I feel like the song by the Pixies lately- Where is my mind?

I meant to give a nice self indulgent post on my birthday the other day, but instead I got sidetracked by my new copy of Jedi Academy. I'm only human. This post will be a little scattered and rambling- think Andy Rooney after driving across Ohio in a car with no radio.

My birthday was rather pleasant. I woke up and checked the computer to find a windows text document up with a happy birthday message from mom. Hallmark ain't got nothing on the elegant simplicity of a 22 pt courier font birthday greeting, that's for sure. I spent an enjoyable afternoon with Gerry as we frequented a few of the geekier merchants on the southwest side. My brother came home from college a foot taller and speaking partial Russian. I love that college. The Cubs beat the Marlins something like 800 to 3 in game two, adding to my good mood. Right on.

I'm applying for a position at the campus computing help desk at my alma matter. I think the official title is "help desk level one," so I think that means I'll be doing mostly simple windows troubleshooting and stocking the copy machine with paper and toner. I think I'm still fairly well connected at the school even though I never go back to visit anyone, so hopefully I can get the job based on name dropping, which I did plenty of in my cover letter. Maybe I'll get a couple of workstudy peons that I can mold into henchmen a la the old Adam West Batman series.

My latest pursuit du jour is working out at the local YMCA. I haven't technically worked out, but I have taken a couple laps around the indoor walking track. Sure, there's a perfectly nice park outside the Y that people could walk around as God and nature intended, but this is indoors. Staying indoors is how I've managed to avoid skin cancer and sports related injuries, so I'm on a real hot streak there. The indoor walking track is usually populated by old people with short legs, so it's like mall walking but without all the Gap signs. Old people are pretty easy to overtake on the track too, so there's a nice exaggerated sense of speed to keep me motivated. The funny thing about the track is that the corners are slightly banked, Nascar style, just in case some Y patrons can't handle 90 degree angles at normal walking speed without skidding into the wall.

I went to the library to find a book about weight training in an effort to avoid injuring myself the first time I use the machines. Who designs these books? Each one is the same awful neon color scheme with the same scantily clad body builder on the cover, flexing and smiling because he knows I'm trying to avoid looking at his spandex shorts. They all say "Weight Training for Beginners" in large neon letters designed to further emasculate me as I struggle to contain my armload of thick art books, comics, and guitar books. I left without a weight training book out of the sheer fear of embarrassment from carrying a book with the aforementioned oiled strong man on the cover. The embarrassment factor for that is equal to checking out gynecology medical journals or any of the "Left Behind" series.

I think I'll try this health and fitness thing for awhile. I have to figure out a good time to go the Y when it isn't full of people to get in my way or see me struggle with minimal amounts of weight. Heck, I just need to figure out how to use the equipment. I can make KDE Linux run emulated in windows xp, I can smooth the curves in Maya to make an animated character speak naturally, and I can digitally repair and nearly restore a century old portrait of one of the last American horse mounted cavalry units. But can I work a machine that instructs me to "try and move this- it's heavy"? That's the real trick.