but being round IS a shape :p

So, I haven't been to the gym since the beginning of the semester. I need to get my butt back in gear. I'm thinking I might keep track of results on here :) Although, I can't say I'm unhappy with my progress so far considering I've done nothing but eat better since i stopped going. In December, I was 240. I'm 5'7" so this is WAY too much. Now, I'm 223. It's not actual weight I'm concerned about, but no one will disagree I need to get that number lower. I'm just looking for some goo confidence when seeing myself in the mirror instead going ".....oh. I'll change shirts to a darker color to hide that."

First thing's first...need the BMR. If you don't know what it is, it's the Basal metabolic Rate, or how many calories you need to maintain the weight you're at. I use the Harris Benedict equation for it.

For Women:

655 + (4.35 x Weight in pounds) + (4.7 x Height in Inches) - (4.7 x Age in Years)

For Men:

66 + (6.23 x Weight in Pounds) + ( 12.7 x Height in Inches) - (6.8 x Age in Years)

Mine's 2163 calories. That's not as bad as I thought it'd be.

I figure getting 1500 a day and some moderate exercise should work out perfect to a few pounds per week.

I've also downloaded a few workouts to try. First one will probably be Power 90 from Tony Horton. The guy is fun to listen to...he's weird.

"I'm jacking and moving forward at the same time!"

"Like this shirt? It's mine! 3 more reps!"

You have to watch it to appreciate it. I've never laughed watching a workout before. So amazing!

I also got p90x and Shaun T's Insanity. I guess we'll see if this goes anywhere

I'm back

I don't know for how long, but I'm back for at least this entry :p

With this upcoming semester being my last at JCC, I figured it was time to plan in advance as far as what I plan to do as a teacher. I hear stories on the news about certain people manhandling the system, or false accusations being placed on teachers, etc etc, and it pisses me off to see the massive disrespect for the profession that there is. It used to be a sacred profession, one only upstaged by jobs such as doctors or engineers. Now, if you hear someone say they're a teacher, you'll more than likely hear some snickers in the background. Do I think I'll change anything? No, I don't. But that doesn't mean I can't get someone else inspired enough to :)

Attendance

As your instructor, I will not care if you make it to class or stay in your dorm. You are paying for the class (whether it be out of pocket or aid), so how you partake in it is your choice. The material presented will not change because you are absent, so it will be up to you to make sure you learn it.

Lecture

I will do my best to accommodate all learning styles, be it auditory, visual, or kinesthetic. I will have the slideshow of the material running as I lecture to aid in taking notes. The slideshows plus a vocal lecture will be made available online via software such as Camtasia. This is for two reasons - a.) if you decide to not show, you can still get the material in a way that I present it (though in lesser detail) and b.) you can look it over prior to class so as to help the learning process take grasp.

Homework

Do it and get your credit. End of story. Each chapter will have its own set of homework, and will be made available right at the start. I do not believe in losing points on homework. You do it to LEARN it. If you could do it perfectly first try, you wouldn't need an instructor. However, it is up to you to get help with the ones you can't figure out. If no one brings to light questions they have, no questions will be answered on the given homework. Like attendance, doing it the right waywill net you an understanding of the material which will result in a better grade.

Quizzes

Halfway through the class, a quiz will be given that will cover anything learned up to the current position in the curriculum. Why halfway? I hate people walking in late, during a top of the hour quiz....and some people must leave early, so an end of the hour quiz must be taken early. They will be short, probably 2-3 questions, and should take no more than 10 minutes. No makeups on these whatsoever. Each question will be a point, so unless you're absent everyday for 2 months, it won't hurt your grade much.

Tests

50 questions...25 on current material, 25 on anything up to where we're at. If you miss the test, make it up. It will be done by my convenience, but everyone has things happen to them, and your grade should not drop a ton because of it. Makeups will be different than the original - they may be easier, harder, or numbers simply changed, but they will not b identical.

Grading

Everything is equal percentage. none of that tests are 60%, homework 30%, etc etc. If you want to know your grade,simply divide your points by the total available. Plain and simple. having a bad day? well, missing 10 points on a test because of it will be no different than missing 10 points on homework or quizzes. After every 2 weeks, I'll give updates to grades so you always know where you're at.

Extra Credit

Okay...the key word is EXTRA. It's not meant to get you from failing to just passing. It's for people who have worked hard, and want to work a little harder for a little more to show. So, while not being made plentiful, it will be made available - to those who have at least 87% in the class. Do a little extra and it will be obvious you deserve that A instead of B+. The extra credit assignments will not be simple "do this and it's 5 points" assignment, or puzzles, etc etc. take an active part by helping create chemicals/compounds for lab...run a supervised study group...anything that takes a good chunk of time and effort and you will be rewarded.

Just a very rough outline of what I will expect/do for a class when I get my masters and am teaching college level chemistry. None of that NCLB crap, which is easily one of the WORST policies to ever be implemented into the education system.

Vegas Cup II

Okay, going into Saturday's match was nerve wrecking.

First, we had the whole not being able to shoot Dave AND Matt. Second, Dale said he wasn't gonna be able to show up because of work. This means we would only shoot 3 people, which is how many you need to win to win the match. Read: we can't fucking lose or else. Third, we were going up against the district Rep's team which is a very good team.

My match was first. I played Danielle, who is easily a 5, but is only a 4 on paperwork. I stomped her 4-1 for a quick win. After winning, Dale showed. MAJOR RELIEF! now we could shoot 4 people instead. Dale annihilated a 6 (he's a 4 himself) 3-1. The only reason Brian got that 1 is because Dale scratched on one of his 8-ball shots and that's a loss.

Matt shot next against Bob Erke, the district rep. Matt's a 6, Erke's a 7 (highest possible rank). Erke smoked him 5-1. Matt got pissed and was a whiny little asshole the rest of the night.

James shot last, which is a lot of pressure, but he came out on top. He's a 3, and shot another 3, who should be a 4. This kept us alive for our next match at 7.

We all hung out at the Avenue and then went to Game On.

When we got our paperwork, they bumped Dale up to a 5 after he beat Brian so bad. Fortunately, it didn't screw us number wise. Dale smoked a 4 with a 4-0 win.

My match was second. I paled an unknown 5 form Battle Creek. I shot one of my best matches ever shot-making wise, but my safeties played poorly and ended up costing me my match :( I can't complain, though..I played great.

Dave shot third and ended up losing, so we didn't even need to shoot James. It was sad to be out of it, but we made it much further than we thought we would go int he first place, and both nights were incredibly fun.

Hopefully we'll get another shot next summer for Vegas. :)

Vegas Cup I

The first night didn't go too hot for us. First, we lost our match. we all played great, we just didn't squeeze out a win.

Matt won his match against a 2 (lowest possible rank) and won 5-0. Awesome start!

My match was second. I was surprised to see that the girl i played was actually good. No, that's not a sexist comment. Every girl I've played (besides Des'neiges) has either been a 2 or 3. It was nice to play someone at my same skill level. We're both 5s, so it was a 4-4 race.She put up one hell of a fight. I won the first match...she won the second...she won the the third....I won the fourth....I won the fifth....she wont he sixth....unfortunately, she also won the seventh game. We both played very defensively, not taking many chances, and it was a long, enjoyable match. Didn't hurt that she was easy on the eyes at the same time, which is also surprising. Very few pretty women play pool...but the same goes for the pros. There are like 3 pros that are gorgeous, and the rest look like men.

James' match was another long one. He's a 3 and he played a 5, so it was a 2-4 race. James won the first match, putting him on the hill. The other guy was either sandbagging (wouldn't make sense to do it at the tourney) or he is not a legit 5 as he wasn't great. Wasn't bad, but wasn't a 5 in my opinion. James played the best I've ever seen. We've been working with him recently, and his game has easily tripled. He played smooth, slow, lot of safeties...it was gorgeous. He lost, though, but damn did he shoot well.

Dale started a match while James was shooting to make it go faster, but his outcome ended up being useless, as we NEEDED James to win. Our lowest number, Lily (James' girlfriend) is what makes our high numbers able to play. Well, we spent so much time getting her minimum 4 plays in and then getting wins with the rest of us that we forgot to get her 10 plays in, which makes her eligible for the tourney, so she wasn't allowed to play. Now, like in regular leagues, the skill level can only add up to 23. Well, when you only shoot 4 people, it goes down to 19. So, this ruled out both Dave AND Matt playing in the same match, as matt's a 6, Dave's a 6, I'm a 5, Dale's a 4, James is a 3. Me, Matt, and Dave are the core of the team...all 3 of us not being able to shoot at the same match really hurts us.

So, we won't win the tourney all around, but we do move to the loser's bracket. If we win that, we still win the free trip to Las Vegas to compete for the championship. Even with the loss, the night was FUN...all the matches had all of us on our feet, cheering each member on, taking it seriously but having a blast at the same time. I haven't had THAT much fun on a league night since I first started.

Well, I'm off to the pool hall to practice before our match at 2. More results to come!

I'M BACK

Did you miss me?

So, quite a bit has happened recently. Where do I start?

First, with a little help from John Mayer and my good friend Heather, I managed to get over everything that has happened with Monica. It's great knowing there's no longer a hold on me when it comes to thinking about being with someone else :) It really came to fruition when I took her off my gmail and facebook. It probably sounds stupid, but it was therapeutic to do so.

Next, we have a cancer scare with my dad at the moment. When he was at the dentist, they found a tumor in his upper gum/cheek area. We have to wait until the 8th until we find out anything, but we're hoping it benign. The genius is, of course, not slowing down on his smoking in the meantime. Sometimes that man irritates me :/

Most exciting is the fact that my pool team, geekily named Elastic Collision, won our playoff matches and is now in the Vegas Cup starting today. It's a tournament of about 50-70 teams, and it lasts until Sunday night if you keep winning. We came in second for the session, taking 56 out of a possible 90. This weekend's tournament is a fight for a 5 day, all expense paid trip to Las Vegas to compete in the National Amateur Championship for the APA Leagues. Our league operator pays for the hotel and flights there n' back. We only have to take what money we plan on spending out there. As I will be doing nothing but playing pool, I'll only need food and fees for the mini tournaments that happen between matches. A 10 dollar fee for a mini that has maybe 5 people in it can easily net you 300 bucks :) While we're out there, we will not only be playing for massive bragging rights, but for 25,000 dollars. That's 5,000 a pop for each player that shoots :)

I will be posting as the matches occur, in order to keep results accurate and to give Heather something to read :P Hopefully this tides you over :)

One day I won't suck :p

What's new with Donald?

Well, I accomplished 3 of my three goals for March. Like predicted, I did not get the recording of a song done. Not only that, but I didn't even really start to. I failed horribly on that one, but the other two goals were cake :D

I also told Des'neiges that I really liked her. I would have preferred to remember this instead of finding a drunken conversation in my gmail account, but what are you gonna do? Reading it, I realized I remain quite coherent in my writing, and the conversation went alright. She basically said she needs more time to be ready to date, which is what I expected, and was why I hadn't planned on saying anything for a while. Thank you, liquid courage, you bastard :p

Okay, so I decide to do this weekly artist thing, and what do I do? Stop after the first week of course :p

The Kings of Leon kick was going plenty strong this whole time, so I didn't actually find another artist to get hooked on until this week, so I wasn't completely bad :)

This week it belongs to Styx. I have always listened to them, but this week I have really been into them. It all started with having to play Mr. Roboto on Band Hero with some fellow tutors. Here's what I've been listening to from them:

Mr. Roboto - I don't care that no one likes this song. I love a rock opera, and it's the biggest hit from their rock opera concept album "Kilroy Was Here"

Renegade - Fun. End of story.

Shooz - Tommy Shaw can sing and play. Almost like him more than Dennis DeYoung

Best of Times - I swear the beginning sounds more like Billy Joel every time I listen.

New and Shiny!

I have decided to add a weekly specific topic to my blog. Yet again, Heath, I'm ripping you off ;)

I have been listening to different artists than usual lately (read: not new, just different), so I think I shall do a weekly 'artist-of-the-week' feature on here. Random trivia on them, upcoming works, and anything else I deem interesting I will post :)

So, to kick it off, I'm using Kings of Leon.

Usually, I do not dig this kind of band, but I must say I love the baritone voice of their lead singer. The guitarists definitely leave something to be desired for my personal tastes as I play the isntrument, but they're not bad. I just think they could do more for their verses than they do. In "Sex on Fire" (linked below), I love the singer, and even love the intro guitar, but during the chorus I think it starts to lack. I'm just not a fan of straight 8th or 16th note strum patterns.I won't mark them points off, though, as it works with their singer well. I just think they could do more with the instrument.

I think it's pretty cool that the entire band is made of family members - some are just cousins, but family nonetheless.

Here's a few songs that have grabbed my attention from them as of now. Definitely gonna be checking out all their albums this week :)

Use Somebody probably my favorite as far as lead vocals go.

Sex on Fire

True Love Way Love the pairing of the simple chord progression in the beginning with the harmonics (the bell-like sounds) form the other guitar. The vocal melody also hooked me in quite easily. Probably my personal favorite from the band!

Cold Desert Simple, but very chilling vocals in my opinion. Just great music right there :)