Another Rambling Thought...
The other night the phone rang while I was at work:
Girlfriend: "I'm leaving now, I'll be home soon."
Me: "Ok, I should be leaving soon too. I just need to finish up one thing."
Girlfriend: "On your way home can you pick me up a Sonic drink."
(Sonic Drink is a term we use to refer to her drink of choice from Sonic Drive-in's)
Me: "No."
Girlfriend: "Why not? Don't you love me?"
Me: "Yes, but love has nothing to do with a Sonic Drink. One does not need a Sonic Drink to have love nor does one need love to have a Sonic Drink. The two are mutually exclusive."
Girlfriend: *Laughs*
I stopped by Sonic on the way home, because unfortunately I would actually have to drive out of my way not to drive right past one on the way home.
Later that night after dinner, our youngest dog Daisy was trying to lick the juice of our plates from our pork chops as we loaded them into the dish washer.
Girlfriend: "Daisy you like pork chop?"
Me: "No, she's never had a pork chop. Just like she's never had your Sonic Drink. As far as she is concerned the two are the same. Pork Chop = Sonic Drink. Since she has no frame of reference for a Pork Chop, a Pork Chop could be the same as love for that matter. So based on Daisy's limited experience a Pork Chop = Love."
This got me thinking about just how much our opinions of all sorts of things that seem totally unrelated shape who we are and how we perceive the world. Then I got to thinking about my friends' kids. Their kids are a virtual clean slate... no frame of reference on so many things. It's hard for me to imagine not having at least a small inkling of an opinion on something the first time I experience it because I immediate (subconsciously) start to relate it to some other experience I have had.
Where am I going with this post?
I don't know... but I do know in our house right now... a Pork Chop equals Love.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Whoa
Warning: This is one of my rambling posts. No photography or "I'm fat" stuff here.
A few weeks, er months ago my best friend Greg taught me a life lesson I don't think I will ever forget. He did it and I'm certain he didn't know he did.
Let me say American's have it good. I would say we are spoiled. I feel that way about us. I am not hoping we change and I am just as much a part of it as the next person. I look around me... I live in a small, but nice house. I have a good job that pays well. I have a good immediate family with my parents and the girlfriend's parents nearby. I have enough money to afford the computer I'm using to make this blog post and I have enough money to purchase the gear that has allowed me to make my photographs. I'm rarely hungry for longer than 3-4 hours and I would be willing to say that I have yet to experience real hungry like so many others in the world.
My friend Greg some months ago was describing to me how he had just bought a game for his Nintendo Wii and noticed it had a bug. He contacted the game manufacturer who then proceeded to question how he had his Wii connected and how he was playing his game. This is the equivalent of anyone in the general population telling Stephen Hawking that he needs to double check his math. Greg was quite upset that the game manufacturer refused to acknowledge the issue. Then he told me if his biggest problem in life was that his game for his Nintendo Wii wasn't working then he's got it pretty good.
Since then there have been three or four times I have started to get agitated about something of similar caliber. Then I remember Greg's words...
I've got it pretty good.
A few weeks, er months ago my best friend Greg taught me a life lesson I don't think I will ever forget. He did it and I'm certain he didn't know he did.
Let me say American's have it good. I would say we are spoiled. I feel that way about us. I am not hoping we change and I am just as much a part of it as the next person. I look around me... I live in a small, but nice house. I have a good job that pays well. I have a good immediate family with my parents and the girlfriend's parents nearby. I have enough money to afford the computer I'm using to make this blog post and I have enough money to purchase the gear that has allowed me to make my photographs. I'm rarely hungry for longer than 3-4 hours and I would be willing to say that I have yet to experience real hungry like so many others in the world.
My friend Greg some months ago was describing to me how he had just bought a game for his Nintendo Wii and noticed it had a bug. He contacted the game manufacturer who then proceeded to question how he had his Wii connected and how he was playing his game. This is the equivalent of anyone in the general population telling Stephen Hawking that he needs to double check his math. Greg was quite upset that the game manufacturer refused to acknowledge the issue. Then he told me if his biggest problem in life was that his game for his Nintendo Wii wasn't working then he's got it pretty good.
Since then there have been three or four times I have started to get agitated about something of similar caliber. Then I remember Greg's words...
I've got it pretty good.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Inspiration and Motivation Can Come From the Unexpected Places
Let me take care of some of the formalities first. My weight hasn’t changed much and I’m guessing my body fat hasn’t either. This isn’t for lack of trying; it’s because of a half effort. I managed to increase my workout frequency last week. I ran four times, including one seven mile run, and did some resistance training twice. Despite my jiggle factor being fairly high, there must be some foundation of health hiding somewhere. At 190+lbs the fact that I’m able to propel myself around for a distance of seven continuous miles gives me hope.
I’ve decided to give myself some “additional” motivation. I have made a “Biggest Loser” type wager with a friend. Each month we will check our body fat. Whoever loses the least percentage of fat pounds will buy breakfast for our group at work.
I’ve been finding motivation in other places as well. Generally on the weekends I will go out for a long run. Typically we do this long run along the Rio Grande, specifically in an area called the bosque (pronounced boss-k). Bosque is a riparian forest along a river. During this time of year, many migrating birds make the bosque their home. In the last few weeks I have seen bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, Canadian geese, Sandhill Cranes, and Great Blue Heron’s during my weekend long runs. It’s a great feeling to be out when most others are still in their beds, and then look up and in the sky or a tree see one of these magnificent creatures. I really look forward to my weekend runs right now; wondering what kind of wildlife I will see.
The above photo was taken by Michael Menefee a.k.a. Fort Photo on flickr. (Click on the photo to see more from him). Thanks allowing me to use this photo on my blog.
I’ve decided to give myself some “additional” motivation. I have made a “Biggest Loser” type wager with a friend. Each month we will check our body fat. Whoever loses the least percentage of fat pounds will buy breakfast for our group at work.
I’ve been finding motivation in other places as well. Generally on the weekends I will go out for a long run. Typically we do this long run along the Rio Grande, specifically in an area called the bosque (pronounced boss-k). Bosque is a riparian forest along a river. During this time of year, many migrating birds make the bosque their home. In the last few weeks I have seen bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, Canadian geese, Sandhill Cranes, and Great Blue Heron’s during my weekend long runs. It’s a great feeling to be out when most others are still in their beds, and then look up and in the sky or a tree see one of these magnificent creatures. I really look forward to my weekend runs right now; wondering what kind of wildlife I will see.
The above photo was taken by Michael Menefee a.k.a. Fort Photo on flickr. (Click on the photo to see more from him). Thanks allowing me to use this photo on my blog.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Breaking A Paradigm
Yesterday evening I did something very contrary; contrary to most people's behavior at this time of the year and also apparently contrary to my goal of getting my weight down.
I canceled my gym membership.
Yup, right now millions of Americans are signing up for gym memberships to make good on their New Year's resolutions.
Not me.
First, let me clarify a few things which may not be obvious to a good portion of the people who might be reading this blog.
I used to be a lot "fatter." When I graduated from college I was 215lbs. Over the course of a year I got that down to 195lbs by cutting out a LOT of fast food and reducing my soda intake. Eventually I got more serious about things and lost some more weight. About a year ago on a bet; I switched to Vegetarian diet (almost Vegan, I still had an egg or cheese on occasion). In a matter of six weeks I dropped 15lbs and got down to my weight of 170lbs.
I joined the gym specifically because they had a pool and I needed someplace to practice my swimming because I was participating in some triathlons. This year I want to focus specifically on completing a full marathon or two. I don't need a gym to 'run'. In fact I really don't like running on a treadmill. If I need to go to a gym, the company gym is less than 100ft away from my desk and it's free.
If I can't make some progress using tools that are both free and convenient to me, I'm in real trouble.
I canceled my gym membership.
Yup, right now millions of Americans are signing up for gym memberships to make good on their New Year's resolutions.
Not me.
First, let me clarify a few things which may not be obvious to a good portion of the people who might be reading this blog.
I used to be a lot "fatter." When I graduated from college I was 215lbs. Over the course of a year I got that down to 195lbs by cutting out a LOT of fast food and reducing my soda intake. Eventually I got more serious about things and lost some more weight. About a year ago on a bet; I switched to Vegetarian diet (almost Vegan, I still had an egg or cheese on occasion). In a matter of six weeks I dropped 15lbs and got down to my weight of 170lbs.
I joined the gym specifically because they had a pool and I needed someplace to practice my swimming because I was participating in some triathlons. This year I want to focus specifically on completing a full marathon or two. I don't need a gym to 'run'. In fact I really don't like running on a treadmill. If I need to go to a gym, the company gym is less than 100ft away from my desk and it's free.
If I can't make some progress using tools that are both free and convenient to me, I'm in real trouble.
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