i'm drinking PBR. i swore when i bought it that i'd only use it to cook bratwurst. wtf is wrong with me?

ah, it's been a while.

also, the daily show and the colbert report are awesome.

the hammer is my penis.

do you like neil patrick harris? (perhaps you even refer to him as NPH?)

do you like nathan fillion?

do you like joss whedon?

do you like comic books?

do you like musicals?

personally, i hate musicals, but i still love dr. horrible's sing along blog. maybe you will too.

got my lab results back.

i don't think i have my old results anymore, wish i did now, so i could compare them side by side.

i remember my total cholesterol was just under the high mark (200). something like 195-198. the major problem was my HDL or "good" cholesterol was way low, like 24. 40 is supposed to be the minimum. there's a ratio of total cholesterol over good cholesterol that's supposed to be around 4-5. mine was nearly 8.

my triglycerides were also high, which i think just means i'm fat so i've got a lot of free floating fat in my blood stream. my fasting blood sugar level was also abnormally high, something like 115. it should be under 100.

after the last lab, i started trying to watch what i eat a bit better, although i admit most dinners end up based around whatever meat is on sale this week. i eat flax flakes for breakfast, which is supposed to contain omega-3s (to boost HDL). i take vitamin E and flax seed oil supplements, which are also supposed to help boost HDL. i actually didn't pick up the habit of having a beer or a glass of wine regularly. i also have not started a regular exercise program. 3 months ago the early attempts at mowing the lawn were killing me, and i fully expected to spend at least 5 hours a week over the summer working on the lawn. but it's been so dry the lawn hasn't grown all that much. i mow probably once every 3 weeks or so.

we've got a tread mill and a rubber band based bowflex rip off downstairs. i guess i should start using them.

here's my lab results:

so in 3 months, i managed to raise my HDL by 3 points. raising my HDL was my primary goal, since it being low was the big problem. i didn't try to purposefully raise my overall cholesterol, but since it was on the high end of safe i didn't actively look to lower it either. since the problem deals with ratios and therefore percentages, i figured raising my HDL by 10 points (nearly 50%) would be worth raising my total cholesterol by 20 points (barely 10%). maybe 3 points in 3 months is a positive development, but 27 is still a hell of a lot below 40, so even that didn't pan out as i had hoped.

so i was googling for ways to boost HDL levels and ran across a couple of references to low HDL numbers being associated with metabolic syndrome when present with a few other indicators. for example, the american heart association says:

The American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommend that the metabolic syndrome be identified as the presence of three or more of these components:

• Elevated waist circumference:
  Men — Equal to or greater than 40 inches (102 cm)
  Women — Equal to or greater than 35 inches (88 cm)
• Elevated triglycerides:
  Equal to or greater than 150 mg/dL
• Reduced HDL (“good”) cholesterol:
  Men — Less than 40 mg/dL
  Women — Less than 50 mg/dL
• Elevated blood pressure:
  Equal to or greater than 130/85 mm Hg
• Elevated fasting glucose:
  Equal to or greater than 100 mg/dL

my waist, or rather, the widest point on my belly is currently 43.5 inches. my triglycerides are more than double the “safe” limit. my HDL is low to apparently troubling levels. i'm not aware of any problems with blood pressure, but such problems are very common in my family, so it's probably in my future. my fasting glucose was 115 (both times, if memory serves). so i've got 4 of the 5 possible flags, 3 of which are enough for the american heart association to be comfortable classifying me as having metabolic syndrome.

i've got an appointment tomorrow at 4:30 to talk to the doctor. i'll bring this up with her, see what she says, and try to come up with a plan to deal with it. hopefully, the plan won't involve drugs. i'm not even 30 yet. stuff like this usually requires drugs that you take for the rest of your life.

apparently, people with metabolic syndrome typically respond well to low carb diets.

the wright brothers made the first powered flight at kitty hawk on november 16, 1904.

buzz lightyear alrin and neil armstrong landed on the moon on july 20, 1969.

between those dates lie 23,622 days, just shy of 66 years.

we're coming up on 39 years after the moon landing. shouldn't we have put a man on mars by now, given the trajectory of advancement implied by the two dates above?

i know we've done some amazing stuff with unmanned space exploration in the past 40 years, but unmanned anything makes for pretty lame stories.

Wooden Mirror - 1999

830 square pieces of wood, 830 servo motors, control electronics, video camera, computer, wood frame.

Size - W 67" x H 80" x D 10" (170cm , 203cm, 25cm).

Built in 1999, this is the first mechanical mirror I built. This piece explores the line between digital and physical, using a warm and natural material such as wood to portray the abstract notion of digital pixels.

source

i think that makes it official. all my heroes are dead.

this years literary guest of honor at hypericon is joe r. lansdale?! wtf? no one told me?

maybe i could actually find his fuckin' books there for once. do you have any idea how many blank stares i have gotten from book store employees while trying to track down his shit?

other than the short stories he puts up on his website from week to week, all i've ever found is a copy of freezer burn (at mckay's maybe) and a cop of high cotton (when i worked at books a million) and the UTK library had a copy of sunset and sawdust. i've been denied access to most of his novels. hell, most of his books aren't even available on amazon (just from resellers on amazon, not through amazon directly).

'cos pollstar.com kicks ass.

lewis black!

mindless self indulgence & the birthday massacre

london after midnight

bela morte

for some reason, i'm on a TDOT mailing list. occasionally i actually get some good info from it, like this:

Oversized Load Could Create Delays on Interstates 40 & 81 in Tennessee

Nashville, TN - A truck carrying an extremely oversized load will be traveling across the state of Tennessee on its way to Maryland beginning Thursday, June 12, 2008. Due to the dimensions of the cargo, traffic traveling eastbound on Interstate 40 from the West Tennessee area to Knoxville and northbound on Interstate 81 from Knoxville to Virginia will be impacted. Through Nashville, the truck will be routed onto I-440 then back to I-40.

The load is 28 feet wide, more than 15 feet tall, approximately 135 feet long, and weighs more than 200,000 lbs. It will be escorted by multiple Tennessee Highway Patrol units and TDOT HELP vehicles. While traveling on two-lane sections of interstate, it will completely block the travel lanes in its immediate vicinity. The truck will periodically pull over at pre-designated areas to allow traffic to pass.

The travel schedule is as follows:
Thursday, June 12, 2008, 9:00 PM through Friday, June 13, 2008, 5:00 AM:
Missouri/Tennessee line to I-40 at SR 840 in Dickson County

Friday, June 13, 2008, 9:00 PM through Saturday, June 14, 2008, 5:00 AM:
I-40 & SR 840 in Dickson County to Knoxville

Saturday, June 14, 2008, 9:00 PM through Sunday, June 15, 2008, 5:00 AM:
I-40 in Knoxville, then to I-81 to Bristol, TN

Significant delays on I-40 East and I-81 North are expected during these times. Motorists are urged to adjust their travel schedules accordingly. Travelers can also dial 511 from any land-line or cellular phone to access valuable information about travel conditions, or log on to www.TN511.com.

the two great tastes that taste great together.

if you need me, i'll be winding down the clock in edmonton.

my friend and gaming guru seanpatfannon will be staying in nashville for a while waiting for the VA to get their shit together and take care of his father. full details available in his journal but here's the primary entry. the gist of it is he's not sure how long he's gonna need to stay and he's operating on a limited budget, so if anyone knows of any really cheap hotels or maybe can even spare a couch for a day or two i'm sure he'd greatly appreciate it.

call yer mama.

of if you can't do that for whatever reason, call a mama. we all know a few. 364.242199 days out of the year, it's a thankless job.

no, but i'm in canada right now.

it took two bottles of wine, but i'm finally drunk. time to pass out...

Date:	2008-04-25 09:59
Subject:	thanks seanpatfannon
Security:	Public

two new heroes in one day. this guy proves you can be a total geek AND a total god at the same time. amazing.