Dating Lessons: Note 1

Note: When lip gloss/chapstick makes a strategic appearance, an expectation has been set.

Alert status red!

We Can Rebuild Him...

Also before I forget, part of the inspiration for the mantra came from the 70s tv show The $6 Million Dollar Man.

Click to view the intro, damn you copyright non-embed!

I blame costco!

Yeah this is pretty random, but after going to do groceries yesterday, it's amazing how much food one person goes through. Because of this, I have created what seems like a stockpile of my favourite foods to last through to the next century! I mean, what am I going to do with over 10 kg of crunchy peanut butter!

My peanut butter of choice!

Food that I have mass amounts at the moment include:

- peanut butter (over 12 jars, of close to 25 lbs!)

- apples (at least 24 apples)

- chicken breast (16 chicken breasts)

- blueberries* (if you include frozen, probably 4-5 pints) 

- peaches* (10 litre basket)

- chewing gum (20+ packs)

- milk/chocolate milk (almost 8 litres)

- pasta sauce (over 20 litres)

- pasta (close to 20 lbs)
- canned salmon (2kg+)
- diet coke (30+ cans)

* seasonal, this trend won't last

Value

"I feel that if you work hard for something, then it's valuable. If you feel you have nothing of value, then you're not working hard enough"


I never really thought about the value of things until the other day when talking to my best friend. I kind of said the above off the top of my head, and I was kind of surprised, it was a pretty heated and instinctual response. For the rest of the day, the notion of value stayed in my mind. What is value exactly? According to dictionary.com, the first meaning of the word value is:

1. relative worth, merit, or importance

Being relative, value is different to everybody, it's a very personal for each individual. Lately, the topic of value has been coming up a lot in different conversations. It seems that at this point in time of life, people are really starting to determine what their real values are. In hindsight, earlier in life, they seemed to be superficial at best. What clothes to wear, what music, who to hang out with. They're more based on things that affect life, things like money, family, career, and so on. It's made me wonder if maybe that's why as we grow older, it seems that people grow apart.

I was always taught that the things that are most valuable, are the things that cannot be bought. They're things that are earned and have little to do with money, tangible objects or material items. To a large extent, the older I get, the more I'm finding this to be true. Relationships, achievement, respect, love and trust, all things that are intangible, and ultimately (at least to me) things that the most valuable.

The Bucket List

Seeing as the big three-oh (30th bday) is upon me, my mortality has begun to hit me a bit. Having a birthday later in the year, I get to see how it all hit my friends first. The common theme amongst them all was the bucket list. 30 seems a bit young to have a bucket list, but my friend Neal made a good point. If you write it down, then you're closer committing to it, otherwise it'll never happen.

Is this a commentary on our thought of perhaps time is "running out"? I suppose at best, 1/3 of my life is already over, and the last third is pretty limiting! When you put it in those terms,  I better make the best of the next 1/3.

Okay, if I'm making a bucket list, I want it to be real and meaningful, not full of garbage. For instance on one person's list was to shoot a machine gun. I really don't think that's a fulfilling goal for anybody.

Say hello to my little friend...not so much

Who am I?

There's nothing like going through a difficult period to see what you're made of.

I've come to realize a few things over the last while, a few include:

- When I'm sick, I'm the biggest suck out there!

- I can still drink like a university frat boy under the right circumstances.

- I have the superhuman ability to cause a mess just by walking into a room.

- What it feels like to sob randomly.

- There's no such thing as rock bottom.

- Nobody writes recipes when cooking for one.

Despite all these realizations, the most important things I've learned are:

- When you're down and out, the most important people are the ones will pick you up.

- You're never too old to start over again.

-  I'll be okay.

As I lay awake...

There's nothing worse than being sleepy, then getting ready for bed, only afterwards to be wide awake. :S

A brief history...

About a year ago, it seemed like in my life the shit hit the fan. I was at a point in my life where I thought there was a defined path. Then in a matter of mere days it all changed. When my long term girlfriend at the time and I broke up, my life was thrown into chaos. All of a sudden my life seemed like it was in limbo all of a sudden. I guess the most apt way to describe it, would be like falling into an abyss.

It took weeks just to scrape up the pieces of the emotional wreck I had become into a somewhat functioning human again. Over the next few months, things got better in a two steps forwards, one step back pattern. The inevitable benchmarks would pass by, serving as an occasional reminder of what had transpired. Birthdays, holidays and of course the dreaded would've been anniversary.

Why blog about it now and not at the time? Because I've finally gotten to a place where I can write about it without falling apart. I can attempt to look at things from hopefully a more objective eye. Also this is not only a place to reflect and analyze the past, but also to write about my life in the present as it is a work in progress.

So why Faster, Stronger, Smarter? After some self reflection, I felt like it was time to work on myself. Being on a defined path, you get stuck in a rut. I realized that I had become complacent. I wanted to grow and improve, in all areas in my life, and especially in the ones that had been neglected for so long. Just to become better, out of that grew what has become my mantra, Faster, Stronger, Smarter.

This blog is part of that process. Glad you're along for the ride!

So why a blog?

Well two reasons, okay probably more than two, but two main ones.

The first reason is for myself (aren't they always?) to have an outlet for my thoughts and observations. The last year has been a time of upheaval and self reflection, which I'm sure will be addressed in later posts more in depth. At first I thought about a journal, but what good are ideas if they aren't shared.

The second reason is honestly to have somewhere to post anonymously. On the mighty facebook, everybody knows you! Sure there may be some of you who read this who know me personally (and I've probably shared these thoughts with you pre blog posting), but perhaps one day there will be people who don't!

Anyway, so that's that.