Trying not to get fat(ter)

It's a cold, grey day in Dunedin.  The rain is gently falling, the fire is lit, and the dog's absorbing as much of the output as possible.  I think she's half-lizard, but that's by the way.  It's definitely a day for writing, and I've had quite a productive morning.  What it isn't, yet, is a day where I've tied up lots of loose ends - where I've done all those nagging bits of research that are hanging over me, waiting to be done.  Things like studying street maps of Jerusalem, investigating Israeli laws on firearm ownership, which of Israel's borders are open and to what...and that's just what's been thrown up in the last two days!

No, I'm firmly resisting getting on with that, telling myself that it's all detail, to be added and verified in the next draft, that I don't want anything to interfere with the gestation of this - certainly nothing as mundane as facts!  I'll do anything to keep this flow going, and that includes consuming tea, biscuits and chocolate as and when required.  'Ze muse, she only dance when I feed 'er.

So I'm having to be a bit rigorous about finding time in my writing schedule every day to exercise.  I've discovered before that I write - well, utter shite, really - when I'm depressed, or under the weather, so maintaining a healthier body is also maintaining my writing.  Also, the waves down here jack up a whole lot quicker than the ones I came from in Taranaki.  That means I've been doing a whole lot of core exercises and stretching, trying to be quicker to my feet and into it.

For the core stuff, I've been doing some of the exercises in Surf Flex
, a manual of how to ruin your afternoon.  It's bloody good value, though, if only because it will remind you again and again that there's absolutely no point in going to a proper gym until you can do the basics - push-ups, sit-ups etc - properly at home, and then proceeds to demonstrate that you can't.  It'll save you a fortune.

As for stretching, I've been muddling around with yoga for years.  I've never been to a class, as such - I'm far too much of an egotist to go and grunt and struggle in front of a room full of impossibly flexible and serene women, and deep down, I know I'm probably - definitely - enough of a pervert to spend most of the class checking out the scenery.  One day I'll get it together to go - but not yet.  It's the mantra for the last ten years, by which you could correctly assume that I'm not terribly serious about it.

Wii Yoga is just about perfect for me, then.  It keeps me safely away from those that need protecting, has a top score thing for me to fulfill my ego thing by beating the kids,  and on days like today I can stoke up the fire and call it Bikram, just about.   I've been doing it most days for the last two weeks:  my back pain is down, my sleep is better, my balance is slowly improving, and the rest of the family have been happily ripping the piss out of me, safe in the knowledge that the bloody TV will tell me off if I put a foot down to chase 'em...