Stress has always been a part of my jobs. I tend to take on more than I should, and I have trouble letting go of control because I think it's easier to do it myself than to explain it to someone else. In a deadline-driven industry, that's not such a good combination, since it tends to catch up with you pretty quickly. But I always assumed that when you've got too much work to do, you just put your head down and buckle down until it's done. Don't complain too much, because nobody wants to hear it anyway.Well surprise, surprise, this isn't really a healthy attitude. If you keep internalizing your stress, eventually your internals are gonna fight back. And so I found myself leaving the doctor's office this week with some choices: keep going the way things are going, sleep poorly, eat poorly, and generally be miserable, or else give up caffeine, beer, fast food, start exercising more, and leave work at work. Everybody's doctor tells them these things, and they're things I've always known I should do and keep meaning to get around to, but I'm at the point now where I'm so sick of being sick that something's got to give, and I think that something is my youthful feelings of invincibility. Sure, I can eat whatever I want, drink whatever I want, and then spend my nights trying to ignore the pain in my stomach. But I'd also like to live past 60 and get to know my grandkids, so I've decided it's time for some lifestyle changes. In the past 5 days, I've gone without coffee, soda, beer, I've eaten fairly healthy meals, and I've worked out every day but one. Yeah, it sucks, and it's hard, and it screws with my schedule, but every night I've gone to bed, fallen asleep right away, and slept through to my alarm. My stomach feels great, and all the little crises at work seem a lot easier to deal with. I know this isn't news to anybody, and you're probably thinking "duh" right about now, but there really is something to this whole exercise and good diet thing. Luckily, I happen to be living in a town that makes it pretty easy to live healthy. Now I've just got to stick to these changes. I'm not ruling out an occasional donut or Taco Bell run here and there, but it's time they got a lot less frequent.
Tick, tick, tick... only two weeks until I get my stuff and move into a real apartment. I can't wait to get out of this sublet. If there's anything I can take away from this experience, it's that I'll never take any apartment again, long-term or sublet, without seeing it first. That, and never go anywhere for longer than a week without at least one of my guitars.
Did a little music shopping today. First, I used up all my downloads at eMusic. I've mentioned this site before, but I still love it. You pay a monthly fee for a certain number of downloads, and then get access to their whole catalog, which consists of a huge variety of independent labels. After nine months or so, I'm still finding plenty to use my 40 downloads a month on. You won't find any top 40 stuff (fine by me), but you may find an early release or two by current bands, and some great hidden gems if you're into jazz and classic rock. Today I picked up albums from Gin Blossoms, The Raconteurs, and Andrew Bird, as well as songs by The Cult, Triumph, Guided by Voices, and Young MC. Then I hopped over to the iTunes store and was reminded that for some reason, all the remastered versions of The Police's back catalog are really cheap (except for some odd reason, Outlandos D'Amour). I had already bought Ghost in the Machine, so I picked up two more. Still sounding good after a quarter-century.
I'm such a terrible parent. I missed my blog's second birthday (Aug. 11, for those keeping score at home). Guess that shows where my priorities have been lately. Well, for anyone who cares, here's a look back at how it all started.
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