Sometimes, I Actually Can See Whales From Here.

Inspired by other bloggers (who are infinitely funnier and possessed of more to say), I thought I might try my hand at this. I do, on occasion, have coherent thoughts; I always want to express them.

I am a single dad (I love the optimism in that phrase...as though being divorced allows one to reset the counter). I have two daughters, one of whom is 16 and chooses to live with me, rather than her mother (a whole story in itself), and the other is 10...which means she's not old enough to decide she wants to live with me yet. Fatherhood means being involved, and I am...quite often to the point of excess. More about that later.

I am also overweight, which contributes significantly to the persistence of my singleness, and I have grown weary of that. When I was younger (until I met my ex-wife, in fact), I was tall and slim. I'm still tall, but I am no longer thin, and that bothers me. Mostly because it's always a surprise to me to discover that I am, in fact, not thin. Having grown up a thin person, my self-image is that of a thin person, and for the bulk of my day, I automatically revert to "thin person thinking", which is to say that I am startled when I look in the mirror, or look down and see my stomach impedes my view of my belt, or when a fast-paced walk or a climb up a flight of stairs leaves me winded.

I think, "Whoa! When did that happen?"

Now, my friend Gary calls our body type "bulk svelte", which I appreciate, but euphemisms rarely help. (Just ask an African-American.) Bulk Svelte guys don't get the girl, they get to be the girl's friend.

I am not complaining...I don't expect anyone to change their values to accomodate my poor choices, and in any case, I don't think anyone can change what they find attractive. Not deliberately, anyway.

So, I'm going to do something about it. I'm bulking down, as it were. And I am going to document the process of dieting and exercise and self-reclamation here...and intersperse the whole thing with tales of single fatherhood, friendship, volunteerism, career headaches, growing older, girl-watching, dating, and if I'm very lucky...sex.

So what's with the title of this blog?

It's bragging, pure and simple. Like many of you in the Internet Surfing Public, I work in a cubicle, and a shared one, at that. My cube mates are great guys, and I'm sure you'll get to know them, too, as this goes on, but they are absolutely not the best feature of my cubicle. Not even close.

My cubicle has an ocean view. And no, I did not have to attack one divider, a la Ron Livingston in Office Space to get this view...it came this way.

And yes, sometimes, I actually can see whales from here.