Tuesday, March 22, 2016





The Daily News

1  Happy Clean-Up Day!!!

2  At least it is in our neck of the woods. I'm not quite as quaint with it. I call it Garbage Day. But I must say, Clean-Up day is a glass half-full. Clear water. I look forward to it. 

3  With all the partying and cooking that has gone on lately, it's going to be good to get all the residue a distant elsewhere.

4  Always an underrated day, if you ask me.

5  Well! When you are in it, you are in it to win it, right?

6  Does that mean I cleaned out the fridge late last night?

7   Indeed I did. 

8   It may sound mundane, but this one was arguably my personal best. I love having personal bests that involve tomfoolery.

9   I thought it over last night, tried to figure out why everything went so well. The common denominator is this: When I cook and clean these days, I also  walk around the house to increase my walking steps. It sounds goofy, but I tied my daily walking "exercises" into household organizing blocks, and worked it so I could do both simultaneously. This works particularly well when it rains outside. I make easy walking paths inside the house, and I pinpoint different areas of each room, straightening them up while doing my household "hiking."  For example:

 I arranged mini-hiking trails when we had paint cans and tarps out, or baby cradles on the floor, or laundry baskets arbitrarily set in pathways. I would clear paths like a park ranger. This would include vacuum cleaners, mops, balloons (See Pooh's place, above. I would have popped that balloon. Ever tripped over a semi-deflated balloon? I would also have clear-cut all that junk the characters are standing in AND walked an extra two-hundred feet while doing it. The path would have been between the yellow chair on the left, and the edge of the picture. See it? Perfect hiking trail!) etc.

During these mini-hikes, I would mark refrigerator food with the date I bought it, and if it exceeded a certain period of time, I would toss it, all the while walking laps around the living room, the dining room, the hallway, etc. Masking tape and a Sharpie make that an easy task. Throw old stuff out. Don't think of it as wasting food; think of it as preventing poisonings. Here's more stuff:

Once one area would be clean, I would continue walking mini-laps, and move to the next area. After an hour, I would have a couple of miles logged, as well as a couple of rooms clean and organized. I would continually check the fridge for anything with growth (bleh!). Some stuff I would mark simply, "Toss!"

The result? An organized, spotless fridge. It worked! AND in the process I might well have walked a couple of thousand extra steps I never would have otherwise walked. 

10  It sounds crazy, but the fridge cleaned out swiftly and with little waste. So Clean-Up Day is already done this fine morning, and everything is looking up. Thanks Winnie and friends, for giving it a friendlier name. I'm loving things right now. I just am. And I'm logging in over five extra walking miles a day. Good times. Last night my Daily Average  was 5.58, nothing for some of you, but I did this following an injured Achilles, and have continued it for almost a month and a half. Yay, old guy!

And part of this lesson is just this: if I can do it, anyone can do it. If you like being home, then this is for you. It is important you get an app that measures daily stats. You can be your own coach. I'm excited about it, because, as a school teacher, I always found it difficult to get exercise. You can't grade papers while running. I think I could have done this though. 

So that's it.  I'll stop now. I have other things of vital importance to share. I just thought I might share a successful health story. Take it as you list. 

11  Moving On, Part One: Speaking of Pooh and Vital Importance, Dept: The other day, Caitlin posted a Winnie-the-Pooh test on Facebook.

12  I have jokingly said I've now seen the original film over four-hundred times in the past few months. 

13  Don't get me wrong. You could watch a WHOLE lot worse films over the same span. 

14  I almost took that test, but hesitated. What if I didn't get a hundred per cent? As a former teacher, I want to get high marks. 

15  We'll see. I'm guessing I'll be able to see the film several more times before I decide to take the test. 

16  It is sort of intimidating. Is it fair to say it is like cramming for the Jar Exam? Or might people get up and leave? 

17  I wonder what sorts of questions will be asked?

18  Yesterday, I'm pretty sure I found the answer-sheet to the test.

19  Here are the questions, with what appears to be the answers right under them:



      1.  Where does Kanga take Roo for breakfast?

        Answer: IHOP.

        2.  Why doesn't Winnie the Pooh wear shoes?
        
        Answer: He has bear feet. 

        3.  Why does Tigger smell so bad?

        Answer: You'd smell too if you played with Pooh all day.
     
       4.  What does Pooh wear to bed?

        Answer: Poohjamas.

         5  What language did Kanga's ancestors speak?

         Answer: Kanglo Saxson.




Stolen from: Pooh Jokes From Lavasurfer


20  Are those some sample test questions?



21  I don't think so.  

22

23  I don't think so.

24  Pooh says that a couple of times. 

25  The guy is so sincere. 

26  It all works for me.

27  Moving On, Part Two: What else is of vital importance?

28  Each night when I write this lately, great music has gone on in the background.

29  Last night, the film Ray came on some channel or other. 

30  Ray is the film bio of the great Ray Charles. Like any film bio, it has a few inaccuracies, but overall, it brings the story of Ray Charles to the masses. I always loved Ray Charles, his music, his personality, and his great smiles, so this film flashing at me around midnight rocked it. This was around my fifth go-round with the film, and it always works, mainly because of Jamie Foxx's spot-on performance, which landed him an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2004.  

31  Foxx's outstanding performance prompted critic Robert Christgau to write, "Foxx does the impossible--radiates something approaching the charisma of the artist he's portraying...that's the only time an actor has ever brought a pop icon fully to life on screen."

Stolen from: Ray (film) Wiki

32  The Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2004. 

33  Remember those days?

34  Anyway, I finished off yesterday enjoying the excitement and energy of that picture. 

35  Great film. 

36  And vitally important. Is it as vitally important as the original Winnie the Pooh?

37  

38  I don't think so. 

39  

40  Just kidding. 

41  And I have nothing further of vital importance for you. Oh. One thing. I finally did take the Winnie the Pooh test. I got 9 out of 11, which I considered pretty good for a half-asleep/half-awake old coot. I celebrated with root beer and whistles, a technique I stole from David Letterman, who admitted to doing that very same thing, long, long ago. 

42  I gottago.

43  Have a great Clean-Up Day, if today is your day.

44   I hope you were able to navigate some of the links on this nonsense yesterday.

45   It is early afternoon as I compose these final thoughts. I have You Don't Know Me by Ray Charles playing silently in my head, and all is soulful, and all is music. 

46  And to quote David Crosby, music is love. 

47  That's why I gottago.

48   This DN just came out of the oven. Enjoy all of it. It's like hot-buttered corn bread. Comfort food. Nice. 

49  See you again. 

50  Enjoy the rest of your day. It goes fast from here. 

51  Peace.


~H~











fin.







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