Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 | 9:04 PM
Books and fitness

One good thing about this insomnia? I sure have been reading.

Jericho Point
by Meg Gardiner

I think I like this one best of all her four books so far. I made the mistake of reading the one that came after this book, Crosscut, before reading this one and got a bit lost. Crosscut deals with a psychopath, but Jericho Point deals with the more grounded issue of identity theft. The plot is more plausible and thus a tad tighter than in Crosscut, I believe. Gardiner's strengths are in prose, characterisation and pacing. Her plots sometimes seem a bit implausible (e.g. Mission Canyon, her first book). But readable and compelling read otherwise. Mainly for the main characters Evan Delaney and her boyfriend, Jesse.

My colleague and I had a bit of a crush on Jesse ;) and she told the author about that when the author came by last year. Ms Gardiner's response? "Oh, all the women react that way to Jesse." Hehe.

I still believe Meg Gardiner should try her hand at writing fantasy or sci-fi.

Next book:

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L'Engel

I know this is a classic children's title, but I'm not feeling the love for it. Sure the plot is interesting, and ingenius, but hmm.. I thought it was a bit ho-hum. There's a Sophie's World feel to it and that I continuously feel that everything that's happening is leading up to something, and there are a lot of messages in the story. But otherwise, I hardly felt anything while reading it. Maybe I read it too fast. This book goes back to the library.

Some good news. Firstly, I actually enjoyed yesterday's yoga class. Apparently, the instructor that was on last week was a substitute, and yesterday we had the regular instructor. She talked more than the one previously, and so I constantly wondered if the regulars would find that disruptive and irritating, but a newbie like me found her very encouraging and motivating. I need to get over my shyness and get closer to the front of the class next time, so that I can see clearly what the instructor was demonstrating and check my posture in the mirror.

I felt like such an obvious newbie though. I drip sweat at each yoga class (so much so that I'm considering tying a scarf around my head and getting my own yoga accessories) but everyone around me was calmly doing each pose. But doing yoga makes me feel better about myself, even if I was struggling through the poses. Each struggle teaches me something about my body and about myself. I learn that I'm stronger than I really am. I learn that underneath all the flab I'm carrying, there are muscles. I learn that my abs are stronger than I ever realised, but that I have seriously tight hamstrings and hip muscles that impede my flexibility (and God knows, affect my life negatively in other ways too).

But if nothing else though, that one and a half hours of me struggling to get into and maintain various poses had me focusing on the whole thing so much and healthily takes my mind off something else.

It's weird though, but I always feel guilty for going to the gym. I feel like I should be continuing work in the office (that pile on my desk wouldn't shrink by itself). There's always work to be done. I feel like I should be home doing chores. There's always something else I feel I should be doing.

And then I remind myself that no one else would take better care of my health other than me, that diabetes, hypertension and various other diseases run in my family (my parents have been spared so far, thank God, but my maternal grandparents were diabetic. And obese.) and so there's a good chance it might hit me too. And before I get hit, I should darn well start taking good care of myself.

Yes, I have issues. Serious issues where I doubt and don't love myself seriously enough. But that aside, I want to enjoy life. I'm supposed to be in the prime of my life, but I'm not feeling it. If I take care myself, I show me that I love me.

The last good news for today? I've seen some weight loss. I've been losing about a kilos each week. I'm hoping this will continue.

- last entry / next entry -

recent entries:

Saturday, 1^st April 2006 - The constant struggle

Sunday, 26^th March 2006 - Finding my stride again

Monday, 20^th March 2006 - It's like I'm Vulcan, or something

Monday, 27^th February 2006 - My house of cards finally comes down

Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 - Books and fitness