You’d swear it was the beginning of bikini season around here instead of the end of it, with all the sweating and working out going on. The last 4 – 6 weeks have been devoted to mostly cardio reconditioning, and ab work with some yoga thrown in for stress, and muscle relief. Since I was sidelined for a while this spring because of my sprained ankle (See “yes, that really is poo in the hallway” for a description of how the injury happened) I lost a lot of ground and getting back into the gym has been both a hair pulling chore and an absolute necessity.

So, Delegatrix and I decided yesterday would be the first day of our new weights
regimen. We each have our own goals to reach – some will be easier to achieve
than others. Yesterday afternoon, we donned our finest spandex and coolmax and
got back on the free weight bandwagon. The first session is usually the easiest
and the hardest. Easy, because you start out using low weights and your enthusiasm
to see results is high. It is also often the hardest session, because you forget
just how difficult it can be to do a rep properly, without cheating form. After
our weight session, we ended our workout with 30 minutes of cardio. My goal
is to get back to 45 minutes of cardio, plus abs. But it was enough for the
first day to accomplish what we did. It was so enough, that we had jello legs
descending a measly 4 stairs – and we were sooo thankful for the handrails. I
can’t even imagine what driving a 5 speed would have been like – pure agony
I’ll hazard.

It should be no great surprise that today we are experiencing the “First few
days of weightlifting pain.” I know, I know, eventually this will subside, and
the longer I do this the better I will look and feel. All that is fine and well
– logically, I know this to be true. Currently, though, I am experiencing some
movement based discomfort from the tearing down of muscle fiber.  Today,
I have muttered under my breath: “Ow, it really hurts to go down stairs” and
“Ow, it really hurts to bend over” and my favorite “Owwwwww, it hurts to sit
down” (although once I sit, I am fine) as my thigh and butt muscles scream with
each movement. My calf muscles seem to be the least pissed off at me today,
so I can only assume I didn’t work them hard enough. Oh well, there’s always
Thursday. This afternoon, in an effort to relieve some muscle pain, and gain
some serenity, its yoga at 4:30. Tomorrow, it’s back to to the weights and cardio.
I keep telling myself; it’ll all be worth it.

Right now, I feel like such a lying sadist.

Yeah, I know, a bit premature, but, I couldn’t contain myself!

It’s official – the 2004 Goatman Hollow (www.goatmanhollow.com) web site is now up and running — and the official launch of the 2004 haunting season is now only 38 days away.

If you are in the DC/Baltimore area during the month of October, I hope your spirit will move you to come get the begeebers scared out of you!

See web site for details…

*Sigh* Summer is almost over and school started today. Not that that really has anything to do with this blog — I just haven’t posted in a week- (and no, I was not scared off from posting, I’m over that) just trying to figure out what to write about. So in lieu of a usual post, here’s a brief recap of last week for those who missed out on the fun…

• Abby went off to doggy sleep away camp on the Eastern Shore for 4 days and 3 nights. Boy, I wasn’t expecting to miss her quite as much as I did. Amazing that the absence of a little dog can so profoundly leave such a big hole in one’s life. But from what I understand, this little Lake Chippewah Chipmunk had a ball, a blast and was a well behaved little camper. She had a good time, and it was worth my missing her.
• Monday post work, I drove into downtown DC for the first time, all by myself and dined at a fabulous restaurant called Cafe Berlin with Ziggy + Delegatrix. Fortunately, they helped direct me to find my way out of DC safely.
• Was provided the bounty of wonderful veggies and fruits from the Eastern Shore, more than enough to share with friends. Yummy watermelons, tomatoes, cantaloupes and peppers!
• Friday, I took a vacation day and went to Harpers Ferry, WVA to go tubing and rock jumping. The weather was warm and humid (93) and not a cloud in the blue, blue sky, as we floated past the Shenandoah’s on the right and the C + O canal on the left. Whee, what fun we had! (Although my shoulders and biceps are a little tender from paddling – as well as from what seemed like crawling out of the primordial ooze each time I jumped into the water and had to pull myself up a slime covered rock to go back and jump again — it was well worth it!)
• Saturday – went inline skating late morning – it was heaven – an overcast day, slightly humid, low population on the trail due to pending rain, I was encouraged to skate farther than I have all year, and made it back to the car just before the rains came down.
• The new GoatMan Hollow web site is just about ready to go live…and the count down is now on til opening day (Friday, October 1, 2004)

Insert rationalization here: Most days I’m pretty well adjusted,
at least I like to think so – I’m sure you’d tell me if I’m wrong. I don’t think
I’m too easily offended, I’m easy to laugh (at others and myself) and while
I may be a pain in the butt sometimes, I take comfort in the fact that we all
are from time to time. So it evens out.

When I started this blog, the plan was to share what was going on in my life,
as a means of chronicling the usually goofy stuff that happens to me, or comes
my way. All, in all, my blog has some pretty benign stuff. Occasionally, there
has been news of note, and sometimes there has been fluff. But always, the personal
posts have been from my point of view, about my thoughts and experiences.

The offense: Now it seems my thoughts, feelings about certain
experiences have offended some folks. There are people who are affronted that
I would have the temerity to write about things I experienced or events occurring
within the realm of my life. There are some who, being at the genesis of the events,
have taken offense that I would even chronicle the experience, and GASP! – dare
to mention them in this sort of forum. Basically, the question is: what is too
private to share with people outside the situation? I thought I knew what lines could not be crossed, but now, I’m not so sure.

More rationalizing: I think one might have a valid complaint if I were writing about the situation to be malicious, or for some sort of personal gain – I could understand someone feeling upset about that. Its not as if I published a full-page ad in a local newspaper, about an event and solicited donations. I simply relate my feelings and experiences to a select group of people. When did that become wrong?

No real resolution: While I’m dealing with slings and arrows sent my way, it has caused me to rethink
posting to the blog. What is too personal, and whom do I exclude now from inviting
to read it? When did it become okay for someone to censor what I feel and experience
– to tell me I can’t write about something I experienced? And even writing about
this incident has me concerned – did I reveal too much? Did I name names or
explicit situations? No, but should said offended parties read this, will they
instantly know I am writing about them – and thus fan the flames of discord
already burning brightly? I think it comes down to how one processes their feelings
regarding what goes on in their lives. Some prefer to squash down any evidence
of emotional display in a public forum. And others are comfortable discussing
the things that go on in their lives. I am, for the most part, in the latter
category. But still, now I am gun shy.

I feel like I’m 16 again, and if it were Wednesday (instead of Thursday) I would be getting ready to go dancing at SPIT on W. Colonial Drive in Orlando. Thursday nights at the Crocodile Club are still about 4 years in my future. But Monday and Wednesday nights at SPIT are deriguer– The new wave dance club in Central Florida. Like most nightclubs at the time, I was really too young to get in, but the guys at the door always just asked me to show them anything that remotely looked like a drivers licence – even if it was my library card, which it usually was.

So why the trip down memory lane? Well, due to a co-worker’s generosity, I have been plugged into the local CD online scene, and today I am listening to 3 albums by the Cars, one of the early 80’s bands of the New Wave movement.

The memories just keep flooding back – Oh I remember the teenage angst and uncertainty – Was so and so going to show up tonight? Would he dance with me? How should I wear my hair – with the fuschia stripe or the blue? Where could I score a cheap pair of black cateye glasses? Which black eye liner had the best staying power (Maybelline eyebrow/eyeliner melted) What hairspray would keep my psuedo- B-52 beehive indestructable? (AquaNet) But my biggest worry, bar none was – Yikes – I’m gonna get grounded – for like the 10th week running – for breaking curfew!

These were the inconsequential things that scurried around my mind at 16 — a lot different than the stuff rattling around now, that’s fer sure– like totally. But its pretty cool that music can transport me back 23 years and I have total recall of what it was like to be 16, again. One of the best things though, is that I don’t have a curfew anymore. Okay, well maybe I have a self-imposed curfew. 🙂