Mike M. got me a gift certificate for Christmas for IKEA. The opening of the store in town has somehow turned me into a little more of an IKEAphile than I think I really am, but I didn’t complain. Mike knew I wanted a few things, but he was pretty sure he knew what I would do with the gift — get new bookshelves. Now, there are a few Christmas gift certificates I haven’t used yet, but I actually went to IKEA (can you say a little too excited about the store or a reason to go there) and got the shelves and brackets. That was a bit of a thing, because after laying out the exact right pattern with the shelves standing on end on the floor with Mike, I found out that three of the brackets I needed were out-of-stock and discontinued. Thankfully, my sister is in Atlanta and within a few weeks I had all the pieces and parts.
It’s taken me weeks to get this project finished, but today I finally have new bookshelves. I’m very excited. I like owning a house and making my room the way I want it. Mike was great. In addition to actually getting me the gift, he went with me to pick out the shelves, came over yesterday when I really needed a hand, drove me to Lowes to get the right anchors, and even came back today to make sure the project got finished-up. I’m really glad he’s my friend :)
My Life
03/02/2008 at 16:36 ET
Wow! I’m still at 100%. I went so much further today than the other days and walked for a lot less. I’m pretty sure I easily jogged over 1 mile. That’s a good place to start!
Today when I was jogging I got to thinking about this site. It’s been getting more attention than I expected these days (i.e., someone’s been reading it, two people actually) and I feel I owe an explanation. An explanation to what? Why to the oldest question in the history of this blog — “why innerturtle?” • • • OK, in reality, I don’t think anyone has ever actually asked me that question. I’m not sure why — if I were you I know I sure as heck would want to know. I’ve offered the answer several times, and always to an un-enthused crowd. Nonetheless…
I thought the idea was pretty clever when I came up with it. First of all, I really like turtles. That’s a whole other story, which I promise to tell some day, but doesn’t have any direct bearing on this story. One day I was trying to think of a new place to become the home of my web presence (my old site had my last name in it, which I decided was too gauche and a little unsavvy in a world of online predators and all that.) I thought, “it could be something to do with a turtle.” Then, of course, I tried a lot of ideas involving “turtle” in some way and let godaddy suggest some for me too. Hhandsometurtle was leading the pack and then somehow innerturtle popped into my head. It made sense to me right away.
All people have the qualities of many different animals as a part of us. This is both because the qualities we identify animals with are often just projection as well as due to our inexorable link to all other lifeforms as the most highly evolved species. As such, I wanted people to think much more seriously about their inner turtle and what he has to say.
My friend the turtle beat the hair — we all know this lesson and I hope you thought of it right away. That’s a good place to start. His story has much more to tell us than just about a metaphorical race. At least, I mean, you can apply this metaphor very widely. The turtle is long-lived, exceptionally long lived for his size in the animal kingdom. I honestly believe his deliberate steadfastness has a lot to do with his longevity and that many people could take a lesson here. I believe he’s also the most well-armored of the creatures on land: there are two lessons here. First, he’s cautious and careful and is not ashamed to know when it’s time to take a step back and wait for a more opportune moment. Also, he’s prepared. I was a Boy Scout (and a Cub Scout and WEBLOS before) so I truly believe in the power of being prepared.
Today I jogged as far and as long as the first two days combined. It was almost tempting to push myself to the limit (which I generally think isn’t a bad idea), but then decided to take a lesson from my turtle. I pushed myself hard, set a goal, and then gave myself a little walk break at the point I was reaching out to. I didn’t walk for long and went back to jogging more quickly than anticipated. I went far, but I didn’t wear myself out. I really want to be successful at jogging and increasing my healthiness — I want to go a little farther and a little longer each day. I can’t do that by going as far as possible each day — some days would be slower than others. I think slow and steady might get me there, and when I arrive I expect that being more healthy will only be one of the benefits.
Exercise Journal
03/01/2008 at 17:43 ET
My mom’s birthday is February 18. This year all the kids decided to surprise her by showing up at her house. She had no idea what we were planning. See my pictures, video and my brother’s pictures.
My Life
03/01/2008 at 17:41 ET
OK, I’m putting it on my blog to try and keep myself honest. Today was jogging day #1.
I’ve been thinking about getting back into jogging for a long, long time now, probably since I stopped 4 years ago or so. So today I started. I’m not saying I won’t miss a day, maybe even tomorrow with as hectic a day it’s going to be, but I’d like to keep the average above 6/week. You think I can do it?
Today I jogged the 1.4 mile track in my neighborhood. There’s also a 0.4 mile track and a 1.6 mile track, giving me lots of options. I’d like to get up to 2 miles/day as quickly as possible. I used to jog 3 a day (4 years ago) and it was getting easy, but I never upped it.
I didn’t actually jog the whole 1.4 miles you understand — probably just a little more than half. That may seem like a sorry start, but I’m happy: 1) it was a start and 2) the biggest reason wasn’t my breathing (although it was cold so that made it a little hard and I didn’t have or take an inhaler) or my muscles burning, it was a bad cramp. That’s OK because I know from my previous experience jogging that a little patience will take that factor away. The others may get a little harder for a while, but at least I won’t get cramped.
Anyway, today I’m at 1 out of 1 and that’s 100% and there’s no better place to start!
Exercise Journal
02/28/2008 at 21:15 ET
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things that I’d change about Florida — the schools could use some work and they won’t let the gays adopt kids. Yet most days I just love living here. I love the weather; some people complain when it gets too hot or too humid, but they’re crazy. I’ll take hot and humid to cold (anything below 65 seems cold anymore) any day. I also love the skies and sunsets. Plus, in my new house I’ve gotten a lot closer to the wildlife. The wild turkeys in our neighborhood are OK. More spectacularly, I’ve seen a few deer within a few hundred yards of my house and they were spectacular. Then, yesterday, I made friends with four Sandhill Cranes.
I just never expect to go out my front door and see such big wild animals in my yard. I grew up in a rather natural part of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but we never had anything bigger than a squirrel or an occasional pheasant. These birds were absolutely magnificent and they were only a few feet away from me. I love living in Florida.
Humanity
01/08/2008 at 08:04 ET
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