Act Of Caring (2013-03-16)

Act Of Caring

On the way home,

1)  I forgave someone that cut me off viciously by not looking in their blind spot
2)  Chose not to make a scene because the 7-11 disabled their fountain pop machines due to the drinking water advisory
3) Brought in the bag that I forgot in the afternoon when I spotted it in the backseat as I got out

Today I Learned . . . (2013-03-16)

Today I Learned . . .

There is one perfect rhyme for the word 'orange'.  Its 'sporange', a botanical term, that describes a part of a fern or similar plant.

The Daily Affirmation (2013-03-16)

The Daily Affirmation

I appeared thin/fit to myself, when I saw my reflection in the mirror a few minutes ago.

My writing attempt turned out better than I anticipated when I started.

I filled in my entire line on my spreadsheet for today.

The Daily Photo (2013-03-16)

The Daily Photo

My mountain of snow

The driveway is clean . . . again

La Connexion Francaise (2013-03-16)

La Connexion Francaise

enseignement - teaching
apporter - bring
lesquel/lesquelle - which
connaissance - knowledge
niveau - level
devenir - become
tard - late
proche - close
ajouter - add

Blog Question(s) Of The Day (2013-03-16)

Blog Question(s) Of The Day

I know I have very little free time, and I rarely show any independent motivation, so why am I continually tempted to buy more video games?

Is the diversity in my daily practice taking away from the focus needed to develop skill in just one area?

How can weight swing so widely, day to day?

The Daily Photo (2013-03-15)

The Daily Photo

A crappy photo that was supposed to show how cold my fingers were

Blog Question(s) Of The Day (2013-03-15)

Blog Question(s) Of The Day

Should I buy a shovel tomorrow?

Am I better off alone?

La Connexion Francaise (2013-03-15)

La Connexion Francaise

parmi - among
dehors - out
partir - go
sauf - except
ou - or
définis - defined
martinet - swift
sinon - otherwise

Mon genou est bien apres un match de football.

Today I Learned . . . (2013-03-15)

Today I Learned . . .

Someone has to take every sandwich ingredient in the Subway counters out of a cooler and put it in the racks in the morning at the start of a new Subway day.

The Daily Affirmation (2013-03-15)

The Daily Affirmation

I had a second perfect morning in a row.

I know I do it every Friday morning, but I love Subway breakfast.

I scored a goal and had three (unofficial) assists in tonight's soccer game.

The Daily Affirmation (2013-03-14)

The Daily Affirmation

I had a perfect morning today. Woke up on time, did my work out and was a few minutes early to the office.

Tonight at the arena a girl I work with got me a soda for no other reason than to be nice.

Blog Question(s) Of The Day (2013-03-14)

Blog Question(s) Of The Day

Can a person successfully fight off hunger cravings with ice water?

Should I attend more concerts?

Would it be a good idea to invest more heavily in lottery tickets?

La Connexion Francaise (2013-03-14)

La Connexion Francaise

Avenir - future
Plupart - most
Transmettre - transmit
Devient - becomes
Court - short
Devoir - duty

En l'avenir j'espere savoir comment lire le francais.

Blog Question(s) Of The Day (2013-03-13)

Blog Question(s) Of The Day

Why are people so often unhelpful on purpose?

The Daily Affirmation (2013-03-13)

The Daily Affirmation

I finished "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac this morning.  Did not end the way I expected.

With Greg's help I have successfully installed a new video card in my Windows computer.

La Connexion Francaise (2013-03-13)

La Connexion Francaise

Selon - by
Compte - account
Proche - close
Milieu - middle

J'ai appris certain l'histoire française!

The Daily Affirmation (2013-03-12)

The Daily Affirmation

The guy at Future Shop gave me a SteelBook for my newly purchased Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm game disc.

La Connexion Francaise (2013-03-12)

La Connexion Francaise

Lois - laws
Niveau - level

Act Of Caring (2013-03-11)

Act Of Caring

I vacuumed up under my desk when I found crumbles while re-organizing my sleeping bag.  I also found some camera memory cards in my cleaning!

The Daily Photo (2013-03-11)

The Daily Photo

My latest culinary experiment

The Daily Affirmation (2013-03-11)

The Daily Affirmation

Mark got engaged while he was on vacation in New York City!

Blog Question(s) Of The Day (2013-03-11)

Blog Question(s) Of The Day

Could calorie free M&M's be invented?

Today I Learned . . . (2013-03-11)

Today I Learned . . .

"Maghreb" refers to Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, which used to be part of the French colonial empire until the 1962 War of Independence created the Republic of Algeria.

The scene in "The Breakfast Club" where all the characters sit on the floor in a circle and tell stories about why they were in detention was not scripted.  John Hughes told them all to ad-lib.

La Connexion Francaise (2013-03-11)

La Connexion Francaise

Ending - finally
Loin - far
Lourde - heavy
Entre - between
Nettement - clearly

Je n'ecrit pas un phrase-composée.

Today I Learned . . . (2013-03-10)

Today I Learned . . .

Butt: any of various units of liquid capacity; especially : a measure equal to 108 imperial gallons (491 liters)

In my ball hockey career I have been registered as having played in 105 games with an official tally of 4 goals, 22 assists, for a total of 26 points.  I have accumulated 92 penalty minutes.

Blog Question(s) Of The Day (2013-03-10)

Blog Question(s) Of The Day

What would happen if you detonated a nuclear bomb inside a tornado?

What's next?

What comes next?

That question keeps rolling to the forefront of my brain.  The reason for it is different in changing scenarios.  But what I ponder, over and over, is the same question.

I feel confused.  But I’m not confused.  That implies that there are various ideas in my head and they are mixed, jumbled amongst each other until I can’t tell one from the other.  Then I am “confused” as I try to sort out the various opportunities at my doorstep.

But I’m not confused.  There is no argument in my head about which from a roster of options I am going to choose.  I just don’t have any ideas.  Where there should be a wealth of imagination for me to draw from about what success to go chase down next, there is none.  I stare out into the future and the whole horizon is a bleak, unbroken line of nothingness.

So what does come next?

I know I want something.  And to my discredit I keep making asinine, stupid choices, pursuing goals that aren’t mine but seem like they should be, based on some arbitrary vision of what someone in my position “should” want. 

I don’t really know what I want.  It wasn’t so long ago I had a clear, passionate vision of what I wanted to accomplish.  I knew that to achieve a purpose, I had to buckle down and really apply myself to get better fitness and an improved body.  Well that worked fabulously and I got what I was after.  But now that I’m here, pursuing yet another ten pound loss seems arbitrary and ill-conceived.  It might be accomplished but would it advance my real goal?  Based on evidence it seems likely that would accrue me little to no benefit.

Then what should I pursue?  When I got to my weight goal I looked for something new to bend to my unbreakable will.  So I thought I needed to improve my mind.  And on that goal I pursued with heedless passion.  Now 13,000 pages later, I find myself bored with this goal, and frankly nowhere near the sharpness I thought would accumulate as I poured knowledge into my brain.  Am I quicker in thought, and more full with ideas?  Of this there is no doubt.  But my quantum improvement remains elusive and I now get bored.

What the hell should I do?

Now I am brought here, and I find myself lost.  I improved my body, but now it will not grow strong as fast.  I built up my mind, and now it sniffs at my puny attempts to feed it.  My daily pursuits are not a challenge anymore, just maintenance that I do to keep up the status quo.  Where is the salvation that will remake my soul?

My thoughts turn to those of romance, of love.  Could this be the salvation that will remake the emptiness in my heart?  But this is not something that can be quarried with a daily plan and limitless energy.  On this topic I have always failed.

Why?

If I knew the answer to this one, three-letter question then I probably wouldn’t have to ask it.  In the final analysis it’s probably as easy to boil down as to say I have no confidence.  If you do not believe you are lovable, then you will not be loved.  How I arrived at this conclusion inside me is a story too long in the making to recount in one short essay.

What taunts me is that all signs to the possibility that I am lovable.  Even loved.  But I won’t accept it.  So I fling myself at stupidity, rather than try to encourage tender thoughts that might surround me. 

You stand out there on the periphery of my swirling maelstrom.  I want to own you, but that’s probably why I can’t have you.  You are not to be owned.  Yet I want to be in that space next to you.  It tortures me that I can think of no way to get you to invite me in.  So you stand over there, quiet and undisturbed by my flailing typhoon of emtion.  I remain engulfed in a swirling hurricane, all passion and desire, but none of which even touches you, as it buffets me with crushing winds.

So what is next?

I stand here hoping that the inspiration I need comes soon.  I feel winds shearing me from the goal.  Even I don’t think of something, all could be lost.  But I don’t know what comes next.

The Daily Photo (2013-03-10)

The Daily Photo

My army of yogurts

La Connexion Francaise (2013-03-10)

La Connexion Francaise

auberge - inn
devenir - become
cotisation - subscription
prés - meadows

Mon lessive est fini.

Act Of Caring (2013-03-10)

Act Of Caring

I finally found time to recycle my used  car battery by taking it to Canadian Tire.

The Daily Affirmation (2013-03-10)

The Daily Affirmation

Thought I would have to miss out on McGriddles to return my battery, but when I got to the west side Canadian Tire, I remembered that they built a new McDonalds on the mall site.

My sister invited me over for a treat of a Sunday supper: homemade pizza and oven-baked donuts!

I filled in my entire spreadsheet today with a non-zero number