Don’t Believe Me Just Watch

Thank God, or goodness, or my lucky stars, whichever, for music and this blog, and the routine of exercising, at the very least every Sunday. The Walrus Was Paul keeps me writing, even when I don’t want to, and sometimes I find the posts darned amusing. It certainly allows me to vent my frustrations, state my opinions, and take those trips down memory lane that are filled with tangents and secret messages. But the music takes me to another world. It distracts me, and frankly it’s hard to feel blue when you’re bopping your head or snapping your fingers.

So tonight I think we’ll return to the original blog theme of music and exercise, but skip the memory part, unless something comes up. The Sunday routine, which is the longest and on what the other workouts are based, has expanded due to the inclusion of a couple of songs I just can’t do without, is now: still Linda Ronstadt and the first three songs of Heart Like a Wheel; Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Passionate Kisses” and Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” those being the two newest entries (I highly recommend the “Criminal” video for all); Glady’s and her Pips with “Heard It Through The Grapevine,” twice; “Smooth” twice; and three songs off Sly and the Family Stone’s Best of CD, with “I Want to Take You Higher,” twice.

And then we go to the mat, follow that with weights then end with stretches. That final half hour had been owned by Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black. I meant to tell you sooner, but she was released from that spot a while ago. I had filled it first with Patti Smith, but I haven’t settled on anything. The B52s are fun, TLC and a little Crazy Sexy Cool has been working out nicely, and of course there’s The Beatles.

But don’t dismay. Amy will be back. In fact, after seeing Bruno Mars doing Carpool Karaoke with James Corden and singing “Uptown Funk” I now have the need to add that song to the routine. The connection being Mark Ronson, who produced Back to Black and wrote “Uptown Funk” for his own album on which Bruno Mars was a featured artist.

Now let’s talk goals. You know I never lost the weight I wanted to before I went to New Orleans, just one pound of it. I knew it was unrealistic, but considering three of those pounds had just mysteriously appeared one day (I swear it was like overnight), I thought I could easily make them disappear. And I was having too much fun in New Orleans to really care that I was tacking on two pounds. So, without weighing myself, I am going to make this first and drastic goal to get back to 140, where I will be a much more comfortable size 10, sans pouch, by the end of June. And not only that, but I will now start nagging the Ex, because he is just looking like a crazy old fat guy and it’s concerning. As for me, no more shilly-shally. It could be anywhere from five to seven pounds (I don’t think it’s less and I hope it’s not more), but 140 it shall be by June 30th. Don’t believe me? Yeah, I’m a bit dubious myself.

BTW – I saw Kevin Kline in Noel Coward’s Present Laughter on Broadway the other night. He is a master at overacting and he still is very physical, animated and agile. The rest of the cast was great as well, and it was a mighty fine production. I’m hoping this motivates me to take advantage of our smaller more affordable theaters in New York, which I prefer anyway. And that usually gets those writing juices flowing. Win, win.

Oh, and you know, sometimes I feel like I’ve been tied to the whipping post. But, I’m no angel.

I will try to come up with an interesting story for next week. Promise.