37; recent life developments

Recent Life Developments:

Finally bought and read Jeff Smith's 'Bone'. The epic graphic novel clocks in at 1300 pages. Is it worth it? Oh yes. Besides being well illustrated and engaging the work is very funny and a great page-turner. It won a whole bunch of awards, including 10 Eisners. And it takes less time to read than 'Deathly Hallows'.

Also I've been raiding the Massachusetts inter-library loan system for CDs. I think the librarians are starting to get suspicious. Recent aquisitions: In The Wee Small Hours, SInatra; The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest; The Muddy Waters Anthology; It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, Public Enemy; Horses, Patti Smith. Also bought my own copies of Superfly by Curtis Mayfield and Happy Trails by Quicksilver Messenger Service. Woot.

Most interestingly I went and saw Blue Man Group last night in Boston. It was hysterical and fantastic. As my friend said after we'd left it's not really so much a show as a piece of performance art. Performance art that happens to be taking place in a theatre. It was ridiculously fun and nifty and everyone alive should see it and take their families and friends and start a cult. Maybe that's taking it too far. But if you can see it, you should try.

The show was a culmination of a nice, if particularly hot, day in Boston with a friend. We wandered from Trinity, whose architecture is so cool it is something I think people visiting Boston should make a point of seeing, to Newbury Street via Prudential Center and PF Changs. I'd never been to a PF Changs, but they make a mean tofu. Delicious. Delightful. Denevermind.

After moseying up and down Newbury we were joined by more friends and finally completed our party near the Charles Playhouse for Blue Man. The only way I think the evening could've been better is if we'd hit up a Coldstone or Finale. But everyone was stuffed, so perhaps adding a diabetic coma on top of the masses of food we ate would not have been wise after all. In fact I'm sure it wouldn't have been. Type-2 diabetes?

I do so love the desserts, but perhaps I should be working out more. Sobering fact: I weighed more three years ago than I do now. So, since I can't gain weight the developed-world way through eating I figure I must starting exercising and get a little muscle mass. Someone told me the other day they appreciated the indent of my chest as a place to rest their head. As glad as I am that they like this feature, having a chest that can double as a cereal bowl is not really to my liking. Pecs! Abs! Gluts! Biceps! Triceps! Quadceps! Any kind of cep! I'll exercise them all!

Let's hope I don't hurt myself.

The difficulty about writing a 'Recent Life Development' column is that no matter how long it's been my life, though filled with developments, is short on adventure. People want to hear about adventures, not developments. If the baby starts kicking that's a development. If you go into labour in a Wal*Mart that's an adventure. People try and pawn off stories of developments as adventures all the time. Or at least the people I know, myself included, do. Going Shopping: Not an Adventure. The Late-Night Trip to Wherever: Not an Adventure. That Funny Thing That Happened That Time: Not an Adventure.

Giving birth, white-water rafting, backpacking or hitchhiking, mountain biking, camudding, base-jumping, airports, jungles, deserts, lost at sea, the New York City Port Authority: These are adventures. Climbing mountains, trekking and scuba diving can all be said to be adventures. At least the first time. If you are a professional skydiver then skydiving is no longer an adventure, it's your job.

Let's see, we've covered graphic novels, CDs, Blue Man, exercise, Boston, and adventures. Sounds good to me.