Running

This is a very race-heavy week! On Wednesday, Chrissy and I ran the "Nearly Naked Mile" for the Purdue Alumni Student Experience (PASE). The point was to donate the clothes off your back to Lafayette Transitional Housing. I didn't donate the clothes off my back (nor did I go "nearly naked"... here I am dressed as Harley Quinn [sort-of!]), but I did donate a ton of my old clothes, and I did finish the race (we beat Spongebob!). I think we made pretty good time (but who knows for sure!).

Anyway, Lafayette Transitional Housing is a really good cause. They run the Lincoln Center (which is a subsidized apartment complex), and support for those that are homeless or in danger of losing their homes (in the form of bus tokens, food, clothing, employment assistance, etc.). When I worked at Wabash Valley Hospital, I talked to the organizers for awhile; they seem to really run a good program.

Tomorrow (Saturday) morning, Chrissy, Liz and I (and maybe RJ) are going to run in the HEROES 5k, which will benefit the Red Cross (another excellent cause!). I doubt that I will be setting any records, but it should be fun!

...creepy.

I just read a poem by Michael Jackson, which will be auctioned off with a whole slew of memorabilia from Neverland Ranch. The poem is about children; specifically, "singing and dancing in innocent bliss" with children.

I don't think much needs to be explained; here is the poem:

Children of the world, we'll do it
We'll meet on endless shores
Making sandcastles and floating our boats
While people fight and defend their point of view
Forever putting on masks that are new
We'll swing the tide of time and do it.

Children of the world, we'll do it
With song and dance and innocent bliss
And the soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.

While traders trade and haggle their price
And politicians try so hard to be nice
We'll meet on endless shores and floating our boats
We'll do it.

While lawyers argue and doctors treat
Stockbrokers quote the price on meat
While preachers preach and ring the bell
Carpetbaggers with something to sell
We'll sing and dance in innocent bliss
With the soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.
Meeting on endless shores
Making sandcastles and floating our boats
We'll do it.

We'll ride the rainbow, a cloud, a storm
Flying in the wind, we'll change our form
We'll reach the stars, embrace the moon
We'll break the barrier and be there soon

While architects plan their buildings high
And trade unions raise their hue and cry
While boardroom squabbles generate heat
And in secret places dealers meet

We'll sing and dance in innocent bliss
And the soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.

While philosophers grapple and continue to tackle
Endless dilemmas of body and mind
Physicists wander, continue to ponder
Perennial questions of space and time
Archeologists survey, continue to dig
Bygone treasures small and big

Psychologists probe, analyze the tears
Of hysterical notions, phobias, fears

While priests take confessions
In a serious session
And people struggle
In the hustle and bustle
In the noise and din
On the meaning of sin
We'll touch the stars, embrace the moon
Break the barrier, arrive there soon
Ride the rainbow, the cloud, the storm
Flying in the wind, changing our form

Children of the world, we'll do it
With song and dance and innocent bliss
The soft caress of a loving kiss
We'll do it.

Bad paintings of Barack Obama

I stumbled upon this site today, and found it hilarious. Here are some of my favorite images:

Excitement of the day

Today I had a pretty good day; woke up, drank some coffee, did some work, ate some lunch, did some more work, went for a run (it was over 60 degrees!!! yay!). Got a phone call from my Grandpa Buzz (Homer Hargrave, Jr.), who just happened to be in Lafayette, and wanted company for dinner. It was about 6:15 when he called; I was still at work, and needed a shower; Dan was also still at work, so we did not get to his hotel until around 7pm. I think this was OK; we had a nice dinner and chat at Hour Time, a restaurant I had never been to, but have seen many times before.

The food was pretty good; I had salmon, Buzz and Dan each had their own type of pasta. It was good to see my grandpa; he seemed excited about our wedding, and asked a lot of questions about it. The guy is sort-of a free spirit, in his own way; he drove to Indianapolis to go to the bank (and try to find some old friends; I am sure he didn't give them much notice!), then he drove to Lafayette, and checked into a hotel, and called me at the very last minute (which is his way); he did not have a thing on him! No luggage, pajamas, etc. I guess that the Lafayette stop was a bit of an afterthought. I don't know if I am of the temperament to just wander around; sometimes I wish I was!

On being healthy

I have been thinking lately about being healthy, and what that means. Part of this is because I have been a little unhealthy recently. My diet has consisted of almost nothing but carbs and coffee! Coffee and a pastry for breakfast; a noodle bowl for lunch, a cookie (or crackers, or chips) for a snack, at least one more cup of coffee, pasta or rice for dinner. Maybe some juice. Lots of sparkling water. Lately, Helados Mexicos (which are these really tasty strawberries and cream popsicle things; beware though... the sticks are not centered, so they often fall off!). For someone who studies food intake, exercise, obesity, etc. this is pretty sad!

On the bright side, I have been running fairly sporadically, but about 2x/week, which is good, but otherwise I sit a lot. I should do more running, or maybe swimming, cycling, yoga, weight training, etc. More of something, anyway. I would like to be able to run 3 consecutive 8 minute miles without too much trouble. Thus far, I have had one mile under 8:00 TOTAL (I am proud of that mile!).

So, to correct my diet, and improve my exercise habits, I am turning back to my old friend Sparkpeople. I honestly don't have enough good things to say about sparkpeople; I lost almost 50 lbs using their website, and have kept [most] it off for a fairly long time. For those of you who are looking to lose weight, it is an excellent tool; their system makes a lot of sense to me (I will talk about their system later). I think that it is a decent tool for anybody (wanting to lose weight or not) to track their fitness accomplishments, and assess their diets (to see if they're generally eating a healthy amount/variety of food).

Annoying, cheesy before/after:

before (above), after (below) (FYI, if you want to lose weight, nix the cream and just put whiskey in your coffee).

The reason I hate hate HATE diets that encourage you to eat basically nothing for 3 weeks, since that is not sustainable. Sparkpeople starts you out making one or two positive changes; these can be going for a walk every day, drinking 8 glasses of water, or switching up a cookie for an apple. At this point, they aren't encouraging you to lose weight, just be a little bit healthier. Eventually, you begin tracking your calories and exercises, but they wean you into it. It secretly becomes a part of your routine, which is the best way to start one.

The other thing I like about it is that there is a lot of information about not punishing yourself too harshly for screwing up. So you ate a pizza... maybe 2000 calories. Sure, that's a lot, but there is very little harm done until you convince yourself you are a failure at dieting and quit altogether.

Anyway, I am not really trying to lose weight (maybe 5 lbs max), but I do want to be healthy, so I will try to track my calories/exercise (I keep wanting to write ingestive behavior jargon here! sorry!) for the next few weeks [maybe longer; i have mostly figured out how to eat a healthy diet, but sometimes need to be reminded, lol]. If anybody wants to join me, feel free!!! :)

A Look Back

from the American Journal of Gastroenterology (2009; 104:552)

The Flush Toilet
Robert E. Kravetz

Disposal of human waste has been an issue since humans have inhabited the Earth. Prehistoric man relieved himself out of doors; much later, Native American and early American settlers also used the rivers, woods, and shrubs to fulfill their toilet needs in the same primitive way. There is archaeological evidence, however, of domestic communal toilets from many ancient civilizations dating back to 2500 BC.

At the height of the Roman Empire, there was a highly developed water system and one for waste management with underground sewers and indoor privies in each home. After the decline of the Empire the entire system collapsed, and by the Middle Ages in Europe, and well into the eighteenth century, waste disposal meant throwing the material out of a window or door onto the street and into the gutter.

In 1596, Sir John Harrington of England invented the first flush toilet, but the public mocked and ignored his invention. Nearly 200 years passed before, in 1775, Alexander Cummings received the first patent for a water closet. By the 1800s, the golden age of toilets had begun. Thomas Crapper is erroneously thought to have invented the toilet, but his contribution was a series of plumbing-related patents that revolutionized its operation.

The accompanying illustration shows a nineteenth-century toilet from an English catalog—a very elaborate fixture indeed!

So many papers...

Arg, reading is hard, and I am getting bored. I'm on paper #4 of the day, and have 3 more after that. Sometimes I care about school... now is not one of those times! Here's hoping I can persevere!