Talking About Stuff, with Mike and Christiana

Did a little Blog Template modifications. Mostly subtle stuff. I had to lose the rounded corners, but now the site is compatible with different screen widths. Also, check out the peek-a-boo comments. The comments appear on the main page now instead of requiring you to go to the post page.

Also, re-did the links on the movie reviews post so that on the posts with multiple reviews the link will take you right to the appropriate review.

What does everybody think?

I've put a new link under my profile picture to a document with some of my favorite recipes. Um... I feel like I should say more, but that's about it really.

Day 14:
Starting Weight: 247.5
Current Weight: 248.5
Day 14 Target Weight: 246
My Weight Loss Plan Spreadsheet

Analysis

Okay, clearly not a very good start. My weight trendline is actually going up instead of down. I attribute this to a number of factors. First is that I've not done any official exercise since Day 2. A good chunk of that is due to simple laziness, but for the last four days, I've not been feeling well, and so I've been avoiding strenuous exercise for that reason. Next, though I've largely avoided fast food, I have had a larger than usual number of heavy restaurant meals, plus I've been indulging my sweet tooth with girl-scout cookies and candy. Not a good start at all.

That said, despite the weight gain, there have been some small victories. First and foremost, the very act of tracking my weight this way is, I think, a huge step in making me more aware of what I'm eating, how much I'm exercising, and my health in general. Not that it's done me a lot of good so far, but I think it's an important first step.

Second, I have succeeded in dramatically reducing my consumption of fast food, with only two meals in two weeks, and both of those were smaller/healthier than normal. That was a priority, as watching Super-Size Me was a big part of my decision to start this in the first place. (See my review) In place of fast food and other non-fast but still processed food products (Hamburger Helper, Ramen Noodles, etc.) I've been preparing a lot more of my own meals using known ingredients. At some point, I will put up a link to some of the recipes I've been enjoying. So, although I'm still eating too much and not exercising enough, I have made some progress in eating healthier things.

Plan of Action

Item 1: Avoid restaurants whenever possible, and when it is not possible, make sure that I order healthier items. (salads with dressing on the side, grilled chicken, etc.)

Item 2: Continue preparing my own meals, but be more conscious of my serving sizes and how much I am eating per meal.

Item 3: Renew my exercise regimen, making sure to stay hydrated.

Item 4: No more Candy! If I must have sweet things, eat fruit instead. Begin tracking sweets as well as fast food on spreadsheet.

Item 5: Perform updates once a week at minimum.

Well, my company just sprang for new cell phones for everyone. I got an LG VX6100. It's pretty spiffy. Also pretty overdue, as the last phone was getting pretty clunky and boring by today's standards.

The new one's a camera phone, and can get all sorts of games and fancy ringtones.

Check out this picture of my little guinea pig, Guinevere, taken by my camera-phone. Ain't she sweet? I rarely get good pictures of her because she's scared of... well, everything, really.

There's a meme going around where people list ten things they've done that most people probably haven't. For example, Hannah Bowen, Wendy Delmater, Kevin Kibelstis and Elizabeth Bear.

So here's my list:
1. Performed in a puppet show in a Mexican church.

2. Been asked "Are you sure you're in the right seat?" by a passenger that was later escorted off the plane by armed air marshals.

3. Been asked out to dinner by a stranger on Alcatraz Island.

4. Placed a three-pound steel ball-bearing inside a tennis ball as a joke.

5. Sustained a second-degree burn onstage in the middle of a play and finished the show without anyone knowing.

6. Seen the Challenger disaster in person.

7. Qualified for the national-level tournament in speech and debate.

8. Took notes for an entire semester of Music Appreciation class left-handed and backwards like Leonardo DaVinci, just for the hell of it.

9. Stolen a letter from a fast-food restaurant's marquee because they were using it irresponsibly.

10. Dropped to the floor of my apartment because my disturbed pot-head next-door neighbor was being arrested at gunpoint.

Note also, that I have surpassed 1000 hits on my blog's counter! Hooray!

Hmm, not feeling super perky today. Mostly feeling thoughtful, with a little brooding and pouting thrown in.

Having a little bit of a crummy morning today which, added to a couple of things from yesterday has just got me in a little bit of a whiny mood this morning. First of all, this morning I nearly ran out of gas on the way to work because I wasn't paying attention. I didn't run out, but I had to get off the highway at an unfamiliar exit to find a gas station when I was already late for work. Then I pull into a BP station and for some bizarre reason, the gas pumps were having some sort of electronic hissy-fit and they wouldn't let me pay with a card and they wouldn't let me select pay inside either. So I give up on them and get back in the car to drive to another station, which doesn't have the pay-at-the-pump stuff at all. So then I have to stand there in the frigid wind while the slowest pump ever dribbles gas into my car. Then the traffic sucked on the way in, with people driving slow in the left lane and big-ass trucks looming over the center line and scaring the hell out of me more than once.

Add to that the fact that I cut my finger making dinner last night. (Actually, given the amount of vegetable and meat chopping I had to do for the empeneda recipe I was trying, I'm surprised I didn't cut myself worse.) It's not a big cut, but it's in an annoying place that hurts when I type. The recipe itself was pretty tasty, but it didn't tell me how much crust I needed so I didn't have nearly enough, and as I have no experience rolling the little empeneda rolls, they were pretty awful looking. Tasted okay though. I might talk more about my recent grocery/recipe/cooking adventures in another post, if I feel like it.

Those are just normal sort of grumpy-day type things though. What's really got me brooding a bit is a couple of the reviews I got on the Online Writing Workshop. They stung more than a little, not because they were particularly harsh, but because I recognized immediately that they were right in almost everything they suggested. Ouch. It's not that I'm feeling discouraged exactly, but I do feel like a little of the wind has been let out of my sails.

Writing a novel is kind of like climbing a mountain. It's a lot of work, and you have to be in it for the long haul. Basically what happened to me is that I could see the top. I wasn't feeling that tired and I was enjoying the landscape around me. I was excited to be so close and I was really moving along, enjoying myself. Then I reach what I thought was the top and realize that it was just a little ridge and that the real peak is still REALLY far away and that the climb still to come is way harder than what I've already done.

*sigh* I'm not giving up or anything. After all, it's an early draft, so I knew that it needs a lot of work still. That's the whole reason I put it on the workshop! So that I can get outside perspectives on what's working and what isn't. Still, it's just a little bit disheartening to realize that it needs a lot more work than I had been thinking it needed. Oh well, I've been in this spot before and I know I'll come out of it, the better for having received legitimate constructive criticism. Still, I think I may take a couple of days to feel sorry for myself in the meantime. *Bleagh*


In the meantime, Aint-it-Cool-News has a pretty dramatic site re-design up today. I'm not totally sure what I think about it at this point, because it's still too new, and I'm used to the old version. Anyway, could be cool once I get used to it.

Dave Barry's got a few things that made me smile:
First: A pothead gets narced on by his own dog

Next: Panda Poo Excites Experts

Last of all, I was extremely pleased with last night's first episode of Survivor: Pulau. New and interesting twists, a surprising amount of drama and backstabbing for just the first episode, and my early favorite is Ian. They've got a bunch of extra video up on their website too, for those of you who, like me, can't get enough.

Also, the fantasy league adds an extra level of enjoyment for me, although it's odd that they haven't posted the scores yet. Not sure what's up with that. Just another reminder though that you can join the league at any time, so if you want to join my mini-tribe, email me, and I'll send you an invite. You're still competing with everyone in the league, but it will give you a little web-page where you can easily compare your scores to mine and the other tribe-members. There's three of us so far, but room for plenty more!

Anyway, that's what's up with me today.