weapons of massdistraction

As previously mentioned…some of my newly formed bad habits, plus a prolonged and annoying illness (which I am thankfully over), had been catching up with me. For over a week I have been eating less and/or smarter, passing up on the donuts at work, exercising daily for 30+ minutes, not drinking alcohol on weeknights, and going to bed earlier. I’m feeling pretty good but it’s BORING. I’ll just have to re-train myself…and be sure to exert plenty of self control over the coming weeks of holiday excess. If only we had something like San Francisco’s “House of Air” indoor trampoline park, to make the exercising part of the equation more fun. Because enjoyment is a HUGE part of it. I listened to NPR’s Science Friday as they discussed the new Xbox Kinect and their research into the emotional content of movement. Now if we could only get our hands on the Kinect. They seem to be sold out everywhere.

Then again, does any of it really make a difference? I find research like this to be more than a little dispiriting:

Recently, researchers in Finland made the discovery that some people’s bodies do not respond as expected to weight training, others don’t respond to endurance exercise and, in some lamentable cases, some don’t respond to either. In other words, there are those who just do not become fitter or stronger, no matter what exercise they undertake.

Five good and/or interesting things:

• Rare Color Photos Of The Russian Empire At The Turn Of The Century, images from the Duluth area in 1938 and Lomokev’s current street style montages.
• Fascinating Google street views gallery curated by 9 eyes tumblr. Sad to see so many prostitutes world wide. But it makes sense that the google street view cameras would capture streetwalkers where they work.
• Behind the scenes with Stephin Merritt at a Strange Powers photo shoot.
• Another fantastic TED talk. Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? That would be a yes.
• Speaking of creativity, check out locals Permanent Art and Design Group: “Permanent Art and Design Group is an ever-changing, cross-disciplinary team of creatives and consultants. It brings the capacity of art and the functionality of design together to work on well-rounded and wide-ranging creative projects.” Also formerly local, Eight Hour Day. This design duo is taking the year off to travel around the U.S. I envy them.

There have been too many Debbie Downer moments recently. And maybe that’s exacerbated by the lack of sunlight in our lives. Days get shorter, mopeyness increases. Relationships suffer. But I’m determined to swim upstream against it. We do have much to look forward to. Going to see Grinderman tomorrow night. And Nick Cave has announced that he will be putting out a new album, with the Bad Seeds, sometime in 2011. Also next year? Robyn - who I just missed at the Fine Line - will be coming back to town. This time in First Avenue’s main room. A much better venue for her majesty. And in the nearer future? I’m lining up some holiday photo sessions for families. Lastly, and most immediately, I am about to watch episode three of The Walking Dead. Sometimes it’s the little things, like good music and zombie apocalypse fiction, that keep me from diving into the deep end.