Starting tomorrow I'm going to get my act together

That first month was fun. I departed for London on 4 March -- a month ago today. Since then I've pretty much been running on adrenaline. Despite missing meals and just having a poor diet in general, staying up extremely late (but still waking up extremely early), wandering around in potentially dangerous neighborhoods in early morning hours, working a lot, spending money faster than I made it, and occassionally consuming one pint too many, I'm still alive. But you can't live hard and talk fast forever, and I realize that. That's why, starting tomorrow, I'm going to get my act together.

Here's my plan:

1) Gym membership. This is something I've missed. I only weigh 10 stones now (not really sure if that's more or less than when I left). I have played a few games of soccer, but that's really not cutting it. I miss pull-ups, oblique muscles, wearing a tank-top, and looking at myself in the mirror. And all the gyms here have pools, steam rooms (mentioned my affinity for those yesterday) and saunas. So I think I'm going to focus on LEARNING HOW TO SWIM. I know how to stay afloat, and I'm a master of the snorkel, but I never really learned to properly swim in a straight line, back and forth and back and forth, via freestyle or any other stroke. I'm also going to start rowing again. Running was great, but my knees and ankles were never really big fans. Swimming and rowing are "life sports", which means they're non-contact, non-impact -- like an elliptical except without being absolutely ridiculous.

2) Reading. I do read a lot here. A lot of street signs and store names. And also the free newspapers that they hand out in the morning and evening on the Underground. But past navigating the city and the city's sports, gossip and news, I haven't been reading regularly. I did bring a few books along that I'm looking forward to reading and working back up towards the 2 books/month pace that I strive for. Starting tomorrow.

3) Typing the dictionary*. I've been on travel hiatus here. Now that I've got my MacBook back and an internet connection at home, I can pick up where I left off: somewhere in the P's I think. Maybe somewhere around "peremptory", which means "dogmatic", which means "asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner; opinionated", which I often do and often am.

4) Eating healthy food and eating regularly. My brother and I are known for "forgetting to eat", despite our love for food and potentially enormous appetites. Sometimes we just get wrapped up in other stuff, you know? But no more excuses. I have a kitchen now (no cookware or dishware yet but that's pending). I'm not planning to do anything crazy like "cook regularly", but I do want to stock up on some breakfast goods (ie, cereal) and some fruits/organic goods (ie, Apple Jacks and Rice Krispies). And probably some sports drinks & water so I can rehydrate from a month that did nothing but dehydrate me. And also some yogurt and granola, which in combination with fruit creates a magical treat I like to call "yogurt with granola and fruit". It's a pre-gym must, and I'm sure I invented it.

5) Finish my movie*. I'm writing a screenplay. So far so good but I need to finish it already.

6) Live on a budget. I came up with a budget that I think will work. Now I just need to start keeping track of things. And I also need to start treating the currency here like actual currency instead of monopoly money. Even the coins. (I was at a pub watching Arsenal get beat the other day and I saw a guy win a thousand dollars in coins from some sort of game machine. The winnings fit comfortably in his pocket.)

7) Date less Swedish girls. Or at least take a break. It's not them, it's me.

*I understand that for some of you this may be the first you've heard of my typing addiction (dictionary-transposition and screenplay-comingupwith). I promise to expand on the purpose and focus of each in coming posts, as they are both relatively interesting.

Feel free to get your acts together as well. Tomorrow's as good a day to start as you're ever going to find.