O Me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew'd,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring-What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here-that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.


WALT WHITMAN

The Powerful Play goes on. I finished Enter the Zone and have moved on to Mastering the Zone, all of it excellent reading, very insightful. In fact I really did not understand what my Diabetic medicine was actually doing to my body until I read Dr. Spear's notes on the subject. It is amazing what they don't tell you, hehe. But that better understanding should help me significantly, so I hope.
The Zone seems to be the way to go for me, it remains only to put it to the true test. I have been moving my meals towards being zone friendly, but now it's time to do it all the way. As someone who dislikes measuring anything, I need to just buckle down and do that right now, until I get a feel for how much is in a block of everything.
I plan on building a spreadsheet of my numbers and my plans today, and take a look at what else is out there online already built.
Other things I have done in the last couple of weeks:
~finished the last 2 Alex Ryder books: Snakehead & Ark Angel
~watched two movies that are all about HOPE: Slumdog Millionaire & Henry Poole is Here both excellent!
~worked out some, but not consistently. I admit I am having a hard time keeping focused on more than one thing at a time. Anyone else having that issue?
~My Three Rules to Live By are written down. It is really amazing to try to boil down all of life like this, and in such a personal way. What is important in life, to me? I don't propose that I have found anything new or unexpected, but I think each person should make this journey, I have a better feeling about who I am and what purpose there is in my life.
1. Be nice.
2. Forgive.
3. Give Thanks.

Yeah, that's it. They're bigger than they look at first, and filled with terrible complexity and limitless salvation and endless joy and/or sorrow in their execution. I'm afraid I haven't been very good at living by these rules, but today is a new day. And the powerful play goes on...

A Lyst of Books

.

It's hard to narrow down a list of my favorite books, but if you don't limit the list it just goes on and on all by itself, thus showing in its vanity its attempt to become a book itself! So I will try to keep it short. I am looking forward to hearing other's favorites, but please keep yours short as well, so I don' t have to spend too much on books this month...

.

Charles' List of Most Favorite Books Ever:

.

• Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein
• The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust
• Yesterday's Children by David Gerrold
• The Riddlemaster of Hed by Patricia McKillip
• The Sword of Truth: Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind

.

OK it's hard to stop but there they are. There's an awful lot of good books left off this list, so help me out...

.

P.S. Heard from the job today, NOT moving to Arkansas after all.

Crazygood accomplishmentizing this sevenday:

.

Reading of Books! A Week in the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears, On the Dry Side by Louis L'Amour, Men's Health magazine (hey man, that don't count! But it has Lance Armstrong in it!)

Doing of things! 3 days of Exercise, sweat drippin, heart poundin, raggedy breathin, muscle buildin, spirit raisin EXERCISE! (gonna try to stick to 3 days a week)

Eating of Zone meals has begun! (Veggies? Oh yes, veggies indeed.)

Traveled to Arkansas, land of the giant red bristly backed pig, interviewed for a new job. Let me tell you, preparing for an interview is some kinda work. Oh yeah, you already know that.

Meditated. ON what, you ask? Nothing.

(get it? that's a joke.)

OK thats not funny. Here's another joke.

.

So the Zen master steps up to the hot dog cart and says: "Make me one with everything."

The hot dog vendor fixes a hot dog and hands it to the Zen master, who pays with a $20 bill.

The hot dog vendor puts the bill in the cash drawer and closes the drawer.

"Where's my change?" asks the Zen master.

The hot dog vendor responds:

"Change must come from within."

.

That's funnier, I think.

What else?

Spent time with my son, tonight we had some father/son time, the most valuable time in the world, right up there with father/daughter time! We ate Manburgers (1/2 lean beef and 1/2 ground turkey, spiced up with some hot BBQ sauce, sauteed onions, smoked gouda cheese, wheat buns, small serving of fiber rich beans, pile of brocolli and yellow squash, glass of red wine for me, jug of water to wash it down). We watched a Man Movie (Bangkock Dangerous) and then wrestled, during which time I invented two new moves, the Bangkock Bite and the Dangerous Dog, both which must remain secret to all you nonbelievers. It is good to be Men, is it not? Do not answer that, wimmen folk.

.

Almost done with the Dalai Lama's book, and I will return to Kaman One after this week. My energy is a little scattered and likely to remain so until next week I think.

.

SOng of the WEek: I'm a Rover by Great Big Sea. Sing that in a great big man voice, it'll shore fix what ails ya.

.

See that full moon last night? mmmmmmmm Good.

The Zone


Hooray! My Zone books came in today, so now I have lots of reading and planning to do!

If all goes well I should be eating zone-ishly in a few days. mmmmmmmmm...

Patience

Well it has been an interesting two weeks, not without its own set of trials this holiday season, but surely nothing more difficult than anyone else is going through this Christmas. I hope all of you are meeting with success in your ventures thus far! I am getting back on track after a small hiatus, and my drive to enter new territory, to explore new places (both inside and out) is even more than what it was.
Inspired by T's journal entry about the crossfit FGB routine (BJ Penn is one of my favorites, so you got me with that one, bro!) I downloaded some good workout songs and a program called Audacity to edit them (it's free!) down to one minute each which I hope to finish today. I used them for an exhausting workout yesterday, and it felt great!!! I am also shifting my sleep pattern a bit, which I know impacts my health, body, mind and spirit in ways that I often underestimate.
I have read several books since my last post...Yesterday's children, NOt for Glory, Ranger's Apprentice the Battle for Skandia, Through Wolf's Eyes, Berserker Wars, and I am currently reading Beowulf's Children.
My spirit is filled with hope, as the new year commences I cannot help but feel that this is a year of new beginnings. Somehow it feels that way, though not because I wish it to be so. It just IS of its own volition. Can a year have a character of its own, or is it merely a reflection of our needs and circumstances?
This year I wish you peace, and hope everlasting.

Post Scriptum:
My workout playlist before editing to one minute each:

Monosyllabic Girl - NOFX
Blitzkreig Bop - Ramones
Brat - Green Day
Hands Down - Dashboard Confessional
I Like to Move it - Madagascar 5
White Riot - the Clash
Lose Yourself - Eminem
What's my Age Again? - Blink 182
Girls - Beastie Boys
The Old Black Rum - Great Big Sea
Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz
Yellow - Coldplay
Kryptonite (LIVE) - 3 Doors Down
The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy SLim
Temperature - Sean Paul
Excursion Around the Bay - Great Big Sea
Young Ned of the Hill - the Pogues
The Night Pat Murphy Died - Great Big Sea
March of Cambreadth - Heather Alexander
Move it on Over - George Thorogood & the Delaware Destroyers