apples of gold in settings of silver

OK, in response to Sean, here are some resolutions which are more specific:

 

- Lights out by 12am this week (previously 1-1.30am  =P)

- Jogging twice a week and swimming once a week.

- At least one serving of fruits every day this week, increase to two next week (I made it yesterday even though I was real full from dinner - not a good idea actually; today..??)

 

Why the health-y resolutions? Cos I realize I flip out when stress loads become larger, so I see taking care of my health as the groundwork for an Elaine that can handle stress better.

 

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Here's a scene from the movie Sideways. While I don't recommend inebriation (i.e. drunkeness), Virginia Madsen's character, Maya, gives a really beautiful description of why she enjoys wine:

 

"I do like to think about the life of wine, how it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was shining that summer or if it rained... what the weather was like. I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle its going to taste different than if I had opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive -- it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks -- like your '61 -- and begins its steady, inevitable decline."

 

It's a brilliantly romantic description of the time, effort and elemental energy that goes into wine, but it also works as a great metaphor for time passing, opportunities, and time wasted. The '61 she mentions is a wine that her friend and possible romantic interest, Miles, has in his collection, a particular wine from a year that is supposed to be really good for that wine. That vintage's peak flavor is now, this very year, but Miles still hasn't opened it, hasn't found an occasion worthy to justify opening it. Maya tells him, "the day you open a '61 Cheval Blanc, is a day worthy of celebration" or some such.

 

Argh. Talking about time can be pretty stuffy. Let me put it in point form

- Wine is more than the liquid in a glass bottle. In a very real way, it represents an extended amount of time, with the perfect amount of delay before opening the bottle (e.g. 15 years or 2 years, depending on what harvest) making the product even more 'perfect'. Cool. So it is with knitting *grin* Time wound up in strands, fibers, taking shape as a scarf, or sweater, or toy whimsy. But so too everything else that we spend time on - the spreadsheet for work, the honors thesis, our blogs....

- Which makes time spent without anything tangible to show for it (time wasted travelling cos you took the wrong route, time spent in traffic jams, time spent rereading Calvin & Hobbes or Harry Potter cos you don't want to study) scary. Because.... you have nothing to show for that time spent. And time is like.... there's just not enough time to satisfy anyone! Argh! *angsty moment*

- But then again, I detest people who only ever want to be productive and disdain 'wasting time' ambling around town, chatting with a friend, rereading a treasured novel or just chilling. There's only so much activity and meaningful thought you can squeeze into a day - though time is limited, packing in too much leads to a loss of the joy and meaning that makes time valuable.