Weighty happiness

December 27, 2013

I hope you have all been enjoying this possibly festive time of the year for you.  I have been more or less quarantined to my basement where I have been burning stacks of wood, mail, and newspapers to stay warm and to fill our abode with the sweet smell of burnt maple.  To be honest, my formerly moderately active lifestyle has become inactive.  I did get out for a bicycle ride yesterday, which was quite enjoyable.  Here is a photo.  

As you may be able to ascertain from this photo, I was able to bicycle through four of my favorite substances:  snow, grass, leaves, and curb.  

This photo is from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) which featured multiple bicycle-oriented public service announcement (PSA) posters.  

I am very happy about this, and I am also working on preparing some additional PSA posters to add to the variety and potential audience of these posters.  More on this later.  I was at the DMV to clear up a little misunderstanding about what constitutes “valid identification” - apparently they can’t really scan body parts like they misleadingly imply in the PSA entitled Minority Report.  I might've had the wrong body part out, too.

So what can we believe in this topsy-turvy world of ours?  Well I think we can believe that bicycling might help you lose weight - either lbs or kgs or stone.  Any or all of these can be lost through a strict regime of bicycling and obsessing about bicycling and/or the use of amphetamines.  This truism was illustrated for me as I recently viewed a film entitled Lbs. which I thought was pronounced “el bees,” but is apparently called “pounds.”  In this film, the main character, Neil, played by Carmine Famiglietti decides to turn his life around by losing weight.  He decides to lose weight, due to a heart attack which caused his sister’s wedding to be postponed due to the family trauma caused by this event.  Although it lacks a montage, this film combines elements of Rocky IV and Run Fat Boy, Run into a drama that is mildly humourous and not overly dramatic (no need to worry about a heart attack for unhealthy viewers).  This film motivated me to get out of my home and do some bicycling.  So who says sitting around in your basement and watching movies isn’t a productive use of time?!  

Not only can bicycling be helpful for health, it is also amusing to onlookers who see a large person astride a skinny, delicate-looking road bike, as shown here.

And, no (indignant harumphing) I am not making light of this problem.  

So I guess it's almost 2014, eh?  Got your health care all figured out?  Haha.  Well, I hope it includes a health dose of bicycling and some patience!  Best wishes to you and/or your family!
Sincerely,
-BSO