May 19 – Monday – Why The Walrus Was Paul

I wasn’t going to exercise tonight. I’ve been good lately. Besides, I didn’t feel like writing about anything. But I tired of Dr. Phil and thus decided to turn on the radio to get some movement in. I suddenly needed to hear Bonnie Bramlett sing “That’s What My Man Is For,” badly. Only to this song, mind you, I’ve started to dance around with an invisible mike in my hand. Next I had to hear Fiona Apple on CD doing “Criminal.” Love that song! I wanted to listen to Bette Midler’s “Lullaby of Broadway” and “In the Mood,” not just as the add-ons they became to pick up the deficiency in the shorter albums, and the mini-workout ended with Melissa Etheridge (another tape, one that saw me through some tough times) and “I’m the Only One.” Bonnie Raitt’s Nick of Time album has been playing while I’ve writing and posting, and finding it hard to sit still. But that’s right. Tonight, no boys allowed.

Here’s how I write: Pen to paper. Sometimes sitting and completing a thought, but most often, for this blogged project at least, I’m scribbling cryptic notes and whole sentences, while bending at the waist down to the notebook on the floor next to the yoga mat, because I don’t want to stop the aerobic portion of the workout, or I’m lying on my back with my legs up the wall writing upside down. What’s in the notebook then gets typed into a word doc, and then is copied to my blog – The Walrus Was Paul (like you’d forget). Why do I do it this way? I’m getting it done, aren’t I? And why, you must now be asking, don’t you keep your notebook in a more convenient spot during the first half of your workout? Because that’s the set-up. It’s been the set-up since we began. I did try keeping the notebook on the coffee table, but it keeps winding up on the floor next to the mat. And Max likes it.

So why The Walrus Was Paul? Can I tell you tomorrow? Judge Judy’s coming on.