The Simpson Blog

The past week was, for diet and exercise purposes, pretty much a write-off. I was sick with a cold that knocked me on my ass. I was home sick from work for the first time since moving here -- for three days. Went in the last two days of the week feeling and sounding like a somnolent bag of snot. Managed to consume some wholesome and healthy warm food during the time off -- beef stew and turkey soup with barley. So, since there's not much to report, now's as good a time as any for a bit of in-depth reporting on my lunch. You've been reading each week that lunch is the "usual healthy fare". Well, what the hell does that mean, exactly? Well, I start out the day at work with a 375mL 1% chocolate milk with extra calcium. 240 calories, 3.5g fat. That goes with a wrap made the night before. The wrapping material is a spinach or garlic 'n pesto tortilla from the Presidents Choice people. Inside is some sliced turkey breast, a big leaf of romaine lettuce, a slic

Not a whole lot to note this week. Exercise was a coupla walks home from work and some squats. Bowling for the Bide Awhile Shelter on Saturday left some soreness, but would hardly be called exercise. Meals were not notably healthy for much of the week -- but one was supremely delcious. An anniversary dinner at Da Maurizio , reputedly the finest joint in town. Deee-lish. Now, I'm sick. I have a cold. Amanda's getting a cold, too. Start weight: 220 pounds Last week: 215 This week: 219 Change: +4 (holy crap!) Total loss: 1 pound Jee-zus! I'm tempted to blame it on water retention from sickness, or lack of a good bowel movement, or hibernatory adipose storage syndrome (HASS) or something ... but I'm not going to blame it on anything. It's up, and that's that. Four weeks' work, mostly wiped out. Gonna have to get on that and get back down again. Gym membership may come this week. Deals being made at higher levels. Martial arts investigation has yielded a Judo cl

I went for a haircut on Friday. That's usually a time when I feel very awkward about my weight. Having that toilet-paper collar pulled around my neck, with the apron snug around the collar, sitting in that chair with my head being tilted forward, I usually feel quite Jabba-the-Hutt -ish with my chins spilling out around my neck and bulging under my jaw. Well, it wasn't quite the same horror show this time. I'm not saying I was bulgeless. I'm just saying I didn't see my reflection and think "oh, dear. I look absolutely enormous." My joy at that was offset by a feeling of bad karma for not tipping the hairdresser. The bill came to $14.76, and I gave her a $20 bill. I'm used to hairdressers giving me back a coupla toonies and a loonie so I can hand over a tip, but this lady gave me a five. I wasn't sure what to do, so I left without tipping. I felt bad, so I scrounged up $2 out of the change in my pocket and went back in the afternoon to give a tip.

An assemblage of petty things that have been getting on my nerves: Eddie Dingle , the computer at the centre of our home theatre, has been acting up a little. Specifically, one of the two Hauppauge video encoder cards has been recording misleading file lenths under Snapstream BeyondTV . All the video is there, but the player thinks the file is much shorter, leading to odd consequences. I've concluded that this is only happening with the PVR-150 card, not the older PVR-250 card. The 150 also has, to be absolutely technical, "crappier" video quality and muddier sound. It's still watchable, but it's pissing me off. The new version of Apple iTunes doesn't play nicely with BeyondTV. I don't know which to blame. I can't have BeyondTV up while playing music, 'cuz iTunes sounds like it's got audio diarrhea if I do. Pisses me off. Windows XP reboots my computers when it bloody well feels like it. Specifically, when it's downloaded an urgent se

A bit of perspective on my weight in recent years: March, 2003: 225 pounds May, 2003: 216 November, 2003: 225 February, 2004: 225 May, 2004: 216 October, 2004: 216 January, 2005: 220 down to 216 So, my weight over the past three and a half years has gone between highs around 225 pounds and lows around 216. So, I'm currently as slim as I've been in the past several years. Everything from this point on will be a new low for me this century. Somehow I missed going to the gym this week, but I walked home from work every day but Wednesday. Lunch was the regular healthy fare all week, and I didn't have any donuts -- just one Timbit. Dinners were reasonable, 'cept Tuesday night when we had a special dinner out at Il Mercato on Spring Garden. (Homemade Italian sausage, pan-fried with carmelized onions, with baby carrots, green beans and fantastic potatoes.) Of course, there was cake. I made a cake for Amanda's birthday on Tuesday (see above), and we ate it. On

I was recently approached by a company that makes downloadable travel guides. They call themselves " Schmap " ... They wanted to use some of my Halifax photos for an upcoming interactive guide to this city. Well, the thing is done. And, as a contributing photographer, they're letting me offer y'all a free download of the Schmap Halifax travel guide. Yeah, free! I don't know how much it's supposed to cost, but free's free. Watch for my shots in the section about Point Pleasant Park. The "picker" ought to appear below. Free, downloadable Halifax travel guide with dynamic Halifax maps, useful links, playable tours, top picks, plus photos and reviews for hundreds of Halifax hotels, sights and attractions, restaurants, theaters, museums… Coming soon: A Schmap guide to Banff, also including some Big Ass photography.

Topic! Poo! As someone who'd suffered with Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms for more than 15 years, I was astonished to have toilet experiences worth singing about, once I started eating regularly, eating healthy foods, and adding Amanda's Famous Colon Blow Muffins and William Shatner All-Bran Bars to my diet. But when I overindulge with rich foods, the nasty stuff comes back. A weekend of delicious, if not supremely nutritious, food has punished me on this Monday morning. Not much in the gym this past week, but lots of walking. Had a better handle on the food -- for some of the time. Monday had me in the gym for 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. Dinner was shake 'n bake pork chops, broccoli and brown rice. Tuesday's dinner slips my mind. It may very well have been pizza. I walked to and from work Wednesday -- the first double-shot I can remember since last fall. Burgers and salad for dinner. No. A burger. Thursday was pizza again, as we cleaned the apartment t