I decided to move my day up by half an hour. That’s nothing, people make that kind of change every weekend. I move up my day three and a half hours when WFUV has its member drives. Yet I’ve been tired the two days since I made the change. Maybe it’s coincidence and it’s just my sleep apnea. We’ll see. I’m staying on the new schedule.
Yesterday I had my first physical therapy session for my back. As soon as I wrote that I felt a twinge in my back. So much of it is how much attention you pay. I don’t know if PT will help but it’s pleasant, at least the first part. I lay on my stomach and the PT puts something on my lower back and buttocks. I couldn’t see it but I’m guessing some sort of weighted heating pad. It provides not just heat but electrical stimulation. It feels like it should help; that doesn’t mean it will. Then I got a message. Same goes for that. After that comes the parts that I suspect are more efficacious, I exercise. Ten minutes on the stationary bike then five minutes leaning back against 30 lbs of resistance.
I want to learn to ride a bike. Yes, I don’t know. I broke my leg as a kid and never learned. According to the machine I biked 1.9 miles in 10 minutes and it wasn’t very difficult. I could ride to the train station instead of walking. I could use Citi-Bike to get around Manhattan. I know my issue would be overcoming the fear of falling when I started to learn.
Now that spring is here I should start walking again. I have to find nice places to walk. I never took advantage of City Island being right next to Pelham Bay Park. I am right by the subway so it wouldn’t take me that long to get to Central Park. I could explore other areas. I’ve never been to Fort Tryon. I could just walk down the Grand Concourse to Yankee Stadium. When I go to the Aldi and Stop & Shop I can walk there and take the bus home with my groceries. I feel better, physically and emotionally, when I walk. I can set a health goal, getting my blood pressure under 120/70. When I have therapy I usually walk to the train station and sometimes from the Harrison station to or from the hospital. I don’t have therapy today but that doesn’t mean I won’t walk. I just have to make the commitment to do so.
I’ve been sitting here 20 minutes trying to figure out how to write about why I’m not writing about politics of late and even that’s too difficult. There is so much that infuriates me but I don’t want to express fury. We have too much of that. At the core of my political beliefs is that people that disagree aren’t the enemy, they are the battlefield. We win by convincing them, not crushing them. I’m having trouble finding ways to do that. I don’t want to preach to the choir. Even worse I don’t want to encourage people to bring the torches and pitchforks and burn the monster.
I find it easier to point out when the people I agree with make bad arguments. What I’d love to do is inspire some of the people I disagree with to point out when the people who share their ideology make bad arguments. Above everything else I believe in rationality and compassion. The goal is to make people’s lives better and the methods to do so are guided by reason. How do I logically argue people of the virtue of logic? Empirical evidence won’t sway people to be empirical.
I keep running into this wall and it’s blocking my writing. This will pass. It always does. So I’ll finish this short entry by cheating and post what Amazon Music has played for me this morning. It’s now playing one of the greatest songs ever, one that I’m not sure everyone knows that I love, Stairway to Heaven.. A star after the song means that I skipped to the next song instead of listening to the entire thing. That’s how Amazon learns.
Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
Where You Lead* – Carole King
River – Patty Griffin
Blue – Joni Mitchell
On the Willows – Cast of Godspell
The 59th Street Bridge Song – Simon and Garfunkel
Back of My Mind – Sarah Jarosz
Overland – I’m With Her
Songs that She Sang in the Shower – Jason Isbell
Something to Love – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Good for You – Cast of Dear Evan Hanson
Disappear – Cast of Dear Evan Hanson
Tapestry* – Carole King
The Flight Tonight – Joni Mitchell
Luminous Places – Patty Griffin
At the Purchaser’s Option – Rhiannon Giddens
Turn Back, O Man – Cast of Godspell
Cotton Tail – Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra
Freddie Freeloader – Miles Davis
Since Love Had Its Way – The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Trinkle, Tinkle – Thelonius Monk featuring John Coltrane
A Love Supreme Part III Pursuance – John Coltrane
Take the A Train – Duke Ellington
As you can see this is not random tracks. The My Soundtrack Station makes the flow natural. It does a pretty good job. If I weren’t busy writing I would have skipped more songs. It just played Coltrane’s Cousin Mary. I could listen to Coltrane all day.
Wise Madness 