Lost Weekend Recounted

I found myself a bit over-wrought and over worked when the weekend finally started last Friday. My lovely boss encouraged me to start my weekend early, so I packed it in around 3:30 and headed home. Once in the welcoming confines of my abode, I packed up my gym bag, prepared a snack, and then curled up on the couch for a nap instead of heading out for a workout.

I blamed my general malaise on the summer's first sustained heatwave.  It had been bumping up against 100 degrees for several days in a row.  Not to mention that I had been busy all week at work, trying to get in gym time, and attending meetings for the International Festival.  So, I tossed all care to the wind, turned on the TV, and had a lovely nap.  Of course, the plan was to sleep for an hour of so, and then head to the gym. Instead, I laid a few more paving stones on that famous road, but the rest was quite nice.

I finished off the evening by watching True Grit. It left me strangely empty. The film included all the quirky characters for which the Coen brothers' movies are famous.  However, for some reason, I felt a little empty at its conclusion.  It was well-crafted, beautifully filmed, rather violent, but for some reason there seemed to be a disjointed feel to it.  More like a series of vignettes strung together into a revenge/quest movie than a coherent film.  It reminded me a bit of O Brother, Where Art Thou? With that said, the actor's performances were all quite impressive - Matt Damon's dialog was quite humorous, particularly after the scene where he bites through his tongue.  After the movie, I was off to bed for an early night in.

Saturday started out as a normal "chores and errands" day. The house was cleaned, the shopping list was composed, and the gym bag was again brought downstairs. Then I got a text from my friend Dan who was having a Saturday brew at the Flying Saucer.  Which, sounded like a lot more fun than a sweaty workout. So I joined him for some carb loading. After a couple of pints, we decided that some pool time was necessary to beat the heat, so we headed around the corner to his place at the Hue. Dan pulled out some bathing suits for me to try on (too gay, too gay, just right...) and we spent the afternoon swilling PBR at the pool - topped off by a Manhattan and plans to meet up later.

When I left Dan's, I proceeded to place a few more pavers on my road to Hell, as I had planned to at least get my shopping done, but my friend Arjay texted that he had finished up the release we have been working on for so long and that he was at Tir Na Nog having a celebratory pint.  Of course, by this time, I had no self control left, so I headed over to the pub and had two more pints. Yum Yum. 

There are some advantages to living downtown. You can walk, or stagger, everywhere....and by this time, I was pretty buzzed, so I headed home and had a nap. Do you detect a theme here?

Anyway, the Temper-Pedic mattress worked its magic and I woke up refreshed. A quick dinner, shower, and I was off to meet friends at Flex. My friend John, who documents all details of his life here, was there and we talked about the passing of our friend, Joe's mother. We also discussed our respective blogs and had a few laughs.  His dedication to his blog is an inspiration to me, he can also always get a laugh out of me, so it is always a special treat running into him. And, did I mention it was underwear night at Flex? 

My friend Dan arrived shortly after my first beer. Suffice it to say that the evening devolved quickly into beers, shots, a skinny porn star, shirtless dancing, jock straps, and other sorts of minor debauchery. Why? Why? Why? 

So, my weekend pretty much ended the way it started.  I was up around 9:00 on Sunday, did a little reading, made brunch, retrieved my gym bag from upstairs, had a nap instead of a workout, skipped Sunday-Funday with Arjay and Cathy, cooked dinner, watched a little TV, and went to bed early. All in all, a weekend of relaxation and napping. I am definitely caught up on my rest.

And, I have a date scheduled for Friday. I guess I didn't leave all my integrity on the dance floor... or did I?

Format and other thoughts...

After the first post, I started thinking "What does one share with the rest of the world?"
Since I don't really have an overarching blog theme such as politics, religion, children, websites dedicated to cute cats, fashion, food, technology, or trends in porn, I started thinking that perhaps posts should be created and organized around a few general topics.

This is what I came up with:

• Cast of characters - who I know and why they are important or entertaining to me.
• Humorous things - what occurred, was said, was experienced, was thought, that made me smile or laugh.
• Picks and Pans- movies, books, TV, theater, restaurants, bars, services, etc. - after all, those who cannot do themselves criticize.
• Travel on the go - where I am, what I did, and should you do it too.
• Exposition and Observation - somebody said or I saw something that started me thinking...
• Navel Gazing - it is my blog after all.

So welcome followers. You inspire me to be more creative.  Cathy H. provided today's word of the day. See if you can find it in the post below.

Humorous Things: At the Gym
I am not a gym rat, but I have reached that age where simply switching to lite beer no longer has an affect on my muffin top / man gut. So I am in and out of the gym around 5 days a week. My thoughts on the gym and its management can be shared in another post.

However I am a WHORE for spin class. Since the gym management cancelled / booted my favorite spin class / instructor (shout-out to Malik), I have been sampling other instructors. If you have done it, you may know that spin is a stationary cycling cardio experience that can be as entertaining as a long run on a treadmill while staring at a white wall - particularly if the instructor is not good.

At my gym (the 8th element on the periodic table times 2) all of the instructors are trained in the Les Mills RPM method, so the classes all seem to be aimed at beginners and are not very challenging. The music is nice and the classes are so choreographed that there is not a lot of freedom for the instructor to personalize the experience.  However, each instructor is personable and free to motivate class attendees as they wish. 

The most entertaining of these instructors shouted out the following instructions last night:

• "Work up to your maximum load!"
• "Can you take more load?"
• "Sit and hold the load!"
• "Release the load."

It was like bukaki spin class.

BTW - load equals tension.

If you would like to suggest a word of the day - text me or leave a suggestion in the comments area.  You will get a shout out in the blog and possibly a starring role in a Cast of Characters entry.

Later Taters