A New Age

Now that I have a new job (and a fresh start) I am going to pack my life with productivity and remove as much frivolity and non-productive pursuits as possible going forward.

Today I:

• Ate right all day.
• Shaved my head.
• Did laundry.
• Practiced my guitar for several hours (1:15 - 3:30 pm).
• Food shopped.
• Worked out (7:30 - 8:30 pm).

I also spent time online making sure I know how to get to Copley Place for the week. It looks like Alewife → Red Line → Downtown Crossing → Back Bay Station. It should be an interesting day tomorrow...

An Ignore the World Day

Every once in awhile I enjoy an "Ignore the World" day. I don't interact with any live humans, with the exceptions of: important incoming phone calls; social media updates; and/or the person at the counter of the convenience store (or a delivery guy). Then I proceed to do (or more importantly sometime, not do) whatever I choose.

Here are today's accomplishments:

• I had coffee (Caribou "Obsidian") and frosted shredded wheat for breakfast after I rolled out of bed at the cat's insistence at 9:30.
• I watched an old movie from 1958 called "War of the Colossal Beast", and then the latest episode of the re-imagined "Thundercats".
• I turned on my computer and took my guitar out of its dusty case, and then I called Ma to talk to her about Grammy's quick recovery from yet another heart incident (*phew!*). Then it was online to play games and surf, while Mutemath's first album thumped throughout my bedroom/office.
• Lunch was a big ham steak and half of a large cucumber. I spent some time creating mazes for (and then playing them on) World's Biggest Pac-Man, and looking at all the beautiful women on Model Mayhem.
• At approximately 3:30 I began to resharpen my guitar skills (meager as they are) for the next couple of hours, stopping only to make more coffee, and to play the occasional maze in between chord progressions and song recollections.
• Wow, I practiced until 6 pm! It was a lot of fun, too. I aim to keep it up better than I have in the recent (last 6 months) past. 
• Supper was a ½ pound of ground beef mixed into angel hair pasta & Ragu. I listened to an old trance cd (Trance Global Nation 5) and Thievery Corporation's The Mirror Conspiracy. The one thing that I wanted to do today that I did not do was work out. Oh well... It was a great day (it's 11:30 pm now).

Industriousness

I spent the day tearing down my bedroom/office and cleaning it top to bottom. Dust-free and rearranged, it now has a lighter, airier feel to it. And my 5-disc changer/stereo is back in a useful spot, rather than collecting cobwebs in the living room.

It's All Relative

Now that I have been working on a regular basis again I have noticed that my free time has become a lot more productive.

I had planned on sleeping in for a change, but I wound up getting out of bed at 8:30 anyway. It rained off & on all day, which was very nice for a change!

I sorted and bagged a bunch of old comics, and weeded out a stack to trade for new ones at my local shop. I went to music store Gordon Lasalle to see about selling my guitar, but they could only offer me $30 at current demand, but the guy was cool enough to give me advice (people are getting up to $100 on eBay for the same model). So I get to keep my guitar for now, and I got some new comics to read tonight. A great day off.

Blizzard Number 3

We got 6 inches of powdery snow overnight. That makes three storms in ten days (the 11th, the 18th, and very early today). Because woke up feeling nearly 100% healthy again (no more headache! No queasy stomach!), I got up at eight, showered right away, ate breakfast, and went out to shovel after awhile. It felt good to be out in the fresh air and sunshine, and the shoveling was effortless. Over the course of the day I ate normally, cleaned the litter box, took out the trash, did nearly all of the possible laundry in the house (clothes, blankets, towels, sheets, etc...) in three loads, did dishes, cleaned the stove top, and cooked.

I also talked to Sarah & the kids on the phone, read Rolling Stone, and wrote up a big blog post/survey/contest about music on Not Lame Minus. Hopefully it will generate some interest.

Positive notes from the illness and blizzard combo: I ate very healthy every day for the last week. It was mostly fruit & veggies, water, small amounts of meat, nuts, cereal and a lot less coffee than I usually consume (less than 2 cups a day until today). Also, I went to bed at a decent hour (in bed by midnight every night, sometimes hours earlier), and got up early (8 am) almost every day. Plus I read more (3 whole books), and sat on my ass in front of this screen or the tv screen a lot less as a result. Not to mention the fact that I signed most of the acts to (and designed a new website for) this year's Music Fest. Now if only I could find a job...

Yesterday

Yesterday (Monday) was a good day. I spent the morning reading the latest issue of "Surfer Magazine" and drawing (surfers, go figure) while I finished watching "Raiders of the Lost Ark". I did my usual fruitless job search online as I played games, read on Wikipedia for awhile and entered a few random contests. It was ESPN sports television ("ATH" & "PTI") while I read the latest "Rolling Stone" beginning at 5 pm. I worked out from 7 - 9 pm, and then took a quick shower, before stretching my last $60 at Hannaford (I had coupons for $5 off $50, and free cat litter - score!). I watched the Ravens/Texans game (I beat my brother Kevin in the first consolation round in our fantasy football league - thanks Andre Johnson!) and the beginning of "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom" (the worst of the franchise by far - Kate Capshaw, you cannot act!), and then fell asleep around 1 am while reading old issues of "Terminal City".