Gym bunnies wanted

BunnyGym
Originally uploaded by ScottieCorp.

I'm determined to be in better shape by Christmas and in fantastic shape by the summer. The last year has given me the perfect excuse not to exercise (other than doing 5 miles a day with the dog) and the perfect excuse to indulge in food. And I'm heading in the direction of the gym bunny pictured.

Of course I'm disguising my body vanity as a quest for better health. As all body dismorphioc people do. As you know I'm working with nutritionists at the moment and each seem to find the name and the naming of this blog worrysome.

The name you see came as an immediate reaction to being told that I was going to need chemo. Far from devastation or a need for a moment to process the information I immediately pictured myself as Ivan Lendl, hollow cheeked, gaunt and pale and thought 'Wow, I'm going to be fabulously thin.' This - by expert accounts - is not a normal reaction.

Nor was it an accurate picture. The steroid, the bloating, the food cravings and the post cancer feeling of immunity from death all led to the pounds piling on and the muscle falling off.

Leaving Sydney I weighed 155lbs and had 10% body fat. During chemo that was 157lbs and 11.5%. Now I'm 165lbs and larding it around like Bella Emberg after a vacation at a Donut factory.

So it's time to say no to alcohol, no to snacks, no to the sofa and hello gym, hello pilates, hello carrots, hello 7 mile walks with the dog.

I want trousers that don't brand me when I lean over. I want not to be able to pinch more than an inch. I want to escape the invisibility of middle age and be noticed on the streets, checked out in Chelsea and comfortable on a T-shirt. I want to say goodbye to man boobs and the Florida or Texas waistline decision.

So it's back to the grindstone - I have a second gym session in 30 mins and a 2 hr dog walk planned thereafter. I also have 'before' photos to take. This, I think, is gonna be a bumpy ride

Outsourcing parenting

happy together
Originally uploaded by Hantta.

I'm doing more and more work on how we're outsourcing parenting these days - so desperate to be our kids friends that we're prepared to pay to have somebody else police them. Be it a real nanny, a net nanny or a GPS system attached to their car / phone that alerts the police when errant children stray from the boundaries set for them.

Moms wanna be 'chat buddies', dads wanna be 'sports buddies' and everyone wants to be liked. It's a weird trend, this discipline at a distance by a paid stranger but it's quite an industry

2nd full day at work

15
Originally uploaded by ferklint.

I did two days back to back at work this week.
Punctuated by long breakfasts and lunches
And finished with my getting slaughtered on the cheap Hungarian plonk served up by NylonNehru suited barmen at agency functions
Sad but true.
Still no word on my move
Or on my staying

A change is gonna come

when I was a lad when Nike wanted my attention they wrote an ad that dragged Eric Cantona and Robbie Fowler down to the park for a kick-a-bout with some amateurs, mixed in some Blur and had us all falling over ourselves to throw our praise and money at them. This year they decided to get people to participate in sport with Run London - North vs South, in competition and varying colors. I could download myself crossing the line, keep my timing device, alter the course of the competition and choose my virtual training partner. It was about involvement. Why write an ad when you can stage an event - and film it?

More and more this is the way that 'advertising' is going. Less show, less tell, more invitation, more innovation. It's what I want to do too. I've said before that my job is to have people appreciate the things that they buy and own more. Coke tastes better out of a can than in a blind taste test. Handing over a Lexus keyring feels great (if you're a fat old guy who loves Valet Parking). There's an argument to be made here - but I'm at work. And people are playing the 'I'm loud and therefore right' card... making it impossible to concentrate on anything other than bad puns, poor strategy and perpetuating the belief that we're the only intelligent people in the world.

a real post when I get home

Dawn of a new era

pilates-Andrew1
Originally uploaded by yogandrew.

I started my Pilates today. 1 on 1 sessions with a very encouraging women who did her best not to dissolve into fllods of tears / laughter at my pathetic efforts. I shall be returning twice a week for the next 6 weeks as well as piling on the gym sessions.

With Jude already scheduled for Niagara, Denver, Calgary and Victoria BC and with more dates piling up for her it's good that I have something to keep my devilish hands occupied. There is, after all, a time when even the Internet can fail to entertain.

My desperate need for physicality - and the idea of my running along beaches, cycling through crisp mountain air and skiiing with the hoi poloi is shaping Judith's job search I think. Though the idea of Hong Kong is financially appealing.

I'm wondering whether all of this 'must be in the open air, under a big sky' nonsense is a late reaction to near death, the early onset of a mid-life crisis (okay, not so early) or a sudden realization that I've been selling my soul for pennies in cities that have made me ill for too long.

So the exercise started today. And the books start tomorrow. I have two ideas for books on advertising and deciding which to write has been paralyzing... so I'm going to do both.

The first is a simple '12 shapes that shape advertising' - a How To... for planners.

The second asks the question 'if advertising started today; with all of the technology that we have but none of the history' what would it look like? what would advertising agencies look like? and what would our cities look like?'

So - exercise for body and mind - cool

Vroom

Suzuki SX4 WRC
Originally uploaded by friedmad.

Judith back from the second of her interviews and very enthused about the idea of cleaner air, new challenges and a living somewhere that means we need a car, gardening tools and more furniture.

I, of course, hear only the word 'car' in that battery of must haves and even though any potential move is a year away I've picked it out. The Suzuki SX4 JX AWD is about the size of a VW Golf, has all wheel drive (she's only looking at places where it snows) and 143bhp. I'm lovin' it.

All a long way off but the ideas of pastures new and my working remotely where and when I can really does appeal. I have this very real urge to be more physical at the moment. I've signed up for one on one pilates, my bike has come out of storage, I loved the immediate physicality of archery, the dog is going thrice around the park and I want to do more. A move will help with that.

As for not being in an office everyday - that's exactly how I'm working now; with teams spread from Argentina through Australia to Sydney and South Africa and clients in London and Amsterdam. And whilst sometimes the 'there by phone' thing is a frustration the amount of focussed time and pure thinking I can give people has at least doubled.

So a year away at least - but I have to say that I'm pretty excited.