Sunday, September 23, 2007

Random Thought

What if religion was like Santa Clause and The Easter Bunny, when you turn a certain age the Vatican will tell you that its all a hoax and it was just for fun and to occupy your time and thoughts to make life a little more interesting....

Saw Margot and the Nuclear So and So's Friday night at the Canopy Club. Six bands $12! Can't beat it! I was really impressed with them. I was not impressed once again with the sound quality at the Canopy Club, however. Last year when I saw Of Montreal there I was thinking the same thing, but I chalked that up to me hanging out near the bar on $1 PBR night...

Go Cubs Go!

Saturday, September 15, 2007

11 to your 7

The free Hey Mercedes show took place last night, and sadly, I could not attend. Being three hours away from Chicago is not conductive to me seeing good shows. I wasn’t able to see Hey Mercedes while they were still touring and that is one of my biggest musical regrets. This was a perfect opportunity to see them at the Threadless store grand opening. I had plans to drive up to the Metro right after class and sit there all day in hopes of getting into said free show. Turns out the only way to get in was to be at the actual grand opening of the store on a Monday or Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. downtown. Even going there and getting a pass does not guarantee entrance to the show. I’m still bummed about this whole situation. Hopefully Friday will make up for the missed show. The Canopy Club and The Pygmalion Music Festival are calling my name, specifically Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s. I haven’t been to a show since I saw The Decemberists at Millennium Park in July. Pygmalion has some pretty large shoes to fill if it wants to keep up with The Decemberists with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during a thunderstorm!
Three nights ago I spent the 2-3 hours I had set aside to study for a test, downloading music off the list that Bekah left me. I know spend most of my time listening to all of the great stuff that I hadn’t been exposed to. (i.e. Band of Horses, Under the Influence of Giants, A Fine Frenzy) I find myself smiling while listening to a song called “The Funeral” by Band of Horses. I’m not sure what that means? Check them out if you haven’t already.

While discussing metabolic syndrome and ways to assess risk of chronic disease through body composition in class yesterday I thought of an experiment or study I would like to look into. I’m mostly writing this to make sure that I remember it, and if I put things down in words they tend to make more sense to me. I will be able to tell if I really have no idea what I’m talking about then. A recent study looked at Waist Circumference (WC) and WC relative to height and overall fat mass (%FM) to determine risk for chronic disease. The results were somewhat inconclusive in that, there was not a definitive winner, although WC seemed to show some potential to be an effective/inexpensive technique. It seems somewhat obvious to me, but I haven’t heard or read anything looking a ratio of WC and %FM. An abundance of overall fat mass has its risks, but abdominal fat brings so many more risk factors into play. By taking a %FM and a WC one would get a better idea of the location of the fat by looking at statistics and being able to determine the specific risks the subject is facing.
That ended abruptly, but I have lost my train of thought and need to look into this more. This is just a basic idea that I thought I would share. If it makes any sense at all, let me know. If it doesn’t make any sense than definitely tell me, so I can never mention it again.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Due to extenuating circumstances

Alright so the circumstances were not so extenuating and I became lax in the completion of prior noted summer plans. I did work all the time, however, I did not make “MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY.” I worked out pretty frequently… to no real outcome, I got as far as putting my keyboard on the stand in my room and I really didn’t have legitimate plans to road trip to the Gulf.
I do have a legitimate excuse for not blogging this summer, however. I purchased a new MacBook last spring and while I was at home for the summer, technical difficulties made the process of connecting to the World Wide Web more difficult than I was willing to partake. I do have plans this academic year to write more frequently, due to the fact that I do not see this semester or the next as being very demanding academically, especially when it comes to writing. Consequently, I would like my writing not to fall off or even improve as this year continues. Since talking to a certain person this weekend I have realized that my collegiate education may be somewhat of a farce and I may need to take it into my own hands and begin to run through some textbooks in my free time to even the playing field with people from other universities. I might be mistaken, and be learning everything I need to know to land a quality job, but I still have my doubts. Not too mention, it wouldn’t hurt to further my knowledge in my field or a related one.
As I said, I hope to keep this more updated, and with my schedule I’m sure it won’t be too much of a problem. I have a few ideas for topics already. That is my main problem with keeping up with this blog. I NEED IDEAS! My mind has been racing lately though, so it might not be a problem for a while. Lets hope so.

P.s. Go Cubs! Go Bears.

Kyle, congrats on knocking out those summer plans. If I was only as dedicated as you are.