randomness 3 Comments

Quick Update

Friday: Day off of work. Slept in. Opened National City bank accounts. Went to Pietasters show in Cleveland. Good openers, rowdy audience, great showing by the band. Awesome show. Bought a $10 shirt. Got a $10 parking ticket for a meter that ran out just 20 minutes before we got out of the show. We paid the damn thing $1.75 for the four hours it gave us, and I’m pretty sure it shorted us some time. At least it was only ten bucks, though, even if the cop had to have been sitting there and waiting for the meter to run out.

Saturday: Afternoon in BG. Madhatter is closing July 14th; it’s the end of an era. Cosmo’s coffee shop (where Aaron and I had our first date) is closed, too, among other former BG staples. Outskirts of town are booming, though. Had ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery downtown. Party at James’s house in the evening. Food and adult beverages and music and fireworks out in the country. Good times.

Sunday: Took a closet full of stuff to the thrift. Played Wii. Ordered an ice cream maker online. Made fettuccine alfredo for dinner. Normal laundry and shopping bit. Chilled-out sort of day.

Today: James’s last day at Sky before going to his new job at BGSU. Spent the afternoon manning the front desk, and so managed to miss most of his desk-cleaning spree. Skipped aikido in favor of job-hunting this evening. Got sidetracked by an alert about some LSM forum spam that desperately needed taking care of. Ended up not being able to submit one specific job app yet because I need full reference info.

And that’s the weekend in a nutshell.

When I get a new job, maybe I can do like James and fabricate myself a week vacation between gigs. I shouldn’t feel like I need another vacation… but I do.

randomness 3 Comments

Fickle Brain

So, for the past few days, I’ve been trying to get myself onto a decent evening schedule. Turn off the computer around 9:30pm, make tomorrow’s lunch, pick out tomorrow’s clothes, read for a while, and have lights out by 11pm. It’s worked pretty well, and I’ve been waking up more refreshed (if not always on time, as per usual).

Tonight, I’d like to stay up later, since I’m taking the day off work tomorrow. (We’re going to a Pietasters show in Cleveland tomorrow evening, and there’s NO WAY I’d be able to stay up for a late show if I went to work.) I spent my evening playing Wii — oh, by the way, Aaron bought a Wii this week! — and just realized that I missed my favorite TV show again. D’oh! At any rate, I thought that I could stay up a little later, do some websurfing (or something more productive), or maybe play some computer games now that I’m done with Wii Sports… but no. My brain is all, “OK, time to start shutting down for the night!”

Dammit. Why must you be catching onto this schedule thing so well?

weight loss

Body For Life, Week #4: I’m Out.

Body recomposition is a noble goal.

However, it is no longer a goal of mine. Not a primary goal, anyway.

Matter of fact, I think I’m going to take a breather from attempting active weight loss for a while. I’ll still “eat right,” which is to say that I’ll be eating four or five meals a day, each with an element of protein and healthy carbohydrate, and I’ll avoid sugars and other undesirable carbs, and I’ll drink between 8 to 10 glasses of water per day. I just won’t be following a specific regimen for the time being.

As far as exercise goes, I’m going to wait until I figure out my aikido schedule before I start working out at home again. Aikido seems to be a great lower body workout, and a decent cardio workout, as well (for now). First, I need to determine how sore I’ll be for how long after each class, and whether I can manage both Mondays and Wednesdays or whether I’ll have to choose one or the other, then I’ll plan out some upper body and NordicTrack training schedules at home.

I think my weight is fluctuating due to my swollen muscles, possibly. I think that’s how it works, anyway. At any rate, the morning after the first day I went to aikido, my weight had been down almost to the pre-Japan-trip mark. Granted, I lost my lunch during class, and didn’t eat dinner after, so that could have something to do with it. The following day, I jumped up by a staggering five pounds in one day, back up about the 200-mark. Then, the next day, I gained another two pounds. I’ve been steadily losing again since, but it’s mighty frustrating to be eating right and exercising and not seeing the results I’d like, as fast as I’d like.

So, I need some time to regroup. I have some other things to focus on, and BFL is just going to have to wait. For now, my exercise regimen is aikido, my other main focus is job-hunting, and I deal with other issues as they arise.

(Like tonight’s issue of the Googlebot using up all of the LSM site’s remaining bandwidth for the month in one fell swoop. Thanks, Google. *sigh*)

Time to turn off the computer and start winding down for the night. I’m going to crash good tonight.

ruminations

Bootstraps

I was stupidly depressed all day at work. Hadn’t gotten enough sleep, ended up showing up to work late, my cubemate was out at his new job orientation, and I had a crapload of tedious work to do.

At least my legs finally stopped being sore.

When I got home, Aaron set me right. First, he did his typical Make-Diana-Happy move of being a goofball and tickling me until I’m genuinely laughing. Which is cool. Then he asked me if I’m going to quit aikido, and I told him no. I’m planning to stick it out until the end of July, when the Basics Seminar is being held, then make my decision. He pointed out that all I did all damn weekend was talk about aikido, which means that I really enjoyed it. He also pointed out that this is different than anything I’ve ever done before, including drum corps, and I can’t expect to go into it and already be good at it. That would be absurd. I agreed.

After our aikido discussion, he reinforced the fact that I need to focus on just one project or goal each evening. Just one. If I’m going to clean my desk, clean my desk. Don’t start doing something else, *then* clean my desk, and don’t make a list of twelve things and then get upset when they don’t all get done. Set attainable goals, and attain them.

I really appreciated that. It was exactly the kind of talking-to that I needed.

Per the schedule I made for myself, my computer’s getting turned off in about fifteen ten minutes. Then I’ll wash the dishes, make my lunch (with plenty of carbs and protein to prepare for my aikido class), pack my gym bag, and get ready for bed. Lights out at 11pm, even if I’m not sleepy. Maybe setting myself a nighttime schedule will help me get myself on track.

Oh, by the way? I spent a good hour or more cleaning my desk while I listened to iTunes. It’s not completely clean yet, but it’s well on its way. Tomorrow is aikido, followed by (assuming I’m feeling up to it afterward) printing resumes and determining which potential employers I need to follow up with.

Man. Sometimes these days-long stretches of depression freak me out. They don’t happen very often, and it gets really hard to pull myself up and out.

I’m glad I had help.

news 1 Comment

Goodbye, Saddlemire

Courtesy of the BG News: University says farewell to Saddlemire

This was the building where I bought my books every semester. This was the building where I sold those same books back every semester. This was the building that was supposedly shaped like a slide projector.

Apparently, the Saddlemire Student Services Building is being demolished, in preparation for an addition to the theater department. I’ll grant the theater department that they could use some more space, that’s for sure. An additional 500-seat theater, among other facilities, will definitely be a welcome addition to campus.

Still, though… it’s weird, watching my university change over time. Granted, it’s all for the better, but it’s still unsettling.