Touch You Last

Despite what you might expect, this isn’t simply about doing the dishes. I actually do wash the dishes, after each meal, even. (And Sarah does the cooking. It’s part of this whole division of labour thing I got roped into.) The problem is that I’m not a real attention-to-details kind of guy. I don’t half-ass it, but I’ve been known to three-quarter-ass it on occasion. Which means I’m not also so good at getting all the crud off the dishes. I swear that I don’t know that I’m doing it when I’m doing it. I don’t see that half brick of cheese caked on to the plate. I overlook that chunky bit of whatever that gets trapped in the bottom of the glass. I’ll let Sarah correct my if I’m overstating these stats here, but I think that five dishes out of six come out okay, but that sixth dish always seems to end up with shmeng on it--which I don’t see until it’s been on the drying rack for half a day. And this isn’t a new phenomenon. I remember Brady pointing this out to...

I think the fittest I’ve ever been was between 2000 and 2002, and I’ve always held that up as my gold standard (in contrast to my current, corpulent self). The problem wit h striving to reach that level again is that a lot of different factors conspired to make that possible, and it’s a confluence that will never happen again. I was running then. A lot. There were a few 10Ks and one half marathon, and it seemed like I was always training for something. And when it was too cold to run I was a fairly steady gym goer. But this was all because I had loads of time on my hands. I was living in Georgetown with my parents, and for two of those years Sarah was still going to school in Guelph . Also, all but about three of my friends had moved from town by then, so a lot of my nights were free. Generally speaking, I was fit because I was constantly exercising because I didn’t have anything better to do. Since then, I’ve been totally unable to keep up any kind of regular fitness regime...

Okay, so I’ve been away from this project for a while. But I intend to finish what I started. (Total side note: I was thinking the other day about what a person would have to go through if one day they decided to finish everything they’d ever started. Every home reno project that had been half-assed, any race never finished or diet not seen to completion, every fistfight that was broken up, every relationship that was thwarted. I’m releasing that idea out into the ether. If anyone wants to script a rip-off of My Name is Earl, there’s your story basis right there.) Change Four: Keep in Touch With People More I go through cycles of being really good at this and pretty bad at this. I’m currently in a bad cycle that seems like it’s gone on for years. For those of you who this applies to—and you know who you are—it’s not something I do because of apathy or because I’m a jerk or because I want you to call me first, I’m just the type of guy w ho puts things off. “I have to call Brady ...

I had a lot of fun interviewing Beth a while back, and I really like this idea. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t flatter myself, thinking I have crazy good interview skills. There's a reason I did the first exchange over e-mail—so I could take time to think of the next question, rearrange the content, and generally edit the bejezus out of whatever I said. I thought the result was great. Jorge volunteered to be my next subject, and because he had plans to visit, I decided to kick it up a notch. We did an audio interview. Just before midnight last Friday, we sat down with a few beers, a bottle of Sour Puss (don’t ask), and an amazingly simple-to-use bit of software called Audacity . We talked until four in the morning. I do not present the full version to you here. We hardly even like ourselves enough to listen to the full version. No, available through this link is the heavily pared down six-minute version. I love it. It was fun to record, and strangely fun to edit (even though it took...

Change Two: Drink More Water Such a simple thing, yet something I just can't seem to find the time to do. About the only water I drink in your average day is whatever sweat happens to trickle off my mustache. Hydration (so the smart people tell me) is a good thing. I'm less fatigued when I drink water. I'm less hungry when I drink water. I'm even less grumpy when I drink water. I promise you nothing especially impressive. Eight glass a day ain't gonna happen. I'm shooting for two on average; two trendy, metallic, not gonna bleed Bisphenol A into my system bottles of water. I know were off to a rip-roaring start, what with the list-making and the hydration, but I'll try to get crazier with future changes. Stuff like: go to work drunk more, and buy a pair of leather pants. For now, let me ease into it.

Because 101 in 1001 was such a "success,” and because I like to announce my goals and fail at achieving my goals publicly, I bring you a brand new meme: 52 changes. This little project stems from the fact that I like resolutions, but tend to overshoot with a long list of Herculean tasks that overwhelm me. Instead, I’ll be spreading the resolutions throughout the year, one per week. Some (most) will be small, some will be major—and I know I’m not going to keep all of them up, but I can’t help but think that at least some of these fifty-two changes will stick. Change One: Maintain a To-Do List From my early twenties on, I loved me my to-do lists. My typical list was broken down into subcategories (To Read, To Watch, To Write, To Call,) and I kept it handy whenever possible. Some of the items were things I definitely needed a reminder on, others were gimmies—things I had no doubt I’d accomplish within hours of writing them down. Gimmies aside, these stupid little paper lists...