Beefcakin’

The other part of my one-third life crisis has also involved a bit of self-betterment. Namely, trying to ‘fill out’ in terms of muscle. I’ve always been skinny and fairly weak, and tie that in with my perma-flab belly, and I’ve never really liked the way I look. I’m never going to be the broad-shouldered and muscle-bound type, which is fine, but over the past year or so I have watched what little muscle mass I had slowly deteriorate and disappear. And I won’t deny it, some of my motivation isn’t just to get stronger but also because of vanity. But I figure if it’s something I can change, I might as well try to change it.

So the last six weeks or so I’ve been going to the gym on a regular basis. If you’ve read this blog long enough, you’ll know I go through gym phases that start and stop, so whether this current workout behavior continues is still to be determined. I haven’t really seen any change in the shirt-off department, but I have been able to increase the weight I lift, so I guess some progress is being made. I’m not measuring my weight or limb circumference, because obsessive measuring only leads to disappointment when it plateaus (or simply remains flatlined, something that may very well be the case). The objective is really just to regain some lost muscle, restore some better posture, and feel better about myself. If I can hit even one of those it’ll be a success.

One-Third Life Crisis

Now that I’m into my thirties, I suppose it’s only natural to wonder about what I’m going to do with my life. Having a kid is out; traveling is a constant goal even though we haven’t done any outside of the country in the last year (buying a car kind of set travel plans back a bit); I’m not keen on going back to school a decade after I barely squeaked out of it all with a super useful Certificate of Studies.

I’ve worked in front of a computer for the last six years doing interface design, and it’s started to settle in that I’ve got a limited amount of time left to keep doing that before I completely lose my mind. There’s a lot of aspects of my line of work that I enjoy, but cubicle and computer monitor life isn’t a way of life. At least I don’t feel that way much anymore.

I’m sure I’ve had a lot of hare-brained schemes over the years - I seem to remember at age 18 making ‘plans’ with my cousin to spend a year in Australia - but over the last few months I’ve tried to take stock of ‘careers’ and think of what else I’d want to do before it’s curtains on the whole computer-graphic-design racket. The two directions that stick in my mind the most are either running a food cart or becoming an arbourist. In the case of the former, I’d need to learn how to run a small business, and probably invest some of my own money to get something started, but the benefit would be being my own boss and being successful or a failure under my own power. In the case of the latter, I’d need to take some schooling and become certified but would get to work outdoors around trees and possibly land a civic union job. In both cases, it’s a completely different direction and isn’t something I can just start doing, because I don’t really know anything.

Whatever crazy dreams I have right now, I am becoming more sure that I’ll need to make a change of some sort in the next couple years. I can’t quite call it Freedom 35, but age 35 is probably a good target to set as a best-before date on the design job stuff. Or maybe, as the title says, I’m just having a crisis and should just get a mani-pedi and deal with it, girlfriend.

Social Networks

Well, I’m three weeks into my self-imposed Facebook exile, and I’m coping just fine without it. There’s been a couple of instances where I’ve peered over my ladyfriend’s shoulder while she’s on the Facebook, and a few friends have posted photos that I’ll need to check out at the end of the month, but I’m confident that shortly after the start of August I’ll leave it behind. I’m still not sure if I’ll be deleting my profile altogether or just disabling it.

Of course I’m also prepared to become a hypocrite and sign up for Twitter after quitting Facebook. I railed against the uselessness of the Tweets recently, and if I do end up doing the Twitter-chatter, I’m fully aware of being branded a liar and a turncoat. But I blabbed about the uselessness of Facebook, too, before caving in and joining it three years ago.

TWIG Notes XXVII

Another week, another week without blogging. Here’s the rundown.

- Last Sunday was the first game (preseason) at Empire Field, the new and temporary home of the BC Lions. The weather was a cloudy and somewhat chilly seventeen degrees. The stadium’s certainly going to be fun for the summer months - provided summer actually arrives - and in a way it’s too bad that next year the Lions will be moving back into a cavernous dome. Empire Field holds just under 28,000, which is a perfect size for a CFL game. Our seats are literally about twelve feet from the field, which is a hell of a lot closer than at BC Place. The Lions lost, but whatever, it’s the preseason. For the record I predict a 10-8 record for the Leos this season.

- Also: photos from the Lions game are on Flickr. Includes shots of cheerleader bums. Fair warning.

- I’m in desperate need of a vacation, so I booked a night at Whistler for Canada Day for my ladyfriend and I. I only thought of this because some friends of ours took me to Whistler for an afternoon on Saturday, where we wandered around for a couple hours, ate some delicious fresh pasta, then headed home when the rain started to pour. Again, it sure would be nice if summer came soon, so our two days in Whistler aren’t spoiled by rain.

- After not winning a G.D. thing on Lotto Max tickets the last two weeks, I’ve given up on that lottery. Instead, I spent money on a different lottery! Tax for the stupid, my ass - I’m totally winning the PNE Prize Home this year!

- As soon as I finish writing this blog entry, I’m canceling my subscription to GQ. No more fashion advice, no more articles about the best pub food in America. Somehow I’ll be alright. I hope.

Status Update

There’s been a lot of smoke lately about Facebook’s privacy or lack thereof. The complaints are legitimate: Facebook is constantly changing its privacy settings to, by default, share more and more information to its ‘partners’. And I can’t really blame Facebook, because a) people are voluntarily signing up for Facebook, and placing your private information online and thinking it’s safe is asinine; and b) we live in a world where everything has to be monetized. If it’s a successful idea, it has to make money. I don’t like these facts but that’s just the way things are. As my ladyfriend says, if you’re foolish enough to put private information on a public website, don’t complain that it’s being exposed or exploited.

When I signed up for Facebook three years ago, I did it out of peer pressure. Everyone was signing up, and it seemed like I was missing out on the fun. And it was fun. I got to see photos of people, stalk former high school crushes, and make smartass comments about other peoples’ status updates. Occasionally I’d play a game, and use its events feature to invite people to things like birthday parties or trips to see burlesque.

Now, though, the fun seems to be gone. I spend perhaps two minutes a day on Facebook now, where I basically read status updates and click “Hide” on application or game notifications. Also, as Facebook constantly finds new ways to mine personal information for profit, I’m required to go through all my privacy settings and ensure everything I want kept off Google stays off it (supposedly). It’s coming to the point where I don’t really get anything out of Facebook - and what I do get out of it is essentially Twitter, which I already negatively ranted about.

So I’ve set July 1 as a day to start the 30 Day No Facebook challenge. It’s exactly what you’d think: for a month I try to go without logging into Facebook. If, after that month, I don’t miss it, I delete my profile. It sounds easy, but I don’t know if I can find the will to press the delete button if or when the day comes (ironically, there is no delete button on Facebook). While I have email, a Flickr account, and a blog, my worry is that I’ll miss out on something or on someone trying to contact me for something fun to do. I get the occasional party invite on Facebook, and while I rarely go to such parties, I know that were I to no longer be on Facebook I’d never even get an invite. So maybe the potential loss isn’t that great. We’ll see how it goes, though. Maybe I’ll be a full on hypocrite and quit Facebook to join Twitter.

Wedding Day! (Someone else’s)

Yesterday, as Best Man, I attended a wedding for my friends Nigel and Tracey, who were married at St. Joseph’s (Catholic) Church in Langley. Despite the suggestions that the ceremony would take hours, it only took a little over one hour (which as I understand is quick, by Catholic measures). The reception was held at a golf and country club in Fort Langley. In all, the wedding was great: the weather was sunny and warm without being uncomfortably so; I got to hang out with/introduce my ladyfriend to friends I hadn’t seen in close to a decade; and I managed to get through the Best Man Speech with minimal stuttering and nervous voice. The bride and groom made their grand entrance at the reception driving a ‘monster truck’ style golf cart, which had all the guests hooting with laughter. The wedding marks pretty much the last marriage in our circle of friends and family - until my niece and nephew ’settle down’, which seems unlikely anytime soon. There will be some amusing photos from the event too, which I’ll share here as soon as I can. It was certainly a happy day and we were both glad to see two fine people marry each other.