HAS A FULL BEARD. I looked at current facebook pictures of the other guy who was. Yep. Beard.
These guys are shaving vicariously through me. I need to make my shaving decision based on: Do I like this? Do I look good when I'm done? At this point, I may be moving back to Harry's. But give me a week. I sort of made this INVESTMENT in the Safety and wouldn't want to walk away entirely... If I can make these BOTH work, I won't need to buy any shaving stuff for a couple of years based on the number of blades and how much cream I have on hand.
Then one day I saw an article describing www.harrys.com - a new venture from the entrepreneurs who founded Warby Parker - hipster eyewear for only $99, plus a pair donated for every pair bought. If I hadn't just moved to progressive lenses, I'd be rocking about 5 styles of Warbys. Anyway, the story was about how they thought the Gillette thing was a total rip-off, that $4-5 a blade was completely unreasonable (and you know what, it is), and they wanted to offer something similar or better for a better price.
So I ordered up their starter kit: Aluminum handle, 4 blades, and a tube of really nice shave cream for $25. And I used it, and I liked it a lot. I posted on Facebook about how much I liked it, and I went ahead and ordered some replacement blades - and to buy 16 blades and two more tubes of cream, it was $30, which is well less than half what that costs for Gillettes, plus I love the cream, did I mention that? Makes my face feel nice.
My razor to Norelco ratio upped to half/half. These blades were getting close, and no nicks, and my face feels good.... win win. And that's when it happened.
A chorus of voices taunted me - the REAL good shave out there is the dual-edge Safety Razor- get a beaver brush, a tub of soap, a handle, and feather blades, and rock this old school - a step up from the straight razor to be sure... and once you get your kit together, blades are like a DIME apiece and last just as long. It's way more manly and economical.
Allright. I had already done one move - it couldn't hurt to try another. I went to Amazon and found the gear I needed. The investment wasn't THAT much - about $75 total, with enough blades to get me through to 2018 I'm sure. Plus, the gear looks so good, and feels so... manly. I was very excited to try this out.
Of course, this led to quite a few boxes being delivered for my folly. The initial Harrys Box. The refill boxes. The brush box. The Safety razor box. The Blades box. The razor/brush stand box. Bella noticed the amount of shaving stuff and made some comments: A few days later, an Amazon box arrived (with a BOOK in it) - she opened the door, picked up the box, and said "More SHAVING stuff for Dad!" and tossed it inside with disdain. Ah, my princess.
My first day, I learned how to use a styptic pencil. I had massive cuts on my neck and chin. I spent an extra 20 min in the bathroom moisturizing and hoping that my family would not laugh at me (or scream) when I emerged. Day two was a little better, but I re-opened a few of the previous nicks. Day three a little better than that, but my nerves left large areas under-shaved, including my adam's apple, which I'm SURE I would simply lop off in one flick of the wrist.
Now don't get me wrong, I liked the experience - working up the lather, the feel of the heavy metal shaver, the danger of unwrapping the loose blade and carefully placing onto the handle - it felt good, like home made bread instead of store bought. It was a good experience, but one that would take a lot more practice.
I went on a trip last week and brought both my Norelco and a Harrys kit, and wound up using only the Harrys. It's now to the point that I'm 4 shaves Harrys, 3 shaves Safety Razor, zero shaves Norelco in a week. If I need to put on a tie (meaning flipping up the shirt collar on my neck), it's no question it's a Harrys morning - there's just too much nick-risk with the Safety Razor.
I'm at a point where I'm wondering whether continuing with the Safety is a good idea, when I can get a good shave at a good value from the Harrys. I feel like if I got sucked into a time vortex, my Safety Razor skills would come in handy in the 1930s. I also do enjoy the ritual. But shaving with the Safety is sort of like petting a ferret: It's quite possible to do, a lot of times, you're going to get bit, and it's not nearly as relaxing as petting a more domesticated animal, like say a rabbit or dog. If I could get to the point where the Safety was more like petting a CAT, one that might capriciously swat at you occasionally, but is generally a pretty safe bet...
I'm giving myself permission to evaluate this whole experiment, and I may revert to my old pattern, or a 100% Harrys mode. As Pamela told me: One of the guys advocating for the Safety Razor HAS A FULL BEARD. I looked at current facebook pictures of the other guy who was. Yep. Beard.
These guys are shaving vicariously through me. I need to make my shaving decision based on: Do I like this? Do I look good when I'm done? At this point, I may be moving back to Harry's. But give me a week. I sort of made this INVESTMENT in the Safety and wouldn't want to walk away entirely... If I can make these BOTH work, I won't need to buy any shaving stuff for a couple of years based on the number of blades and how much cream I have on hand.
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
What I ate in Tennessee
Monday Night: Hokie Smokie barbecue, over by the mall. As you drive up, the smell of smoked meat permeates the neighborhood. As we went around the table, 5-of-6 got Brisket. I was number 6, and got the combo with Brisket, sausage, and chicken. The food came, and I went into something of a fugue state - I have no recollection of conversation or other people, but I cleaned my plate. Every bite was amazing.
The service, mostly ok, but she left us alone too often to go flirt with young guys up at the bar. It took a good 20 min to get the check - i watched as she would look over at our table, nod to herself as if saying "yeah, gotta get over there", and then get distracted by the boys, all smiling and giggling. It was ridiculous. Fortunately in my food coma, time passed quickly.
Tuesday Night: I had to hit the mall because I had destroyed a shirt with a too-hot iron in the hotel room. Press-press-press-MELT. Right on the breast, so can't hide it with a tie or jacket. I looked up the mall online and was intrigued by "Petros Chili and Chips" - home-made chili on Fritos with toppings. Ok, tried it. It was only ok. The chili was pretty average, and while Fritos were advertised on the website, any mention of frito lay was gone at the actual store. It was cheap and ok, but not worth a re-visit.
Wednesday: Had a little lunch to get after a bunch of meetings: Looked on Yelp and found the five-star "Scratch" wood fired pizza. A beat up old house with picnic tables all around, huge stacks of firewood everywhere, a large collection of 1970s LPs, and a record player (patrons are encouraged to dj), and an enormous wood fired oven (with a smoker on the side). Walked in, and 3 guys literally dropped what they were doing to explain to me how it all works: 3 crusts, they smoke their own meats, organic local veggies: Do I want to tell them what I like, and they'll just make it? They have an awesome "cheeseless wonder" that won "pie wars" (whatever that means), but I wanted just a little cheese. I watched them make the pizza, and they invited me back behind the counter to check out the oven ("it's part of the scratch experience, man").
The pizza was delivered in a box to my table, and the guy stood and watched me take the first bite - wanting to know if I liked it ok? I LIKED IT. I loved it. I ate way more of it that I thought I'd be able to. Smoked pepperoni and sausage, roasted peppers, banana peppers, spinach, red sauce, chimichurri, and red pepper flakes. It just tasted amazing.
They gave me some sort of discount because the bill was $5 less than my calculations, and the guy just said "hey, Jimmy, it's all right. It's all right." I will be going back there every time I visit Johnson City, now.
Wednesday Night: Once I finally hit Atlanta after travel delays, I had a few minutes to eat, so I stopped at "The Varsity" - a chilidog stand in the ATL airport. I was drawn in by their bright colors, and the chorus of ladies who where hollering out to all passers-by "what'll ya have? what'll ya have? what'll ya have?" They lured me in with their siren song, and I did eat the chili dogs. And they were good... but not transcendent.
And that is my food report. It is 1am and I am not home yet.
The service, mostly ok, but she left us alone too often to go flirt with young guys up at the bar. It took a good 20 min to get the check - i watched as she would look over at our table, nod to herself as if saying "yeah, gotta get over there", and then get distracted by the boys, all smiling and giggling. It was ridiculous. Fortunately in my food coma, time passed quickly.
Tuesday Night: I had to hit the mall because I had destroyed a shirt with a too-hot iron in the hotel room. Press-press-press-MELT. Right on the breast, so can't hide it with a tie or jacket. I looked up the mall online and was intrigued by "Petros Chili and Chips" - home-made chili on Fritos with toppings. Ok, tried it. It was only ok. The chili was pretty average, and while Fritos were advertised on the website, any mention of frito lay was gone at the actual store. It was cheap and ok, but not worth a re-visit.
Wednesday: Had a little lunch to get after a bunch of meetings: Looked on Yelp and found the five-star "Scratch" wood fired pizza. A beat up old house with picnic tables all around, huge stacks of firewood everywhere, a large collection of 1970s LPs, and a record player (patrons are encouraged to dj), and an enormous wood fired oven (with a smoker on the side). Walked in, and 3 guys literally dropped what they were doing to explain to me how it all works: 3 crusts, they smoke their own meats, organic local veggies: Do I want to tell them what I like, and they'll just make it? They have an awesome "cheeseless wonder" that won "pie wars" (whatever that means), but I wanted just a little cheese. I watched them make the pizza, and they invited me back behind the counter to check out the oven ("it's part of the scratch experience, man").
The pizza was delivered in a box to my table, and the guy stood and watched me take the first bite - wanting to know if I liked it ok? I LIKED IT. I loved it. I ate way more of it that I thought I'd be able to. Smoked pepperoni and sausage, roasted peppers, banana peppers, spinach, red sauce, chimichurri, and red pepper flakes. It just tasted amazing.
They gave me some sort of discount because the bill was $5 less than my calculations, and the guy just said "hey, Jimmy, it's all right. It's all right." I will be going back there every time I visit Johnson City, now.
Wednesday Night: Once I finally hit Atlanta after travel delays, I had a few minutes to eat, so I stopped at "The Varsity" - a chilidog stand in the ATL airport. I was drawn in by their bright colors, and the chorus of ladies who where hollering out to all passers-by "what'll ya have? what'll ya have? what'll ya have?" They lured me in with their siren song, and I did eat the chili dogs. And they were good... but not transcendent.
And that is my food report. It is 1am and I am not home yet.
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