It is incredible what a sincere gift, or greeting, or small conversation, or gift of music, or small showing of thoughtfulness, or even a hello can do when you are feeling a bit low.

Link

Of nutrition

I, Andrew Anganes, am not a nutritionist, neither am I a manitologist (The study of manatees) but that is another subject. Being one who eats food, though, I feel that I know something about the subject.

What I want to address today is the subject of extreme dieting habits. This, and their effects on the human body. More specifically, their effects on my human body.

As many of you know, I had the opportunity to dedicate a week of my life to playing music for a bunch of middle schoolers. During this week was a time of unrest in my nutrition cycle. The schedule for my playing was on Sunday from 1:00-5:00, then Monday through Saturday, 3:30-6:30. Consider also that Sunday dictates church in the morning, then a rush to get to practice. Please take into account that it is about a 30 minute drive to or from the practice area. More, if there happens to be heavy traffic.

A basic analysis would immediatly see that on the first Sunday I wouldn't have time for lunch, and that dinner would come late. This was the kick and shock into the week's daily cycle. The result of this first day was basically hunger through until I got home, then a big dinner. The big dinner then carried over until breakfast the next morning. Normally I eat a rather substantial breakfast, so anything diminished is usually a somewhat bad sign.

Having done some schoolwork and warmed up on my violin, I would then proceed to run out the door, always being late. This would be preceded by a lunch at home. Lunches are never really a big meal for me or anyone in our house. I don't like lunch. It doesn't feel like it seats well in the daily pattern for some reason. So lunch is usually a not-huge holdover meal.

The result of this is that I would find myself a bit hungry driving from place to place and at the intermission times of the shows. This led me to do things such as buy Doritos, donuts, chocolate chips and some soda for the road. And, being hungry, I would eat to my fill (Like the old dieting technique always says, "Don't stuff yourself, only eat until satisfied". In my case, satisfied means full). Of course, the conclusion of this would be that I would eat less dinner, and have more Doritos in my stomach than real food. At least, the Doritos seemed more filling than I would have thought for the volume that I actually consumed. This pattern continued for the rest of the week until the last Saturday, where we went to Applebees during the interim period between afternoon and evening shows. At Applebees, I ate the chicken parmesan dish, which was served with a whole side of chicken.

This all doesn't seem so extreme, but the reason why I bring it to attention is because I lost 8 pounds during this week. Losing 8 pounds in a week is exactly the slogan that you see on all of those cheap looking late night T.V. commercials with people with big arms and in bathing suits, and I did it without even trying. And eating the way that I have always dreamed of eating as a child.

There are a number of of lingering peripheral factors that may be contributers, of which I can think of, that need to be addressed. First off, it should be noted that I probably got even less exercise than I usually do, which is saying a lot. That is, unless "sitting at attention" and operating a violin could somehow provided just enough continuous physical exertion to promote weight loss. Second, it must also be conversely considered that fat weighs less than muscle. So if, somehow, I managed to lose enough muscle mass to significantly contribute to that magic number 8, that scares me a bit. Thirdly, I tend to get stressed by a certain amount when playing new music or when playing with new people. That combined with the already very warm hall adds to the sweat and water loss factor. Sweating off the pounds, one might say. This would also lead into the loss of muscle mass.

In this case, it would seem that eating "healthy" and exercise are not the answers to losing weight. Rather, it appears that eating food with absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever to the point of gluttony, and drinking water, are all that is required. Filling the stomach with food that is useless except for it's taste will keep out desires to eat other foods that would gladly remain in the body. And the sugar content seems plentiful enough to provide the necessary energy for the day's requirements.


This must be the miracle diet: Eat Doritos, drink Coke, Two donuts a week. Repeat.

Till we meet again

While I am 100% for the coming of warm weather, it also means that I lose a near and dear friend of whom I've become very fond of since meeting only a few months ago. Hanging up my leather jacket for the year, I felt a separation commence. Mainly, the separation of the only slight bit of coolness that I possess. That, my friends, is why today is such a sad day. And it will remain that way until the temperature dips below the level that my pocket-T cannot provide enough thermal protection for me.

Yet, at the very least, I have a very small glimmer of self-satisfaction (which could be classified as cool?) when stopped at an intersection with the windows down, wearing my usual loadout, and a huge choral solo from Handel's Messiah playing through my speakers, and watching the facial responses of people pulling up beside me. I think that this is a true cool which others are only imitators of.

Stupidity revisited

I would like you all to participate in a little excercise with me. I found this quite interesting and uplifting.

If you would all please fire up a new browser or tab, and lock and load Google. Then, with or without the quotes (or both, for your own personal edification) and before reading any farther down, please google "Harmful stupidity" and "Harmless stupidity".



If Google is the all-high knowledge indexing bank of the world that it claims to be, then one might deduce from the results that show up in the first two slots (depending if one used quotes or not to narrow your search) that I, Andrew, am the top expert in the subject of Harmful and Harmless Stupidity. A pioneering thinker in a field that does not yet exist.

I have finally reached the point where I am best at something.

How ironic

It seems that when rotten things happen, they are custom tailored to fit what would be the most inopportune misfortune for that recipient.

I heard a story the other night about a certain conductor. Apparently, he was already somewhat physically challenged. This man went up onto stage to conduct an orchestra through a performance. By some means or other he managed to fall off the stage during the performance. Of all the potential outcomes, he ended up breaking his clavicle, thereby rendering him unable to conduct for a good long time. Not his leg. Not a rib bone. Not a good smack on the head. His collar bone.

Another story I came in possession of a while back was that of another conductor. It seems that for some reason or another he had a staff on stage. Possibly for walking purposes. When the orchestra repeatedly refused to play in time he took hold of his staff and began slamming out the beats with the tip of the staff on the wooden stage. It so happened that one of those beats landed on his foot, and shattered it. In short order he contracted gangrene and died. All because he had to deal with lousy musicians.

These are two that I remember off the top of my head. I don't think that it is a coincidence that they are both related to music. If you have an interesting ironic and twisted tale, please voice it.

The season of LoVe

I think that I finally realize that it is actually Spring, and not Winter anymore, much to my enthusiasm.

I think that I figured it out Monday night. The way I see it, either we actually learned how to play our music, or Dr.P caught teh Spring Fevah!! In any case, our days are longer, sun is warmer, and everything is all around more tolerable. Hurray for Spring.

My 101st

Time cruises by fast, and the longer I've been around the faster it seems to fly. A sort of direct proportion relationship which is conspiring to rush me to my death. In the case of my blog, I barely noticed the amount of time that I have occupied this tiny niche in the world wide web. Thus it came as a surprise to me to notice that this exact write up will constitute my 101st post. The breaking of the barrier, so to speak. The coming of age. The line which separates the boys from the men. The snatching of the pebble from the master's hand. The programming of a server without Windows TCP protocol API support. The beginning of a new era.
Yes, it has taken since August 24th, 2004 (One year, seven months, ten days) to reach this milestone, and it has been a rather long and tedious journey, but I would like to think that what has been achieved was not through fluff, cotton balls, cut corners, or vain repetition, but rather through flesh, blood, sweat and the unwavering will of a pirate.
This blog did not start out in the conventional manner that most do. That is, it wasn't for the purpose of venting all my deep dark black frustrations and hatred of everyone to people, nor was it for setting up what we are going to wear on Friday night so that we will all match. If you know anything, you know that I am too lame to go out on a Friday night, save for AWANA and random paloozas. Not that I am complaining (all that much). I wasn't at first intending to publicize this blog, since what I really wanted to do was use it as a digital notebook of sorts. Rather than writing out by hand notes on different software that I was working on and mathematics that I had worked out, I thought it might be a whole lot easier to detail it by digital means, seeing as I am a much faster typer than I ever was with a pen. Part of the reason I went this route was also attributed to a force I call "Peer Pressure". Hence, once I procured a domain, word got around rather quickly. Therefore, it no longer remained a notebook, and it required me to put up interesting carp to appease the masses.
When I say interesting, that means that I try not to bore you with the mundane of my life, since it is, well, mundane. Unfortunately, those things end up here all to often anyways. Whether or not it shows, I at least try to throw a twist on things in order to give a new perspective and shed a new light on matters. An exercise of the brain, so to speak. Often it is not a matter of whether a thing is actually true or not, instead if one can reason it true in the theoretical, then one has just stretched his mind muscle. Has taken one more step into the abstract. Has had one more unique idea that makes their universe *that* much deeper. I dare say, it is possibly an art form in a non-tangible medium which can only exist in our heads. Which I would go on to say, does any art form exist outside of our heads? What of a story? Words on a page? Yes. But what do those words mean outside of our heads? They are ink on a page. But I digress...
A few paragraphs back I mentioned how I did not start this blog to voice my "hatred of everyone", or any other stereotypical teenybopper activities. That is not to say that I do not complain about things. Actually, that is probably one of the most accurate descriptions of my blog. Pretty much every post that is written has some roots in something that drives me up the wall. And, while I would never stand to your face and voice to you every little thing that drives me nuts about people (I'm too nice of a person to put you through that*wink*), you choose to read my post, and thus you get what you pay for. This way we both win: I get to complain and you get to read my wonderful insights on peoples neurotic behavior. And when all is said and done, I think that it is much more colorful and entertaining to find out who a person is by first defining what they are not, or rather, finding out what a person likes by what they do not. It makes for a long and roundabout, yet entertaining, journey.
At this point, I would like to clarify something. The fact is, I do indeed hate people. In fact, I hate all people. I hate all people equally, therefore I am not racist and I do not stereotype people. Now as for friends, though little I may have, I guess that I still hate them. But they realize that I hate them, and they hate me right back as best they can. Thus the long palooza nights of flinging smart remarks back and forth. In fact, I think that I know who my friends are by how much I hate them, because I feel more comfortable making fun of my friends than I do of others. Hmm. I think that I really need to work out this paradigm about friends. That may be the cause of my lack thereof. Or it may be that the hatred is actually a hatred of talking (which happens to be necessary in a friendship). This hatred is due to the fact that I don't happen to be very articular in the real world, as many can plainly see. Thus, again, this blog holds some purpose in allowing me to coherently coordinate some thoughts. I don't know if I can say the same about my grammar, but that is a different topic.
Hating everyone has it's upside in that I can laugh at everyone because everyone is strange in their own right. This is one of the positives about being normal: I have the ability to laugh at everyone else's eccentricities. While this provides for almost endless daily laughs, it is also a very lonely spot at the top of the pyramid. The endless hoards of "unaware" people, who seem to seek me out just because I do not blow them off, can be tiring. This also ties into finding good friends, because truly normal people are hard enough to come by, let alone to frequent them for the purpose of laughing at non-normals.

Since I could continue on to write a whole book as to what this blog is and isn't, I decided that I would mark a few of the high points. Create a condensed highlighted index of the Encyclopedia Drewtannica, so to speak. So, here is a short list of some of the things that my blog and I have been through over the past year and a half.

Extraordinary Accomplishments:
As of tody, I have decided that I need to upgrade from shaving once a week to twice a week.

Accomplishments:
Taught myself to play the guitar to an acceptable level during this period.
Learned to dance really badly in an incredible hat. Fall, 2004.
Learned the ancient Greek language (I am only one trimester away from completion). Sep. 20, 2005.
Authored my own Hallmark card. I was very proud of this one (Front, Back). Nov 06, 2005
I survived Drives Ed. with braincells to spare. April 14 + 28, 2005; Sept 08, 2005
Murdered many innocent stick figures (Much more at the link). June 25, 2005
Twenty consecutive games of Rook. Summer, 2005
Renting out of Cassie's room. Summer, 2005
Created a ghetto shoebox computer for mathematically crunching proteins. Spring, 2005

Extraordinary Events:
Incredible once in a lifetime photo shot of SJ. Nov 07, 2004.
Had my life dream realized when I went to the dollar store, Aldens, that incredible day. Jul. 31 2005
Assisted in marrying off the first Blake by means of my violin skills and my fruit cutting skills. (Including the only actual proof that I was ever there. This pic looks strangly similar) Nov. 24, 2005.
Survived the Demented Cartoon (just barely). Jan. 20, 2005
Met Elmo in the flesh (Willets need "Camera Operation 101"). Boston Trip Dec. 2005.
Watched all three LOTR extended edition movies back to back starting at 10:00PM and ending at 9:00AM. No sleeping. Jan. 2006.
Got the closest thing that I will ever have to a girlfriend. Brewing a relationship from 05-06

Notable Events:
Thanksgiving Reloaded. Nov. 24, 2004.
Went to Boston once, make that twice. Dec. 13, 2004
Began playing in an incredible orchestra with some incredible people. Having the time of my life there. This required me to dress up. May 18, 2005
Had a first drink of alcohol *erm hmm*, yep. Sure I did. Fall, 2005
Participated in Beauty and the Beast the musical. Arguably the most fun musical experience I have ever had. Mar. 20, 2006
Also participated in Seussical the Musical, and The Wiz.

Notable Sights:
Bub's concession stand where Homestarrunner is shot live for internet viewing. Only in the south. Summer Wilds trip, 2005.
A southerner's visual guide to walking the dog. Summer Wilds trip, 2005. Arguable one of the best collection of events to unfold in a summer I have ever had.

Visited the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Nova Scotia. Left are mark on the guest book. I commented in Greek, saying "Rock On!". SJ commented, saying "Alex is da man!". Samantha remained peculiarly silent. Canada Missions Trip; Summer, 2005
Canadian Sunsets, and Windows XP. Canada missions Trip; Summer, 2005

Studies:
The study of the word Panda, and it's derivatives. May 03, 2005
A complete study on Ramen Noodles. Jan 28, 2005
Disproof of Santa Dec. 23, 2005
Invented a whole system for a perfect utopia. Nov. 11, 2005
Pile Theory. Mar. 20, 2006

Special New Friends:
A new addition to the family, Werky. Sep 05, 2005
Made three new fans in Canada (Apparently Pumpkin head is a name of affection?). Summer of 2005
MosquitoLlama, Canada trip; Summer of 2005

Some statistics:
Since a hit counter was initiated in Sep 14, 2005, there have been 8,386 total hits.
These are the top three countries:
88.77% of which were from .com (US) domains. (5,643 total hits).
2.18% of which come from .de (German) domains (74 total hits).
1.85% of which come from .ca (Canadian) domains (70 total hits).

Other noteable countries include:
Brazil, Poland, Australia, Romania, Turkey, Hungary, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand, Colombia, Pakistan, Thailand, and the Ukraine, among others.

69.97% of viewers use Firefox
27.38% of viewers use MSIE6
0.60% of viewers use Safari

97.02% of viewers use either Windows2000, or Win XP.
1.31% of viewers use Windows 98
1.00% of viewers use MacOS
0.38% of viewers use Linux

Of hits resulting from search engines:
77.53% of hits belong to Google with 422 total hits.
16.67% of hits belong to MSN search with 75 total hits.
5.05% of hits belong to Yahoo search with 28 total hits.

My top three referrers are:
1 - http://fetafilter.blogspot.com
2 - http://alamefantaco.blogspot.com/
3 - http://images.google.com/

A toast to one-hundred more. Thanks for listening.

Leaked news from project X.

Consider yourselves privileged to have seen this, even if you do not yet know what it is. If you do know, then this is your sign that we need to get cracking on the plans. SJ is going to be back from school soon, which means that we get to use her camera and assistance all summer. I think I am going to put another coat of paint on the main attraction in the next few days. In time, we will own this town and the internet.