end_living

#6 (See Radiohead live): I got us tickets to see them in Tinley Park, Illinois on June 10th!

#14 (Attend a Chicago Fire game): I found a date in July that just might work.

#30 (Finish writing projects): I finished another comic book - "Code Red" #2. It stars April Hunter (www.aprilhunter.com) as a mercenary fighting arms dealers. We're premiering it at Horror Hound Weekend in Columbus, Ohio this weekend (www.horrorhoundweekend.com).

#31 (Finish Weird-o-Rama pilot): I'm almost done with a new pilot episode. Since switching from a PC to a Mac, I've had to re-edit a lot of footage and may have to do some reshoots due to earlier footage possibly being corrupted. I'm getting used to the new Mac video editing software.

#72 (Write a page a day, send a submission a week): I've altered this goal a bit to make it a goal of putting down 1,000 words a day. I'm able to make it most days, but other times work, teaching, and sleep get in the way. It also includes editing. If it didn't, things would never get done.

#81 (See Chicago's St. Patrick's Day parade): I had to work again this year during the parade, so if the world blows up this December, this goal will have gone unmet.

Live for the end.

I'm up to 113 unwatched DVDs. I finished watching my "Creature from the Black Lagoon" legacy collection two-disc set and I also read a short book on the construction of the Key West railroad.

I'm hoping to get the Cubs home opener and get my annual Cubs Quest off to a good start. Wish me luck.

2011 was a weird, rough year. As a result, I didn't get a lot of goals finished for this project. I only completed two: Paying off all my credit card debt and finishing Dr. Andrew Weil's "8 Weeks to Optimum Health" program. Granted, paying off my credit card debt IS a big accomplishment that frees up money for meeting other goals, so I should be happy about that. I've chipped away at watching my unwatched DVDs and reading my unread books. I finished a couple more comic book projects and am still working on my strength training program.

This year is looking up already. The stress from 2011 is mostly gone and taught us to realize what it worth our time and energy. We already have some nice plans for 2012 and I think I can pull off at least seven goals.

I'm shooting for testing in Absolute Spontaneous Directness (#12), attending a Chicago Fire game (#14), fixing the front steps (#56), attending the Indy 500 (#66), learning Spanish (#68), visiting the Sears Tower and Navy Pier (#74), and finishing my Cubs Quest (#75).

Wish me luck. I'll also work harder on keeping this updated.

Live for the end.

If you believe this Mayan calendar stuff, Christmas 2011 is the last one we'll ever have. At the latest, the Mayan calendar ends December 23, 2012. We won't even make it to Christmas Eve if you believe this "2012" stuff.

That being said, I didn't go bonkers with Christmas spending this year. I bought Mandy stuff, but I always do. I suppose I did adjust for possible world-ending weather patterns and planet-cracking comets by packing up a lot of stuff I already own that I think other people would like to own.

Many people considering suicide give away a lot of, if not all, their possessions before they check out. I'm not planning on punching my own clock, but I AM downscaling (one of the goals) and I didn't see much point in taking a lot of CDs to sell at a record store (although I love support indie record stores), when I know people who would like the CDs. It saves me time and money and brings them joy, so why not?

I think you'd see a lot of this trading of personal items if we all knew it was over before Christmas next year. People would trade collectibles, tools, cars, and even spouses. Apart from food, clothing, water, and shelter, what would be the point in keeping anything? Money would be worthless anyway, so there wouldn't be any point in spending it.

But maybe we'd all finally get on the Christmas spirit bandwagon and spend the holiday season (and the rest of the year) giving not just gifts, but time and our skills to help each other.

If the world really were ending, we'd need all the help we could get.

Live for the end.

Sorry I haven't updated this in almost three months. Things went bonkers for a little while and we spent the last part of summer working on goal #19 - finish the kitchen.

It's almost done. The only thing that needs finished is painting a small amount of trim and a floor register. We had to work hard to get it finished before our annual Halloween party, and we pulled it off just in time. It looks great.

I've also been working on goal #62 - finish watching all my unwatched DVDs. I finished a box set of 50 martial arts films, the "Airport Terminal box set" (which contains all four "Airport" films), "Alien," and "Barbarella." I'm working on my disc of bonus material for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" right now.

We're taking about a trip to Charleston (goal #70) at the end of this year. If we can find reasonable hotel rates, I think we'll finally get there together.

Keep living. I plan to get back to weekly updates.

#32: Finish the Dr. Weil 8 Weeks to Optimum Health program.


The last two weeks of the program weren't great in terms of taking supplements and getting my desired intake of vegetables, fruits, fish, and soy.  The main reason is that we're repainting our kitchen so we're cooking breakfast and that's about it.  I've also been light on cash, so I haven't been able to order a new batch of supplements.


However, I did manage to continue my strength training, had more martial arts work-outs, finished the news fasts, and continued my yoga work-outs, and I'm not missing any cups of green tea.  I love the stuff.


The main thing I've learned from this eight-week experiment is how little time I take for myself.  I'm so busy with projects that I'm in a near-constant state of monkey mind.  I have to take time daily for meditation and am often reminding myself to experience what is happening at the given moment.  Even walking can become a meditation when you are mindful of doing it.  Being mindful of how things taste instead of just shoveling food down my gullet is another new thing I'm attempting whenever I eat.



It's been a good eight weeks.  I've taken to printing and keeping charts to make sure I'm not lacking veggies during the week or missing work-outs.  Anything helps.  There are even meditation check boxes on the charts to remind me that some things can wait.

I got around to eating some broccoli, but little fish.  My servings of veggies were also down from normal.  I forgot to buy hummus, so legumes were almost non-existant in my diet.  I also somehow didn't any garlic in my meals, which is odd because we cook with it often.  I managed my two soy meals, forgot about the juice fast, and also didn't get any ginger apart from some at a sushi place.

I only got in two of the recommended five walks, and as usual I keep forgetting the breathing exercises.  I got in three days' worth so that's better than last week.  I didn't get to visit a museum, but I did go to the Salvador Dali museum in Tampa last week.  Does that count?


I pulled off four days of news fasting, which I love.  I got in one run last week instead of my desired three.  I also missed martial arts work-outs.  One of my students returned today, so that always helps.  The strength training continues to go well, at least. 

This week adds a day of volunteer work.  I live across from the Boys and Girls Club, so I may stop by there.

Live for the end.

This was a tricky week because I was on a working vacation (which is a horrible term, really) for six days of it.  Luckily, the friends with whom I stayed are health nuts like me so I was able to eat well.

I managed one serving of broccoli, only two servings of fish, and there were two days during which I consumed no veggies.  Shame on me.  I only averaged two servings of fruit a day (and thus didn't do the fruit fast) instead of my usual three.  I barely had any legumes or soy all week, but I kept up a good number of whole grains, protein, and tea, not to mention all my supplements.  I didn't get in 5 walks (and only one day of running), but I did get in three yoga work-outs and two martial arts work-outs.  My breathing exercises were forgotten most of the week.  Vacationing, however, makes it easy to take part in news fasting.  I pulled off the recommended three days without trouble.

This week increases the news fasts up to four days, adds healing herbal supplements to the diet, and recommends one day of doing a juice fast (nothing but fruit juice, water, and tea).  I doubt I'll be able to find a day to do it.

Stay healthy.  Live for the end.

Week 4 of Dr. Andrew Weil's 8 Weeks to Optimum Health program had its good points and its bad points (like all the other weeks, I suppose).

I consumed no broccoli last week, and I should have two servings a week.  I had 4 servings of fish, which is one short of the minimum, but it was still better than I did during week 3.  My intakes of veggies was low, but I did okay on consuming enough fruit during the week.  Having a cut-up watermelon in the refrigerator helps.  I didn't consume much legumes, which is odd because I love snacking on hummus.  I kept my pasta and grains to a minimum, but didn't consume any garlic all last week.  That's odd because we cook with it a lot, yet none of the recipes we made this week called for it.  I also didn't get my two meals of soy protein this week.

I managed three days of breathing exercises and my two days of news fasting.  I had no martial arts work-outs this week due to a crazy schedule.  Shame on me.  I got in my yoga and strength training work-outs, at least.

Week 5 boosts the news fasts up to three days, adds another soy meal and more intake of ginger (another thing I love), thirty minutes of walking five days a week, and another breath exercise (yogic "bellows" breathing, in which you breathe short and fast like a bellows in order to generate energy).  There's also a one-day optional fruit fast, during which you only consume fruit, fruit juice, and vitamin C.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it this week since I'm going on a six-day trip to Florida to work FetishCon.

Where I'll premiere The Galactrix #1 starring Akira Lane.


So cross another unfinished project off the list (goal # 30).

I also finished reading Best Lesbian Erotica 2010 (goal # 61).  It's a shame it took me so long to finish it considering I wrote one of the stories in it ("The Kitchen Light") under my pen name of Nicole Wolfe.  I'm reading a stack of books right now, two of which we already own, one borrowed from a friend, and one checked out from the local library.

Live for the end.

This week of Dr. Andrew Weil's 8 Weeks to Optimum Health program added one soy-based meal per week, cut the twenty-minute walks to two or three days a week, and added taking vitamin E and selenium daily, reading a book on spirituality, spending time with friends, and another breathing exercise.

The eating plan went well, apart from Sunday when it went off the rails and I consumed no fruit that day.  I didn't eat any broccoli last week either, and I'm supposed to get two servings a week.  I'm staying away from the pasta and a lot of gluten, and that makes me happy.  Most of my protein is still chicken and eggs instead of the recommended majority of cold water fish.  I also never got to the grocery store to pick up tofu, so I had no soy protein meal.

The walks weren't a problem, but once again the breath observation was only done once (Once!) last week.  It's amazing how easy it is to forget to take six minutes for yourself.  The additional breath exercise is called "being breathed," in which you imagine the atmosphere around you is pushing breath into you and pulling it out of you.  I did it once before falling asleep (which is the recommended way of doing it).

I started an unfinished, already owned book (goal # 61) on chakras and checked the "spend time with friends" off the list on Sunday.  I also did another day of news fasting, which I love.

I got in my three days of running and continued my strength training regimen without interruption.  I only had time for one day of martial arts training last week, which didn't make me happy.

This week has two days of news fasting, adding more garlic to your diet, and walks of twenty-five minutes.

Live for the end.