The color of infinity inside an empty glass

Well.. it's been altogether a shitty week. As you can see by my weigh-in (this week's weight 268), I didn't make my usual jump down. That's because I've been on a plateau for five or six days straight. This adds to my altogether bitchy mood.

I'm exhausted. I feel like I've been run ragged. All I want to do is stay home, finish my Fluids homework and watch Boston Public.
My mom, on the other hand, wants to run me around the city... AFTER She's taken a nap. And so if I go with her, I'll miss Boston Public and lose two or three good hours to get this homework done.
I wonder if there'll be a fight about this.
I won't have it. I'm exhausted.. run ragged and I DON'T want to run around the entire god damned city (or even to two or three stops) and don't try telling me that it's MY job as a son to do it, cause it's not. My job is to get my school work done and my homework graded.

I'm not bothering to post a quote of the day for today. Sorry folks. If I have the time after my fluids homework, maybe I'll edit this post and throw one in.

Not much else to say... bitchy and grumpy and exhausted and I NEED A FUCKING VACATION!

*sigh*

It's been a very busy couple of days. So while I got a little time I'll try to summarize what's up in my life.

Lesse.. Wednesday was my accident. For those who hadn't heard yet, I'd skinned myself on the treadmill. One minute I was upright, the next i was hanging on for dear life, my kneecaps getting all skinned. It hurts like a bitch. Still. It hurts so much at times it makes me naseuous :P It would be better if I could wear shorts but of course it's gonna snow this weekend, so I'm in jeans and the jeans rub against the sore and hurt.
Actually, the best time, as odd as it sounds, as when I exercise. Mostly, I think, because I AM in shorts. Perhaps the endorphins help block out part of the pain too.

Nearing the completion of the task I was in charge of. The water quality query of Ellicott Creek. Did I mention this to y'all? No? OK.. part of why I'm so busy is that damned Practicum class. This task I'm in charge. We're doing a water quality assessment of Ellicott Creek, a nearby Creek. We measured and analyzed for Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Orthophosphates, Ammonia, Conductivity, Temperature, Fecal Coliform Count and Turbidity. So now we just have to write the report and do the presentation. Yay for nearing completion.

I've been spending alot of time lately at One Phat Man, specifically the chat. I love One Phat Man because Fred, the owner of the site, has done what I hope to do. He's lost about 160 pounds so far. it's very motivational to read his side. Anyways, I've given this journal adress out to a couple people there, so if you're reading hello all you Phat'ers ;)

Lesse.. yesterday my MP3 Player, my Phillips Expanium played it's last song :( I dropped it once too much. I had to run out and get something else to work out with. I found a sweet deal. I got the iRock (and yes, it even looks vaguely mac'ish, but it works with a PC so it's all good.) with 64 Megs onboard memory, room for a SmartMedia chip and USB. And I got it for $100. It doesn't read ID3 tags, but I'm used to that with the Expanium. It's tiny, though and plays beautifully. So.. an hours worth of music for $100? Sounds like a good deal to ME!

In about a week my cousin Freddie comes into town. I love spending time with Freddie. he's a great guy, a good man and is really really cool. So I'm looking forward to seeing him for lunch next weekend.

Anything else?

Can't think of anything..

OK, time to go to press :)

Damn, I'm tired today. I wonder if it's the contacts. I'm wearing my contacts again today and I haven't in a while.

Just got out of my office hours. No one showed up.. oh well, I'm not surprised. No homework assigned yet (probably tommorow). I'm kinda surprised the sadistic teacher from hell didn't give me half the tests yet to grade...
Maybe he's grading them all himself?
One could only hope.

Worked out for hour and a half yesterday trying to get off this plateau I've been on all of last week. Today's reading didn't look too bad either, so let's try to maintain the loss and go back to going down.

Changed my weight routine too.. decreased my weight, increased my reps per set from 10 to 15 - 20. twgan suggested it as a means of continuing to build my muscles without really bulking up. So I'll try it for a couple of weeks and probably go back to more weight less reps per set later... it's not like I need to do all my bulking up now, anyways. A little variation is good.

The lower half of my legs are beginning to look.. proper. Like the legs of someone who ISN'T fat. Like.. instead of just increasing in diameter from my ankle to my hip like they used to, the leg looks.. defined.. muscular.

If I could only make my stomach look like that, now :)

Well, I will... it'll take time, tho.. I got alot of stomach to make disappear.

I got my first test of the semester back yesterday. I'm quite proud of myself. 91 in the Graduate Fluid Mechanics class. Go me! :D

Can't think of anything else to say. So.. hasta luego, dorks y dorkitas. :)

Yesterday was the 2nd night of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. To those of my Jewish friends out there in Internetland, I wish you a new year.
As many of you already know, though I am Wiccan, my family is Jewish. We still celebrate the Jewish Holidays. In general we do so by having dinner at my grandmother's house. Yesterday was no exception.
We had potatoes and carrots, brisket and gravy, homemade applesauce and green bean casserole. It was delicious and I had way too much. (Let's not even talk about the "Lo-Fat" Swiss Cheese and Veggies I had BEFORE Dinner. My grandmother serves QUITE a meal.).
My brother, Marc, the one I can't stand showed up for dinner. He looks like he's turning ultra-Jewish. He brought a pitcher to wash his hand and "wouldn't eat' any dairy products (though he DID have Green Bean Casserole and that has melted cheese in it). He's got a scragly beard, a mustache and looks like he should be walking around in all black with the funny black hat.
He makes a mockery of Judaism.
Because you can't be jewish but have no respect for the 10 commandments or, indeed, any sort of moral rightness.
Amusedly yesterday we were discussing my diet (the scale CURRENTLY says I'm 286.5, but we'll discuss the scale reading later in this post) and how I'm going to a gym nearly every day to do my cardio workout and to work the weight machines. As I'm a UB Student, getting into the gym is free.. which is great for me! It doesn't have everything a Club might have... no classes, no trainers (We have attendants who know how to work the machines and act as spotters as need be, tho) etc. But the price is right and *I* am not complaining!
So, anyways, I'm talking about and Marc's eyes sparkle. He says "it's free?' and I say "Yes." and he's like "So, can I "borrow" your Student ID?" And I'm like "uh.. no..." Cause without the Student ID I can't get in to the gym. And he's all "Well, I can wait until AFTER you're in." and I'm shaking my head no. Even if I liked him. I'd be very uncomfortable about doing it this way.
So that was an interersting couple hours.
So, I've been doing alot of reading. I've almost totally gone through "Exercise For Dummies" and "The Hacker's Diet" and learned some interesting things.
Exercise for Dummies has been invaluable. It's helped me find a workout schedule I'm happy with. I'm now on a new schedule.. the self-called Push/Pull schedule. Basically, I divided the 12 Weight Equipment exercises into two programs.. Push and Pull.. Pull is almost exclusively exercises where I pull things back or sideways (except for one extra Push exercise, the Fly, that I added to Pull so that I had six exercises per class.)
My Pull Schedule is..
Two or Three Sets of 10 Reps of the Following Machines
Arm Curl
Leg Curl
Multi-Hip
Rowing
Ab Crunch
Fly (the one Push exercises added)

My Push Schedule is...
Two or Three Sets of 10 Reps of the Following Machines
Leg Extension
Chest Press
Shoulder Press
Back Extension
Tricep Extension
Leg Press

Today is a Pull day. :)
The Hacker's Diet, on the other hand, I haven't accepted as fully as Dieting for Dummy, but I've learned some interesting tips including the idea of taking your weight daily but taking a running average out of it. And so, I take my weight daily.. the ups (I'm up 1.5 from yesterday) and downs (I WAS 285 yesterday) and plotting them and the running average trend suggested through their Excel Worksheet. The reason I'm doing this instead of how I WAS Plotting (the occasional check on the scale every three or four days) is because.. basically.. weight is as much (if not more) of a measure of how much water you have in your system at the time as it is how much fat you have on you. On the other hand, if your trend is generally pointed downwards, than yes, you are losing fat. Myt trend is downwards.. and alot slower than the weight the scale reads. (Because the idea that I was REALLY 285 lbs. and I'd losr more than 6.5 pounds in a week and a half or two weeks was a bit scary and up another 1.5 pounds from yesterday's dinner was scary and wrong. And so I copy down the number into my excel spreadsheet (that i hope to post soon so that everyone can see my weight go down :D ) and watch the trend go down. Right now, I think the trend isn't completely capturing the amount of weight lost, but it may take another month's worth of numbers to get an accurate trend. (Right now my trend suggests that My actual "Average' weight is 289 lbs. Which *IS* a loss so that's good.)
Also, I've started using the WebMD Diet and Fitness Journal. It gives a decent estimate of how many calories I eat per day and how many i burn per day. It's hardly perfect and some of the estimates are too big and some too small, but as an estimate of how many calories I'm NOT eating and as a decent nutritional journal telling me I AM getting enough of the nutrients and vitamins I need, I wouldn't give it up for the world (Depsite the fact that I DON'T know how many cups of Starfruit I'm eating when I eat five slices and have to guess.).
So, to summarize.. I've got some new tools (Running Average on my weight, Diet and Exercise Journal) to help me track my weight loss. I AM losing weight and everything is, therefore, good! :)

Not a rant, per se.. just a long set of connected thoughts sort of post.

I'm at 288 now. That means I lost 2 lbs in 2 days. Wow. I HAVE been working harder in the gym, but I doubt it's only that. I suspect that since I have started losing weight, it's becoming easier to lose it. I know that this sort of loss won't last. Eventually, I'll level out. And... that's fine. I've been losing fat, I guess, in the easier areas. My legs, my face, possibly my arms. Eventually I'll run out of fat to lose there and have to start at the hard places.. my stomach and my tush. That may be harder. I don't know.
I got a new book today "Fitness for Dummies". I did really well with "Dieting for Dummies", so this can't hurt, right?

I've had a couple people now ask me how I'm dieting. Let me explain. In as much detail as I can. I am not on any sort of special diet. This is based on what works by me.
I'm doing two things: Eating Healthier and Exercising... Let me explain in more detail

Eating Healthier
When you're on a diet, you have to be worried about three things: Fat, Calories and Cholesterol. Personally, I admit I tend to watch Fat content and ESPECIALLY Saturdated Fat Content more than the other two. Eventually, I'll need to get to a point where I'm counting calories, but so far, I'm not. Then again, I WAS close to 300 lbs, so eating better in any way should have been enough to help spur a weight loss.

Below is a list of tips on eating better that I've accumulated in three weeks of eating

1. Rule 1 - Do Not Overdo Any of these rules. Look, diets are hard. Do not take any of the following rules and try to say. I WILL not eat Cheese.. I WILL not eat Candy.. I WILL not eat Peanuts. You would eat a very boring set of meals indeed. Just do not overdo it on any of the listed rules below. A little cheese won't kill your diet. Nor will a little cake or a little candy. Just remember overdoing it on any of these high-fat or high-calorie foods WILL kill a diet.
   
2. Give In To Your Cravings - Dying to have a piece of cheesecake? Oggling those chocolate chip cookies? Enjoy.. just do it in small doses. A SMALL piece of cheesecake or ONE chocolate chip cookie. If possible, try to find a lo-fat or lo-calories alternative. In front of my desk I have a tiny bag of sugar free Jolly Ranchers. Less than 10 calories per piece and 0 fat. If I feel like a little bit of a sweet, I open one up and eat it. Before this, I had Jelly Belly Jellybeans - 4 calories per bean and 0 fat. This helps me deal with any sugar craving I may get.
   
3. Read The Labels - For any diet to be successful, you need to cut off excess sugar, fats and oils. To do this, you need to know what kind of calories the food you eat has. I list a few things below, but the best thing to do is read the health calories. Women should be eating 1500 Calories or SLIGHTLY less if on a diet (not TOO much less) and men should be eating 2000 Calories. Saturated Fat is BAD! Try to stay away from it.. Unsaturated Fat isn't as bad and a little helps keep you full longer and also tastes good. You should keep your eyes on Cholesterol as well, but I don't know the standard for that. Listed below I give ideas of things I do on my diet. Each diet SHOULD differ from person to person. We all eat different amounts of food, weight different amounts and have different tastes in food.
   
4. Drink Diet Pop - Yes, I KNOW Diet Pop doesn't taste good as the original. But, it does matter. Pop has no fat, but it does have alot of excess sugar. There's really no need to HAVE to consume these calories when there's so much nearly sugar-free pop out there. Also, the pop industry has gotten alot better at making diet products taste just like the original. Diet Dr. Pepper does really taste, to me, like Dr. Pepper. So avoid the non-necessary calories and go with Diet Pop. Or even better, drink water. Water has no calories, no fat and you need alot of it... especially if you're exercising.
   
5. Drink Fat-Free or Reduced Fat Milk and Eat Reduced-Fat or Fat-Free Dairy Products - Dairy IS a very important part of your diet. You should be having, I BELIEVE 3 servings per day. Unfortunately, Dairy products tend to be very high in fat. This does not mean you should give them up at all, but keep your eye open for low-fat alternatives. 1% Milk (reduced-fat) tastes nearly exactly like 2%. If you want to avoid even the reduced fat, Fat Free (NOT SKIM, two different types of milks) tastes mostly like 2% (it has more of a cream taste to it, but it isn't bad. Especially if you get Fat-Free Chocolate Milk which *I* found better than regular Chocolate Milk because of the creaminess of the milk. I know skim doesn't taste quite right.. but Fat Free is a viable option instead. I suggest trying it. If not, 1% Milk should be just fine.
   
6. Stay away from Deep-Friend Foods - From French Fries and Onion Rings to Battered Fish, deep-fried foods are often cooked in excessive amounts of oil. In general, you simply don't need the extra oil in your diet. I personally have pretty much given up Deep-Fried Food and don't feel the least bad about it. I have had the very occasional fry, but otherwise miss it not.
   
7. Fill yourself up on Salad and Fresh Fruit - I probably eat more fruits and vegetables than I should. But vegetables and fruit are good for you, taste good and generally contain less fat and sugar than other deserts and snacks. I have my favorite fruits just like everyone else: Apples, Pears, Oranges etc. (Luckily for me, Apple and Pear season is just starting so I'll get a good season of cheap fresh fruit I love :) AND FRESH APPLE CIDER :D ), I also adore lettuce, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, radishes and what you could generally consider salad material. Though by themselves, fresh fruit and vegetables won't stay in your system very long, with a little fat (for example, ranch or bleu cheese dressing), the salad can fill you up and still give you minimal fat. Also, try new fruits and vegetables! There's nothing worse than eating the same thing over and over. There are SO many different types of fruits and vegetables that you should experiment and keep lunch and dinner more exciting.
   
8. Stay Away from Nuts and Seeds - For better or worse, most nuts and seeds are very high in fat. This goes for Peanut Butter too. Just don't overdo it on the Seeds and Nuts. I know they're taste and good for you.. but you don't need too much excessive fat.
   
9. Eat More Fish And Chicken - Beef isn't a BAD meat to eat. But it isn't a good meat to eat. Red meat has been often considered possibly very fatty and possibly bad for you. I dunno. Everything I've read doesn't say Beef is a BAD meet, but white meat is better: Chicken, Turkey and Seafood are all excellent meat choices. Tuna, Fish, Chicken, Turkey or, if you want to try other things.. shrimp, duck, or what not.
   

Anyways, that's my diet. If I can think of any more, I'll append this post.

So, the other part of my weight loss comes due to exercise. I exercise for half an hour to an hour a day. I constantly push myself hard. Not too hard, though.
Some tips I've found out about exercising

1. Do not exercise too hard!! - No Pain, No Gain is WRONG! However, No Sweat, No Gain IS correct! The proper level of exercise is a level where you can talk fine. If you can sing and still work, you aren't working hard enough. If you can't breathe, you are working too hard. It is important to maintain the proper level because if you work too hard, your body doesn't properly use the energy it has and goes anoxic. I don't know the full details.. but suffice it to say.. you shouldn't work too hard. Also... don't exercise too hard. If your body says no more, then it's best to listen to it. It takes time to get in shape.. and it takes time to be able to life the heavier weights. If you keep at it, though, you will be able to lift more and run longer etc.
   
2. I've been asked how I exercise. Personally, I work half an hour on the cardiovascular equipment (for me, the treadmill.. but bicycle, rowing machine, stairmaster and elliptical are all other good choices.) and, if I have the time, I work half an hour or so lifting weights on weight machines (though, if you don't have access to the gym, free weights work fine. And they're relatively cheap. A good book like "Fitness for Dummies" for $20 is a good place to start.)
   
3. Make exercise FUN! - It's not always fun and often boring (especially on the cardiovascular equipment when yer working for half an hour or more). Put on some music or read a book or drag a friend along to talk and chat with. Just do your best to make it more interesting.
   
4. Keep At It - Exercising takes time. You won't be suddenly muscular in a matter of days or suddenly more in shape. It takes time and effort, but it WILL happen. It's like weight loss based on my diet.. it won't happen all at once, but it WILL happen. Just be patient.
   
   That's All I can think of fhink of for right now. if I think of more, I'll edit this post. (and note it up top)
   Enjoy my quick lesson on dieting!

Well, today is certainly shaping up to be an interesting day...
Before the end of the weekend, I could be thrust into the high-stress world of being a Teachers' Assistant!
Why, you ask, you nosey people you? Well, we're short on Teachers Assistants, I guess. Dr. Rabideau said that this graduate class is alot smaller than usual classes and that everyone has either some sort of grant or funding. Which is good except that they are a little short on Teachers Assistants. And even though my grades aren't the best (GPA is 2.7. Average GPA for most TAs is over 3.0, my Graduate GPA is, like, 3.75, though :)... I screwed around alot my first years of college.)
I'm excited. I'm not specifically certain why. It won't mean any more money and it will make me all the busier, but i'm excited nonetheless.

So, I went to a big fancy schmancy restaurant last night. My grandmother took my mom, me and Josh and our uncle and aunt and her family to Jon's Flaming Hearth Cafe. It's a beautiful steak restaurant. Very expensive and very good. I ate SOOO much (It COULDN'T have been a good night for my diet). We started with drinks and fresh bread, then came the salads. I had my own and then my great uncle gave me his. (I don't like Raspberry Vinagerette Dressing. I just found this out last night) and then I had Strip Steak and Rice and Steamed Veggies. I ate soooooooooo much. It was good, tho! And a good time was had by all! :)

So let me tell you the continuing adventures of just finding a good scale. I'm out looking for a scale to weigh myself on and watch (hopefully) the weight drop, right? I get a digital first.. it weighs well ONCE then dies. The second digital never weighs me. It just reads "EE". So I gave up on digital and got an analog. Which is very good from the range of, say, 50-240. But over 240.. it doesn't weight people right. Shifts in weight bring changes of 10 or 15 pounds. It said last night I was 280 and then, this morning, it said 295 (My actual weight is about 297. So 295 was KINDA close, but..) So hopefully my mom returns that tonight and I'll go looking for something better :P
GRAR! I WANT A WORKING SCALE! :P
I dun wanna have to guess if I'm dieting by realizing a couple months later that pants that were tight on my before feel just right again.

Still working out hard. Think maybe I overdid it a little last night. I came home and was stiff.. really stiff.

So I'm finally registered for all my classes.
In case I haven't said, let me tell you about my four classes (more detail about the 3 I've been in so far. I'll be in the 4th class at 2:00 today)
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I'm in
Advanced Mathematics For Civil Engineers - It APPEARS to be a very applied course in mathematics, calculus, series, imaginary numbers etc. I feel I'll do well in it because I'm good at math.
Environmental Fluid Mechanics - The GRADUATE course of Fluid Mechanics. I know the instructor, Dr. Rabideau (well, for one he's my boss, but i've had him as a teacher before too). This class will be TOUGH. His homeworks will be TOUGH. But as long as I work my ass off to keep on top, I should be fine.
On Tuesdays I have,
Advanced Groundwater - It's basically a course on analysis Groundwater flow, but through analytic methods instead of the usual numerical. It will be another tough course, but I'm sure I can stay on top.
On Thursdays I have,
Environmental Engineering Practicum - Don't yet know what this class will be like. It's taught by Dr. Weber, though, and he is a really good teacher, so I'll probably be fine.

What else? Hmmmmm...
Can't think of anything else.
OK, I'll end this, then. :)

Well, a goal, at least.
I want to be 200 lbs.
I dunno if I can ever be 200 lbs. I've heard of plateauing at a certain weighjt. I don't recall ever weighing any less than 240 lbs.
Barring that, I would settle for just being a lot thinner. I don't at all mind if, over the year I develop more muscles. And I know that muscles are heavier than fat (which is why fat people float and the swim jocks have to struggler harder to keep afloat.)
All in all, I just want to be more thin.
Is it possible to lose 1 - 2 lbs. per week assuming yer eating well and exercising half an hour each week? I hope so. That's my goal. 2 lbs/week would be better as I'd be alot thinner within a year, but I can live with 1 lb per weeek.

I'm proud of myself. I worked really hard in the gym. No wimping out like yesterday. I must have burned 220 or 230 calories (I know I made it to just about 200 on the treadmill and then I went to work on my abs and arms some.) Kinda tired, kinda sore. Not as sore as I was the first time after getting out of the gym, though. That's an improvement.

It was good for me to see other people in there who didn't look muscular and thin. I felt like I fit in there a little more, just a bloke in there trying to work in. No one even laughed when I nearly killed myself on the machine that's supposed to help you do chin-ups. A few raised eyebrows, but no laughs.

I think I need to buy a bathroom scale. I used my mom's. I didn't like what I saw (about 300 lbs. How the HELL did that happens? Wait.. I know.) but I want something that's easier to see so that I can help chart my weight loss weekly or something, for my own interest.

Well, this is one tired pixie signing off.
Say Good Night Gracie!
Good Night Gracie!

OK, so I DID go to the gym yesterday. I thought I had killed myself there. I worked hard for 20 minutes, got some water, got back onto the treadmill and knew I could do no more.
And despite only being in there for 22 minutes, I'm feeling masochistic enough to go back today. Why? Well... to lose the weight. I know it'll take daily exercise and while I am nowhere near in shape, exercising for just 30 minutes or so a day is exactly what the doctor ordered to start sweating off the pounds.
Well that and eating right, which I mostly do. I certainly eat better than the other people in my family.
Besides, it's not so bad with good music going on. It's like walking to school back before I had a car. Just.. harder work. And no worries about rain, snow or sleet whilst walking. So the plan is to find a treadmill, put it onto maximum slope and just walk whilst listening to.. I dunno. Whatever i feel like. Probably my mix of favorite songs from nonfavorite bands.
This sudden masochism is no doubt due to the fact that, having worked really hard yesterday I found A) It wasn't as bad as I was afraid it might be and B) It was actually kinda fun so long as I had something good to listen to. And C) I want THAT BADLY to lose the pounds and bring my gut back in. Cause.. I look in the mirror and I don't like what I see.
I'll look alot better if I can become skinny.. or skinnier, at least. I don't expect miracles. I was born big boned and I always will be.. but I could do without the beer belly (sans beer. NASTY Stuff) and the manboobs.
I'm such a masochistic bastard... *gryn*

It's been a heck of a weekend. So much to think about all at once.
First off, one of my best real life friends Dave (a good man, a good friend, and, unfortunately, suffering from Crone's (sp?) Disease, a disease where he can't digest most food well.) is, yet again, stuck in his house. He threw a disc (in his back) out. Poor boy. So I gotta come over to his place soon and cheer him up. I think I'll bring over the Star Wars Monopoly Kit or something. That's always fun :) I know that just my being there will help as this is the same guy who feels that all his friends are leaving him (they're all moving.. getting real jobs, their families are moving, going to school etc.)
Also, I'm going back on a diet. I've stopped walking now that I got a car and I don't need the extra fat/calories. On the other hand, I don't think this will last very long. It never does. As dumb as it sounds, my family DEPENDS on me to eat stuff. For example, my mother loves cake. She'll buy one, bring it home.. and, I'm serious, if I don't eat it, it goes stale. Or my grandmother who, despite the fact that she suggested the diet, will push more food and more desert on my plate until I look sick. I don't eat all that unhealty, not like I used to. I eat candy, but not much. The big problem is that my family goes out ALOT. That stems down to my mother who doesn't believe in cooking.
In short, it doesn't matter how often I come to school with a bag lunch and salad.. It won't make a lick of difference because this is how our family eats.
Don't misunderstood, I'm not angry about dieting. I EAT vegetables and fruit and don't eat candy and pop like I used to. I just think the whole thing is dumb because I know how my family eats and what their habits are and KNOW this won't work. (My grandmother's great quote. When I turned down desert one night because I WAS dieting was "Howard, this won't ruin yer diet". Oh, and THIS was a triple-fudge brownie. Uh... DUH IT WILL! =P They mean well.. on some level. Honestly.
I'm tired. It's too hot. It's bleeding near 90 degrees out. I'm glad I'm in an air conditioned trailer, but it's gonna really hit when I go home.
Question.
Why are the people in charge of educating us (not teachers, per se, but the ones who decided the curriciulum) so stupid? Explain to me why, in a society increasingly dependant on computer, we don't teach computer skills such as how to do research online properly and what sites give better quality information than others. (example.. a site listing peer reviewed journal articles vs. the random meandering of a person). I have a BRILLIANT idea.. cut out the stupid second languages crap and put in Computer Skills.
Also, what the hell is with this movement to get rid of sports and arts in school? In an age where you SHOULD be worried where your kids are, wouldn't it be better to know that they're at school playing football or in choir or practicing for the theatre production of "Annie" instead of on the streets, possibly getting involved with gangs, drugs and guns? I mean... TEACHERS seem to get this.. but the people responsible for the Curriculum who feel they need to balance the budget by cutting back extracurricular activities are, excuse my french, FUCKING IDIOTS!
I know that, as a parent, I'd rather know that my children are doing something constructive with their free time than possibly getting into trouble. Your kid may not be the next Big Thing (tm) in Sports, Music or Drama.. but they're doing something constructive, something (assumedly) they ENJOY and something that's going to make them feel good about themselves. Don't even DARE tell me that a smaller budget is worth cutting that out, cause that's shite.
Oh.. and then there's my dear brother, Marc. He wanted to see Jurassic Park III with the family. OK. We knew what to expect. We knew he'd bother us about SOMETHING. So we agree on a time (saturday - 9:20 PM show). He calls Saturday morning confirming the time. We agreed. He calls again about 2:00.. his friend is back in town, can we get a ticket for him? Now, you need to know my brother. We were pretty sure already we'd never get money from him for HIS ticket.. and at $7 a pop, we're not going to go get *2* tickets we won't get money back for. This all is moot, tho, because by then Josh and I were driving to the theatre with our student passes to get our tickets. We came back, Marc calls up again and we're like.. we already got tickets. Will we go back and get one, he asks. I lied and told him we were cleaning the house (not a total lie.. Josh and Mom WERE. I was.. not :) ). So 8:40 comes.. we head to the theatre.. and there's Marc. He looks like a complete and utter SLOB! He's wearing a stained brown tank top and shorts. He really looks slobby. Oh, and somehow, his two friends became four. So we walk in, sit down. I go and get pop. Marc catches up with me on the way and was like "You should come over and play with our kittens." Marc lives in Lovejoy, probably one of the roughest neighborhoods in all of Buffalo. So... uh.. no. I get my pop, walk back in and Josh, who had worked a long 8 hour shift and was working a 13 hour shift on Sunday is beginning to drowse off. (This isn't usually a problem, except for the fact that Saturday night, he SNORED through the movie. Mom and I kept elbowing him telling him to wake up and not snore.) Marc comes in, walks up to Mom and says "So what are you getting me for a going away present?" First off, Marc hasn't given mom a birthday, mother's day or hannukah present in near two years, so mom smiles sweetly and says "Why, the same thing you got me for my birthday.. and mother's day.. and hannukah. Nothing." Then Marc tells mom how he's hoping to stay in Israel past his month and live there. (Personally, I'm not even sure how he got a VISA to go to Israel to begin with. He has a crime record.)
The movie starts, Josh snores, we elbow him, he snores again etc.
Finally, the movie ends.. and Marc is like "Before you go to the Beach tommorow, PAGE ME! I want to go with you." What this would entail is.. us picking Marc up in Lovejoy, bringing him to the Beach (where he isn't really wanted) and us driving him back. Mom was like "No. I'm not comfortable with bringing you." He begged her. She said no. He said "look, just page, OK?"
Sunday.
Mom calls Grandma. Asks how the weather is.. and asks Grandma what to do about Marc. Grandma says she had ALREADY TOLD Marc that she couldn't take him this weekend and to come in during the week sometimes. So, knowing that, we had an excuse not to page him (not that we would have anyways) and left.
We came home to a message akin to "No one loves me. All i wanted to do was go to the Beach. Boo hoo hoo. No one loves me."
So it's been a FANTASTIC weekend! =P
Oh well..
Hopefully the week itself is better than the weekend.