Saturday, August 14, 2010

More odds and ends

Life is changing. My life. I'm still writing in my Journal but now the entries are short and forced; when I remember to write at all. It's the same with my blogs. I do have an increased interest in my art work and I'm painting more often. Also we're walking on a daily basis and getting in 4+ miles 6 days a week and that's before 9 AM. Of course that will change as the seasons change and we will be in the park at a later hour. I'm enjoying the walking as I can see my legs regaining the muscle mass I lost during the past two years of surgeries. We're walking pretty fast, right around 16 minutes miles. That's not as fast as I used to walk when I was racewalking and actually racing. I was able to do 11 minute miles back then and now it seems like a dream. Can I ever get back to that kind of performance? Some of this change can be blamed on the drugs I'm taking and until I no longer need them I'm sure that I will remain 'changed'. I sometimes feel as if I should carry a sign with me that states 'On drugs. Please forgive if I'm inappropriate in any way'.

Perhaps some of the change can be attributed to the 'House For Sale Syndrome'. We have to make the house presentable every morning with everything picked up and put away in case some prospective buyer should arrive while we are away in the park. I'm a person who is comfortable with clutter so you can see how that might affect me. Grrr!

Speaking of art, as I was…one of the members of the group I paint with has arranged with a local fitness center for some wall space. We're going to have a showing with our work up on the walls for almost two months. It's a very busy fitness center so we will have lots of exposure; probably more than we could ever get in a gallery. I have enough work to show and I'm working on one more right now that I hope to include before we hang on the 28th of this month.

And I was just reading about John McCain; he now seems to be in the lead once more in his race to hold his Senate seat. What a shame…I didn't care much for his opponent, but Mr. McGrumpy is far too old to be a Senator. Okay, I'm far too old to be a Senator. There should be an age limit of 65 for holding elective office. True, there are some exceptional elders, but the fact is, we, the majority, are living in the twenty first century and most (not all) older citizens are quite content to live in the past.

This same article spoke to the weird requirements of the conservative camp; apparently Mr. McGrumpy is now campaigning on the promise of securing the borders first before any talk of immigration reform. That, alone, should tell you that he is delusional. How would anyone propose to 'secure the borders'? The fence? The estimated cost for this 700 mile boondoggle is up to $49 billion dollars. That's a government estimate. Wanna guess how much it will cost in the long run? And how effective will it be? Think "War on Drugs'…that's how effective it will be and just as costly.

There are close to an estimated 14 million undocumented immigrants in this country…think a population the size of Illinois. Now let's see how we could remove them? Got any ideas? I guess we could ask them to leave and then if that didn't work, we could round them all up and put them into 800,000 buses and drive them to the border. Piece of cake!

5 comments:

  1. What you need, my friend, is more comments. Comments set a chap right up for dedicated blogging. Long comments work the best so...

    Gosh, I didn't know you race-walked! I couldn't do the proper form due to hip issues, but I used to modify it and put in a regular 4 miles daily at 15 or under. I was more interested in distance than speed, once I got under the 15 min. mile. I was working on a half-marathon when the hip went further south and big-time piriformis syndrome set in. Now, I walk only a couple of days a week and do other stuff. So GOOD FOR YOU, my friend. You're doing great!

    Art envy, here, too.

    House for sale? Been there, done that, took it off the market, might do it again at a more realistic, pre-bubble price. When did that bubble start, anyway? Any nibbles?

    When I get blogfuscated, I stop writing on politics and stick to my own little life and some sick humor for a few posts.

    Your pal, Me.

    See, ain't these long comments motivating?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, as always, Nance...

    Oh, yes, I was quite the race walker. Much to the embarrassment of my family. I did many 5k's, 10k's, half marathons, and then I did 5 marathons in two years. Best years ever! Do one marathon and you're hooked! Suddenly, in late 08 I was struck by hip pain that wouldn't go away. I thought I had developed Piriformis and in fact, I even convinced my doctor of that ...but, we were both wrong. Now I have four fused vertebrae and an sacral nerve and I'm afraid to swivel my hips in a competitive fashion.

    I'm really glad to hear that you were a practitioner of the 'Silly Walk'. There aren't many of us. Good for you! I still think it's the most elegant method ever devised for the art of bipedalism. (I used to use it in crowded airports...always got me to the gate on time)

    No nibbles yet on the house. We had one showing scheduled last week and they canceled at the last minute; said they would re-schedule but we haven't heard from them and it's been a week.

    Yes, I am going to stick to more down home topics for awhile...So, thanks again again, Nance; I'm feeling better already.

    ReplyDelete
  3. meant to write 'an angry sacral nerve'

    ReplyDelete
  4. Steven, Congrats on showing your art and I hope it sells...do give us a preview of some?
    As for blogging and journaling....I am in the same boat...maybe it's summer, but the words are just not coming to me. I think writer's block just happens and all will return at a later date (maybe when it gets cold and snuggly?). Don't give up!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you, Ms. Wizer! I'll have some photos of the show as soon as I can figure out which ones to hang. Decisions! Decisions!

    I doubt that I will ever give up, but I may change direction!

    ReplyDelete