The last couple days physical activity has taken a toll on my feet, this is 1 of 4 bandaids on them.
As if you didn’t already know that we have a little girl, my choice of bandaid would give it away!
105mm macro lens, 1/40 sec at f/3.2, ISO 1600
Jan 222012
Jan 062012
Lesson learned- if I don’t lay out my gym clothes and pack my work clothes, the odds of me not making it to the 6:30am CrossFit class are pretty good.
But I made up for it! I took an early lunch and hit the treadmill in the fitness center by work. 40 minutes later, this is how I looked!
Taken with my iPhone
Jan 022012
Since it’s the start of a new year, and many people are making resolutions concerning health and fitness, I thought I’d share this video. It’s a little long at 9 minutes, but take the time to watch it, I think it’s well worth it. I love how he flips around the argument about having enough time, which you can really apply to anything, not just exercise.
Dec 232011
I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here yet, but I know that I’ve mentioned on Twitter that I started working out at a CrossFit gym several weeks ago. I really like the workouts- there’s a mix of traditional power- and Olympic-lifting moves, body weight exercises, plyometrics, gymnastics-based moves, and short-duration high-intensity cardio. Each day is different, the workouts are prescribed by the coaches at the gym, all I do is adjust the load based on my ability.
Everything is done in a class setting, there’s no showing up and working out on your own. The goal of a particular workout may be to do as many rounds of a sequence in a given amount of time, do a prescribed number of rounds of a sequence as fast as possible, or lift as much weight as possible. As a result, it can be a competitive atmosphere, yet at the same time a supportive one- people cheer each other on, encourage them to keep pushing, and generally work together towards the common goal of improving our health and fitness.
Of course, there are downsides.
Tuesday’s workout included rope climbing to the ceiling. Now I don’t know about you, but I have no idea when I last climbed a rope. Which means I forgot about technique, and about NOT sliding back down too fast.
That’s a 2″x3″ band-aid, and it’s not big enough to cover the friction burn I gave myself :-/
35mm prime lens, f/1.8 at 1/80 sec, ISO 1600
Nov 282011
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–God, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions–and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else–the small stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first–the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”
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“A scientist who doesn’t publish his or her work isn’t really a scientist” ~ my doctoral advisor
I’m falling into the “isn’t really a scientist” category. I completed data collection on 2 projects over 2 years ago and haven’t finished the manuscripts yet. Additionally, a few months ago I was invited to write a review article for a journal and I haven’t started that one either.
That’s not to say I’m not doing anything at work, my days are plenty busy, but I’m paying too much attention to the sand in my life and not enough attention to the golf balls and pebbles.
It’s not just at work either, in other areas of my life my priorities are not in order. For starters, I’ve gained 20 lbs in the last couple of years, health and fitness needs to move up the priority list.
Why wait until the new year to make a resolution?
For me, the time is now, starting today.
Jun 152010
The first Speed Demon picture featured Darling Boy zipping down the driveway on his bike.
Now it’s my turn!
Occasionally I’ll leave my truck at work and ride home. It’s an 18 mile ride and there is a net elevation gain of about 400 feet, 250 of which occurs in the last 3 miles. Because of the climbing, I’ve struggled to finish the ride in under an hour.
When I left work on my bike Monday afternoon, I decided to really push it.
I turned into my driveway with mere seconds to spare, but I did it! Yay me!
Mar 092010
I like to use this post title when I have a bunch of disconnected topics I want to blog about, so I just throw them all into one post and see what sticks for grabbing your attention….
Yesterday a blogger friend contacted me, asking for some advice in dealing with a reader. This blogger friend, like myself, blogs anonymously, for a variety of reasons, just like many of us do, and we’re selective about what we share on the blogosphere. She was contacted by a reader who took bits and pieces of info and proceeded to disclose that he knows her real name, her kids names, where she lives, and a some other personal info. This took some work on his part, he had a spend some time on the internet doing some research to figure some of this out.
Are she and I the only ones who find this rather creepy?
We’ve all made mistakes, accidentally using a real name here or there, disclosing a little more info than we intended. It’s nice to be able to count on blogger friends who would notice this and quickly and discretely shoot off an e-mail and say “hey, you might want to double check your blog today.” But to have it thrown back at her, in a judgmental fashion no less, was just plain wrong.
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Sunday afternoon I took DB to the bike shop and we got him a new bike. He loves to ride, but seeing a 54″ tall boy on a 16″ bike was downright comical. Pedaling it, he looked like he should be in the circus!
Once we got home, he and I promptly went for a bike ride. We had been talking about letting him ride his bike to school once the weather improves some more, so he and I checked out the route to his school. Once we got there, we did a lap around the school looking for the bike racks.
There are no bike racks.
Let me say that again. There are no bike racks at an elementary school serving 3rd and 4th grade students.
I saw something in the Sunday paper, something ranking the fattest towns in MA. Our town is one of the top 5 fattest in the state, a state which mandates that the schools measure and report our childs BMI to us. It irritates the hell out of me that some fucking bureaucrat made a decision in the name of risk management that at the end of the day discourages children from being physically active.
Veronica’s going to contact the school board to complain. I suspect she’ll get nowhere with them.
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Have you noticed that I have a blogroll again? That was one of the things that is not part of the file when you export a blog from a WordPress-hosted site, but there is another way, it just took a little extra work. If you’re not listed and would like to be, or are listed and don’t want to be, let me know and I’ll take care of it.
I use Twitterfeed to automatically generate a tweet whenever I post a new blog entry, but since I moved over here, it hasn’t been working. I’ve tried reconfiguring it twice, tested the feed, etc, and it all says it should work, but it doesn’t. Grr…
Speaking of my new site, I’m starting to think that I’m not entirely happy with the theme I’m using. And there are some plug-ins, some for appearance, others for functionality, that I still want to play with. This is definitely a work in progress. But isn’t everything?
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Last night I was laying in bed, Veronica cuddled up against me, her head resting on my chest. We weren’t talking, just laying there, feeling our breathing and heart rates return to rest again. At that moment the thought crossed my mind that I didn’t have a care in the world.
Isn’t post-orgasmic bliss wonderful?
Speaking of Veronica, she was getting dressed after her morning shower as I was writing this post. I couldn’t resist grabbing a picture with my iPhone. I love that ass! And all the rest of her bits and pieces!
Have a great day everyone!
Jan 262010
I remember a TV commercial from several years ago, I think it was for a Bowflex home gym, that had a very fit looking man saying “I’m 40 yrs old and I’m in the best shape of my life”. While I think I’m in decent shape, I’m most certainly not in the best shape of my life.
Now that I’m 40, I’ve made that a goal, so I wasted no time and got started with 45 minutes on the bike after work.
It took until day 26 for inspiration for the picture of the day to strike when I didn’t have my DSLR with me. So this is the first picture of the year from my iPhone. It’s difficult to get a good picture when my legs are spinning at 90 rpm!
Dec 222009
I’ve been slacking off lately, and it shows, at least to me.
I only had to go into the office for an hour or so this morning, so I took advantage of the time to get my ass back into the gym. I need to do this more often…
*pic taken with my iPhone,using the Fototimer app,
while the phone rested on the elliptical’s control panel*
I hope you’re all having a nice day and enjoying some holiday-related downtime, like I am.
