Transforming Perceptions

These past few years have brought a whirlwind of emotions between becoming employed, moving half-way across the country, and finally having the ability to focus on myself, my weight loss, and my faith. This blog is a reflection of all of these items and how they interact with each other.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

New Rules for 2006

I received this e-mail the other day and thought it was hilarious.


New Rules for 2006

New Rule #1: Stop giving me that pop-up ad for Classmates.com! There's a reason you don't talk to people for 35 years. Because you don't particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.

New Rule #2: Don't eat anything that's served to you out a window unless you're a seagull. People are acting all shocked that a human finger was found in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Hey, the chili costs less than a dollar. What did you expect it to contain? Trout? Luckily, it was only a finger! If it were a whole hand, Congress would have voted to keep it alive.

New Rule #3: Stop saying that 16 year old teenage boys who have sex with their hot, blonde teachers are permanently damaged. I have a better description for these kids: lucky bastards.

New Rule #4: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

New Rule #5: There's no such thing as flavored water. There's a whole aisle of this crap at the supermarket, water, but without that watery taste. Sorry, but flavored water is called a soft drink. You want flavored water? Pour some scotch over ice and let it melt. That's your flavored water.

New Rule #6: The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the a**hole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge a**hole.

New Rule #7: Girls, just because your tattoo has Chinese characters in it doesn't make you spiritual. Come on, it's right above the crack of you're a** and it translates to "beef with broccoli." The last time you did anything spiritual, you were praying to God you weren't pregnant. You're not spiritual. You were just high when you picked it out.

New Rule #8: Competitive eating isn't a sport. It's one of the seven deadly sins. ESPN recently televised the US Open of Competitive Eating, because watching those athletes at the poker table was just too damned exciting. What's next, competitive farting? Oh wait. They're already doing that. It's called "The Howard Stern Show."

New Rule #9: If you're going to insist on making movies based on crappy, old television shows, then you have to give everyone in the Cineplex a remote so we can see what's playing on the other screens. Let's remember the reason something was a television show in the first place is the idea wasn't good enough to be a movie.

New Rule #10: No more gift registries. You know, it used to be just for weddings. Now it's for babies and new homes and graduations from rehab. Picking out the stuff you want and having other people buy it for you isn't gift giving, it's the white people version of looting.

New Rule #11: and this one is long overdue: No more bathroom attendants. After I zip up, some guy is offering me a towel and a mint like I just had sex with George Michael. I can't even tell if he's supposed to be there, or just some freak with a fetish. I don't want to be on your web cam, dude. I just want to wash my hands.

New Rule #12: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. "27 Months." "He's two,"will do just fine. He's not a cheese.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Happy New Year!!!

It was so weird to see 2006 pop up on the screen with my previous post. It's 2006!!! This is crazy! Especially when it comes to my job...soon our Healthy People 2010 objectives will change to Healthy People 2020 objectives. CRAZY!!!! I shouldn't be that shocked, but I am!

Things are going much better here, especially after I took some time to reflect on everything. I have a decent amount to accomplish this coming year.

1. Lose more weight. It's amazing how many people are so supportive of me in this endeavor from my doctor to coworkers to friends to family to just nearly everyone I am close to.

2. Save more money. My sister and I are going to Italy in the fall, and I hope to have a new car next year (yup, that's right, 2007). AND...if I decide to stay in Michigan for a bit longer, I would like to upgrade and get either a condo or a house.

3. Keep my apartment clean. Sounds simple, but with my schedule, not so easy at times.

4. Continue my support of our troops overseas. They deserve it.

5. Read more.

6. Study something...maybe for the MCAT or GRE? HA! That's stretching it.

I realized that instead of looking at this past year with negativity, I had to look at what I had done. Even though I wish I had done more, I am proud of what I did accomplish.

You will be seeing a change to my blog shortly. I will be combining both my blogs to this one. You may be asking what other blog did I have? Well, it was concerning my healthy lifestyle change, and quite frankly, that is one major part of my transformation here in Michigan. God wanted me here, so I am. Huh...that reminds me of a service not too long ago...

Laptop Computers in Elementary School

I do not mind the idea of teaching children at a young age to use the computer, especially in this techno-savvy day. The news article I read (can be seen here) speaks well concerning the struggle for those students who cannot afford to do something like this, but my concern is one from a public health perspective. Studies have shown that even college students who use a laptop regularly are more likely to have shoulder, back, wrist, and joint issues - this has to deal with how close the keyboard is to the computer screen. My concern is that we do not know how negatively this will impact the health of our elementary school children who would be using laptops for 10 or more years compared to college students who only use them for 4-6 years. I personally would like to see a better ergonomic laptop before requiring its use in children so young.