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11/20/96 ".....gross!!!....." do you ever gross yourself out? (i feel like andy rooney here) lately i find myself in a constant state of grossed-out-ness. i am atrophying (is that a word?). see, i used to be a cabinetmaker, for 10 years before i got into the business of sitting on my brains all day long, i used to lift things, carry tools around, and other stuff like that. the end result being some modicum of physical fitness and a steady paycheck (taxes already taken out, thank you). the downside was that after 10 years it was beginning to wear thin, and there isn't much of a demand for a master cabinetmaker in nyc anymore. most of the shops left the city when the rents started to skyrocket. so, i took the plunge, mr. freelance designer. i started doing what i really loved and lo and behold people wanted to pay me for it! i was stoked to say the least! my body seems to feel differently about this situation. if you are going to make your living sitting down, you'd better have a good chair. i used to have this desk chair that the cybercafe threw out (i can't resist a bargain, being mr fix-it and all), that chair landed me in the chiropractor's office twice a week for two straight months (some bargain!) so i get this swank knoll design chair, ergonomic to the max! still my body complains, my posture is beginning to resemble the turtle in the old bugs bunny cartoons, gross! about 6 months ago when the atrophy really started to become noticable, i joined a gym. right up the street from my house, open 24 hrs/day except for weekends, lots of the latest equipment, i thought that this would be cool, but in reality not much comes close to the boredom one can experience in an expensive gym. the most exciting thing that ever happened there was seeing the original becky from rosanne on the exercise bike next to me. which got me to wondering what it would be like to be the first becky from rosanne. is she set for life? or did she get a raw deal? i've seen kyle mcglaughlin, paulina poriskova, harvey kietel, lou reed, linda evangelista, kramer, cindy crawford, and moon unit zappa just walking around on the street in ny, i've made furniture for robert dinero's office at tribeca films and met him also. what's it like to be these people? what's it like to never worry about how you are going to pay your rent or your taxes? what if the biggest decision that you had to make was where will your next vacation be? I wonder.... i still try to go to the gym but the computer sucks me in and doesn't let me go, i work more hours now than i ever did in my life, but it is different, i'm working for myself and my clients who all so far have been just great. it is work for me not to work, you know where i'm coming from? i keep thinking about buying rollerblades (hey, that's really new media-esque) but i am afraid that i will never use them or worse yet, use them and seriously injure myself or others. last year a rollerblader ran smack dab right into me while i was on my bike and knocked me right off! being a bike rider, i kinda hate the things anyway. on top of all of this it is starting to get cold. the season of atrophy is upon us! by february i'm really gonna be grossed out. the upshot of all of this being self (en)grossed is that it is making me more and more reluctant to deal with the world. if i gross myself out, imagine what i'd do to you! well in a week it will be thanksgiving, can't wait to hear my mother say "did you put on some weight?" just can't wait....
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