Yeah, so I think my knee is screwed up royally, once again. The best part is I have no idea how I did it. If I did, I'd be sure to never do it again. One second I'm walking down the hall at work, carrying a monitor, and the next second I'm in pain. I didn't fall. I didn't crash a motorcycle. My knee didn't buckle or give out, so I have no idea why its in such bad shape. I've done everything my doctor told me to do. I've lost weight, I've gotten in shape. I'm sure that my quad muscles are stronger, so why am I in the exact same place I've been twice already this summer? My only guess is that maybe something chipped off a bone and is just floating around in there, causing me pain. It just sucks, big time.

In the meantime, I'm just going to relax and rest and take it easy, hoping that it'll feel better by Monday. If it doesn't, its back to the orthopedic doctor for me. Fun. I'm sure he's sick of seeing me, thats for sure. I know I'm sick of giving his office $20 every time I go there. I know that much to be true.

It really sucks because I was supposed to hang out with Brett in Long Beach tonight, but I'm in no shape to go out in a crowd. So instead, Brett is coming to me, we'll his the local bar/restaurant, the Post Office Cafe, and hopefully have a good time. Here's to hoping!

Yeah, so it hasn't been the best week all around. Nothing horrible happened, but nothing great happened either. For one thing, I'm either coming down with something, some kind of cold or sinus infection, or I'm just really allergic to that damn cat, because I haven't felt well all week long. I've been really tired, which has made me be lazy about exercising all week long. In fact, I only did it once this week, on Monday afternoon. It also made me lazy about sticking to my diet, which I kind of cheated on here and there throughout the week. So all in all, bad progress was made. So bad, that here it is.

Gained 4 pounds. So I'm only down 45 now, with 35 to go, 56% of the way there. Plan for this weekend and upcoming week is to get back on track. Get back to exercising and definitely stick to the diet. Only problem with the exercising is that my knee has been acting up since yesterday and it really, really, really hurts. I'm definitely limping around, which isn't good. Even worse? I have no idea what the hell I did to it, so I'm a little pissed off about that. But I'll get better and get back into it. I'm getting closer and closer, no time to start slacking now.

The week was just blah in other ways. Busy at work, which is OK. Went on a date Sunday night in the city, that went OK, but I have no desire to see her again. I just kind of failed to let her know that little tidbit of information. But, in my defense, I'm just doing what was done to me last time. No returned phone calls, or text messages. So since it was done to me by a female, I shall do it to one as well. Its a vicious circle, but oh well. The only downside is, and I'm taking some flak for this, that it was basically a given that if I went out with her again that sex would be involved. My brother and his friend Jason were telling me I was an idiot for passing that up, but to me, its just not worth it. But, in the event that I'm stabbed to death in my sleep, look for my penis to be the one holding the knife.

Anyway, plans for the weekend are somewhat the usual. Guitar lesson, then I'm going out in Long Beach with Brett, where hopefully we'll meet some decent girls. Thats the plan at least. Lets hope it works.

Forgot to mention this, but had I never changed my goal as per my doctors recommendations, I'd be one pound away from my new guitar. Damn.

Greetings everyone. Its Friday, which is always a very good thing, wherever you are in the world. I'm highly looking forward to the weekend, especially because it means two days without work, but I have a feeling my weekend will be just as busy. As long as I can get some sleep, I'll be OK. Alright, and now the moment you've all be waiting for, the weekly results show. And here they are...

Lost another 9 pounds! Crazy, I know! That brings us to a grand total of 49 pounds lost with 31 to go, and I am 61% of the way to taking that nice new guitar out of my closet at my parents, and storing it at home! Nice! So it was almost a milestone. One more pound would've put me to 50, which would have been an even 100 lost since I first started dieting and losing weight back in 2003. But I can deal. I'll wait until next week. I'm cool with it. I feel great though. I had to get a bunch of new clothes because nothing fit me anymore. All my pants were falling off of me and shirts looked like dresses. I've gotten compliments from people every day so far this week (not today though, yet) so thats a great feeling that people are noticing. I have family and friends of my parents coming to their house tomorrow night for the Jewish holiday, so I'm really curious what they'll say. All in all, a very good week. Crazy though. So much for a plateau, at least for now.

So, onto my plans for the weekend. If I'm up to it tonight, I was going to check out my guitar teacher's band for a little while. I can't get anyone to go with me, which kind of sucks, so I'm left up to my own devices. It should still be fun though, I hope. Saturday I have a ton of errands to run in the morning. I have to take Keyser to the vet for his annual checkup, disconnect the computers in my mom's office because they're installing carpet and then my guitar lesson. Then, family coming over, for the equivalent of a Thanksgiving meal. Being Jewish, you kind of get 3 occasions per year for turkey. Thanksgiving being one of them. Then Rosh Hashannah, which is tomorrow, or tonight, I think. And Passover. It would be great if you liked turkey, which I don't care for.

Anyway, thats tonight and tomorrow. Sunday I'm heading into the city for a date. Lets hope it goes well. I know I say that every time, but I mean it every time too.

Have a great weekend everyone!

So, in case you weren't aware, at some point in my life I lived just outside of New Orleans. It was the year after I graduated from college. I moved down there and lived with my girlfriend at the time (its a very long story, and I think I started this blog right after we broke up, so go back to the beginning if you want to read all kinds of negative things about her). I moved back to NY after a year of being down there and haven't been back since. Always planned to. Well, now I'm going back! And I'm actually excited, despite the post-Katrina state that the city is in, I'm looking forward to it.

Seth mentioned awhile back to me that he was going to New Orleans for business in November, and that if I wanted to come I could. Free hotel room, I would just have to buy my own airfare. Seems fair enough. He finally booked his flight and hotel last week, so I wasted no time in doing the same. And here's the best part. I had enough miles saved up with American from my numerous trips to London to see that whore, that I was able to cash them in and get my ticket for only $5 (taxes and fees!). Sweet, right? Looking forward to it. I'm now in friendly contact with my ex that lives down there, and maybe we'll get together one afternoon or night. We shall see.

Anyway, thats enough for now. I'm exhausted from a hellish week of work. And its only Wednesday. Not fair!

So, mission accomplished on the weekend relaxing. Maximum relaxation was achieved, which is always a fantastic thing. I stayed at home and must've passed out at about 10:30 on Friday, which was sweet. I woke up, exercised, packed up my stuff and headed to my parents for the day, which unfortunately turned into the night as well, but what can you do? My brother was at his girlfriends and my parents had a Bat Mitzvah, so I stayed and watched the pooch. Got a nice nights sleep on Saturday too, woke up refreshed on Sunday, made a chocolate cream pie for Seth because its his birthday tonight, then headed to donate platelets, as is my every other Sunday ritual. Went back to my parents to watch some football, made some food, and eventually headed back to my place. Unpacked and relaxed there some more. Seth and Shari came back home and Seth watched a DVR of the Giants game in my room. That was entertaining because I already knew that they came from behind to tie it, send it to OT and won it. But it was fun to watch him get all pissed off when they were down. And that was my weekend.

I know its going to be a busy week at work, and thats always a mixed bag. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Nowadays I feel like I'm just working to get to the weekend and paydays, but whatever. Hopefully that'll change soon. Other than that, the only thing to report is the following.

We now have a cat in the house, and I'm not thrilled with it. We're cat sitting for one of Shari's friends for the next 3 months or so. She went to England for Grad school and she wanted to take the cat, but in order to avoid having to put it in a 6 month quarantine she had to vaccinate it with something, but that was six months ago. So we're watching it while she's gone, and I think she's going to take it off our hands when she's home in December for the holidays. Like I said, not happy. I'm not a cat person, at all. I'm tempted to bring Keyser over and see what happens when they go face to face. Keyser isn't used to being around cats, so it should be interesting. We'll see what shakes loose!

Alright, thats enough for now. Work to do. Have a great week!

I'm plumbing new depths here, thats for sure. I'll get into it in a second, but first, your results show. Here we go, drum roll please....

Down 2 pounds, for a total loss of 40 pounds even, with 40 to go, and obviously 50%, or halfway there.

This week sucked for sure, so I'm amazed I even hit that mark. It was nice to lose the pound gained from last week and then one more on top of it for the even 40, but I can tell its getting tougher. It wasn't made any easier by eating out two nights in a row this week, drinking beer and eating crap at home in those two nights. Also not helping, going to concerts two nights in a row and not really being able to exercise before going out to them, and then being too tired the next morning to exercise either. So I'm looking forward to straightening myself out this coming weekend and week and getting back on track and focused. Halfway there, can't stop now.

So onto the reason for the exhaustiveness. Two concerts in a row. First up, John Mayer at Webster Hall on Wednesday night. I saw him about two weeks ago at Jones Beach with Sheryl Crow, and while it was a good show, I was just left with a blah feeling about it. Mostly because the crowd just wasn't into it. Everyone was sitting down, no one was really getting up and getting into it, feeling the groove if you will. It was a damn shame because his new album is amazing, really. Go get it now if you haven't yet, and I'll offer you another guarantee, if you don't like it after 5 complete listens, I'll give you the $10. Anyway, so Webster Hall is a smaller venue in NYC, holds maybe 500 people, or maybe a 1000, definitely smaller than a 10,000 seat amphitheater, and thats really the venue to see him. He was amazing. His skills with that guitar make me envious. I would kill to have 1% of his talent. Seriously. Great show, the crowd was really into it, and just a much better experience than the show at Jones Beach. Plus, no Sheryl Crow.

Next up, was Pete Yorn last night, at CBGB's. Yes, the legendary CBGB's, and let me tell you, its as much of a shithole as you think it is. It is where the Ramones and punk music in general got its start. But, its a shithole with charm. It was another really great show in an even smaller venue. Once the show started everyone kept jostling and trying to get past us, to go where I have no idea as there was no room to really go anywhere. I was tempted to start throwing elbows all over the place, but restrained myself. At one point security dragged this guy by the neck and people in the crowd basically got thrown aside while the guy went out kicking and screaming. Definitely an interesting site to see! At least now I get to say I've been to CBGB's, since its scheduled to close its doors soon due to some issue with some organization in that area of Manhattan. And, I got a t-shirt that says CBGB, so I'm set.

Plans for the weekend include sleeping, sleeping, guitar lesson, some lunch, more sleeping, platelet donation, and oh yeah, if there's time, a little more sleeping. Don't want to stretch myself too thin here.

Have a great weekend everyone!

So I had myself a very masculine Sunday, most likely to make up for my pathetic Saturday. I chilled at home most of the morning and watched the Jets actually win a football game for the first time in awhile. Then it was onto Guitar Center to pick up some strings for my acoustic and some fresh guitar picks. I also played the guitar and amp that Seth is most likely getting for awhile, before I headed home and actually watched most of the men's US Open tennis final. Crazy stuff. Then I was just going to relax for the evening and watch the Giants - Colts game, you know, Manning vs. Manning, but my roommate dragged me out to the bar for a drink. One drink turned into 3 pints of Guinness and a plate of wings, which turned into two Coronas at home and frozen pizza. Fun night. I'm paying for it now, thats for sure. Not hungover, just tired.

But, I was greeted with some good news this morning. My mom called just as I was getting dressed with the results of all my blood tests. And as I suspected, everything is A-OK. I am in tip top shape, so take that Shari for scaring me! No, actually I'm glad she was concerned and that I got it all checked out. I'm just glad all is good so I can stop worrying about it. The only thing that was slightly off, and by slightly, I mean off by .1 was my hemoglobin level. My doctor said not to worry and to take a multivitamin for iron and B12 and get retested in a month. My cholesterol was a shocking 130 though. I was convinced at least that would be sky high, but it wasn't. So everything is doing good, and I can proceed with my diet and exercise regime and get the rest of the weight off. I want that guitar!

Alrighty, so thats all for now. Have a good week everyone, and I'll check back in soon!

Yeah, so instead of sticking around my parents house for yet another evening, I decided to go home instead, to an empty house. On a Saturday night. So yes, pathetic. I just couldn't bring myself to spend another at my parents. I was there all last weekend, and the week before that, and the weekend before that. The 20 or so hours I spent there this weekend were more than enough. Plus, I'm exhausted and just want to sleep in my own bed. The rundown of the day goes like this.

Keyser, that lovable pain in the ass woke me up at like 5:30 in the morning needing to pee. Like the schmuck I am, I left for my parents Friday night without packing anything to sleep in, so I was left with either sleeping in my cargo shorts, or my boxer briefs (too much info, I'm sure, but oh well, what can you do. I recently made the switch to them away from the tighty whiteys and I'm loving it!). So I went with the underwear. So of course I woke up and completely forgot to throw my shorts on before walking him. Thankfully I think the people that live across the street from my parents are away, and it was still dark. So, since I was up, I decided to get a jump start on my day.

That jump start consisting of going to a local lab at 6:20 in the morning to get some blood drawn for a whole slew of blood tests, like four vials of the stuff. Is there something wrong with me that would warrant all this? Not that I know of. I feel fine, never better. But Shari and I were talking about the weight loss and how I'm doing it and what a nutritionist friend of hers said about it all and it got me a little paranoid. So I told my mom to fill me out a form to run the gamut of blood tests to see if everything is functioning right in my body. I'm talking cholesterol, liver function, a comprehensive metabolic panel, CBC (whatever that is, I think its for anemia) and a bunch of other things. I should have the results on Monday. Can't wait!

Then it was back to my parents house to exercise on that crappy bike, drink my breakfast shake, shower, get dressed and go run to Home Depot to buy some light bulbs for my dad. Their porch light always seems to need changing and since I'm the tallest in the family and can change it without the need for a step stool, I always have the fun job of doing it. Its not helped by the fact that the fixture seemed to house 4 dead bee carcasses in it. Always a fun thing. Wow, just reading all this back, and I am convinced that I really am pathetic. No wonder I'm single!

Anyway, after that it was onto my guitar lesson. The first one I've had in like three weeks. My teacher had to do some rearranging of things, including moving to a new apartment and moving his business out of the basement he was in and to the local music shop where he's giving lessons three days a week. Unfortunately those days are weekdays and the shop is in my parents town, so getting there one night during the week would be a pain, so he said I could take my lessons out of his place, which was very cool of him. Now we have more time and don't have to feel so rushed, or so bad about half the time we spend BSing about everything. Went over how to play Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah," which is cool because I'm a huge Jeff Buckley fan. If you're reading this and going, Jeff who? Do yourself a favor and go out right now and buy his CD called "Grace." If you hate it, contact me, I'll send you the $10 you spent on it, thats how much I stand by it. You've probably heard his rendition of the song if you watch House, The West Wing, The OC or any other TV show that has used it to no end at the end of an episode.

After the lesson it was the usual Saturday lunch ritual of burrito and Italian ice. Then a nice long nap after my early start. Then I packed up my car, came home and here I am. Doing nothing but catching up on my TV for the week. Fun. I'm really curious to see how I'll pass the day tomorrow!

Oh, and for the record, the new guitar, its in the closet of my old room at my parents house. It was rough, but I left it. So ha, I have self control!

Well, it was only a matter of time before the results started being positive and progressed into the dreaded negative territory. I think I jinxed myself by buying my reward before actually achieving the goal, but oh well. It wasn't so bad. I gained a single solitary pound, thats it. I can deal with it, and I'm pretty sure why too. I kind of went nuts food wise while at my parents on Saturday waiting for the cable guys to show up, and then I ate dinner way too much this weekend. I don't think my body handles being stuffed with food and going to bed a few hours later too well. Although I tend to think most people's don't. Hell, in France, lunch is the big meal time, to give you the energy you need to get through the day, and dinner is basically a light snack. Good idea from the French.

So in the grand scheme of things, this is where we are. Gained a pound, so I'm at a total of 38 pounds lost, with 42 left to lose, and I'm 48% to my goal. Time to be better this week, more breakfast and lunch and less dinner. I've also tried to exercise on the elliptical both in the morning and when I get home from work. Twice a day. I'm nuts. But here's the deal, and its quite simple, and it deserves its own paragraph!

Now that I have the reward, I want to keep it, badly. The guitar, is simply, amazing. Its beautiful, just a beauty. I took it home Wednesday, cleaned it up a bit, took apart what I could (there really isn't much to it. Its so simple, thats part of its beauty, simple elegance), put it back together and slapped on a new set of strings, plugged into my amp and went to town. Good lord, its just amazing. The thing sustains (the amount of time the strings will keep vibrating and ring after being struck) forever! And I understand why. The guitar isn't like all the other ones I have with multiple pickups and routing in the wood for them, or extra switches and knobs. The thing is basically a slab of mahogany, with one bad ass pickup installed on it, the neck, and the strings. One knob for volume, one for tone, and thats it. I was blown away by the sound. Its just great. And know that I have it and I'm played it, I want to keep it. I'll still throw it in the closet at my parents until I deem myself worthy. I just hope I have the self control to keep it there. I think I do.

Alright, back to work. No real plans for the weekend, but thats cool with me.

This is a first. I got stood up. She said she'd call me last night to set up a time to grab dinner, and she never called. I couldn't get in touch with her, so I ended up grabbing some takeout and watching TV all night. I'm a little pissed off about, but willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt, if she ever gets in touch with me again, that is. We shall see. Updates to follow.

Guitar should be at work very soon, and I can't wait! Full report on that as well.

So much for all the time off. It went by way too quickly. I would say that time flies when you're having fun, but that wasn't really the case. I mean, I had fun, just not tons of it. I swear I spent more time running around doing all sorts of errands and odds and ends than anything else, but what are you going to do? Its time away from work. Thats what counts. Speaking of that. Getting up this morning and dragging my ass out of bed to go to work was tough this morning. Really tough, but what are you going to do? At least its a short week.

Alright, so time for some updates on various fronts. I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just riff off the top of my head.

I'm most excited about getting tickets to go see John Mayer again next week at a club in the city. That should be a good show. Its him headlining, instead of Sheryl Crow, which is cool. I have nothing against her, but I went for him last week, not her. Speaking of, spotted Mandy Moore and Alicia Keys walking past our seats coming and going from the backstage area at the show last week.

Also very excited about date #2 with the new girl. We went out on Sunday and had a good time, so its time for the follow-up. This is usually the make it or break it one. Most girls don't get past date 2, or a week! Wish me luck on that one.

Still waiting on my guitar to get here. It hasn't left Georgia according to FedEx. Once it gets here, play the hell out of it for 48 hours, then into a closet at my parents house until I drop another 40 pounds.

So, as a test, I ordered some new work pants and jeans from Eddie Bauer, along with a t-shirt in an XL Tall to test, as the 2X's seem huge on me. I just needs pants that fit around my waist! I take off my belt and it doesn't take much to have them just fall off of me. Although that could be a good thing under certain circumstances! Anyway, I hope the new stuff fits me. Its just going to suck because once I hit my goal, I'm sure I'll have to order more clothes. Dieting is expensive, but worth it for the results.

Had a decent weekend. Aside from the date, not much going on. I ran some errands with my mom and got rewarded with her buying me some necessities at Linen's and Things. I needed a new mattress pad cover and those elastic things that keep it and the sheet on. The ones I had weren't cutting it and I would always wake up with the sheets off the bed, which isn't cool. So far so good, and my bed is as comfy as ever.

We may do some switching around at home, as I'm currently the only occupant on the second floor, and everyone else lives upstairs. We shall see though, as it may be more of a pain than its worth. My roommate feels compelled to move downstairs to the room my departing roomie vacated, so that he can give Shari and Seth some privacy upstairs. We shall see how that pans out. I kind of like the idea of having the whole floor to myself. I can be as loud as I want to be!

Anyway, the day is almost coming to a close. Second date tonight, so wish me luck!

Alrighty, so I went from my parents back to my place crazy early this morning to weigh in and exercise. After four days of riding that damn stationary bike with the worlds most uncomfortable seat, I welcomed going back to the machine from hell, the elliptical. Needless to say I was very shocked by the results this week. And I think I know why I got them, and I just may have to test this theory out this week. For the most part, this week, I've exercised first thing in the morning, instead of after work, or later in the day. Like first thing as in, not eating anything and just drinking water when needed. So an empty stomach. Its always been my theory that its the best time, since theres very little in your system and your body is more likely to try and convert fat to energy in that instance. Just my theory, I don't have a medical degree, but I did take a lot of bio in high school, and the intro course in college. So I'm probably just talking out of my ass. Anyway, onto the results. Drum roll please...

I am down another 8 pounds this week, which is insane, since I only lost 1 last week. But, to be fair, I was 3 pounds down Saturday morning, so I don't think last Friday's reading was so accurate. Anyway, the rundown so far, 8 down this week, for a total of 39 lost so far, and 41 to go (1 away from the halfway mark!), and I'm 49% there (duh, I just said halfway). So, phenomenal results, and I just have to keep up the hard work.

OK, so here's a pic, one that the seller posted on eBay of my soon to be delivered axe. Although I will only play my new baby when it gets here to make sure I want to keep it, and then it goes into a closet at my parents house, not to be touched, if I can help it, until I hit my goal of 80 pounds lost. Here she is, ain't she purty!?

Can't wait to get it and try it out. Alright, time to hit the showers and go run a few quick errands, than into the city to help Seth move, then who knows what. Adios!

I really do. They're a bunch of useless pieces of you know what. Here's the story, I noticed about the time I hurt my knee the first time over the summer that the Internet connection at my parent's house kind of sucked. The cable modem would drop its connection for five minutes at a time and completely random intervals. My brother called the cable company and they said something about how the signal strength must be dropping down, hence losing the connections, so they tagged it in the account that they'd replace the cable modem, all someone from the house had to do was go down to one of their "stores" and swap out modems. So I finally had a chance to do that yesterday, in between running 5000 other errands. I also had to go there to turn in two cable boxes from my own place that we don't need or want anymore, but thats not important.

So after waiting on line for about 45 minutes, all the while carrying two boxes and the modem the whole time, they swap out the modem and take back the boxes and I go home. I plug in the cable modem and nothing happens. The power light just flashes. Thats it. So I call them up and it seems that the signal strength problem in the other modem is still the issue. But the other modem worked, I say. They say that the other modem (different brands) must've been more tolerant to a bad signal that the current one. So they have to dispatch a technician. It was too late to send one yesterday, and no one is going to be home on Friday, so its got to be Saturday. Between the hours of 10 AM and 8 PM they'll show up. How much does that suck? So I instantly assumed that Randy would do it as he probably had nothing to do. Nope, he'll be gone most of the day as he's going to the US Open. So I'll be stuck, waiting for the cable guy. My parents don't get home until later that night, so they can't wait. How much is that going to suck? Stuck inside my parents house for 10 hours, maybe, waiting for the cable guy. I'm pissed, to say the least.

I am still currently at my parents and stealing a wireless signal, albeit a weak one, from one of the neighbors. I plan on heading back to my place early to head into the city with Shari to help Seth move the rest of his stuff into our place. The moving will suck, but it'll be good to have the roommate switch effected. I also plan on doing my official weigh in for the week once I get there and shall post results.

But I have a confession to make. That guitar that I saw on eBay, that I was considering getting after I hit my goal, the one that was 1/3rd off list retail price. Yeah, I bought it. 33% off was just too good a deal to pass up. I have no self control when it comes to buying shit, I know. But here's the deal. I'll get it, play it to make sure its all good and that I like it. Then, it get thrown in a closet at my parents house, not to be played until I hit my goal. That simple. I can do it! I'll upload a pic later.

I'm very curious to see how I did this week as I was at my parents the whole time, couldn't exercise in the way I was used to and was confronted by way too much junk food (but I behaved myself for the most part). Plus, two days this week I didn't quite follow the diet. I ate a breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast two mornings, and then had dinner, instead of doing the protein shake thing. But I think I'll see some results this week.

Alright, too much to do today. Lets hope cable comes early tomorrow and my whole day isn't ruined. Adios people! Have a good Labor Day Weekend.