Not much difference between the 2nd column and the 3rd unfortunately. I’ve been less able to control myself when trying to be disciplined about what to eat. My Panera soup lunch + Subway sandwich dinner has been less than regular lately and I find myself sneaking M&M’s leftover from the Super Bowl. I even lost my Mayorship at the Boston Sports Club, which I held for a very long time! Mega sad face. What do I do? My body is becoming less obedient when I tell it to hold off on junk food and less wanting to get down to the gym and work off those extra calories I’ve been taking in. Mimi says that there are studies that people feel like they’re in starvation mode for 6 years following dramatic weight loss. Mine wasn’t even that dramatic but my body is trying to fatten myself back up again. What I need is less WoW, more sleep, more gym, and more violin. I need to keep my mind active.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPYGeELPpno

Bryson Andres is a 20-year old Filipino violinist from Anchorage, Alaska. His talent with an electric violin is impressive and inspiring. After watching this (and a few dozen of his other videos) I decided to buy myself an electric violin (same one as Bryson! The Cecilio Electric Violin) and start taking lessons. Looks like WoW might have to take a break while I make more time for practicing. Unfortunately, this might also mean my second round of P90X might have to get delayed by a bit – I don’t want to go into it half-assed (Sorry Alex). Music that sends shivers up my spine is the type that I like most and Bryson’s playing has done that several times. Having a musical talent comes in handy fairly often and who knows, maybe Matt and I can start some kind of weird string band that plays modern music.

To start off, my desktop hard drive decided to “fail” on me. As in, everything seemed to be working fine, but Windows 7 detected a problem with the disc and alerted me to backup all my data for the impending crash. So…Windows 7 is smart enough to know when there’s a problem with the disc, but not smart enough to skip over the bad sectors? I mean, everything seemed to be working ok, but fine. So I proceeded to backup all my data onto my extra hard drive via Windows 7 backup (223GB of data). First try – failed. I thought, “Hm. Weird. Maybe it’s cuz I was doing something…I’ll let it sit overnight.” Second try – failed. I figured, maybe I’ll try backing up to my external hard drive. Third try – failed. One last time…fourth try – failed. So awesome, Windows 7 backup utility just doesn’t work. I decided to manually backup all my data. Disclaimer: I’m only using the Windows 7 backup utility so that when i switch over to my new hard drive, I won’t run into problems with activating Windows (especially since I paid for a legit copy), but obviously it doesn’t work so I’ll have to risk doing a straight up clean installation. I mean, they must be a little forgiving since you can’t always predict when your hard drive will fail, right? Anyways, as I’m prepping to do the new installation, I decide to make a boot disc. Stick the CD-R into the drive. Nothing. I remember, “Oh right, this drive failed a while ago.” Again, that’s my luck with technology, so instead I turn to my Alienware M14x and pop a CD-R in there (brand new laptop, what could go wrong?). I thought it was weird at first that it didn’t guide the disc in like it usually did, so I just pushed it all the way in. “Oh well,” I thought. It read the blank disc just fine and wrote the boot disc just fine. Ok, time to eject. Right click the drive, click ‘Eject’. Nope. Drive makes some noises like it’s gonna try to eject, then gives up. Awesome. Now I have 2 broken computers. The last technician they sent to fix my keyboard completely messed up the outside cover screws/springs as well as stripped the screws holding the optical drive in so there was no way for me to even attempt to fix the problem myself. Eventually I call Dell and speak to a STUPID rep. I tell him the problem – mechanical failure by the optical drive and EMPHASIZE 3 times that I need new screws/springs. I could tell from his responses that he didn’t order the screws/springs even though he kept saying he did. Of course when the technician showed up, he didn’t have the screws/springs. It made me hopping mad at the customer service rep, but whatever, I just want my drive replaced. He replaced the drive then tested it. Same problem. WTF?!?!?! Now I have to send the whole laptop in to probably get the motherboard replaced which will take forever on top of which my desktop is still dying.

Frustrating point #2: The NY dealer is trying screw with me by giving me 20-50% markup on accessories. It’s not a LOT of money, but the idea of it just makes me so mad. I’ve cancelled deals in the past with dealers who’ve tried to pull this shit and am ready to do so again. The CarsDirect rep promised invoice price and they’re going above MSRP. I’m so mad I could punch someone right now.

Third frustrating this this week has to do with my co-workers. I’m working hard while my co-workers are hardly working. Between the two of them, they probably show up to work 3/4 of a full time employee. I was once feeling guilty for moving off the team, but now I don’t feel that way anymore. I’m tired of holding down the fort dealing with issues all the time because the other two guys are never around. I’ve been on the hook for every project this team has undergone since Matt left and while it has presented opportunities to help me demonstrate my ability, it has allowed the other team members of my cohort slack off to an unacceptable point. Good luck when I’m gone guys!

Last thing I want to talk about is friends. You’ve got your friends that you can always rely on and the ones you can’t really. Well, it’s becoming too hard for me to make that distinction anymore. I categorize my friends into categories.

Friend types:

- There are the ones who will be there for you no matter what, rain or shine (and I mean that liguratively).

- There are the ones that will be there for you if it’s convenient for them.

- And then lastly there are the ones who will “be there for you” if it’s convenient or beneficial to them.

My birthday party was a great example. It wasn’t this week, but I’m still a little bitter about it. I made a huge deal about it and if people weren’t going to come, I would’ve preferred they told me straight up rather than apologizing later. Let’s just say several people were demoted on my list. Aside from the party, some other friends are moving on with their lives. I could once rely on Matt, but find it harder to these days when everything seems to be about Emily. Never before he started dating her would I have to ask him to do something twice. Everything that needs to be taken care of with the house I now do unless it has some direct effect on Emily – ie. we run out of shampoo/conditioner. I’ve been trying to get him to upgrade our cable modem for the last month now as well as go with me to Home Depot to get blinds for our back door and fix our fixtures. Don’t get me wrong, Matt’s still probably one of the best people on this earth in terms of caring for others, but I just feel like I’ve been demoted in his eyes and it’s frustrating.

On a happier note, happy birthday Hannah!

“Everybody dies but not everybody lives”

- Drake (from Moment 4 Life by Nicki Minaj)

If you’ve ever seen the movie “Yes Man” with Jim Carrey, you’ll come to appreciate this quote. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was sub-par, but the message was inspiring. Say ‘YES’ to life. You could be missing up on opportunities by closing yourself off to the world. See more, do more.

I was carded today at the local 7-Eleven by a Korean guy for buying a $5 scratch ticket…Do you know how old you need to be to buy one of those in Massachusetts?! 18. Who would have known that a benefit of weight loss was looking much younger! AND bonus points for the guy being Asian…I wouldn’t have been as astonished if he were non-Asian, since we all look younger in general, but damn.

Life is definitely on the upswing. Still getting frustrated with the same things: certain work people not doing their job, desktop and gaming laptop failing me in various unimaginable ways, not having my new car yet, etc, but none of it outweighs the [more] positive outlook I have on life now. It takes a little bit of effort at a time, but just aim for small improvements. They’re more manageable and over a long period of time, you’ll look back and see how those small improvements have accumulated into something big.

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet…however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”

- Stephen Hawking

For someone who has and had every reason to give up, this quote is very inspiring (taken from an article from The Telegraph). I’ve learned to take small strides to reach my goals. Set-backs are inevitable, but as long as you keep your eye on the target and roll with the punches, you can get anywhere you want. Having the right attitude can get you a long way. Set your mind right and then proceed to reach your goals.

I think it all started with soccer. Playing soccer last season in the Rt9 soccer league and winning the championship really drove me to want to continue getting better and training post-season. I continued going to the gym doing the elliptical for 20 minutes at first, then slowly increasing the time/resistance as time went on. I’m also working lifting back into my routine. I decided to change my eating habbits with the help of technology and tracked my weight loss progress seeing small improvements which summed up to noticeable improvements.

I feel great, look great, and it’s only going to get better

Loseit says I’ve lost a total of 25.2 lbs since my heaviest. Man. NEVER am I going to let myself get back like that again. I’ve gotten compliments all over without having to ask “do I look like I lost weight?” Even my mom says I’m way skinnier (still not where I should be yet, but getting there -_- mom is the most critical)

For my birthday party, I want it to be even better than last year. Last year I had a pick-your-nose theme where there were cups with various noses on them and people got to choose their own.

I secretly want to have a 6-pack party

At this 6-pack party, you either have to bring a 6-pack of beer/soda or have 6-pack abs. Lol. Dunno if I’ll be able to get one by then, but I like the idea. Also to get in you’ll need to email a photo of yourself doing something silly to housemd@kodakpulse.com. That way there’ll be a ton of pictures to look at during the party.

Back to work for now…but more updates later!

[Show as slideshow]

After years of resistance, I’ve given in to the World of Warcraft (WoW). Pictured above is my Human Warrior (dstylian). Unlike the games I’ve been playing (Starcraft 2, Heroes of Newerth, DotA 2), WoW is a game where you don’t start over each time you play. You have a character that you level up (starting from level 1 and maxing out at 85) and find/purchase items for. You level up by completing quests and there’s a whole economy in the game where there is trading, buying and selling of weapons, armor, consumables, containers, abilities, etc regulated by trading districts (chat channels) and an auction house. It really is an entire immutable world where one could spend weeks to explore. The potential for customization is endless making this game appeal to me.

It’s like Second Life, but with fighting

Each character class has its own unique abilities and on top of that, you get to choose 2 unique professions (I chose the recommended Mining and Blacksmithing for my Warrior). Phillip chose to play a Night Elf Rogue, which he later converted to Human Rogue with Skinning and Leatherworking as his professions. Matt opted for Gnome Mage with Mining and Engineering as his professions. Rogues are known for the assassination abilities, bursting down damage and escaping; Mages are good for crowd control, stunning, slowing, immobilizing targets as well as their ability to create portals for ease of travel; Warriors are known for their constant DPS and survivability.

We still have yet to explore the most popular aspects of the game (Raiding/Dungeons), but we’re taking it slow. It’s been a fun journey learning about all the different nuggets that WoW offers. Exploring the different lands is fun in and of itself and around holiday season, there are pretty decorations all around (I know…they’re digital, but still nice)

It will have ZERO miles on it when I pick it up. I’ll be getting the “Early Warning” Lo-jack system installed so no one tries to steal this from me -_- With the early warning system, you get a fob that you put on your keychain that disarms the warning system when it’s inside the car, so if someone hot-wires it and takes off without it, Lo-jack will notify police and they can respond immediately. Stats show that the Civic is the 2nd most stolen vehicle in the US (Accord is #1). I’ll also be getting some other accessories to help keep it clean (all season floor mats, trunk tray, and splash guards). I’ve already started to think about other interior accessories (iPhone USB lighter charger, iPhone holster, etc.) – counting my eggs before they hatch. Send ideas my way!

After speaking to many many dealerships and sleazy salesmen (and saleswomen), so far it looks like CarsDirect is the recommended way to go. It’s like having a real estate agent, but for a car. You get a dedicated agent who works with various dealerships and gets you an upfront quote without stupid sales gimmicks. It seems a little too good to be true, so I’m still a little skeptical, but I’ll post an update/review once I’ve finished through the entire process.

 ”I won’t hit my goal until I’m 25.” It was depressing. Then I thought, ”I’m going to be 25 anyway, might as well be happy with myself.”

- miss_sunshine (/r/loseit)

I’m supposedly supposed to hit my goal by February, so I guess I should feel lucky. People like miss_sunshine are a real inspiration and continuing to see success stories like this keeps me re-upping especially when I start to get discouraged. Been off my game the last couple days and somehow managed to gain a whole 1.2 lbs yesterday…yes, I know it’s probably mostly water weight, but still sucks to look at the numbers rollercoaster after it’s been steadily going down for a while. Also, I decided to cheat with ma po tofu (which wasn’t even good) and changing up my lunch from my normal low-cal chicken noodle soup.

I think one major problem is that I’m not varying up the food that I’m eating. Chicken noodle soup and Subway Sweet Onion Chicken Terriyaki can only go so long without getting boring. miss_sunshine suggested this recipe site: http://www.skinnytaste.com/ which I think I’m gonna take a look at later and try. I did say for a while that I’d start cooking, but never actually took it up. I’ve been getting bored a lot lately, staying up late watching stupid movies, and playing dumb games. I need to get back on the horse and fill my time with productive activities. I have been doing yoga twice a week and 30 minutes of elliptical just about every day, but I think my body needs more activity. I’m going to make it a goal of mine to fill my free time over the holiday season with at least 2 hrs of exercise per day. That should get things back on track.