7 Behavioral Immunogens

1. Physical activity
2. Eating breakfast
3. Getting enough sleep (7 hours or more a night)
4. Moderate alcohol consumption
5. Wearing a seat belt
6. Not smoking
7. Being at or near ideal weight

So do you do these?
If you like living and would like to do lots more of it I suggest you start.
I feel pretty good about how my life expectancy calculates according to what we talked about in my Health Psychology class. Of course there's absolutely no guarantee that I'll live until 82 like the sheet says. (avg. life expectancy for a male = 72; barring natural disasters, random violence, etc. I expect to reach the century mark)
The lesson here: life is a gift. Do the above and you'll take advantage of this gift as much as possible.

one new day

3 new cd's
Talib Kweli - The Beautiful Struggle
Talib Kweli - Quality
Mos Def - black on both sides


Only listened to "The Beautiful Struggle" so far. Definately check out "Around My Way" ft. John Legend (who I'm pretty sure accompanied Kanye West in concert and has the gift of an amazing voice)

Friday mom and dad are probably coming to stay the night with me...Saturday morning we're going to see my cousin Laura play in the All-State Band at Tan-Tar-A. Should be an awesome time!

Good start

Got to work on time today...actually a little early. What's sad about this? The fact that I'm so excited just being on time. Eventually I'm gonna get a boss that doesn't think I'm so funny and instead of laughing at me when I come in late will do something extreme like fire me. Yeah...that'd be bad.

Back to happy stuff: even made myself breakfast (Frosted Flakes and toast) and threw a butt-load of ribs and potatoes in the crockpot for some tasty goodness later this week.

yum yum yum yum

Dinner this evening:
Pork chops (marinaded in a Honey Dijon sauce)on the Foreman grill (outdoor gas grill didn't wanna work for me)
Mac and cheese (been in the cubbord way too long)
Baked beans warmed on the stove (diddo)
4 pieces of toast (no such thing as too much toast!)
And some delicious homemade choc. chip cookies for dessert

A wonderful meal to help me recover from beating down some youngins at the Rec Center earlier this afternoon.

Tomorrow morning:
spare ribs with plenty of bbq sauce and potatoes are going in the crockpot. I'll be coming home from work and class to a wonderful smelling duplex.

helping hands

Its amazing how good you can feel about yourself when you help another person.
I just got back from helping my neighbor install a modem in her computer and hook up a new printer. She just got one book written about her life story and is working on at least one more and wants to be able to use the internet to sell a book and some poems. And I helped make that possible. Go me. So now I'm going to take myself to Sonic for a couple pancakes-on-a-stick as a treat for my good work.

don't know

I feel like there's a whole lot of good stuff I could write about in this post. Just saw a great movie with Nell, class is going well, rode 45 miles today which was great on my body, and so on.....but there's something really bothering me right now...and I don't feel like posting about it.
Was gonna stay up for a couple hours and play games,but all I feel like now is going to bed,so thats what I'm going to do. Goodnight

Boycott this coming Monday

If its possible to boycott a day then do it Monday.

The "most depressing day of the year" won't get to me. Nope...I'm just gonna ignore it. I'll pretend its tuesday or something.

In other news: late to work today. Maybe I have a sleep disorder or something. Time to do some internet research to find out.

Played ball last night with Nell. Actually didn't play on the court at the same time with him but he drove me there. Too many sucky people playing other sucky people so it takes forever for the next game to start. Lets just hope these youngins become a little less sucky or just give up after a certain amount of time.

Why cyclist wear helmets

So this doesn't happen:
"Last night while Tracy, Molly, Meathead and myself were doing a big tree loop on our fix gears Tracy went down hard. He sustained a very large blow to the head and some small road rash. Needless to say Tracy went via ambulance to the Unversity Hospital. Tracy was consicous. The hospital did numorous tests and Tracy spent the night in the ICU so that they could monitor the swelling of his head."

I've ridden in group rides with tracy a few times. This guy (i'm gonna guess about 30) looks like a european cyclist. Huge legs, bald head (when I saw him at least), small upper body...just looks like he belongs on a bike. I believe the times I rode with him he was wearing a helmet (though once he might not have been), but this time he wasn't. It's not nice and all to call people who just got injured (and just left ICU for a regular hospital bed) stupid, but I can't help it. You (and the other tards that were with you that weren't wearing helmets probably because you think you look better without one on) are all stupid. In fact, it pisses me off very much that you're so stupid. You make other cyclists look stupid because you've got so much to spare.

In other news:
my Rural Soc. teacher kept talking about if "someone does you dirty" then so and so. Never heard it put this way...but I like it. So from now on if someone does something bad to you or someone else, they did you dirty.

He also brough up an interesting point I hadn't though about in at least a year or two.
Answer this question: If your house was burning down and you could only grab one thing (possibly two or three, but not more than that) what would it be?
Seems the answer to this question should say a whole lot about who/what you are.

Been a while

Its been a while since I was paid to blog (i.e. blogging from the Reflector). Class this morning was ok..got a little boring and I'm not good at sitting still.
Teacher is something like 75 years old and is basically deaf...and you know what...I think he's going to be a great teacher! I can see it in him...material might not be that easy (I'm supposed to see the world through the eyes of an Amish person...and contrary to popular belief I'm not Amish).

Hopes for this semester:
1. that I bring my lunch more instead of getting so much McGreasy McFatty food from McHell.
2. set aside enough time to get my work done
3. exercise at least an hour (preferably 2-3) every day
4. actually read all that I'm supposed to read for one class (I've been here 4 years already...'bout time I read something besides John Grisham, Heru Ptah, or the Fast Food Nation author guy)
5. manage my money better. Alredy set up a new account with Mizzou Credit Union to get started. I like their feel...may not be true, but they seem lots more caring than UMB. No more overdrafts for me (well..not many :)

Feb. 2005 Esquire

Let's say you have two friends named Jack and Jane. They have been romantically involved for two years, and the relationship has always been good. Then one day Jack calls you and sadly mutters, "Jane just brok up with me. She thinks I cheated on her." You ask, "Well did you?" Jack says, "I'm not sure. Something strange happened." This is what Jack proceeds to tell you:
There is this woman in my apartment building who I barely know. I've seen her in the hallway a few times, and we've just sort of nodded our hellos. Last week I came home from the bar very drunk, and I ran into her while I was getting my mail. She was drunk, too. So just to be neighborly, we decided to go to her apartment to have one more beer. But because we were intoxicated, the conversation was very looes and slightly flirtatious. She suddenly tells me that she has a bizarre sexual quirk: she can have an orgasm only if a man watches her masturbate. This struck me as fascinating, so I started asking questions why this was. And then--somehow--it just sort of happened. I never touched her and I never kissed her, but I ended up watching this woman masturbate. And then I went home and went to bed. I told Jane about this a few days later, mostly because it was all so weird. But Jane went fucking insane, and she angrily said our relationship was over.

Whose side do you take, Jack's or Jane's?
(The author writes) I have posed this question to myriad people, and their reactions fall into two broad categories. Women almost always think Jane's rage is completely valid; men typically inquire about the availability of housing in Jack's hypothetical building. Women usually agree that this offense warrants a breakup, while most men think it merely deserves tenure in the doghouse. What's noteworthy is that no one disputes that Jack did something wrong, everyone uses a slighly different, weirdly personal argument to explain what makes it so bad.
The scenario raises so many other questions. How different is this from watching porn? How different is it from getting a lap dance? Is this situation better or worse than if Jack had drunkenly kissed his neighbor? Would it make any difference if the neighbor had been behind a glass partition? Many people point to the intimacy of the exchange. But if that's the case, the conversation preceding the episode seems as troublesome as the masturbation itself. And if Jack honestly saw this encounter as "weird" (as opposed to "erotic") shouldn't he be forgiven completely?
This is why the Jack and Jane Hypothetical is such a vexing scenario. The question really isn't "Whose side do you take?" The true question is "When, exactly, does cheating begin?"
(Author goes on to talk about how due to lifespan its mathematically unreasonable to be monogamous. How it's not about physical contact or emotional intimacy; it begins the moment anyone decides that it's unreasonable to be sexually committed to one person.)
But here is the bottom line: Motivation is everything. Wanting to cheat on someone but failing is no different from actually cheating, and the reason something happens is way more important than the action itself. "This is why watching your neighbor masturbate is not necessarily a reason to lose your girlfriend, particularly if you were drunk and merely trying to get your mail. And if you disagree with this, you're just being unreasonable"


If you want to see all the mumbo-jumbo about why monogamy is mathematically unreasonable pick up the February 2005 issue of Esquire and flip to pages 53-55.

New favorite quote for Andrew: "What you say doesn't matter as much as why you choose to say it"

Sweet

New weight bench for $40! If I bought this thing from anyone not on the cycling team it would have been somethin like $200. She looks pretty sweet in the living room. Instantly makes the three of us (roommates and I) look much more buff...if thats possible of course.
It's a bench press thing with attachments for leg extensions and curls as well as arm curls.
I'm pretty excited...can add some more muscle in the my home before it comes off when the road season starts in a couple months.

Thats about it. Can't really describe how good it feels to see my room cleaner than its ever been (damn its spacious when my crap isn't all over the floor) and the same for the living room and kitchen. And I had some bbq ribs and potatoes about an hour ago that I crock-potted up. I'm gonna kill this thing mom gave me in the next few months...it looks plenty old and probably won't hold up with all the stuff (aka food) that I plan on putting into it.

Earlier I went and played some ball...had to get out of the house. Tried not to sweat too much as that's not good for a new tattoo...shouldn't have played ball but my body appreciated it. Felt great to put the hurtin' on some unsuspecting rec center players.

Tonight: Going to see "In Good Company" with Nell.

Hint

Ok..here's a tattoo hint. Yellow ink actually can work on brown skin.

Got Cable internet installed yesterday. That was a bitch! Took way too long...but alas it is installed (hmm..don't know if I've ever used "alas" before..good stuff). According to a bandwidth tester i've got on Firefox its much quicker than our DSL was.
We were paying waaayy to much for utilities! $350/month is way too much for the three of us to be paying. So we switched cable companies and got out phone plan modified. Now cable w/ the internet service is $60/month (we got a nice DVR box with that...so no more taping show..just DVR it up..oh yeah..and pause live television!). And instead of paying a $80 phone/dsl and a $65 cable bill we'll just be paying a $20 phone bill.
This decrease in money makes me happy. Oh and the fact that my room looks pretty damn good when its clean makes me very happy. Much roomier without crap all over the floor.

#2

Got tattoo number two today. What is it??.....nope..not gonna tell right now. It's a happy tattoo though.

Went to bed yesterday evening at 7-something. Was feeling like crap, bad headache. Don't know if its from playing ball for an extended period of time, or early at the rec center when I went up for a rebound of my missed shot (yes, it happens once and a while)and Ronnell forearmed my face, smashing my nose and making my eyes water for a while.
Woke up this morning at 8-something feeling great. Haven't slept that long in a while...probably won't again for a while. Had a nice list of things to do today and they're all done...except balancing SMSTA's checkbook, which will be taken care of in a little bit.

Bought frames the other day for my biking/inspiration posters....they look awesome framed! Two in my room and one in the living room. Good stuff!

A monday in January

Books reading now:
The Broker - John Grisham
A Hip-Hop Story - Heru Ptah (again)
The Last Season - Phil Jackson

Next movie to see:
Coach Carter (again)

Music:
Lovers and Friends - Lil' John, etc
Charlene - Anthony Hamilton
Coach Carter soundtrack

Was thinking about something earlier and actually made a note of it so I'd remember to put it up here. I think my view of the world is pretty distored because of how my life has been sheltered (in a good way) thus far. This isn't the somewhat "can't go see the movie cause its rated R" type sheltered, its a "my parents are not divorced and they've always been there for me" type sheltering. Divorce is something I hadn't really encountered until college. Its almost wierd to me now how I used to assume everyone's parents were still together. In fact, I still find myself doing it at times.
So God, thanks for the shelter you've given me thus far in life. I'll take my distorted view of the world and try and go out and do some good stuff.

Guess that about does it. I'm tired, and for some reason worn out mentally.
So until another day...

Coach Carter

1 word:
See it

Definately on my list of greatest movies ever.

Good day for Goodwill Store

Today is a good day for the Goodwill store in Columbia. They're getting a bunch of my stuff. Cleaning out the closet day, got more clothes than I need and plenty that don't even fit any more..and some that I wouldn't wear because they're so butt ugly.

Dropped by the MSTA office today...talked to Cindy for a little while and gave her a little Def Jam poetry. We'll see what she thinks.

And it snowed a little! Not enough..but a little is a start

Didn't get out to the Columbia Rec Center to play ball earlier so its about time to set up the bike and trainer in my room and throw on a movie.

Too good not to put up here

How To Argue With Females

Step 1. Abandon all logic. Girls don't use it, and you certainly shouldn't allow it to handicap you.
Step 2. If you believe strongly in something, do NOT give in to any aspect of it. Compromise is useless against girls, because they will rationalize that if they can get you to concede to one element, they can get you to quit on the whole fuckin' Periodic Table. (Nothing like a little chemistry humor, right?)

Step 3. Don't be afraid to take cheap shots. Ever argue with a girl about something and they randomly insult you with something that has no relevance to the argument? That's their way of trying to wear you down and push you off-topic. Fight fire with fire, I say. Tell her she has a fat ass, small boobs, an ugly face, disorienting facial hair, unwieldy hips, and is a genuinely awful person.

Step 4. Cite precedent. Girls have no concept of historical factors relating to the current situation. Most girls reading this just went over to dictionary.com to see what "precedent" meant.

Step 5. Interrupt her. Don't let her talk. Girls hate that like they hate other girls. It's hilarious, too. They get all frazzled.

Step 6. Don't take her seriously. Laugh at every point she deems serious in nature. Fart, if possible. Derail her emotional train.

Step 7. If the argument escalates, cut off all communication with her. If a girl can't find you, she can't continue arguing about bullshit. Change your phone number, relocate, and get a name change if you must.

Step 8. Don't be fooled by "Let's stop arguing please." That's their way of making you let your guard down, so they can swoop in after you're worn down. Instead, say something like "Yeah, all this being right is exhausting for me." Pisses them off. Just trust me.

Step 9. Compare her unfavorably with another girl. This is especially effective if the comparison is with a girl that they simply abhor. Tell her something like, "Lisa is so much more compassionate than you." Girls hate other girls, like a deer hates a shotgun. And how do you take down a deer? Exactly.

Step 10. Don't be intimidated by the water works. That's their ultimate contingency, knowing that guys can't deal with a crying girl. Stay strong, don't let yourself get emotional, just think of something funny. Replay scenes from "Office Space" in your head if you must.

Step 11. Bust out, "I don't feel like fighting. I've proven my point." Then stop. Leave the argument. It pisses them off because a guy's natural reaction is to resolve, whereas a girl's is to continue forever and ever until the end of time until they hear that they are right. If a guy decides that he is right and won't budge, their whole concept of male-female relations is shot to shit. Again, mind games.

Step 12. Ask her if she's on the rag. Self-explanatory.

Step 13. When all else fails, tell her she's just like her mother. It's an ace-in-the-hole and will emotionally cripple her to such a degree she may even forget her whole argument.

Remember, girls are the less intelligent of the genders. All throughout history men have out-thought, out-invented, and out-created women in every facet of existence. Isn't it about time we won an argument for once? Gentlemen, that time is now.

Funny how

something so dreary could actually be so beautiful with a little chill. I.e. this terriblly ugly weather in Columbia could be so beautiful if it was coming down as snow.

So what have i been up to? Stayed up last night until 8am this morning. What I did in that time? Wal-mart for a drill to put together a new little tv stand and shoe holder closet thing. Came back and made some hamburger helper at about 1am. Yep...nothing like the smell of hamburger helper in the middle of the night. Put all of it in the fridge (nope..didn't make it to eat it then..just to have for today and the next couple days) and put together the stand and shoe thing. Cleaned up my room a ton (finally!) and rearranged some stuff in my room. Got done with stuff about 6am and just kinda browsed the web and stuff when Nell walked into my room at 6am. He was heading to work at the hospital, but before had to say "you ever heard of sleep". Umm..guess not. Headed to bed at 8 and slept until about 2pm.

Today: threw a roast in the crockpot mom sent back with me the other day, added some potatoes and bbq sauce. Went to run some errands and came back at 6pm to a house with a super-wonderful bbq roast smell. I must say it was heavinly..can't wait to eat the rest!

Guess thats about it...decided to stop taking my lexapro. Why..cause I can. The last two days have been just fine without it.

1st of

Happy New Year..maybe it be a good one and blah blah blah. On second thought...screw it. Its another day. What you did yesterday still happened. What you're going to do tomorrow is still gonna make you feel dumb in a couple days. So happy another new day to you.

Otherwise just wanted to say hi. I'm at Scott's place, just got some Wings at Hooters in Independence. Not bad...and the wings were ok too.

I'm out like a fat man in dodgeball.