Category Archives: Going Out

Going Out, Health, Introspection, Personal Development

Things are different this time

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Last night, I met the guys at The Distillery (their new Winton Road location) for our usual Monday night dinner. None of us had been there before, so it was a new experience. I found it a delightful place and look forward to going back again sometime. Perhaps I’ll take my father there the next time he spends the night with me.

As is our tendency during the summer, we ate outdoors, enjoying the warm weather and beautiful sky. As we were getting ready to leave, I sat there looking at the sunset and decided I wanted to go for a walk.

It’s not unusual for me to go for a walk after having dinner with the guys. In fact, it’s become something of a tradition in my mind over the last month. As we usually eat somewhere on Park Avenue, I usually leave directly from the restaurant and walk the circuit made by Park, Alexander, East, and Berkeley. It makes for a nice forty-five minute walk.

However, I had originally planned on skipping that part of my Monday night routine last night. I figured that with my seven mile canal walk Sunday morning, there was no need to get more exercise the next night, so I planned on giving my legs a break. But as I sat watching that sunset and enjoying the moderate temperatures of the evening, I realized that I didn’t want to give my legs the break. I wanted to complete my Monday night routine like I normally would.

This exemplifies a radical difference between my walking habits recently and past attempts to exercise more. This excites me because it’s a difference that I think may help me actually stick with the practice this time around, as opposed to other times when I tapered off.

Over the past seven years, every other time I’ve tried to get more exercise (usually through walking, though I did try making use of my apartment complex’s exercise room for a few weeks last year, as well), I’ve done it out of a sense of obligation. I’ve told myself that I need to exercise, and often found myself practically forcing myself to do it. My heart just wasn’t in it.

This time around, I’ve found that I’m walking because I want to. In fact, for the first few weeks I started walking after dinner on Monday night, I refused to allow myself to think of it as another attempt to start exercising. I made the conscious choice to undergo the walk for the simple fact that I enjoy it. And the result is that even now that I’m starting to think in terms of exercise, it’s still a matter of desire rather than a sense of necessity or obligation. So I suppose it’s perfectly reasonable that even though I didn’t need to take my usual Monday night walk last night, that part of me that enjoys the routine would still want to do it anyway.

I’ve noticed a similar mentality with the canal walk. I found myself getting quite frustrated when trying to plan that trip for the last two months. However, my frustration was centered around finding a day that (1) I had free and could do it and (2) there was someone who could pick me up at the other end. My frustration wasn’t in trying to meet an obligation I was ambivalent about, but in trying to make the arrangements necessary to do something I love doing with all the restrictions created by everyone’s hectic summer schedules.

And as a further result, I’m looking for another day during the week that I can schedule regular walks. I’ve decided that a walk on the weekend and another one on Monday nights just isn’t enough for me. So I’m looking at working another walk into my routine on Thursday evenings.

I’m not sure how well that will work. I’m a bit nervous that I’m pushing my luck. But I figure that I’ll give it a shost. Besides, if I find it’s not working or (worse) that it’s actually affecting how I generally feel about my walking negatively, I’ll drop the idea for a while. But I think an honest and careful attempt at stretching my enjoyment is worthwhile.

Of course, I think there are other factors that are contributing to my success this time around. Another big factor is my choice of venues. I have a number of different routes I can take, all of which I enjoy for various reasons. This helps keep the overall experience a positive and interesting one. Then there’s the fact that I’ve found a way to work the walks into my schedule in natural and positive ways. The best example of that is the Monday evening walks after dinner. On those nights, I’ve already enjoyed a good meal and pleasant conversation. In some ways, going for a pleasant stroll is a way to keep the evening going. After all, it beats just going home and watching television or playing on the computer by myself.

Going Out, Health, In and Around Rochester, Personal Development

Another Fantastic Canal Trek

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Canal Path

Today was the day for my monthly seven mile walk along the Erie Canal. This time, I didn’t let the rain scare me out of taking my camera, so I managed to get pictures. This was just as well, since it didn’t rain anyway. I seem to always luck out in that regards. The picture in this entry is of the path shortly after I started my walk. The rest of the pictures can be found in the album I created just for this walk.

The weather was a bit cool, as the temperature stayed in the high sixties and low seventies. In reality, this was perfect considering all the heat I was generating by walking. I didn’t get overworked as much, nor did I sweat quite as much. I did note, however, that I made the trip in fifteen to twenty minutes less time than I made it in June and July. On the one hand, this is good, as it indicates that I’m getting more used to making the trip and have even stepped up my pace a bit. On the other hand, I find it distressing because it means I’m not exercising for as long. It may be unfortunate if I eventually have to find a way to walk further, as that would mean coming up with a new starting point and/or destination.

Of course, the fact that I didn’t take any breaks this time around contributed to the decrease in walking time, as well. However, I would estimate that only counts for about five minutes. Again, I took this as a sign that I’m getting more used to the exercise. And the fact that my knees and calves didn’t seem to be in any pain (especially when compared to the walk in July) was a pleasant change.

I’m hoping to make this trip again in September and possibly in October, even. However, it occurs to me that with the approach of winter, I will eventually have to take a break from my monthly treks. I’m a bit saddened by that and am currently trying to figure out an alternative activity for the winter months. After all, I don’t want to give up all this good exercise I’ve been getting.

Friends, Going Out

A Little Early, But a Great Party

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Last night, Dwayne and Sarah of the WNY Paranormal Society held their “end of summer” party. Once again, Michele, Belinda, and I received an invitation. Unfortunately, Belinda was unable to make it again, so only Michele and I attended once again. I’m happy to report that after getting lost last time, the directions to their house are firmly etched into our memories and we made it there without incident.

This time, the theme was pirates. I must say that many of Dwayne and Sarah’s friends (not to mention they themselves) are quite talented at putting together some great costumes for these themes. Michele and I were less creative, and therefore did not go in costume. Fortunately for us, everyone was easygoing, so we were not forced to walk the plank. (I will note I didn’t mention that possibility, however, lest I give anyone any ideas.)

The party was a rather mellow affair (especially compared with the much more lively and louder Chrismas party), which allowed for a great deal of conversation. Of course, no party would be complete without a little raciness, so the organized activities included a treasure hunt. We were divided into teams and had to follow clues to the treasure. Upon finding the treasure, each person was allowed to take one item. Items included “sex addict” pens, glow in the dark condoms, and other items from whose description I’ll spare my readers.

Towards the end of the evening, some brave souls even decided to go swimming despite the chilly air. Of course, a small number of them shortly realized that there’s a fine line between bravery and insanity and decided to join us cowardly and/or sensible landlubbers. But no matter what our choices were, I think it’s safe to say we all had a great time.

Going Out, Health, In and Around Rochester

Even better the second time around

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Yesterday, I repeated the seven mile walk along the Erie Canal Trail that I made back in June. And as the title of this post suggests, the second trip was even better than the first. For starters, I made a point of wearing sunscreen this time. I almost decided against it, since it was supposed to be cloudy and rainy. But at the last minute, I grabbed the bottle and started slathering. I was quite glad of it, too. As soon as I started walking, the clouds parted and I found myself making the trek on a glorious and sunny day.

The other factor that improved this walk over the previous one is that I made a point of buying new shoes. It’s hard to believe what a difference such a detail would make. However, I was a true believer last night when I realized that while my feet were somewhat sore, they felt about the same as they had felt after several days of healing the last time.

This isn’t to say this trip wasn’t frought with it’s own difficulties, mind you. The whole plan was nearly upset when I arrived at my planned starting point, only to discover that the park was completely closed off due to some sort of tournament. This meant that I had to find a new place to leave my car that would be near an access point to the trail.

Fortunately, after several minutes of driving around while muttering and cussing under my breath (not to mention considering calling the whole thing off ever twenty seconds or so), I decided to settle on one of the parking lots at the University of Rochester. I was a little nervous as all of the UofR lots are clearly marked “permit only” (and I managed to find and choose the faculty lot no less). However, as I considered the facts that (1) it’s the summer, (2) it was a Saturday, and (3) the lot was practically empty anyway, it would be safe. (And if push comes to shove, I’d simply have to pay towing expenses and whatnot anyway.) Fortunately, my reasoning proved fine and my car was still there — without so much as a fine on it — when Belinda dropped me off to pick it up around 2:30pm.

I’m disappointed that I yet again chose not to take my camera with me. In June, I made the decision based on the fact that I wanted to just enjoy the walk and not worry about picture taking. This time, the weather report had disuaded me. I reasoned that if it really was going to rain, I’d rather leave the camera someplace dry. I don’t mind if I get wet (after all, Fran Baum made that whole business about witches melting out of whole cloth), but I was a bit concerned what a hypothetical downpour could do to a camera, even if it was protected by its case and my backpack.

I’m currently a bit distraught because I’ve realized that making this journey next month might prove to be a bit of a challenge. The first two weekends are already booked with preparing for and attending the 2007 Northeast Naturist Festival. The Saturday after that, I have a party to attend. The final Saturday, there’s a chance I may have to help out at the shop. So unless I schedule the walk for the third or fourth Sunday rather than on a Saturday, I may just be out of luck. Hopefully, I’ll figure something out, though.

Daily Life, Friends, Going Out, Health, Society

I’m not sure I like iPods.

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Last night, I ate with the Cheap Dinner Group again. To be honest, I think I’ve gone every week for about a month now. I think it’ll be difficult to drop down to only attending every other Monday night once my father starts staying at my place on Monday nights regularly again. It’s just nice to get out and chat with people that night.

At the end of dinner, just before we left, I got a massive cramp in my left thigh. I wasn’t ready to go yet, so I had fun trying to manage to get the muscles to relax while still sitting there. At one point, I had to stand up briefly. I’m not sure what brought the whole incident on, but I managed to survive it without too much difficulty.

After the dinner, I went for my walk. I walked West on Park Avenue until I reached Alexandar, which I then took to East. From there, I headed back to Berkeley, crossed back to Park from there, and continued back along Park until I got back to my car. The whole trip took me just under 45 minutes, which made it a pretty good walk. It was actually quite pleasant, though I was somewhat disappointed that I didn’t get hit on this time. Oh sure, last week was just a fluke and I shouldn’t realistically expect it to happen all the time anyway. But it still would’ve been nice to get another little ego boost out of the whole thing.

During my walk, I came to my conclusion about iPods. One of the things I noticed is that the vast majority of the other people walking, running, or riding bike along my route had an iPod in them. So as a result, they were lost in their own world of music and endorphins. And while I can certainly see how that might make the process of exercising more enjoyable in some ways (and certainly helps with focus), it also has a negative impact on my other reason for walking.

At the risk of showing just how old fashioned I am, I tend to still see going for a walk through town as a social act. The whole idea brings up rustic images of Main Street in a small town right around sunset. People are all walking along, greeting each other as they pass.

“Hello there, Joe!”

“Hey Sam! How are the kids?”

“Pretty good. Eugene called the other night. Susan had the baby two nights ago. A little girl.”

I’ll be the first to admit that a small city like Rochester probably isn’t going to support that kind of neighborly intimacy. Like I said, I’ll be the first to admit I’m old fashioned (and something of a country bumpkin in some ways). However, you’d think there’d still be room for simple pleasantries.

Wearing an iPod enables a person to isolate themselves from that kind of interaction. “Being off in their own world” becomes pretty literal after a while. And I find that a shame.

Of course, it wouldn’t be so bad if this isolation was just limited to wearing an iPod while exercising. We seem to be pretty insular on many levels and in many areas of our lives. So to me, the problem wasn’t so much that everyone wears iPods while out getting their exercise as that this fact is representative of what seems to me to be a greater problem.

Going Out, In and Around Rochester

Proud Sunday

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First of all, let me confess that I was bad and skipped church yesterday morning. I woke up in time for it, looked at the clock, realized my tummy was still bothering me, and rolled back over to catch another couple hours of sleep. Of course, the church I’ve been attended is Rochester First Unitarian, which many people wouldn’t consider a “real church” anyway, so I figure I’m no worse off anyway. *g*

When I finally did roll myself out of bed, I did a few odds and ends and took my shower. Then I spent some time deciding whether or not to go to the Pride Picnic. I finally decided to go, so I put on my sunscreen, packed a small bag, and headed for the park where it was being held.

I figured parking might be problematic, so I decided to park on the opposite side of the Erie Canal from the picnic and walk in from there. After that, I found the tent where I could buy a ticket (which could’ve been marked a bit more clearly, in my opinion), then joined the line at the official entrance into the reserved area.

I had a fantastic time. I checked out the music over by the Roundhouse, but decided not to do any dancing. For starters, there were very few other people dancing. I’m not sure if that was because of how hot it was (and in the low seventies, it certainly could’ve been worse) or if everyone was just as self-conscious as I would’ve been. I did hang out there for a bit though, and my body even got into the rhythm.

I checked out the various organizations and vendors that were there. Suprisingly, I didn’t pick up any pride paraphernalia. To be honest, there were only two vendors that I noticed. One was Outlandish, where I can go any time. And I didn’t even catch a name on the other tent. That vendor had mostly hats with some shirts and jewelry. Nothing just spoke to me.

Speaking of paraphernalia, I got several chuckles out of the shirt I chose to wore for the day. I decided to wear my black tee shirt from Sikworld which says, “I may have a bad mouth, but I can do great things for it.” Several people read it and started laughing. One person even commented, “I’m sure!” Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your persepctive), no one demanded proof of the claim.

One of the booths I checked out was looking for volunteers for upcoming HIV vaccine trials taking place at University of Rochester. The guy was giving information about the process and otherwise fielding questions. I thought about signing up, but eventually decided against it. Actually, I asked if being diabetic would impact my chances of being selected. The guy admitted that as a rule, they’re ruling out any candidates with diabetes and a number of other health conditions due to concerns for said individual’s health and safety. (Personally, I find it a bit odd as according to the information, the vaccinations they’re testing are based on synthetic virus strains and actual infection through the program is impossible. But oh well.) I did get a small glow-in-the-dark frisbee though.

I eventually made my way to the volleyball nets. I decided to lay out my blanket several feet from the nets so that I could sunbathe and watch the more athletic types play. It was fun to watch in between moments where I closed my eyes. I don’t think I ever fell asleep, but it was just pleasant to lay there soaking up the sun. And Only came close to being squashed by a (rather good looking) frisbee player a couple of times.

While there, I ran into a couple of the guys I’ve met at Game Night. Paul was one of the people playing volleyball. He was playing in black pants of all things! I thought he was nuts. (Though I have to admit, he looked pretty good in the outfit.) I also ran across Woody, who promised he really would be at Game Night at the end of this month. (He’s missed the last three due to being crazy busy.) I gave him a bit of a hard time about that, but it was all in fun.

Eventually, I decided it was time to head home. I had gotten enough sun and eye candy for the day. Plus I was getting hungry and the picnic food didn’t sound all that appealing to me.

Tonight, I’m going out with the Monday Cheap Night Dinner Group again. After that, I figure I’ll take another walk around Park and East Avenue. I’m even planning on wearing my sandals again! *beg*

Family, Friends, Going Out, In and Around Rochester, Zoo

Fantastic Saturday

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I had a rather busy and active weekend. Saturday morning, I got a call from my mother at 8:30. My parents were on their way to the Rochester area. They had my brother’s daughters with them, and they were all coming up to spend part of the day at Seneca Park Zoo. So I got up, showered, shaved, and grabbed a quick breakfast before they got to my apartment. Once they arrived, I jumped in the van, and we were off.

I haven’t seen Terry’s girls for at least seven years, when they made their last trip out to visit my parents. Since that time, Christine and Val have both graduated from high school and grown into a couple of great young women. It was nice to be able to spend some time with them.

We had a great day at the zoo, too. Due to the relatively low temperatures of the day, many of the animals were out and about. We even managed to get there while the one zoo keeper was putting the arctic wolves’ food in their exhibit. So we waited until she was done and were rewarded with watching the wolves search around the exhibit for their food.

Val and Christine were both impressed with the tiger triplets, which are now just over two years old. They were quite shocked when they learned this as I pointed out that the cubs (already considerable in size) get bigger. I made a point of taking them over to the Sasha’s cage so they could meet the triplets’ father. Needless to say, while they were already impressed with the size of the young tigers, seeing how much bigger a full-grown adult can be was quite an eye-opener for them.

I think everyone’s favorite exhibit on Saturday was the polar bear exhibit. The big white furballs were quite active. They had pulled their blue plastic barrels into the water and were playing with them there. At one point, the one bear was hanging onto his barrel with all four paws, floating underneath it. I’m hoping my father got a picture so that I can post it later. Sadly, I ran out of the house without my own camera.

On a sad note, I was quite disappointed to hear that Ariel, one of the zoo’s sea lions, died sometime this past winter. I originally saw Ariel and Flounder (who is still at the zoo) doing tricks last summer. We attended the same show (which has been renamed a “feeding”) Saturday, where we met the exhibit’s new addition, the year old Puff. The zoo is working on training Puff to do some of the tricks Ariel used to do (Flounder simply has never show interest in doing so), and I look forward to seeing what he learns in the future.

After we left the zoo, we headed over to Pittsford to try and find the new Cheesecake Factory store that’s opening soon. Val works as a trainer for the chain and thought one of her coworkers might be there training people for the store opening, so she wanted to stop in and say hi. Unfortunately, said coworker wasn’t there, but Val got to see the new store anyway. Apparently, she has a goal to see all of the stores the chain has.

After that, I had my parents drop me off at Psychic’s Thyme so I could hang out with Michele, Belinda, and Char, who were all working. We had a pretty good time, though it was a slow business day. Afterwards, Belinda, Michele and I went out for dinner (where I was rewarded with the perfect view of one of the waiter’s butts as he cleaned off the table next to us) and followed up with ice cream.

Originally, I had planned on going to the Pride Festival over at Village Gate. But by the time we were done with ice cream, I decided that I was tired from a long day and decided to go home.

On Sunday, I went to the Pride Picnic, which I will talk about in a future post.

Friends, Going Out

Now that’s what I call a birthday party!

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Friday I mentioned that Michele and I were going to another party held by the members of the WNY Paranormal Society. The party has come and gone, and once again we had a blast.

This particular party was to celebrate the birthday of one of the group’s members, Stacie. Michele and I eventually arrived at the party, but only after searching for the host’s house for over forty five minutes. We learned a valuable lesson: No matter how sure you are that you can find the place because you’ve been there before, it’s always smart to at least take the hosts’ phone number with you. But we eventually arrived you and were greeted warmly (that may be the understatement of the decades).

The party had a lot of color and light in the decor. Each of us were given plastic, glow-in-the-ark necklaces and bracelets. Sarah had even found glasses (and shot glasses no less) with LED’s embedded in the bottom. The LED’s woud blink in a pattern, lighting up any drink put into them. The topper for the cake — which was also a rather interesting shape — was also clear and lit up with different colors. (And I won’t even go into detail about how various guests demonstrated certain talents with the topper.)

The night was filled with good drinks, great food, and tasty Jello shots (I even had a few). During all of this, we had some great conversations and simply enjoyed ourselves. The only thing we did not partake in was the skinny dipping — not that David didn’t make a valient attempt to talk me into it.

Hopefully, we’ll get together again before the summer is out.

Friends, Going Out

Reviewing my social calendar

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I had a pretty good Independence Day. I went to Michele and Belinda’s house for a picnic. We actually ate indoors due to the bad weather. However, Michele and Amy took turns braving the elements to grill the food outdoors. I did my part by holding the oversized umbrella over them to keep them from getting too wet.

I even got another ego boost, though it wasn’t intentional. As I was getting ready to leave around 6pm (I was tired for some reason) I mentioned in passing that I was enjoying the fact that I’ve recently discovered there were a couple of people who thought I was in my twenties. Amy turned around with a shocked look on her face and said, “You mean you’re not?” I laughed and pointed out to her that I just turned 33 last month. She couldn’t believe it. Needless to say, I thanked her and had a huge smile on my face the rest of the day.

This Saturday, Michele and I are headed for a birthday party for one of the members of the Western New York Paranormal Society. Apparently, they enjoyed our company so much at their Christmas party that they decided to join us again. Dwayne even mentioned in the email to Michele that he loved my blog entry about the Christmas party. (I had to go back and read what I wrote.)

I’m also debating on whether I’m going to ImageOut’s Beach Party Tea Dance on Sunday. It sounds like it could be fun. But I’m finding myself wondering if it’s something I’ll enjoy going to alone. And yet, I keep telling myself I have to put myself in places to meet people and make friends, right? We’ll see.

Family, Going Out, Pets

A Pleasant Weekend With the Parents

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This weekend was absolutely fantastic. I managed to get out of work at 2:30 on Friday. I drove home, finished putting things in the car, and went to put Precious in her carrier. Unfortunately, she had figured out what was going on and had already hid under the guest bed. I actually had to tear the bed apart to get her — which stressed her out more. I’ve decided that in the future, I’m waiting at least an hour after I get home before I try to cage her for a trip. She was rather worked up the entire trip because of everything. And then she was moody towards Kisa when we got to my parents’ home.

The two cats didn’t get along the best this weekend, though they were both starting to mellow by Sunday afternoon. Of course, it doesn’t help that Precious is such a domineering bully and Kisa isn’t one fifth her size. Things were exacerbated on Friday night when Precious decided to divebomb the little runt. From then on, Kisa was afraid of Precious and would hiss and spit any time she came near. Of course, this didn’t keep the pipsqueak from being downright fascinated by Precious. Of course, the bigger cat had to remind Kisa who was the real boss whenever Kisa started to hiss and spit. I figure that when I go on retreat in August, things should be slightly better. By then, Kisa will be considerably larger and hopefully able to stand her ground better. Of course, I’m not sure if that will be an improvement or just a recipe for further confrontations.

On a side note, I have a one minute video of Kisa. I hope to eventually put it on YouTube. However, it’s currently huge (30MB) and I first need to see what I can to do shrink the file size. This should be interesting, as I’m no expert when it comes to video. In fact, I’m rather out of my element.

Friday night, I took my parents’ out to Chili’s. I don’t think I’ve taken them out to dinner since I moved up here to Rochester. That’s someowhat troubling to me, as I used to take them out regularly. In fact, while I lived at home, every birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day involved a dinner on me. So I figured I was well overdue. We had a great time, though the music was a bit loud for our tastes. Mom and Dad had never eaten at Chili’s before, and they felt their first experience was quite well. And I had a great time admiring our waiter’s aesthetic qualities.

Saturday, Mom and I wandered over to the Laurel Festival in Wellsboro. We wandered the craft fair and had a great time. I ended up picking up a gorgeous throw pillow with a black bear on it. I also picked up the Brat Queen a pillow filled with catnip, which she adores. (I figured it’d give her something besides the kitten to beat up on.) I also checked out a gorgeous stone fountain and a framed painting of a cougar sitting next to a cliff. I loved both items, but decided they each cost more than I was prepared to spend that day. (Besides, getting the car to that part of town to pick up the rather heavy fountain would’ve been a headache.)

Beyond that, I just had a pleasant visit with my parents. It was a fantastic weekend.