Nothing special going on today, just thought I'd pop in and make a post. Got back from the gym about an hour ago, 30 minutes on the treadmill and another 10 on the elliptical. The elliptical kicks my ass, but I can feel it working. I'll probably weigh myself again on Saturday morning and see if I've lost any more weight. I'd hate to plateau so early, but considering that I just shed 11 lbs. just like that, it's possible.

Japanese class starts in a little over an hour. Me thinks I should study a little more for my quiz today. Mikan, ringo, toriniku, ocha, retasu, uisuki, and so on. If you understand those, you get a gold star.

Next Wings game is tomorrow night at Nashville. I'll probably be limited to keeping track of the play-by-play online, since Smallville, My Name Is Earl, and The Office are all new episodes. No worries, though - I'll be able to watch the game against the Blackhawks on Friday. Wait, what am I saying? The Blackhawks? Blech.

Okay, so I didn't make it to the gym yesterday. Completely lost track of time and by the time I was ready to go, it was already 5:00pm and I had to make a delivery to Chatham on top of that. So yesterday, no class, no gym. Can't go to the gym today either since I have a chiropractor appointment in the afternoon. Looks like the rest of the week will have to make up for it.

Something has to be working, though. I've had people telling me that I look like I've lost weight - people that didn't even know I was dieting. So that tells you something. Hopefully I can keep it up for a while. I'd like to get myself back down to 200 lbs. for the first time in god knows how many years.

Remember back on the 20th when I said I hoped to be able to lose ten pounds within the next month? Amazingly, I already reached my goal. I weighed myself on Saturday before hopping into the shower and the scale read 237 lbs. - a full eleven pounds lighter than my weigh-in on the previous Sunday. Eleven pounds in six days. Even I wasn't expecting such quick results. I've obviously been doing something right. Now, mind you, I'm diverging from the diet gradually - I was getting completely sick of fruits, veggies, rice, and oatmeal, creating a total lack of appetite - but still watching my portions and whatnot, still not drinking soda, watching my sodium intake, etc. For breakfast I had half of a toasted blueberry muffin. Why just a half? Amazingly, I was full after that half. I'll probably finish it this afternoon to keep my metabolism moving. Then maybe an hour or so after that, it's off to the gym for about a half hour on the treadmill (just as I did yesterday when I had to come on to campus for a couple work-related tasks). I may just get fit yet.

I would kill everyone in this office for a drop of sweet, sweet beer and a thick, juicy cheeseburger. Stupid diet.

If you haven't seen this beautiful Datsyukian deke from last night's shootout against the Preds, you absolutely must. Even if you're not a hockey fan, you have to be impressed. (Thanks to Houdini of LetsGoWings for the linkage)

I just got done with an hour of cardio in the gym here on campus. I'm very sweaty and sticky. But not nearly as tired as I thought I would be. Which is good, because I want to actually be awake and alert for the Wings/Preds game tonight. No Alfred Hitchcock class for me tonight, as I can finish up watching Psycho when I get home tonight and then perhaps even start up on whatever movie it is we're supposed to watch next (either The Birds or Lifeboat, I can't remember which).

For now, though, I'm just going to relax and feel proud in the knowledge that I actually survived an hour in the gym. Hopefully that will make it a bit easier to do it tomorrow. And Thursday too. This whole 'working out' thing might be the death of me.

First Monday back from Spring Break...and I don't think I really had much of a break, so to speak. Much of it was spent either doing work or homework, with a couple late night hockey games sprinkled in the mix. I just now finished up a take-home midterm exam due tonight for my Medieval World class. Now I'm probably going to make an attempt to do another clean install on my laptop here. My network connectivity's been really wonky at home ever since I did my clean install a couple of weeks ago (meanwhile, connectivity is fine everywhere else, figure that one out). This time, however, I've actually definitely backed up my Dreamweaver settings and my ObjectDock themes and images. Even downloaded a bunch of Dell drivers, just in case. Wish me luck this time around.

I also started myself on a voluntary diet as of yesterday. When I went to my asthma doctor, she mentioned that my weight isn't good for my asthma, so I'm finally going to try and do something about it. Weighed myself yesterday and I'm at 238 lbs. Yikes. It's a detox for the next nine days of mostly fruits and veggies (with brown rice and plain oatmeal mixed in for good measure). My only beverages will be water and tea. Who wants to place wagers on which day I'll lose my mind over this? Of course, I have to do exercise too. It'll either be DDR at home or I'll spend 40 minutes or so on the treadmills here at FDU. Realistically, I'd like to lose ten pounds over the next month. Think I can do it?

I just saw one of those car dealership commercials where the announcer is practically shouting at you and eventually says something like, "We don't care if you have the world's worst credit!". That got me to thinking. Someone has to have the world's worst credit. I'm curious if they realize who they are. On the same token, someone out there has to be the world's worst doctor, world's worst cashier, world's worst janitor, world's worst president, and so on. Well, we know the last one, but the rest of them, statistically, they have to be out there, but are probably unaware of their 'worst' status. These are the thoughts that keep me up at night. Damn car dealership.

Isn't it a bit sad that even on a day off from work, I'm up and out of bed by 8am?

Just logged in to my checking account and as of yesterday, my car is completely paid off!

Now to pay off those pesky credit cards...

Second book of the year finished, this time it's Mil Millington's brilliant A Certain Chemistry. I've now moved on to Mil's third book, Love and Other Near-Death Experiences. I have a feeling that once my classes are over this semester, I'll really be able to tear through the unread tomes in my bookshelf.

I still love 'Frazz'.

I've discovered a delicious new font that is my new favorite, called 'Damn Noisy Kids'. I was looking for a suitable font for my ObjectDock mouseovers and that one just jumped out at me and I knew that had to be it. How lame am I? Getting excited over a font? I clearly have some issues.

I'm in the process of the first complete system reinstall I've done on my laptop since I got it about two years ago. It's a nice feeling being able to start off fresh once again. Frustrating having to reinstall everything, but rewarding nonetheless. Besides, it's a beautiful day out here today. I can't possibly be in a bad mood when the weather's like this.

Only a few more hours until my weekend officially begins...

I haven't had a coffee beverage since last Wednesday. Becky (the secretary in my department) said she's giving up dairy for Lent, so I decided, what the hell. I'll give up coffee. (Never mind the fact that I'm not religious, it's the principle of the thing) I've been very tired lately with headaches. And I've been drinking a lot of spiced chai to get my hot morning beverage fix. Stupid principle.

And one final note...you know that something is very wrong in the world when Yanni (allegedly) beats up his girlfriend.

So now the intolerance of this country has now extended to a nonfiction book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin. Some people are so homophobic (or repressed, depending on the individual) that they feel the need to target a book that has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality, except for the concept of two male animals raising a baby. Perish the thought! A pair of animals caring for a young one! It's so deviant and unnatural.

Oh wait...it isn't. Morons.

If they have a problem with homosexuals raising children, I have a problem with them raising children.

How is it possible that I completely missed hearing about this? Stephen Lynch on Broadway? Brilliant!