One Man Lord of the Rings
This past Tuesday, the Snook and I went to the Opera House to see Charlie Ross perform his One Man Lord of the Rings. I didn’t really know what to expect, and I had a suspicion that it might be lame. The concept is that he acts out the entire trilogy playing all the characters with no props and no sets. (I’ve seen people do Shakespeare in a similar fashion, and that sucked.) Luckily my fears were unfounded and it was fantastic! He launched right in at like 100mph and barely slowed over the next 75 minutes. The show is very much based on the films, and a lot of the characterizations, jokes, and references that he does are specific to the movies. (There were a couple nerdy asides about the Silmarillion and Tom Bombadil though, which we appreciated.) During the flooding of Isengard, I was delighted to see him act out the Ent dousing his burning head in the water! That’s like my favorite little moment from the whole trilogy. Ross is a skilled mimic who brought to life characters and scenes in ways I didn’t expect. Sure, anybody can do a halfway decent Smeagol. But a totally realistic Treebeard complete with tromping-through-the-forest sound effects? Impressive. I also really liked his reduction of Denethor to a receding hairline and disgusting eating habits. Yeah, there was the obligatory “gay hobbits” joke, but on the plus side he left out Arwen entirely and majorly truncated the long, long endings. The audience had a great time and pretty much laughed throughout the whole show. At the conclusion, he sat down for a few minutes and told us the story of the production, including the “cease and desist” that put the show on hold for five years. Such a nice young Canadian gentleman! You should go see it if you can.

Health Month – Rules for April
It’s almost time for the April game of Health Month to start, and I think I’ve got my rules nailed down. I’ve been adding more each month as I reinforce the habits that I’ve learned. In February I had 3 rules; in March I had 8 rules; and in April I’m going for 11. Some of the MeFites on our team have been listing their rules and their justifications, so I’m going to do that here as well.

1. Bring lunch to work 2 days a week – This one is two-fold. There’s a financial benefit, in that I save money by not going out to lunch. There’s also a health benefit, in that the food I bring is generally healthier than what you can buy in the neighbourhood.

2. Study BABOK (Business Analyst Book of Knowledge) at least 1 day a week – This is a career goal. Last year I felt like I was spinning my wheels at work a little bit, so I’m trying to shake things up. Each week I print out and study about 20 pages more of the BABOK.

3. Limit internet usage to 24 hours a week – This one is more nebulous than it sounds. Basically, I just want to limit my aimless, messing about on the Internet time. I don’t keep track to the minute or anything; it’s more like a rating system. On my best days, I rate myself about a 2. On my worst days, it might be 6 or 8. This one is pretty much key if I want to accomplish anything else on the list.

4. Allow 2 alcoholic drinks a week – I actually cheat and expand this to mean two days with allowed drinking per week. Having the SodaStream at home has helped a lot, as I don’t missing having a glass of wine with dinner if I can have sparkling water. This is giving both a financial and a health benefit!

5. Floss every day – Self-explanatory.

6. Go to bed before 10pm at least 4 days a week – I have trouble with this one. In March I tried 5 days a week and didn’t do so good, so I’m taking a step back. I don’t have to be asleep; I just have to be in the bedroom getting ready for bed.

7. Stretch for 15 minutes at least 3 days a week – This one was my biggest failure in March by far. I just can’t find a good time to do it, and I only ever remember right at bedtime, which means I have a choice between the bedtime rule and the stretching rule. When do you guys stretch?

8. Read a book for at least 30 minutes 1 day a week – I miss reading books. I think the Internet has stolen a lot of that time. I aimed for 2 days a week in March and didn’t do great, so I’m going for just 1 day a week in April. I have a new Roald Dahl biography that I’d like to finish and then a list of other books folks have recommended.

9. Allow white flour 1 day a week – New one! This one is more extensive than it sounds. Basically, it means adhering to my current “slow carb diet” plan. (I plan on posting about that soon.) This wasn’t an official rule in March, but I actually did really great with it and I’m seeing results on the scales. Might as well track it officially!

10. Do meaningful work at least 4 days a week – New one! In the past few weeks I’ve just felt like I’m stretched a little thin, like I’m just running around putting out little fires without tackling any big jobs (both at work and at home). I want to get to the end of the day knowing that I made progress on some larger goal. It’s deliberately vague, in that I figure I’ll know “meaningful work” when I see it.

11. Practice my ukulele at least 2 days a week – New one! I haven’t practiced in a week, and I want to play some songs at knitting camp.

Yes, I am a total self-improvement nerd… but I am in love with Health Month and the benefits that I’m seeing from using it. The support from the MetaFilter team has been amazing. If I’m still this happy with it after April, I’ll probably upgrade to the full paid yearly subscription. It’s that good.