One Vision

1. Consider me a proud member of the study I’ve been raving about in Bethesda.
2. Consider me on the path to gaining a more healthy lifestyle.
3. Consider me a now regular rider of the MARC and WMATA systems.
4. Consider me too damn hooked on the Beatles music to be considered sane.
5. Consider me occupied for the next year in a goodly happy study of scientific importance.
6. Consider me ‘Yay’-ing as much as I superhumanly can.

As soon as I clean my room today, I’m taking the first of the “Progress Pictures” and adding categories to this blog regarding my journey through this medical study. I’ve got Bookhenge going on again and I want to be able to get a good picture from where the center horseshoe is currently residing.

Busy day. Better get to the workout and shower before breakfast. Then I’m going into blue woad painted battle mode on this room.

Tea, Shelter, and Yum Yums

“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trial.”
- Confucius

Been on 43things again putting little marks of determinism around.

Don’t worry, I cleaned up after myself.

I put forth a conscious effort to become a writer on a more professional basis. I think I’ve been listening to the Beatles too much lately (if that’s possible)…but…on the face of it, writing does seem to be a good fit for my notoriously erratic sleeping periods, mood swings, etc. I can work on my own schedule, take advantage of the manic writing periods I have where I bang out a lot of really (shockingly and unrecognizably) good material, and still manage to keep myself in tea, shelter, and Yum Yums.

Growin’ Pains

As soon as I get the next two payments from medical studies, I should be able to afford at the very least a pot, some seeds, and some soil. I am gunning for an Earthbox though as it takes up signifigantly less space and is already set up to be set up. As much as I’d love to make one of my own, I’ve got neither the resources nor the hand steadiness to make everything I’d need to put it all together.

It’s going to be so great having fresh grown food again. I did peppers last year, Basil the year before and in the past have done various herbs as well as Sweet Potatoes (Ipomoea). It’s always worth it to taste something you’ve had a personal hand in growing, especially when it tastes so wonderful. It makes you feel proud and validated as a gardener.

I’ve actually got a few things growing out there already. Waaaaaay back in 2004, I planted some potato eyes in soil, never thinking that they’d take or even grow potatoes. Imagine my shock when, several years later in 2007 they’re not only still going strong but are still producing cute marble sized potatoes. The only thing keeping them from acheiving their full size is a lack of space. I have them in a small hanging pot rather than in a good sized pot where they can spread out properly.

Considering how effortless this is compared with past years, I’m definitely going to be getting into this. I’m going to take advantage of my sunny patio and the formidible heat of Maryland to grow a few things that will sustain us. If I can trade it off in exchange for things from others, then all the better.

Academic Striving - The Goal of Success

I’m on the fence as to whether I should feel strange for having a sense of envy at their academic drive.

Growing up, we didn’t have anyone pushing us to do anything more than push a broom, if that. Heck, I was even told to drop out of school when I was fifteen.

Regardless of whether or not I’m in the right about myself, they’ve sure got a lot in the Time Management department. I think I would do well to adopt some of their methods in my own studies.

Elite Korean Schools, Forging Ivy League Skills

Yum Yums and Their Yo Yo-ing Prices

It’s another one of those “Comment got too long to post” posts… I saw an article on the Slashfood site regarding the latest food shortages and surging prices. Of course, I wanted to reply but…Verbosity Fingers just had to keep going long beyond what would have been a succinct comment. So, I bring this to you here, on my blog, out of love and peace and, if you’re nice, a hug.

I don’t even bother to buy most prepackaged foods anymore unless they’re severely on sale. The refrigerated aisle and I haven’t seen each other in two years. Snacks? What? Beyond Salsa (which is soon to be home made itself) and tortilla chips (don’t provoke me), I haven’t really bought much in the way of prepackaged anything unless its something containing vitamins like tomatoes or such. The fresh stuff costs too much nowadays.

We’ve been living on home made veggie burgers and whatever other creative stuff we could come up with that’s affordable since last year. Vegetarian/Vegan recipes have been awesome since, obviously, they don’t involve higher priced things like meat, eggs, and dairy products. The Lentil (and by extension Black Bean) burger recipe was actually inspired by the fact that we didn’t have anything else in the house to eat. Literally. Thankfully, it got us through until my next study payment and I was then able to buy some stuff to last a bit which added to the variety of the legumes. 10 for 10 deals and clearout sales on canned, near sellby date, and prepackaged items as a suppliment have been what’s kept us going over the past few months.

When I do buy, I buy in bulk and from certain merchants that normally keep their prices low like Bulkfoods.com. When I’m not doing that, I’m looking at every frugal website and newsletter (sidebar—&gt I’ve come across to find out new deals, specials, and recipes. This is all for basics like flour, lentils, veggies, legumes, etc. It’s not like we’re living on lobster and caviar. I was able to buy oranges on a two bags for the price of one deal for the first time in eight months the other day without it being an economic hardship. I almost died eating them.

This whole thing is ridiculous though. We’ve either got to expand our horizons on what we consider staple foods so we can eat, because there’s a lot out there aside from the main ones in the supermarket, or find some way of getting the prices down so that we can at least afford to eat whats being offered now. I’ve known for years (duh, and you have too probably) that there are a lot of things out there that are edible (More, More, More, and More) but we disregard it all. As I noticed the list of items I was no longer able to buy getting longer, I started really looking into it. There are hundreds of food sources available if we’d use them. Most are actually of an equal to greater nutritive value than what we buy in the supermarkets and, if we can get beyond the fear of the unknown, we might be on to something. Jackfruit anyone? Persimmon perhaps?

Now I’m hungry. Heck, at this rate, I’ll take that Mozzarella no one wants in Italy…Q_Q

‘Pap’ Rally

Damn this is a good one.

Group Menstruation

I’m a college student and I’ve found that although my roommates and I were all on different menstrual schedules, now we bleed as a team. Why is this? –About Women’s Health Forums

The Beatles Experience - I Can’t Hold This One In Anymore…

I have a relative who, for the purposes of my own shame, shall remain nameless and hopefully hidden under the deepest darkest crevice the Multiverse can come up with. According to him, he has never heard of…The Beatles. Never heard of their music, their presence in the world, or even any reference to them. He’s going to be twenty in a few weeks and he’s never heard of The Beatles or heard their music.

If you think you’re floored, imagine how I felt upon this revelation. He was not kidding either. I wish he were but he really wasn’t.

Keep in mind, he’s a fan of a lot of the programs on Fox that I can’t really stomach to watch. He’s otherwise quite the Rock Music fanatic, and has spent a lot of time studying musicians from a variety of backgrounds. Santana he knows. Hendrix he worships. Nirvana he bleeds. The Beatles? No clue. @_@

Now, I don’t really like watching Fox (with the exception of House) due to obvious reasons, their penchant for canceling shows I actually like, and the mainly hideous programming they normally bring on but I do know one thing: Even THEY’VE referenced The Beatles and on more than one occasion!

WTF…this is brown paper bag with eye holes territory. I cannot and will not credibly walk with him in the streets. I love him a great deal but…no. No. No. It cannot be done. This is beyond acceptability.

As if that weren’t bad enough, when he did think on the matter, he said while in a public establishment that he actually did recall hearing a song by The Beatles. He then proceeded to sing ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ by Poison as the example. O.o

I am still…in too much shock. I…don’t know how to…process this data. H…e…l…p m…e…

Anyone Wanna Join Me?

My goal is to get healthy. It is not to make attempts at starving myself, nor is it to make attempts at doing everything possible to offer my body as little nutrition as possible in the form of an unbalanced diet. There’s a whole lot more I could go on about but I’m sure you get the idea.

My mother brought up the idea of starting a progress blog where the both of us could document (her words) “losing weight”. She then proceeded to tell anyone who would listen on the telephone her intention but…as of yet…nothing in the way of input.

Given that I’d pretty much be handling the “Technical” details, how hard could typing out a few words in a remote poster and sending it off be? ‘Think’, Type, Check, Hit ‘Enter’, and go on with your life. Nope, apparently, this is too hard.

So, would anyone like to join me? My preference is for the blog to be on WP.com as…heh, I’m here. I have no real desire to go back to Blogger and definitely no desire to open an account anywhere else. If I were to offer a second/other choice, it would be Livejournal/DeadJournal/GreatestJournal/InsaneJournal with an emphasis on InsaneJournal owing to their philosophy.

Heck, in fact, I like InsaneJournal on equal footing. No offense to WP.com

I’m sick of waiting with fence sitters on this whole deal. I want to move and move now! I might just get fired up enough to start the group blog/journal myself. If/When I do, I’ll post a link.

My Mother - The Blogger

Apparently, my mother is now interested in the dark seedy underbelly of a world in which we all inhabit. She saw how blogs had an impact on The Biggest Loser and asked more about them. Her aim: to document our progress in losing weight.

Personally, my aim is to get fit rather than focus solely on losing weight but if it gets her blogging, writing, reading, AND active…I’m all for it.

I am hoping for two things:

1. That she agrees to put this on WP.com.
2. That she ropes other members of the family into it. A lot of people in this family could stand to get a little healthier.

Tall Hair Rising

In having a lunch with a good friend, a joke was make referring to my “tall” hair. I initially brushed it off as an exaggeration of what I thought was my relatively modest hair length and perceived hair height.

I just combed and brushed it a few moments ago. It’s a little over eight inches high. O.o

I couldn’t get it to grow that long so quickly before in the entirety of my life. It’s only be a year and a few days since I shaved it bald and to have it come back like this…wow. I do nothing to it beyond washing and the occasional comb/brush session. No conditioner and, until recently, not even a hot comb. With this one recent experience, I swore to myself that no artificial implement shall find its way into my hair again. No hotcomb. No perm. No grease. Just shampoo.

Aside from that, I’ve started on “The Serendipitous Sofa Afghan”. It’s not really going to be a complicated piece. Basically, I’ve been turning all the pieces of left over worsted weight yarn into one big ball and my plans for it have been to knit ’something’ with it. Whether this was an article of clothing or something else was left up to fate. Well, 200 CO stitches later, an afghan it will be. It’s getting a fringe at the end. A highly likely to be Caron Country Rose fringe.

For my travels, I’m going to be starting on “Zany Zoukplouf Hat” since his birthday is coming up in a little over a few weeks time. That way, I’ll have something small to work on when I’m on buses, trains, Metros, MARCs, and sitting in waiting rooms waiting to tinkle given all the studies I’m signed up for currently. If I’m good, it shouldn’t take long and if I’m really quick, I’ll slip in a pair of elbow length gloves for myself. Then to Zuppy The Guppy and Family.

Busy Busy Busy. Now to knit and go a’Beatling.

General Maladies

I am sick. I thought it was done for but it’s come back with a vengence. I can barely get around and this simple fact relates to something that will be mentioned later in this post.

I first started feeling ill on the 9th but, being one of those creeping illnesses and given the time of year fact that it’s not Winter, I wasn’t sure whether it was allergies or not until two days later when I woke up barely able to move. Prior to knowing for sure, I was hoping against reason that it would at least tone down long enough for me to go out with a very good and kind human being who offered to take me out for a belated birthday lunch.

Thankfully, it did. Whether though enthusiasm at being with him and/or getting pizza, the Beast of Rhinos managed to take a brief vacation and I had a good time. He’s one of the few people I’ve met that I have a good feeling in my gut about.

Sadly, it wasn’t to last.

Which brings me to today.

Which is more probable? Given the history of selfish behavior and the history of addiction to cigarettes, which has the higher governance over my mother regarding her callous disregard?

I was hacking my lungs out all night long and cigarettes were the main thing on her mind. I could barely get around this morning and…cigarettes were the first thing on her mind. I begged her for a moment to gather my scattered thoughts enough to walk straight and…cigarettes. We’re getting a delivery today and I explained that I couldn’t even get down the stairs but, even though she knows this, she just yelled at me and walked off in search of her precious cigarettes.

There will come a point when she’ll pull this stuff and curse at me like she did today and has done countless times before. Only it will be different in that I’ll have the option to leave and, believe me, I’ll take it when it does come.

Oh yeah, the scarf…the article of clothing from hell. It’s finally done. If he doesn’t take this thing, I think I’ll cry. I’ve already got the next line of stuff waiting in the wings to be made and, as soon as I hit the shower, I’m going to drag myself and my extra yarn downstairs in advance of the delivery coming. Zuppy the Guppy and family, Zoukplouf, and now my cousin as well are all on the agenda. A lot of people are getting hats and or mittens/fingerless gloves. I just don’t have the energy to do much in the scarf department at the present.

As to the full profile on the scarf, I’ll put it over on Lunar Bipolarity. I will include one picture here once I’m able to stand straight in a few days time or hopefully less.

Minding Mindfulness

Wow…today was fantastic.

I spent most of today out there but I didn’t let it get to me. I didn’t get an inch of sleep last night but I didn’t let it get to me. My mother got pissy with me this morning, did everything in her power to grab attention, and mess her own situation up but I didn’t let it get to me.

I did the Mindfulness thing my therapist taught me and it really helped in my not going nuclear today over the stuff that normally drives me up the walls of the Grand Canyon.

I even made it to an appointment on time…early even. Early. Me. Wow.

Now I have a real progress report to put in my Wellsphere journal.

Early Morning Quote Magick

Government is the Entertainment Division of the Military-Industrial Complex (Vid). - Attributed to Frank Zappa

A lot of things wrong with society today are directly attributable to the fact that the people who make the laws are sexually maladjusted. - Attributed to Frank Zappa

Don’t pay me any mind. I’m bored and nervous about an upcoming…date…meeting…outing? I don’t know what to call it but it’s happening on Friday. *sigh*