At this time last year, I was soul-crushingly idle at work, fat–well, pudgy anyway–bored, miserable, and lazy. The year ahead of me included my firstborn’s wedding and my own 25th high school reunion. I guess I forgot to include “old” above.

But there are seven words for which I am grateful: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Michael Pollan’s books are worth your time.

My 34-waist 505s were not quite snug. That doesn’t sound all that bad, I suppose, but I’m only 5′7″ (perhaps a little optimistically), and that put me pushing the high side of 175. Not the fattest I’d ever been, but well, pudgy anyway.

With no other changes to my lifestyle, my still-dark(*) 31s are now not quite yet roomy. My collar size is back down to what I was issued when I joined the Air Force in December ‘86.

(*)There are many immutable truths to life, many of which we may never know. Among those we do know, is that only a sucker would pay full price for used clothing: Levi’s should look new when they are. Another such truth is that a fake Christmas tree just isn’t one. But that’s a conversation for another time.

I did try exercise. I was a regular at the gym, and I twice completed a treadmill 5K, running the whole way. I eventually found that my knees would not allow me to run, though, and I was sufficiently disappointed that I allowed myself to stop walking. But there’s a new Wii in the living room, and the Fit program is at the top of my discretionary purchase list. We’re borrowing one from a family friend, and I’m pretty impressed.

I am currently unemployed. And thrilled to be so. I’m fully paid through June, so I finally have time to take those professional cooking classes at CPCC. I always said that if I won the lottery, I’d spend most of the rest of my days as a student. Guess who won a miniature lottery!

In the mean time, I’m refreshing my memory on high school math, and have as one of my potential goals taking a job teaching said subject. That’s been a lifelong dream–retirement is for the rich, after all–and my time among the band students (besides teaching me a lot) has confirmed my hope that I had the requisite ability to connect. I certainly have a lot to learn about the profession, but anything that starts with “a lot to learn” can’t be all bad.

I have had my failures this year, of course. My ambition exceeded my drive for a little while, but I ended up refreshing one of my (now former) sites that badly needed it and I learned a good bit about the technologies available to today’s bloggers. Along the way, I did some other good work.

I was ultimately unable to land the unpaid job in the Spanish-speaking kitchen at my [Warning: Sound ahead.] favorite local Mexican restaurant. On the other hand, I think I made a genuine connection into the local restaurant network. I won’t hesitate to knock on that door again if my formal culinary training progresses far enough that the A.A.S.’s internship requirement is worth pursuing. And if teaching does turn out to be my future, I’ll probably need something to get through the summers (or more), so…

In cooking tacos al pastor for my unannounced audition for the job above, I went from zero knowledge to a pretty damned good adobo sauce (if I do say so myself). And I can finally make a decent tortilla de maiz besides. I’m also starting to develop a preference for those, which gives me a little bit of a “going native” warm fuzzy.

In other words, I’m living my dream. Yes, there are problems in my life, some of which are quite large. But I’m enjoying my Van Wilder moment of recognizing that I’m happy where I am right now, and I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. If that isn’t success, I’m not sure I could handle the real thing.

So, classes start on the 11th, and yes, I’m the geek that read one of the textbooks for fun a couple of summers ago. I’m looking forward to reading it again. My cooking garb should be in Monday. I can’t wait.

But while I am… Thanks in no small part to a generous Barnes and Noble gift card I received for Christmas, I am now champing at the bit for some quiet morning time to jump into Forgotten Algebra and Forgotten Calculus. I’m in Nerdvana!

On food and resolutions. Last year’s resolution was to eat better–more real food, less processed and otherwise inferior crap–to exercise, and generally to get into better shape for the events ahead. My primary objective of not showing up with Dilbert’s physique was met. And improved upon, actually. In the longer run, I’m shooting for a 22-ish BMI, and I’m closer to it today than I was this summer.

So, to build on that success, I’m going even cleaner. I don’t plan to become vegetarian–see “omnivorism” below–but I’m going to try to make animal proteins more of an enhancement to the meal than the main course. If it goes as well as I hope it may, I’ll end up mostly vegetarian most of the time, and even occasionally vegan. Gradual improvement seems to be what’s working for me, so that’s where I’ll keep heading.

But cleaner than that. I offered my solidarity to a good friend of mine who has decided to take 6 months off the bottle. I have planned to allow myself a waiver when I hold my third plate party at The Flying Saucer later this month. (Last I knew, they didn’t like to wait six months.) Nor will I allow anything to get in the way of my learning to really cook.

A few years ago, a boozeless future, however temporary, would have worried me. Today, I don’t face withdrawal, sleeplessness, and a grumpiness surpassed only by the sudden cessation of nicotine intake; rather, it’ll be a matter of laying in enough club soda to last until I get used to not having a beer slowly warming by my side in the evening. As for the weight loss impact, I’ll enjoy the buff, but I’m with Kingsley Amis beyond that.

That’s the easy stuff to clean. What’s going to end up taking real effort and discipline is learning to avoid the poisons on the grocery store shelves. I’m not naive enough to think it’s even completely possible: The in-store-baked bread contains HFCS, for example. But I can do better than I have been. I am daily more personally convinced that the higher quality stuff is effectively more nutrient dense than the cheaper alternatives.

I already know the good stuff consistently tastes better. I’m going to enjoy eating my way healthier. What more could ya want? These changes will require a time commitment, of course: Baking bread takes longer than buying it. On the other hand, it’s incredibly easy with the right tools and approach. (No lie: Infinite variety across a broad range of styles; clean-up consists of one bowl, one dough hook, one pan, and sometimes a silicone spatula; total other effort is on the order of 10 minutes.) It’s a matter of working those new rhythms into my already changing schedule, even as I get taught how to do the time-consuming things faster. Things are going my way here.

So, the short version of my resolution: Whenever reasonably possible, no poison.

All that said, I hereby renew my commitment to omnivorism, so long as it’s reasonably considered food. I have no interest in putting a Froot Loop Straw in my mouth, but the chicharronnes de harina Ed fried up for us last night were worth the fat-induced heartburn still lingering.

2009 was not without its bumps, some of which are still bumping. And far too many of the people I love the most have endured some incredibly tough times. But on balance, it was a hell of a good year for me personally, and 2010–that’s “twenty-ten”, by the way–looks to be even brighter.

As for today: It’s off to the kitchen! My $2/lb. imported African black-eyed peas(*) are soaking. My collards(**) are prepped, and I have some hacked up jalepeños in cider vinegar on the stove. Emma’s making the butter-only–shortening isn’t food–bicuits to go with some of Brent’s church’s homemade apple butter I received for Christmas. I still need to grate a beautiful hunk of fresh horseradish I found at Harris-Teeter yesterday. And that sinful 10.59-pound hunk of sirloin tip is just the excuse to finally find out just what my first, imperfect attempt at veal stock can do. (Neck bones for about a $1/lb. when they showed up at Compare Foods on that magical day.) I’m also going to break out my home-rendered beef fat, that same gloriously bright white tallow that elevated a pot roast to sublimnity a few weeks back.

(*)I didn’t remember to pick the cheap ones up when they were still available in November. They have some interesting differences, though. The skins are much tighter on the bean bodies. I don’t think there was a single skin flake in the bag. They also seemed, paradoxically, lighter than they appeared. And clean! When I buy beans in bulk, I usually have to rinse them 5 or 6 times before the water runs clean. With these, the water didn’t cloud in the slightest.

(**)Lowe’s Foods isn’t usually my first choice for produce, but these greens are spectacular! For $2.50–granted, a little more than I’d've paid at Compare, probably–I have collards enough for the New Year’s Table that are brightly fresh and–uncooked–taste subtly, richly, of butter. I do have to give them credit: Lowe’s does surprise me so nicely at least a few times a year.

Everything that should be cooked with country ham hock will be. And I’ve been losing weight and gaining health eating like this.

To my friends, family, and other loved ones, particularly those still with me long past the 1500-word count, Happy New Year! My wish for you is that your 2010–”twenty-ten”, I tell you–will be as good as I expect mine to be.

[An earlier draft of this essay was posted in two parts at Analytical-Life.com. More on that another time. Some pretty good things should be coming from that direction before too much longer.]