Japanese school girls around 1985. For some reason nobody is cheering like that for me…

Such was my day.  I woke up early in the morning – really early – from a bad cramp in my left leg.  This is interesting because it was my first leg cramp that was not in summer, to the best of my knowledge.  In fact, the substitute doctor once aired the theory that they come from dehydration. I see on Wikipedia that there is still some support for that theory.  Also I get enough potassium from the milk in my diet.  And I even exercised twice yesterday, first a long brisk walk outside and before going to bed I spent some time on my exercise bike, so it is not lack of exercise either.  I even warmed up!  I seem to have reached the age when even my warm-ups need warm-ups.  But I did that too.  I did not stretch out afterwards though. Science has debunked that myth.

The reason for my sudden increase in aerobic exercise is my marathon viewing of an old baseball anime.  Baseball is for some reason really popular in Japan, but even so there are few anime dedicated to it.  There are two popular series, one from the 1980es (and it shows – actually the style looks ancient even for that, probably because it is based on an even older manga) and one that is still running, I think.  The old one is called Touch and is the one I am still working my way through (it is 101 TV episodes and five movies!).  It is about two boys and a girl and baseball, except one of the boys die during the series.  That does not make him less of a rival, though, quite the opposite. As one player says:  “It is impossible to win against a dead guy.”

The newer anime, which I only saw the beginning of so far, is called Cross Game.  It is about a boy and two girls and baseball, except one of the girls die.  The story is also like 25 years newer, and this shows, especially in the gender relations.  I don’t think you can really accuse the mangaka (the creator of the comics) of plagiarism anyway.  Not only because he develops the plot very differently, but also because it is the same guy. Somehow he has lived to make two immensely popular, high quality baseball-themed anime one generation apart.  That is really impressive.  Banzai! Banzai!

In case it wasn’t obvious, my novel writing has stalled.  Well, actually it has reached its logical conclusion.  There is a bit that is missing, but most of the content is in, and I have a good conclusion.  But it is not long enough for a novel, or even for the 50 000 words that is the goal for NaNoWriMo.   I could get that by developing a romance subplot, but I really suck at romance and besides it would detract from the story even if it was good.

So I am rounding out November by watching baseball anime.  Except it makes me want to exercise.  Seeing people run around has that effect on me.  Not sure why – most people seem to be content to sit in the couch and watch people run around, and evidently feel that this accomplishes something.  Me, I get the urge to move around myself when I see things like that.  I am probably not properly immunized by television.

And look what happens.   At least there won’t be any exercise today.  I don’t know about you, but my leg cramps leave the leg so tender and stiff that it can’t support my weight for some hours.  Even when I take non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (which also prevents stiffness) right after I get up, it still takes all day before I am pain-free and have nearly full strength back.  By then it is bedtime.