To Have Bendable Legs

It’s 2024.09.01 on the lunar calendar today.

Hello, here we are again in a new month and season. After weeks of back pain, I went to the physical therapist for the first time today. I had no idea my muscles are tight and my body out of alignment. I suppose I’m getting what was coming to me after decades of slouching (not to mention playing gayageum).

Pictured is me long ago with my harabeoji and also with my parents and sister. It seems I didn’t get bendable legs until age 5. So I’m confident that with the right exercise over time, I’ll be able to loosen my hamstrings and restore a fuller range of motion in my legs.

One good thing I’ve done for myself is finally returning to Pilates class, which I had stopped with the arrival of COVID. But it sounded like I would also benefit from some weight training, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to that or that I’ll do it. I like being a little squishy.  

Are you feeling rotund and hairy? A bit squishy too?

You’re a peach, darling.

And I love a good peach. The above is an excerpt from an old diary, where I often wrote about time. I’ll be sprinkling those entries throughout the “Orange Hour” album book along with stories on the songs. I finished the short manuscript and now need to lay out the copy and design. Actually, the writing was mostly complete a year ago but I had been putting off securing the rights to use quotes from other authors—an activity that didn’t take much time at all but I managed to stretch it out over a year. My muscles should be so stretchy.

I was momentarily inspired to get super fit, have some concrete goals in life, while watching the second season of Physical: 100. It also made me think of my album bassist Dre as I thought he’d enjoy the show. Last year, I told Dre that I want to make a bossa (and I use that term somewhat loosely) album with him in the next five years and we are already a year in so there are only four years left! I need time to think about it, start research, and gather funding before we can really get going so I might need to restart the five years from when my book is done.

Not quite the bossa nova, but here’s a video of Brandon and I playing Caetano Veloso’s “Queixa,” which translates to “complaint.” No more complaining for me though, except in song. I have to take action and get myself in alignment.

Listening to a single from Brandon’s own upcoming album 🎧