End of March Review

March is almost over so let's have a little catch-up session.

I don't really care about March Madness or basketball in general, but No. 2 Duke losing to a  No. 15 Lehigh (or whatever it's called) was the best thing ever. Suck it Dookies :P

The fitness thing has been up and down. On the down side, I have had a few dietary setbacks. I think the Lent concessions that I made compensated for that for the most part. I'm going to retool my eating habits. More fish/poultry, less carbs. I'm so close to seeing an actual 6-pack. I know, totally vain. On the up side, exercising has been going very well and I've taken a lot of steps forward. Last week I almost ran a total of 20 miles, including a day where a ran a total of 6 miles (3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon). This past week (as of right now), my running tally is at 22.5 miles, including 2 days when I ran 6 miles each. This is partially a function of my work schedule, otherwise I just wouldn't have the time/energy combination to do this. I think there will be a commemorative 5K here in town (for 4/16/07) that I'll try to do. I was going to last year, but the weather didn't cooperate.

We're in the home-stretch of Lent. One more week, and then I'm pigging out (relatively) guilt-free. That's part of why this week, I'm trying to eat even better and get all that exercise: to make up for what will be taking place on Easter Sunday. Everything I've denied myself for the prior 40 days is going to be shoveled down my gullet and it will be GLORIOUS!!!

Early in the month, I made the goal of finishing A Feast for Crows (volume 4 of A Song of Ice & Fire) by months end. I'm in the home stretch, even though earlier in the week (i.e. Tuesday) I though I would miss this goal. I haven't made up my mind when I'll start reading volume 5, A Dance With Dragons. I really need to start reading some other types of books, primarily political ones. It is, after all an election year and I am, after all, a political nerd. Too many books, too little time.

As for my other blog, things are going pretty well. I don't remember off-hand whether it was this month or February that I started a Facebook page for it. There still aren't too many fans on it as yet, but I'm working on it. I'm still getting better at promoting it. Yesterday, I hit the 4,000 pageview (for the month) mark which was pretty surprising. I'm still working on the original content thing. I have a bunch of half-written pieces that need to be completed. I really need to get better at time management and focus. I'm also getting some positive feedback from readers which is awesome. I wish I was getting more posts on the comments, but at least I'm not getting negative comments (silver lining I suppose).

Well, I guess that's it until next time folks.

MyTunes Monday: carry On My Wayward Son

Weekend Update: St. Patty's 2012

WHAT. A. WEEKEND!!!

I'm pretty surprised at this weekend, which was by far the best one I have had in AGES. It started Friday night when someone I lived last year came into town (he actually arrived Thursday Night/early Friday morning). Friday night we had a party/keg race. I wasn't going to join in the keg race at first but eventually said screw it. We managed to get through them before Midnight. As much fun as that night was, there were three things that sucked. 2 of them were boughts of hiccups that struck and would not go away. I think the second bought is when I called it a night and just went to sleep. The other thing was that I randomly got nauseous in the midst of the festivities and had to lie down for a bit. I got over it puke-free, then got up and resumed consumption. I would have done an Irish Car Bomb or two that night, but I didn't want to test my stomach too much.

Then there was Saturday, St. Patrick's Day. I had turned my alarm off the night before expecting to sleep in, but ended up waking up before 10, still slightly drunk, but sober enough to do a post on my other blog. I had to go to work at 5 that evening, but we (i.e. the guys I live with) made plans for an ABC trip and a run to the grocery story for Irish Car Bomb supplies and some Killians. We got back around 2, 2:30 and started doing car Bombs and playing some drinking games outside with some friends and neighbors (some of whom were quite fit lads). Between then and going to work, I had 6 Car Bombs (including one just before I left, for good measure). Some things definitely worked out for me at work. 1) The manager was who it was, otherwise, I could have gotten into some deep shit for going into work in such a state. 2) I checked my schedule for the next day (Sunday) to discover I was not working, meaning I could drink more when I got home. 3) No major mistakes. Again, I'd have gotten in trouble being in that state. 4) It was busy at the beginning and then just died around 8-9. I was a late cut and had plans to either catch up with the people I had been drinking with or go downtown...or both. 

I ended up getting home at 10:30...and immediately took another Car Bomb. Unfortunately though everyone had either passed out or gone their own way downtown. I ended up going downtown. It wasn't nearly as busy as I thought it would be, meaning there was a little room in the bars through which to walk. I expected an utter cluster-fuck and was happily wrong. Nothing really happened downtown, except I ended up in the women's bathroom with two girls (not nearly as glamorous as it sounds, trust me). Also, I got several compliment on how I was dressed, which was awesome. I don't have a picture of the outfit, but I did put some effort into it. I left downtown right around last call (1:30-1:40ish) and got home, was talking for a while and eventually went to bed. When I looked at my clock the next day when I woke up, it was 12:44 which is really late for me. No hangover though, just really tired. Despite being really tired all day Sunday, I didn't get to sleep until after 5:00 AM. After running this morning, I spent an hour cleaning the kitchen. It was a huge mess.

The REAL kicker is that after all of the overindulgence and abuse/neglect I put my body through in those 3 days, I managed to muster the strength to run 6 miles today (3 in the morning, 3 in the afternoon). I've never done that before. Maybe I should drink more often...

I have to say that something I learned this weekend (which I kinda knew beforehand, it was just reenforced) from various interactions with some straight guys is that when they're drunk, they're a lot gayer. No, I'm not talking about sex, I just mean that the super-macho facade comes crumbling down, and they get more touchy (to whatever degree) with other guys than they likely would sober.

WHAT. A. WEEKEND!!!

MyTunes Monday: Fake Tales of San Francisco

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!!

Film: "A Curious Thing"

Photologue: The Lone Storm (Part 3)

By all appearances, this Winter has come to close. I'm using the term Winter loosely, because there very few genuinely cold days, and even fewer snow storms. The only storm of significance (at least in these parts, it was a 7 incher) was on Sunday February 19th. Luckily, I saw this one coming and took my camera to work that morning. Here are some of the pictures a took that day and the following morning:

Photologue: The Lone Storm (Part 2)

By all appearances, this Winter has come to close. I'm using the term Winter loosely, because there very few genuinely cold days, and even fewer snow storms. The only storm of significance (at least in these parts, it was a 7 incher) was on Sunday February 19th. Luckily, I saw this one coming and took my camera to work that morning. Here are some of the pictures a took that day and the following morning:

Photologue: The Lone Storm (Part 1)

By all appearances, this Winter has come to close. I'm using the term Winter loosely, because there very few genuinely cold days, and even fewer snow storms. The only storm of significance (at least in these parts, it was a 7 incher) was on Sunday February 19th. Luckily, I saw this one coming and took my camera to work that morning. Here are some of the pictures a took that day and the following morning:

MyTunes Monday: Total Eclipse of the Heart

Some songs will never get old.

Nostalgic Indulgence

It all started with one of my Facebook friends saying something to the tune of "You're never too old for Saturday morning cartoons." The was last Friday or Saturday. Over the next couple of days, I spent hours watching my favorite Saturday morning cartoon of all time (and one of my favorite shows of all time), "X-Men: The Animated Series." Over the last week, I've probably watch that and "X-Men: Evolution" more than is healthy. Oh well...

If you have read this blog enough, you know I'm a huge fan of the X-Men. I wasn't much of a reader during my youth (my, how THAT'S changed) so I wasn't as into the comics as I was into the show and the films that have come out since. Still, when I was a kid I wanted to be an X-Man when I grew up.

Anyway, as I was watching some clips on YouTube, I came across a comment that talked about how, unlike virtually all cartoons aimed at kids, this was a very adult show in terms of the themes that it dealt with (i.e. discrimination among others) as well as the intelligence of many of the characters. How many kids shows quote Emily Dickinson or discus mythology and philosophy, love and loss? While this is something that I was vaguely aware of at the time, it didn't really hit me until I read that comment. Then I thought that it was probably another reason that I loved that show then and still do today. I think this clip typifies what I'm talking about. Watch and try to think of other kids shows you remember like it:

MyTunes Monday: Ocean Breathes Salty