Yikes! Flattery!

Lucy and Never, for instance, both liked my write-up enough that they linked to it as being accurate and complete enough to represent their experiences. Gee! That was nice to read, although it took a couple of days for other peoples' entries to go up, so I had to wait a bit to read other peoples' detailed perceptions of the party.

Yeah, yeah, I admit that what I really wanted to read was (1) What people thought about me, and (2) How peoples' perspectives of the party and the other people differed from or elaborated on my own. Of course, by definition it's unlikely I'll ever learn (3) What people are saying to each other - about me or not - when I'm not around.

Well, Sei Shonagon's entry ended up taking care of that, almost in a "be careful what you wish for, you might get it" sense! Combined with some things I heard in my review at work, I must have heard or read more kind words about myself this month than - well, than of any other time in the last few years that I can think of offhand. Sei's comments are really flattering; I don't blush easily, but I nearly did when I read them.

(Trish, by the way, said she's never going to let me live down Sei's assertion that I'm "cute". Hmm... but isn't that something I instead ought to be trying to live up to?)

I guess I feel that her observations about my character are what I think or at least hope that I'm like. My friend Karen (whom I went to grad school with) has sometimes said that I'm a "steady worker", and I know I'm pretty even-tempered. I perhaps focus too much on wanting to overcome the drawbacks of being even-tempered, so I sometimes forget that there are positives.

Thanks, Sei.

(And by the way, it turns out that former journaller Melody Paulk is envious of our gathering.)

It turns out that my entry about the party has received about three times as many hits as a typical entry thanks to all the links to it from these high-profile journallers. And it seems at least one person decided to stick around here for a bit and subscribed to my notify list. Cool!

Yesterday I was talking to John and confronted the progress I've made since I started exercising by biking to work three years ago. I've lost 15 pounds, but more importantly I've taken at least five inches off my waist, and I've improved my strength and endurance (I'm able to keep going on ultimate frisbee nights for longer than I could last year). I'd like to drop another 20 pounds if I can.

I've mostly accomplished this through sheer exercise, and only modest changes in my diet. I still eat plenty of meat and carbohydrates, having not really tried any of the currently in-vogue diets around. The main difference is that I've tried to cut back on my gratuitous sugar intake, drinking diet soda, drinking unsweetened iced tea at lunch, drinking water throughout the day. But mostly I just go by the theory that if my energy output is greater than my energy input, then over the long haul, I'll lose weight.

Of course, as I get older, what I need to do to work off energy in my body may change or get harder, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Everything I've heard claims that losing weight slowly is the way to go if you want to keep it off. I've fortunately had the luxury to experiment with the kinds of exercise I like to do and that I'm willing to keep up with, and haven't been impatient to lose weight or slim down. Seeing progress every few months has been enough; buying smaller jeans can keep me motivated for a while.

Best of all, it's something in my life that I can point to and know it's valuable and I've been accomplishing it. I originally started exercising because of concerns that now that I'm no longer trustworthy (i.e., over 30) that I might develop back problems. I've been relatively healthy all my life, and I want to keep it that way. That's the real reward in all of this.

For most of us in the Northern Hemisphere (maybe for all of us, but saying so with certainly exceeds my knowledge of how seasons are precisely defined) today is the Winter Solstice. Which means that the days will start to get longer in the coming months. Despite my mild seasonal affected disorder, I've weathered the fall remarkably well, whereas it seems like last year I was completely miserable up until I left for my Christmas vacation.

I think this year I'm more settled in to living in California, that some things have been going more my way lately, and I feel like some of my friendships (particularly with Lucy and Subrata) have been more firmly cemented. (Heck, last year at this time the only substantial time I'd spent with Lucy was at her fine Thanksgiving Day dinner.) And, I feel like I've got some plans for things I want to accomplish next year.

Now if only I can somehow parlay those "twinkly eyes and mischievous smile" that Sei says I have into a new relationship...