1/30: Structure

[darkemeralds]

The one-year mark in the don't-work-no-more phase of my career has come and gone, and I find that I want some structure back in my life. I feel ready to emerge from my cave a little and reconnect, too.

So maybe I can do a post a day for a month.

Boy, am I rusty. Whew. Let's see... [self-censor kicks into high gear: "No, that's unoriginal. No, that would be whiny. No, that sounds like a commercial..."]



Unoriginal: Graydie says "Must you?" while trying to continue her 20-hour nap on the abandoned chair with the heating pad inside it, on my porch.



Whiny: Lacking the commute to work that used to provide me with an hour's good exercise a day (and having all this free time to practice my hobby of eating), I've regained a portion of the weight I lost. I'm having a hell of a time finding a new, life-relevant way of losing it again. I might not care at all, except that I don't want to buy a bunch of new clothes. Because of said weight gain, my retirement wardrobe has consisted of two pairs of black jeans, one pair of Dansko shoes, and ten hoodies, and I miss dressing a little nicer.

Commercial: I've been watching and loving Last Tango in Halifax. If you don't know it, it's a British family comedy-drama written and produced by women, and centered very much on women characters. The scripts are exquisite and the acting positively sublime, and although I generally shy away from realistic family dramas, I'm loving this one.

The first two series are streaming on Netflix, and the third is just finishing up on UK television next week and might pop up in some of the usual places. Highly recommended.

Comments

[branchandroot]

It's a kitty! Kitties are never unoriginal, and Gradie looks wonderfully fluffy, even when she's glaring grumpily.

It takes some capital to set up, but you could always get a bike driven power generator and a grid-tie inverter, and pedal down your electric bill. The best package I've found is pedal-a-watt home power package (http://www.econvergence.net/The-Pedal-A-Watt-Bicycle-Generator-Stand-s/1820.htm, bottom of the page). One of my co-workers actually runs her home entirely off one of these. If there isn't room to set this up, K-tor has a small pedal generator that could be mounted to a wood box or triangle (painted to match the room, of course) and pedaled from your couch/chair; you'd have to find a grid-tie inverter separately, though.

[darkemeralds]

What a wonderfully original and creative suggestion! Wow, that would have never crossed my mind--and I have a dynamo hub on my bike already that powers the bike's own lights (and potentially a smartphone) so it's not like I'm not aware of the concept of pedal-power. But this--this is really cool! Thank you for giving me something so interesting to consider. :D :D :D

[sasha_feather]

hello!

[darkemeralds]

Hi there! Sorry to have been such a stranger. Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.

[executrix]

Hi! Missed you!

Ummm, fandom osmosis tells me that Last Tango in Halifax fans...don't like stuff that happened, so you might want to stay away from the usual places.

Netflix keeps having annoying commercials for a free trial of an online exercise channel, although they are inefficient enough that I can't remember the name of the damn thing. Still, even after the free trial I think it's fairly inexpensive. Although one way to get out of the house and have some structure too is to find an obscure exercise class way the hell out of the way. Or a class in brush painting, or chamber music appreciation or anything interesting.

ETA: Perhaps a weekly pilgrimage to an inconvenient store that sells terrific tea, or sublime goat cheese which is too expensive to purchase in more than tiny amounts, or glorious wheat-free baked goods.

Every town should have a one-day-a-week used bookstore for charity, a subject about which I could tell you a LOT.

[darkemeralds]

Hi there! How're you keeping in the storm?

Fannish spaces have taught me a lot about what should outrage me, and it's been very salutary. I can guess what fandom objected to in Last Tango. I registered it--and with some displeasure--but I'm afraid it didn't spoil my personal enjoyment of the rest of the show. I decided I didn't want to feel guilty about that.

I certainly get my money's worth out of Netflix Streaming: my sister, two of her kids, and I all enjoy it for $7.99 a month. Hardly any A-List movies, and of course you have to wait for the full-season DVD release of a show you're following, but you can't beat it for commercial-free binge-watching. They have a rather good selection of documentaries, too.

I'm not aware of a Portland charity used book sale, but the Little Free Library concept seems to have taken off dramatically here in the last couple of years, and I'm seeing them on every block. But tell me more about your charity bookstore!

As to the weekly pilgrimage concept, that's been my only salvation. I make a point of getting just a few things at the grocery store each time so that I have to go back tomorrow, and I've cultivated, if not sublime goat cheese, at least local brand of frozen raw cat food that Her Highness prefers and is only available at a store three miles away at the top of the ridge. But that consistent daily hour is really hard to do without the exogenous goad of WORK, especially in bad weather.

[executrix]

I wasn't thinking "you have to be outraged!" so much as "they might let you down."

I got fired (is "creative differences" a Thing in charity used bookstores?) but it was every Sunday, at a local church. The church built bookcases, and every Sunday people donated books, which we sold for 50 cents for paperbacks, $1 hardcover. The Achilles' heel was that there were always more coming in than going out, which could have been handled by having a Better World Books box, because Better World comes and *takes* the damn things. The church ended up getting about $7,000 a year, which was a good chunk of its budget.

We don't have Little Free Libraries! We also don't have Stop'n'Swaps, which New York City's estimable GrowNYC recycling/farmer's market agency does--they're like rummage sales with no money changing hands.

WRT wardrobe I'd suggest getting some Eileen Fisher-style tops that fit your current profile--and then become floaty tops or belted tops once the extra weight has been lost.

[darkemeralds]

Well, it's true that the character trait that makes me overly susceptible to other people's outrage also makes me too easily swayed by other people's opinion: it all comes down to, "Oh dear, maybe I shouldn't be liking this thing that I was liking." Either way, I've learned to stay out of Amazon reviews and fannish spaces alike when I want to enjoy something, unswayed.

I'm sorry they fired you from your charitable work. How dare they!

[executrix]

I used to be a huge spoiler whore but now I find reading reviews saying "And in that episode Character X does That Thing" tends to reduce my enjoyment because I find myself saying "But that's stupid! If X does that, X is a ninny!" whereas I might have enjoyed the episode unspoiled.

I suppose it all works out, for several months a year I'm working seven pretty long days a week, and I'd *never* get finished if I had to spend five hours at Book Sale every Sunday. Also, now that I don't get free books anymore...several flat surfaces do not have heaps of books!

[darkemeralds]

Yeah, I've found that even slight spoilers tend to ruin my enjoyment of a piece more often than they whet my appetite. Though I'll say this: fannish spoilers of the sort that fly by on Twitter on show night can actually help me appreciate little nuances that I might not otherwise notice when it comes time for me to watch the show on the west coast.

Forgive my being so out of touch with my journal reading: is seven long days a week your normal work schedule, or are you on a special project?

[executrix]

I have to re-write two books each year, so the last six weeks or so before submitting each ms. gets pretty hectic, and then when the files come back for proofreading and review I have to rewrite them *again* but on a shorter schedule (although with fewer developments to incorporate).

[ranunculus]

Oh, good, one of my friends has returned!!
Yes, we all whine here, and we share our fears on occasion, and then we share when things are really good. That is what I -like- about DW/LJ we are human.
I know all about the "it doesn't fit" part of the wardrobe. Somehow I gained about 8 pounds some two years ago and have yet to really shed them. Perhaps when I can go back to work?? Then all those half worn pairs of jeans will fit!!

[darkemeralds]

Hi there! Here's to your eight pounds and my 25 (or so) melting away in healthful ways.

[bluemeridian]

YAY! HI! And I feel like branchandroot is winning internet brownies as that is an awesome suggestion and a very interesting link to a thing I hadn't heard of before.

[darkemeralds]

Isn't that an interesting idea? If I actually had to pedal a bike in order to turn on the lights or charge my phone, wow! I just love how innovative and creative people are. Very often I'll read about some new invention or idea (a lot of them in the bike world) and negative comments will say, basically, "Well, I wouldn't use that, so therefore it's a crap idea," or (more commonly), "That doesn't monolithically solve every single problem I can think of in the category of problems it's aimed at solving, so it's a crap idea."

And to me, it's like, what an amazing world, that can produce a solution that would serve some people, maybe just a minority market, or suit a small but real niche, without relying on giant corporate backing. And who knows? That "crap" idea that might, indeed, never be marketable as conceived might form the foundation for something brilliant! The Apple Newton is the high-tech case in point, but history and the patent office are full of "failed" inventions that led to world-changing variations.

[sporky_rat]

Good to see you again!

As for exercise and the like, there's always finding neat things in your area to photograph.

[darkemeralds]

This. Yes! I've actually made a list of short-ish journeys out from my house in a five-mile radius (a ten mile ride being a good solid day's exercise for me) that might provide sites and sights of interest.

Now to go do them.

[hunningham]

Hello,
Nice to have you back again! I'm going to try posting more myself this coming month, just micro-posts and try to get (back into?) the posting & commenting habit.

[darkemeralds]

Oh good! Well, I didn't wait for the first of a new month or anything: when the moment finally felt right, I just said okay, here goes: 30 Days of Posting. Hope you do too.

[nanila]

Hello! How lovely to see you back again. And cat photos and (macros) are one of the internet's raison d'être. There can never be enough.

[darkemeralds]

So very true. And I love your icon. It took a second for me to orient my eyes to what I was seeing, then, "Oh, cool!"

[azurelunatic]

Hooray cats!

I often used to spend great stretches of my afternoon bouncing around the house while balancing on top of a yoga ball. While I cannot actually balance on top of it without touching the floor or a table or anything with any part of my body like I could when I was 10-ish, I can certainly still read or watch TV while sitting with my feet on the floor and bouncing on the ball. I spent a happy two hours last night re-reading a book while getting a mild abdominal workout.

[darkemeralds]

People have left me some wonderful and creative suggestions, and here's another great one! Several of my erstwhile coworkers sat on yoga balls instead of ergonomic chairs (before we all switched to standing workstations) and it always looked like fun. I definitely need more core/balancing muscle work.

Gosh, they aren't very expensive, either! Ooh, I'm tempted, I really am. Thank you for the great idea!