A New Bag

Here’s an unsolicited product testimonial.

I bought a new laptop bag at the end of April. It was about time. I go through laptop bags about every five years. The one I was using had a shoulder strap. I use a large HP laptop. Because it doesn’t have a long battery charge, I carry a power brick and cords with me. I walk one to three miles before and after my writing sessions. Carrying that weight had become comfortable. It was especially so in the summer’s smoky heat, when temperatures popped into the high nineties to over a hundred, and the valley trapped wildfire smoke that drifted down from the mountains.

Besides that, my laptop bag had worn through in a few places. I’d paid fifty dollars for the leather and vinyl creation, more than twice what I’d paid for the fabric bag it replaced.

I’d decided that I needed a back pack variation. I found an Eagle Creek convertible laptop backpack that was large enough for my HP. This one was available for one hundred fifty-nine dollars, over three times what I’d paid for the other one. But, I use it every day, and I needed a more comfortable way to transport my laptop. So I pried open the wallet and put out the cash.

I’m pleased that I did. I’ve used it for a month and it’s much easier to strap that thing onto my back and hike around town. It feels surprisingly light.

I also have a large, wheeled laptop bag that I employ for flying. I decided I’d use the new Eagle Creek bag for my travels to see how it worked.

Again, I was pleased that I did. The Eagle Creek bag has multiple zipped compartments that helped me organize my books, boarding passes, gum, glasses, etc., along with the laptop and its accessories. The new bag fit under the airline seat with ease. It was small enough that I could pull it out from under the seat and put it up against the edge of my seat and have the legroom available during the flight.

All in all, a worthwhile purchase. It looks sturdy and durable. I’ll see if it lasts five years.

Sunday’s Theme Music

Wasn’t streaming anything in my head this morning, save the theme music from “Magnum, P.I.” by Mike Post. I think Mike Post wrote half of the theme music for television shows in the seventies and eighties. Sure seemed like it.

I decided today needed something crunchier. As I walked, my mind recovered a little gem from 1999 by a man named Lenny Kravitz, “Fly Away”. I like those opening chords, and the general message, “I’d like to fly away.” 1999 was a damn fine year for me, maybe my favorite year.

Crank it up and sing it with Lenny. You can even play the air guitar.

Good Day

Ever get out there walking and feel the air and a sharp wind, and, giving anxious glances toward the sky, think, oh, no, I’m not dressed right? But then the sun clears its throat and heat finds you. Songs start streaming in your mind, powering you into a faster pace. Busy people and singing birds fill the background, and the air acquires a sweet freshness, and you think, this right here, right now, this is a good day.

Don’t You Hate It?

Don’t you hate it when you’re stopped behind two other cars, because they’ve legally stopped for a person in the crosswalk, and the car coming up behind you whips into the other land and accelerates to about ten M.P.H. over the speed limit and just misses the pedestrian in the crosswalk?

Yeah, I don’t think the man in the crosswalk was happy, either. Mindful of people being like icebergs, with so much of them hidden out of sight, I wonder what kind of idiot is driving that car.

Day #101

I like the sun

I like the rain

I like how the day

smells this way

I like the breeze

that’s sometimes a wind

I like the scents

that tease and spin

I like the hours passing me by

and the time spent

with no one asking me why

 

 

Walking Stream

finer 

warmer

than yesterday

what was said who said it

the laughs the looks surprise

at the party

good pizza

okay cake

email Zee ’bout Mowgli

and Jeff?

good conversation

Goodwill the shoes clothing

televisions?

they work

don’t know if they’ll take them, need to check

old modems, other junk, have to check

Goo-goo Dolls

“Name”?

first heard in New Hampshire ninety-five

turn your mind

writing time

Pram with Kything – done

conversation on Wrinkle, unknown

Pram with red-beard, about to begin

how much more until this thing ends?

The rest is waiting to be written.

Tweaking My Amygdala

After reading about how doing exercises in imagining positive outcomes can affect the influence of right amygdala and reduce your fear, anxiety, and worry, I decided to do such an exercise while walking today in preparation for my writing session.

In the exercise that I read and remember most sharply, people were asked to imagine that they were Superman. Bullets bounced off them. They could fall off cliffs and not be harmed, which made sense, as they could also fly.

So often, it’s my own doubt and lack of confidence that undermines me and my writing efforts. Like many folks, the impostor syndrome shadows my life, with the attendant fears that I have no talent, intelligence, or ability (sound familiar, writers?), and that exposure as a fraud is imminent. I wanted to counter those effects with positive visualization. Of course, I don’t know how I’ll measure the impact of what I did. I awoke feeling pretty damn confident, optimistic, and hopeful (I know – I exist with a complex dichotomy of feelings and thoughts), and I write almost every day, regardless of my mood. What I really need is a team to test me, check on my amygdala, and give me updates. Barring that happening, I’ll assume it’s working and drink my coffee.

Coffee always helps.

Almost always.

Time to write like crazy, at least one more time.

Dangerous!

I like to go down stairs as fast as I can, like I’m a little kid. Doing this the other day, I startled two elderly women as they came around the corner to go up the steps. Apologizing, I explained what I was doing.

“Oh,” one said, and I moved on. As I did, I heard her companion say, “What’d he say?” Then I heard a brief exchange, and one said, “That’s so dangerous.”

Yes, that’s me, Dangerous Michael.

A Fitbit Update

I’d been doing well, averaging nine miles a day of walking for the last three months through the end of January. I was able to walk ten miles on two to three days a week throughout January. Then, well, you know, we’re people. Shit happens. Plans get upended. People get sick.

I had to travel, and the travel from Oregon to Pennsylvania and West Virginia eroded my progress. There was an ill person and a death, and mourning, grief, and then a service. Very drily put. More travel to return home, and then, illness. Things didn’t work out. My average plummeted to six miles. Damn.

The Fitbit’s reports left me dubious about how valid it all was. For example, it showed that I walked seven miles and up eighteen flights the other day, but I had just twenty-four minutes of activity. The previous day, I walked six miles and twelve flights, but had over one hundred minutes of activity. That just seems out of kilter.

Anyway, now on the recovered side of the cold, and the weather is warming. Begin again.

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