Going Vegetarian

So I’m going to go Vegetarian for July. I figure this way it gives me a week to get rid of the meat in my fridge (no temptation and no waste), as well as prepare for a new diet.

As for my reasoning, no I’m not going vegetarian for ‘ethical’ reasons. PETA still pisses me off way too much. I’m still a big believer in the food chain, and as the dominant predator on Earth, we can eat as we please. Instead, I’m doing it for health reasons and just for a change of pace. I want to lose some weight and trim up, so I figure a vegetarian diet will be a good way to go. I’ll re-evaluate at the end of next month.

Not A Belly Itcher

So tonight I had my pitching debut for our softball team. Our normal pitcher was out, so I got drafted. 5 innings, 12 runs, 1 strike out, and no walks. That is one of our best pitching performances. Ever. First time we never walked anybody. Also, for our co-ed team, this is the first time we’ve got more than 3 innings. So I feel pretty good for a 12-0 loss.

Always look on the briiiiight siiide of life.

Ahhhhh Sweet Bliss

So I just got my theater system hooked up. I’m now watching West Wing (Season 4 – Game On) upsampled to 1080i hi-def, a beer in my hand, a package of oreos next to me, and a nicely rolled joint ready to go. Sometimes I just fucking love life.

Now I just need a wall mounted shelf for my center speaker and a rug to cover the rear speaker wires. Then it’s on to pictures and art.

Soooo

Womens College Softball World Series  = Hot

My softball team = Not

I really should have gone to more softball games at KU.

Fun With Running

So I got up early this morning and ran the Susan G Komen 5K (3.1 miles for you Yanks). Damn, that shit is tiring. I had been trying to get on the treadmill to practice, but life kept getting in the way. I hadn’t completed 3.1 miles until last night. Luckily, this morning was great. Having a few thousand people around really keeps you in rhythm. I did it in 38 minutes, which I felt really good about. My target was 45 minutes.But damn, now I’m quite tired and this is normally the time I would be waking up. I feel like it’s 3 in the afternoon instead of 10:30 in the morning. I’m going to try to find a 10K and run that later this summer. I’ve also got a bike race next Saturday to deal with, so I’m either going to be in really good shape or dead by the end of the summer if I keep on this pace.

I’ll take Ron Paul for the win, please.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/PatrickJBuchanan/2007/05/18/but_who_was_right_–_rudy_or_ron?page=full&comments=true

So Pat Buchanan has weighed in on Ron Paul’s startling display of lucid thinking and honesty during the GOP debate. In yet another shock, he agreed 100% with him. I’m really loving that this story is maintaining some legs. Ron Paul went from being the last guy on the stage to having the spotlight firmly on him. This is the only story from the debate to hold (despite Fox News’ wonderful fearmongering questions involving Jack Bauer scenarios.), and it could very well become the lens through which the next one is viewed. To make thing even better, GOP leaders having been pressuring debate sponsors to stop inviting Paul to upcoming debates, which has only reinforced the news cycle. When the debate shifts to “should he stay in?” it gets paired with “wait, was he right?” and ends up as creating a situation that is every TV producer’s dream. People now want to SEE the next debate just to see if Ron Paul gets to talk, and how the other people respond to him. Hell, Fox News’ own poll had Ron Paul winning the debate. If you’re producing these things, there isn’t a rats chance in hell you’ll kick him out. In the meantime, we get this wonderful news cycle  centered around a central question of “If you don’t want to debate somebody who has valid views backed by numerous experts and studies, then how can you possibly be President?”

Understanding John McCain

So I’m watching the latest episode of Meet the Press, and John McCain is getting the whole hour. At one point he actually said that the American people will tolerate a longterm deployment to Iraq because “we’ve been in South Korea for 30 years, and the American people are happier and safer for it.” So. I think we have different definition on military success. He’ll literally consider the North Korea solution perfectly acceptable. Sigh. Crazy old John. You used to be so cool, but now it’s just getting sad. Like the Joanie and Chachie.

Had a good weekend. Lots of fun things happened. Will save those stories for later. I’m almost ready to move on to a new book. Which will it be? Guns, Germs, and Steel or 1776?

The New Yuppie Class

So I had a discussion as lunch the other day that made me question whether I’m a yuppie or hippie. On the one hand, I’m a young, urban professional, living in a modern apartment, drinking my blueberry vodka. On the other hand I’m an organic eating, outdoor loving liberal. So maybe I’ll just be a little of both.

This came up again today. At work, I finally got to sign up for my IRA plan. My company will match up to 3%, so you might as well. It comes out to about $100 a month pre-tax. I did the math, and assuming the IRA portfolio continues on it’s track (the portfolio features banks and oil companies, so I’m assuming that’s a good bet), the $1200 I put in a year, plus the $1200 the company puts in will turn into about $350K by the time I retire. And that is one year’s worth. So yeah, there is an adult moment for you. Less money now, but it will help me retire comfortably.

I brought this up with my mom, who was quite proud of me. She and my dad have quite a lot of debt because they didn’t exactly plan for the long term. Needless to say, I learned a lesson from that. It also happened that my IRS refund came in today (which is why I was at my parents’ house). I used a good chunk of this to buy myself camping gear. I ended up spending about $400 even at REI, and I still have some more stuff to buy. I did get a kick ass 2-person, 3-season tent for $170 that only weighs about 5 pounds, and I got a goose down sleeping bag that goes to 30 degrees and weighs less than 2 pounds for $180 ($134 after membership discount!). I also picked up some small things like my new kick ass headlamp. The thing is freaking bright, has an emergency strobe mode, and lasts for 150 hours. I love REI.

After getting this gear, I showed it off to my mom, who was a little puzzled at my purchase. I told her I was coming to Lawrence to camp, so I might as well get the good stuff. She took this as a yuppie sign and wondered where her son who wanted to be poor and happy went. I figure it this way. I always wanted to be the guy who goes camping. I always wanted to be the guy who goes on cycling tours. I always wanted to be the guy who plays company softball on the weekend. I’m finally at a place personally and financially where I can be that guy. Rather than let my cheapness and laziness win, I’d rather use my spare money to keep self improving. If none of my friends want to come camp with me, who cares. I’ll gladly drive 3 hours to Arkansas and camping at their awesome state and national parks by myself. If they do, then all the better. So in the meantime, I’ll keep buying my gear and enjoying myself, because who knows what will happen tomorrow. It would be a shame to die young and never have used my spare time and money to do the things that I enjoy.

Brian’s Culture Lesson #1

Watch: Beirut – Elephant gun

Listen: Feist – The Reminder

Read: Beware of Black Swans

I was inspired to start these little culture lessons by a neighbor I met the other day. He’s doing his graduate research studying the accessibility of information across generations and how that affects generational intelligence and metrics. He’s basically saying that kids today aren’t dumb, they simply have a quicker pathway to data, and are used to using those pathways at a high level. 40 years ago, a high school student would have to study multiple hours a day, searching out many different sources (at multiple locations) to get access to the type of education research tools  an average modern day high school student could get to at 2 in the morning. So a 10 page paper on famous court ruling in American History would logically take weeks back in 1960 to research and write. Today you can do it in a few hours while tossing back some Red Bulls. Kids aren’t dumber or smarter. They simple have access to a more nimble information system. This nimbleness means that a large base of information no longer needs to be memorized. He’s then analyzing generations and what would be considered “necessary.” Really fun shit to talk about when tossing back a few drinks. So I decided it was time to invest more money in sharing information on this blog besides dumb stories about my life.

Gettin’ Old

So I’m turning 25 in about 24 hours from now. I guess that means I can rent a car now. I think that’s officially the last “thing” I get until I’m eligible to collect Social Security. Wheeeee. Things are going well, so I really can’t bitch about anything in life, but my birthday still seems hollow somehow. I’ll treat myself to some heavy decorating of my apartment, followed with hosting some friends and drinking.

In other news, I might be able to get up to Lawrence in a few weeks. My old boss is leaving, so I’d like to come to her reception. It’s on a Wednesday, so that sucks as far as my work week goes. One way or another, I promise to get up there for some drinking shenanigans.