Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Sunday Archive of Retort - 1/9/12


 
 
 
 
A lot of us are always saying…“If only I had done this when I was younger”….or…“Maybe I should have thought of that before”…or…“Why couldn’t I have taken more chances back then…”
Or maybe that’s just me.


From 1/9/12"

"If Only"




Friday, January 10, 2014

No Resolutions





I don’t make resolutions…other than I won’t make resolutions.

Neither New Year’s, last year, this year or any year.

No resolutions for me.

I mean what’s the point?

You’re either going to do something or you’re not.

Saying you “are” doesn’t get it done.

Getting it done gets it done…no matter when you do it…even if you don’t say it you’re going to do it.

And if you’re silly enough to “resolve” to do something…and you don’t…then you just feel dumb for not doing it…on top of being silly.

So you’re silly dumb.

Or dumb silly.

Either way, you don’t feel good.

So no resolutions…at least not for me.

If you still want to make them, go ahead…just don’t say you haven’t been warned.

So…having said that…I’m going to lose some weight.

15-20 pounds worth.

And if you’re saying to yourself, “Hey, isn’t that some sort of resolution?” you shouldn’t, because...one—talking to yourself looks weird…and two—it isn’t.

It’s just a fact…a fact that I have to face and get done.

And I know I will…this time I will…because I’ve done it before…at least 25 times or more over the last 37 years.

About 500 pounds gained and lost and gained and lost over that time period.

Not good…not good…scary not good.

Not when you put it that way, which you didn’t…I did.
Some of you might be saying...again?
We've been through all this before.
Remember the "Fat Summer"  debacle from a couple of years back?
Yeah....

But that’s okay, because I’m going to drop the weight...again…all of it…most likely before spring.

And I’m not being brash or bold or overly confident…I just know.

I just know when my body has had enough and finally takes over for my head.

Mostly because it’s tired of nearly passing out from lack of oxygen every
time it bends over to tie its shoes, which are really my shoes, and not my body’s shoes…but that’s an issue for another day.

Possibly St. Swithin’s Day…if I remember to pencil it in.

So lack of oxygen is key… plus the fact that it’s time consuming to constantly remove the roll of fat that hangs over the waist band of the my pants and slips into my pockets, every time I need to get change.

I’m also tired of constantly “starting” these weight loss adventures only to give up after a couple of weeks…or really, more likely, a couple  of days.

I mean how long can a fella go hungry before he gives in to the temptation of that gallon of Hagen Daz that just happens to be sitting in the freezer…of your Great Aunt Hilda’s house three states over, and two states north….on a Tuesday afternoon?

I mean can it be any more tempting?

But if I’ve learned anything from the past, I know once I put my mind to it, it will work.

The first week is tough, and the second week is even worse.

And the weekends harder even still.

Wooziness, crabbiness, hallucinatory confusion such as when your friends begin to look a lot like Pork Chops.


All tough....

But if you can get by all of that, mostly unscathed, because let’s face it…there is going to be some scathing…you then start to settle into a comfortable routine, where for the most part you’re not even thinking of stealing the Kibble from your neighbor’s cat, anymore, who to be honest, could stand to lose a few pounds herself…the cat, not the neighbor.

Then the first two pounds fall off, which eventually becomes four, then eight, then ten—the magic number that either motivates you to keep going or tickles you enough to stop…and pretty much start the whole cycle over again, something you always swear you’ll never do…again.

While you’re mulling that over, you indulge a little, but tell yourself it’s just the reward you’ve so richly earned. You’ve lost 10 whole pounds, two and half inches off your waist and you can pretty much get your hands in and out of your pockets again without pinching yourself.

Of course, at your next weigh-in and waist measurement, you find you’ve plateaued or worse, gained a half to a full pound back.

Either way, you get annoyed but quickly hunker down and jump right back on that horse, which is, at the same time, inspiring and disturbing, because you have no idea how a horse got into your house in the first place.

Hopefully, the horse is a pleasant horse that doesn’t try to buck you off and pretty soon you’re down 15 and people start noticing there’s something different about you…even to the point of asking if you’ve finally thrown away that 20 year old sweater you constantly wear to parties. 

Then, before you know it you’ve reached your goal, or gotten close enough so that your friends start asking you how long you’ve been sick, or worse, if you’ve made any decisions as to who’ll get your new flat screen TV…you know, when the time comes.

Now, finally, you’re able to take a deep breath of contentment…but find that your pants are slipping to your knees, so you make a note to dig out that smaller pair you bought the last time you went through this trial, a couple of years ago.

Then, looking back, you realize it was a long haul, but a satisfying one, so much so that now you have reason to celebrate!

Bring on the 3 M’s…Milky Ways, Mallomars and Most everything else you’ve done without over the last 3 months….

What?

Give me a break.

I just lost 20 pounds…and it’s only been two days.

Don’t I have a good reason to indulge myself a little?



Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Weather or Not…It’s All We Got






At the beginning of a new year, which traditionally means January—unless you have another tradition, which many people do— It’s way too easy to simply sit here and write about the weather.

That’s why I’m trying to stand on my head while I do it.

But I keep typing backward, and I'm constantly correcting myself.

Not to mention driving spell check crazy.

But…speaking of…crazy…that’s just how the weather’s been the last few days…yzarc!

Opps…yrros.

See what I do for you people…now I’m having trouble feeling my feet.

But I’m standing on my head so what’s there to feel?

Anyway…we were in the single digits this past Friday with blowing and drifting snow.

Shoveled that away on Saturday and then enjoyed a nice 20 plus degree day, which felt like a heat wave…and then a day of freezing rain on Sunday, which basically turned everyone’s front walk into a skating rink by 10 AM

Not that I minded the skating, but the organ music was annoying and my hot chocolate sales didn’t do as well as I expected.

Okay…I’m kidding about that part….the hot chocolate sales were actually pretty good.

Hey, what do you expect from a guy whose entire blood supply has pooled around his earlobes.

Then, as midnight approached, the temps had risen back into the 40s, which pretty much put the kibosh on my whole Moonlight Skating package.

Monday morning we awoke to the balmy 50’s, with periods of deluging rain through the day, which pretty much finished off whatever remaining snow remained.

Kind of sad to see all the weekend snowmen dwindling down the storm drains.

Even sadder to see all the piles of pristine snow, the symbol of all our hard shoveling labor diminished to the size of a snowball.

But not to fret, if fretting is within your repertoire of worry… by noon the thermometer began to drop again, little by little, inch by inch…so by this morning we’re once again in the single digits with the return of blustery winds and a wind chill of minus the dark side of the moon.

Apparently, it’s all a part of this unusual “Polar Vortex” swirling down from the Artic. Of course, I know, if you’re reading this in the Midwest, where actual air temps are minus 30, you’re saying, “What…this guy must be standing on his head if he thinks that single digits is cold!” and you would be right…on both counts!

But cold is cold, no matter where you are and no matter how low or not how low the numbers go.

I mean to me, anything under 15 is all the same because by then I go numb and by the time it hits 5, the inside of my nose freezes, which I actually enjoy.

Most of us can get used to anything…even writing upside down, which I have to admit has started to feel quite tnasaelp…I mean pleasant.

But is it too much to ask for a little consistency. 

Skates on Sunday… Shorts on Monday…Eskimo-wear on Tuesday.

But I suppose that’s just how it is here in the Great Northeast come January.

You have to be ready for anything.

Even a guy standing on his head trying to be funny.

Hey, there’s the Twinkie I lost a few years ago.

I knew it was impossible to lose a Twinkie.


Mmmmmmmm...still fresh.




Sunday, January 5, 2014

The Sunday Archive of Retort - 1/4/12







It’s January 5th…already. ...

Can’t believe it…..


How fast we speed through this tunnel of time...just like the old TV show ....



My Ode to January from 1/4/12

So Fast...So Wary






Friday, January 3, 2014

Already Late





It’s only the 3rd day of the year and I’m already late with the first Retort of 2014.

I suppose I could blame the weather. 

Traffic conditions are hell out there this morning.

Blowing snow and 6 degrees with wind chills in the minus gazillions.



Even the penguins are complaining.


But that would be misleading.

The only obstacle I face on my way into do whatever it is I do, is to navigate around the pile of socks I left in the hallway, between the bedroom and the office, that Z refuses to pick up.

I mean what’s the problem?
They’re practically still clean and besides… how long can bacteria survive…a year….two…possibly three?

Anyway, I managed to plow through so here I am.

Late…but better than not at all…right?

Wait…I heard that!

So the snow is moving out as I write, but the wind is still howling, as I said, so it’s hard to tell the difference between actual precipitation and the blowing stuff.

I keep shouting to Z, who’s out cleaning off the cars, “Is it still snowing, or what?” but she can’t seem to hear me through the wind, and she’s not answering her cell phone.

Plus the constant gale is making it difficult for her to maintain any sort of solid footing to talk for very long, even if I could communicate with her…something that she says has been impossible for the last 30 years, anyway.

Which, as anyone who actually knows us understands, is a complete exaggeration.

Everyone knows it’s only been 29…or more likely, 28 and a half years since we discussed the taco incident.

Come on…It was one taco…get over it.

Or maybe it was me who had the problem…and maybe it was an enchilada?

Who can remember after 28 and a half years?

Hold on…it was a Chimichanga…and it was my Uncle Ernie who had the issue.

Wait til' I tell Z…if she can ever stand up long enough to finish the shoveling and get back inside.

I mean the hot chocolate’s not gonna make itself…. not to mention our cozy little fire.

So it’s a new year and a clean slate for all of us.

Z keeps saying there’s gonna be a lot of changes this year…which I take to mean she’s planning on rearranging the living room again.

I just hope she listens to me this time and bends at the knees so she doesn’t hurt her back again.

That’s the worse.

Whenever Z hurts her back it takes her forever to get the laundry done.

Even without the pile of socks.

Hmmmmm….I just noticed she brought all her luggage downstairs and put it by the door.

Maybe she’s planned another surprise trip to Cabo for us.

No…I see there’s only one ticket.

What would Z want with just one ticket to Cabo?

And only one way to boot.


Oh well, I guess it’s a mystery, at least until she pulls herself out of that huge drift over by the dogwood.

I told her to be careful out there.

But you know how it is…does anyone ever listen?

Anyway…can’t worry about that now. 

I just have a feeling 2014 is gonna be full of surprises!

And wouldn’t it be a nice way to start if “someone” would make that Lemon Coconut cake that I like so much.

I’m just sayin….


Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Out of Days…again





My calendar has just about run out of days…again.

It keeps happening, more and more.

I buy a new calendar full of fresh new days and before I know it…done.

Time for a refill…again.

So I’m thinking of buying a bigger calendar, with a lot more days.

Maybe twice as many days.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before.

I don’t know why no one’s thought of it before.

Such a simple idea.

A calendar with twice as many days.

We’d all be half our ages.

No sore backs, no grey hair, no no hair, no hair where you don’t want it.

Not yet…not with the new calendars.

The only people I can think of that would be against it would be the calendar people.

The same people that charge you 15 dollars for a calendar up until December 25th…then cut the price in half to $7.50 on December 26th, because, you know, the days get cheaper after Christmas.


Not sure why.

It’s not like you even need a new calendar until a week after Christmas, anyway.

Unless you absolutely can’t wait to get a look at those cute little puppy puggie faces.

Or those Hot Buns and Fab Abs.

But this way, they can charge full price, maybe all the way until 4th of July…whenever it gets here….maybe next February.

Hey, I didn’t say there weren’t some kinks to iron out.

But when you get right down to it…who really needs a calendar at all, these days?

I mean, except to look at the Hot Buns.

My phone pretty much tells me what day it is every morning, not to mention, the time, traffic and the weather.

Come to think of it, I suppose it could even provide me with a daily hot bun pic as well, if I wanted…not that I would do that.  Or at least tell you I would do that.

Still, I have a Norman Rockwell Calendar in my office…along with my Little Zen, page a Day calendar…and a Monet Calendar in the bedroom.

And that’s just me.

Z has her Polar Bear Calendar in the kitchen plus her Mary Engelbright Calendar in the laundry room…the one that goes along with her Mary Engelbright Pocket Calendar in her pocket.

I guess we just like the pictures…with or without the Hot Buns and Fab Abs.

And, if you asked me what the date was…I’d have to look at my phone to tell you.

But I still think it’s a good idea to find a calendar with extra days.

Not that I really have time for that…unless of course I can find one.

I already looked at the mall…no luck.

Nothing on-line, either…not even Amazon, who has everything.

So maybe I’m on a Fool’s errand…something that seems to happen to me a lot for some reason.

Like the time I went looking for a giant pair of sunglasses that would cover the entire sun so we wouldn’t need individual pairs for everybody.

Thought for sure I was on to something there.

But that’s just how I am…always thinking of everyone else.

Like the time I tried to find a giant set of ear phones for my iPod so everyone else could hear the music with me.

Yeah…I know.

But I haven’t given up on that or the sunglasses, so don’t be surprised when the New Year seems just a tad longer than the Old Year.

Maybe I can make my own calendar by combining the Rockwell with the Monet.

Nah…I’m not that dumb.

Their styles would never mesh.