So I've been busy

And I'm sorry for neglecting the blog. No doubt everyone's lives went on anyway. Briefly, I'll fill you in, in case you care.

I've been working on random school crap pretty much non-stop, which is always good for completely sucking up one's day, or one's week, or one's youth. I've been spending long stretches in my new office, working on all sorts of meaningless things, coming up for air now and then just to see what time of day it looks like outside. Strangely enough, I'm not bothered by it... noice the fact that I'm not exactly complaining. I'm being productive, and I'm not running behind on anything. As a matter of fact, I've been ahead of schedule on my assignments for the past two weeks, which may well be a first in my entire academic career. I've also been doing goofy things like using books like "Phenomenology and Psychological Research" as subway pleasure reading... and finding it pleasurable.

What the hell is happening to me?

Fine, so I'm a nerd. Always have been. Ask anyone who's known me for any length of time. But seriously... this is pretty bad, even for me. I mean, I'm a nerd, sure, but a COOL one. I still have a social life, still have friends, still know how to color coordinate my clothing and tie my shoes. Now I'm keeping office hours and doing work in said office. A lot. Am I supposed to keep this up? What's creepy, of course, is that I think I like it enough to actually try.

Oh, and as for the weight loss... I'm now at 157 pounds, as of this past Sunday. That's 41 pounds since mid June. Holy crap! But don't worry, because it's not all so great... I have no clothing now, and look like an idiot for having to pull my pants up every ten seconds (don't even say it... putting a belt on just makes me look like a clown in oversized cinched pants). If anyone's got some spare money lying around, please consider making a contribution to my clothing fund. Oh... and buy my CD.

And we're back

The first week back at school was, to say the least, exhausting. I forgot how much I do! Jeeze, I also forgot how little food I'm eating now, or at least how few calories I'm consuming with each meal. That's the other thing, though... I keep having to remind myself to eat constantly, which is definitely proving to be a formidable challenge. Every two to three hours? Jeeze, that's tough. Not only that, but I have this giant water bottle that I carry everywhere. I'm sort of like a high-tech camel or something. So far, so good, though... I'm certainly not falling over from exhaustion... though I'm exhausted. One thing's for sure: I may have never slept better in my whole life than I do lately.

When duty calls

In other words, I didn't feel I had a choice. I was all set to go see a show with Miraj in the city. We hadn't decided what show... we were just going to stand in line and see what tickets there were. As I'm getting ready to leave, I get a phone call, and I don't recognize the number. I answer, and it's my department chair. I figure it's something to do with my thesis, but no... it's an invitation to go with him, his son, and a friend, to the Giants/Jets preseason game that evening. Well, gee, let me see...

How do you say no, even when it's this random? It's my department head, for crissake! Naturally, I stammered a yes, then called Miraj and explained. Of course, he understood, as he would have certainly done the same thing if in my position, and graciously gave me a raincheck on going to a show. After that, I took a train to go meet them for the game, and we drove to the stadium. the game was fine... it was what it was, and being that I'm a Giants fan (when I'm not looking out for the Cowboys), I really only paid attention to the first half, when the first string players were up. Eli Manning was in good form, and they finished the half ahead of the Jets. Yeah, so they officially lost the game, but the second half didn't count... stupid second stringers.

On the weight loss front, things are great... I have an official weigh-in tomorrow, and I'm expecting to be around 162, maybe lower. Whatever... I'm perfectly happy with that. John and I have been running a good bit, which I'm enjoying, particularly since we've been having such great weather. As soon as it gets colder around here, things are going to be different running-wise. New clothing will be in order, I'm sure. Oh, and John's contemplating running a half marathon in a couple of weeks. I want to, but I think it would be pushing it... I've run the "big loop" at Central Park twice now, which is six miles, but that's nothing near the 13 miles that are entailed in a half marathon. Granted, John hasn't run that far in a stretch yet, either, but he's certainly in better shape to do it at this point. Anyway, we're both going to train for it, even if one or both of us doesn't run it. I'm not going to be ready in time, of course, but it wouldn't hurt to pretend, right?

School is starting up next week. I think I'm ready. I've been moving into my new office (which I'll be sharing with Miraj and a new student... it'll be big enough for sure, and it'll be nice to have the company), and work on the conference website is chugging along. Classes, as usual, will just happen, and I'll work through them like I always do. Now I just wish they'd hurry up and start... I kind of want to get on with the year already!