Things I Learned Today

I have found out that the sausage, egg and cheese bagel at Finagle A Bagel, sounds better than it tastes. That if you have even a small cup of coffee with said breakfast that the 2 quarts of water you drank while you were working out are going to start searching for the nearest exit. I also learned that if you have your hand on the door of the only bathroom in the fast food joint, and some desperate looking young woman rushes up begging to go ahead of you because it's "sort of an emergency" that you had better be prepared to wait 15 minutes, and ultimately give up and head back down the street to your gym to use their facility, because Miss Emergency will be in that toilet for the rest of the day, shooting up, giving birth or doing petite point sofa pillows in the john. I think I have learned enough for the day and I am ready to spend the rest of the day at home in ignorance.

Self starter

I was suppose to go into the gym last night after work, but I got a call from the receptionist that my trainer had to go home due to illness. I am hoping I did not give him my cold, but I am kind of doubting it, since our symptoms sound quite different. I am hoping case of yuck I seem to be finally fighting off will cancel out his stomach flu.

I really don't like going into the gym in the evening (too crowded) so I have put off my workout til this morning. The ball is in my court now, and so I have to start putting into practice some of the crap that I have in theory been learning. So to that end I have had my flax seed oil and my protein shake and am just killing some time until I can leave for the gym. Saturday they don't open till 8, which I'll admit is nice for the people working the desk, but is a pain in the ass for early riser me. By then I have been up for at least 3 hours and my ambition to go and swing weights around is already starting to flag. I think in order to have a successful workout, I need to be half asleep when I leave the house, so that I don't realize what I am about to do to myself until I am actually at the gym and it's too late.

The good news is that I get to treat myself to a bagel or something similar afterwards since my body will need some yummy carbohydrates and sugar after. This at least will make a nice dent in the healthy, low fat, low carb, high protein force feedings I am putting myself through. If anyone ever told me I'd have trouble gaining weight, I would have laughed my ass off. Who knew?

Reading

As I mentioned I started to read "Our Mutual Friend". As habit would have it, I have now picked up "A Portrait of a Lady" as well and I am reading them in tandem. I should also mention that I finished "The March of Folly" which was a timely read. You would think that the section on the Viet Nam conflict was the most relevant considering the current state of affairs in Iraq. However I am forced to say that GWB can not claim any special place to obstinate blockheadedness as an American leader. In some ways the section on the British loosing the American Colonies is more relevant. George the 3rd, like George the Turd, surrounded himself only with those who agreed with his every misguided thought and dismissed or banished or persecuted any who would try and defy his god given right to rule foolishly.

I also read in the course of 2 days, Alexander Chee's , "Edinburgh". If you have not read it, I can only suggest that you do so. The subject matter is disturbing, and the prose are exquisite. The combination makes for a compelling read that is engrossing. I swear that the style of Mr. Chee's writing keeps you floating an inch off your seat as you read it. I don't want you to think that I am saying that this book is merely beautiful prose, Edinburgh asks more of the reader. It asks the reader to think, and I am still thinking about this book.

So, having a cold is not all bad, but I am tired of being sick and really want to get back in the gym and have muscle aches that ache in a good way.

Blah, blah

I'm still in bed. I wish I could report that I am now on deaths door, however I am still only suffering from a head cold. I am not sure if I should have even stayed home from work, other than not wanting to give my cold to all of my co-workers. I actually do feel pretty fagged out (if you'll excuse the expression) and I sound like I have been gargling with ground glass. On the whole it is just irritating.

So I am in bed with my laptop and a copy of "Our Mutual Friend". I had meant to pick up "Portrait of a Lady" as I mentioned, so I went over to the bookshelf and grabbed the fat book. I just grabbed the wrong fat book. It must have been kismet. It is perfect for my mood. I had forgotten what a dark book it actually is. There is of course Dickens' humor, but that is set against an umber background. There are so many wonderful characters and in some ways I feel as though it is less sentimental than "Bleak House". The flawed characters are more humanly flawed and the noble characters, more humanly noble, and for me Lizzie Hexam is his most appealing heroine, she is more three dimensional and far less idealized. The novel still has the high gloss of Victorian morality, but with some of the shine worn off. At any rate, I think a dark book, filled with greed, jealousy, murder, betrayal, deception and star crossed love, set in a murky background better suits my mood.

With any luck I will be back in my own grey January world of the 21st century tomorrow, dealing with far less universal problems. Such as who double booked the conference room? A bit more like a Barbara Pym novel. I guess high drama is where you find it.

Blah

I have a cold. It snuck up on me. I got up yesterday feeling full of piss and vinegar and went off to the gym and proceeded to have a particularly good workout. I decided to treat myself to a danish and coffee on the way home. There was a snow flurry going on as I sat in the coffee shop and I people watched and wondered if maybe I should go out for a switch on a Saturday night and see what the rest of the world was up to.

I got home and began the tedious procedure of installing my new hard drive in the laptop, so while the software was loading I went grocery shopping and then made stuffed cabbage occasionally going over to the computer and hitting the return key. Around noon I started to get a runny nose and figured it was due to the cold temperatures. By around 3 I was getting a scratchy throat and by 8, I had to admit to myself I was getting sick. Rather than fight it I just went to bed. 5 this morning rolled around and Alice dragged me out of bed demanding her breakfast, the price I pay for having thumbs. I took my vitamins and my Chantix and surveying my kingdom, realizing I have to do some laundry, I did the only sensible thing. I went back to bed.

It's now around 9:30 and I am lying here in bed, still thinking about the laundry. It seems like an insurmountable task. I hate colds. It is not as though I am on deaths door. I will go off to work tomorrow, I will eventually get out of bed and at least wash some socks and undies, it will just seem like more of a chore than it is. I don't have anyone around that I can get to do things for me, and that has never been a strong suit for me anyway. I've known a few people over the years that enjoyed being sick. They would always get people to come over and do things for them, bring them orange juice and tell them what a poor baby they are. I just want to be left alone. I don't want to be around other people, I just want to get better and not feel like I have been through the wringer. I know that it is not even a bad cold and I will probably be back to normal in a couple of days, so I will try to make the best of it. I will make myself tea, I will start rereading "The Portrait of a Lady", a book that I loved in my youth and I would like to see if I still love in middle age. I will in general take it easy, quietly alone at home and maybe try and get some work done on my computer since I now have the advantage once more of portability. I have also discovered just writing this that the laptop also makes a great heating pad. It can't be all bad.