So I sat down and realized that it’s been a long time since I wrote anything, and realized that I like writing, if for no other reason than to get some things out of my head. “Brain dump”, if you will. Then, a couple nights ago, I vocalized a resolution that “starting tomorrow, I’ll spend about 10 minutes a day writing”. Obviously, I didn’t do it – until today when I realized that I missed doing it yesterday. Oh well.
This past month has been a little crazy, with friends visiting from Israel, family events, holidays, and much much more.
So I’ve joined a gym and begun training a couple times a week, with the goal of ultimately losing 60 pounds. That’s like losing a kid. And not some baby, more like a 7-year-old. I have to lose a 7-year-old kid in six months. Damn.
To further this goal, I joined a food plan that helps me deal with the whole nutrition aspect by sending me healthy food, prepared and then frozen and shipped to me once a week, and me eating 1600 calories a day. The food is pretty good and they can deliver a nice variety of food, and keep my vegetarianism intact. I rarely feel hungry and don’t typically desire more food than is assigned for that day.
So combining lower calories (and healthy ones, at that!) with workouts should further my cause and get me in some sort of shape other than a circle. Who knows, I might end up a triangle.
I also finally went over to the DMV and took the “you’d have to be pretty darned brain damaged to not pass this written test” test. Guess what? I passed. So I have a learner’s permit, and my uncle took me up to Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights for a driving lesson.
Let me tell you, from the experience of riding a motorcycle, where everything is “in your face” (including the random bug in your mouth) and your physical area is pretty much your “personal space”, to driving his Chevy Impala boat that is looooong, I have to say that I did pretty darned well. It probably reflects more on the teacher than the student, as his kids drive pretty well too.
He had me practice some basics – coasting forward and in reverse to get the hang of the brakes, then we drove around the park a few times and dodged people and other vehicles, and for the final encore, went into the ‘Heights and even did a very short stretch on the highway.
I’ll be the first to say that I need a lot more practice, especially in the parking arena – but it’s all angles and figuring out where you are in relation to everything else. Something I’ve been doing for a while. 😉
Before I forget, Rosh Hashanah was this past week as well, and my uncle and I went to Shachris at the Synagogue of the Arts and heard Shofar. He enjoyed the experience far more than I. Maybe it’s my background in sharing holidays with chassidim, but the whole event seemed very “dry” – and I kind of equated it with what church felt like (yes’ I’ve attended a service or two for the experience). It was very impersonal and not entirely a “fun” thing. We’re going again for Yom Kippur, maybe my perception will have changed.
So that’s all for now – back to doing some important things.