Another retreat, another post

As most of my readers know, this past weekend was the retreat. We went to the same place as the ISU Salt retreat, only a week later--the Embassy Suites in Des Moines. Sadly, I was somewhat disappointed in this retreat. I didn't get much out of it. This is partially due to me focusing on tech stuff so much that I didn't notice much else, and partially because (in my opinion) the speaker didn't "bring it." Whether that was because he had a wedding to perform on Saturday afternoon, or something else, I don't know. He just didn't wow me. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, and I'm excited to hear him speak regularly at Salt (we're stealing him away from Cornerstone soon), but I don't think he's cut out for retreats.

Anyway, I met some cool people and had great talks during small group, and the breakout sessions were good. I'm probably one of about 3 people that didn't go to either the politics talk or the women's talk--though I had to walk into the women's one beforehand to pick up my shoes (and somebody seemed quite upset that I was even in that room, even though it hadn't started yet). During the second breakout session time, I went to the arts one, where I got called an "artist" simply for doing tech. Then before Saturday night's session, I was being a little obsessive with how the projector looked--not sure if that's connected to the last sentence, or if it was just my normal mild OCD.

During free time, I played various games with people, watched some History Channel, and hung out--and now I've finally broken down and bought Killer Bunnies, along with the red and violet booster decks--which should arrive in a couple days. I also got hooked on a new show. My retreat roommates started watching it at midnight after the Saturday evening session. It's only 4 episodes old now, but the History Channel is lame and only has the latest episode available, so I haven't actually seen the first episode. The show is called Full Metal Jousting and it is what it sounds like--guys jousting for prize money.

Another big thing on the retreat was the talent show, which I entered--and failed to make it out of the first round. I'll talk more about that in the future--probably later today. So stay tuned for a special treat on that topic!

Weight Watching Wednesday III

As those that have been getting the sneak preview know, I lost 3 pounds this past week. That's 13 so far. Yesterday was a day off, and today was a leg workout day, so I've been able to rest my pulled muscle. Tomorrow is Thursday, which is basketball day--shoot from the 3-point line, get rebound, shoot, repeat until shot is made. If the ball goes out of bounds--including over the half-court line--it's penalty time. Penalty is half-court shuttle runs, 3 times down and back. This keeps me from just phoning it in and not chasing rebounds. Once shot is made--or penalty is assessed--return to 3-point line and start again. That gets exhausting fast.

Anyway, for today's side note, I thought I'd talk about life with a pulled trapezius. Monday was horrible. I spent the whole rest of the day in pain, even with downing ibuprofen as fast as (or possibly faster than) the bottle recommends. Sleeping that night was fun. My normal sleep schedule involves waking up every couple hours to change positions then going back to sleep. With severe pain every time I moved my right arm or my head, changing positions was near impossible, as was getting up in the morning. The pain got better as the day went on, but shortly before Salt, I had to take some more ibuprofen. Sleeping last night wasn't too bad, and I woke up mostly pain-free. However, the pain has recently come back, so I'm hoping that goes away again soon. If I'm feeling bad when I wake up, I might just skip working out and only go to classes and such, though it might be that sleeping makes it better, and then doing everyday stuff aggravates it. Friday, I'm going to skip the workout in favor of going home to get ready for the retreat.

I have this terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side

Okay, the title of this is slightly untrue It's actually my right side. I'm 99% sure I pulled a muscle during my workout this morning. I was doing some lateral raises, and the 8th rep of the set went okay--a little slow, but okay. I decided to try a 9th. That was a mistake. I felt a pinch, then pain. Now whenever I turn or tilt my head to the right, tilt my head back, or move my right arm much, I feel pain. And there's a lump on the back of my right shoulder. Judging on the location of the lump and what causes it to hurt, the damage seems to be in the trapezius.

...And I just found out that touching the lump causes extreme pain. I think I'll be stopping that for a while. Yes, I've taken some ibuprofen, but the pain still sucks. Good thing Tuesday is my off day for lifting anyway.

So yeah, if you see me, and I look like I'm in pain or crying or swearing silently, I probably am. Hopefully this clears up before the retreat this weekend.

Weight Watching Wednesday II

So, I only lost 1 pound this last week. Probably because since I lost my workout buddy, I have only worked out until I felt like stopping. So now, I think I need to work out until I can't anymore, like today. (probably not the best idea on a legs day, since it made walking really suck later)

Anyway, completely unrelated topic, but I remember watching an animated film when I was a lad. It was a great movie, and the soundtrack included "Yesterday". I seem to remember that there was also a dragon involved. Sadly, I cannot seem to find any information on what film this could be--even with the internet! Not with google, not with wikipedia, nowhere. I know it existed! I can't be remembering this wrong! ...........Can I? I will find this movie!

It's now officially on the life goals list:

1. Be an awesome man of God (major work in progress here)
2. Get married and have kid(s) (another one with a long way to go)
3.  Find the animated film with "Yesterday" in the soundtrack (I'll know it when I find it)
4. Be in a tornado--not a simulator, a real tornado (unlikely that this will ever happen, even less likely that I would survive)
5. Catch a wild squirrel or rabbit with my bare hands, just because I can
6. Get into a fight with a puma/bear/other large predator (another one that's unlikely to happen and almost no chance of survival if it does)
7. Eat a large pizza in one meal (Check)
8. Write a book (actual effort and desire on this comes and goes)
9. Learn to play an instrument--currently thinking ocarina (I know, it's a little late to think about starting something like this, but a man can dream, can't he?)
10. Eat exotic meats (Anyone out there wonder what giraffe or penguin or mountain lion tastes like? I do)
11. Attend awesome worship concerts (I've seen Phil Wickham--and Adoleo and Anthem, of course--and in a month, I'll see Gungor)
12. Read some of the great classics (for example, I've read Beowulf, the Odyssey, and Frankenstein; will read Dracula and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde soon; and want to read Moby Dick and the Divine Comedy)
13. Build a Tesla Coil
14. Build a Van de Graaf generator
15. Build a trebuchet

There are probably other things that I've accomplished or want to accomplish, but I can't remember them at the moment.

Weight Watching Wednesday

Well, it's Wednesday again. That means you get to find out how the weight loss plan is going. Sadly, this week wasn't very good. I only lost 2 pounds, bringing the weight down to 289 and the total weight lost to 9 pounds. Oh well. We're still new to this working out thing. Anyway, on a whim, I whipped up a little spreadsheet in case you want to see how the loss is going week-to-week without having to go back every week to see exactly how it's going. Here is the link, if you actually care. I plan to update that during my warmup, so that will give you a heads-up on what to expect here.

On another note, last night during tear-down, I was walking around, and at one point, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and then patted someone on the shoulder as I walked by. I only realized that I had just wiped my sweat on someone's shoulder after I had walked away. I felt like a jerk.

And in other news, I had my first Physical Chemistry test of the semester. Every time I tried to study, I'd get about 5 minutes in and then would start to taste blood. Luckily, I think the test went well. I'm anticipating somewhere between 70 and 90%, and I figure it'll be a little closer to the bottom of that range. But at least I know somewhat what to expect from the rest of the exams this semester (at least in that class) so I think I'll be okay.

Occupations

On Facebook today, I saw that someone had posted this article. Apparently, Iowa City has turned down the offer to renew Occupy Iowa City's permit to stay in College Green Park. Part of the reason they've been denied is because the places where the Occupiers have camped are in need of over $2,000 in repairs. My first thought at seeing that was to wonder if we could make them foot the bill, since it isn't fair that everybody has to pay for damages caused by "the 99%."

I've never really liked the Occupy movement. It was somewhat understandable when they were simply "Occupy Wall Street" but what does a park in Iowa City have to do with the economic troubles this country is in? And how does inconveniencing people (mostly kids and teenagers in this case) cause changes in the government? It only makes people want you to go away and let the park be a park again, instead of a campground for disorganized protestors.

--Slight detour--
I know many people that read this are staunch Republicans, or at the very least, are very conservative in their political leanings. I'm not. I generally vote Democrat. I voted for Obama, and I'm likely to do so again this fall. I agree that the national healthcare is broken, but at least it's a start. I've mentioned another of my liberal views on here a couple years ago, and there's another that I may end up mentioning at some point in the future, but that one needs its own post. Anyway, yeah, I'm a left-wing pinko commie--to a point. I don't like to get into political discussions, so I tend to keep my mouth shut when others talk about it.
--End of detour--

But back to the Occupiers. I'm normally very leftist-leaning, but they're just idiots. They're not going to get anything done going about it the way they are--and I'm not sure what they even want to accomplish, anyway. So I'm glad they're getting the boot. Too bad they can stay for another 2 weeks, and that the taxpayers will have to foot the bill for the damage they caused.

Sorry about the rant today, guys.

One down, many more to go

Well, I had my first test today. Hooray for Spanish! But seriously, my next one is Tuesday night--scheduled to cut into Salt, but I should be done well before 8. I think this first one went well, though I usually think that coming out of tests...

On an unrelated note, I just went through the process of creating a workout playlist for my iPod. It's 54 songs, ranging from Aerosmith to Gungor and Smash Mouth to Weird Al, and includes songs like Jai Ho, Boten Anna, Dragostea Din Tei, the Safety Dance, and more. It's fair to say that it isn't terribly specific in genre, it's just songs that get me pumped. One of the songs is Like Incense/Sometimes by Step, which always makes me want to watch this:



And while we're on the subject of working out, I've made an executive decision that Mondays and Fridays will be upper body workout days, Wednesdays will be lower body days, and on Thursdays, I shall shoot hoops. I'm not sure how long this plan will last, but it's the plan as it stands. I still plan to bring y'all updates on what the scale reads on Wednesdays (taken before working out).

Working out seems to be working out

Sadly, my workout buddy/trainer has run into a busy patch, and is unable to assist me further in my endeavor to lose weight. So it's down to me. However, since I'm not getting terribly sore anymore and I'm starting to see results (I'm now down to 291, that's 7 pounds lost already) I really want to continue. The goal, in case you don't know--which most of you don't--is to get back down under 200.

And during today's workout, I found out that yes, I can still do 100-pound leg extensions. And they're easier than when I was in high school. I could only do a couple at a time then, and today I did three sets of 10.

Me hungee

Sunday was a bad day for the diet. Going to a Super Bowl party had much to do with that. Pizza and cookies galore there.

But I keep getting tempted to just say "f*ck it" and order a pizza. What keeps me from actually ordering is forcing myself to not get cash back when I buy stuff. Maybe I should delete that Pizza Hut app from my iPod, or at least move it to somewhere less visible, just in case I have good reason to indulge.