RIghting My Exercises

Tuesday June 1st, 2010 - St. Charles, IL

Nobody can change the world in a day, so I didn’t try. My goal was to put in as solid of a work day as I could, and I think I did. I got up extra early and my main focus was to get back in the mall and start walking again. I haven’t done it in way too long and I need to.

I know I can walk in my neighborhood and get the same results, but I like the process of doing laps in the mall because it feels like I can measure it better. Gurnee Mills is a larger than normal mall, and it’s mostly on one level. Stairs are minimal, and it just feels right.

I let my mind go as I start walking and ideas start bouncing around like ping pong balls in a tornado. I’ve learned to keep a pen and at least a couple of 3x5 cards with me because when I start getting a flow going, I have to write notes down or I’ll lose some good ideas.

It’s been a while since I’ve had any kind of an exercise flow going and I really thought I was going to die about ten minutes into it. My days of endless youthful energy are finally over, and I don’t see them coming back any time soon. I’m going to have to earn any and all acceptable levels of physical fitness with plain old hard work. I resign myself to that.

I had many years of eating whatever I wanted, and I sure didn’t cheat myself. I’ve eaten some of the best food in North America, and it was delicious beyond imagination. Now I need to work it all out of my veins and colon or I’ll be a statistic a lot sooner than later.

I’m totally fine with it, and am not complaining. I let myself get this far out of shape by not putting any effort into my health for years. I can’t expect to turn into Charles Atlas in a week, or even a year. This has got to be a life long pursuit, even if my life ends in a few days with my heart bursting like a pimple. A half assed effort is just not going to do it.

The weather was great and I drank a water in the car as I drove to the mall. I didn’t have the radio on, and I just thought about not only my day, but what I want to do with the rest of my life. Every facet of my life can use a major overhaul, and I tried to put a razor sharp clear picture of the finished product in my head. It felt great that I even got to the mall.

My goal was to do at least two complete laps, but I was about ready to keel over and die after only one. I’m a lot more out of shape than I thought, and I felt it after that first lap of torture. I tend to lose myself in thought as I walk, but I drifted in and out and felt my heart pumping and my legs aching and I didn’t want to push it. One lap was enough for today.

I was scheduled to meet up with my old radio buddy Steve Perks, who I’ve known for a long time from my days at 95 WIIL in Kenosha. He’s very funny, and a talented radio guy and he’s got the itch to get back on the air. In my opinion, he should have his pick of jobs.

But alas, radio is just as much or more political than comedy and he’s in the same boat a lot of us radio geeks are - not in the good old boy network. Radio, more than any other field I know, is totally about kissing the right ass of the right person who hires air talent.

That’s just how it is, and I’ve never been good at it and neither has Perks. We’ve never even tried to suck up to management, and that’s probably the main reason we’re both not working right now. We’re interested in creating entertaining broadcasts, and management is interested in selling commercial spots to car dealers, restaurants and anyone who pays.

It is what it is, but neither one of us like it. We both bitched and moaned about it over a healthy breakfast at the Golden Corral in Gurnee, my favorite place. There are all kinds of hottie waitresses there, and I focused on eating fruits and fiber and not bacon and gravy as per usual. I forced myself to be good, and it worked. One day down, the rest of life to go.

Let’s see if I can keep it up every day for three months. This is the time of year when it should be easiest, even if I don’t get to the mall. There are sidewalks and even some trails near where I live and the weather will be warm enough where I have NO excuses for not getting my ass out there and exercising. Even in the rain, I need to do this EVERY DAY.

This afternoon I shrunk a substantial number of emails off my pile, and that felt great as well. I took care of the booking issue with Northern Lights Theater and am now rebooked for the week of September 11th. I also was asked to do a private show earlier that Saturday so I’ll end up having a nice week. It’s down in ink, and the booker and I are both in sync.

I also had to submit a press release to some media outlets in Louisville, KY where I will be next week, working at The Comedy Caravan. I made contact with the local newspaper, and they asked for a picture and said they would run something in next Friday’s edition.

The club also asked if I’d record some radio spots, which they’ll run next week. I asked Perks if he’d help me record them, and he said he would. He’s got a studio at home like a lot of radio people do, and he lives about five minutes from me so we’ll do it tomorrow. I know he’ll do a great job, and I think we can do some other recording in the near future.

Tonight I taught a comedy class at Zanies in St. Charles, IL at the Pheasant Run Resort. I’m experimenting with some new exercises for the students and I laid some of them on a nice group of six people tonight. They’re hungry students and I like working with people like that. We were able to get a lot of solid work done, and it was worth everyone’s time.

I’ve still got a hell of a lot of things undone, but I don’t want to focus on that right now. I made a nice effort today on many levels with many people. That’s what I want to focus on, and keep doing it day after day after day until my entire life has improved by leaps.

One day does not a life make, but many days like this will make life better. I put in my time, and made very good choices. I interacted with quality people, and I felt good about everything I did. How much better can a day get than that? Now I need to keep it going.

That’s always the hard part, but better one day good than just think about it and not do anything to make it happen. I took action today, and I’m proud of myself. I’m starting to put a picture in my head of what I want, and without that I’ll never get anything done.