I didn't take no shortcuts.

One week into March Mildness! Seven days without alcohol, seven days watching what I eat, seven days of exercise. I am going to wait before taking a day off. A day off is fine, it is earned. Maybe tomorrow.

This is also when things can go off the rails. I mean, things can always go off the rails. Last night I had a root beer with my meal of popcorn. 

Monday is five dollar movie night at the Cedar Lee, we saw Kazuo Ishiguro's film Living. I want Bill Nighy and Aimee Lou Wood to do a road picture.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 32:57
Pace: 10:37

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 34°
Climate: sunny & cold

Pavement: damp
Mood: good

I did not think that was going to go well ... but it did! Keep up those positive spirits, it will help. Dressed for cold and it was the right call. The windbreaker would have been chilly, and that would have slowed me down. Nice sweaty run!

2000 Playlist

Outer Bongolia - Stereolab *

Dirty Trip - AIR

Music - Madonna

The Tower That Ate People - Peter Gabriel

Bohemian Like You - The Dandy Warhols

Barely Legal - The Strokes *

Renegades of Funk - Rage Against the Machine

What was 2000? It was a year I spent way too much money. I directed Lysistrata, Toni premiered Angst:84. We took a three week road trip, and I got to see Graceland. Things were good. We had no idea.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/oatmilk cream, raisin bran w/fresh strawberries, banana & soy milk

Lunch: parmesan pasta w/roasted root vegetables

Snack: apple

Dinner: chicken pad thai

Happy Hour: orange juice

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 187.5 lbs. (-1.5)

Goal: 185 lbs.

I can change.

Ooh. Sore joints. Left knee, taking steps is a little creaky. Also, sugar last night. A tony dessert, the boy offered me the Kool-Aid he had just prepared, I had it with a lot of ice. It's hard to say no to things which are offered or are right in front of you.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 33:01
Pace: 10:38

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 41°
Climate: sunny & light hail (fr)

Pavement: dry
Mood: all right

2010 Playlist

Stylo - Gorillaz ft. Mos Def & Bobby Womack

Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) - Shakira ft. Freshlyground

I Can Change - LCD Soundsystem

Infinity Guitars - Sleigh Bells (157 bpm)

Derezzed - Daft Punk

OMG (clean) - Usher ft. will.i.am

Too Dramatic - Ra Ra Riot (167 bpm)

Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera

We Speak No Americano - Yolanda Be Cool ft. DCup

What was 2010? My CPAC fellowship year. First time I had the opportunity to write the outreach tour, and it was about vampires! The kids begin to learn about contemporary pop culture. I brand myself a playwright, and insist everyone call me that.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec. (2x)
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/almond cream, two pancakes, syrup, butter w/fresh strawberries & bananas

Coffee Break: More coffee, soda water

Lunch: spicy tuna roll, macaroni salad side

Coffee Break: coffee w/oatmilk cream

Dinner: popcorn, root beer

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 189 lbs. (-0-) 

Goal: 185 lbs.

There's nowhere to run.

Don't think about the pandemic.

Seriously, though! No alcohol on the weekends! That's weird! Saturday night it was like, 5 PM and I am thinking, beer? I'm passing the beer fridge -- which I was emptying over the course of the month of February -- and I'm like, there's beer in there! That would be good right now.

Anyway, no. Tea is good, too. But it sure makes the evening last longer. We went to bed at 9:30 like a couple of old people.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 31:59
Pace: 10:19

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 41°
Climate: sunny & cool

Pavement: dry
Mood: all right

Remember to wear gloves when it is below 40°. You can always take them off. But glory be! What a beautiful day.

2020 Playlist

Blue Monday - Sebastian Böhm

Heart of Glass (Live) - Miley Cyrus

We Go On - The Avalanches ft. Cola Boyy, Mick Jones & Karen Carpenter

Levitating - Dupa Lipa

Straight To the Morning - Hot Chip ft. Jarvis Cocker

TCR - Sleaford Mods (152 bpm)

Interstellar Love - The Avalanches ft. Leon Bridges

Dynamite - BTS

Crossbow - Tamar Aphek

 

Two covers and two samples from my youth. I am getting old.

What was 2020? Jesus. What wasn't 2020? My mother died, then we had a pandemic. The summer uprising, the near total descent into Fascism -- still could happen, no worries. Our eldest had their senior year canceled, and I started grad school.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/almond cream, homemade bread w/butter & sunbutter

Lunch: parmesan pasta w/roasted root vegetables

Dinner: vegan ramen & salad ... and half a vegan fruit tart

Happy Hour: Cherry Kool-Aid

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 189 lbs. (-2.5)

New Goal: 185 lbs.

Here's the thing. Recently I learned that Ewan McGregor, who was already decently fit in 1995 (and only 24 years old) achieved his heroin user weight for the movie Trainspotting by giving up beer. He claims the pounds melted away.

 I drink a beer every day, or most days. At least one. So, for five days I have not consumed beer nor any alcohol, and lost six pounds immediately. This will not continue, the rapid weight loss, I mean. But we are on our way.

I was nowhere, now I'm whole.

Distance: 1 mile

Pace: 10:23

Route: once around the block.

Temperature: 41°
Climate: sunny & cool

Pavement: dry
Mood: good

1971 Playlist

Sepheryn - Curtiss Maldoon

Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin

Oh Yoko! - John Lennon

 

Rather than take a day off, after a strenuous day (like yesterday) will take a short tun. Yes. That is what I will do.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/almond cream, oatmeal w/dried cranberries & raisins, fresh strawberries & banana, brown sugar, butter and (yes) almond cream

Coffee Hour: more coffee

Lunch: smoothie bowl w/fresh blueberry, mango & strawberry, granola & honey 

Tea Time: Earl Grey w/almond cream

Dinner: roasted root vegetables w/creamy pasta, no-knead bread w/butter

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 191.5 lbs. (-1.0)

Goal: 190 lbs.

Do you want to take a break?

Say what you want about Spotify. The fact is, that is how folks received and consume music, certainly the young people. And if its' not on Spotify, you can't hear it. And because of copyright issues, De La Soul's first six albums have been unavailable for streaming.

My son has all my De La Soul CDs. I still have the cassettes and vinyl in the attic. We hear tracks on The Current. Otherwise they are absent, or they have been. Until today.

I can't tell you how important De La was in my young adulthood. I'm going to listen the shit out of these records.

Distance: 3.75 miles

Duration: 40:23
Pace: 10:46

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 39°
Climate: overcast & cool

Pavement: dry
Mood: driven

1991 Playlist - or - "De La Soul Is Dead" by De La Soul

Oodles of O's

Talkin' Bout Hey Love

Pease Porridge

A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays"

Bitties in the BK Lounge

My Brother's a Basehead

Let, Let Me In

Afro Connections at a Hi 5 (In the Eyes of the Hoodlum)

Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)

Pass the Plugs

For Dave.

What was 1991? The year I received my BFA, got my first job in arts education. The summer we spent on Coventry. Moving into the larger Cleveland theater community. Got engaged for the first time. And this album was released on May 14, when I was still in Los Angeles.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec. 
Water: yes

It is true. When you pull back from eating whenever you want to, your imagination always drifts back to food. For someone as well fed as I, that's kind of shameful.

Breakfast: coffee w/almond cream, raisin bran w/banana, strawberry & soy

Coffee Break: coffee w/almond milk, apple slices

Lunch: salad w/roasted sweet potato, tomatoes, fake bacon, balsamic vinaigrette

Headache Remedy: Cherry Coke Zero

Dinner: Mac & Cheese 1 C., cauliflower "wings" & sauce

The sun makes such a difference. Same temperature, but I had to walk a little, I wore long pants (I have been in shorts) and gloves. It may snow, but it will also remain mild the next several days. Winter weather is important, right now I am glad I can build up endurance in mild temps.

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 192.5 lbs. (-0.5)

Goal: 190 lbs.

I'm straight, at least I think so.

I burp, a lot. It's ben building over the past several years or more. I am wondering if I have developed a sensitivity to dairy. But I like cold cereal, so I'm trying vanilla soy instead. I also tried it in my coffee, but I don't hate myself that much. No more bowls of milk, though.

And no ice cream this month. Because it's March Mildness! 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 33:03
Pace: 10:40

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 40°
Climate: sunny & cool

Pavement: dry
Mood: determined

1981 Playlist

Goo Goo Muck - The Cramps

Dumb Waiters - Psychedelic Furs

New Toy - Lene Lovich

Hang Fire - The Rolling Stones

Porcelain - The Pretenders

The Jezebel Spirit - Brian Eno & David Byrne

Shut Up - Madness

Working For the Weekend  - Loverboy

Charlotte Sometimes - The Cure

What was 1981? Big year, big me. First kiss, first a lot of things. I bought a lot of 45s that year, the music that summer was pretty inspiring ... but I wasn't even listening to the good stuff.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec. 
Water: yes

Man. Second day, and my knee hurts. Left knee. It's the weather.

Breakfast: coffee w/almond cream (no), Raisin Bran w/banana & strawberry w/soy milk

Coffee break: latte w/oatmilk

Lunch: leftover rice & greens

Happy Hour: tea w/almond cream

Dinner: salad w/roasted sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, pepitas & balsamic vinaigrette

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 193 lbs. (-2.0)

Goal: 190 lbs.

That loss is just what was sitting in my system. You stop snacking for one day, and that is what you can drop.

March Mildness

We're trying something new, something radical. It has been a challenging season. Not terrible, I know terrible, it has not been terrible. But it slouches towards malaise. And poor health. Bingeing junk food. Drinking, not to excess, just consistently. And little no exercise.

Some do the "Dry January" thing, which I cannot get on board with. I respect a New Year's resolution, I have even made them. But January is a month made for drinking, and I will not compromise that.

Others "give up" things for Lent, and that is also very nice. Occasional, considered, voluntary abstinence can lead one to appreciate the world and one's place in it. But I never know when Lent begins, much less when it ends.

So, I arbitrarily decided March would be the month I do something exceptional, to see how it makes me feel. This month I will run no fewer than six days a week, and I will abstain from the consumption of alcohol and "additional food" which I qualify as snacks or desserts.

 

The wife has called it "March Mildness." She does have a way with words.

Here you go!

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 33:35

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 40°
Climate: bright & sunny

Pavement: wet
Mood: dedicated

If every morning were as beautiful as this morning, this would be a breeze. I have to prepare myself for hardship.

 

2001 Playlist

19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) - Gorillaz

In the Waiting Line - Zero 7 ft. Sophie Baker

Crescendolls - Daft Punk

Because We Can - Fatboy Slim

Star 69 - Fatboy Slim

Start the Commotion - Wiseguys

Samba Da Bencao - Bebel Gilberto

One More Time - Daft Punk

What was 2001? I mean.

 

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, carrot, frosted mini wheats w/soy

Lunch: spicy tuna roll, Cherry Coke Zero

Happy Hour: Earl Grey w/honey & almond cream

Dinner: kale stir fry w/tofu & rice, fizzy water

First time having lunch together in the conference room the rest of the staff in three years. And yes, I had to pass on ice cream cake.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: yes

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 195 lbs.

Goal: 190 lbs.