August minutiae

As part of my on-going series of “Stuff About Which You Don’t Care,” here’s the monthly report on the little things that kept me busy. Please return in September for…well, whatever happens that is actually interesting.

Movies watched: The Candidate; A Serious Man; Homicide

Documentaries watched: Anytown, USA; Black Money; Jesus Camp; The Most Dangerous Man in America; The Fog of War; Overnight; Rank

Exercise: It seems like everyone around me is in the middle of some sort of training. One friend is training for a half marathon. Several others are working toward a 5K. One friend is in a weight loss bet, and another is in the process of a full body and life improvement program. It’s all fairly inspiring. With a few personal goals in mind, including making good on a promise I made to myself at the beginning of the year, August was the healthiest month I’ve had in the past 11. After a family vacation to start the month, I got in 13 workouts of various forms and put in about 18 miles on the track. I’ve finally shed most of the weight I put on over the summer and am working to get myself in better shape than I’ve been in in as long as I can remember. I have a plan, if only I can summon the discipline to stick with it.

Freelance writing: While I did a ton of writing for profit in August, none of it was outside of the poker realm. I did get a shiny new rejection letter that made me remember that there are people out there reading!

Travel days: 7

Poker Couldn’t quite stay away from the ultimate time waster and put in round 15 hours in the online machine. I played only 16 hours of live poker in August, none of which was profitable. I’m still up on the year, which is nice.

Rounds of disc golf: Because I was so busy with everything else, I only got 4 rounds in all month.

Best meal of the month: Part of this whole health thing has been cutting back on all the great food I normally eat. Fortunately, I ate pretty much whatever I wanted while on vacation and had one helluva great Low Country Boil with fresh out of the water Gulf shrimp. That I got to share it with my wife, sons, parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew made it all the better. I want to go do that again right now.

Photo of the month: Storm over Grayton

Grayton Beach, Florida, August 2010