There's no question I should do more stretching on a regular basis, though there are a lot of things I should be doing. While I do like this house, I would definitely go to the gym more if we were in the old location. Having to go over the bridge in the cold, and then knowing that I will be coming back with wet hair (since I mostly go there to swim) is so unappealing in the winter. Nonetheless, I have to get back into a routine or I will be terribly, terribly out of shape come spring (when I have to squeeze back into airplane seating for a few trips in March).
Growing old is not great, and I am still at the point where I could reverse some of the impacts of bad diet compounded by not enough sleep. Though to really get at the root of the problem, I have to find a way to reduce stress in my life, and that means taking a different approach to work. I simply take it too seriously, and I don't see that ever changing (though it might be better if I was getting more fulfillment out of work), which then leads to these other negatives. All I can say now is that I am aware of it, and I am making some steps to change, but I really ought to get over to the gym more.
I did get a bit further on the sewing, though I have to say the combination of the thick curtain material and the bargain basement thread isn't a good one. The thread is snapping constantly. If it weren't for the fact that the other projects went better, I would be giving up on sewing. As it is, I just need to push through and finish the curtains, then I think it will start getting fun again.
I'm still going to a fair bit of theatre. I saw an update of Agamemnon that was a bit meh. It was sort of Agamemnon meets the Sopranos, with the older daughter a foul-mouthed Millennial and Electra a catatonic shell of a girl who just played video games all day. It had a few amusing moments, but for the most part was forgettable. Saturday I'm going to see A Man Walks into a Bar, which got great reviews last year at the Fringe. It also looks like I will be seeing a fair bit of theatre in February, though a couple dates are still tentative, as they depend on the weather cooperating.
I certainly have not been writing as much, though I can feel a bit of pressure building up to make some progress on something. Part of the problem is that I have always been too deadline driven (and being a consultant for a living doesn't help!). I'm currently taking a bit of a pause from Sing-for-Your-Supper, though it probably isn't a permanent one. I did see that the Toronto Star short story contest is starting up again with a deadline in late Feb. I think this would be a good time to revamp the first section of the play (where the main character gets married but already the immigration officer is sniffing around, looking for evidence of fraud). That might or might not work its way into the final novel, but should work as a good short story. So I'll write it in short story form first, then convert it over to a play. After that, I will use good old-fashioned shaming techniques (on myself) that I must finish two scenes a month and I will be done by late spring. (Apparently the most effective is to vow to send money to a political group that you abhor if you miss the deadlines.) That is probably too extreme, but something similar (donating to Scientologists perhaps) would probably do the trick.
I've got an interesting project I am starting, but I don't want to go into details until it is ready to launch. That's it for the moment.
Or at least I thought it was it. I just heard that Alan Rickman died. Drat. I liked him in a number of films (not just Harry Potter...). While the impact isn't anywhere near as devastating as Bowie, it is still an unpleasant shock to the system.
RIP
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