Calorie Counting

G. Sax

The title of this entry should be sung to the tune of “Domino Dancing” by Pet Shop Boys.

I declared Independence Day on the 4th of July. Independence from a reliance on fatty foods, sugar fixes, salt licks, and a generalized pattern of overeating for the last 14 years.

The lament goes on for many of us… “I used to be something,” we say.

Oh, I was never an Adonis like my friends Paul and Laci, but Paul himself once said—in a typical homosexual lean—”you’re good looking in a unique sort of way.” And you know what? I’m not terrible to look at. Although…

My face is puffy, my chins are doubled up, my saddlebags could hold change for laundry, and my ass is all chumbawamba. I finally decided that that’s not working for me anymore.

I’m doing pretty good so far. Much better than my infamous Weight Journal of 2002 in which I documented my struggle to get below 200 pounds. I’m being more methodical in my efforts this time.

I’m focused on exercise and diet more than I’ve been in several years. I’m actually monitoring what I eat rather than just guessing at it. Progress is good and (for once) healthy. My weight fluctuations are natural but always encouragingly in the right direction, and I’m not cheating (too much) on calories or exercise routine.

The new regimen is time-consuming but invigorating. Time will tell if I can stick it out. I feel as though I have to this time. I deserve liberty from chumbawamba.

4th of July, 2007

by G. Sax

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend the Independence Day holiday in many great cities in the U.S. An evening on The Mall in Washington, DC. Wrigley Field and a dozen fireworks displays from a vantage point on high in Chicago. A little patch of green in Surprise, Arizona. A farm in Estelline, South Dakota. Friends in town for a holiday visit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Baseball games in Sacramento and San Francisco, California. Even dirty little Vallejo evokes a charming memory of a shabby parade.

There have also been several in Minnesota, including about a half dozen at Langford Park in St. Paul’s St. Anthony Park neighborhood. That’s where I went last year for a dash of nostalgia. But I didn’t really feel like I reached back far enough.

For the first 5–8 years of my knowing life, I spent the 4th on Norton Street, at Marydale Park, and in the surrounding neighborhoods of St. Paul’s North End. That’s all the bigger my world was.

I remember holding ladyfingers as they popped, running from the unpredictability of jumping jacks and bottle rockets, sticking firecrackers in dog poop. I remember the big fireworks displays they used to do off of Mackubin Street by Loeb Lake. I remember when my mom’s boyfriend threw an M-80 in the dirty little pond just to the south of the lake and how exciting that watery explosion was. I remember drinking too much New Coke. I remember throwing a firecracker under a moving cop car. I remember when my full bag of fireworks went up in a fireball from an errant ash. I remember it all fondly.

Today, CarlyGirl and I ate a simple meal at a Minnetonka Perkin’s, took a few funny pictures at Midway Stadium, looked at some homes for sale, and then went to Norton Street and Marydale Park. We walked the length of Norton, lingering at 1165. We walked all the way around Loeb, watching a pops band while eating snowcones. We watched a volleyball tournament that seemed to pit Hmong vs. Rice Streeters on two different courts. We finished our day by 4 p.m., but I caught up on 30 years.

I’m a Big Boy Now

by G. Sax

I have to take a personality test for work. After I take the test, I’m going to take it to heart. I know I have some pretty decent strengths. Like my ability to organize. Like my loyalty. Like my confidence in craft or my ability to get you to read whaletime.net. I haven’t done much advertising my strengths and my website lately. I’m going to change that. Obviously, I want to be seen and heard. Which is why I’m taken aback by my backgroundy, shoegazing ways.

It’s the editor in me. The referee. The event planner—the less you know I exist, the better. But I’m not all that. There’s a little bit of Kanye in me. I’m an egotist. I don’t just want to make beats for other people.

So you’ll be seeing me trying to enhance my strengths, both here and in person should you want to hang out sometime.

I again have that good feeling of being on the precipice of something great. Maybe it’s the holidays. I’m one of those rare birds that gets up entirely for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Family drama is often unavoidable. Overspending, overeating…avoidable, but, like, yeah, right. One of my strengths is my zest for life. Which is why I don’t understand why my pessimistic side flourishes when something unplanned puts me on the sidetrack. Watch me grow.