The Other State of Mind

It's been an interesting several weeks since I last wrote something. And that was kinda bland and boring if I remember correctly.

It's not that I've not been doing stuff. I just haven't taken the time to write about it. For instance, we had our local gay pride parade end of last month. North Carolina (meaning the state, sans Charlotte) has the festival in late September. The first year they did it, something like 14 or 15 years ago in July, people passed out from the heat. So it's a nice end of summer festival. I was in the parade this year.

And last week was spent in Minneapolis. It was a week in training, but I've not been there since I was 21 years old. As a matter of fact, the diary entry took place on the eve of my leaving that fantastic city. Back then I was temp duty 6 months there, far from base. I explored Hennepin back then and all of it's dens of iniquity. I tried to do that this time, but everything moved 5 or 6 blocks east. The Eagle was fun, especially playing bingo on Thursday.

Then there is the study I volunteered for at UNC. It's an alcohol cessation study of a couple of drugs. It's double blind so I have no idea if I have the real drugs or a couple of placebos. Maybe the counseling is helping too, since it's been 3 weeks since I ventured into an adult beverage. Pretty good since it's probably never been more than 2 day ever since Minneapolis or a short bit afterward.

The old house is still out there. What are the chances it's going to sell quickly in this market? Winter is looking like a good time for some fix'it chores. That damn pool needs a new liner. The deck needs painting. But already got the roof and carpet replaced.

With my nights suddenly free, there's lots of time for activities in the evenings. I've joined a gym and manage to fit it in on 3-4 nights a week. Other nights I figure out something to do. Tonight it was a visit to the bookstore, and as soon as I find a nice coffee shop nearby I'll go there sometimes. I'm kinda setting up an alternating mind/body schedule. Tonight I enjoyed reading some of Hawkings theories on the universe. And now I'm blogging.

Did I mention that I've been nicotine free for over 2 years now? Minnesota state law doesn't allow smoking indoors, including in bars. I had been there four days and six bars or grills before discovering that. How awesome is that?!?!

I think I am making great progresss at putting myself into the other state of mind ... of health and happinesss.