Friday, February 18, 2011

Muse, Sobriety, Podcasts, and Creatine

Quick ramblings that will not be checked for grammar:

I love Muse. I discovered them about 2 years ago while stealing music from my current roommates iTunes. since then Muse has fueled me during many a moment in my life. Showers, Vacations, Cardio and Weight Training, Long Days, Short Days and Sunny Days such as today. I regret that I have not purchased any of their new albums since then, perhaps I will change this today.

I have to be honest, Its actually been over 30 days since I quit drinking. I told myself I was going to have one after the 30 day mark. Somehow I don't feel that I am ready yet. I want to ride it out, maybe another 20 or 30 days. I feel too good. my energy is sky high (and if you know me well, you understand that is a scary thing). I do long for the taste of a healthy poor of expertly distilled Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. all good things can wait.

My 2 best friends and I are green lighting a project that we have had on the back burner. if only to fuel our Narcissistic personality's. We will be recording a Podcast. Basic topics are still TBD we dont want to sound like any other rock jock radio show. keep an ear out for this within the next 30 days. working title: THE RIGHT GUYS.

Supplements are expensive. I cut out a lot of excessive spending on take out food and restaurant dining but the amount I spend on Protein, Vitamins and Creatine is fairly high as well. I'm going to have to look into purchasing a higher quality product online.

considering lowering my intake of coffee now. I've removed so many bad habits from my life lately why not take away the only one I have left. THE ONLY FREAKING ONE! (thats a pure lie)

February 18th. "I gotta get in shape. Too much sitting has ruined my body. Too much abuse has gone on for too long. From now on there will be 50 pushups each morning, 50 pullups. There will be no more pills, no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body. From now on will be total organization. Every muscle must be tight"
-Travis Bickle


PS- all my windows are open. 

Friday, February 11, 2011

Unspoken Rules For Your Gym

The Fitness centers of the world should not have to post rules, but then again, coffee needn't be branded with CAUTION signs either. Stupid people encompass a gross percentage of the worlds population. Lately, my third home as been my local gym. I have come to realize that many of its members are not aware of the unspoken rules. I'm writing today a small list of these unspoken rules, in an effort to enlighten the gym members who fall into the previously mentioned populous category.


1. Wear proper attire.
If I see one more guy working out in jeans and timberlands I'm going to punch him in the throat.

2. get off your cell phone.
Hey! stop texting and do your set. I've been waiting for the decline bench for over 6 minutes and you have spent the entire time working out your thumbs. that goes for you too Chatty Cathy. I don't care that you can talk and speed walk at the same time.

3. Do not give un solicited advice.
this has not happened to me personally because I know what I am doing, But I have seen it happen to others. You are a gym MEMBER, not an employee. so stop trying to be someones personal coach and mind your own business. if they want to hurt themselves that is their prerogative. that brings me to my next rule/question...

4. You need help.
What are you doing? where did you learn it? why? are those grunts of pain or of pleasure? stop molesting that palates ball. are you lifting that weight or trying to keep it from crushing you?  if your body was one muscle, you just pulled it. are you ok?


5. do not ASK for advice.
This one has happened to me, and it pissed me off.  I'm in the middle of a set and some one comes over and says something to the effect of: "I noticed your shoulders look real good, how did you get them shoulders?". My response: "uhhh, is this some kind of joke?" I don't know how to accurately describe how annoying this is. let me use a metaphor. You are sitting in a restaurant enjoying a nice steak when another patron walks up and sits down next to you. You have just taken a big bite of your steak and he says, "hey I noticed you are eating the steak, hows it taste?" IT TASTES LIKE A FUCKING STEAK!!!

6. put your equipment away.
Hey Superman! I noticed you left 6 45lb weights on the bar and you're putting your jacket on already. I'm not here to clean up after you. Neither is the 60 year old woman who might want to use the equipment after you. So do us all a favor and put your weights back where they belong. Think of it as another excuse to show off the biceps that you have worked so hard to maintain. It used to be that weight on a piece of equipment meant that it was in use. nowadays its a sign of a lazy jackass whose mother picked up after him his entire life.

7. don't leave the bathroom a mess.
there is nothing worse then wet socks. if you make the mess, clean it up. or die.

8. Turn down YOUR headphones.
are you hard of hearing? I can hear your Hoobistank clear across the gym.

9. Get out of my way
4 Guidos standing around one machine talking, texting while trying to "get their swell on". guess what this isn't? a club on west 6th.

10. stop hitting on her/him
once again. this is a gym. we have all, except you, come here to work out. so please stop being a complete creep and leave.

Friday, February 4, 2011

another cop show?

How many cop based serial drama's do we need on TV at one time? The Answer is ONE!! Law & Order re-runs. I'm not talking about Law & Order SVU or CI either. I'm talking the original Law & Order in its hey day. Detective Briscoe (Jerry Orback) dropping one liners about dead perps like its his job and Jack McCoy (Sam Waterson) Kicking ass all over the court room. enough of this CSI, NCIS,  Hawaii Five-O reboot bull crap. these hacks can't act and sure as shit don't seem like real detectives too me. nice tan, jerk. not too mention that show The Closer! the only thing she should close is her mouth, because its like a freight train running through a cast iron pan warehouse.

Case in point: Dick Wolf has an awesome name.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

roots of evil

as I get older I have come to the realization that I am horrible with money. I knew this when I was younger too, I will however now admit it, to myself and the world. Now comes the time when I try and fix this. The easiest way would be to get Doc to let me borrow the Delorian, return to spring of 2003 and slap the shit out of myself for buying a new car. thats 350 a month that could have been put into a savings account. however hind sight is 20/20 and I cannot fix past mistakes, only learn from them.

Having these economic problems on my mind daily I have come to think about money as my mind drifts into day dreams. Today I saw some kids getting out of school and I thought of the low pay that a public school teacher gets (they do get the benefit of summers off so many of them will supplement income during those 2 months) but I for one am an advocate of a more European Education system and don't believe our students should have 2 months off every year ( a topic for later). I then thought of all of the cuts in the education system lately, Bus routes, teachers, arts and music, languages, sports. all of this directly relates to us as citizens in our own school districts. we vote on the levy's or raises in taxes, and when they don't pass cuts have to be made.

I turn now to our sick and disgusting habit of spending money on things we do not need to sustain life: booze, cigs, big tv's, fast food, bigger tv's, new cell phones(I am very guilty of this one in particular), gas for our suburbans, anything apple makes and the list goes on and on and on. check this out though. are we not the same people who complain about another raise in taxes? vote no on issues that will give our children a better education and supply more jobs to people who need them. but heaven help us if we dont have 270 HD channels, a pack of cigs so we can "socially" smoke them while we drop an 80.00 tab + tip over the weekend and a vacation every march!

this was my thought process in the matter of about 60 seconds. I feel our spending habits directly effect the drop in the public education system. because we are not looking at the big picture... don't make me spell it out. ok I will... smart and talented kids = better job opportunities = more income for them = better retirement for us. (and that is the SELFISH way to look at it). How about the positives? Kids off the streets, less crime, more small businesses, more jobs so on and so on.

Is it not time we all start to re-prioritize our spending? I will be the first to admit to all of you. I'm the worst. THE WORST. so take it from me, i'm not throwing stones, just yearning for a movement in all of us. I'll do my best, but there is a WOOT OFF today. Shit! maybe I'll start tomorrow.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Don't read this, its boring.

Whoa! I made it a whole week without drinking. Three more to go. Despite my early belief, it has not been a difficult task. I think that when you set your mind to something and have honestly weighed out the pro's on con's of your decision, it becomes easier to accomplish. 

Whenever you quit something negative you are suppose to replace it with a positive. when I quit smoking I purchased a gym membership that same day. when I quit eating fast food I started buying more fruits and vegetables. the whole not drinking thing is a bit different. I'm not just cutting out a vice but also a fair amount of time spent socializing. so instead of joining a book club or going to play bingo on wed nights I decided that I would just force myself to pick up old and new hobbies. Photography, collecting Vinyl (currently listening to Crosby, Stills & Nash (Young is on this one as well)). 

Now comes the big test, I need some motivation from friends for this one. I want to try stand up comedy. I have been jotting things down for a while now and thinking of putting together a 3-5 min test routine. should I test it in front of strangers or friends? I'm thinking strangers. I just need to do this to prove to myself I can. and if i suck? well then screw you, it was obviously over your head. 

yeah, time to go. laundry to avoid putting away. money to deposit and then immediately watch disappear and a mother to convince to do my taxes for me. I don't care that I am 27! shes better at it then I am. maybe while shes at it she will put away my laundry for me too. (PS- I do not live at home) 


ohm BTW my good friend Daniel has a blog now. He rants about things that annoy him, and I justly agree with him.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

DO WHAT YOU WANT

Do what you want! Yeah, that's what I said. Do exactly what you want to do. My friends and I tell each other this often. it has become a motto of sorts for ourselves. It seems simple but it is heavily based on a ratio of rational/emotional decision making, 70/30. There comes a time in every person life when they start having to make very tough decisions and in the end my advice for every person is to do what they want. this goes for very simple decisions too, but base them off the 70/30 rule.

Now, I want you all to know that I don't make all my decisions on my own. I enlist the help of an advice panel consisting of a few friends... My buddies, Jay and John, head this panel. one is very rational and the other is a complete ass hole. then I go to my Father because he has lived life and made every mistake that I plan on making. lastly I go to God. You know, the big man in the sky. He doesn't so much talk to me as he does guide me sub-consciously. notice that my panel is all male. its because I am a man and I need advice from other men. They are rational and heavily base the decision making in there own lives on ration and then on emotion (70/30). This goes for woman too, call your FATHERS for advice, not your mothers (sorry mom I love you to pieces but all my crazy emotions come from you, I thank you for every single one of them, but my father levels the playing field). Think of woman as 10/90 in decision making ratio. You need to talk to a 70/30 type of man to even you at about 50/50... I know the math of this does not work out but women in general are a scientific phenomenon, so deal with it.

Now comes the "do what you want" part. You have thought things over, talked with friends and maybe even made a pro's and con's list (a good idea if you still can't figure out what the hell you are doing with your life). so whats the last step? Throw all that shit out the door and... wait for it... DO WHAT YOU WANT! i'm only half joking here. All the advice in the world won't stop you from making an emotional decision. Thats why when you end up making the wrong one occasionally (which you will), you always have this little motto to fall back on: "I do what I want!"

-Nathan

Hitting the snooze on life

I love hitting the snooze button in the morning to snatch just a few extra minutes of sleep. I do it even when I don't have time. Lately, however I feel as if I have been hitting the snooze button on life. I wrote something last summer that sums up my feeling on this. Letter to myself:

Dear Nathan,

Wake Up!
I'm not joking.
wake up!
its time to awake from this dream
what have you been doing for so long?
who are you and where are you going?
clean up
start fresh
prioritize 
put first what belongs first
focus your abilities 
take charge and dont look back

what have you been doing the last 4 years?
dosnt look like much to me
I'm not trying to be an ass about it but seriously..
you look like a mess
you put up walls that even a child could break down
your facade is paper thin
and you tell yourself lies to make it seem like eveything is ok

I dont want to have to be the one to tell you this
but its not 
everything is not ok and you know it
you dont have what it takes to admit it so im going to do it for you..
WAKE UP!
start living right.
start doing it right
make the most of the day
treat people the right way
get back to your roots
own up to mistakes 
remember who your real friends are
I know its hard to hear this and you may just shut me out 
but sooner or later you will thank me for being so honest with you
I hate to see you like this 
and I'm only telling you this because I love you. 
and I dont want you to go down this road any further.
so get it together.

cut the crap and just get it together.

sincerly,
Nathan


That pretty much sums up how I feel. Quick side note about day 2 of not drinking. I found myself starting to pour a drink about half a dozen times. I think its going to take at least a week before reality of the situation sets in on my half used brain. 


Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Conley's and Peer Pressure

So I have a Blog. I'm sitting at the kitchen table at the Conleys house, thanks for the blog name Alie, writing my first blog.

so yeah, bloggy time....

I quit drinking today. just for 30 days (to start). since I know people are going to ask me why:

1. Willpower
2. Money
3. Health
(in order of importance)

so yeah, this will be fun (sarcasm people). In an effort to keep my first blog post short and to the point I'm going to wrap it up right now. I'm not a creative enough writer to hold your attention span longer then 3 minutes. maybe this should have been a video blog. I hate the word Vlog.


-Cheers (with coffee or water obviously)