1.23.2006

[x]Reviews - Tristan & Isolde, Underworld: Evolution, Munich.

TRISTAN & ISOLDE - ****/5 - I liked it, and I am sure all the 16 year old girls loved it too... Sophia Myles is hot. Will probably buy it because I am a sap.

UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION - **/5 - Mishmash sequel. Some fairly cool sequences (Kate Beckinsdale shedding the leather). Fairly predictable, however I did like how some of the main and introduced characters were thrown away like water. The "Evil person wanted to awaken/release a greater evil" has been done before.

MUNICH - *****/5 - Excellent film. Best movie of 2005. I'm not going to say anything about it, go see it.

1.19.2006

[x]losing weight doing the ipod shuffle.

I'm sorta sick. I think I took too many over-the-counter drugs yesterday, which hopefully will beat this flu to the punch.

Flu + work = suck.

Anyway, in addition to eating MUCH better (making food instead of fast food, drinking water), I have gone back to the gym over this past week. The plan is 3 nights 1 hour cardio, 3 nights 1/2 hour cardio and 1/2 hour with weights. 1 night to rest and cheat the fuck out of my diet :)

So far it has been going really well. I have started working out and eating better and stopped a bunch of times in the past few years... However (hopefully) this time it will be different. I mean, it FEELS different.

I guess for the first time in my life I am worried about my future health. That and (probably as important) I hate how I look. I'm overweight and just kind of feel *blah* all the time.

I promised myself as my one major resolution was to just change all of that. It's been working, finally I am obsessing about something positive. There is just this overwhelming sense of GUILT when I whine that I don't want to go to the gym or make something to eat. It's kind of like a voice in my head telling me that I am going to feel like shit when I show up looking like I do in April for Paul/Rachel's wedding in Las Vegas.

BTW vacation booked and paid for w00t.

Anyway, god help me if I look and feel like this for my upcoming 10 year reunion. (If I decide to go that is) - I'm not sure if I care to. *memo for future entry*

Finally, my FAVORITE xmas gift that I received this year is my IPOD SHUFFLE. It's the smallest one (512mb) and is exactly what I asked for. I wanted something small that I could use at work (as opposed to my bulkly 20gb lyra which is going to be on ebay soon).

I love it. I realized something a few weeks ago when I was listening to it. Ever look at a collection of cds/dvds/mp3s and nothing look interesting? Well I have over 230 dvds now and sometimes I look at my collection and nothing grabs me to watch. It was the same with my lyra... I had my whole music collection and it just became a bother to go through it all.

However, the shuffle takes all the guesswork out of listening to music. You hit play and a song comes on at random (or can be set to play through). I keep mine on random, and if a song comes on that I like, cool, if not, click - something totally different. It's great for work.

AND it's even better for working out. I used to get to the gym and get bored quickly, and would end up cheating myself for time. I've solved that problem. I have about 100 songs on the shuffle, all kinds of music. Another trick I use is to put songs on there which have emotional significance in my life. Keeps my brain going and keeps me from getting bored. Anything that strikes a chord in me, from some person to event... I just zone out and before I know it the hour is up.

1.17.2006

[x]I fought the law, and the law won.

Whew. Almost overslept this morning for court where I was trying to "Stick it to the man".

Should have known when the ATM I normally go to was out of service :(

Didn't have much of a defense I suppose (speeding) - but I was going to try and get out of the points... I sat through about 5 cases ahead of me in the courtroom and no one gotten out of anything (officer was there). The case before me the guy asked to get out of the points and the judge told him there was nothing he could do about that. Points are apparently handled with the Secretary of State.

I was called up and said that I was guilty but apologetic, and I wasn't disputing what the officer said. If he said I was over, then I was over (It's his job) and that if there was no way to get the points removed then I would just pay it.

So, I paid the ticket ($140) and when I was walking out of court building, the officer was right behind me. I stopped him, extended my hand, and said "Thank you" - he kind of gave me this taken aback look, and shook my hand.

I told him that the ticket capped off the worst day in my life, and that everything had been better since. We chatted about the judge being a hardass for a moment... And that was it.

He probably doesn't have alot of people that say "thank you" for the citations he gives out. I assured him I was being genuine.

He doesn't know, but that day was the day the depression broke. Something snapped in me, something finally gave way... I mean FFS if I was having a panic attack about a speeding ticket (which just comes down to money). I'll make more.

There were other things that happened prior to that day, but it's all really trivial. I'll always make more money.

"The ability to let that which does not matter truly slide." - Fight Club

1.16.2006

[x]Starting over.

There is no saint without a past, and no sinner without a future. ~Shri Haidakhan Babaji

I heard that quote in a preview for a movie today. I looked it up and found it appropriate for an opening...

Well, here we go again. Some slight site redesigns coming, and some honesty too.