Up in Smoke

As you can see, I was at the doctor's office yesterday. What started out as my annual physical -- I'm the picture of health -- on paper -- turned into a lengthy evaluation of my back/shoulder. I didn't mention it when it happened, but after recovering slowly but surely since the initial incident, I ended up sitting in the front row all the way to the left at the Paley Center for the Warhol screening and -- get ready for this -- somehow this quirky turned-sideways-to-see position has made the original problem 10 times worse than it was to begin with. (It REALLY hurts -- sitting is especially awful.) My great doctor here in Chelsea thinks it's nothing too serious, although he used a really technical term that I wasn't familiar with: apparently I have what is called a "knot." He prescribed some stretching exercises and some ZANAFLEX, which about knocked me off my ass last night (that Music Box post was written completely under the influence).

I'm 95 percent sure this whole thing started as a result of a trip to the gym gone wrong. In my 10-plus years of serious weight-lifting, I've wound up with shoulder surgery on my left side, this excruciating strain on my right, and no discernible increase in the size of any of my muscles. I'm seriously considering yoga moving forward. I know it's probably harder, but it seems like it would help me maintain my fitness -- and be considerably safer.