Aftermath

I don't exert myself physically beyond an unusual amount of walking, but when I do the evidence is written all over my body more eloquently than I could hope to duplicate here. I think that it's partly due to my adoption of an attitude similar to the protagonist in 'Gattaca'. Many of the things I do I am not equipped to come through safely and efficiently. When I go out at night via public transportation, I know I won't be able to come back the same way late at night. Rather than staying home, I just do it anyway and figure I'll work something out. It's similar with physical activities.

Take roller skating for example. I ought to know better than to do that. I don't have a good track record, and there's no safety net for me if something does happen. Protecting oneself from all the harm in life is protecting oneself from life itself though, and so I go ahead with it anyway. The other day I did just that, and as I write this, I suffer the consequences in private. There are bruises around my knees, and while I don't have any color swatches on hand, I can safely say that they are some faint shade of purple. It's a good thing that it's not obvious shorts weather at the moment. I would hate to have my good looks spoiled.

In addition to being undermined aesthetically, those legs are rather stiff and sore as well. I can't easily lift them more than a foot or so off the floor without using my arms. Stepping into the shower and putting on pants are proving to be a challenge. The thing is that resting seems to be less help than working them. I'm confident enough that they will fully recover as they have in the past. They'd better do so, as I haven't gotten one of those publicity stunt insurance policies that are so fashionable with supermodels. That would be handy now, although the premium would have to become brutal once a claim is made.

Like Billie Holiday avowed, I have 'no regrets', and will gladly, mindlessly do the same thing again given another opportunity. I hear often a definition of insanity into whose parameters this would definitely fall, although I'm inclined to consider it not terribly accurate. I'm not crazy. Crazy is when you stay at home hoping fervently that the good things will find you but that the bad things won't. Nothing will find you if you don't go out to meet it head on, and you'll just die slowly while marking time.