I have been really lax in updating this blog for for the past month. Some of the reasons are good, some of the reasons are not so good. I hope you will forgive me, my dear imaginary readers, for my lapse. After more than two years of near-daily updates, I got a little behind. But it doesn't mean I wasn't working out or watching Doctor Who, not by a long shot.

Before I get into maudlin naval gazing, first I'll talk Who. The last time I wrote about my viewing, I had just finished watching the second story on the new-ish BluRay release of Tom Baker's final season, Meglos. Since then I have worked my way through the rest of the season, with Adric's arrival in Full Circle, a revisit of my favorite vampire-inspired story State of Decay, Romana and K9's departure staying behind in E-Space at the end of Warrior's Gate, Nyssa's introduction (plus the re-introduction of the Master) in The Keeper of Traken, and then just this weekend Tegan's arrival and Tom Baker's departure in Logopolis. It's a great collection and I can highly recommend it. I was particularly impressed with the new special effects added to the end of Logopolis where the giant satellite dish at the Pharos Project was upgraded from an obvious plastic miniature to a seamlessly realistic full-scale rendition. It's subtle, and well worth the upgrade.

But my favorite weird story from this watching was the tale of the Marshmen from Full Circle. As I am sure you recall, the swamp creatures rise from the steamy bogs to invade the stranded starliner, and one of them is captured for examination by the local scientist. It is not apparent in the story as broadcast, but that particular Marshman was actually meant to be female. In fact, she was referred to in the script as Marsha. Ha!

Anyway, as for me and this past month...

It has been a literal up-and-down situation. Having worked through he entirety of the official Whoniverse, I have been a bit rudderless on the treadmill. There just isn't any sense of urgency or eagerness anymore. On top of that, I got a sinus infection that turned into an ear infection, and then migrated into my chest. And somewhere in the middle of that I had to make an unexpected trip to the other side of the country due to some family stuff that I won't go into.

In short, I felt like crap. And the more I felt like crap, the more I felt like crap. If you get what I mean. My weight took off, ballooning up nearly ten pounds and putting me above 270 for the first time in ages. It was, in a word, demoralizing. I have said in the past that wight loss is an emotional bear trap, and hoo boy has that been true lately. I have felt like the first year of this ridiculous project was wildly successful, and then the second year has been a slow backwards slide. Creatively I have felt like my music is a bust, nobody cared about either of my cabarets, and as for my acting I have felt like my semi-lead role last summer in Xanadu was a fluke and I will never do anything successful again.

Like I said: emotional bear trap.

I felt bloated, and the more I blew up the less I wanted to post my numbers here because it makes me look like a complete loser. 

And yet.

I have written a book that has received much critical praise, and was even an Amazon #1 bestseller in its category for a time. I have written original songs that have been very well received, particularly the ones withing my software development community. People came to my last cabaret, and enjoyed it enough that they actually demanded an unplanned encore at the end. I have solid ideas for my next one, and for another show beyond that. Objectively, I have been very successful creatively, if only within my own little pond. 

So why do I keep beating myself up in my head? God, the human brain is stupid.

The good news is, as much as I blew up this path month, in the last week I have dropped right back down. It was all transitory (although I suppose if I had continued to wallow it would have become permanent). As of this morning I am back down to where I was a month ago. So, a little detour but not a tragedy. I have gotten more or less on track with a strength training program at the gym, and back on track with hitting the treadmill or the elliptical on the regular. And, because I have no new Who to watch (and won't for a good long while), I have devised a new plan.

Tomorrow I start in on Blake's 7. Created by Terry Nation, he of Daleks fame, the show ran for four seasons on the BBC from 1978 to 1981. Aside from Nation, there are a plethora of other Doctor Who alumni involved with the show both behind and in front of the camera. It is a show that I have long been aware of, but for whatever reason I have never seen a single episode. That means that, starting tomorrow, I have 52 new episodes to watch and enjoy. After that I will move onto Sapphire and Steel, another BBC program of the same era that comes highly recommended. 

My head is back in the game, I have a plan, and I am all systems go. The Time Treadmill marches on, and I am trying my damndest to get myself back into the same head space that made the first year of this project so successful.

Wish my luck.

STATS:

Doctor(s): Fourth
Companion(s): Romana II, K9, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan
Episode(s): Meglos, Full Circle, State of Decay, Warrior's Gate, The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis
Steps Walked: 67,996 today (well, this month), 4,655,077 total
Distance Walked: 29.99 miles today (well, this month), 2,399.03 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 50 today, 11,650 total
Sit-ups Completed: 100 today, 6,565 total
Weight: 267.54 lbs (five day moving average), net change -39.76 lbs