As part of my new program of fitness and health I stopped by the library today (had to return the Christopher Plummer memoir “In Spite of Myself” ‘cause someone else had a hold on it, too bad ‘cause I was really enjoying it, he describes so many eccentric aristocratic theater people of bygone days), and picked out some books on detox diets, pilates for men (the vast majority of these health/fitness books are for women, do men care less or are they encouraged not to care?), plus Amy Sedaris’s “Hospitality Under the Influence” book, but most especially one that jumped out at me called “The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living,” by David J. Clayton, M.D. (image above). He had me at hello with these lines from his introduction:
If you work a sensible, nonstressful 9-to-5 job; if you’re in a monogamous relationship; if you abstain from smoking, drugs and alcohol; and if you are completely content in life, this book is not for you. But if you’ve been known to drink, smoke, hook up, work too hard, or eat fast food for six meals in a row, this book will help you manage your bad habits, and may change the way you see your choices.
I’ve already started reading it. He says adrenaline was helpful when our ancestors fled from lions on the plains of Africa, but is more of a liability now, say before you have to give a presentation and your knees are knocking and your muscles uncomfortably contracted. He recommends a six-month vacation in the Virgin Islands to restore health and sanity in a non-medicational way, if you have the means!
I just picked up a movie I’m reviewing called “Loins of Punjabi,” then stopped in at Starbucks to do some laptopping, but they’ve made some horrible deal with T-Mobile and don’t offer free WiFi to their customers! Can you believe it? I could tell by the reaction of the girl at the counter that she thought it was stupid, too, and she directed me to Panera Bread up the street, where they offer free WiFi with no strings attached and are super cool about it – the girl here even told me, “You can order a coffee and get free refills and stay here all night if you want.”
Panera Bread good, Starbucks bad.
A new literary magazine starting up here in PDX called "Perceptions" has accepted two photos for their first issue, but it doesn’t go to press until May. They’ll mail my contributor’s copy to Haiku.
Did I mention we inserted a sort of Grade B horror/Herschell Gordon Lewis homage moment into Art Police? It was a spur-of-the-moment inspiration of mine and involves a severed finger, complete with theatrical blood and....ketchup packets. Should be pretty funny.
I stopped in at Art Media and used the gift card I got at Jean’s dinner party a while back to buy some new charcoals and drawing supplies, because another part of my regiment to get myself back into shape AND back into full creative flux is to make at least one drawing or piece of visual art, even if it’s just a sketch, every day from now until I leave. (And after.)
And of course, the day after I whined about Portland weather, we got one of the (mostly) best and brightest days we’ve had in a while. When it’s lovely here, it is lovely indeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment