Category: General

A friend and I had lunch last week. We hadn’t talked in a while, and were catching up on how our lives had changed. He’d moved to another state, bounced around at his job, had a baby (along with his wife, no immaculate conception), bought a new car…

I’d gotten out from under an ineffective boss, gotten a cushy job downtown, lost a lot of weight, gone to Mexico, started a side business… and broke up with my girlfriend over a protracted period of time; a very painful experience.

His comment was “Well, except for that one area of your life, things are going pretty good for you.”

To which I can only think: Yeah, the one area of my life that’s most important to me is in the shitter, while everything that I don’t really care about is smooth sailing.

Yay.

Can’t wait to get my CD Price-fixing check. Whoo-hoo. A grand total of $13.86. It guess it’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, and since I didn’t purchase that many CDs during the time covered by the class-action suit, I suppose I’m ahead. Still seems almost pointless. Lawyers get richer, the folks accused of wrong-doing admit no wrong, and consumers get a check for less than the cost of one new retail CD.

Um, nifty.

Exercise / Diet update:

Diet-wise, not bad, but not good. I’m keeping with the Atkins plan… except for the candy I sneak in (I had at least three small pieces of chocolate today, and a cookie. Mmm… cookie.) Not to mention the soy latte I had (although, honestly, that’s only 10 grams of carbs.)

Also, I had carbs, evil, empty carbs, with each meal: breakfast included an English muffin, lunch and dinner both included tortillas, although dinner was a spinach tortilla (green veggies, good; flour, bad.) So, out of a ten possible points, ten being a perfect, less-than-20-grams-of-carbs Atkins-y day, I give myself a 4.5. OK, maybe a 5.

Exercise-wise, though, I did very good today. I started the day with my usual .5 mile walk to the bus stop, and went in early and ran on the elliptical trainer for a full 34 minutes (last four minutes were a cool-down.) I mostly took the stairs in the Mead building today, and then tonight, when I had to go to the union hall and vote, I took the bus from home to about 17th and Powell, then walked up to 26th and Powell, voted, and then walked all the way home — a total of about 3.4 miles, in about an hour, which Prevent Disease tells me burned an extra 366 calories, hopefully making up for the soy latte and the candy and cookies I ate today.

I know I feel better having walked all that way. Kinda nice to be alone in my head, too. Relaxing.

The following is a helpful discussion of how to identify and deal with
an introvert.

article by J. Rauch in the Atlantic Monthly

It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while, at least since Jake tried multiple times to get a hold me me the weekend I disappeared to the coast, and why I reacted so strongly. I told Jake that he’d “freaked out” (he’d called me several times over the course of the weekend, left at least five messages, and drove over to my apartment to see if I was around but not answering my phone). His response was that he was just being a friend and checking on me.

It came up again last night in a conversation with my friends. Caleb was talking about how to cheer up his girlfriend, who was going through a bad time. Both Jake and Caleb seemed mildly shocked when I asserted that, if someone I knew was depressed, I do not think it possible to “try to cheer them up”. In fact, I think it’s nearly impossible to do, and I wouldn’t even make the attempt.

I really think that, for myself, if I’m feeling low or sad or depressed, that the best thing for my friends to do is to ignore it, allow me some space, assume that if I appear grumpy or irritable that it’s not directed at them personally, maybe make ONE gentle offer to be available IF I ASK FOR HELP, and then to stop asking me if I’m OK.

I’m now putting in a smiley face to soften what I just said; it reads grumpier than I meant it –>

🙂

The problem with the assumption that you (the generic “you” of whoever is reading this) can cheer me up is that, from my point of view, it’s also the assumption that I am not able to deal with it myself… which translates to me thinking that you think I’m not capable or strong, that I am, in fact, weak. Which is why I bristle at the suggestion.

I understand that others don’t think that way. In fact, it appears that the majority of people don’t feel that way (depending on what research you dig up).

It’s just been something on my mind lately.

I love reading the “Chance Meetings” page in the Willy Week. All those people who want a second chance, after they realized that they should have done something different the first frickin’ time.

I think this one is my favorite this week:

“Let planets align.It’s not surreal, it hovers the edge of insane- yet.. I am broken almost beyond hope,still must try. Damned surrounding walls. Hear it too. It begins.”

So much emotional turmoil. Out of context, it’s difficult to find any clues as to who posted it, or who it’s intended for. The author must think that the person who is supposed to respond will recognize themselves, or the author, or something. Maybe it’s an inside joke? Or, not “joke”, really, but something else…

Or maybe it’s deliberately cryptic. No one is supposed to get it. I can see that angle, too.

I’m sure most people have, at some point or another, felt the pain of loving someone who didn’t love them back.

Worse than that, I think, is the pain of loving someone who also loves you, and realizing that in spite of that, it still won’t work.

I’m only posting this because I promised myself I’d post something every day.

I’ve added a link to Home Star Runner on my Links page. It’s nestled in there amongst the other “Fun and Games” links. The guys who create that stuff are very very warped and very very funny. Check it out. Especially Strong Bad’s emails. Especially those. Whoo.

I’ve discovered a secret cure for chronic insomnia. It consists of the following ingredients:

• A marathon hours-long phone conversation lasting into the wee hours of the morning with your ex-girlfriend the previous night, detailing exactly what went wrong and how it all fell apart, and what you’ve both been doing in the intervening months.

• Add in a strenuous, 5+ mile run the following morning.

• Stir in a job that requires no mental stimulation whatsoever, and next to no physical activity for 9+ hours.

• Don’t forget to include (exclude?) very little caloric intake during the day. Best if it’s just one medium-sized meal.

• Top it all off with a longer-than-normal commute home (bonus points if it’s public transportation; the rocking movement and noisy acoustics of a bus help greatly).

…so… good night.

They moved Heaven!

Heaven is a coffee shop with a lot of memories for me (good and bad). It used to be located on SW 10th, between Stark and Washington streets. They’re moving into a new location at SW 12th and Jefferson — right across the street from the Jefferson Theater (a porno house). The owner says it’s a better location for them, closer to their customer base (near PSU). It’s about three times as big.

They’re still setting up, in fact. I’m sitting in chaos; people are painting, building, eating pizza (important part of setting up a business). They’re going to have a stage area, and a lounge with a pool table, and more of a deli to serve food… it’s going to be great. Michael, the owner, told me he almost shut down because of the old location. They were breaking even, mostly, and not bringing in new customers. He hopes they’ll get more walk-in traffic here.

I wish them luck. Maybe they’ll leave behind my bad memories and I’ll only have the good ones left.