Leisure and Warcraft
I have been making a lot of progress at the gym. I have been able to be consistent in my attendance at the gym, going 3 to 5 days per week and sticking to my old workout split. I have been able to get stronger, feel more muscular, and slim down. My body weight has gone up to 270 pounds, but my clothes still feel more loose than they were and they drape better over my body. I am satisfied with my progress.
Getting around on my bicycle has been great for my physique and health as well. I can feel the strength and tone in my legs, especially my quadriceps.
I got my new work schedule yesterday. I am going to be working mornings during the week, opening up the store and working through lunch. I really like this schedule. I will be able to go to the gym in the mornings, do some cooking, cleaning, writing, whatever I need to do, then be able to go to work afterwards. I will not have to combat any traffic or other commute issues because I can easily walk or take my bike. I can attend my counseling appointments by booking a room in the library across the street, so I don't need to worry about time at all. The biggest hurdle for me is going to be in accepting the day-to-day flows and finding ways to enjoy my free time.
I have often struggled with relaxing and engaging with my hobbies. I tend to overwhelm myself and act out in some type of harmful and/or self-sabotaging behaviour. This has looked like alcohol or marijuana abuse, sexually acting out using dating apps or pornography, overspending my money, and overeating. I want to avoid these behaviours as I live out this new adventure of mine in life. I have been able to find some cultural events I can attend this week: a musical performance on Thursday and another movie showing on Saturday.
I will try to invite someone to the movie this Saturday. The theatre is playing The Exorcist, a movie I don't recall watching all the way through. I did get my DVD-ROM in the mail yesterday and was able to get it working on Linux. I rented a few movies from the library, two films and two documentaries. It was nice to have the movie to play instead of streaming something. I want to encourage this habit of avoiding streaming.
Something I noticed though is that I will want to be able to relax and to not feel forced to sit in a computer chair to watch a movie. I am going to want a TV, as much as I hate to admit it. I have the fantasy of not being a TV watching person, but is there really anything different about sitting in a computer chair and chain-streaming YouTube videos and being the guy sitting on his couch watching the news or a sitcom for hours? Not functionally, no. They are generationally separated, but they are the same activity: sitting on your ass watching a screen. I can get a lower end TV, which should be fine for distant viewing for about $150 and I can get a wall mount for about $20. I can be set up for about $200. I can also avoid getting a TV upfront and just using one of the existing TVs in the house. There are 3 of them. I don't think Drew is coming back for that TV behind the couch. I don't think he even really knows about it. I think it is about 40 inches or so, but I have access to two 32 inch TVs that can get my started.
I resubscribed to World of Warcraft last night as well. I rolled a new character, a Forsaken Warrior. Female, of course. I had considered playing the WoW: Forever beta, but when I saw the $60 price tag, I changed my mind. There is nothing in the purchase I would want other than the two or three weeks of sampling the game. I will have full access to the game on November 4th, so I might as well wait. In that time, I am going to be considering the classes I want to play. I would like to play a warrior. Really only because I like to tank. I believe I am going to play Horde. I have made a few Alliance characters in recent years, but I really enjoy playing on the Horde. There is a brutality and otherness of it that I really enjoy. I am torn between playing a Forsaken or an Orc warrior. I like the idea of going full zug zug and rolling an orcish warrior, but there is something about the Forsaken that I have an attraction to. My first real character in vanilla World of Warcraft was a Forsaken Mage named Dagoth. It was fun being able to speak in Gutterspeak and to have access to the grim history of the race. I know that I don't want to be a caster this time around. I have played around with the idea of a Troll Warlock, but I can't see myself sticking to playing a caster. I like to move around too much. I would consider playing a Troll or Orc hunter though. I think a Troll hunter would be the most fun and cooler option of the two.