A Weighty Issue

Hey bloggity blog-blogs! Long time, no see.

Turns out my blogging duties were not the only thing I have neglected. Previously, I gained thirty pounds due to a medication, but successfully lost it by counting calories using an app called My Fitness Pal. Over the last few months, I gained that weight back—I got lazy with watching my diet, and I really, really enjoy food. I know I'm not obese or anything, but going by bmi, I am overweight.

The solution is, of course, to resume dieting. But there something else that might help: getting back to the gym.

There are a number of excuses not to go to the gym: my friends will not be joining me this time (and I have yet to work up the nerve to ask a stranger to spot me), it costs a lot, and there is the intimidation factor when anyone reasonably in shape happens to be there.

But those excuses are just that, excuses. There are tons of physical and mental health benefits and it is enjoyable.

Now I just have to keep at it.

(Pardon the horrible pun title.)

Potpourri III

Cap’n Crunch is known infamously as the cereal that cuts up the roof of your mouth. But I cannot stop eating it tonight. It reminds me of the CD-ROM that came in boxes of the cereal for a few months in the 90s: Cap’n Crunch’s Crunchling Adventure. It was a surprisingly awesome promotional game in which you trained a creature called a Crunchling to defeat the evil Crunchium Theives. Crunchtastic! As a bonus, you could insert the CD into a CD player and listen to a story about the Crunchlings narrated by the good captain himself. It was probably the best prize to ever be included inside of a cereal box.

Another delicacy that I am sampling tonight is the “apple pear” which is apparently actually an Asian pear that has apple-like qualities. It is delicious.

I went into BigLots! looking to see if they had any wireless keyboards. They did, and I bought one, but a wireless Bluetooth speaker also caught my eye. This is somewhat frivolous as I already have wired speakers, but the allure of transmitting sound across the room proved too much. So far I really like it. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that this Christmas season, I am spending an awful lot on myself. Pros: joy. Cons: it makes me more materialistic.

Speaking of materialism, I think I am finally okay with idea of receiving a tablet. We are donating to charities already, and I need to give myself a break. Not buying a Nexus 10 is not going to save someone’s life.

Tonight I plan on watching Another Earth. Brit Marling gave a sharp performance in Sound of My Voice, so I am expecting good things from her here.

Two of my friends have worn cardigans around me. I have jumped on the bandwagon.

Just like the Lochtepus.

I had a one dollar credit towards mp3 purchases at Amazon. I purchased My Head is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men, since it was on sale for $3.99. I am not crazy about the album, but I figure that if I can find three songs on it that I really enjoy, it will be worth the money. Their sound reminds me very much of The Head and the Heart and songs like “Little Talks” include sweeping soundscapes, but I have not found the lyrics to be anything to write home about.

Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal: Amazon | Google Play | iTunes

"What's the Deal with Fiber Commercials?"

I realize that in this post I risk sounding like Andy Rooney, who (God rest his soul) has probably managed to find something to complain about in heaven. I would guess that he is griping about the clouds being too fluffy or something, but I am not a fan of portraying the theme park version of heaven.

Anyway, onto the kvetching: Fiber One’s latest rash of commercials bothers me. They are predicated on the assumption that fiber has a reputation for tasting terrible. It takes this assumption so far that in one commercial, parents hide the fact that Fiber One cereal has fiber in it from their child in order to convince him to eat it.

This is stupid.

Since when does anyone think that fiber tastes bad? I have never known anyone to shy away from trying something because of high fiber content. Sure, some high-fiber foods do taste terrible, like broccoli, but that is not because they have fiber.

In conclusion, no one thinks fiber is terrible, Fiber One. You are dumb.

Fruit Whirls and Frustrations

Damn, I'm proud of this title. Unfortunately this is not going to be much of a post. But what could live up to such a headline?

I thought of the title while I was eating some spilled cereal at work. They're called Fruit Whirls and are a generic brand version of Fruit Loops, in case you could not guess. A guest once claimed that our hotel's circular fruit cereal was his favorite. They seemed suitably tasty to me.

As for frustrations, they are varied and probably not worth talking about. Frustrations is not even the best term to describe anything currently bothering me, I just liked the alteration.

Oh, and I freaked out briefly when I thought I may have irreparably damaged my phone while flashing from a custom ROM back to rooted stock. But thanks to the helpful folks at XDA, I'm back in business. Without them, I might have created a very expensive paperweight. Remember kids, try this at home if you like, but only after a adequate amount of research. I plowed ahead past the boundaries of my technical knowledge and took a big, foolish risk.

I guess I could now call this entry "Fruit Whirls, Phones, and Foolishness," but it does not have the same ring to me.