For those of you who are unfamiliar with Digiwrimo, you can learn yourself more here, here, and here.
Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I was going to tell you a bunch of random stuff.
Random Stuff #1: Update on November weight loss goal.
Yeah. So I pretty much made no progress whatsoever, all told, because the progress I made earlier in the month was completely wiped away by Thanksgiving eating + inactivity. However, I did start a new habit of walking two miles per day - which I think is excellent - and have generally (Thanksgiving excluded) done a much better job of eating reasonable portions of food at meal times.
The weight loss efforts will just have to continue into December. And by "weight loss," what I really mean is making better food choices and getting a decent amount of exercise.
Random Stuff #2: A Random Encounter
Speaking of a decent amount of exercise, a funny thing happened to me today. I woke up at 8am with the alarm, and when I stepped outside it was sunny and relatively warm and it had stopped raining and the air smelled really fresh and wonderful, and my body was like, "Yes! We are so going for a super long, strenuous walk!" And I was like, "Really? 'Cause I just woke up. Don't you want to eat something? Warm up a bit so we don't hurt ourself?" And my body said, "Whatever. Have a granola bar and get dressed. We're going out." So we did. (There will likely be a poem about this later, by the way. If you care.)
And by "we," I mean my body, me, and Milton (the dog).
We walked down Everett and then turned down the numbered street that is blocked off due to sewer work and past the Laurelhurst Café and crossed Burnside. We crossed Stark and Belmont and then up Salmon, through the muddy pedestrian track, up to Mt. Tabor--a route I used to walk with my ex-boyfriend. We clambered around Mt. Tabor and then headed back down the side and headed home. (See, you don't care about any of this, but at this point it's all about the word count, so too bad.)
And as we stood at the corner of 61st and Stark, waiting for the traffic to clear so we could cross, I looked into the window of Stark St. Station and saw someone who looked a heck of a lot like an ex-colleague of mine from the university.
No, I thought. That can't be her. But when we crossed the street and I saw her more clearly, it was definitely her. She has a particular way of moving her mouth when she's working that's unmistakeable.
I tied the dog up to a table and went in to say hi. She was as surprised to see me as I was to see her; she'd come into the neighborhood on a whim after a morning meeting.
We chatted for a few minutes while Milton became increasingly nervous (why do people insist on trying to pet a dog who is clearly trying to get away from them??) and finally ended up cowering underneath a chair. But before I went out to rescue him, my ex-colleague and I made plans to have coffee. Finally. We were supposed to make plans right after I'd left the university, so the coffee date is two months late. Ah well. Better late than never. And it was very good to see her.
Random Stuff #3: Update on the smoking cessation efforts
Something happened after I wrote that good-bye letter to cigarettes. The cravings have been way less frequent. And when I went to the bar with my friend last weekend and smoked some of his cigarettes, not a single one of them tasted good. I've been reflecting on this fact with much satisfaction for the last week. I really felt like I turned a corner and things were going to be easy peasy from here on out.
Gosh I wish I'd written this post earlier today, because I don't really want to tell you the next part. But I will. After three glasses of wine tonight, I was craving chocolate, and while I was at the convenience store buying mint dark chocolate M&Ms (yes, that's right: mint. dark. chocolate.) I...I...I bought a pack of cigarettes. And I smoked one when I got home. Okay, fine, I smoked one and had a couple drags off a second one. Sigh. After not having bought cigs for two months! (Except the exception pack on Oct. 20th, of course.)
So I guess the battle isn't over yet.
Random Stuff #4: A dream about Las Vegas
I have never been to Las Vegas in my life (yet). But I had this dream last night that I was talking to one of my cousins--one of my older cousin's, on my dad's side--and she recommended that I go...or maybe she was just telling me that when I went I should use this particular website and make sure that I booked a hotel that would reimburse me for the cost of the airline ticket. I don't even know.
But I was talking with her, and then I was trying to book a hotel and flight using this website called The White Room, and the next thing I know I'm in Las Vegas and it's my last night there. I'd come with a friend or an acquaintance--someone I'd never seen and didn't know--and she was insisting that we hire a couple of male gigolos. I had never done that before, but it sounded like it could be fun, so I was trying to follow her instructions and order the kind of gigolos she wanted, and then she was saying that we should stay for an extra night, and then I woke up.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on what that means. Normally I'd pass it off as my brain sifting through information, but at no point have Las Vegas or gigolos come up in conversation recently (shocking, I know), so I don't know what to tell ya.
Random Stuff #5: Character sketch
Today I had an idea for a character. I don't know whether the character is a man or a woman, but I do know that s/he is the world's foremost expert on Shakespeare's play Cymbeline and gets flown all over the world to advise theater troupes and give lectures at universities. Being the the world expert on this play means not only that s/he knows the play by heart, but that s/he has read just about every academic essay mentioning the play and/or its characters and is familiar with just about every dramatic interpretation there could be. I'm thinking that maybe the character encounters someone who has a fresh take on one of the characters and is both intrigued and threatened by this person. Because if anyone should have a fresh take on one of Cymbeline's characters, shouldn't it be the world's foremost expert on the play?
Okay, that's probably enough for now. I can write some other words elsewhere. (By the way, this post is 1,360 words long, including these words.)
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