5-4-Fri: Home Range

Animals need room to move; a “home range” if you will. The elephant, for instance, roams across 266 square kilometers on average. The gorilla needs 35 square kilometers to stroll around. You’d think that homo sapiens sapiens, with our cars and airplanes and longboards and whatnot would have huge homeranges and that, moreover, we’d be found in a wide variety unpredictable locations given all the choices in our lives regarding destinations. You’d be wrong.

A 2008 study shows that the average person can be found most often in one of very few highly repetitive, predictable locales. (Thanks to my Sister-in-Law for referring me to the NYT article!) That’s right there, Steady Eddie, you are leading a plain, vanilla, statistically predictable life. Admit it. Embrace it. I have.

I do go to new and varied places but, to be frank, outside of my apartment I spend a woefully, disturbingly large amount of time in 5 spots. Here’s the honest list of my homebases in no particular order:

1. National Geographic Society - Not more than 10 miles from my apartment, I spend faaaar too much of my time here. From Monday-Friday, and some of Saturday, I am certain to be found here while there is daylight.

2. YMCA - One block from Nat Geo, the massive, multi-story downtown YMCA is home to my twice-weekly “workouts,” by which I mean lifting embarrassingly light amounts of weight in very small arcs over and over--fitness results yet to be certifiably clear.

3. The Guitar Shop / Band Practice - Again twice a week, like clockwork, I can be spotted at this combo of locations--The Guitar Shop for lessons on Mondays and band practice on Tuesdays at an undisclosed location nearby.

4. Whole Foods - Closer to home, I heed the siren call of this overpriced grocery store weekly (hey, a fellah has to get his chicken nuggets somewhere). Who dresses up to shop? These people, apparently. Still, great cheese selection.

5. South Austin Grill - Despite its downhill slide as a corporate franchise, I am at SAG every Sunday night for dinner. My father made a spaghetti dinner on Sunday nights without fail and I got used to the idea. These days it’s enchalatas and margaritas rather than maranara and red wine, but the concept holds.

Wanna try for yourself? Please post your list of 5 places.

PS - Even back when I was doing a lot of distance running, I had three preferred 4-6 mile loops around Old Town that could be combined or extended for marathon training. I guess that only annual beach trips and visits to NYC disturb the tight plotting of my Brownian movement. Oh, and I am predictably listening to "Bittersweet" by Big Head Todd and the Monsters; now playing on iTunes.