“Another Auld Lang Syne” IV

Happy Veterans Day, Happy Thanksgiving , Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Yes, my loyal and few remaining  blog readers, it has been more than 2 months since I posted last. And with the first blog post of 2017, it is time to review how I did last year. So herewith my traditional, annual, self-deprecating “how did I do with my resolutions last year?” (See my blog post in January 2016):

Resolution #1: Lose Weight- Grade F –  Regarding my weight loss goal of 10 lbs to reach 200 lbs. , I got halfway there by the end of the summer, aided by two Adirondack Mt. Hikes ( which certainly “felt” like I burned a 2000 calories on each and definitely reminded me that I am 62 not 22). However, I slipped back to about 210 lbs by late December. Charitably, as we return from Barbados, my guess is I am at about that weight still.

To be fair, it is only partially my fault and I mostly blame Anne for being such a good cook. Though we only eat low-fat at home and plenty of grains and veggies, my days of loading my plate up with as much of even these as I desire are long gone . I suppose if I loaded up my plate with celery, kale and rocket lettuce (without dressing) this wouldn’t be a problem. ( But then again does anyone do this?) ………….“and a little round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly”

Resolution #2: Stop Eating Desserts/Sugar – Grade C – During our regular meals at home we just about never eat desserts or sweets, likewise we generally don’t when we go out with friends. The problem is holiday meals and parties ( particularly Christmas) which is when I really go off the rails and given my failure in Resolution #1 , this was probably more pernicious than I’m willing to admit  ….“while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads”

Resolution #3 Exercise – Grade B – I did reasonably well both swimming and walking usually 5 times a week or more until late November when an injured heel / plantar fasciitis has kept me from walking for exercise. Then, I managed to get an ear infection in Barbados which has kept me from swimming for the past week.  However, I continue to do rigorous thumb and finger exercises.       ….”then dash away, dash away all”

Resolution #4 Limit of Two Alcoholic Drinks Per Day – Grade C – Unfortunately (or fortunately in most cases), when one has chronic back pain, alcohol can serve as an excellent medicine.  So while I didn’t fail entirely here, I definitely crossed the two drink threshold much more often than occasionally. Had I raised the bar to 3 drinks or less , I would have done much better (and better still if I counted one 24 oz. can of beer = one drink.)

Resolution #5 Blog 24 times – Grade F – I only posted 12 times ( my worst year by far) and may have to rename my blog ‘The Braine Mistrust” . I started out OK with 9 posts by June 7, but then fizzled. I blame three factors:

First, there was the awful US Presidential election which kept my “policy” posts to just two which were more of the ” what the f#%*@k! ” variety. Second, there was my so-called ‘retirement’ which turned out involving much more work than I anticipated , particularly teaching at OSU in the fall, when I co-taught two classes. It seemed like grading papers and final reports took a lot more time than I would have thought. ( It felt like it took more time to grade them than it would have taken me to write them!) .  Third, there was the matter of developing my book.

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This last factor leads me to a new resolution for 2017 to complete and self-publish a book ( most likely as an e-book on Amazon but with some print copies as well) on rock and pop music 1960s and 1970s and a bit about my life growing up with it. I plan to complete by the late Spring. (just in time for the summer reading season). Right now I have almost completely finished the content and have already gone thru a couple of drafts with my editor (many thanks to my good friend, John Lum for volunteering).  A lot of the content comes from my music blog posts over the past several years so if you have enjoyed those, I think you will like the book. So “start spreading the news” among your friends and colleagues. (Maybe, we can create enough of a pre-release buzz that I will get people to reserve their copies ahead of time; I will start doing book signings and appear on all the national radio and TV talk shows. Ah my egomania knows no bounds!)

Of course, I also plan to continue the Braine Trust with more on policy and new music posts this year. Here is the best to all of you and a Happy and Healthy 2017! ……..“But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight ‘Happy Christmas to all and to all a Good Night’!”