A thought...

I had a thought the other day and thought I would write it down here. I read somewhere that writing (ok I'm typing it, give me a break) can help in remembering things. Besides, someone else might get something out of my drivelings.

I've always been one to say that I have an open mind as I feel everyone should have. No one can know everything or dismiss another persons opinion for I fear they may miss out on something that could change their lives. That being said I also strongly believe that it does not matter what other people think of you. Having a strong sense of self and confidence is a necessity in order to survive and grow.

What I came across is a conflict between being open minded while also ignoring anothers comments. I just can't seem to see how you can do both until it dawned on me, yes you can.

What I figured out is not to ignore the comments or opinions of others but to weigh the value that they have. This value can be based on whatever you like but I myself base it on who the comment is coming from. If the comment is coming from a very close friend I know I can value that comment highly. Likewise, if a comment comes from someone that I do not know at all, I can place a lower value on the comment. If a comment comes from someone that I do not get along with at all, I can place a very low if non-existent value on it and ignore them.

This way you can be open minded to new things or ideas and also hold your own beliefs about yourself.

Just a random thought.

A.

Crash and burn...

I know I know it's been a little while since I wrote something here. I'm tryin I swear. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to think about things and just want to distract myself with mindless drivel. That's a bad thing I know, it's much better to live in the moment and focus on what you are doing and feeling. Doing so is what allows us to grow mentally and spiritually.

Enough of that, let's get on to what been going on.

The weekend before last and just after my previous post, I went over to Aroma at Y&E. I must say I really like the place. The food is awesome and the tea they bag themselves which is quite different compared to all the other coffee shops out there. I did however have a rather odd moment as I was sitting at the bar (not a booze bar, a coffee bar). This cute girl sat next to me and I caught her peeking. She had this humongous grin on her face and since I'm a sucker for smiles, I just had to start something. The conversation was great, she said she's a dancer, I asked what kind of dancer (get you head out of the gutter folks, there are other types of dancers out there)to which she replied, Jazz and ballet which she has been doing for the past 10 years. She also mentioned that she was finishing her last year of school and was going to take a year off to travel and such. I took that to mean that she was finishing college or university so I asked her what her focus was. I can't entirely remember how it came up but I started to work out her age from the info she had been giving me. Before I could come up with my guess she blurted out, "17, I'm just finishing my last year of high-school" !!!!!!. My age radar is seriously screwed up I tell ya, I was going to say I thought she was around 27. We both had a chuckle and by that time her order was ready at the counter.

Like many others, I'm up on a couple of dating websites. The all mostly "suck" for lack of a better word. I've come to understand two facts about online dating. Most guys go on these sites because they sincerely want to meet someone. I also have concluded that most women do not. I've been up on Fitness Singles for a while now. Been on Lava but F.S. seemed a bit more what I am looking for. Someone active and up for some fun. I found this one girl on there that I thought was pretty interesting so I sent her an email asking her if she had been catching much of the Olympics. 4 days go by and there was no reply whatsoever. Now normally I would have just walked away and ignored her but this time was different. I sent her another email, this time I was a little confrontational asking her if she was "the type of girl that flakes out all the time". I promised her that it would be ok if we talked for a bit that I'm not some psycho. Well she responded to that one and in a fun way accepting my self proclaimed "non-psycho" credentials. I sent her another email answering her small talk questions and asked her some as well. She had mentioned that I should "just ask her out for a walk" so I did. I invited her out to the Eaton Centre to do some clothes shopping. Honestly what girl would give up the chance to completely destroy a guys fashion sense I tell ya! Well she did, another 5 days goes by and no response again, this kind of behavior drives me nuts! To shorten the story, I've tried on two occasions now to set a first date on neutral grounds and so far she has yet to read the email with the second invite. It doesn't really matter though, there are tonnes of other women out there for me to meet. Now if I could only figure out where they go lol.

So there we have it, yeah that's pretty much all that's been happening. I know this makes me sound really boring and what not which is far from the truth, at least that's what I think. I have a feeling that this summer is going to be different for me though. In a lot of different ways too. I can't really say what it is but my way of thinking has changed considerably in such a short amount of time. When I look back at where I was a year, year and a half ago I can't help but feel so much happier with my life. I guess that's one reason why I've been putting so much effort into meeting new people (women mostly). I'd really like to share how I feel with someone close, you know what I mean? just kinda spread the happiness around a bit.

As you know it is Sunday and Sunday means leg day. It's a 'B' week which means not too heavy for those that are following my advice. I start my preseason dieting on May 1st and I can't wait to start. Off-season is great and all, you can eat pretty much what you want and all. The problem is you always feel bloated and heavy. Food after a while becomes more of a chore than something enjoyable. Preseason changes all of that to the opposite extreme, you're always hungry and near the end of 16 weeks you are so tired you can hardly walk. I tell ya what, I tell you more about that when I'm in the thick of it.

Later.

[Listening to: Watchin' Aliens II (a classic)]

Expand, flex, grow...

This week started off like your typical Monday. You know the whole "I Hate Mondays" thing. First let me say that I work in the support department for a SAAS company -that's "Software as a Service" in case you were not aware of such cool acronyms. My work, on Sunday had scheduled as service pack release to address some bugs that were found. Well the service pack went OK, the problem is that some of those updates included Microsoft updates to our webservers and SQL servers. It was one of those updates that started to kill off our SQL servers one by one. Needless to say, shit was not working as it should. The phones were ringing off the hook with case after case of the same issues. I normally handle about 15 to 20 calls a day, 25 to 30 if we are in our busy season. On Monday morning I managed 18 calls in about 3 hours! The rest of the week went OK as far as work is concerned so that was a good thing.

Ok so this may be a bit on the TMI side of things but I gotta tell you one of the best things I have done in a long time. Being a bodybuilder, my level of protein intake is pretty high. Higher than most people (non bodybuilders) would think is humanly possible. That poses some questions when it comes to #2 if you know what I mean. It's as if I've been slightly constipated for the past 3 years (yeah I know, I wasn't very comfortable most of the time). Well I had to find another approach to try and solve this issue and came across your everyday regular psyllium husk. Psyllium has got to be the highest fibre there is with just two tablespoons providing 36% of your daily recommended fibre intake! I put two tablespoons in each of my three protein shakes throughout the day and they are really fixing me up.The past 3 weeks I have never felt better, try it out yourself if you are having the same problems. I am positive you will thank me.

On the dating side of things, not too much happening there at the present. Although I did accomplish something that I've always had a hard time with. I made my first cold approach on the subway one morning ;). Ok so nothing really came of it. We didn't have all that much time to talk, mainly because I waited way too long to strike up the conversation. We had about 2 stops worth of small talk before she got off at King street (hey King street girl, if you're reading this, you have my email and number, use them!). I had to say something to her about her eyes. She had those eyes that mesmerize me. They were a blue/green hazel and she had her hair coloured in a deep red. The contrast of her eyes and her hair just grabbed my attention and slapped it around a bit.

I have to do more of that regardless of what actually happens. I need to get out and meet new people and expand my circle of friends. David Wygant has got some really good concepts that really do work. I'm sure you've seen his work if you've seen the movie Hitch with Will Smith. Smith's character was based on David's life and business. If you haven't seen the movie, go see it, there are a ton of excellent points in there that you can use in your own dating life.

I've been giving some serious thought to picking up the guitar, electric of course. It started a little while ago when I saw the Raconteurs video for "The Level". It's live and Jack White just kills it. I really admire his style and would love to have a bit of what that feels like. I figured I can fit in lessons on Saturdays no problem. I found some postings on craigslist for tutors and was happy to see the pricing isn't as bad as I thought it would be. $18 per hour and you don't even have to have a guitar to start! Most of the ads say that they have guitars that they can provide. This is a perfect situation in my opinion. If I come to feel that it isn't for me, there isn't a big financial layout to find that out!

Well it's Saturday which means it's arms day at the gym. It's a 'B' schedule week as well so not a full out effort, just 80% of max effort. Next week goes back to an 'A' schedule which means lift heavy. If you aren't taking this kind of approach yourself in your gym endeavors, I would recommend that you do. It allows your body to bounce back a bit better, and allows you to go heavy when you need to go heavy, because going heavy is the only way to build real muscle.

Well that's it for now. I want to run out and pick up some apples and stuff. I have a prescription to grab as well. I also would like to stop and grab a tea at this new coffee shop. I've been there before and I really like it. If you're in the Y&E area, stop into Aroma Espresso Bar and look for the big bald guy.

[listening to: She Wants Revenge - Tear You Apart]

Day 1 of ........

I've never blogged before. It's not really my nature to express myself openly to people that I do not know. That being said, I have come to a point where I need to do new and different things. So here we go.

I won't get into much detail about who I am, let's just say that I am a 37 year old youngster :) that is into computers and bodybuilding. Not your average combination I know, but I am special so there! I have had some on and off relationships throughout my years but I have yet to have that all fulfilling person in my life. I don't think in the past I was ready for something real, I've always just kept to myself and enjoyed -as much as one can, my own company. But things are changing for me and so is my way of thinking. This blog is just one of those steps.

My intention for this blog is to write down those little nuggets of wisdom that I come across. Immortalize the quotes that I come up with myself (it has happened), and just find a way of expressing myself.

Sundays are leg days at the gym, also known a puke days. This is a heavy week too which means 400lb squats, 850lb leg presses, reverse box lunges, and quads, quads, quads. My hams are doing pretty good, it's my quads that need some more mass and separation.

Ok, so wrapping up this first post, I know that there isn't a whole lot here (it's my first, give me a break). I'll come back and write some more and after a while this will get easier to do.

Till then,

"shut up and squat"