Science Monkey

Although my friend Amy betrayed me and didn’t show, I went to yoga last night after work. It just about killed me. Not really, but I was hurting something bad. I got through the first 45 minutes just fine when whammo! I hit a wall and was running on fumes for the remainder of the class (another hour). I would sit down for a minute or so and get my heartrate back under control, but as soon as I stood up I’d get lightheaded, especially if the next pose involved bending over. Not like curtain-over-your-eyes-gonna-pass-out lightheaded, but I was a little dizzy. I’ve learned two things from last night’s experience:
1. Don’t wait another three-plus months for the next class.
2. Perhaps hot yoga at night isn’t the best thing for me, especially after riding my bike home from work on a hot afternoon.

When I weighed myself this morning I was down about five pounds from when I weighed myself yesterday morning. I’m thinking that it’s not *all* actual weight loss. At least half a pound has to be water weight, right? Heh…maybe a little more than that.

I’m planning to go tomorrow (Sunday) morning to the 10 o’clock class. Despite all my griping and anecdotes about nearly dying, it’s really a lot of fun and you’ll feel pretty great afterwards. I’ll even pop for your first class if you want to come join me. Don’t worry about looking foolish…there’s no way you’ll be worse at it than I am.

Happy Saturday. I’m off to do some errands and take a nap, then I fear I’ll be on WoW much of the night. Yay!

Just a brief note this morning, because I’ve got a ton to do at work. I’m planning to go to Big Ron’s tonight at 6 for hot yoga. Emma and I went out to breakfast this morning and saw our friend Amy, who also goes to yoga (like me, however, she hasn’t been recently). She was planning to go, so Emma encouraged me to go also. So I am. It’s a lot of fun so you should come. Get there a little early and you can help Amy and me claim the back row.

Wouldn’t you know that right as I start to go out for a walk, it starts raining? *grumble* If I were diligent I’d go anyway, but it’s cold and I’m not.

I’ve started to write three different things for this post and realized that even I didn’t care about what I was writing. So fuck it. Maybe there’s something mindless to watch on TV. Probably not. Well, I’m sure there’s something mindless, but not that I want to watch.

It’s the end of March and as good a time as any for a little navel-gazing. I thought I’d take a few minutes and review my resolutions and see how I’m doing and how I might be able to improve over the next three months.

1. Lose 40 pounds.

This is the one I’ve been struggling with the most. Since January I’ve been on a 10-pound yo-yo. Very frustrating. I tend to eat and exercise well on Monday through Wednesday or Thursday, then slack off the rest of the week.

I’m going to try and take up running. Well, jogging for the near future and walking for the immediate future. I figured out a nice two mile walk around the neighborhood earlier this week, but haven’t walked since Wednesday. I’ve been pretty good about riding my bike or walking to work, though, which makes me at least a little proud. I’ve only driven in or gotten a ride about five times this year so far.

2. Spend more time with my family.

If by family, I mean wife, I’m doing pretty well with this one. I’m trying to work hard in the lab when Emma is on a more time-intensive rotation and then spending more time at home when she’s not. Er, not on a time-intensive rotation, not not at home. You understand. I haven’t spent much time with my immediate (or extended) family but…so be it.

3. Make new friends and spend more time with old ones.

Yeah, this one is trying. I’m reasonably good at being social and amiable at work (I think), but I’m a total loner afterwards. Let’s work harder on this one, eh? Maybe I’ll get my happy ass to a Florida Free Culture or Alacloud meeting, given my desire of being that sort of geek. I should go flogging, too…that’s almost like exercise.

4. Drink good beer.

Check. I’ve been enjoying Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat and Sam Adams White Ale this season very much. I’ve been on a wheat beer kick for this last year or so but think these are really nice. I could always go check out the homebrew shop and learn to make my own. That might be social, too, but will probably work contrary to goal #1.

5. FINISH MY GODDAMNED DEGREE.

Getting there. I had a committee member tell me that I’m essentially ready to move on, other than having a coherent story that I can turn into a manuscript, a thesis, and a job talk. I’ve got a decent plan to get that story right now, so we’ll see what I can bang out in the next three months. I suspect I can get a lot of data if I can maintain my focus.

6. Take piano lessons.

Check.

7. Ride 1000 miles on my bike.

So far, I’m at approximately 178 miles for the year, so I’m a little off the thousand-mile pace. I can pick that up this next quarter.

8. Write something every day.

Meh. Not so good. I’m blogging more regularly, which is almost like writing, but I’m not doing the productive, work-related writing that I’d like to have done. Now that I have a good idea of my final project, I should start working on my thesis. I can do the Introduction, Relevance, and Materials and Methods sections now, and work on the rest as I get the data.

9. Get my happy ass organized (GTD).

Nope. Haven’t even read the book yet. I’m trying to write lists of what I need to do at the beginning of each day which helps, but I’m nowhere near organized yet.

10. Learn to use my camera well.

This one has been fun. I’m having a great time taking pictures with my new camera, as you’ve probably noticed. I should try and learn some of the features of the camera and see if I can’t take some more artistic pictures. That’d be nice. There are lots of great birds around the house right now, including a great blue heron in the pond up the hill, so I’ve got some good subject matter.

Okay…that’s enough navel-gazing for now. New petite protopodcast coming soon, I promise. I know you’re all on tenterhooks waiting for the next one. Go Gators!

One last question. What do you think: Haircut? Or no?