Thursday, September 23, 2010

Lookin' Good

Officially I have lost 14.4 pounds in the last month. I am less than a pound away from my first "goal weight," and just over a pound away from what I will consider a personal milestone: getting under 280. I haven't been there since 2001.

It's Weight Watchers. That's it. In many ways it is so easy I'm slapping myself for not getting on this years ago. In many other ways it is just as difficult as I feared it would be. This past week, for example, has been fraught with indulgences, and with family coming in this weekend I don't expect it to let up until Monday. So when I weigh in on Sunday there may be some discouraging results, but I'm not going to stress about it. There's no reason I can't get back on track next week.

I decided it was time to bite the bullet and commit to this whole plan when I got on the scale for the first time in several months and, for the first time in my life, saw the number climb above the 300 mark. I had a moment of actual panic. I'd spent the whole summer being very physically active, and here I was at the heaviest I had ever been. When I stopped and thought about it, though, the problem was obvious. I'd spent the summer indulging in as much awful food as I could fit into my stomach, justifying it all with the knowledge that I was surely sweating it all off on stage. When I signed up for Weight Watchers I was told I could eat up to 42 "points" worth of food per day. That seemed like a lot until, just for funzies, I calculated how many points I'd eaten the day before I signed up: 68.

Holy shit.

So I'm on the wagon. There are occasional slips, but the progress is noticeable. I'm told I'm looking better. I'm definitely feeling better. My pants are all a little looser, and I can button a shirt I couldn't button three months ago. That's an awesome feeling, but there's a healthy amount of guilt and embarrassment as well. I can't help but chastise myself a little for letting myself go as long as I did.

The next step is exercise. A gym is supposed to be opening right in my building, but there hasn't been any visible progress on it since we moved in last June. I've started just doing push-ups whenever I have a few minutes and some space to myself. I've still got a ways to go, though. I'm hoping I'll find something that works for me soon.

Saturday, September 04, 2010

No Rest for the Wicked

It has reached the point where I write on this blog so infrequently that I wonder if it's worth the trouble of keeping it at all. For now, I shall endeavor to continue. The lack of posts are my failing, not the blog's. And the truth is that August was a busy month.

Since last I wrote, I not only began rehearsals on Louis Slotin Sonata, but as of today we're already in tech. This has to have been one of the fastest rehearsals processes in which I have ever participated, and yet it never for a moment felt rushed, or like we were running out of time. We're in great shape for tech, and I can wait to see what this whole thing turns in to. I wish there was an image of the show's poster online, because it is stunning. We're in previews as of next Friday, and then we open Monday the 13th. I will keep you posted.

Last weekend I also participated in my first ensemble meeting at Lifeline Theatre. As the discussion grew, I found myself look around the room and thinking, I am surrounded by a bunch of really smart people. Seriously. It's a little intimidating. But I left the meeting with a good-sized list of new books to read, and I am now at the very early stages of a new project for the company. I don't want to go into detail yet because it is, as I say, in the very early stages. Nothing official yet, but the ball has started rolling. It's something that has me extremely excited, and perhaps more than a little petrified. We shall see what happens.

A few other things are moving along as well. Next Saturday, Signal Theatre Ensemble holds auditions for Accidental Death of an Anarchist, by Dario Fo. I'm working on the violence for the show, so hopefully I'll get a chance to stop by and get a look at some of the potential cast.

Then, after Louis Slotin Sonata, opens, I start in on a script development workshop with The Strange Tree Group. Getting a chance to work with this company will be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream... or at least it would be if they'd been around my whole life. Actually I first learned about them about three or four years ago, around the time I was directing Rogue 8: Issue #3 with Rogue Theater. Seeing their shows has been some of the most fun I've ever had as a theater audience member. I get excited every time I hear they have something new coming up. And now I get to play along a little. I am all kinds of thrilled about this.

This coming Monday is Labor Day. It is the only full day off I've had in a month, and the only full day off I will have until late October. You'd think that's a bad thing, but really, it's not.