A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup

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AKA, Long Post Is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG. We've got a lot to cover, let's get going...
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My general mood for the past week is ecstatic. Everything just seems to be going right. Tech.MCC, JoJ, Classes, my weight, I'm even progressing a relationship with a girl who will remain nameless unless she wants me to talk about her. The drive home from class tonight I was just tripping on the realization that everything's going good. It just makes me so happy to see so many things working. I wish I could convey the way I feel to you through more than just text because it's something I haven't felt in YEARS, and I know it's not going to last, but I'll enjoy it while I can. I would break out in song, but I'm not good at singing, so I've been told, so I don't do it anymore...
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The CAD job with Vino is finally getting off the ground, I've gotten the clearance from Vino to go and scout prices for computers and fax him the one that we'll need, and to go and fax the software info to him as well. Hopefully that will be done by the end of the week and we can order the software and computer and I can get working. Hopefully this will pan out SOONER rather than later, because I' already starting to need some money, but I've got ways to make it for the moment...
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College seems to be going stellar, and I rarely use that word, but it fits. I'm enjoying all of my classes, well, except Solid Modeling, where my teacher appears to be an idiot, but otherwise all the classes are great. I'm especially liking my Photo 1 and my Art in Commerce classes. In my Photo class especially, I'm almost finishing my professors sentences because I've been doing photography by myself for so long. As for Art in Commerce, it is a really inspiring course for making designs and such.
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Tech.MCC Is really doing well, and I'll get much deeper into it as one of the main things this week. But so far it looks like I'm somehow making it the best semester I've ever seen for the club, no joking or exaggerating.
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Lastly, sorry about being late on the post this week, I was really getting wrapped up in my courses and making sure that I got this week's episode of JoJ out. Turned out it was well worth it...

Daily Life 1: Tech MCC
So yeah, got a TON of stuff to talk about with Tech.MCC, all of it AWESOME. First off, the college club fair was Monday the 8th, and it had to be the best thing I'd ever planned. I planned to do one thing there, crack open a USB flash drive and use 5 minute epoxy to waterproof it, then drop it into a soda can and prove it still works after pulling it out. That was the plan to generate interest to people passing by the table, and I'd explain all the great stuff like the "We buy it, you build it" contest, the LAN Party meetings, the Hacking Meeting, and etc. It was the first plan in YEARS that I'd made and was able to follow completely 100% and that also worked the way it was supposed to.

I got there early around 9:00 AM, and setup my laptop, the thumb drive and everything including fliers on the only table in the shade. Soon afterwards, vice president of the club Marv showed up with his laptop and stuff, then out of nowhere, the entire Anime Club and Tech.MCC staff showed up in one giant wave and set up all their stuff, including Gordon. So I waited for people to start going by, and I cracked open the drive and started the epoxy process. It got a few people looking at what the hell I was doing, and after the 2 hours it took to dry, I cut open a soda can and dropped it in, using a pair of pliers I pulled it out, plugged it in, and it still works.

So besides that happening, Mary showed up and revealed her true nature as a geek (which I always knew she was, just more nerdcore than I thought). She stayed at the table and behind it fr 70% of the time, and she's now going to meetings every week, so we've got a girl helping to attract more members!

Now, that was the club fair. The first big meeting was on the 11th, and it was, of course, the Pirate Meeting. What happened was, well, first off, 24 people showed up in total, that's about the same as what gos on at Anime Club, which has the 3rd highest member count on campus! So I start the meeting right off by talking about the rules for the "We Buy it, You Build It" contest and the Laser Engraving trip coming up this week. Then I get right into showing everyone the basics of leeching files from youtube and flash files from newgrounds. Two things that everyone wants to do but doesn't know how to do. So I've got their interest, and basically, I manage to hold a lot of their attention for the better part of an hour explaining how leeching works and showing them exactly how to do it the legal way. Bottom line, it was an awesome first meeting, and since this week's meeting is the monthly LAN Party, I'm expecting just as many to come out.

Bottom line, Tech.MCC is rockin, and it's looking great, well, that is until our funding runs out and we have to dip into the Anime Club's funds again...

Daily Life 2: WEIGHT LOSS
You're probably reading the title and going "oh boy, here comes a rant", nope. I am absolutely having nothing but success with my latest plans for losing weight, and I've already dumped off 40 lbs within 2 and a half months! As noted by the Wii Fit snapshot to the left.

Basically, right now my diet is consisting mostly of Subway Footlong Meatball Marinara's that I get as dinner on the way home from college 4 days a week. A much better change than actually having the home cooked meals which are good sometimes but really fattening, or going and grabbing half a pizza on the way home. And I have the new Subway on the end of Woodbridge Ave to thank, because if it weren't for this Subway being run by white people, I wouldn't be going there at all. Thank you white Subway!

On other days, I've learned that one of my big problems was that I was eating a meal that wasn't entirely satisfying, an then I'd be hungry an hour later. This would basically lead to me having more calories from snacks between every meal than if I'd added a 4th meal to my day! SO, I took it upon myself to start eating LARGER meals, even if anyone objects, that way I'm not hungry and pigging out on pop-tarts because I can't decide on an appropriate snack size. So I'm not having snacks anymore between meals.

A third tier to my new diet is that I've completely given up Mountain Dew. I know, it sucks, and I do miss it, but I was having 2 cans A DAY, and I ended up being so addicted to caffeine that when I finally ran out, I would be willing to waste the gas to go out and buy more immediately. So about a month ago, I go "You know what, screw it. I'm out of it, and I don't care". I never went out and got more Dew, and after 4 days of migraines from caffeine withdrawal, I was off of caffeine, and losing weight. I still have a Dew when I'm out of the house, but the rule I've set is that if I'm at home, Gatorade, Powerade, or Vitamin Water; NO DEW.

And of course, the 4th tier, which isn't part of my diet, but rather my life, is that now every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed, before I get out of bed, do at least 10 sit-ups. That and I'm also back on campus every day walking around and juggling constantly. A rule that I've almost set but haven't really been adhering to is that it's best for me to break a sweat once a day, no matter what it's from, be it juggling for an hour or simply sitting in a really hot room.

So far, it's all working really well! I'm down from 300 lbs in early July, to now just over 250 lbs last time I checked! GO ME!


Juggle This 1: JoJ ROCKS!
So if you haven't been paying attention, JoJ is back, and no it really IS better. The dozen and a half people that have commented on episode 2 so far have said that it is a HUGE improvement over the last episodes and three of them have said that if I keep this up, they're going to look forward to watching the rest of the season! That's a huge compliment form people who told me that they got sick of watching after 48 seconds on the last episode!

So basically, here's the list of changes I made since the last episode:
1. I got a microphone and used it to record the audio and then overlay
that onto the video.

2. Made the audio only version the highest quality I possibly could,
pulling stright from the microphone instead of just converting the video
file again like last time.

3. Instead of one long cut, I split the cast up into 4 shots, each with
it's own specific theme.

4. I made multiple successful takes of each shot, and chose the best ones
as I was editing.

5. I sped through the topics, making sure that I spent no more than 4
sentences explaining a point (that was the really hard part for me).

6. I'm actually using the video for something worthwhile besides a picture
of my face. (by physically showing how to sandpaper the rings or repair
the balls)

So far, it seems to be pretty damned awesome, and I've even gotten some help from Sondre on the next episode, which will be "Reeses' 6 basic rules for juggling music videos"

Juggle This 2: WJF5 Preparations
So, if you haven't heard, I'll be competing in the WJF5 Intermediate Rings competition. I just ordered my uniform online and when it gets here I'll make the video that Jason needs before he can add me to the competitors page. I'm really still not sure who else will be competing, so I have no idea how much I still need to improve, so I'm just pushing as hard as I can for more 4 ring ideas.

I'm basically practicing every 4 ring trick I know every other day, and a lot of the 5 ring tricks I know too. When I can remember them that is. I'm especially practicing my 4 ring mills mess, because that seems to be the trick that really noone else seems to want to do, and everyone who watched "A Faction Of One" thought it was the best trick in the video. I'm also really working on my 5 ring reverse cascade, because it's a HUGE move, that I'm almost at the point of qualifying every time, and it'll get me huge points in competition. In fact, today was the day when I started to feel it getting easier and got a new record of 17 catches, so go me.

It's so great to be back on campus because now I actually CAN practice my higher ceiling moves without kneeling, and it is definitely helping. I just need to make sure that I get my routine set as a routine and not just as a bunch of tricks. For right now, I'll be releasing my 2008 WJF Profile Video sometime before the end of this month.


A Day In The Life Of A Peanut Butter Cup ~ Reeses2150