Think of the phenomenon that occurs when you are sweating. Why do you sweat? Usually it’s because your body is attempting to cool down. We are constantly sweating, some people more than others, in an attempt to reach ideal bodily conditions. But how do we get to the point where our bodies decide to trigger the mechanism that allows us to cool down? Is there a climax in this situation where our bodies just say, “screw this” and stop sweating? Perhaps that climax is passing out or death.
I suppose it’s good to sweat, but not too much. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a good sweat every now and then? I hate to quote the “I’ll take money to endorse anything that exists on this planet” celebrity Mario Lopez, but he recommends that everyone break a sweat every day. And I think that’s a good thing to recommend. Sweating is sort of a way to flush your body out. In with the old, out with the new. Yesterday I went to the gym and I sweated. A lot. I loved it. Tonight I’ll go to the gym also. I plan on sweating like crazy. Feeling the beads of sweat roll down my body is most excellent.
Life can be looked at in the form of intervals between sweats. Ups, downs, purgatories, you name it, there is a low point that moves to a high point and then back to the low point to start all over again. Everybody gets to those high points and low points in different ways, different time intervals, and with varied amounts of recovery emotions. Just like sweat. I feel different things every time I sweat. I even get my body to sweat in various ways: by exercising, eating spicy foods, chilling in warm weather or a sauna, and by getting nervous in various situations.
I arrived to the Netherlands on August 21st, 2009, and my life has since been through many cycles. This is a weird, yet most excellent country and there are so many similarities and so many differences from what I’m used to back home in the northeastern United States. Yeah, of course there are times when I decide to curl up into a little ball (about the size of the allowed piece of luggage on a Delta flight)(Not to be confused with a Ryan Air flight, where if you have size 10 shoes or bigger you are guaranteed to have a most uncomfortable ride)(but it was cheap)(and Ryan Air sells a calendar with its flight attendants in bikinis)(what other airline does that?)(Weird Brits) and close my eyes to reveal the inside of my bedroom back home. I am able to walk to my bed and sit on it. Then my cats come in the room and jump up on the bed. I love my cats. Whenever I’m sick, they know it and then they do their best to purr the sickness out of me. While I’m in my room I look around and see what the bookshelves, desk, and posters have to offer. OH – look what I have hanging there – it’s Jefferson Starship’s “Gold” album. “I love that album,” I think to myself, “although, if I loved it that much, why do I keep it caged in that picture frame for all eternity?” Then my eyes move to my bookcase, where the book “Sex, the Whole Picture” is sitting next to my collection of Neil Simon plays. Now you may think I’m a pervert for having that book, but I was never meant to keep it, I swear. I threw it in as a gag during a “Secret Santa” event (or maybe it was some type of Hannukah event)(Oh yes, that’s right, we opened presents after playing ‘Pin the Yamulkah on Channukah Harry’)(Now it all makes sense) and the person opened it, everyone laughed as planned, and then low and behold I am the one stuck with the book in the end. But not to worry, that book has gotten some very good use. One time, my extended family came to town to see a show that my brother was in and my Grandma felt sick so she decided to stay at my house during the show to pass the time. I left her that book to remind her of her younger years. I heard she quite enjoyed it, actually.
After reeling through some memories of “Sex, the Whole Picture,” I decide to close my eyes as my head rests on my leopard print sheets. It’s still a mystery why I continue to sleep on those sheets, being an animal rights activist and all. I suddenly hear a noise and open my eyes quickly.
Oh. Oh yeah. I’m back in the Netherlands. What night is tonight? Oh. Oh right. It’s Tuesday; time to go to the dumpiest club in town to dance the night away. “Just make sure you don’t get too drunk,” my hands say to me, reminding me of falling of my bike that one time, leaving me with red palms for a week. Oh wait. It’s not really Tuesday? It’s Sunday? My, how I get my days confused here! How unproductive am I when I can’t remember that it’s not party day? Oh well – better go get some dinner from the miniature rooms they call grocery stores (Don’t forget to bring your own bags). I start walking out the door when one of my fantastic housemates reminds me that it’s Sunday. Oops. NOTHING in the Netherlands is open on Sundays (except a few legs in the Red Light District). I guess I’m having pasta again. Perhaps I’ll plan out my next trip now.
Unfortunately I haven’t kept up with this blog on a consistent basis. I know – it’s been a long while. The plans were to write daily or bi-daily, it didn’t really matter – as long as the writing was consistent. But I could have never predicted the way I felt when I got here, or the few weeks or months after. The chemicals in my brain(s) were going crazy and couldn’t decide what they wanted to do or how they wanted to make me feel. So now is my attempt to catch up on my writing life. This experience has been unreal and it should be documented (although there are some things that I really shouldn’t write about). My head will never be completely clear or my mind completely sane, but I plan to be competent with my writing.
This post has outlined a few topics that I plan to cover in the future. Some of those topics include:
· My departure from the US and Arrival to the Netherlands
· “High” points
· Spicy foods, and how my diet has changed.
· Points of depression
· Points of non-depression
· The spelling of the word Hanuka
· Being sick
· Love for my family
· The LG, and many nights of partying
· My housemates
· Bikes
· Supermarkets
· Classes
· Trips
· General thoughts on the human brain
·
There are many more topics than this that I can and will cover. I am in the Netherlands until June 2009, so I have time.
Farewell for now, and I hope to receive some Fig Newtons from you in the mail (the original fat-free ones)(please).
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