Aaaand lets just take two minutes to watch this sweet 90s NordicTrack commercial.
Anywho, I would say 40% of the motivation to keep up with this routine is the fact that I'm doing it with someone, which I haven't done in the past. As soon as he gets home from work we change into workout clothes and go to the basement, even if I complain a lot.
The other 60% of the motivation comes from TV which, now that I think about it, is a big reason why I got to the point where I get winded if I go up the stairs a little too quickly. Irony (right? I have no idea. Does anyone really?) aside, the show we're watching as we exercise that's getting me on the bike each day even though my butt hurts is, at the moment, Red Dwarf and I forgot how awesome it was.
For the uneducated, Red Dwarf is a British sci-fi comedy that originally aired from 1988 to 1999, rebooting in 2009 and continuing on to this day- with the original cast no less. I've not seen the reboot but I'm excited to check it out after we've made it through the original run. This is our second time watching it and its still fantastic and hilarious.
A brief synopsis: Dave Lister, a slacker working on a mining ship called Red Dwarf gets put in stasis as punishment after smuggling a pregnant cat on board only to wake up 3 million years later when the ship is finally deemed safe after a radiation leak kills the rest of the crew. Though he's the sole surviving human, he's joined by the hologram of his now deceased annoying roommate Arnold Rimmer, the life form that evolved from his cat (hidden safely in the cargo hold during the leak), and Holly the ship's computer. They're later joined by Kryten, a service mechanoid, and an alternate-reality version of Lister's love interest from the former crew of Red Dwarf, Kristine Kochanski. And then funny stuff happens. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes space things and also funny things.
Also, the episodes are 30 minutes which is an ideal amount of time for a good cardio session. You're welcome.
Well, I just finished The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by my man Haruki Murakami and as usual, I feel a bit like a lost soul but, um, in a good way? I've read only 2 other Murakami books thus far (1Q84 and Kafka on the Shore) but every time I finish one, I'm left with a profound sense of what I like to call "what-ness" which basically means I have to think about it for a while to decide if I know what I just read or not. And yet, despite that, I'm already thinking of which one I'm gonna read next (Norwegian Wood maybe?).
***
You can read the full official synopsis of the book in the link above but Chronicle is basically a surreal detective story where this dude starts off looking for his cat who's gone missing, but then starts looking for his wife who goes missing soon after. AND THEN WEIRD STUFF HAPPENS.
I'm sorry but this is the best I can do. Murakami has been compared to Kurt Vonnegut plenty of times and if you've read anything by him (oh god, please do if you haven't) maybe you'll understand my struggle: while that sounds like a simple story, and while that is indeed what it's about, it's not at ALL that simple.*
As much as I've enjoyed them so far, I hesitate to recommend Murakami books because of that "what-ness" I mentioned above- the story is never that simple and there's a lot you may not understand, even when you're done. It doesn't seem like he concerns himself too much with explaining himself and tying up loose ends and there's a chance you won't feel completely satisfied with the ending. You have to be ok with taking time to flesh things out in your head a while after you finish, but I personally feel as if it's intentional (as opposed to shitty writing, say) and don't think it's a bad thing for an author to keep you thinking about the book long after you finish it.
Murakami-san himself. Pic found HERE from his 2015 "100 Most Influential People" blurb written by Yoko Ono in TIME Magazine. Check it out (it's short, don't worry).
Anyway, a little more on the story itself: I think I especially liked this one because I really connected with the main character, the poor dude who's missing his cat and wife, Toru Okada. Right from the beginning you learn he recently quit his job and is having a hard time figuring out what to do next. At a bit of a similar crossroads myself (but without the luxury of being able to be out of work indefinitely), I like how, over the course of this novel you discover how much this seemingly lost and unambitious guy, accused of being worthless, has to offer in his own quiet way.
I'm afraid if I continue rambling about this I'll give away too many spoilers so I'll end it here. I'd give this book a 4/5 stars so consider it Highly Recommended.
*And real quick since I mentioned it, I'd like to say that when I mention he's much like Vonnegut, it doesn't mean that he's a "Japanese Kurt Vonnegut;" he's more a "Japanese version of Kurt Vonnegut-esque writing".
When I was younger, I was an avid journaler. I was a quiet kid full of Feelings (as opposed to the slightly less quiet adult full of Feelings I am today) so naturally I turned to journaling, in addition to strange short stories and terrible poetry, to express those Feels.
Nowadays though, journalling has become a less effective means of expressing myself. Go figure- focusing on building my relationships by actually telling people how I feel* and/or creating Things has contributed a lot more to my general happiness/mental wellbeing than writing stuff Top Secretly in a notebook for my eyes only. As I get a little older, journalling seems favorable only as a means to chronicle all the fantastic things I do for, I don't know, future generations or something, because I'm forgetting shit left and right already. Plus, I read this book about Jim Henson and his life as chronicled by the journal he kept, scrawling quick lines of his (ridiculously full and busy) days.
This book had me completely in awe of Jim Henson. He had an unbelievable amount of what the kids call "hustle" and I will never know how he fit so much into such a- sadly- short life. The book itself has excerpts from his journal along with pictures, blurbs, and other documents to give more background to the things he wrote. It's super interesting and I learned a lot about Jim Henson, someone I thought I knew a lot about already. I highly recommend the book.
Anyway, what I DON'T recommend, is trying to diligently write a few lines every day or every few days because you are NOT Jim Henson. Ok, well maybe you are one of those on the go every second people but since a lot of my time is spent emotionally preparing for things (it looks a lot like sitting on the couch watching old lady shows on TV but I promise it's WORK), my journal tends to be a little boring and repetitive.**
So, needless to say, journalling has most definitely not been on my radar for some time. That is, until I stumbled across Journal Threading.
Other than the link I provided above, I've found pretty much no further information about it (though there are links to a Facebook site on the page, as well as one to the Instagram page the above picture was originally found).
The lowdown is, you set up a 12 inch embroidery hoop with the fabric of your choice, separate it into 12 sections (one for each month of course) with the year in the middle, then doodle whatever the hell you want, whatever small pictorial representation you can think of to represent what went on that month.
I absolutely love this idea. Aside from it being an ideal way to practice some embroidery techniques which I've been meaning to do, it's a more accessible and pleasant way to record your year I feel. You've created a piece of art you'll be more likely to consume than a notebook filled with lists of things you did. Sure you might not remember what exactly each thing represents in years to come but wouldn't to be fun to look at try to figure out?
I'm considering starting one myself. I've been toying with the idea of merging the tradition journalling-in-a-notebook style with journal threading by, instead of having a bunch of hoops, creating a book of sorts that I can add to over the years. Who knows.
*Yeah, ok, sure, I guess I'm still working on this one. Ya caught me.
**I would like to say that not everyone can be a Jim Henson. I may write more on this at a later date but in a world that often stresses that the only way to really live is to go and do absolutely ALL THE THINGS, doing small things you love with minimal fuss often gets brushed off as not worthwhile. While I do agree you need to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, and you should definitely see a little something of this amazing world, no one should feel as if they need to apologize for appreciating the little things in life so much that they find joy in living quietly most of the time. Finding joy in the small and the so-called "mundane" is a precious gift, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
It is a somewhat unfortunate (if not kinda hilarious) trait of mine that I find it difficult to be serious about Serious Things (war, famine, etc) but can be very Serious about Trivial Things Of No Consequence (such as couch cushion placement and put thE DAMN DISHES IN THE DISHWASHER RIGHT AWAY DO NOT LEAVE THEM IN THE SINK THEY'RE INCHES AWAY FROM EACH OTHER FOR CHRIST-SAKE). It is because of this that I had a significant amount of difficulty starting this post.
So yeah, Australia is ON FREAKING FIRE guys. It is not ok. Terrible disasters (man-made and otherwise) ravage this planet constantly and they of course all affect me but as someone who will openly weep when David Attenborough tells us what a shit job we're doing taking care of all the animals and shit (watch this series if you wanna feel ashamed to be human and also if you feel as if you don't have enough sympathy for walruses. Its on Netflix, you're welcome), I've been thinking about this a little more recently. I don't usually, if I'm honest, but I think that's because when Bad Things happen, its easy to dismiss it because what can you do about it? And don't we have enough personal crisis to deal with?
This time though, my sister recently shared with me an article about the Animal Rescue Craft Guild in Australia that's crafting various pouches, nests, Koala mittens (!), beds, blankets, and more for the many displaced/rescued animals. Their efforts have spread to other countries and this is the kinda thing that 1. makes me feel better about people and 2. makes me feel like there is actually something I can do, even though I'm far away and don't have much in the way of expendable income.
Bats... unsettle me, but so do most people and I don't want them to burn up in a fire either.
Anywho, there's so much more to say about this but since many someones have already done a better job of doing that than I could possibly do, I've collected a handy link list for you. You're welcome. I'm off to go rummage in my craft supplies.
LINKS!
If your response was "what's happening in Australia now?" read THIS
If your response was "I want to know more but words are too hard and my brain hurts" go HERE
If your response was "tell me more about these animal crafts" go HERE or HERE or HERE
If your response was "finally, something to do with all these bat wraps I made!" go HERE
I'm usually not into new years resolutions and often new year blog posts make me roll my eyes but here I am. I'm what I like to call an aggressive procrastinator and if I waited until the new year to make sweeping goals and attempts at life changes, well, I'd get even less done than usual. I don't need that kind of excuse.
As much as I struggle with it, I'm a firm believer it the fact that there's no time like the present but hey, here we are at the beginning of a new year, relatively shortly after I became more dedicated to make some big changes for myself. Seems like maybe, just this once, it makes sense for me to make out a list of resolutions. So here we go.
This painting by Paul Gauguin entitled Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? is one of my absolute favorites. I think it fits the introspective new year vibe pretty well.
1. Plan my freaking wedding already (it's in August!!!). Every time someone asks me what plans I've made so far, I want to actually be able to tell them something other than "Well I have my venue." That's... well that's only the tip of the iceberg so when they inevitably ask what else I've decided, I just laugh, maybe possibly in a desperate/panicky type of way. Party planning (and, uh, parties in general) aren't my forte and I generally despise the thought of having all that attention focused on me, but if pressed, I'd have to admit that throwing an awesome wedding is important to me so I should give it the attention it deserves. I'm particularly fond of my super special dude so maybe I'm biased but celebrating the magic that is Us is 100% party worthy.
2. Better time management. I had big plans today but I spent a lot of it scrolling on my phone and sitting in front of the TV sipping coffee I kept having to reheat because I kept forgetting about it, watching things I didn't even care about. This always makes me feel like shit but somehow that never stops me from doing it. I hope to end that vicious cycle this year. As a bonus, accomplishing this will allow me to have the occasional do nothing/100% relaxation days without all the guilt
3. Make more things, anything and everything. One of the best things I can do for my mental health personally, is to keep my mind and hands busy (there's no telling where my brain will go if left unsupervised...). My mom recently gave me one of her spare sewing machines so I'm really looking forward to honing new skills- as well as current ones- this year.
4. Exercise, ugh. The one thing on every person's list. Must have something to do with the fact that exercise does wonders for your physical and mental health and makes you feel so much better in general, I dunno.
5. New job! I've gotten to a spot where my near miss a month ago is becoming more a confidence booster than a disappointment. I want to make creating (and sticking to) a schedule for job searching a priority. Hopefully, after far too long just talking about it, I actually make some moves.
6. Keep track of the books I read. This is entirely unnecessary but I want to do it anyway because... I don't really know why. It might have something to do with the large bin of books my mom brought me from my old room back home, but I really want to make my way through all the books I currently own (some may say I have too many, I personally don't think there's such a thing...) but haven't read yet before buying new ones. It'd be interesting and motivating to keep track and see how many I get through in a year- I did it once and read 30. This last year I didn't keep track but doubt I made it close to that- maybe this year I can blow 30 out of the water! As a bonus, reading can be a good mindfulness activity so finding a way to encourage me to put more effort into it isn't such a bad idea.
7. Aaaaand finally; continue keeping track of all of the above on this blog. I'm still getting into the rhythm of things but I'm enjoying it all the same. I want to do better at following through with the things that I start so I'm kinda excited to see where this goes because I definitely don't want to abandon it.
I was going to sign off there but think it's important to add all the good things that happened to me in 2019. Regardless of how your year was, it contributed to how you're going to deal with the upcoming year so it's important to focus on all the good things. You can use that as fodder to propel you through this brand new year. Here's some of my good shit:
1. I got engaged to someone who makes me feel more at ease than I ever thought possible- both with them and myself. Plus, as a bonus, he makes me laugh at LEAST once every single day, no matter what mood he's in (he danced during the theme song for every freaking classic Doctor Who episode because I thought it was hilarious. That's a shit ton of funny dances guys).
2. I found out I was going to be an aunt! I can't wait to meet my little nephew cub!
3. I went to Japan and it was AMAZING.
4. Became a successful plant mom.
5. I got to spent more time with my family than usual this year.
6. I got serious about doing actual work to make changes in my life for the better, more so than I have in the past.
Not too shabby, huh? Well, I think that about wraps 'er up. Happy new year guys!
