Clearly I am a slacker. I only posted twice last year. I do find it somewhat cathartic to post random musings to a blog that no one will read. I need to write more often. For now, let's say this: I am hoping to do the Cherry Blossom 10 miler again in April and I have 4 weeks to figure out whether or not my body will be able to physically handle it. The farthest I have run lately was 6 miles back in October 2010(!) when I did the Baltimore Marathon Relay. More recently I have been running 3 miles (at the Fort or gym). I really need to start kicking it into gear and running longer distances. In addition, I have need to get back on the wagon re: weight training. I am going to Aruba in 8 weeks from tomorrow and would really like to look at least a little bit better in my swim suit than I do today.
Here's my workout so far for this week:
Sun, Jan 1: n/a
Mon, Jan 2: Yoga Video (oh yea, DR said I need to do this to help w/ my back pain)
Tues, Jan 3: Elliptical at the gym, 45 minutes
Wed, Jan 4: Yoga Video
Thurs, Jan 5: Ran 3 miles, 34:44; walked 10 minutes, 3.5 mph
Fri, Jan 6: n/a
The plan for the next few days:
Sat, Jan 7: weights; some cardio
Sun, Jan 8: Run
Mon, Jan 9: Yoga video
Tues, Jan 10: cardio
Wed, Jan 11: weights
We'll see if I can stick to the plan.
Friday, January 06, 2012
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
How Many Is Enough???
Re-posting in its entirety. It is disgusting that the Republican majority are never going to let any gun control legislation see the light of day.
How Many is Enough??
After Tucson, victim of Virginia Tech shooting asks: 'How many is it going take?'
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 20, 2011; 11:36 PM
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he would hear, one navy blue suit nodding to another.
They would listen to what Colin Goddard had to say, shake his hand, then open the door for the next Washington lobbyist or constituent.
See, Goddard doesn't really warrant a second glance on Capitol Hill. He's a tall, well-spoken, broad-shouldered 25-year-old with a good suit and purposeful handshake. Plus, the arguments he was peddling on sensible gun control had been heard before.
But as Goddard was giving his earnest, wonky spiel about banning the kind of magazines that Jared Loughner allegedly used to spray gunfire in Tucson or requiring background checks on people who buy weapons at gun shows, those listening didn't know there were three bullets painfully worming their way through his body.
If he wriggled in his seat too much, it hurt. And if you touched his skin in a certain spot, you could feel the outline of one of the 9mm hollow-points poking through.
So after trying to play it straight for a while - just another young climber doing his time in the marbled halls of Congress - Goddard realized that he had to speak up about why he cared so deeply about this issue.
"The whole dynamic changed once I told them," Goddard said.
He told them what it felt like to be in French class at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, conjugating verbs one minute, then trapped in what looked like a bloody war movie the next.
He told them how feels to be shot four times - left knee, left hip, right shoulder, right hip. (No pain, at first. Just the trickle of blood.)
He told them what it's like to see a pile of bodies so high, the police can't open the door.
And he told them that the 32 people killed at his college that day by Seung Hui Cho might still be alive if it hadn't been so easy for Cho to get the semiautomatic handguns he used.
Gun control activists are often grieving parents, a Million Moms marching. Rarer among their ranks: a 6-foot-3 guy with a high and tight haircut and an easy way with a shotgun.
Goddard's a former ROTC student. He's a sportsman. Three months after he was shot at Virginia Tech, he went wild-duck hunting in Madagascar. His knee hurt a little. But firing a shotgun at Daffy? No problem.
He went on with his life - graduation, internships, job.
But when an oceanography class at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb was interrupted on Valentine's Day 2008 by a graduate student who went off his medication and fired three pistols and a shotgun into the stadium-style lecture hall, killing six, Goddard's mind went right back to that day in French class.
"I was glued to the TV watching it all. Minute by minute, reliving it all," he said in an interview this week.
And that's how he wound up taking a job at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
"I didn't even know who Jim Brady was," he said. "My generation doesn't even know about Jim Brady," the press secretary who was shot and partially paralyzed during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981. "But this is my generation's issue. We are the ones who grew up doing gunfire attack drills in class. Why shouldn't we do something about this?"
He has gone undercover at gun shows all over the nation, his hidden camera capturing how easy it is to buy an assault rifle from someone for $400, no identification necessary.
"It's like buying a TV. Or a sofa," he said.
Apparently, that's not enough for the lawmakers from both parties who are ignoring the bill introduced in the House this week by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) that aims to limit the high-capacity magazines used in these mass shootings.
Come on, now. If you're not going to listen to Goddard - a guy who knows guns and likes to shoot them, who hunts, who walks around with bullets in his body - then what will it take, lawmakers?
When are you going to stop saying "yeah, yeah, yeah" and really listen to what the folks fighting for sensible gun control are saying?
Maybe watching a movie about it will help. Goddard's journey from college student to gun control advocate was made into a documentary, "Living for 32," that will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival next week. Produced by Maria Cuomo Cole and directed by Kevin Breslin, the documentary is on the short list for an Oscar, too.
The timing for the film couldn't be better, given the shootings in Tucson.
Goddard was furious that day. And he asked the question we all should be asking.
"How many is it going take? How many?"
"I'm sitting here watching all those images again. The ambulances. The people crying. The police racing. The flowers. The candles," he said, sitting back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. "How many is enough?"
E-mail me at dvorakp@washpost.com.
How Many is Enough??
After Tucson, victim of Virginia Tech shooting asks: 'How many is it going take?'
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 20, 2011; 11:36 PM
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he would hear, one navy blue suit nodding to another.
They would listen to what Colin Goddard had to say, shake his hand, then open the door for the next Washington lobbyist or constituent.
See, Goddard doesn't really warrant a second glance on Capitol Hill. He's a tall, well-spoken, broad-shouldered 25-year-old with a good suit and purposeful handshake. Plus, the arguments he was peddling on sensible gun control had been heard before.
But as Goddard was giving his earnest, wonky spiel about banning the kind of magazines that Jared Loughner allegedly used to spray gunfire in Tucson or requiring background checks on people who buy weapons at gun shows, those listening didn't know there were three bullets painfully worming their way through his body.
If he wriggled in his seat too much, it hurt. And if you touched his skin in a certain spot, you could feel the outline of one of the 9mm hollow-points poking through.
So after trying to play it straight for a while - just another young climber doing his time in the marbled halls of Congress - Goddard realized that he had to speak up about why he cared so deeply about this issue.
"The whole dynamic changed once I told them," Goddard said.
He told them what it felt like to be in French class at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, conjugating verbs one minute, then trapped in what looked like a bloody war movie the next.
He told them how feels to be shot four times - left knee, left hip, right shoulder, right hip. (No pain, at first. Just the trickle of blood.)
He told them what it's like to see a pile of bodies so high, the police can't open the door.
And he told them that the 32 people killed at his college that day by Seung Hui Cho might still be alive if it hadn't been so easy for Cho to get the semiautomatic handguns he used.
Gun control activists are often grieving parents, a Million Moms marching. Rarer among their ranks: a 6-foot-3 guy with a high and tight haircut and an easy way with a shotgun.
Goddard's a former ROTC student. He's a sportsman. Three months after he was shot at Virginia Tech, he went wild-duck hunting in Madagascar. His knee hurt a little. But firing a shotgun at Daffy? No problem.
He went on with his life - graduation, internships, job.
But when an oceanography class at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb was interrupted on Valentine's Day 2008 by a graduate student who went off his medication and fired three pistols and a shotgun into the stadium-style lecture hall, killing six, Goddard's mind went right back to that day in French class.
"I was glued to the TV watching it all. Minute by minute, reliving it all," he said in an interview this week.
And that's how he wound up taking a job at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
"I didn't even know who Jim Brady was," he said. "My generation doesn't even know about Jim Brady," the press secretary who was shot and partially paralyzed during an attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981. "But this is my generation's issue. We are the ones who grew up doing gunfire attack drills in class. Why shouldn't we do something about this?"
He has gone undercover at gun shows all over the nation, his hidden camera capturing how easy it is to buy an assault rifle from someone for $400, no identification necessary.
"It's like buying a TV. Or a sofa," he said.
Apparently, that's not enough for the lawmakers from both parties who are ignoring the bill introduced in the House this week by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) that aims to limit the high-capacity magazines used in these mass shootings.
Come on, now. If you're not going to listen to Goddard - a guy who knows guns and likes to shoot them, who hunts, who walks around with bullets in his body - then what will it take, lawmakers?
When are you going to stop saying "yeah, yeah, yeah" and really listen to what the folks fighting for sensible gun control are saying?
Maybe watching a movie about it will help. Goddard's journey from college student to gun control advocate was made into a documentary, "Living for 32," that will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival next week. Produced by Maria Cuomo Cole and directed by Kevin Breslin, the documentary is on the short list for an Oscar, too.
The timing for the film couldn't be better, given the shootings in Tucson.
Goddard was furious that day. And he asked the question we all should be asking.
"How many is it going take? How many?"
"I'm sitting here watching all those images again. The ambulances. The people crying. The police racing. The flowers. The candles," he said, sitting back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling. "How many is enough?"
E-mail me at dvorakp@washpost.com.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Movie Review: Wanted
Starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and some random guy with a plain face and a pretty decent body...
Husband decided he wanted to watch this movie instead of Top Chef - DC. In an effort to not be anti-social and watch Top Chef in the kitchen or in the bedroom I decided I would sit on the couch and watch it with him. Thank you TIVO.
In addition to sacrificing Top Chef I also had to watch this movie on a huge rear-projection TV with miss-aligned projectors. So for this ginormous TV we only had about an 8 - 12 inch area in the middle of the screen that did not look like we were watching a 3D movie w/out 3D glasses.
Ok, to the movie. Five words: "Trying too hard" and "it sucked."
I missed the first 5 minutes but apparently I didn't miss much (except AJ's ass which husband felt important to let me know) since Morgan helpfully filled us in on the entire plot in about 3 minutes of dialogue. Son is descendant from talented assassin who was "murdered" by another assassin who went rogue. Son is to avenge his "father's" death by killing the rogue assassin.
Son - a cog in the cubical wheel a la Fight Club (trying too hard) - is trained in the art of assassination in a matter of a few weeks and is put on secret missions w/ the slut - i mean w/ AJ - to kill random people as instructed by a SEWING LOOM (???) WTF? Maybe there was more to the "loom" in the first 5 minutes that i missed....
One of the most impressive skills these assassin's have is the ability to "bend" the trajectory of a bullet and aim perfectly to hit another bullet on the nose. Now... I am all for awesome sci-fi and fantasy movies that clearly have weapons and skills that no human could actually do (see the Matrix) BUT - this movie just rubs me the wrong way. I loved the Myth Busters episode dedicated to this movie that demonstrates that it is impossible to hit a bullet on the nose with another bullet and that it is impossible to "bend" the trajectory of a bullet... but i digress...
Son discovers all too late that the man he was hunting is actually his father. oops. he decides to avenge his father's death (committed by his hand) by killing the other assassins using rats with bombs attached to them with digital timex watches. Again, WTF??? Again... maybe I should have watched the first 5 minutes...
Anyways, after a lot of stupid BS all of the assassins are dead and he kills their leader, Freeman.
Throughout the movie the dude attempts to narrate his internal monologue in an attempt to be "edgy" - a very poor rip-off of Fight Club (one of the best movies ever).
Final result: Big waste of time. Don't bother.
Next up: The Hangover. Really funny? or Really Really Funny? We'll discuss.
Husband decided he wanted to watch this movie instead of Top Chef - DC. In an effort to not be anti-social and watch Top Chef in the kitchen or in the bedroom I decided I would sit on the couch and watch it with him. Thank you TIVO.
In addition to sacrificing Top Chef I also had to watch this movie on a huge rear-projection TV with miss-aligned projectors. So for this ginormous TV we only had about an 8 - 12 inch area in the middle of the screen that did not look like we were watching a 3D movie w/out 3D glasses.
Ok, to the movie. Five words: "Trying too hard" and "it sucked."
I missed the first 5 minutes but apparently I didn't miss much (except AJ's ass which husband felt important to let me know) since Morgan helpfully filled us in on the entire plot in about 3 minutes of dialogue. Son is descendant from talented assassin who was "murdered" by another assassin who went rogue. Son is to avenge his "father's" death by killing the rogue assassin.
Son - a cog in the cubical wheel a la Fight Club (trying too hard) - is trained in the art of assassination in a matter of a few weeks and is put on secret missions w/ the slut - i mean w/ AJ - to kill random people as instructed by a SEWING LOOM (???) WTF? Maybe there was more to the "loom" in the first 5 minutes that i missed....
One of the most impressive skills these assassin's have is the ability to "bend" the trajectory of a bullet and aim perfectly to hit another bullet on the nose. Now... I am all for awesome sci-fi and fantasy movies that clearly have weapons and skills that no human could actually do (see the Matrix) BUT - this movie just rubs me the wrong way. I loved the Myth Busters episode dedicated to this movie that demonstrates that it is impossible to hit a bullet on the nose with another bullet and that it is impossible to "bend" the trajectory of a bullet... but i digress...
Son discovers all too late that the man he was hunting is actually his father. oops. he decides to avenge his father's death (committed by his hand) by killing the other assassins using rats with bombs attached to them with digital timex watches. Again, WTF??? Again... maybe I should have watched the first 5 minutes...
Anyways, after a lot of stupid BS all of the assassins are dead and he kills their leader, Freeman.
Throughout the movie the dude attempts to narrate his internal monologue in an attempt to be "edgy" - a very poor rip-off of Fight Club (one of the best movies ever).
Final result: Big waste of time. Don't bother.
Next up: The Hangover. Really funny? or Really Really Funny? We'll discuss.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
OK, I'm a slacker
I've been sticking w/ South Beach pretty well for breakfast, lunches, and snacks about 75% of the time. Dinner has been more difficult since Husband isn't a big fan of fake mashed potatoes (steamed cauliflower in a food processor w/ cream and butter).
Just can't seem to lose these 15 lbs that seem to have snuck up on me over the last two years.... I need to go to the gym more.
Just can't seem to lose these 15 lbs that seem to have snuck up on me over the last two years.... I need to go to the gym more.
Monday, April 12, 2010
South Beach Round 2: Day 12
So technically today is day 12 but really it's more like day 6. The first 4 days I had to cheat because of previously scheduled events and this past weekend also involved some cheating on the diet as well (chicken wings and beer on Friday night, beer and dinner out with the family on Sat). No cheating during the week last week and hopefully I'll be able to get through this week. The pressure at work to cheat is pretty tough. Lots of free munchies, goodies and sweets. Since I started on the first I've lost 4 lbs but that could be anything... pants are still tight... looking forward to Friday for the next weigh-in. Fun times.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
South Beach Round 2: Day 1
Today is day one of my second effort to do the South Beach diet. The first time I did it was in September of 2008. It was mildly successful. I followed the diet for the first two weeks by the book (except I didn't give up the booze) and I stayed on phase 1 for a third week and modified it a bit with a few phase 2 options. I did phase 2 for two weeks. After about 5 weeks I lost around 7 pounds. Pretty cool. I gained it all back and then some during 2009.
So here I am, April 1, 2010 going in for round two. I have my grocery list written out for all of the food I need for the next 4 days. One thing about this diet that sux is that it is pretty expensive to maintain. I am trying to take this into account when I plan my menu for the week.
I think I am going to have to do 3 weeks with phase 1 again. We have a lot of dinner's out scheduled for the next 2 weeks so I still kind of feel like I'm cheating a bit, which means that for all of my other meals I need to be very strict and serious about sticking to the diet.
Which brings me to today. Day 1 and it is a colleague's birthday. You know what that means. Peer pressure to participate in the group office order for pizza and then cake or some kind of sugary treat later.
I've declined the invite to participate in the pizza party THREE TIMES already this morning. Geeze. Just let me eat my romaine lettuce with chicken breast and low sugar ranch dressing with my sugar-free Jello in peace.
I'll have another go-round with the office folks in about an hour when it is dessert time. Great.
So here I am, April 1, 2010 going in for round two. I have my grocery list written out for all of the food I need for the next 4 days. One thing about this diet that sux is that it is pretty expensive to maintain. I am trying to take this into account when I plan my menu for the week.
I think I am going to have to do 3 weeks with phase 1 again. We have a lot of dinner's out scheduled for the next 2 weeks so I still kind of feel like I'm cheating a bit, which means that for all of my other meals I need to be very strict and serious about sticking to the diet.
Which brings me to today. Day 1 and it is a colleague's birthday. You know what that means. Peer pressure to participate in the group office order for pizza and then cake or some kind of sugary treat later.
I've declined the invite to participate in the pizza party THREE TIMES already this morning. Geeze. Just let me eat my romaine lettuce with chicken breast and low sugar ranch dressing with my sugar-free Jello in peace.
I'll have another go-round with the office folks in about an hour when it is dessert time. Great.
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