First Post on my first blog: beer and paranoia

What's important today?
-Contacting Ray Nagin's office to see if there's an official response to Sen. David Vitter's (R-LA) declaration that gay marriage is the most important issue in the U.S. today.
-Continuing to transcribe the interviews for my film, "Jimmy Mazzy & The Last Minute Men."
-Going to the gym.
-Trying not to think too much about beer.

It's so hard keeping up with the news. I always start my day with thehuffingtonpost.com then check the mainstream media sites for their takes (if they have any) of the same stories. I check the liberal press, the fringe liberal press, local press (media outlets in the area where the story is happening), blogs, and neighbors. This last one is a sort of community test. How many of my neighbors read the news? What news do they read? Are they Republican, and, if so, are they insane and wanting to kill me, or can they be reasoned with at arm's length? These are, if you don't already know, serious considerations in my Southern Californian upscale community (I'm renting). For all of my outward strength I'm really a fraidy-cat. I hear conservatism, fanatical religiousness, and racism and go running for the hills. I'm no champion. Those folks could be nutty enough to carry guns, ya know?

Now, on to beer. I used to drink it a lot. A. LOT. So much so that last year I gained 20 pounds. Yah. From beer. Love the stuff. So, okay, I have a hot-n-sexy, 26-year-old, rockstar girlfriend who I don't want to look like shit standing next to, ya know? So, I hit the gym. Start training at Gold's with "Emma." Emma is great, but she's a little distant and after 3 months I'm not showing many signs of improvement beyond feeling good about exercising again. But Emma is really smart and answers all my questions about the science of the body/nutrition/exercise, etc., so I let it go. Then Emma signs me up for another 12 training sessions. I don't know any better so I go along wth it. What's $800 when I'm on my way, right? Well, 2 days after she signs me up, she bails. Takes a job in another state. Now I'm $800 in the hole, haven't lost any weight, and have no trainer. Cut to: two months later. Gold's Gym, who was supposed to call me after Emma left to "assign" me to another trainer, is still doing fuck-all to help me spend my hard-earned, "I really need this to help pay down my debt" $800. So, I take matters into my own hands - I walk into the trainer manager's office and put my foot down. A little bit scared he runs out onto the floor of the gym and comes back with.... Alex. Alex is a guy and I like my biological concerns (internist, GYN, accupuncturist, trainer) handled by chicks, but the trainer manager is a little freaked and Alex seems cool and like a nice guy, so I say: "great." Alex and I make an appointment. Cut to: two weeks later. I'm stronger, leaner, and happier. Alex is The Answer. Where Emma was working isolated areas of my body, Alex works everything all the time. I come home exhausted, sore, and... thinner. Long live beer.