Small Movements

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I read an article last week that stressed the importance of small movements in daily life. I usually blow by these articles with their standard "take the stairs instead of the elevator, park far away in the parking lot instead of circling for a spot, yada yada yada" advice. 

I run 23 miles a week including a sprint workout. I lift weights 2-4 times a week. Sometimes I throw in yoga or the stationary bike or 20 minutes on the stairmaster. Daily movement? Thanks, but I'm good. 

Or am I? What popped for me in this article was a study that found that hard core exercisers were often some of the most sedentary people out there. It's as if (ahem!) a hard 5-mile run gives a person permission to sit at their desk or veg out on the couch for the rest of the day/evening. 

That hit close to home. How many nights do I spend immobile on the couch, reading a book or watching TV, smug in my knowingness that I've "earned" the right to do so because I "killed it" in my workout earlier that day?

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Smug Marrieds: Face Lift

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Sunday night, 5:40 pm. Harris residence. Christmas trees - fired up. Cats - snoozing.

Blair - relaxing in library. Dena - front room watching TV. All is well on nigh. Until...

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Dena: Blair! Blair, get in here! Now!

Blair: Why? (He no longer reacts to cries of panic, me having cried wolf one too many times during our many years of marriage. Sad.) 

Dena: I'm getting sucked into an infomercial. My powers to resist are fading. Get in here. 

Blair: What's it for?

Dena: I'm not sure. Some sort of face-lift-botox-stand-in-alternative-to-chemical-peel thingee. You can put it in the freezer. Looks cool. 

Blair: You don't need a face lift. (Sound of Wall Street Journal rustling as he turns a page.)

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National Novel Writing Month Wraps Up

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Remember how freaked out I was about attempting NANOWRIMO, the challenge that asks you to complete a 50,000 word novel during the month of November? 

As of this morning, I have just under 600 words left to meet my 50,000-word goal. Tomorrow morning I plan on completing the challenge and wrapping up a month of "Oh-my-God-this-is-great-why-didn't-I-do-this-before-no-wait-this-sucks-I-suck-my-writing-sucks-this-is-hard-I-want-to-quit-wow-I-had-a-great-writing-session-I'll-never-stop-doing-this-no-wait-I'm-sick-of-this" roller coaster writing drama. 

Here are a few things I learned during my month of NANO'ing: 

  • I do my best writing early in the morning, fresh out of bed. Stumble to my office, no e-mail, no Internet, no anything. Sit. Think. Write. 
  • That being said, I can write anywhere, anytime. To get my NANO words in this month I wrote at the gym, in my car, at the doctor's office, in a hotel room the morning before I ran a marathon, at coffee-houses and occasionally at home at night.
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Back In The Land of Cat Jokes

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November has shaped up to be a busy month. The developmental edit for Does This Collar Make My Butt Look Big? A Diet Book For Cats came back this week from my editor which means I am once again buried in cat humor. 

A developmental edit is basically just the editor going through the manuscript and pointing out what she likes, what jokes she thinks fall flat, what needs more explanation, etc. For example, I had written: While other diet and exercise books encourage a healthy lifestyle based on portion control and exercise, this book promotes the more feline-friendly approach of retching up most of your calories.

The editor's comment about "retching up" was "Is there a funnier, less gross term we can use here? I know there are a lot of funny slang terms for upchucking." So my edits this morning included sorting through options like "regurgitating, disgorging, heaving up, hurling, blowing chunks, yacking, ralphing..."

Seriously, I get paid to do this. It's awesome.

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