Thanksgiving Thursday Thirteen

Activities to bide my hour on the ski machine, listed in order of prevalence. You’d be surprised what works with the proper work surface.

This Thursday list resulted because I’m grateful for the opportunity to exercise both body and brain.

1. Study Japanese – my favorite; to be doubly productive is great, though my ears sweat on the Rosetta Stone headset (good thing I have a second pair)

2. Sweat – unfortunately unavoidable despite the fan blowing on me; people have said it’s one reason my skin is so clear, so that makes me feel better

3. Cat Wrestling – this is funny until someone gets hurt or she sabotages my speaking lesson; no Japanese phrase I’ve learned sounds like a high-decibel “meow”

4. Editing – revising a piece of fiction makes time fly and it’s rewarding, though writing legible notes can be tricky

5. Listen to Music – a classic necessity before language studies came along

6. Email – tediously typing one-handed

7. Visiting my Online Group’s Fiction Writers’ Workshop – reading the works my friends have submitted is always rewarding

8. Reading Fanfiction – this lets me catch up on the plethora of talented authors updating on the Pomme De Sang website, though I’ve fallen far behind

9. Books – I used to carry a book bag downstairs before writing became more imperative than reading; there are a few tomes collecting dust by my laptop stand down there

10. Write – even trickier than jotting notes or typing, of course, sometimes that story simply needs to be told NOW

11. Surfing the Web – this is better saved for already distracted moments as that uninterrupted hour of exercise offers precious time to focus

12. Magazines – Out of guilt I used to fastidiously read periodicals I receive via loved ones; I’ve been forgiving myself for not reading that which I didn’t subscribe to in the first place

13. Television – while sometimes entertaining, the TV actually makes time seem to slow down; the one in the basement might no longer work