The Beauty of Nature

So here lately I've been doing pretty good about working out. I joined a local gym and have been going at night. Yesterday, however, I ended up going at their busiest time. Everything was packed. So I decided to go run at the park. There were three different baseball games going on and people fishing at the lake. All in all, it was almost as crowded as the gym.

But on my last lap something beautiful happened. There's a section where a creek connects with the lake, and in the middle of it there was a deer. As I passed a clear spot in the brush I noticed a small fawn in between the mother's legs. I paused for a moment and took in the two animals who were completely oblivious to me.

As I walked back to my car hearing all of the sounds from the baseball game, I am comforted to know that nature can still exist in the middle of our crowded lives.

Summer's here!

Hello everyone! So a lot has happened since I've last written. Here's a little catch up to get you up to speed. 

I graduated college! 

I am starting my Master's degree!

It's that time when the cicadas come out in full force! 

So I plan to be writing a lot more here over the summer since I'll hopefully have some spare time. I was going to write some right now but... eh... not feelin' it. It's been a while since I've had the time to do absolutely nothing, so I think I'm going to catch up on that for the rest of the week. 

Hope everyone else is having a great summer!

Apologies and Updates

So I'm never going to say that I'm going to stick to a schedule ever again, especially at the end of my senior year. Well, luckily that won't be a problem again, but you get the idea.

So here's what my next two weeks look like:

• Monday 4/25
• Latin Lit: Paper 3 Due
• Tuesday 4/26
• Senior Seminar: Paper 3 Due
• Creative Writing: 10 Minute Play Due
• Wednesday 4/27
• English Drama: Paper 2 Due
• Thursday 4/28 
• Senior Seminar: Portfolio Due (Though this one might be moved to the week after...)
• Friday 4/29
• Relay for Life
• Saturday 4/30
• Rose Ball (tentative)
• Monday 5/2
• Islamic Lit: Capstone Project Due
• Latin Lit: Final Exam
• Wednesday 5/4
• English Drama: Final Exam
• Islamic Lit: Final Exam
• Thursday 5/5 
• Creative Writing: Portfolio Due

So, that's my schedule. You shouldn't really expect me to write anything here until I'm finished with all of this. Hopefully this summer I will have more time, but I'll be starting my graduate school classes and will be working as well, so I'm not sure.

As for the diet, it's actually going well. I've been sick this week so I haven't worked out, but I've been going to the gym regularly and can already tell a difference. Though I'll be busy next week, I'll still will be making time to work out because 1) I'll need time to de-stress and 2) being healthy is as important as school.

So if you're reading this please forgive me for not updating it as I had promised. From now on we'll just go on the premise that any post I make is a surprise for you. Happy birthday!

Until then, stay classy, America.

-Beast

The Purple Glove Dance Video is Up!

Because of the contest this year, we have to have people vote to win. So, follow the link to watch and vote for the video! (Remember to vote daily!)

http://bit.ly/votepgd11

Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen and to everyone who will be voting!

Update from the weekend and PLATYO

So yet again I promised to write a post and yet again I failed to deliver. But it's not my fault, I swear! So here's the rundown of my weekend and a PLATYO post as well.

This weekend was the filming of the Purple Glove Dance (PGD). If you don't know what that is, click here. This is the second year that the contest has been held, and last year our video entry won! Right now the video has over 44,000 views I think. And I was supposed to help film this year's video. Needless to say I was worried.

So the first thing I did was recruit the help of the wonderful Michele, the marketing and PR person for The GIVE Center. Thus began the PGD Dream Team. We started planning everything out and working hard to prepare for the filming that took place this weekend. And all of our hard work paid off, I do believe.We're still working through all of the footage we got, and we still have a make up day on Wednesday for any group that wasn't able to make it out this weekend, but from what I've seen so far it looks amazing. And rest assured, I'll make a post as soon as it's up.

So that's what I've been doing this weekend. Stressing out and worrying about how everything was going to turn out. But now let's move on to PLATYO.

At the beginning of the week I got a three day trial membership to a local gym here. And I loved it. So I talked to the guy working there and they had a special for Greeks, so I got a really good rate too. I also got a 24 hour pass, so I won't have any excuse not to work out.

I just finished the first week of working out and I feel great! I'm just now getting over being sore. For the first three days I could barely move. It felt great. Now I'm starting to get over that and I'm really enjoying it. I've also made more of a workout schedule, so now I know what I'm doing when I get in there.

The only thing is I have not been eating right at all. I've eaten out a lot this week, and have missed a lot of meals too. But hopefully things are starting to calm down a little which means I'll be able to plan out my meals better. I might have to start cooking dinners for Monday and Tuesday on Sunday because I won't get home until 9:30 or later. Other than that, I think my first week of PLATYO has gone very well!

So that's the scoop on the weekend. I apologize again for not updating this like I said I would, but I have had a crazy hectic weekend, and now I have to play catch up on school. Again. *Sigh...*

...and in case I don't see you; good afternoon, good evening and goodnight. 

-Beast

Changes to the Schedule

So one thing I didn't take into count, which was fairly stupid on my part, is that Tuesdays are very long and hectic days for me, and I don't think I'll be able to have time to write a post on it--especially a topic one. So I think I'm going to change "Topic Tuesday" to "Subject Saturday." I generally have more time during the weekends, so I think it'll work out better for me. I really want/need to get back in the habit of writing, so hopefully this schedule will help me out tremendously.

Well, it's not much of a post, but there it is. You've got to admit that I'm getting better with this whole blogging-when-I-said-I-was-going-to-blog thing than in previous attempts. But it is still early. Anyway, I've got a paper to write! Have fun minions and I will see you for Freebie Friday.

-Beast

MVM: "Mother" by Pink Floyd

Now, this isn't really a music video, I know, but this is one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs.



I'm not really sure why I like it. It's very relaxing to me--if you ignore the lyrics. If you don't ignore them then it's one of the more important pieces to the album as it reveals why he begins building the wall.

Anyway, I realize this is boring to most of you so here's another catchy song from the album.



Enjoy! -Beast

PLATYO 2.0: Week 0

Alright, so here's the deal. A while back I started up the Project Lose A Ten Year Old in which I tried to lose the weight equivalent of a ten year old, or 100 pounds. (I'm not sure if that's exactly right, but it sounds catchy.) Life got in the way and I let it fall to the side. But now my clothes are starting to get tighter and I really need to get back on it. So here's the plan.

My girlfriend and I are going to be working out/dieting together. I'm looking into gym memberships now and will get signed up soon. Freshman year I remember working out with my roommates. I ended up losing a good bit of weight and was starting to look pretty good. But now I've gained all of that and more, so it's time to get back to work.

My family has a history of being overweight. I've seen the health issues that it's caused for my father and I don't want to go through those myself. Plus I just want to look good. I'm tired of being overweight and I want to do something about it. So here's the plan for the workout and the diet.

WORKOUT

• Monday
• Upper body
•  Tuesday
• Legs
• Wednesday
• Core and Cardio
• Thursday
• Upper body
• Friday
• Legs
• Saturday
• Core and Cardio
• Sunday 
• Rest 

This is the workout schedule that I used my freshman year, and I want to get back on it. It's a good balance between everything and hopefully I'll get the same results that I did three years ago.

DIET

1. No fried foods. 
2. Eat three meals a day.
3. Have a balanced meal every meal. 
4. Only drink water. (Alcohol will be allowed in moderation.)
5. Allowed one "free meal" per week. 

Again, this is the plan that I stuck to freshman year and it worked out well, so it should work this time around.

Now that I have my outline, it's time to actually stick to it. It was easier to do freshman year because I was far less busy and lived on campus, so I could walk to the gym and had a meal plan at the cafeteria. Now I have to plan lunches and I have to find a 24 hour gym so I can fit a workout into my schedule. But hey, that's life.

Do you have any diet/workout tips? Is my plan good or bad? I could really use any help that you guys can give me. Anyway, I'll update you next Sunday on how it's going! Until then,

Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork.  ~English Proverb

and I'll try to do the same.

-Beast

Bringing back a schedule?

So a while back I wrote a post suggesting ideas of topics to write during certain days. I think I'm going to try and do it again. I know I was never successful with keeping up with something like this, but we'll see. I have an idea of a way to keep up with everything. I'll also be cutting back on some other things to make sure that I have time for my writing. These first posts might not be so great because I'm still getting back into the swing of things, but I'll be using my time this week to get ideas started.

And speaking of ideas, if you have anything you'd like me to talk about then let me know in the comments. I like hearing back from you guys

So that's what's up! I'll be posting again later today with an update for PLATYO. See you soon!

-Beast

Superheroes

As children we are taught that there is good and evil in the world, and that good things happen to good people and those who are bad will be punished. Little girls believe in fairy tales where the prince rescues the princess. Little boys believe in Superman, that Christ-like figure whom no man can hurt. But as we grow older, experience shows us that life is not always so black and white. 

I love superheroes. My favorite as a child were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Every year for three or four years that’s who I would dress up as for Halloween. Batman was a favorite, too. Mom loves telling me stories of how I would tie a towel around my neck and pretend it was my cape so I could be Batman. But to me, my father was a superhero too. One year for Halloween I even dressed up as my dad. He was invincible.

I don’t remember how old I was when my parents were divorced. I was young, though, probably in middle school. The weird thing is I don’t remember it upsetting me that much. To be honest, I was relieved more than anything. By that point my Dad was already not sleeping in the same room as my Mom. He slept out in the camper that we had. And I can remember being glad that I wouldn’t be kept up at night listening to them fighting. My sister was really hurt. I remember all the times she had to see her school councilor about it. I went back to my comic books.

At this time I really started appreciating the stories comics had to offer. The Ninja Turtles were nice, but they had become a little juvenile for my taste. I enjoyed the faults of the characters; the human qualities. I was beginning to realize that all superheroes, the good ones anyway, had flaws. Even my dad.

Every summer since I was able to I’ve worked with my father. It was miserable work. I still feel the burns on my hands and knees from roofing a house in the middle of the afternoon in the Georgia heat. I can remember carrying stacks of lumber up never-ending stairs to a bathroom we were renovating. I can remember all of this, but at the same time I remember driving in the truck with my father. I remember laughing at jokes on the radio, or mixing up five gallon buckets of Kool-Aid. I remember watching my father as he used his superpower to fix broken things. My father was a superhero.

My father was also a good man. I didn’t realize it so much then as I did once I got into college. I would look back at all of the things my father did for other people. Something small would break, so he fixed it for free. He saw someone on the side of the road, so he would jump them off. If he could help someone, he would. I credit him for the love of service that I have today.

The best part of any superhero story is when they are about to fail. It happens to the best of them. Lex Luthor stabbed Superman with kryptonite. Spiderman cannot save his uncle. Their flaws led them into trouble. Superman is too trusting. Spiderman’s anger got in the way. But it always seemed like bad things just happened to my Dad. His tool trailer got stolen. His truck was rear ended. Clients screwed him out of money. It’s not until later that I realized that most of the bad things that have happened to him were because he was so nice. He trusted the neighborhood to keep his tool trailer in. He was removing bullets from the side of the expressway[1] after he had called it in several times. He drew plans of a new house for clients free of charge because they were having him build it, only to have them hire someone else[2]. My dad was a good man whom bad things happened to.

It’s different watching a superhero fall compared to watching your father suffer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry, but when he was in the hospital this weekend he was in tears. He was diagnosed with cellulitis and lymphoma, and his blood pressure was 200/120 when he was admitted into the hospital. It took them three days to bring it back to normal. On day three of being in the hospital, he had a severe migraine--so bad that the morphine they gave him didn’t take away the pain.

How do you comfort a superhero? When the invincible become mortal, how do you tell them it will be ok? I have comforted many people who have lost a loved one. I have been to many funerals. But this weekend made me realize how vulnerable people are, even superheroes.

---

[1] Bullets on the side of the expressway are actually very dangerous. If a tire were to run over the bullet, it could set it off. My father has a friend who is a detective for Gwinnet County who testified to this during his court hearing.

[2] Another interesting note is that the person whom they hired did a terrible job and could not pass inspection. They then asked my father if he would be willing to fix the problems. He did not take the job.

Thoughts from a Hosptial Room

So today is Sunday and I'm in a hospital room back home. On Thursday my dad was admitted to the hospital. He had cellulitis in his leg that had worked its way all the way to his upper thigh. When they checked his blood pressure it was 201/120 or something ridiculously high. They finally got it back to normal today. Then he's also been having severe migraines that they haven't been able to get rid of until today too. But right now he's asleep and seems to be doing well. If everything checks out tomorrow they might let him back home. Fingers crossed!

Other than that things seem to be going well. I've been extremely busy lately with school, work and planning No Boundaries Week. But it looks like things will be toning down a bit, and Spring Break is only a week away. I was going to go on an Alternative Spring Break but right now I'm thinking that I'm just going to try and get work done on my capstone project. That and my Senior portfolio. *Sigh... too much to do.

Other than that things haven't changed that much since we last spoke. I'm thinking about starting a new blog at WordPress. I like the way that it's set up better, and it's a little easier to navigate. It also has an app for my phone, so that if I wanted to upload something I could do it from there. Or I might check out Tumblr.

Anywhoozle. Not much else to say. I'm pretty tired at the moment. I still have a paper that I need to write, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow to get to work on that. Goodnight all.

-Beast

Thoughts from Sunday Morning

It's Sunday morning, the sun is shining, and I'm listening to Maroon 5. It's a good day.

I still have a lot to do before this next week starts, but I'm taking a moment to write a short blog post. I know I've neglected it for a long time, but I'm going to try and start it up again. Along with many other things that I've stopped doing (like running and dieting). I've been thinking a lot lately about the brevity of life and the uncertainty of an afterlife. If you've read my previous blog posts then you know religion is something I've always had a hard time with. This year is making me think a lot about everything with all of the classes I'm currently taking.

One of the classes is Literature of the Islamic World. It's an interesting class because we've learned a lot about the history of Islam and some of their traditions. It's a beautifully peaceful religion for one that is often thought to be hate-filled here in the West. But this is again another example of why I have a problem with religions. For one that promoted tolerance and education, even it can be taken to extremes by a few people, giving it a bad name. Is nothing sacred?

Anyway, I'm rambling now. In other news, my new car, Rosie, is in the shop. Again. I'm worried about what it is. I hope it's nothing that's too expensive since I just had the alternator replaced on it about a week ago. I really just want a car that runs correctly.

Well, I think that's all I have time for now. I need to get to cleaning up a little bit. Maybe some laundry too. I've got a lot of homework that I need to get done. I'm going to be trying to update this more regularly. Perhaps it will serve as a diary for myself. Something to help me keep my jumbled mind in order.

Oh, I almost forgot! I'm in a Creative Writing class this semester too. Maybe it will help me with my writing. Or should I invest in video equipment? Do people even read anymore? Until then, don't forget to be awesome.
-Beast