podcasting

Not Feeling It

The beauty of being an independent podcaster is that, if I decide I’m really not excited about producing a show on a given day, I can just say “fuck it” and opt to wait a few more days.

I have a topic I’m excited about — debunking the myth that the Atkins Diet will cause kidney failure — but I’m really not into recording tonight. Maybe I’ll do some more research and script some stuff out, but I really can’t get into recording and editing today.

I’m feeling frumpy and headachy and tired and I’m just not down with it. I’m also feeling a little bummed that I may not make my first weight-loss mini-goal. I keep wavering between 211.5 and 210 — my goal is 209 by Tuesday.

It would be so easy to, again, say “fuck it” and go eat Chinese this weekend.

ruminations 1 Comment

Starved = Not Sexy

Victoria’s Secret – Very Sexy

So, I got some VS spam just now. I ordered from them once or twice, so I let myself keep getting their “offers” in the hopes of actually getting a hot deal one of these days.

Anyway, the model they used for their “push-up without padding” demi bra just revolted me (see girl in green lacy brazier, above link). I mean, I’m not a guy, neither am I a lesbian, so I guess I really don’t know what “sexy” is all about when it comes to women. But I can’t imagine that seeing someone’s ribs stand out in stark relief can possibly be erotic.

I can see your RIBS. I can see your pelvis.

OMFG. Go eat something.

Oh, and your push-up bra without padding? Yeah, it makes your skinny-ass A-cups look almost normal. Way to go.

genealogy 2 Comments

Genealogy Notes

This entry may not interest anyone other than myself. I can deal with that. I’m just figuring that writing stuff down here is better than scribbling a note to myself or typing a to-do list that I may never unearth again.

I’ve been focusing on my Great-great Grandpa COOK‘s family, as I mentioned earlier. I figure that maybe, by filling in every last detail of his marital family life, I might be able to work backwards and figure out how to puzzle out his parents. I have some pretty good ideas, but no solid links. No marriage record for William Henry and his wife Ella WILLIAMS, no birth record for their oldest son, and no freaking clue why William Henry’s birth record gives a Nancy as his mother, when all clues point to a Rachel HILL.

(BTW, genealogists capitalize last names, just to avoid confusion. Just so you know.)

Tonight, I scoured the Family History Library catalog for some more ideas of microfilm I could order up (once I get up the balls to drive down to Perrysburg and try something new *heaven forbid*). And it looks like I’ll be able to track down at least a couple of William Henry’s kids’ birth records, which will help me trace where the heck the family was at any given point in time. I’m planning to order the Butler County Birth & Death Records film, to hopefully find Wm Henry’s oldest child, Leonard, and maybe some of his younger children. I also want to request the Hamilton County Birth Records Index, to find his second-oldest son, Thomas.

Thomas, incidentally, was working for the Ethel Gas Company in 1924 when an electric train struck his car. He died at age 27 of a resultant brain hemorrhage. I’m hoping to someday locate a newspaper article about the accident, because I’m *sure* that would have been big local news.

While I was trying to figure out how I might find William Henry’s will, I stumbled across a great resource: The Montgomery County Records Center and Archives. They have not only wills and probate records, but records from the County Home, recorded mortgages going back to 1834, and dozens of other useful records. I’m planning to write in a request that I know they should be able to fulfill — William Henry COOK’s residency at the County Home from 10 December 1945 until his death in 1946 — and see how much that ends up costing me. If it’s reasonable, I’ll likely request a search for his will, and possibly his mortgage. This could be very helpful…

weight loss 5 Comments

Diet & Fitness Update, Week #3

I started out my week at 210.5 lbs, my weight as of Saturday the 28th. Over the course of the week, I managed to lose half a pound, but the journey there was kind of up and down.

I added some new food items to my diet this week, including Annie’s Naturals salad dressings on my salads and frozen blueberries in my oatmeal. I continued eating four meals a day, and branched out on Friday to start eating five: three full meals, two snacks.

Monday’s exercise was focusing on legs. Tuesday was Tae Bo Basic. On Wednesday, I tried something new and worked out my back. There wasn’t a very wide range of exercises I could do at home with only dumbbells, so I did ten reps each of supermans, tricep kickbacks, bent-over rows, side raises, and shoulder flys, all with my five-pound weights (except the supermans). As with my other weight workouts, I did the exercises all together with no breaks, then took a two-minute break before set #2, then a one-minute break before set #3. I really felt it the next day, so I opted to take a day off. I’m not used to my back being sore on purpose. Then, since I took a day off on Thursday, I lost my momentum and didn’t work out again on Friday.

Midweek, I weighed myself and was quite depressed to see that I’d actually gained a pound and a half. Sheryl suggested that I should measure myself, too — and I’m glad she did. Sixteen days into my new diet and exercise program, I’d lost an inch and a half from my waist, an inch and a half from my neck (?!), half an inch from my upper arms, and three-quarters of an inch from my bust. My lower body remained unchanged. But holy crap! I can definitely deal with minimal weight loss if I still lose inches.

My goal for the coming week is to ramp up the cardio. I want to shoot for two days of cardio, preferably three. I downloaded the Tae Bo Cardio workout on VCD, and from what I’ve previewed of it, I think it’s going to kick my ass. In a good way. I’ve also decreased my caloric goals for the week by about 200 calories. I’d been making my oatmeal with a little cream, and I’m going to lay off of that this week; that change alone should knock off that 200 calories a day. I’m also switching up what I’ve been eating for lunch and for dinner: more carbs for lunch (say, meat and rice), and fewer for dinner (meat and veggies or salad).

Hopefully, between the cardio and the more frequent feedings and the lower caloric intake, I should drop off some more poundage this week. Even if I keep only losing at the rate I have been, though, I should still make my goal of five pounds by Valentine’s Day.

February 16th = 2 days after Valentines Day = new pictures and new measurements. I have nine days to kick that ass.