The Coffee & 31
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
I am back on NZT—eh, coffee...
...the thing is, I could withstand another day of aches in my hamstrings and quads as the back thing has all but disappeared with the headaches (well, it woke me up last night). But, an idea of mine for the new year is to walk/jog the 1.7 miles to Starbucks as a regular route to encourage cardio just as the 3-mile trip I did to Panera in 2021.
Another upcoming resolution for the new year involves finding a style to build a wardrobe. For more than a decade, I haven't given that any forethought; I just wore what I had. It came to a head this fall, when I was happy with a bundle of bowling shirts discarded on the side of the road after someone's yard sale. I happily wore them until one day, I really looked into the mirror and thought, "What am I DOING?!" I became dissatisfied with my not-so-athletic shorts even. It checked off my pramatic boxes: it was cheap, immaterial, and fulfilled societal expectations. And yet, culturally, there is unintended, unspoken words with that largely egalitarian intent, emitting nuances I never intended.
And thus, I want to find my style. How do I wish to express myself? Who I am?
I'm not sure how to proceed. I'm swearing off shorts for 2024—well, keep the swim trunks—I'm not some ancient Grecian after all! And frankly, shorts look ridiculous on men.
Well, what styles do I like? Lemme see...
Renegade
Highlander
The Witcher
Jason Bourne
DIY
...and a touch of Jonathan Scott from the Property Brothers coupled with a big ol' helping of Ron Swanson:
...and maybe a certain leather jacket from The Walking Dead.
The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning
Now, the complicated thing in all of this is that I am...*toning* this year. OK, I'll be slicin' and dicin' with my Ginsu gym!
The one thing I know I want is something that once was a staple: a pair of jeans. I haven't had a pair for a bit, so I went shopping, just looking for a cheap pair 'cause I know I won't be at my current size for long. Nearly bought a pair from the Tractor Supply. But, coming in under that at Walmart, I thought I did it, $12 Wranglers on sale. I had a couple pairs in hand, but I didn't want to be that skeevy guy hanging out in front of the only changing room that was over in the ladies' intimates, so I left Schrödinger's cat to her fitting.
My wife went up there and did her hocus pocus and uncovered a series of $1, $3, and $5 clearout Levi jeans and Wrangler pants that span across a range of waists! She just happened to trigger an idea of mine: I can now work down the sizes. Starting with the 42 and 40 "deals" I had found, I'll moving on to 38, 36, 34 AND...31.
Yes, 31! I haven't been 31" since...umm...well...maybe the 5th grade? I'm pretty sure Reagan was the President. This is a callback, of course, when I purchased 33-inch jeans this time in December 2011. It was what I wore to go line dancing at Casper Creek during wrestling season. It would take time, just under a decade, where powered by the slash-and-burn of carnivore, I slid them on in 2021 despite being 20 lbs heavier than I had when I wore them last in 1995.
It is hard for me to actualize, but if I could make it into 33-inch jeans on carnivore at 182 lbs, what can I do at 163?
And thus, there are a couple of pairs of Levi's waiting for me to make them into daily wear as a quest reward.
(And yes, I threw out those bowling shirts. And my briefs. I'm not Walter White.)