--Given my slouch and increasingly sore back, I have decided to take action. I lowered my chair to a comically low height, but it's allowed me to scootch under my desk and be upright when typing at my computer, not hunched over. It's also got my elbows about letters-high (baseball reference). I'm telling you, I feel like a new man already. I'm gonna be two inches taller by June.
--I know there are women who stop by this blog and, ladies, I must call on your expertise. I need to start taking better care of my skin. I'm currently using this Neutrogena scrub that has that nice little roughness to it. Then Neutrogena 55 spf Faces sunscreen. At night, I steal some of the old lady's Estee Lauder night repair whathaveyou. I don't have acne problems, but I have more blackheads than I'd prefer. I had a red spot on my nose that appeared and never went away (I think it has been checked out, hmmm...). Basically, I want to protect my youthful good looks and have healthy skin. Here's where you come in. How do I do it? How do I determine what are the best products? If I go to department store counter, they're just going to sell me whatever happens to be at that counter, right? Who can I trust?
--As the days get longer and the weather warms, I can't help but look ahead to the summer. I'm never very inspired to make New Year's resolutions, but, rather, seasonal goals. The following is a working list of things I would like to make a point of doing this summer:
-Sand and restain my adirondack chairs (no offense, Conrad)
-Cook more. And I don't mean opening a couple Trader Joe's packages and putting them in a pan. I'm talking about actually cooking. I'd like to plan out a weekly menu and try some new things.
-Revitalize the Summer Patio Film Series. Attendance was down already last season when we had to cut it short due to scheduling conflicts. I need to come up with something, even a small touch, to kind of hit refresh on the affair.
-Ditch the blinds and get curtains up in the living room. We have been thinking of doing this for so long. It's time for some action!
-Camp. Every summer, I think about getting a camping trip together and it never happens because we have those BS jobs that offer zero paid vacation days. You end up eating a few unpaid days to take the necessary trips and there's just never any leftover flexibility for camping. This summer doesn't project to be any different, but, screw it, I'll do a one-nighter. We'll get up early, head down to someplace like Carlsbad and spend the whole day at the beach and have one nice night around the ol' campfire. Life is too short.
-Read, read, read. Is there anything more relaxing than laying in the warm sun with an engrossing book? I've gotten so behind on my reading since I started "The Lay of the Land." I'm enjoying it, but it's not a fast read by any stretch and it has consumed my literary life for too long. I aim to finish it this weekend and get to work on the summer reading list, tout de suite.
-Make it to 10 Angels games. We got Pujols, we got CJ, we got a real shot at the World Series. Arte and Jerry put up, now it's time for me to shut up and get down to see my team! What's more American summer fun than a baseball game?
-Get an actual tan. I'm not talking Jersey Shore here. I'm talking au naturale, like the old days when I used to just casually acquire the California golden glow. I realize this could potentially conflict with my call for skincare help earlier, but surely there has to be a compromise? I'm not talking about sunbathing per se, just saying I want to spend enough time outside so as to not look like a ghost.
-Go to one of those free sunset concerts at the Getty. Always wanted to. Never have. I might have to suck it up and just go when the evening is free, rather than waiting for an artist I recognize.
-Make more wine. My very thoughtful father-in-law gave me a wine making kit last year and after cutting my teeth on the first batch, I never got to work on a second batch. I mean, we had 30 bottles to get through before there was available space to make more, but that's no longer an excuse.
-Grow tomatoes. Evie's got some going over in her garden along with various other herbs and color me inspired. Tomatoes seem like a reasonable goal. And rosemary. And cilantro. Have I mentioned how much I (pardon my French) fucking love cilantro? I can't breath or eat enough of it. ARGH!
-Save money. Amid everything prior on this list, this may seem like a joke, but I believe it to be possible. The truth is I am not very forward-thinking when it comes to money and I know that will bite me in the ass someday, possibly soon. It's time to develop a savings plan and stick to it. Ha, I guess I should throw rolling over my 401K into the mix here as long as I've got myself growing tomatoes and chasing a golden glow. Sure, maybe this will be the year.
-Oh come on, I can't end a summer to-do list with "save money." That's weak, if not sad. One more thing to wrap it up...hmmm....Okay, I got one.
-Blog more.
