Tag: year

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56 and 56

According to infoplease, the top year for births in the USA was 1957. 4,308,000 babies were born that year.

Coming in a close second was the previous year, 1956. That’s the year I was born.

All year I’ve been meaning to write about being 56 years old and being born in ’56. These numbers occur to me as amazing. But it’s not so unique. Four million other people had the same experience this year.

Nevertheless, it’s an opportunity to be profound about a number, and I don’t have time to be profound right now.

I could have written a sonnet. An essay. Or at least a Limerick.

Maybe that’s what there is to say. This is no different from life itself. Tomorrow I’ll be 57, and will still have been born in ’56. When we put things off until later, the opportunity never comes back around. So all we have is now.

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2012 — a dozen years

The years seem not to be plenty
Since they started beginning with twenty.

The kids were kids. Now they’re grown.
Clinton was Prez; Sarah Palin unknown.

And here we are, about to delve
Into the year twenty twelve.

If a dozen years can go that quick
Maybe time and space are just a trick.

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2009 goals. 2010 goals.

Today is the last day of the year.

My resolution for 2009 was to walk 10,000 steps per day, each day of the year.

I’m happy to report that I did this.

There were a few days that fell short, usually by just a few steps.  But I always made up the difference the next day.

Once, I was tired and accidentally fell asleep and came up 4,000 steps short.  The next day, I walked 14,000 steps.

A couple of times, my odometer pressed too hard against the other stuff in my pocket and reset itself.  This happened late in the day when I had over half the steps complete. Because the goal of 10k steps per day has become such an obsession, I went ahead and walked the extra steps until the device hit 10k.

There was also the day my odometer battery died and I was too far along to start over.  I did some estimating that day and feel confident I was over the required number.

It’s interesting how I developed a real sense for how many steps I had walked.  When I check my pedometer, I’m never surprised.  I can almost always get within a few hundred steps of how far I’ve walked that day.

I developed a sore toe about two or three weeks into the year (last January).  Almost one year later, it’s still a little sore, but improving.  I rarely notice it.

I did have to get a new pair of shoes in July, for my birthday.  Probably will do so again in the next couple of months.

Next year, I plan to keep the same goal.

Problem is, I didn’t take time to stretch and, with all that walking, had a few creaky days wherein I did not feel so young.

I’ve always loved yoga.  Started when I was 19 years old, as a sophomore in college, where I took a class in a wonderful studio in Reynolda Village in Winston-Salem.  But with all the walking this year, I neglected taking the time for yoga.

So this year I’m adding daily yoga in 2010 to the New Years Resolution.  This goal comes with some qualification.  In order to make it count as a daily practice,  I won’t ask myself to do a full routine — 30 to 90 minutes — if things are too busy.   I’ll do ten minutes and call it yoga.  I started this a week ago and it works out well.  Ten minutes is not ideal, but it still makes a huge difference.  When time allows, I’ll practice longer.

As for today, the last day of the year — time for a walk.

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Dodo of the Year and Kiwi Chid in Ava Gardner Film Festival

Two screenings of Dodo of the Year, and one screening of Kiwi Child, are scheduled for next weekend at the Ava Gardner Film Festival, Nov. 18-21, in Smithfield, NC.

Dodo of the YearDodo of the Year Cast and Crew (the same people, except for me)

I made these films and I’m the first to admit they are not masterpieces.  But, looking back, I do find them amusing.  They both contain anti-W sentiments — something I’m proud (and something that was not so popular in these parts at that time).   Both films involved working with some of my favorite people and were therefore great gobs of fun to make.

This is the third year of the Ava Gardner Film Festival, and the third year I’ve had something in it.  Two years ago, they screened Coffee Therapy.  Last year, they screened The Coffee News Guy Sitcom.

Kirk Adam created this film festival and he runs it.  He is not only a generous guy (he’s including my films) — he’s also quite a fine artist.

Also, last year, they premiered Coffee Culture USA, a documentary that includs a segments about coffee shops around the country.  One of those segments was about our filming of Coffee Therapy, at Escape the Daily Grind in Salisbury, NC.

The screening schedule is here.

Kiwi Child which will be screened Saturday at 6pm, is one of “Narrative Shorts Five.”  Dodo of the Year, will be screened Thursday at 5:30 and Saturday at noon.