Giving Up

Today I decided to give up coffee.

I’m starting with a month-long goal and hopefully can continue it past that. One month will ideally break any addiction so I can see if the difference I feel is worth it in the long run.

I’m not a big fan of being addicted to things. And as I’ve been eating well and switching to all natural products around the house, this post (thanks for the rec, Katie!) convinced me I might be canceling out any of the benefits by drinking coffee.

I figured I’d put it on the blog for added accountability. (Don’t worry! You won’t hear much about it other than a tired complaint here and there). But here’s me tossing out today’s coffee as a promise to myself – and to you lovely people.

Note #1: I’m clearly still learning how to film with an iPhone.

Note #2: The second container of coffee was my backup. Yeah. It’s time.

Note #3: Thank G-d for tea.

Going Places

The other, bigger news is that I’ll be spending next February in Melbourne, Australia!

Melbourne is a lovely place, especially in February. So far, my contacts there have told me to expect lots of street life, summer heat, strong migrant communities, great public transportation, and penguins. Did I say penguins? I said penguins. PENGUINS!

This trip will be for 3 reasons:

1) To get away from the worst part of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) for the month.

2) To start a writing project related to above.

3) To scope out the city, since Michael has some potential (short-term) opportunities there.

That’s right, Michael has a few doors open in Oz. And since we’re a we, it makes us both feel better for me to visit ahead of time and see if it’s a place we’d both enjoy. Can I continue my current work there, even with the time difference? What’s the theater and writing community like? Does the city fit our personalities?

I’ll be working the same from there as I do here, but with penguins. And hopefully a little added energy means I’ll be able to write from there, too, since I usually have to take a long break from creative work in February.

If you know folks in Melbourne, I hope you’ll connect us!

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(Photos by Stefan van Bremen & Adrian van Leen)