Niko at Fermilab

For me, a high score on the ol’ stress inventory has always resulted in exercise outputs going down in inverse proportion to the units of alcohol, sugar and fat input. Yes, I know, those who can’t do become therapists and tell other people how to be all healthy and shit. So, last week, after another “quick, drop everything: someone’s gonna die” emergency, I evaluated the level of blobby-ness and said to myself, time to get the fleshbag back in shape.

Now, I’ve never been the type of woman to obsess about her weight or examine each calorie. Quite the contrary. It’s just that when I reach a point when I can’t recall the last time I worked out, and have that fuzzy-teeth feeling in my arteries, I know it’s time to stop neglecting the temple of me, which means stop making offerings of pizza and bubbly to it pronto. Ultimately, I know that I feel so much better when I lift regularly (and yes, force some form of cardio into the mix) and make pizza night an exception rather than a rule. In times of crisis, I tend to forget this (okay, ignore this reality) in favor of more comforting pursuits.

Starting tomorrow, September 1 I’m returning to a tried and true method of getting back in shape (and most importantly, back in balance and better able to both handle stress and enjoy life). I’ll be following Brad Schoenfeld’s 28-Day Body Shapeover workout plan (love it: tons of strength training coupled with a tolerable amount of cardio), partnering it with a return to my mostly vegan sensible eating habits.

Tonight, I enjoy a last meal of indulgence: pizza and cake – whee!

As a tool for keeping myself honest, I’m going to try to log each day’s progress here. If I get really fancy, there will be some photo food diary action. If I get really, really bold, there will be some before and after pictures as well. We shall see.

Alright, pizza awaits!

I thought us scifi geeks were supposed to be able to handle a little ambiguity, so what’s with all the folks getting their undies in a bundle just because there was no explanation as to what Starbuck was and why she just disappeared. Folks, there’s that thing in your wee noggin’ called an “imagination,” use it.

I soldiered years of childhood taunts of “Hey, Erin, why don’t you go get a bra?” on this holiday just fine. However, I won’t put up with miscreants who spend their parents’ money on Miller Lite kegs and stupid green plastic hats. Take your adolescent endeavors down to Bucktown or Lincoln Park, where you’ll fit in just fine amongst all the same ass-hattery going on this evening. Leave us in the northside ‘hood to drink quietly behind closed doors, thank you very much.

Oh, happy St. Patrick’s Day, all. Go lick a rock or something.

I give you wagging finger of shame, laddie!

Pardon the construction dust as I’m still working on bits & pieces here and there. Next big task is to slay all the IE bugs I’ve ignored to this point. So, if you’re viewing this via IE (shame, shame, shame on you if you are; might I introduce you to your new best friend, Firefox), please bear with the kooky alignment of the pretty boxes. IE doesn’t hang with the rest of the CSS-compliant cool kids, so he’s a bit behind the times when it comes to pure CSS layouts. Goodness me isn’t that such an uber-geek thing to say?

Real blogging will commence in the very near future, as I try to stick to my personal commitment (not not not a New Year’s resolution – ick hate those) to post at least three times a week. I’ll be tossing out bon mots, rants, lengthy musings, and brief observations about topics near to my heart or central to my work. If you’re curious to know what I’m reading, eating, drinking, or otherwise doing to occupy my time, head on over to the “What’s Up?” page for regular updates on that sort of minutae.

So, stay tuned. Until then, I leave you with words from Saint Patchen himself:

“I am the world-crier and this is my dangerous career…I am the one to call your bluff, and this is my climate.”

• Emergen-C (mixed berry flavor) mixed with lime Perrier
• Assorted teas from Argo or Serene Teaz. I have many; my electric teakettle is well-loved. Heartily recommend Argo’s winter white, which is now on sale to boot.