Truthfully, I don't know why I'm writing. This is my future's worst nightmare, as any prospective employer who ever might check this would surely burn my application immediately afterward. Oh well. I like a challenge. I recently re-read an entry of mine (I believe the 5.04.06) entry. It just struck me how much different I am now than I was then. I wonder if I'd even recognize myself. Probably not. And that's probably for the best. Oh well.

I'm out.

J

  Maybe it's not so bad, being alone. After all, what's Superman without his Fortress of Solitude?

  ... Not that I'm saying that I'm an alien with superhuman powers. ... Or that I have a gigantic hidey-hole... carved from the... Arctic ice cap. But you get the gist.

  I'm out.

  J

  I keep reading about how global warming is affecting our Earth. Millions of tons of CO2 are being pumped into our atmosphere, and our shortsighted, dimwitted president has as an initiative (perversely named the "Clear Skies Initiative") to lessen industrial pollution controls. He's a moron, and we're all headed for a very dismal future.

  But that's not why I'm writing, at least not directly. We have, right next door, a potential solution (and then a great boon to our civilization) to our problem. One orbit out from our own, a planet has fascinate humans since the dawn of mankind. Mars.

  I've probably just lost about half my readers with that last sentence, but fuck'em, right? Here's what I propose. As of right now (and the foreseeable future, even if my ideas are somehow used), Mars is very similar to our own planet, except much colder. To convert Mars into a habitable planet, we would need to undertake a process known as "terraforming." This basically means we'd need to heat the Martian atmosphere. How do we do that, you ask? Build the galaxy's biggest easy bake oven? That's not a bad idea, but then where do you plug it in? Basically, to terraform a cold planet, such as Mars (and it's been a while since I've read up on this, so what I write here may be somewhat incorrect, but the basic gist remains the same), you need to send things like there to begin to warm up the atmosphere. It would be things like microbes initially, whose metabolic processes release CO2 into the atmosphere as waste gas. Then, basic plant life could be sent in the form of seeds to begin "colonizing" Mars. The plants, as a byproduct would give off O2, or oxygen to the rest of you as a waste gas for humans and animals to breathe. Basically, once the temperature gets high enough, the ice under the surface of Mars would melt, water would run on the surface, and it'd be more like Earth.

  OK, here's where I demonstrate my fundamental mental instability. To expedite the terraforming, and also alleviate a problem here on Earth, we need to find a way to ship the CO2 that we have plenty of here on Earth into the Martian atmosphere. This obviously would require a dramatic decrease in the price of launching cargo into space, a problem that's been "solved" by the idea of a space elevator. Honestly, it's not as farfetched as it sounds. Check this out if you don't believe me: http://www.spaceelevator.com/  Also, we'd have to find a way to capture and compress the CO2 so that it would be more economical.

  This obviously would have to be a global effort, as a space elevator would probably cost way too much for any one government to budget for it anyway. However, I think that once the technological challenges are solved, it's a rather elegant solution a major problem we face.

  I'm out.

  J

  I recently discovered that I've lost a friend. Not in the final, deathly sense of the phrase, but lost as in the bond we formerly shared no longer exists, at least not for me. As I'm the kind of person who doesn't have a big boatload of friends, but rather has a few close friends, this loss saddens me. There was a time when this person and I were extremely close. I enjoyed talking with this person because we talked about things slightly above the ordinary, things on the order of life, philosophy, international politics and the like. We don't talk about any of those things anymore.

  In fact, I think what gets to me more than the "mere" loss of our mutual bond is the great amount of respect I've lost for my old friend. As always, this is my mental etch-a-sketch you're toying with here, so this account is obviously biased, but from what I see of my friend anymore, their life revolves around the cheap, the instant, and the disposable. My friend makes no effort to take care of themself in the positive sense (working out, eating right, etc.), and (I believe correspondingly) has what I perceive to be self-esteem issues, made all the more unfortunate by the fact that they have the capability to be a fantastic person but they don't capitalize on it. My friend's life as I have seen it consists of working, sleeping, and going out. This person asked me to "motivate" them to come with me to work out, and it was all I could do not to tell them that motivation comes only from within.

  I'm just disappointed, I think, in my old friend because they have so much potential as a person that they simply do not use. They are intelligent, they are funny, they have numerous other positive qualities. This old friend of mine has done things I could not, things that would have had me shitting my pants and crying like a little baby. This person has strength inside them, and a good heart. But those things are overshadowed (at least to me) by some negative qualities that are in no way permanent and could be (should they so choose) remedied in a few months time. I've purposefully kept this as anonymous as I can to avoid (or attempt to, anyway) any hurt feelings, but I secretly wouldn't be upset if my friend read this and was for some reason motivated to take charge of their life.

  Well, I think it's time I got down off my high horse.

  I'm out.

  J

  I'm going to attempt to put down a list of my goals for the summer. If you talk to me over the summer, plase ask me how I'm progressing towards these goals, as it'll make me work that much harder towards them. (This violates a previous request of mine, namely that no one speak to me about things they read here, but as long as we confine our discourse to this entry and this entry only, I think we'll be OK.) The following is in no particular order:

  - Lean out a bit. (I'm looking to fight (see one of the goals further down) in the fall, and I wanna get down to my closer projected fighting weight of 178 lbs. I'm currently sitting around 185-187. The weight to be lost is (hopefully) all fat weight. I understand that I don't need to start cutting this far out, but it's summer, dammit. I wanna be pretty.

  - Do solid, stressful cardio at least 6 days/week. This ties in with the previous. It'll also help me be in ass-kicking shape.

  - Squat 385 (for reps) by the end of summer.

  - Bench 255 (for reps) by the end of the summer.

  - Deadlift 350 (for reps) (this may be difficult as I just dropped poundage to work on my form) by the end of the summer.

  - Hang Snatch 175 (for reps) by the end of the summer.

  - Make enough money that I can contribute a sizable amount to my education, and don't have to ask my folks for money. Also, buy an Xbox 360.

  - Don't drink over the summer.

  I believe that's it. Anything else, I'll update this little pagina (no, it doesn't rhyme with vagina, moron).

  I'm out.

  J