A Hair Affair

I left my "regular" job at the end of February. Since then, neither scissors nor clippers have come near my head. As a wee lad, I had fairly long hair for a boy. Back then, my hair was straight and soft. At about age 6, it began to change. By high school, my hair was thick, and a bit kinky, and so it was kept considerably shorter. Then, at age 17, I went to college and was in ROTC. With this came a military buzz.

I was quite fond of this hairstyle. Easy to maintain, though it did require bi-weekly clips. Then I left ROTC, after three years, and I fell into a funk. With this funk I felt a need to transform. And so I grew my hair a bit. But my hair does not cooperate with being long. It is quite wild. I could not deal with the sides being long, but I grew out the top and had it chemically straightened on occasion. That lasted a couple years, then I went back to the buzz. And that lasted for many years.

But now I've sorta left behind another life, and like Forrest Gump just feeling like running, I just feel like growing my hair. But my hair does not cooperate. Were it just me in this world, I'd be content with wild hair, but alas, I need to look presentable at times, and so a lot of effort goes into keeping the hair in check. Friends and acquaintances, for the most part, think I should cut the hair. Some even think it's hideous.

This makes me not want to cut my hair even more. My hair is what it is. If it's that revolting to you, perhaps it's best you not associate with me...

So I'll continue growing it, I think... just to see what it looks like at Christmas.

Meathead

So I completed my second day at the gym. I'll say I took last week off... after my soreness inducing episode with my friend. I didn't make my deadline on putting up the 'body' page, but again I'll try this week. It's a good feeling to work out, to have a solidarity of purpose while I'm there. No distractions, no excuses. I just have to get there regularly. I tried cardio.. yikes! I only lasted 10 minutes on the elliptical machine. And my kooky wife is going to be running a full marathon in the fall, nearly 4 hours of running. I'll be happy when I can do 30 minutes of cardio.

Ok, then... this was an uninteresting post...

Body of David

I can't move my arms today, not even to scratch my nose. It is because I took a step in the right direction. I went to the gym yesterday. A friend of mine has proved to be a dedicated gym rat, and so I hope that by association, I become one too. It's not so much my desire to be a gym rat, but rather to reap the benefits of being one.

I'll take some 'before' pictures soon and post them on the Body Page of my site and I'll describe my regimen, goals, progress, and what-not. I better set a deadline... I'll say by Friday, July 6th b/c I need some time to get with a trainer and come up with a regimen.

The true reason for making 'body' one of my main life categories is to ensure good health and good energy, so that I can tend to the other things in my life. To be honest, however, my reason for working out at the gym, as opposed to simply walking/hiking/staying active, is vanity. I want to have a nice body. I want to look good. I want to have strong legs and arms, a bulging chest, and cut abs. Are there health benefits to this? Probably not.

I was talking to my gym-rat friend about an unrelated subject, body hair. I was deliberating waxing my, um, nether regions, for the purpose of vanity, of course. She could not fathom it. "It's not natural," she said. Either is her shaving her legs and pits, I retorted. "But that's our culture," she concluded. And I guess she's right. Her statement migrates readily from body hair to body image. The reason I want to have this great body is because of the cultural connotations. A fit, if not muscular, body, connotes health, virility, and sexual desirability. I want that!

So, anyway, I've set the stage for working out, which is very good. I just need to throw in cardio, which I hate. But vanity to the rescue, here. My friend says ab exercises are not enough to get rid of my gut, that I need cardio. So there's my motivation. My heart will thank me, I suppose. I also need to throw in a good diet, but that must come later, for now my sausage McMuffin with egg and side of hasbrowns await.

And, if you must know, the consensus seems to be 'skip the waxing,' though I must insist on an occasional trim. I hope my barber concurs.