The DavidCyrus Blog of Wisdom

Blog Explorations

It doesn't take long to get hooked into a thread on the internet. Today I started on the Blogger homepage, went to an article on How to get a book deal with your Blog, which led me to actor Wil Wheaton's blog (who just got a book deal due to his blog), which led me to another blog containing an article,"How to be an internet toughguy" and some doctored art masterpieces. Why the detailed trek? Because the "Something Awful" website, host of the doctored masterpieces, along with a plethora of pornographic ads in its borders, has at least one, no doubt unintentional, humorous and nearly philosophical take on the commercialization of Easter. The rest of the site is amusing in a sophomoric way, and it can be interesting to follow the blogger's writings, which meander even more so than this trek to the commercialization of Easter.

What Have We Learned?
1. Although Wil Wheaton's journalistic skills are far from polished, he actually believes that his blog is what got him a book contract. Lesser Star Trek characters than himself have gathered immediate autobiography book contracts, so his reasoning is confounded by his celebrity influence.

Still, wouldn't it be just GREAT to get a book contract from a blog?

2. There is a computer program known as NetHack that can be as addictive as Tetris. I am almost afraid to investigate this, after having spent untold days of my life playing Tetris, SimCity, Age of Empires, etc... I'm guessing that, like an alcoholic, once a game addict, always a game addict.

The Morning After
I completed absolutely no planned continuous exercise over the weekend. The only effort that was somewhat strenuous was moving two couches around the house, and that was done with the help of five other people.

Perhaps tonight I will start to run again.

The Whopper & Big Mac Diet hits a snag...
I've included a link below to an article in the New York Post about a man who has done a 30-day experiment with McDonald's food.

"Super-Size Me" article

Apparently, this healthy man was transformed into a sickly overweight mess from one month of three-meals-a-day at the Golden Arches. While this story represents the experience of only one man, and doesn't really address "what" he ate, (just "where" he ate it) it certainly gives pause to anybody considering a fast-food diet.

Personal Diet Status: Occasional monitoring of intake, especially at lunchtime
Exercise Regimen: Bowled three games, twice this week. I am sure we can look forward to a real exercise routine beginning this weekend...

In Grateful Dead News, I was lucky to find an E-Bay sale of Dick's Picks, Volume 3, listed with a "Buy It Now" price of $9.99. This out-of-print CD usually sells for above $20 on E-Bay. Although Theresa would strongly disagree with the logic behind the purchase, at ten dollars off the normal price, I'm saving as much as I'm spending!

Current Weight
There is an electronic scale with a printout of your weight available at the Melbourne Square Mall, in front of the GNC store. Theresa and I have measured our weight there before, and it has always been something of a wake-up call for me. Back in the summer of '02, I weighed in at 185.5 pounds (which I believe to be my highest weight ever [hooray!]) but I wasn't too far off the mark with my most recent weigh-in at 180.8 lbs. I post this with the hope of slowly melting away my extra weight through a regimen of diet and exercise, over the next two months. My goal weight for March 20, 2004 is 170 lbs.

This might actually be a good time for me to start a self-invented diet for myself, although I'm too scared to actually follow the diet. It's called the Whopper and Big Mac Diet, and the title pretty much describes the main staples of the dieter's daily meal. After reading the nutritional content published on a napkin by Subway, it seemed that Whoppers and Big Macs are not too disastrous to healthy eating, when fairly compared to a 12" Subway hoagie. I calculated that a person could eat either two Whoppers or Big Macs each day, along with a sensible breakfast, (...what's that? A Whopper is your typical breakfast?? Well then for you, eat a sensible lunch) combine this with a plan for exercise, and lose weight in the Subway diet fashion.

I'll record whether or not I convince myself to follow this diet, but as the 8-ball often predicts, "Signs Point To No"

Evolution of Grateful Dead Song Preferences

I really started enjoying the Grateful Dead in the mid-80's, and I have my brother to thank for the introduction. At the time, the only song I can remember recognizing was Truckin'. After attending a concert in Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, I also fell in love with The Women are Smarter. I prepared for the concert by dressing in my best costume of what, I thought, protrayed hippie flair. Walking into the arena, I saw that the Deadheads surrounding me were from a completely different class and mindset; while my attire was an occasional and humorous imitation, there's was a home-grown and honest membership badge.

As CD's gained popularity in the late 80's, I started listening to the studio albums. Consequently,China Cat Sunflower represented the psychedelica of the Dead to me, with Scarlet Begonias in a close 2nd place. I also spent some time listening to "American Beauty", and learning to play Ripple on the piano. Shortly thereafter, Sugar Magnolia also drew my attention, and after Purchasing their Terrapin Station album, that suite then moved into my favorites position.

I then purchased an album titled, "Gray Folded", which is a compilation of literally dozens of Dark Star jam sessions from different shows. The movie "Rain Man began with a cover of Aiko, Aiko, and when I learned that it was a staple of the Dead, I enjoyed the cover even more (but I guess that doesn't really count as a true Dead song favorite). Susanne Vega's cover of Cassidy also drew the coveted number one postion for a while.

During a show at Red Rock's, CO, I was sitting outside the seating areas, on the side of a hill, near a small bonfire, when the Dead themselves asked the crowd to please extinguish the Fire on the Mountain. This became a favorite after my relatives expressed their exasperation from repeated listenings, during a visit.

My son was sick with a week's worth of flu once, and as he forced himself to move from couch to bed and back again, I could here him muttering, Playin' in the Band, which was enough to get me to consider that my favorite for a while. A similar event, when my other son admired the lyrics of Franklin's Tower, propelled that song (with, of course, the preceding Help is On the Way/Slipknot!) into the favorite spot.

Gotta Have a Blog! Well, now I have one, and as sole author, my comments will find no detraction. This blog may only serve as a personal diary, or an idea logger, but that remains to be seen.