Too Funny: Bill Duke Edition

So I’m watching “The Bookdocks” and a character comes on who, if this were a live-action show, would be played by Bill Duke. I said to myself, “This is totally a Bill Duke” role. When the character started talking, I thought it might actually be Bill Duke. So I looked it up. Sure enough, Bill Duke plays a detective in this particular episode of “The Boondocks.” I’m amazing.

Exercise helps, even when it pisses you off

I forced myself to go to the gym today.  As much as I love the Highland Park Lifetime, it’s really no fun when I’m lumbering around in my boot.  Everything is a little too close together, especially in the locker room, for it not to be awkward and inconvenient.  But it doesn’t make much sense for me to drive to a more spacious Lifetime.  The weight equipment in the second closest location (Woodbury) isn’t as good as at Highland Park.  Actually, Eagan might be closer, but that’s neither here nor there.  The point is I wasn’t looking forward to the gym.

And I didn’t enjoy my time while I was there.  I don’t like doing weights without also doing some cardio.  I know my body.  It’s always going to be slim, and will never be bulky and rippling with muscle.  There will be noticeable muscle, to be sure.  But I’ll never be Daniel Craig unless I start some kind of ridiculous weight-lifting regimen, and I’d just rather lift occasionally and spend the rest of my time running.  I don’t think I’ll turn into a great big fat person who dies at 57 with that plan.  And today, when all I did was lift, wasn’t a fun day.  I get exhausted quickly and annoyed by my surroundings, so I did just enough to be able to say, “I wailed on my pecs,” and then went home, still in kind of  a foul mood.

But the weirdest thing happened.  Even though I didn’t enjoy the gym, I felt better once I got home.  Part of my joy was from knowing I had a gourmet cobb salad from Kowalski’s waiting for me.  Good food cheers me up, and this was arguably food that was good for me.  I didn’t even mind when some of it landed on the floor.  The floor I just MOPPED.  Whatever.  Another reason for the lift in my spirits is that I have a date tonight, which I was almost dreading with the mood I had before.  I’ve had dramatic turnarounds before, so I had no doubt that I would be my usual charming self by tonight.  Still, part of me was pessimistic.  Not anymore.

So in the future, hopefully I’ll remember to work out a little before I blog about how pissed off I am about this or that, so I can project this image of an always happy dude.

Looking back…

…at the past month, I’m impressed at how often I was in a good mood. I had really come to depend on exercise to keep me busy and fit, and I really loved running in particular. Running made my celibate lifestyle completely tolerable; I don’t know how I put up with it before. So it amazed me each morning to wake up in a good mood, and to stay mostly positive throughout each day, even when working was stressing me out like crazy. I’m not pretending that I was happy 100% of the time. I was an anxious mess on account of my job, and I probably wouldn’t have been quite so antsy if I had been able to run each night.

But I didn’t do this. I didn’t sit on my couch feeling terrible, seething at the stupid fucking circumstances that lead me to have a broken foot during the holiday season of 2008. I’m finally very angry about this. I’m angry at being unmotivated to do what limited exercise I can do at the gym. I’m angry at not being more disciplined with my eating, so I wind up eating what tastes good but makes me feel terrible. I’m really, really pissed. And I have a date tomorrow night.

Of course, this is now and tomorrow is tomorrow. Being around the right people has brought out the best in me, and I’ll be around one of the best people I met in 2008 tomorrow night. It’s just these moments like this one, where I’m alone at home, that I’m one miserable son of a bitch.

Two things

1. I am SO glad I went out for New Year’s tonight.  The Johnson sisters, more than anything else, are reliable for a good time.
2. I either need to learn how to use my digital camera or get a new one that takes good pictures without any know-how on my part.

ETA: Thank you so much, Bob, for driving!