Brexit Paradox - Bizarro Dream #122016

I don't have the energy to recount the entire dream for you in this blog. Suffice to say it was wrought with symbolism which no doubt dealt with myself and those around me. Transitioning is a delicate way of describing what's happening this year with several of my friends, and I'm surprised that I am taking it a little harder than I might have as recently as five years ago.

Melrose Diner, 15th & Snyder Av. Philly, Today

Apathy shall set you free, I always tell people. I am not one to get attached to ideas, institutions, concepts, dogma or even relationships. I like it that way, or so I tell myself.

Anyway this dream started in Philly and ended in Los Angeles where I am under a pile of Millennials who are creating a human sculpture. I am somewhere on the bottom holding everyone up. They dig me even though I have lived many years longer than them.

Anyway the end of the dream gets pretty silly, however at some point an actual adult picks up a cell phone left on a desk and asks "Who is Brexit Paradox?" That was my name in the dream. I think it's a pretty cool name. I may come up with a character for that name. I wonder if it means anything to anyone.

[*Note, a Google search revealed this; "This is the Brexit paradox: the longer it takes for pragmatism to re-enter the debate, the higher the chance that the chilling effect of the unknown will cause permanent damage to both the United Kingdom and the European Union."] As written by, Ana Palacio, should you care to read the entire commentary. But why would this be in my dream??]

I'm not sure this could be interpreted on the internet. I think it's very specific to what I've been witnessing this year and to an extent what I've been going through. I am about to make my Exit from Philly and Los Angele is one of my stops. It may be my last stop on the continental US... or maybe not.

I keep forgetting what day it is. I do remember the date, but the day of the week keeps slipping my mind.

I went to the YMCA to do the 500s Workout today and realized when Auntie Fran that's we'd done group exercise (GX) yesterday!!!

Today the 500 was more like 450. I over-reached on a few weights, but then again succeeded on a few sets as well.. So here's a quick recap; highlights and low-lights:

Leg Press: I'm starting with 360 lbs now and the first set yielded 20 reps. Not enough to start at the next level (which will probably be 390 instead of 450 because I need to advance slower when I get to higher weights). I half-stepped (adding 50 lbs instead of 90) up to 630 lbs., and decided to see if I could free-push it without the safety of the pegs. I was successful for 8 reps over 2 sets, but felt a slight twinge in my right pectineus (inner, upper thigh). I used a platform to push 680 off the pegs and that's where I maxed out. I had to finish up working down and the final twenty reps were with 270 lbs.

Lesson; sometimes we can't expect to progress all the time. Also, might not have been the best idea to push hard after a GX day (it hadn't been 24 hours since the class.)

I stayed at 100 lbs for the bench press, and didn't get much past twenty reps on the first set. I've noticed my first set is where I get the most reps... the middle sets are maybe 10 - 12 reps fairly consistently and the last set I can get above 12 reps, usually 15... the cleanup set is strong because I am hype to get finished.

Leg extensions were weaker than usual. I used the same weight (130 lbs) and same with the cable row. I had to cheat it a little bit (lower back motion) because I didn't want to lower the weight (105 lbs.)

Cable crunch - this is where I over-reached adding weight... so in this case I dropped reps instead of weight, so I settled for 50... also I was beginning to run late for a meet up.

This session took a little over two hours. There's lots of stretching and resting between sets. When I can up the weight and get the session down under two hours, I will be progressing.


The meet-up calendar is still full. Today we reached back in time to the days of KOLLAGE, Magazine of the Visual Arts and John Leary who we had to the cover back in the mid-1990s; 1994 I think t was, the same year I came up with Noxsoma.

John is still doing his  "John" thing; working on projects and being an advocate and working on visual productions. We met about several projects he's got going and fitness and nutrition etc.

We met up at the Melrose Diner, which is a landmark destination diner in South Philly. As long as I've spent in Philly, this was my first time at the Melrose. It's a pretty nice diner. Nothing outstanding - not to disrespect its legacy. I don't really know how it got its reputation aside from being the place where the local news would often broadcast live from, asking diners their opinions of current events, or the weather, or the badly the local football team was performing. Heck, they don't even have WiFi, free or otherwise. Can't really blame them. Diners are for talking as well as dining.... not so much surfing and camping out in the booths.

Anyway, thanks to our lovely and attentive yet, unobtrusive server, who kept my tea cup filled and didn't get bent out of shape as we sat there for three hours.

This Phlexit is getting real and I may have to curtail some of my social activities and goodbyes in order to get my house in order, to leave.

And that's it for today folks.