Category: general

MSN has a pretty good article from the Mayo Clinic up about why we eat based on mood, how that ends up crippling our metabolisms, and what we can do to break out of the cycle.

Emotional eaters don’t necessarily eat more foods, they eat more unhealthy foods, such as starchy, sweet, salty and fatty foods. Consequently, if stress or negative emotions are chronic, emotional eating can cause health problems such as weight gain and increased cardiovascular risk.

The good news is that if you’re prone to emotional eating, you can regain control of your eating habits. By understanding the reasons why stress and negative emotions may cause you to crave those unhealthy snacks, and how you can avoid indulging your cravings, you’re well on your way to avoiding a dietary disaster.

The other day, someone sent me an email with a horrifying story in it. I was skimming it and not really paying attention, because I thought it was just another happy-happy email forward, and so I saw things that I really did not want to read.

I don’t even know if the story in the email was true or not. But now it resurfaces in my mind at odd moments, when I’m not focused on something, and I have to force it away.

As soon as I realized what I was reading, I rejected it as false and deleted the email. I can’t remember any details like the names of the people involved. And I’m not sure I would want to look it up and see if it is true or not anyway. I don’t want it to be true. I want to pretend that it isn’t.

I don’t know why I’m writing this. I guess…I’m scared that I’m not going to be able to block it out. I’m afraid, deep down, that this is yet another thing I’m going to have to “deal with”. I’m going to have to look this nauseating, terrible thing in the face and “get over it”.

And I don’t want to. I don’t want to have to deal with it.

It’s not fair.

Today’s OO…I just…oh god.

They’re going to put Keiko’s face on Takeshi @_@

Sean and I both had the craving…so he’s picking it up now.

Yay!

I’ve got a pretty bad headache, and I can’t seem to find a comfortable reading position.

My computer chair feels pretty nice, though…;P

Think I’ll watch Yawara 34 and 35, and ponder what to make for dinner.

This is really cool. If people are able to play a sport–or do any activity–on the same level as the majority of people doing that activity, then they should be allowed to participate too, regardless of sex or other factors. I’m glad that Wie is doing so well, and I wish her luck in her Masters bid.

His newsposts on Questionable Content are typically only a few paragraphs long. He says what he has to say in a concise way, and doesn’t go off into tangents. You’d think that with that kind of format, he’d come across as rather terse.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

His style is comfortable and open, like he’s welcoming you personally into his life. But it’s not gushy–he doesn’t imply anything about his relationship with you. His writing doesn’t assume that you want his drama.

In fact, Jacques is polite enough to keep drama out of his newsposts altogether.

In the world of Jeph Jacques’ newsposts, people are nice to each other. People want to communicate, and they have good things to say. There’s a sense of camaraderie.

There is nothing in Jacques’ newsposts to cut him off from the reader. There’s no self-pity. There’s no boasting. There is never the implication that we can’t understand him.

Instead, we feel as though we’ve just walked into his store or coffeeshop, and he’s greeting us like old friends even though we’ve never met. He’s treating us with respect and friendliness and acknowledging that, in the end, we are all, himself included, just people.

He’s inviting us politely into his life–a life where the world is full of awesome things, and all we have to do is open our eyes to them. But he’s not forcing this world upon us. We go there willingly–I go there every day–because we are invited with no strings attached. Jacques will always be there to wish us well, no matter when we happen to stop by.

The bartender was someone I hadn’t seen before today: an absolutely beautiful girl in her mid-twenties, jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail, gold eyes and olive skin. Freckles dusted across her shoulders matched the ones across her nose.

I approached, and saw her reading my “Shrodinger’s Cat Is Dead” shirt.

“What does that mean?” She said.

“It’s a very nerdy physics joke,” I said.

“So it’s not being cruel to animals?” She said.

“Well, there’s a lot of Uncertainty about that,” I said.

I love Wil Wheaton :>

The story continues:

She frowned. “What?”

“That was also a very nerdy physics joke,” I said, and explained Shrodinger’s Cat to her.

” . . . so until you observe the results, the cat is both dead and alive,” I said. “Which, I’m sure, is just thrilling to you.”

She reached into the cooler and pulled a beer out of the bottom. Chunks of ice clung to the sides, and she wiped them off. As she opened it, she said, “Actually, I was listening to you because I think nerds are incredibly sexy.” She bit down on her lower lip.

Gulp.

I’m sure I blushed, and said, “Well, on behalf of nerds everywhere, I’d like to thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, as she set my bottle on the bar. I paid her and got the hell out of there before my wit and charm started writing checks my body couldn’t cash.

Moving on . . .

I just have to say…the running away, there? That was such a nerdy thing to do.

:D

Koizumi thanks Iceland for 1st offer to cosponsor U.N. resolution

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi thanked Icelandic Prime Minister Halldor Asgrimsson on Monday for cosponsoring a U.N. draft resolution submitted by Japan, Brazil, Germany and India to expand the Security Council membership, a Japanese official said.

I think this collaboration of nations trying to get into the Security Council is a really neat thing. I don’t know if it’ll succeed. I’m actually a little wary of one of the participants, unfortunately. But I think it would be saying a lot if the U.N. would let them in. It would be more than talk, more than a gesture. I think it would seriously benefit international relations.

Just finished off Azkaban. Now, in order to read the last two by Saturday, given that they are roughly equivalent, I will need to have Goblet of Fire done the night of the 12th or early during the day on the 13th–the earlier the better, as I won’t be able to read nearly as much on the 14th due to my internship. Given my rapid reading so far, that seems like plenty of time…but Goblet of Fire is a hose beast of a book, and Order of the Phoenix is hardly any shorter.

I will go ahead and start Goblet of Fire tonight. (I’m wondering how much longer I will be able to stay up, given that I have been up since 2:30…)

Also accomplished today: biking (which you know about), swimming (which you also know about), dishes, lunch, laundry, and dinner.

There was no one else in the pool, but luckily there was a guy napping on one of the lounge chairs, so I wasn’t breaking the “no solo bathing” rule ;> I didn’t stay in the water very long–something like fifteen, twenty minutes–and I didn’t swim laps or anything. I just frog-swam underwater, like usual, eyes open, skimming along the bottom until I needed to come up for air, and floated on my back on the surface, letting the currents of the water push me around. The air temperature wasn’t very warm, but the water was. It was nice and relaxing.

Now, having showered, shaved, and put on shorts and my “stunts” tee, I’m off to eat something non-diet threatening and read Azkaban. I’m not sure it’s possible to read the whole thing today, but that’s what I’m shooting for. We’ll see!

I went to the Greeneway, and strapped my MuVo to my right forearm–I don’t think you’re supposed to put it there necessarily, but I liked having it there because I could see which track was playing easily–and then headed off, forgetting my helmet in the car. The MuVo was set to shuffle the Kyou Kara Maou folder, so I just left it that way, listening to my favorites from that album over and over.

As usual, I started from the parking lot near the golf course. The new stretch of trail running along the river took me about eight minutes. After working my way up that fearsome hill, I was gasping for breath and I felt terrible, so I stopped at the junction of the new trail with the old, got off the bike, and pulled out my huge bottle of water. After taking a small sip, I suddenly felt very, very nauseated.

“Oh, crap,” I said, and knelt to the ground to stabilize myself. I felt very hot and a little dizzy, and for a moment the nausea wouldn’t pass. I forced myself to take more water into my mouth, but I could sense that my stomach couldn’t handle it at the moment, so I swished it a little and then spat it onto the trail.

After a time I felt that I could carry on, so I did. Eight minutes is a ridiculously short ride, after all. Plus, this had happened before, maybe the last time I came to the Greeneway. I had felt like crap after getting up that big hill, but then continued on and felt better. So I held out hope that the same would happen today, and, fortunately, it did.

I rode no-handed as much as I could, of course, but being out of practice with riding in general, I tended to have to use my hands a lot on the ride up due to the sheer exertion. There was a fair amount of people out for so early in the morning, and I did a lot of nodding and smiling. There was also a cute little bunny on the trail at one point; it hopped out of my path well before I reached it.

I didn’t stop again until the water fountains at the bridge over Martintown, and then I drank quite a bit and kept going, feeling much better. However, I felt that I was getting tired. I didn’t ride much further before I decided to turn around. Checking my Cat-Eye, I saw that I’d been riding for half an hour, and I figured that was plenty, given that I was out of practice. It was okay that I didn’t make it all the way to the end.

So I turned around and rode back, no-handed for most of the way. It occurred to me that I really ought to get a unicycle. Someone mentioned that idea to me once, but I don’t think I took it seriously at the time. Now, though, I think it would be really fun. It would definitely be a nice challenge.

I had passed the Activities Center and was almost to Hammond’s Ferry Road when a pair of deer ran across the Greeneway in front of me. “Oh!” I said delightedly, slowing down. “Oh!” Then I saw two more of them on the other side. They ducked back into the forest rather than crossing. I stopped, rummaged in my bag for my camera, and tried to take some pictures of them as they fled into the woods. They came out horribly blurry, for whatever reason. This is the only one that you can remotely make out:

As soon as I had put my camera away, and I was climbing back onto my bike, the deer emerged from the forest and darted across the trail behind me. “Ah!” I said, watching them. “Assholes!”

Then I continued on, crossing Hammond’s Ferry. By the way, the Hammond’s Ferry subdivision will be adjacent to that road; the empty field to the right has been plowed up. I did not take a picture of this.

Nor did I take a picture of the huge growth of grass near the other construction area along the new trail, though I thought about it both times I passed. The blades were at least two inches thick and as tall as me. I was going to name any picture I took of the growth “Welcome to the Jungle”.

Heading back towards the river, I rode no-handed over the two bridges. A man standing on the second bridge stared at me. I think he was afraid I would lose control and crash into him–the bridges, while parallel, are connected by a diagonal stretch of trail. I suppose someone who isn’t as l33t as me wouldn’t have been able to ride that without using their hands. ;>

I didn’t see any snakes near the river, oddly. It felt like snake weather, but then again, it was overcast–no nice sun for them to lay out in.

In all, I did 51 minutes at 10 mph…not great, but not too shabby. DietPower has awarded me 401 calories for it, at least. It feels really good here in the air conditioned apartment.

I’m thinking of going swimming. Hopefully there won’t be anybody out there at this time on a Sunday.

I stayed up, and I just finished Chamber of Secrets, and now I’m going to go for a morning bike ride because I have -1302 calories in my “bank” and I need to work them off somehow. (Only having 1193 calories allotted for the day doesn’t help things, either. ;P)

Reading the Harry Potter books always makes me hungry–they get to eat such delicious-sounding things at Hogwarts. And so while I’ve been reading, I’ve been snacking: popcorn, fudge rounds, Mountain Dew, banana bread, a Hershey bar, an apple, and chocolate-covered raisins. All this over the past couple of days…bad Heather! Bad!

So, biking. I’m going to try the arm band that came with my MuVo for the first time, and enjoy some music while I’m riding :) Think I’ll do the Greeneway, because, while I’ve been itching to go to the Canal again, it did rain like a mother yesterday, and I’m not sure I feel up to dealing with all the mud.

I finished off The Sorcerer’s Stone and plowed about one third of the way through Chamber of Secrets today. I also baked some banana bread, talked with my mom on the phone, and blew my diet (just for today, though ;P).

At some point during the early evening, I found myself falling asleep over the book, so I went and crawled into bed.

I slept for a long time. Sean came in and napped with me for awhile, then got back up. I didn’t get up again until around 2:30; Sean went to bed for good a few minutes ago.

Not sure where all that weariness came from; it’s not like I forced myself to get up early or anything.

As I started Chamber of Secrets, I found myself unable to remember what it was even about. All the stories were intermingling in my head, and I couldn’t remember where certain aspects appeared. For some reason, I kept thinking of plot points in Prisoner of Azkaban. Now that I’ve gone through the book a little, I know what’s going on, but it was really weird for awhile. I don’t know if this means that the plot of Chamber of Secrets is ultimately forgettable, or if I just like Azkaban better (it’s possible, I mean, dude, Sirius). I think part of it is that I’m looking forward to stuff that’s going to happen in later books. My foreknowledge could be interfering as my brain attempts to lay out all the events in order.

Not sure if I want to try to read a little more, or just go back to bed…going to bed would probably be prudent, but if I want to have even a chance of getting through all five books before Saturday, I need to finish the first three this weekend!

Danny Bloom links to an intriguing and cute blog post by Margaret Cho. From Cho’s piece:

I mean, there is the whole pride thing that white people don’t get to have, because you can be anything and be proud but you can’t be white and proud because then you seem like you are in the Ku Klux Klan.

Meanwhile, Ampontan has just discovered tentacle porn.

I must have lived a sheltered life. By chance, I recently stumbled across references to tentacle sex, tentacle porn, and even tentacle rape, which apparently have been a motif in Japanese art for a long time (and continue to the present).

Um, yes…sheltered is definitely the word, if you’ve never heard of tentacle porn. (Sheltered from Internet fandom!)