Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Life Update

So how have I been spending my time since all the changes in my life? Reading and exercising seem to be filling my hours of late. But not my late hours, I fill those with sleep. :)

 

I joined a gym close to home (Snap Fitness) that is open 24/7, and have been going three times a week for about an hour at a time. The facilities are nice, but are lacking in the free-weight department which has been a downer. Too many machines, but no proper bench press, or squat rack… c’est la vie. The owners are SUPER nice though, and it is a month to month membership, which is a rarity in this area. So if I do decide to change establishments I shouldn’t have any problems.

 

Also on the exercise front – I’ve been jogging three times a week. I’ve been hitting up the Peavine trail before dawn and doing four mile treks. Something about starting a jog in the dark and finishing at sunrise is absolutely awesome! I haven’t gotten sick of the morning colors on the lake yet, which is usually a problem with me.

The shoes? Yeah, they freakin’ rock still!

 

After my morning exercise I clean up and head into town to one of the few coffee shops that open up at 6:00AM, and sit down to read. I did finally finish the Dancing Wu Li Masters, and was very impressed with it. I had to take a few breaks from the book just due to the sheer amount of information and thought in the book, but I loved it.

 

I read Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and enjoyed it as well. Another dystopian novel from a man who was one of George Orwell’s instructors. It was more upbeat that 1984, but didn’t develop the characters nearly as much. For a book written in 1931 though it painted a fairly accurate (albeit symbolic) picture of our current society. Worth the read? You bet!

 

I followed up these with a very quick (two days) read through Fight Club. The book was better, and mildly more disturbing, than the movie version. What really surprised me is how much the movie folks pulled right out of the book; It stayed mostly true to form. I’ll be checking out more Chuck Palahniuk books in the future.

 

Today I officially started what will be the longest single book I’ve ever picked up. I am currently about 30 pages into War and Peace, a 1,200 page monster. I had intended on buying a different Tolstoy, but Hastings didn’t have that one so I figured ‘Why not?’. We’ll see if I finish it or not…

 

 

The things I’m not doing lately are: cooking and photography. I’ve been averaging one or two meals a week, and a photo outing once every few weeks. I’m definitely going to have to work on that. And who knows? Maybe I’ll eventually even get a social life. It seems like there should be WAY more hours in the day for all the things I want to do. :)

6 comments:

Granny J said...

Onc you finish War & Peace (bravo! I never had the guts to even start it), may I recommend another fat book? It's The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. A wonderful romp through an important period of history by an SF author. Aside from that, I don't miss the food posts, but enjoy your photography, so carry a camera at all times, even to the gym...

TomboCheck said...

Julie - I will add it to my list. Although after this guy I will probably be feening for a few short stories. :)

Melissa said...

Sounds like you're coming along. Just living life and seeing where it takes ya. Nothing better.

Apparently, in Russian lit, the 4 most highly regarded are Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, The Idiot and War and Peace. Of those, War and Peace is the one I have NOT read. Let me know how it goes. Russian lit can be very slow in the middle of the book. Seems to hold true for both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, so... just warnin' ya. Bet it'll be worth it though.

And hell yeah - Brave New World rocks. Love that book. Soma! Hello!

TomboCheck said...

Melissa - Yeah, life is just kind of doing whatever it pleases for now.

What did you think of Crime and Punishment? It was recommended to me today, and I haven't had the chance to investigate yet.

Thanks for the warning.

Melissa said...

Well... it's in my "favorite books" on both my Blogger and Facebook profiles sooo... :)

TomboCheck said...

So it sucks? ;-P