Personal Best

I broke the 800-calorie barrier on the elliptical at the Y. Yee Haw! I saw I was headed for my usual plateau of 792 and I cranked out the last five minutes, which are really supposed to be cool-down time. Mission accomplished at, I think, 802. I was so relieved to be over 800 I didn't really pay too much attention.

And instead of saying, "That's good enough," I hit the weights and did some serious upper body work.

What can I say, I'm going to Maui in 6 weeks. A girl has got to look good. Probably I should have avoided the red velvet cake Ray brought home and the buttermilk fudge that so badly needs to be eaten. But they needed to be eaten, people. And I broke the 800-calorie barrier. (Yes, I know what you are thinking, Internets, that I am deluded by the machine's false promises and seductive lies. BUT! I inputted my weight low to compensate. Quite low, too. And my heart rate was consistently way above what it really should have been. I not only flirt with the 85 percent of maximum, I crank it out way above that. My average heartrate was 176 (85 percent is about 165) and I topped out at 197, which is better than the 202 I can top out at on a hard sprint interval. And yes, I know the machine's heart rate monitor can be seductive, but it felt about right to me!)

Right now I am listening to "The Banjo Artistry of Myron Hinkle." He was a local guy who played the tenor banjo very well and started the Grays Harbor Banjo Band. A few recordings exist of his work with the famed Blue Banjo nightclub in Seattle and his combo, "The Banjo Multiples." And that compilation is now going to be in my iTunes. There are a disturbing number of train whistles used in the music. Hinkle died in 2001, but his music is now on CD, though only available through his daughter, Linda Hall. You can tell he was a disciple of Harry Reser, and yes, you should Google that name in quote marks with "Tiger Rag" to see some bad-ass tenor banjo playing.

At any rate, the music would be the perfect mood setter for, say, a screwball comedy set in the early 20s. Or something. It's pretty peppy Dixieland Jazz stuff. There is a song, "12th Street Bumble," a combination of 12th Street Rag and Flight of the Bumblebee, that his daughter told me was worth hearing. And dang, it will melt your face off, or whatever it is that banjos do. Remember, this isn't the five-string banjo, which is the traditional bluegrass banjo, it is the tenor banjo, which is usually used for rags and Irish folk music and more of a rhythym instrument, except not in the hands of Myron Hinkle.

Tuesday I am to play with the Banjo Band. Whoopee! I'm very excited about that. Soon I, too, will be cranking out the old timey tunes. Little do the Banjo Band, which is mainly seniors, know that I can play "Like a Prayer" (the chords, anyway) on the banjo.