176.5, or minus 25.5lbs

by Bill Posted on November 17, 2007

This morning the scale in my bathroom read 176.5. Shocked, I rubbed my still-sleepy eyes, went a got my glasses off the nightstand, stepped again on the scale. 176.5. Again. Same result.

I am pleased to announce that my diet which officially started in May of this year is over. I have lost 25.5lbs since arriving in NJ from Austin, TX.

I attribute the weight loss to 3 things:

  1. no longer drinking soda of any kind–my vice was Pepsi at dinner
  2. salads for lunch consisting of: organic spring mix, sugar snap peas, brussel sprouts, raw fresh baby corn, cucumber, ground black pepper, raisins, and Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing
  3. riding my bike in the summer on the Glassboro-Monroe Township Bike Trail 3 – 4 times a week for an hour each time, and doing 80 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, and 250 crunches 2 times a week

I found that most days I was vegan. Other than salads, the foods I have eaten most while on the diet:

  1. Eggo Special K 99%Fat Free Waffles which essentially serve as a boat for 5 – 7 cups of fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, tangerines, etc.)
  2. Hungry Jack Lite Syrup
  3. sweet potatoes
  4. a stir fry consisting of fresh zucchini, onions, brocholini, and either tofu, chicken, or shrimp
  5. pizza from Benny’s Pizzeria on Mantua Pike ordered with no cheese but with mushrooms and green peppers
  6. various sushi for dinner
  7. various Chinese for dinner
  8. Orville Redenbacher’s Original Kernal popcorn cooked on the stove in my special popcorn pot

The one food that I know immediately puts the weight back on, which is sad to say because it is so good, is Pal Joey’s subs.Changes I have noticed since the weight started coming off:

  1. I make more trips to the supermarket to replenish my supply of fruit and veggies
  2. I went down one pants size
  3. I don’t get nearly as winded when walking across campus
  4. Now that winter is upon us, I am much colder most of the time
  5. I have more energy

The goal now is to keep it off. I’ll let you know how that goes. Off to breakfast.

Posted in just for fun | Comments Off on 176.5, or minus 25.5lbs

pat conroy on banning his books

by Bill Posted on October 29, 2007

Chris Anson of North Carolina State University forwarded a link on the WPA list to a pointed and hilarious letter from Pat Conroy to the editor of the Charleston (WV) Gazette in which he lambastes the Kanawha County school board’s suspension of his books, The Prince of Tides and Beach Music. The letter begins with:

I received an urgent e-mail from a high school student named Makenzie Hatfield of Charleston, West Virginia. She informed me of a group of parents who were attempting to suppress the teaching of two of my novels, “The Prince of Tides” and “Beach Music.” I heard rumors of this controversy as I was completing my latest filthy, vomit-inducing work. These controversies are so commonplace in my life that I no longer get involved. But my knowledge of mountain lore is strong enough to know the dangers of refusing to help a Hatfield of West Virginia. I also do not mess with McCoys.

And ends with:

The school board of Charleston, West Virginia, has sullied that gift and shamed themselves and their community. You’ve now entered the ranks of censors, book-banners, and teacher-haters, and the word will spread. Good teachers will avoid you as though you had cholera. But here is my favorite thing: Because you banned my books, every kid in that county will read them, every single one of them. Because book banners are invariably idiots, they don’t know how the world works — but writers and English teachers do.

Update, 9:18pm: Video from Zack Harold who is one of three finalists in West Virginia for MTV’s Choose or Lose ’08 election coverage. He submitted this as port of the interview process.

Posted in academia, generalnews, pedagogy, reading, teaching | 2 Comments