Sunday, March 28, 2004

American Dad

Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy (the funniest TV show ever), is bringing a new cartoon to Fox: American Dad. I can't wait!

The Iraq War

This is an edgy piece about the war.

Sunday, March 07, 2004

More Produce

Friday's 8:30 bedtime of course led to an early waking on Saturday. That, in turn, led to an early bedtime on Saturday, which led to an early waking time this morning. (This might actually have been the shift I've been looking for...we'll see how long it lasts.) This morning, when I woke up at 8:00, I had to force myself to roll over because I didn't want to get up. I tossed and turned for a little while, but in the end, I was up making coffee before 9:00.

One of the side effects of waking up early is that you end up getting stuff finished earlier as well. This can be viewed as a positive; for me this weekend, it felt like a negative. I had too much time left over. Yesterday, I woke up, did laundry, ran a few errands, worked out and then got groceries. I was done before 3:00 or 4:00. Today, I woke up, read some of the current issue of Harper's and worked out. I was home before 1:30. I had accomplished everything I had hoped to do for the entire day before 1:30. What was I to do? I just read some more. Harper's is an interesting magazine. I saw the editor on The Daily Show a few months ago and really liked what he had to say. I decided that when I got my own place (this place), I would subscribe. The cost of a year's subscription was less than two issues at a newsstand, so I decided to take the risk. There's a lot to read. This month, there was a fascinating article about cadaver trade (or tissue banks). There was also an essay on how Globalism is reverting back to Nationalism. The magazine is filled with literature, politics and art. I enjoy reading it, though I never know quite what to expect.

Over the past two weeks, I read The World According To Garp, by John Irving. This was the third Irving novel I've read. The first was The Cider House Rules and the second was A Prayer for Owen Meany. Irving is a great writer. No matter what he writes, it always flows beautifully and is easy to read. Garp was no exception. It's hard to summarize the book. It's about the fears of a father and how he tries to protect them. But ultimately, his actions cause harm to his children. It's also about the polarization of the sexes. I enjoyed reading it, as evidenced by the fact that I read it in two weeks (pretty quick for me; I averaged almost 50 pages a day). I needed a new book, so yesterday I picked up The Da Vinci Code. I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it. I'll start it sometime this week.

As I mentioned, my shopping yesterday also included a trip to the local grocer. I picked up a lot of produce. I've been trying to reduce the amount of refined sugar I consume. I'm also trying to reduce my total fat intake. To achieve these goals, I'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. I got an eggplant, some spinach, fresh broccoli, Santa Sweets tomatoes, portabella mushrooms, carrots and some regular iceberg lettuce. I've really been enjoying how I've been eating lately. I made a sandwich tonight with portabella, eggplant and red bell pepper marinated in balsamic vinegar then cooked in olive oil. I got the inspiration from a lunch I had a Biaggi's recently. It was very tasty. Later this week, I'm going to make some eggplant parmesan. I'm excited for that.

I think I saw the baton girl at The Fitness Center today. She looked familiar to me, and I had the thought that it was her, but I didn't really think anything of it. But then, she and I left at about the same time. I noticed her license plate: TWRL UI 7. It must have been her. She was definitely decked out in orange and blue clothing, so I'm pretty sure it was her. I feel like I've seen a celebrity!

This has gotten long and it has no point. Just rambles. I enjoy when I write blog entries that are succinct little stories. When I started this, I used it mostly for journaling. Then I started reading Renice's blog and I loved how she told cool stories. Whenever I visualize very short stories like that, they are semicircles. They start succinct, expand enough so you get a body, then quickly wrap back up. I love it. I've done it successfully a few times, but tonight was not one of those times. Tonight was a need for something to do, so I filled it with a summary of my weekend. Conclusion: I need more to do with my time. Working out is a start, but it is just a start.

Saturday, March 06, 2004

Unofficial

Yesterday was Unofficial St. Patrick's Day. Unofficial was created by the campus bars years ago when St. Patrick's Day fell during spring break. They wanted the business that college kids would generate on St. Patrick's day, so they created Unofficial.

Bud suggested a week ago that we take the day off of work and go to campus bars. I thought that was a great idea, so I became the promoter and organizer for it. Bud's wife, Erika, dropped us off on campus. Tim then met up with us (after walking to campus, which took him an hour). At that point, Iffy was still in Savoy waiting for a bus, so we went to C.O.'s and told him to just meet us in the bar. I think Tim and Bud were nervous; they had never been to C.O.'s. I promised them good scenery and, at the very least, they would get to watch me be a drunken ass. So we drank green beer. When we first got into the bar, someone made a comment to the effect of, "So this is where all the good looking girls come. I guess they don't go to Murphy's or White Horse."

Anyway, we drank, and drank. Oh, it was fun. Iffy took some pictures of the day and published them to his moblog. Eventually, we got some food from Legends. Then we went to Kam's (where a girl walked up to me and told me that she thought I had a great ass). But by that time everyone was tired. So Patrick, our awesome designated driver, drove us home. I fell asleep (or passed out) at around 8:30 and slept for about 11 hours. This morning my poop was green...one of the joys of drinking green beer. Yesterday was a great day, I'm glad we all took the time to enjoy the day the irresponsible way.

Monday, March 01, 2004

Small Goals

I don't normally work out on Mondays. In order to save some money, I joined The Fitness Center under their 5-days-a-week plan. I have full access to all facilities except on Monday and Wednesday. I've worked around it and I think the savings is worth it. Anyway, as I was driving home today with the windows down, enjoying the 60ยบ weather, looking at the gorgeous pink and orange sunset and the partly cloud sky, I decided that I should go for a run around Centennial Park. Actually, I debated myself first. I should go for a run, I thought. But I don't usually work out on Mondays. But it's so nice outside. No, no, I'll just wait, I'll work out tomorrow. Wait, why am I talking myself out of working out? Ok, yeah, I'll go for a run! I hurried up and changed so I could get started while it was still light out. I was pumped up to run and I took off head first into the 15 MPH wind. I had to push pretty hard against it. The second half will be easier. After I finished going south down the west side of the block and turned to head east, the wind was finally on my side instead of in my face. Normally when I run, I go for about a mile, then walk a little, then run about another mile. But today, I thought it might be possible to run around the whole block. I ran in the grass just inside of the sidewalk; the ground was the perfect consistency. It gave just enough underfoot so that it was comfortable, unlike the concrete of the sidewalk. After I had covered two of the four sides of the rectangular block, I considered stopping and walking or stretching. But I didn't. I'll just run to that tree. But when I got to that tree, I decided to go for the fire hydrant, then to the parking lot, then to the sign, and so on. Next think I knew, I had come all the way up the long side of the block. Keep going. I kept setting small goals.

When I started running in earnest two months ago, my short term goal was to be able to run around Centennial Park nonstop. Today, by breaking up my larger goal into small, realizable chunks, I achieved my goal. It felt great today to be able to run over two miles nonstop. Some people might scoff at a measly two miles. But when I started, I was totally dizzy after running one mile. Near the end of my run today, I was pretty fatigued, so I was picking landmarks that were only 10 or 20 yards away. But I kept doing it, I didn't give up. I succeeded.