Things that Robert is thinking about that keep him from accomplishing anything.

 
Bonsai Bobby
Perhaps this is just my little tribute to the 20th anniversary of The Karate Kid, but I have decided to start my own set of bonsai trees. I am tempting the botanical gods, of course, but such is the hubris that sets in when one hasn't killed a plant in the current calendar year.

My primary specimens are a dwarf Japanese juniper (which is probably cheating because it's already designed to grow small), a Japanese maple (I bought a whole tree, but I took a cutting to start with so I will have a ready source of replacements when this one fails), and a magnolia (clipped from the front of my apartment complex).

If all goes well, I'll be able to turn it into an article, which is something I find myself saying more and more these days. "I just walked down the street. You know, there's probably an article in that." The real art will be turning an article about how I've killed three plants into something interesting.

Speaking of which, no word yet on when my sausage article appears in the Tennessean. And no acknowledgment yet on my feature writing job apps. On the plus side, I've found some good jobs at Northwestern to apply for as a hedge against uncertainty about my Vanderbilt funding. I'll keep you updated.
posted by RSaunders at 3:07 PM ⇒ (0) comments

 
Everything You Always Wanted in a Post...and Less
I know visiting here recently is like spending time in a desert. Between travel, research publications, freelance opportunities, and movie production, my cart has been kind of full. In the coming weeks, I may also be looking at a move and job change, so there's no shortage of life stressors. I'll try to be better about posting though, giving at least a quickie every couple days.

On the bright side, I have been able to keep up my exercise and nutrition regimen. After two weeks plateauing at about 217 lbs., I'm now down to 212, for a total loss of over 40 lbs. since the beginning of March. Pause for applause. Hold it. Hold it. And release.

In the past two weeks, I've cut back a day or so a week on the treadmill, but added about two days a week of weight lifting and...swimming. As a former college and age-group swimmer, you'd think getting back in the water would be something natural to do for weight loss/maintenance. In fact, the opposite is the case. While I miss things about competitive swimming (including my old body, but mostly the team atmosphere), I don't miss smelling like chlorine or the dry, scaly skin. And getting back in the water when you're still overweight is just hard on the shoulders, which, when you have lingering rotator cuff problems, can be a significant drawback.

Nevertheless, I've been able to overcome the other main problem former swimmers face, "clock shock," that is, the disbelief at how slow you have become and how much time it is taking you to cover what used to be relatively short distances and recover from them. A few things have helped: 1.) swimming odd distances (e.g., 125m per rep in a set) where you don't have as good of a sense of what a good time is anyway; 2.) focusing more on stroke counts and rest time rather than hitting specific times; 3.) not wearing my contacts so I can't see the clock to obsess over it. I like to think it's 1, but it's probably more 3.

Now I just need to turn this into a diet book, sell it, and make it on Oprah!
posted by RSaunders at 10:55 AM ⇒ (2) comments

 
Hokey Smoke!
It has been a long time since I posted. Sorry for the lull in activity. I've had a major presentation for work that proved fruitless except for getting me a trip to San Diego and Tijuana, and a feature piece for the Tennessean. Here's my preview of the 2004 Parade of Homes for Middle Tennessee. Trying to drum up some more articles out of all the research for it.

Enjoy!
posted by RSaunders at 1:25 PM ⇒ (0) comments