Census

The 2010 census is underway. It's time to be cataloged and categorized so that the money you pay in taxes can be redistributed to whatever group happens to be in favor in Washington when it comes time to hand out the allotments. (Hint: I strongly doubt that I belong to any of the favored groups. Curse my homogenous bland ancestry and unfortunate history of continuous employment!) The census is a massive undertaking, but with today's connectivity infrastructure, I suspect they'll be quite successful in counting everyone. (Well, except the folks in the Witness Protection Program, gamma-ray irradiated drifters, and clandestine visitors from the planet Skyron.)

Past censuses (censii?) have been quite helpful for those of us doing genealogy research, and I suppose it is good to know how many folks are populating the country. We need to have a number to teach to grade school kids and to list on maps and Wikipedia pages. But the main thought I have when census time approaches is that it's also time to start filling out the @#$%! tax forms.

It also reminds me that nearly an entire month of the new year has passed already, which means that it's time to review how the New Years Resolutions are doing. Hmmm.

Well, I'm sorry to report that my Yoga program is not going well. It's hard to pretzelize yourself when you're suffering from a head cold. And even though my illness caused me to skip some of my regular weightlifting sessions, I'm still struggling with general tightness caused by having these massive, bulging muscles. Stretching and doing animal-shaped poses is simply not easy for guys like myself and Lou Ferrigno. I'm not giving up by any means, but I had certainly hoped to be more limber by the time February rolled around.

Can I use my head cold as an excuse for not taking out the recycling until the bin overflowed, too? Yes, I believe I can. Housekeeping during an illness consists of little more than spraying Lysol around and disposing of the empty Nyquil bottles. (Which happen to also add to the recycling bin overflow, darn it.)

Anyway, I could probably use some help to stay focused on my commitment to loosen up. So if you see me looking tense and tight and musclebound and stuff, please remind me to drop to the mat and run through a few key asanas, OK? As always, thank you for your support, and have a great day!