I gained 0.8 lb this week. Less than I averaged over the past two weeks, but nothing to celebrate. Oh well. Time to buckle down.
Total pounds lost: 8
...........
On an unrelated note:
Recent conversation with my roommate upon returning from a department-sponsered lecture on a topic that relates to my major academic interests, as well as being relevant to a couple of the department's major strengths and life in the region (paraphrased):
Roommate: How was the lecture?
AF: It was interesting.
R: Yeah, I thought about going, but I'm not really interested in [that topic].
AF: Yeah. I know you've told me before, but what are your academic interests?
R: [Proceeds to list professional interests, followed by academic interests that this school has no real outstanding program in...or any real program in at all, for that matter]. I'm interested in everything, basically.
Er...except for at least one notable historical feature of life in the region, which affected millions of people and helped spur a national movement. I guess that's not enough of a "something" to be part of "everything". Dead monks' fingernails, however, are enough of a something to merit interest.
I get the sense that my roommate looks down on me because I'm organizing my academic career in a way that suits me (rather than the departments), and because I don't play along with her lame attempts at excusing her rude and stand-offish behavior using humor. That's okay. I don't like people who say they're interested in "everything", when their interests are actually quite limited, derivative, and are almost completely irrelevant to anything outside of academia and the Church.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Weigh-in: Week 4
I've gained 3 pounds over the last 2 weeks. Not unexpected. I will get back on track and lose that weight this week.
In other news, I bought a book on dealing with anger. Hopefully this will help me out a bit.
Total lbs. lost: 8.8
In other news, I bought a book on dealing with anger. Hopefully this will help me out a bit.
Total lbs. lost: 8.8
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
LOL
Just found out that the mother of one of the most obnoxious, immature, moronic, slutty, junior-alcoholic-of-the-year contenders I've ever had the displeasure of having to deal with is a "Christian educator". Oh, how I LOLed.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Things I Love
I overslept and missed both opportunities to attend WW on Saturday, which is why there's no weigh-in post. I haven't done very well for the last week or so, but I'll get back on track.
I think a secondary purpose of this blog will be to bitch incoherently about stuff that I can't talk about other places. The sheeplike religiosity of many of my current acquaintances, as well as many of the people in my lovely little state (and it really is; too bad there's so much poverty, ignorance, and flat-out craziness), for example. Grad school hasn't begun kicking my ass yet, so here's some more grumbles while I have the time and mental stamina to write them down.
Things ILove Find Somewhat Irritating:
1. People who give flippant or irrelevant responses to serious questions or statements. My roommate does this. She also:
2. Leaves lights on when she's not using them.
3. Leaves the sink full of dishes for hours, if not days. I'm not talking about a plate or two and some silverware (I do that sometimes, but I try not to make it a habit, and I at least rinse stuff off if I know it's going to be sitting for a while). I'm talking about baking sheets, breadmaker-innards, pots, bowls with ingredients of various types crusted inside them, etc. She also leaves food sitting out for hours (if not days). This would be nothing more than a minor annoyance, except that it attracts roaches. YUCK.
4. Rarely feels compelled to check the mail. This, along with taking out the trash, seems to have become primarly a duty for AF to perform. I don't know why. It's not like the mailboxes are located right inside the primary entrance to the apartment building, or something ridiculously convenient like that.
Huh. That was shorter than I thought it'd be.
Well, I feel better. That's all for now.
I think a secondary purpose of this blog will be to bitch incoherently about stuff that I can't talk about other places. The sheeplike religiosity of many of my current acquaintances, as well as many of the people in my lovely little state (and it really is; too bad there's so much poverty, ignorance, and flat-out craziness), for example. Grad school hasn't begun kicking my ass yet, so here's some more grumbles while I have the time and mental stamina to write them down.
Things I
1. People who give flippant or irrelevant responses to serious questions or statements. My roommate does this. She also:
2. Leaves lights on when she's not using them.
3. Leaves the sink full of dishes for hours, if not days. I'm not talking about a plate or two and some silverware (I do that sometimes, but I try not to make it a habit, and I at least rinse stuff off if I know it's going to be sitting for a while). I'm talking about baking sheets, breadmaker-innards, pots, bowls with ingredients of various types crusted inside them, etc. She also leaves food sitting out for hours (if not days). This would be nothing more than a minor annoyance, except that it attracts roaches. YUCK.
4. Rarely feels compelled to check the mail. This, along with taking out the trash, seems to have become primarly a duty for AF to perform. I don't know why. It's not like the mailboxes are located right inside the primary entrance to the apartment building, or something ridiculously convenient like that.
Huh. That was shorter than I thought it'd be.
Well, I feel better. That's all for now.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Not for Facebook
One of my favorite timewasters is I Can Has Cheezburger and its sister sites. I'm particularly fond of GraphJam. And there are a reasonable number of graphs that I like. Unfortunately, I can't post some of my favorites from this site on Facebook (a real tragedy, that). Some of them it would just be weird to post, but several others would offend the delicate sensibilities of my many mindlessly conservative*, fundamentalist Christian** acquaintances.
This is one of those:
see more Funny Graphs
* I enjoy meeting and talking to well-informed, thoughtful conservatives with grounded, well-reasoned political and social philosophies. That doesn't happen very often. Most of the people I know who hold what they call conservative beliefs just accept at face value what their parents, preachers, or Fox News pundits of choice tell them they ought to believe, no matter how obviously nonsensical, undemocratic, anti-Constitutional, provably false, or potentially hurtful those beliefs (or their applications) might be to individuals or to society as a whole.
** I think Christianity (along with every other religion) is pretty silly, but a lot of the Christians in my neck of the woods (especially evangelical Protestants) are possessed of an especially irritating combination of willful ignorance, religious arrogance, and hypocrisy. I realize that there are other many places that suffer from excessive religiosity to a much greater degree than my little state, but quite a lot of the U.S. seems to do well without having to deal with this crap. My short stint in what may be one of the most politically, religiously, and socially moderate and tolerant states in the Union was certainly a delight after dealing with the all the religious and political insanity of my home grounds. Fortunately, despite the best efforts of some people, my state is much closer to being democracy rather than a theocracy. No doubt they'd be better at being theocrats than they are at this whole democracy thing, but there are still enough gadflys with a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution around to keep them from reaching their potential in that respect.
People of this persuasion rarely seem to have respect for anyone else's beliefs. In fact, it seems to me that almost any time groups of them attain power in a given situation, they end up engaging in religious bullying, by both marginalizing people whose beliefs differ from theirs, and by encouraging a particular religious culture in places where it's not necessary (and sometimes actually illegal) for conducting whatever business is at hand. Matthew 6:6, babes.
Most of them also seem disinclined to apply basic logic to any of their beliefs, be they religious, poltical, or social. As a result of this, in addition to doing their part to hold themselves and the state back, they also do things which seem, to me, to make something of a mockery of their religion. For example, my high school marching band, composed predominantly of Protestants (with a large contingent of Baptists), was in the habit of using the Lord's Prayer as a pep chant before half-time performances. Even the Jews participated in this - whether because they felt pressured to, or because most of them were irreligious smartasses who didn't care one way or the other, I couldn't say. I always thought it was ridiculous, and stood on the fringe of the group with my mouth shut, but come on - you really think those are the words of Jesus of Nazareth, given to his disciples, and you think it's appropriate and respectful to use them as a pep chant for a silly high school activity? Like I said, I always thought it was ridiculous, but I wouldn't have dared say anything. They'd all have been sooo offended that I challenged their religious practices (which, incidentally, totally belonged on a public school football field. We're all about inclusion down here). I'd have been even less popular than I already was, and may well have lost some of my kinda-sorta-friends. That's basically why I don't post this sort of stuff on Facebook. I can't afford to burn my bridges.
This is not to say they're not nice enough on their own terms, or that they have no virtues, but you can't expect too much*** from them on a day-to-day basis.
And don't get me wrong, I've met Christians who don't have their heads so far up their asses they can watch their food digest, and I usually like them. I still think their beliefs are silly, but their ability to think logically, independently, and deeply helps me find respect for them. And if they can manage to at least tolerate people whose beliefs differ from theirs, all the better.
***Like valuing education, critical reading, or critical thinking. Or dealing with difficult issues instead of retreating to unprovable (and therefore, they presume, unassailable) positions or some heavily romanticized past (we were a proud part of the CSA, but that's a topic for another time), or simply shutting down. Or respecting and helping outsiders known to be different from them, except under duress. Or not giving buckers-of-trends a hard time for not going along with their personal beliefs about how people should live their lives. Just to name a few things.
I think the above-mentioned commonly held qualities are significant parts (although, to be fair, probably not the most significant parts) of why my state is usually at the back of the pack when it comes to indicators of quality of life. But I digress. Isn't that a funny Venn diagram?
This is one of those:
see more Funny Graphs
* I enjoy meeting and talking to well-informed, thoughtful conservatives with grounded, well-reasoned political and social philosophies. That doesn't happen very often. Most of the people I know who hold what they call conservative beliefs just accept at face value what their parents, preachers, or Fox News pundits of choice tell them they ought to believe, no matter how obviously nonsensical, undemocratic, anti-Constitutional, provably false, or potentially hurtful those beliefs (or their applications) might be to individuals or to society as a whole.
** I think Christianity (along with every other religion) is pretty silly, but a lot of the Christians in my neck of the woods (especially evangelical Protestants) are possessed of an especially irritating combination of willful ignorance, religious arrogance, and hypocrisy. I realize that there are other many places that suffer from excessive religiosity to a much greater degree than my little state, but quite a lot of the U.S. seems to do well without having to deal with this crap. My short stint in what may be one of the most politically, religiously, and socially moderate and tolerant states in the Union was certainly a delight after dealing with the all the religious and political insanity of my home grounds. Fortunately, despite the best efforts of some people, my state is much closer to being democracy rather than a theocracy. No doubt they'd be better at being theocrats than they are at this whole democracy thing, but there are still enough gadflys with a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution around to keep them from reaching their potential in that respect.
People of this persuasion rarely seem to have respect for anyone else's beliefs. In fact, it seems to me that almost any time groups of them attain power in a given situation, they end up engaging in religious bullying, by both marginalizing people whose beliefs differ from theirs, and by encouraging a particular religious culture in places where it's not necessary (and sometimes actually illegal) for conducting whatever business is at hand. Matthew 6:6, babes.
Most of them also seem disinclined to apply basic logic to any of their beliefs, be they religious, poltical, or social. As a result of this, in addition to doing their part to hold themselves and the state back, they also do things which seem, to me, to make something of a mockery of their religion. For example, my high school marching band, composed predominantly of Protestants (with a large contingent of Baptists), was in the habit of using the Lord's Prayer as a pep chant before half-time performances. Even the Jews participated in this - whether because they felt pressured to, or because most of them were irreligious smartasses who didn't care one way or the other, I couldn't say. I always thought it was ridiculous, and stood on the fringe of the group with my mouth shut, but come on - you really think those are the words of Jesus of Nazareth, given to his disciples, and you think it's appropriate and respectful to use them as a pep chant for a silly high school activity? Like I said, I always thought it was ridiculous, but I wouldn't have dared say anything. They'd all have been sooo offended that I challenged their religious practices (which, incidentally, totally belonged on a public school football field. We're all about inclusion down here). I'd have been even less popular than I already was, and may well have lost some of my kinda-sorta-friends. That's basically why I don't post this sort of stuff on Facebook. I can't afford to burn my bridges.
This is not to say they're not nice enough on their own terms, or that they have no virtues, but you can't expect too much*** from them on a day-to-day basis.
And don't get me wrong, I've met Christians who don't have their heads so far up their asses they can watch their food digest, and I usually like them. I still think their beliefs are silly, but their ability to think logically, independently, and deeply helps me find respect for them. And if they can manage to at least tolerate people whose beliefs differ from theirs, all the better.
***Like valuing education, critical reading, or critical thinking. Or dealing with difficult issues instead of retreating to unprovable (and therefore, they presume, unassailable) positions or some heavily romanticized past (we were a proud part of the CSA, but that's a topic for another time), or simply shutting down. Or respecting and helping outsiders known to be different from them, except under duress. Or not giving buckers-of-trends a hard time for not going along with their personal beliefs about how people should live their lives. Just to name a few things.
I think the above-mentioned commonly held qualities are significant parts (although, to be fair, probably not the most significant parts) of why my state is usually at the back of the pack when it comes to indicators of quality of life. But I digress. Isn't that a funny Venn diagram?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Weigh-in: Week 4
Down another 1.6 lbs. That's more than I thought I'd lose this week. I made a few poor food choices, and was really stressed out for most of the week, but managed to stay on-plan for the most part. I need to do a better job of tracking my Points this week. I just started my first "real" semester of grad school, so that should be something interested to add to the mix. I hope I can keep my head above water.
Total pounds lost: 11.8
Total pounds lost: 11.8
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Weigh-in: Week 3
I lost another 1.6 lbs. this week. Not quite what I was hoping for, but still pretty respectable. I'm now 1/4 of the way to where I want to be by the end of the year. The going will probably be a lot slower, but I'm going to do my best to stay on track. Hopefully in a week or two I'll be able to drop another Point from my daily allotment.
Total pounds lost: 10.2
Total pounds lost: 10.2
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