Put the razor down…

…and nobody (else) gets hurt.

Well, here it is, the first of my “progress” pictures for the Movember 2008 event. Yes, it’s a hair early (har har), but I’m in a whirlwind of packing for vacation that starts tomorrow, and I really don’t want to have to slow down to compose and post, not that I don’t love y’all, of course:

This is me in all my freshly-shorn glory (other parts got some landscaping, too, while I was at it, but you don’t need to know—let alone see—any of that) ;) This was taken a good twenty minutes after I finished shaving to let all the blood stop seeping. Perhaps it’s best that I do put the razor down for awhile. I hate shaving and really only do it once every two weeks or so (a benefit of working in radio), as clearly the razor is not kind to me. My facial hair is coarse and grows in all different directions, so everything you’ve read or heard about shaving in one direction doesn’t work for me. Oh well.

At any rate, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to groom in any way, shape, or fashion, or just let it go all lumberjack (flannel shirt not included). I’m still taking offers—er, suggestions on that front, but don’t think I’m ignoring you if I don’t do anything in particular (remember, I can be bought)—I’m still the one who has to wear this thing.

Thanks again for all the support you’ve offered, though I wonder if some of you are hesitant to associate with me in public (note the lack of comments to this point, though the money has been awesome!) :P

Happy Halloween!

Yes, it’s a couple days early, but other than a quick drop-by over the weekend to post my first Movember picture, I’m going to be busy prepping for, riding to, and fully enjoying a week in Charleston, South Carolina (ghost tour likely included sans candy), that officially starts Friday. Yes, I know I’ll be gone on Election Day, but I voted early, so neener-neener. What’s your excuse? Anyway, in the spirit (heh heh) of Halloween, I offer you some costume (here, here, and here) and pumpkin carving galleries.

If not for Halloween, I would’ve titled this entry “I Want My MTV.” There are some things on TV that are seasonal and/or traditional (some people get WAY too excited over The Wizard of Oz), but unless you live under the proverbial rock, you know that the American and world economies are, let’s say, troubled at the moment, yet television stands to maintain its relatively recession-proof demeanor. As that article states, Americans equate TV to electricity and water (read: a necessity). Credit crunch be damned, we will have Grey’s Anatomy! (I’m partial to Discovery Channel and have just recently started watching House with some regularity, but I’m by no means one of THOSE people who schedule around a TV show.) Instead of both saving money and getting off the couch, most Americans would rather do the complete opposite, even at the expense of their financial and physical livelihoods. Look, I’m not blaming TV for any monetary crisis, but when the fat has to get trimmed off the budget, TV is never considered. I probably don’t need to go into just how moronic this mindset is.

I lived in southwest Connecticut for a few very long, very cold months not long enough ago, and considering the higher cost of living there compared to what I was used to in Charlotte, I shelled out for broadband Internet service (I’m not much of a phone person) but opted out of cable TV. I have an okay DVD collection, and what I didn’t have could almost surely be found online in some shape or form. While I enjoy my DVDs (I only buy those that I know I’ll watch more than a couple times), they do get boring after awhile, even after buying a couple more during my time without TV, so I was therefore bored out of my mind, right? I mean, there’s only so much Internet, too, right? Well, lo and behold, I got a lot of reading and writing done. Amazing. I explored my neighborhood and others around it while running (which I was still doing frequently then despite the cold weather) and ended up finding some great little restaurants and parks tucked away from the main roads. Shocking. The money I would’ve otherwise spent on cable TV went into transit, meaning I either drove around or took the train down into the city (I lived only four blocks from a Metro-North station) and wandered around there. Unthinkable. Frankly, though the first couple weeks were odd without TV, I actually dreaded being around it again when I moved back down to Charlotte (cable was/is included in my rent). I resisted turning on the TV for awhile, but it eventually came back on, and even though I don’t watch it like I used to—and never will—it’s still a mild annoyance most of the time, and I know how to operate the “off” button. Some people have to have it on 24/7, even when reading or sleeping or whatever. I’ll never understand being able to function in that environment.

I want to give a quick mention to a buddy, Craig, who recently started up a food blog for meat-eaters. Be ready for some good eats.

Body bits: more homemade equipment ideas, fire your trainer if he puts you on a BOSU or stability ball in the gym (I’ll explain more if you want), HHS fitness guidelines might actually be useful, yay for aqua-robics and plyometrics, Keith messes up your shoulders and then fixes them (again), Tony LOVES the sled, wrist curls are stupid (and you look stupid doing them), reverse vanity sizing, strength work for the off-season, five quick tips to increase strength, some subtle yet effective core strengthening, rebounding is hazardous (in basketball as in relationships), if hypertrophy is your game (it needs to be for a LOT of people), tighten up your “trunk,” from the WTF files (here, too), prepare to be unprepared, distance running just isn’t healthy (sorry), make sure you remain active if you cut calories, more beer + less activity = weight gain (gosh, no, really?).

Edibles: slow down, there is no one optimal diet (simplicity helps), food labels moving to the front of packages (too bad no one understands them), primal pizza, the KFC challenge, tweaking food to trick your brain, diet pills understudied and overhyped (no way), green tea may combat diabetes.

Mind matters: our psychology will maintain a “free” economy, the risk of zombification, Facebook friendonomics, how to speed-read, a page from Men in Black, communal morality, tennis refs biased, chemicals for exams, fruits and veggies help chemotherapy, social network analysis shows link between steriods and Facebook.

Kiddie corner: categorizing young athletes, evolution of the school lunch, more kids getting kidney stones (hint: put down the soda!), 21-year study of children on the way, running through pregnancy (if you MUST run…).

General health: FDA falters on BPAs and medications, do your homework on your trainer and your doctor, warm hands = warm hearts, an interesting strategy against Alzheimer’s, stem cells grow new prostates, pets as prescriptions, staph infections fairly common, low-income insurance declining, women catching up with men in infidelity (yet WE’RE still pigs…), flatulence bouquet linked to blood pressure.

Geek-out:
—Transportation: Porsche’s deceptively slow EV, Rolls Royce considers an EV, Insecta concept car, how to do donuts (just don’t try it in Italy), supersonic jet car, mammoth cruise ships, TSA hassles small aircraft owners, JetBlue makes waiting at JFK bearable (maybe JFK will drop from some worst-airport lists… nah), return of the zeppelin (no, it’s not a reunion tour).
—Tech stuff: the early days of blogging, faster Gmail with canned responses, download movies in five minutes (too bad it’s Comcast), trusting an Internet radio alarm clock, the reach of machine intelligence, terrorists a-Twitter, the LHC has nothing on the EXO-200, teaching machines to parse music, how DCMA saved the Web, a decade of Big Brother, Internet companies embrace human rights guidelines , Google settles book-scan suit, a $170 keyboard, mashup maps Craig’s List sex fiends, if the MPAA and/or RIAA controlled the handbag industry, computerized counseling for astronauts, predicting natural disasters.
—Nature: human evolution animation, why societies collapse, Walden Pond’s flowers disappearing, geo-engineering tactics ranked, tapping the vortex for clean energy, nearby solar system possibly habitable, a Mercury fly-by.
—Miscellaneous: LOLcat literacy, the power of video demos, a decade of updated copyright law, a three-minute fairy tale, calculus celebrates a birthday.

Git r dun:
—Achieving a state of “flow.”
—Greetings from Indonesia.
—No cold and heat?
—Don’t be the “fat, ugly friend.”
—How to break bad habits.
—Bypassing roadblocks.
—Sometimes, it’s the little things.
—Leigh breaks out the duct tape.
—Start with your own neighborhood.

Eh-SKAH-pay

It’s funny. It’s spelled just like “escape.”

…

…

…

Sue me. It’s a funny movie. It’s also somewhat relevant to the following:

It’s been an interesting couple of days around here, at least for me, most notably because I was offered a business to take over, either by way of buying it outright or of essentially becoming the general manager with ownership financing to buy it down the road. I won’t get into any other specifics since the whole thing is seriously on the down-low, but let’s just say that it’s a monumental opportunity, something I envisioned happening for myself in ten years or so, yet here it is being handed to me in practically ideal form, pending my relocation first and securing financing second. How awesome is that? Yeah, pretty freaking awesome, and yet, unless a few other people decide to go in on the venture to provide expertise in various areas of running said business, I’m going to turn it down. I doubt there is anyone more interested than I am in keeping this business up and running, if for no other reason than its congregal influence on a LOT of people over the past several years; however, while I could learn how to play owner on the fly, I certainly don’t feel that I have enough experience to even start out in an interim capacity, let alone outright signal-calling. I have the talent but not the developed skill set.

Yes, this applies to our training, too. We’ve all read stories, seen videos, heard about a friend of a friend, and so on and so forth about trying to do too much too soon instead of doing it the right way. Is it any small wonder why so many people wash out at the gym or on the road? The gotta-have-it-now mentality is a first-class, one-way ticket to burnout, and quickly at that. You can’t go from couch potato to marathon participant in two months, at least not to the point of completion or enjoyment. Similarly, you can’t walk into a gym cold and expect to squat 300 pounds or more (quarter-squats don’t count unless they’re part of a planned program that uses them for an overload effect). I see this like clockwork at certain times of the year: January (New Year’s resolutions), March/April (spring break), August (back-to-school), and October (pre-holidays). Always new faces, either in agony or complacency, in a revolving door as sure as the sunrise. What’s worse is that those who choose to purchase the “services” of a typical “trainer” are no better off—the “trainer” puts their clients through a couple weeks of pure ridiculousness, makes the clients feel absolutely exhausted from day one (because, after all, that’s the mark of a good workout, right?), and ultimately drives the clients away because they either don’t get the results they were promised, burnout from too much too soon, or even get injured.

In my case mentioned above, it’d simply be too much too soon for me to take on alone. I’m sure I could get a lot of helpful advice and guidance along the way, but I’d be flying by the seat of my pants with the livelihoods of several employees depending on me to luck out and keep things running smoothly ad infinitum. There’s a difference between managing people and having your nuts on the chopping block. At any rate, I’ve had to find some mental escapes from this and other issues recently, which fortunately isn’t too difficult once I figured out what works for me, whether is a half-hour of qigong (moving meditation) or a couple half-hours strung together on my Harley. I’m even managing another getaway to the beach in just over a week (Charleston, SC, in this case), and yes, it’s about seven half-hours each way (I won’t be alone, but I’ll be away, which is just as good for now).

Movember update: Wow. I mean, really, wow. The first day I posted something about it, my site traffic here jumped fifty percent. It has since calmed itself back to normal levels, but the page hits keep steadily rolling in, so thanks for the eyeballs, folks. I even managed some donations along the way, which wasn’t—and still isn’t—a goal but not surprising considering the people involved, so again, thanks. There’s still time to donate or join the team if you so choose; otherwise, feel free to post comments to my Movember page on here rather than the official page that I’m using for donations only. In another week, I’ll post my first picture of the event here. As it stands, I intend to just grow everything out and groom as needed, but if you want to see something in particular (certain areas shaved, designs, etc), I’ll give first dibs to those who donate, and of course I’ll post those pictures as well. Remember: please post all questions and comments to my page on this blog, and only donations are done through the official page.

Body bits: “no equipment” is just an excuse, running in high heels, America wants YOU to exercise, *pssst* obesity is bad for you, *pssst* cardio-only doesn’t work, control weight with gut bacteria waste, incision-free gastric bypass, Eric and Mike on their knees (sans supplements), shoulder digest (posterior capsule stretching, Keith’s fixes #1, finding the ouchies), why crunches suck.

Edibles: breaking the dogma of meal timing (and a quiz), a simple food test, Leigh’s diet distractions, Mike parses MSN (I think my eyes rolled out of my head), I was told there would be pie, Mark does “D“, glycogen redux, a lab in every kitchen, what’s really in your food, be careful nuking that chicken, you are not—nor should you strive to be—Joey Chestnut, more problems for bottled water, energy drink regulation (since the FDA does such a good job regulating everything else under its jurisdiction…), feed the dogs as you would feed yourself.

Mind matters: mental elasticity, brain signals predict weight gain, memories formed even during sleep, no sense of direction, patience is a learned skill.

Kiddie corner: high-tech is still high-risk in maternity, overweight is not normal, heads-up on food allergies, when moms get jealous of dads (I guess it’s enough that women want to ban fantasy sports—hey, if you want us to act like soap opera guys, you can start looking and dressing like Victoria’s Secret women).

General health: health in hard times, happy belated Global Handwashing Day (OCDers rejoice!), re-routing your circuitry, herbal gateways, the fraud of “intention to treat” analysis, caring for the caretakers, Congress’ “Mr. Health” dies, Mark’s top ten top-ten lists, a boost in pandemic prediction, Andrew’s hodgepodge, taking your health into your own hands.

Geek-out:
—Transportation: Challenger tops Viper, electric Mini spied and unveiled, definition of a supercar, a CNG Mustang, the “new” Prius, seems like only yesterday (oh wait…), future alt-fuel race cars, personal pod transportation, ugly-as-sin $110k motorcycle, the American bullet train, airline turbulence, future vehicles made of buckypaper.
—Nature: global warming farce, dumpster diving for the origin of life, earthquakes (five hot spots, California due, ten deadliest, history’s lessons), turning carbon dioxide into fuel, endangered animals for sale, earth out of balance, getting reconnected, the global burden of high food costs (how science can help, Michael Pollan speaks).
—Tech stuff: use the Web to end poverty, hide your webpage from search bots, bye-bye IBEX, homebrew rockets (the guts), hackers literally commit highway robbery, computer security basics, the Apple tax.
—Miscellaneous: the power of glamour, DIY Faraday Cage wallet, the benefits of telecommuting, the need for a modern-day WPA, orchestral science, 104 grants up for grabs.

Git r dun:
—The brain and the banjo.
—Medals for mettle.
—Wishbone instead of backbone.
—Ironman tests Human 2.0.
—Advice from the uber-fit for the rest of us (here and here).
—What about the Wheaties box heroes?
—Some verbal cues to get you through.

Movember

So, I had a somewhat decent post started up on the benefits of adequate sleep, physical recovery, and food that makes your body happy. However, given that said post was in no small part inspired by my work schedule these past few days, my motivation to fully develop and finish it bonked out. I’d known for awhile that this stretch was coming and so accounted for it in my training, setting up this week—my training week goes from Saturday to Friday rather than Monday to Sunday—as a mini-off period (meaning mostly foam rolling, some light activity with the dogs, and one day to test my meager 1RMs on the three big lifts) sandwiched between two two-week spans that would normally flow together. It was just that kind of schedule where I knew going in that I would be short on sleep, and what sleep I did get would be haphazard (relative to my usual schedule), leaving me utterly dependent on caffeine to get through the end of the hoo-hah. Even over a couple days of offset/interrupted/short sleep, here’s what happens to me:

—My thirst mechanism goes haywire, meaning I’m always thirsty, no matter how much water I drink (even to the point of bloat).
—My hunger mechanism also goes haywire. Even though I’m able to control this to a degree (usually because of the water bloat), I’m still never satisfied, though crunchy munchies seem to help somewhat.
—Those two issues obviously have a fun effect on my, um, internal processing clock, and it takes a couple days after resuming my normal sleep schedule to get that back on schedule.
—I break out like a high school freshman. I have no idea why. It’s just on my face, and it’s not pizza-esque, but invariably, I get three or four pretties to pop up.
—Did I mention that my mental drive kinda craps out? Though I had some opportunities, I did exactly zero reading. I hate that.

A shift from early to late has a muted yet still noticable effect; a shift from late to early is borderline sadistic. Guess which one I’ve been doing? Yeah… I will say that my disdain for most store-bought bread deepened over these few days since sandwiches tend to be the most nutritionally-complete food I get. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I’m not the biggest fan of grains in general; however, awhile back, I did discover some bread I could get into for the times I do eat the stuff. I hadn’t picked any up before this crunch at work, so I had to make do with the other stuff in the house, and sleep issues notwithstanding, I felt more blah than had I used the bread I like (it’s happened other times when errands are put on the back burner for whatever reason). Yes, Ezekiel is more expensive, especially in recent financial times for most people, but then, I’ve come to appreciate quality of food more than the cost, to the point of cutting back elsewhere to make sure I put a higher quality of fuel into my body. It makes a huge long-term difference in your physical health and mental sharpness. Well, at least it does for me. Too bad more people can’t/don’t take notice (even Ross got in on this one).

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Now, for the main point of this post. I was planning to hold off on talking about this until closer to the end of the month, but I figured I’d go ahead and throw it out there in hopes of getting another blog or two to promote it before it starts. I found out about Movember—that’s November with an “m”—on another blog recently, and considering how lazy I usually am about shaving (hey, working in radio has its benefits), I figured this was a pretty simple yet cool thing to do. Basically, Movember is an effort to raise money and awareness for men’s health issues, namely prostate cancer (only nine months or so until I get my first check… joy…), through the growing and grooming of moustaches throughout the month. Personally, I’m not sure if I’ll do just a moustache (unlikely) or a full ’stache and beard-type thingy (more likely), and then if I’ll groom it or just go wild.

I’ll post a weekly picture of how things are progressing during November, starting with my clean-shaven mug (may be on Halloween since I’m taking off for Charleston, South Carolina, the first week of the month). Whether that’s in blog posts or on a separate page (similar to my liftSTRONG stuff) has yet to be determined, but then, I have a few days to figure all that out. Unlike the issues I had with getting a liftSTRONG donation page set up, Movember provides one, so I’ll be updating that soon and continuously throughout next month, but I’ll post my increasing furriness here first. I’m not looking for a donation goal—or even donations at all—but of course, any would be appreciated. If nothing else, feel free to leave snide comments both here and there (once I get it all set up, of course). I’ll write a follow-up post or two with whatever decisions I make to get everything nailed down, even if that’s to direct you to a separate page.

By the way, I’ve added some new blogs and websites to the right-hand column, so check them out (I’d recommend a read-through of Further Fitness).

Body bits: “cardio” isn’t ALL bad (just please keep it to a minimum), this definitely belongs in a “WTF?!” file, Steve Cotter is not of this world, Mike goes old school on squats and face pulls, good push-up and trunk flexion progression programs, exercise is actually *gasp* good for your knees (and most everything else), more on rapid weight loss, stiffness versus shortness, the way to distinguish sports injuries on TV, more truth about unstable surface training, how to stay fat (part 1), greasing the groove before a lift, Eric’s hodgepodge, what sitting all day can do to you.

Edibles: eat like it’s your job, ten steps to a “square foot garden” (mentioned and linked here before but not so succinctly as this), Weight Watchers pushes Twinkies (no, seriously, they are), the meat of metabolic typing, the do’s and don’ts of vitamin D, yummy fat, more fun and games in supplement advertising, the final part of Lyle’s interview for Body Improvements.

Mind matters: test your visual mind control, Thoureau fitness (see what I did there?), exercising depression (take special note of the article linked in that post), building relationships through exercise, THE INTERNET IS GOOD FOR YOU!!! (here, here, and here—I must be the smartest person alive).

Kiddie corner: Nothing to see here. Please move along.

General health: you might as well get and stay healthy because chances are you’re not going to be famous, Joe laments the fitness industry, “credit crunch” insomnia, weight-loss surgery may reduce cancer risk, your tongue and you, some roadblocks to opting out of Medicare.

Geek-out:
—Transportation: closing roads may cut congestion, Toyota microcar on the way, iPod (ick) and Bluetooth (eh) are taking over cars, cars may become cell phone dead zones, the back end of car production, Lotus wins alt-fuel race, the golden age of trains, airlines say no to porn, windowless airplanes.
—Nature: all life uses relatively the same amount of energy, the loneliest organism on Earth, earthquake simulation video, Kilauea erupts.
—Tech stuff: free nationwide wifi, microscope on a chip, go go Gadget climber, new MacBooks still too expensive, how to camp and travel with less gear, climate modeling better than financial modeling, new tech for telescopes.
—Miscellaneous: Women Against Fantasy Sports (you should be duly impressed that I’m refraining from comment… for now… black widows…), a beautiful new theory of everything, happy anniversary to the Prime Meridian and Big Ben.

Git r dun:
—Bill on Jack.
—Eat boring and have an exciting body.
—Someday versus today.

Taking a break

Science fiction and fantasy is some of the most intelligent writing I’ve ever encountered, and I’ve read a lot over the years (hello, two liberal arts degrees here). Offhand, some of the more engaging reads have been: Parable of the Sower (Octavia Butler), To Sail Beyond the Sunset (Robert Heinlein), A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller, Jr.), and the His Dark Materials trilogy (Philip Pullman). Add to that list now: Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card). It’s been in my neverending reading queue for a long time, and I’ve heard nothing but good thing’s about Card’s writing, not to mention he’s kind of a local as he lives an hour or so northeast of Charlotte. I read some reviews of the book beforehand without getting into any of the plot itself, so I had little to go on regarding the story, but much like Ishmael and Anthem were borderline religious revelations for me, so too has Ender’s Game been for others, and after blowing through it over the course of a couple days, I wish I had read it earlier in life as I can see how this could be such a personally influential book. That’s all I’m going to say about it here—I’ll leave it to you to read for yourself if you haven’t already.

By sheer coincidence, this break into la-la land comes amid some anniversaries and milestones in telescopics and space exploration (Google style). Not that there’s anything wrong with life here on Earth (well, maybe, but I’m trying to be a little less pessimistic right now—must be the coffee and lack of sleep), but humans have always looked to the stars for wonderment, mysticism, and meaning. Some people make a scientific living from stargazing; most of us just like to look.

Of course, by now, you’re wondering what this has to do with, well, anything. Frankly, I needed a break, from my CSCS studies, from health-related issues, and from non-fiction in general, especially after the two tomes I devoured recently. Having recently joined the NSCA, I got my first research journals in the mail, scanned them, and decided I just couldn’t dive into them yet; however, not having a reading project in progress is unthinkable, so I did something just for fun. Note that I didn’t take off or quit, just sort of backed off. I feel a lot better about getting back to my hard-core reading soon, though I may delay that a little longer to jump into a pile of Eastern philosophy I’ve had lying around for awhile (The Book of the Five Rings, The Art of War, Tao Te Ching again, maybe a couple others), which might be a good segue into the condition of the mind, especially on the heels of Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, before really tackling the home stretch of my exam studies. At least that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself.

The same is true of physical training and even nutrition. Any intelligently written program will allow for short, occasional (yet planned) “back-off” periods where, while remaining active, you aren’t pushed quite so hard as during the formal training periods, the reason being that nearly all training programs involve breaking down the body in some way (obviously so it rebuilds in a stronger fashion, but too much for too long means insufficient recovery and eventual injury). That’s why I keep mentioning the importance of recovery work, from the (almost) daily practices of self-myofascial release and various forms of meditation to the (bi-/tri-)monthly back-off periods from any program. Training should be fun. Heck, simply getting up and moving around should be fun. When was the last time you went outside and just ran around? (For me, it was a week or so ago with the dogs at the park.) When it stops being fun, it stops being a priority, and more often than not, it’ll just stop happening, whether your body or mind makes the decision. Vacations certainly are nice but not practical on a regular basis, so take time to find some small way you can find escape and relaxation from a big stressor in your life—even during the stressor—for, say, fifteen minutes weekly if not daily, even if that means staying in one night and crashing early instead of tricking yourself into missing some good recovery time. Goodness knows that’s my main goal for the next few days around here.

On a side note, it’s nice to see some others commenting on that whole “no woman should lift more than three pounds” thing I ripped on in a recent post’s comments section. Some people really should be backhanded across the room.

Body bits: cheap homemade equipment, Kettlebells 101, modern life takes its toll (read: get up off your ass), a big (and funny) eye roll at the Wii, making the push-up more challenging (and fun), Tony gets his Hobbs on, tempering weight loss, a metaphor for program ADD, some knee health tips, imbalances and physical therapy (firsthand experience here, kthxbye), the government tries—and fails—again to prescribe activity guidelines (at least they got something right), metabolism may be overrated, Andrew reviews the TRX (already on my wish list), body fat doesn’t just hang around, BMI = BS.

Edibles: calories get more exposure (fast food joints, subways), people are watching you at the Chinese buffet (and likely know more about you than you do), a guilt-ridden form of vegetarianism (um, why?), bakeware to go with the cookware, baking soda supplementation (probably not a good idea but interesting nonetheless), some assumptions challenged, have some chard, some dietary tricks to consider, Mark discusses teabagging your nuts (if you don’t get it, don’t ask), cooking tome packs in the pounds, Coke (soda or pop to you non-Southerners) with or without ice, atomic cake, meant to munch meat, drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable substances, Heart Attack Grill (not affiliated with Roadkill Cafe).

Mind matters: exercise {–} intelligence, brain’s pathway for food intake discovered, stress can be hallucinogenic, never talk to the police without an attorney, citizen enforcement evolved.

Kiddie corner: a simple fan can prevent SIDS, keep those teenage girls moving, fevers aren’t always bad, the NFL gets into the role model act (hopefully some players skipped out), some progress in school cafeterias.

General health: preventive care may be over-prescribed, Leigh reviews fitness forums and unstable surface training, Andrew’s potpourri, colonialism may have given rise to HIV, drugs’ effectiveness exaggerated (gosh, no, really? shocking), local rural practice goes 24/7, the “eew” of public toilets (here’s a fledgling Google-based helper as well), antidepressants’ hand in the current financial crunch, more evidence for circumcisions’ ineffectiveness, here’s your sign, Lyle does interviews (here and here), newsflash—sample drugs may be bad for you *gasp*.

Geek-out:
—Transportation: plug-in hybrids are here (DIY), Honda Insight brings EV to the masses, VW’s Volt-like concept, emergency vehicles ready to rumble, alt-fuel Cannonball Run, Amtrak gets federal boost, aviation innovations, Columbia astronaut’s diary on display.
—Nature: toxic soil could be farmable, primal living good for environment, water filters face their own hurdles, more people than penguins.
—Tech stuff: barcoding EVERYthing, Switchblade project nixed, solar power booms, Gmail battles drunken emailing, data mining not effective against terrorism, US losing spy satellite dominance, green bulbs could make you red.
—Miscellaneous: instant suburbs, ten days that never happened, self-healing systems, why newspapers matter.

Git r dun:
—Isaac’s rules.
—Getting through the dip.
—Competing with yourself.
—A compilation by Russ.
—The story of Shun Fujimoto.

Knowing when to quit

Yeah, I know, for all the hoo-hah I raise about making plans, setting goals, ordering priorities, and so on and so forth, sometimes you just have to throw in the towel, retreat to the comfort and security of your happy place, and regroup. Hey, it happens. Unfortunately, a lot of people see this as taking a step backward, as a defeat, as giving up. It can be each and/or all of those things, but only if you let them. There’s nothing wrong with taking a step back—it can help provide some perspective on the overall situation, or at the very least keep you from sticking your foot in that bear trap. There’s nothing wrong with a defeat—it can teach valuable lessons to use down the road as long as you don’t interpret a defeat in battle as a defeat in the war (for you kids of the 90s, think of it as a “sike!”). There’s nothing wrong with giving up—some endeavors are exercises (heh heh) in futility (like getting me to like reality TV) when taken to their endgame.

The genesis for this thought was my thrust-and-parry with computer operating systems over the past couple days (in microcosm) and several years (in macrocosm). Apple was the only graphical user interface (GUI, or pretty picture thingies) that my high school had. I moved to PCs in college and never really looked back. Despite its incessant bugginess and random hiccups, I learned a lot about Windows and what it takes to keep it up and running. Ten years of trial-and-error is a great teaching tool. However, for one reason or another, one of the laptops in the house just will not behave with Windows, so I’m in the middle of (finally) doing a full, clean installation of Ubuntu (Linux). After monkeying around with it in demo, I like it a lot, yet that laptop does not. The past couple days of troubleshooting have led me to think that it’s actually a physical problem with the hard drive since the other computers continue running Windows flawlessly while this one in particular won’t run anything for more than a couple days without burping (or full-on barfing all over itself).

The same can be applied to my short-lived distance running career. I started out with the best of intentions and the least of actual knowledge. Over the course of two years or so, after several chronic injuries and one massively acute one popped up, I figured out through both research and trial-and-error that my body is literally not built for distance running. Good to know. I tried something that I thought would work, and it did for awhile, but in the end, it was more detrimental to my health than it was beneficial. Same thing for just about all training programs (some are just utter crap that should be avoided at all costs, like most of the BS that commercial gym “trainers” put people through): try it out, do what you’re supposed to do (don’t think you can eat like a horse and expect to lose fat just because you hit the treadclimber for twenty minutes three days a week), and see if you get the results you want after a significant time period (read: 3-4 months, not 3-4 weeks). Chances are, you’re not going to die or meet your soul mate in that month, so experiment with yourself (I didn’t go there, peanut gallery), see what works, make sure it’s at least somewhat enjoyable (if not, you won’t keep doing it), and keep at it. If you don’t like what you get out of it, do something else. It’s not a marriage, just a training and/or nutrition program.

People are inherently afraid of the unknown, which explains page after page of people flooding fitness forums asking over and over and over and over again about what’s the best program (answer: the one you’re not doing) and fretting mercilessly over the minutiae of each and every one of them before setting foot in a gym (invariably, this mindset leads to training ADHD, the jumping bean who keeps hopping from one program to another every couple weeks and wonders why he/she isn’t getting results). Hey, honey, just go try it. If you’re worried about what other people thing, find or figure out something you can do at home (all of my training can be done outside the gym, but I choose to keep going because of the occasional energy bump I get that’s not entirely associated with the occasional eye candy, plus I don’t yet have a place to construct the man-cave to house the equipment I do and don’t already have). Just go pick up and move some weight(s). If it’s easy, pick up something heavier and/or more often until you can’t safely do it anymore. Repeat. Adjust weight and repetitions as necessary. You’re welcome.

Body bits: ditch and one-up the machines, lose the pain (neck/shoulders, back), more tweaks to improve grip strength, breaking news – gyms tailor training programs around health conditions (um, shouldn’t they’ve been doing that already?), music helps athletic performance (duh).

Edibles: bad news for Guiding Stars et al, what Brad eats, labels of origin (maybe this will make some foods less appealing), no more tea bags (note the space in there :P), eating for the (fall) season, DIY energy bars, more on alcohol (and Chicken Littles), more doctors embracing low-carb, some pitfalls of over-processed foods.

Mind matters: the blank slate (FYI Steven Pinker is a great read on this kind of stuff, namely The Language Instinct), the anatomy of happiness, sports participation helps mental health (probably by distracting people from bad habits more than anything).

Kiddie corner: promoting culinary adventure.

General health: grow awareness for men’s health issues (I’ll try to post a separate blog for this as it gets closer), “FDA approved” should scare more than comfort, Mark’s potpourri, “sumo virus” alert (no, it has nothing to do with diet and much to do with poor hygiene), employee wellness making strides.

Geek-out:
—Transportation: the Flintstones meet the 21st century, ten highways that should go away, Lamborghini’s future, Staples goes hybrid, low-fare buses booming, an EV with a 345-ton towing capacity (sort of), world’s fastest bicyclist (sales skyrocket in down economy), motorcycles (Ferrari dream, Honda’s hybrid), pedal-powered blimp blows, SpaceX’s Falcon 1 finally reaches space (go team, military uses, what’s next), more space tourism.
—Nature: ocean dead zones bigger than expected (Wiki “North Pacific gyre”), another reason why carbon trading won’t work.
—Tech stuff: Hubble burps and sighs, Phoenix winding down (maybe), great space walks, Guitar Hero’s backward payments, cell phone contracts face extinction, a temple to worship science (eh).
—Miscellaneous: happy anniversary to commercial radio (it’s been all downhill since then), largest prime number so far, head-first slides may be faster, politics and religion are technologies.

Git r dun:
—Declaration of change.
—Some advice from Dustin Pedroia.