Hi Hi Hi! It's been a while, sorry, but I've been busier than a pack mule. Between school starting again this week and a bunch of work I have to do for extracurriculars and debate, I haven't been able to find much time to update this blog. From today on, though, I'll try to get back on my "update every day" schedule. It's the best thing for everyone, really; for me, because it keeps me honest, and for you guys, because it provides the most opportunities to have fun at my expense (isn't it great to know that you're better than at least one person?).
Here's a general #411: schoolwork, schoolwork, and schoolwork. That's pretty much all I've been doing for the last week, and even with this thorough dedication to my education I still feel as if I don't really "learn" anything in a school day. Any given Thursday looks something like this:
Precalculus - review things that I already learned over the summer, because I took the initiative of going over the course on Khan Academy in order to be fully prepared. I should try to figure out why I still make stupid errors, because arithmetic accounts for at least 2/3 of the points I've ever missed in math class. We took a test yesterday, and I'm hopelessly positive that it was a B, not because I didn't know a single thing that was being tested for, but because I can't fucking add consistently.
Spanish IV - I do actually learn things in this class, so I suppose it's the exception to the "school is a lesson in busy work" rule. However, for whatever reason I absolutely deplore the course and dread it day in and day out. The only reason I'm even pursuing the Spanish courses offered at my school is because I have an acute interest in the curriculum; that is, the Spanish language.
Chemistry - realistically, things are learned in Chemistry. My teacher is an awesome guy, both hilarious and in love with science, so I have fun in there, but the curriculum is so wide that the class feels forced, and understanding quickly becomes memorization. A better way to put it: we learn how to solve particular styles of problems, with particular sets of equations, and no greater understanding is ever fostered. It's no one's fault but College Board and the district, for pacing the course at such a breakneck level. Is there a better solution, though? If it wasn't so fast, than would AP Chemistry truly be the equivalent of College-level Chemistry?
US History - I also learn "things" here. The important thing to note about history class is that there is no distinction between INFORMATION and WISDOM. All we ever do is accumulate FACTS for the sake of TEST-TAKING, instead of looking at history CRITICALLY for the sake of INSIGHT. The teacher is a funny guy though, loves history, and I like him well enough. He also has a naughty - albeit adorable - child who attends class upon occasion (normally when he's bitten someone in his daycare, or something along those lines). We had a test today, and honestly, it was a clinic in information regurgitation. Disgusting. Also probably College Board's fault.
College Board, by the way, is a non-profit that adjudicates much of an individuals High School career in the US. Things from standardized testing, to receiving college credit for advanced course, to matching student to campus are all tasks organized and monitored by the organization. As such, it's the natural target of ginormous amounts of criticism, some of which is actually justified. I feel neutral towards the body; at heart, they seem to have popular education in mind, which is the best thing in the world for the world. I can't complain; I get to take "rigorous courses" and have a wealth of college-seeking information at my fingertips that no other generation has had, all because of the services offered by College Board. Anyways, sorry for the tangent; back to my day:
English - I don't learn a single thing! Since youth, I've considered myself and have been widely considered by my peers to be an exceptional writer (haughty as that may be), and yet I receive average grades in the course. Despite the frustration this has incurred, I've done my best to stay objective and seek out criticism from my peers and instructors to better myself and my literary offerings. Nothing, however, nothing has ever been conclusive, and any given piece of advice is either A. meaningless / too abstract to apply practically or B. contradictory to other advice I've received in the past. I'm so lost in English; the best thing I can do is to write endlessly, which is the Saturday-essay-writing-task I've self-inflicted.
Environmental Science - probably the easiest class I've ever taken in high school. I sleep through the whole period, and the material has gotten even easier as the year progresses. On the upside, the teacher is a hottie with fake jugs, so at least I get to enjoy the, ahem... lecture.
Physics - my favorite class, because I actually get to think critically and solve problems. It is unfathomably rewarding, after a day of information synthesis, to be able to put your mind to a problem and SOLVE IT. I'm actually pretty good at Physics, too, and have yet to score below 97 for any of the tests. Next year, AP Physics is definitely in the cards. Right now we're looking at work, power, and a general extension of 2D kinematics, which is one of the more rigorous units we've undertaken as of yet. Love it!
Anyways, I hope that serves well enough as an update for today. Tomorrow, after I actually go to the gym again (I've decided to switch to 24hr fitness, so this last week has been a transition [laziness] period) and collect my thoughts more accurately, I'll write a post that actually covers the goals that this blog was supposed to be about. This Saturday will be my first official SAT; wish me luck!
Love you all. No, really.
29 November 2012
26 November 2012
Workout and Misc.!
Hi hi! Didn't post yesterday, had other pressing matters to attend to (namely, Dota and Starcraft), but I'll be back on schedule now hopefully.
First, here's an overview of yesterday's workout:
Squat - 135 (+10). I Feel "okay" about squat now; the problem area is still having a controlled descent and ascent, which for whatever reason is proving to be surprisingly difficult. My depth also struggled on some reps today, but I'd say that 4/5 were good with the third rep being the lazy one in many cases. My leg position appears to be well, but I still need to figure out how to film myself (maybe just set up my phone on a nearby rack?). I may stay at 135 on Tuesday as a way to iron out my form some more.
Overhead Press - 85 (+5). This exercise went well enough today. I did run into some problems; most apparent is my tendency to press the bar horizontally, away from my body, in addition to vertically. This causes a bunch of problems with my posture and the healthiness of the exercise, so this is something to keep conscious for Tuesday. Elsewise the three sets went uneventfully, and I plan to go up five more pounds next workout.
Deadlift - 175 (+10). This felt great! Everything went perfectly and I have little to complain about, at least reflectively. I seem to be remembering that I had something in mind that I wanted to write about here, but now that it's actively in danger of being recollected I can't locate it. Anyways, after perusing some forum check threads on r/fitness I think I have a tendency to snap the slack off of the bar before actually beginning the lift, so I'll be aware of that the next time I do this exercise.
I say "next time" instead of Tuesday there not to avoid seeming repetitious, but rather because I plan to start performing power cleans on some days instead of dead lifts. I'll refer back to Starting Strength and the Starting Strength wiki in order to figure out how to do this exercise properly and best work it into my routine. I also plan to start doing bench presses, somehow, because I love them and miss them (
On a different note, today is the first day back in school after Thanksgiving. Just great.... Realistically, I suppose I should "give thanks" that society has deemed it necessary for my to take a week off of productivity in order to think real hard about being "thankful", the whole exercise being inspired by some pilgrims eating turkeys with Native Americans three hundred years ago. Holidays are such sentimental rubbish - there's no reason to arbitrarily elevate certain events to being worthy of, well, doing nothing for a day! I suspect people just want an excuse to laze and feast, understandably, and special events are the least ludicrous excuse for a "holiday". And, people remember events from ages ago moreso than they might otherwise, which must be a complementary benefit.
One more thing I want to talk about: since I wrote my first blog post, I haven't done a damn thing to accentuate my understanding of the Spanish language. I have been quite busy, but not so busy that I couldn't find time to work with a language trainer on the internet. As a result, I'm going to do my utmost to cut video games out of my routine. The key thing to keep in mind:
Do what you have to do to be the best you can, not what you want to do at a given moment. With that, I bid you all adieu!
First, here's an overview of yesterday's workout:
Squat - 135 (+10). I Feel "okay" about squat now; the problem area is still having a controlled descent and ascent, which for whatever reason is proving to be surprisingly difficult. My depth also struggled on some reps today, but I'd say that 4/5 were good with the third rep being the lazy one in many cases. My leg position appears to be well, but I still need to figure out how to film myself (maybe just set up my phone on a nearby rack?). I may stay at 135 on Tuesday as a way to iron out my form some more.
Overhead Press - 85 (+5). This exercise went well enough today. I did run into some problems; most apparent is my tendency to press the bar horizontally, away from my body, in addition to vertically. This causes a bunch of problems with my posture and the healthiness of the exercise, so this is something to keep conscious for Tuesday. Elsewise the three sets went uneventfully, and I plan to go up five more pounds next workout.
Deadlift - 175 (+10). This felt great! Everything went perfectly and I have little to complain about, at least reflectively. I seem to be remembering that I had something in mind that I wanted to write about here, but now that it's actively in danger of being recollected I can't locate it. Anyways, after perusing some forum check threads on r/fitness I think I have a tendency to snap the slack off of the bar before actually beginning the lift, so I'll be aware of that the next time I do this exercise.
I say "next time" instead of Tuesday there not to avoid seeming repetitious, but rather because I plan to start performing power cleans on some days instead of dead lifts. I'll refer back to Starting Strength and the Starting Strength wiki in order to figure out how to do this exercise properly and best work it into my routine. I also plan to start doing bench presses, somehow, because I love them and miss them (
On a different note, today is the first day back in school after Thanksgiving. Just great.... Realistically, I suppose I should "give thanks" that society has deemed it necessary for my to take a week off of productivity in order to think real hard about being "thankful", the whole exercise being inspired by some pilgrims eating turkeys with Native Americans three hundred years ago. Holidays are such sentimental rubbish - there's no reason to arbitrarily elevate certain events to being worthy of, well, doing nothing for a day! I suspect people just want an excuse to laze and feast, understandably, and special events are the least ludicrous excuse for a "holiday". And, people remember events from ages ago moreso than they might otherwise, which must be a complementary benefit.
One more thing I want to talk about: since I wrote my first blog post, I haven't done a damn thing to accentuate my understanding of the Spanish language. I have been quite busy, but not so busy that I couldn't find time to work with a language trainer on the internet. As a result, I'm going to do my utmost to cut video games out of my routine. The key thing to keep in mind:
Do what you have to do to be the best you can, not what you want to do at a given moment. With that, I bid you all adieu!
23 November 2012
Belated Update!
Hi everyone! First, apologies for not writing a post yesterday; it being thanksgiving, I continually pushed back an update in favor of consuming evermore massive portions of turkey and stuffing. My dad, a man of many talents, is a fantastic cook with a culinary degree, so perhaps that explains my absentee streak this Thursday.
More unfaithful news: I also didn't make it out to the gym today. I had to go to the city one final time to sort out the keys-getting-lost-by-valet incident once and for all, and now I can finally put the whole debacle behind me. All in all, I'd say that I've invested 15 to 20 hours into rekeying the house, getting new copies of my car and home keys made, driving to meetings with the valet, arguing with insurance, and other related tasks, which is a damn shame. The greatest insult to life, I think, is wasting time. That's what death is, isn't it? Even things like pillage and debauchery are only crimes because they inhibit other people from fully utilizing their time and enjoying their due product of that utilization, in my eyes. Maybe this is a degrading view to take, but it does seem to follow reality and explain what defines immorality.
The gym, however, should prepare itself for a visit tomorrow morning, because I'm coming. Also, I'll write a second essay tomorrow morning; I absolutely forgot that I needed to do that until roughly three seconds ago, so I won't pin that one on lethargy but rather forgetfulness. Perhaps that's less sinful. Hopefully this essay will be an improvement on last weeks, but it's hard for me to tell without any external feedback. I think I'll start sending them off to my English teacher and see if she'll give them a quick run-through. My biggest problem with English is that I just DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEMS ARE - none of the feedback I get from my teacher ever... means anything? It's exquisitely frustrating; often I feel as if my writing simply does not coincide with her particular beliefs on what is "good" in an essay.
On a different note, tonight my long-time friend who's away in college was back in town, and we hung out with a third mutual friend. We are an immensely nerdy bunch, I'm afraid, and instead of getting shitfaced we decided to discuss the rather fallacious distinction between living and non-living things. Over Dominoes pizza, of course (how bourgeoisie). It's always a treat to see him as he's away often and when he is back I tend to be busy, so I was glad for the chance to do so tonight. This all sounds very gay. Well enough (love you Sarah)!
And, after striving once again to burn the unnecessary heap of flesh off of my midsection at the gym, I shall report back tomorrow. The plan is still to go up 10 pounds on dead lift and 5 on the overhead press, but I'm still debating between +5 and +10 on squat. It would be hugely satisfying to put the big-boy plates back on the bar, but I know I shouldn't let that factor into my decision making. We shall see whether the ego triumphs reason, I suppose.
Thanks a million times for reading. It means more to me than I could possibly communicate that people are actually following along, and it's just so motivating to have that constant fear of all those onlookers judging you should you stop striving (as pessimistic as that sounds, it really is a good thing). Love you long time!
More unfaithful news: I also didn't make it out to the gym today. I had to go to the city one final time to sort out the keys-getting-lost-by-valet incident once and for all, and now I can finally put the whole debacle behind me. All in all, I'd say that I've invested 15 to 20 hours into rekeying the house, getting new copies of my car and home keys made, driving to meetings with the valet, arguing with insurance, and other related tasks, which is a damn shame. The greatest insult to life, I think, is wasting time. That's what death is, isn't it? Even things like pillage and debauchery are only crimes because they inhibit other people from fully utilizing their time and enjoying their due product of that utilization, in my eyes. Maybe this is a degrading view to take, but it does seem to follow reality and explain what defines immorality.
The gym, however, should prepare itself for a visit tomorrow morning, because I'm coming. Also, I'll write a second essay tomorrow morning; I absolutely forgot that I needed to do that until roughly three seconds ago, so I won't pin that one on lethargy but rather forgetfulness. Perhaps that's less sinful. Hopefully this essay will be an improvement on last weeks, but it's hard for me to tell without any external feedback. I think I'll start sending them off to my English teacher and see if she'll give them a quick run-through. My biggest problem with English is that I just DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEMS ARE - none of the feedback I get from my teacher ever... means anything? It's exquisitely frustrating; often I feel as if my writing simply does not coincide with her particular beliefs on what is "good" in an essay.
On a different note, tonight my long-time friend who's away in college was back in town, and we hung out with a third mutual friend. We are an immensely nerdy bunch, I'm afraid, and instead of getting shitfaced we decided to discuss the rather fallacious distinction between living and non-living things. Over Dominoes pizza, of course (how bourgeoisie). It's always a treat to see him as he's away often and when he is back I tend to be busy, so I was glad for the chance to do so tonight. This all sounds very gay. Well enough (love you Sarah)!
And, after striving once again to burn the unnecessary heap of flesh off of my midsection at the gym, I shall report back tomorrow. The plan is still to go up 10 pounds on dead lift and 5 on the overhead press, but I'm still debating between +5 and +10 on squat. It would be hugely satisfying to put the big-boy plates back on the bar, but I know I shouldn't let that factor into my decision making. We shall see whether the ego triumphs reason, I suppose.
Thanks a million times for reading. It means more to me than I could possibly communicate that people are actually following along, and it's just so motivating to have that constant fear of all those onlookers judging you should you stop striving (as pessimistic as that sounds, it really is a good thing). Love you long time!
21 November 2012
Gym and Life
Hi! Got back from the gym earlier today, so I'll go over the lifts as per usual:
Squat - 125 (+10). I decided to start going up today, because I don't feel like I'm getting a whole lot out of the squat at the moment, even though my form still isn't very good. I'll continue to be conscious of my reps, but hopefully this is a problem that will solve itself with more and more weight. Oddly enough, the problem seems to be going too deep into the squat - for whatever reason, I have a very difficult time of controlling the weight on the way down and stopping it where it needs to be stopped, so my reps are rather "schleppy". At the least, I do have a full range of motion and I actively focus on maintaining hip-drive.
Overhead Press - 80 (+5). Killed it on the OHP today! Form was solid, and I really felt as if the last rep or two were actually training my muscles. Shoulders felt good, no real pain; the one thing was that, on only one or two reps, I noticed myself throwing a bit of back into the exercise. I'll have to be conscientious of that in the future.
Dead lift - 165 (+10). Dead lifts were great today! My form was perfect (as far as I could tell), and the pain in my upper back from last time has all but entirely disappeared. I'm still ripping through these +10 increments with almost no problem, so the plan is still to stick with that until further notice.
One thing I've been forgetting to write about is the diet side of things; originally I planned to eat 3000 calories a day, document everything, and stick to that number religiously. As time has passed, though, I've found that to be rather unrealistic, as some restaurants don't have calorie information and sometimes I just plain forget to record something. Instead of actually counting calories, I've just tried to eat food until I'm full and guesstimate. Most days I figure I'm eating about 3250 calories, which should work fine for now. I feel particularly not bad about this because my lifts are going up so quickly.
Other than the lift increases, it's been a pretty shitty couple of days. First I found out that my physics teacher recorded a 36% for a test that I know I made a hundred on, and I have no idea why. When the test was originally administered, many people (including myself) were absent, so last Friday he herded us all into the hall where we were to take the test. People kept practically begging me for some of the answers, so I relented, not thinking that I really had any other options. No one caught us, but now I'm scared that he somehow found out, because the only other reason my grade would be that low is if he accidentally graded the test according to the wrong key. Then again, if he'd found out that people cheated off of me, wouldn't he just give us all 0s? I don't know, but the whole thing depresses me. I feel as if I fucked up somewhere, but I just didn't feel like I could say no to them, it was really a pathetic display.Sometimes I just can't find the right answer.
Then, last night, I was a dick to my girlfriend for some reason. I don't even really know why, I was just kind of generally an asshole and I once I figured out how shitty my behavior was I was unable / unwilling to stop it for 15 minutes or something like that, and it just got worse and worse. This is a bad explanation, I know, but I'm still not totally clear on it myself and I don't want to think about it anymore.
As if that isn't all enough, I've spent another half hour trying to coordinate with this poor valet about getting our fucking house rekeyed because my dad is paranoid as all fucking hell, and I can't understand shit on the phone with him because his english is so broken. Huge headache. Anyways, I have to meet him in the city (meaning I have to drive to the city and back AGAIN, that's the fourth time this week ugh [its a 45 minutes drive]) to pick up a check at five, but at least this fiasco will finally be over then.
I just want to lie down and sleep for a few weeks. A very depressing day; these are the days where it's most important to persevere, I know, but I don't want to do anything but mope. It's not even that I'm down about anything in particular, I just generally feel worthless.
Sorry for the depressing post; I'll snap out of this by tomorrow I hope. See you all then.
20 November 2012
Song, Fitness, General Update!
Song of the moment: Mambo Number Five, the black man edition. Man, I'm listening to this rendition for the first time, and goddamn is it FUNKY or what? Just beautiful, I feel like... I don't even know, but I feel that there should be more underwear dancing going on right now.
Anyways, results of today's workout:
Squat: 115 (same) - I think I'm alright on forum now. I might give it one more workout at 115, just to make sure that everything is golden, but today felt nice. I feel acutely aware of what I should be doing on the squat, and most of the time my repetitions seem to be lining up. It has been immensely rewarding to do these squats more and more correctly, as lame as that sounds, because I feel like I'm finally making up for a weakness that's been perpetuated by coaches, trainers, and myself for years. Yuss!
Deadlift: 155 (+10) - Deadlifts, I think, are going well. I deweight after every rep and try to match my body to the mental picture I have of what a good deadlift looks like. Today, however, I felt a burning pain in the upper part of my right lat for the last two or three reps, and I didn't quite know what to make of it. I'll make a post on fittit and report back tomorrow morning.
Overhead Press: 75 (+5) - This is definitely my favorite lift right now. Not only do I feel great doing them, but I think that going up five pounds a workout for the overhead press is really impressive; at least, I'm impressed with myself, which is what matters! Form seems to be pretty good; one thing I need to work on is keeping my elbows under the bar, which is a standard that has absolutely perplexed me because it feels totally unnatural to position my wrists that way. Maybe fittit will have some input here as well.
The second order of business, an update on the remarkably lame car situation: I picked up the hunk of metal from the restaurant, and drove back from the city only to discover that I have some sort of oil leak (just fucking fantabulous). The dad was reduced to maniacal laughter at the sheer improbability of my repetitious car troubles, and eventually said he'd bring it in to the shop tomorrow morning. We still have to figure out who's paying for rekeying our house locks; I really don't want to make the valet do it, but if his company won't stand up for him I think my hands are tied. Any advice on what I can do here?
And third: I posted my essay on r/writing and didn't get any comments, which sucks, but people obviously have better things to do than read my shitty essays and tell me how bad I suck. And plus, I already got my beatdown for this week on r/malefashionadvice, so I guess my abuse-at-the-hands-of-redditors quota is close enough to full.
On an unrelated note, I've been reading a historical fiction novel that has been tremendous fun. This is my first foray into the genre, and I must say, this particular novel (I can't claim to be well enough acquainted with the genre to offer an overarching kudo) has a delightful balance between useful history and characters that you can't help falling in love with. I don't have it on hand, but tomorrow I'll let you all know who the author is and the title of the book (sorry, hopefully we've established that I'm lazy!).
I don't really know what I'm going to talk aimlessly about tomorrow; maybe just a review of the first week of this blog, or maybe I'll be more specific should something catch my literary eye. See you guys then, and thanks for reading as always!
I leave you with this thought-provoking list that continues to relentlessly change my perception of the world!
Anyways, results of today's workout:
Squat: 115 (same) - I think I'm alright on forum now. I might give it one more workout at 115, just to make sure that everything is golden, but today felt nice. I feel acutely aware of what I should be doing on the squat, and most of the time my repetitions seem to be lining up. It has been immensely rewarding to do these squats more and more correctly, as lame as that sounds, because I feel like I'm finally making up for a weakness that's been perpetuated by coaches, trainers, and myself for years. Yuss!
Deadlift: 155 (+10) - Deadlifts, I think, are going well. I deweight after every rep and try to match my body to the mental picture I have of what a good deadlift looks like. Today, however, I felt a burning pain in the upper part of my right lat for the last two or three reps, and I didn't quite know what to make of it. I'll make a post on fittit and report back tomorrow morning.
Overhead Press: 75 (+5) - This is definitely my favorite lift right now. Not only do I feel great doing them, but I think that going up five pounds a workout for the overhead press is really impressive; at least, I'm impressed with myself, which is what matters! Form seems to be pretty good; one thing I need to work on is keeping my elbows under the bar, which is a standard that has absolutely perplexed me because it feels totally unnatural to position my wrists that way. Maybe fittit will have some input here as well.
The second order of business, an update on the remarkably lame car situation: I picked up the hunk of metal from the restaurant, and drove back from the city only to discover that I have some sort of oil leak (just fucking fantabulous). The dad was reduced to maniacal laughter at the sheer improbability of my repetitious car troubles, and eventually said he'd bring it in to the shop tomorrow morning. We still have to figure out who's paying for rekeying our house locks; I really don't want to make the valet do it, but if his company won't stand up for him I think my hands are tied. Any advice on what I can do here?
And third: I posted my essay on r/writing and didn't get any comments, which sucks, but people obviously have better things to do than read my shitty essays and tell me how bad I suck. And plus, I already got my beatdown for this week on r/malefashionadvice, so I guess my abuse-at-the-hands-of-redditors quota is close enough to full.
On an unrelated note, I've been reading a historical fiction novel that has been tremendous fun. This is my first foray into the genre, and I must say, this particular novel (I can't claim to be well enough acquainted with the genre to offer an overarching kudo) has a delightful balance between useful history and characters that you can't help falling in love with. I don't have it on hand, but tomorrow I'll let you all know who the author is and the title of the book (sorry, hopefully we've established that I'm lazy!).
I don't really know what I'm going to talk aimlessly about tomorrow; maybe just a review of the first week of this blog, or maybe I'll be more specific should something catch my literary eye. See you guys then, and thanks for reading as always!
I leave you with this thought-provoking list that continues to relentlessly change my perception of the world!
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