Aaron C-T Says Stuff

Given that not much has gone down the majority of the summer and that everyone I could do stuff with, excluding DB, is going to be headed to school in a few days. With that in mind, I've decided on a few things I could do to spend my time, inspire myself and all that jazz. Outside of keeping up with my diet, working out as much as possible, and doodling, I've decided to grab a bunch of random movies to watch: things I don't remember well and things I've yet to see.

It's generally like tradition since I first picked up a Pendragon book back in 11th grade, to reread each book in order because I'm sort of little-detail freak. Really though, I'll just have to do the same next summer when the final book comes out and with the third book in the Inheritance series due out this fall, there's still the lingering fact that I haven't read the Harry Potter series. These last three weeks are all about exposure and figuring out the things that inspire me. It's about not only lounging around, but lounging around wisely. Or something insightful like that.

I fully expect some gaming in there somewhere. My bootleg copy of the Dreamcast game Skies of Arcadia still hasn't been finished. The same applies to Jet Set Radio Future, Psychonauts, and Advent Rising. Guess I'll get started..

Labels: Random

"This is almost as nice, if not nicer than an iPod." It's definitely gonna be the latter. At around $250, the 80GB Zune model competes with the iPod on every level, and then pimp slaps it across tables. The new Zunes are much more sleek than their 30GB predecessors and have a new navigation system that can actually compete with all this touch madness. The new squircle Zune Pad combines scroll wheel-like functionality with the easily recognizable directional pad. It fully functions as both at the same time, though the touch controls can be turned off to turn it into a simple D-Pad. Flicking up and down slides you across lists and lets you coast on through your playlist while flicking side to side changes categories and clicking down selects. Given that the new functionality is hardwired into the hardly complicated D-Pad, it makes it easy for anyone to pick up. There are also previous screen and a play/pause button.

The real beauty of the thing, though, is it's features. For the same price as an iPod Classic, it packs more of a punch. Every Zune has wireless antenna built in that allows you to sync wirelessly to your computer and stream to your Xbox 360, in addition to sending items to other Zunes. There's a fully-functioning FM Radio that picks up song and station names, given that the station actually broadcasts them and you're able to set presets to your favorite ones. There's a positively enormous 3.2-inch screen with landscape support for videos. The background can be customized with any picture stored on the Zune. So yes, you can definitely slap Emma Watson behind your menus, if you please. Besides the Zune having beautiful packing, it comes with a pair of rather nice pair of earbuds. The cable is braided like rope, which not only looks good, but seems lot more durable. The buds themselves come with a set of about four sleeves of different sizes to allow you to get a better fit, and the backs are magnetized to keep the cord from tangling.

The final bit, and most surprising is the expansion of The Social. While the only thing I know about the social before was Zune-to-Zune sharing, the new version of the software integrates an online community similar to iLike or Last.fm. When you create an account, you get a profile where you can add people you know with Zunes, add songs to your favorites, and leave comments. It displays your last few plays, the total amount of plays in your entire library, your most played songs and artists. You can browse through this online component just like the Marketplace, reading artist bios and reviews, buying, faving, and sending songs to friends. I can't help but recommend a Zune to anyone in want of a portable media player. It's the only solid iPod competition out there that offers the same for equal price and actually ups the ante for that price.

Labels: Technology

There are things we'd all like to change about ourselves or, at the very least, aren't completely satisfied with. At 5'7, I'm not very tall for a nineteen year old male. Most girls are around my height and in heels easily surpass it. There's nothing I can really do about that. I can, however, do something about scrawniness. When people think of the idea of dieting, thoughts of large people on treadmills tend to come up. In reality, though, I myself am struggling with a diet and exercise routine at the moment and, I'm ashamed to admit, failing. Sure, I've made a few gains, but it's nowhere near the kind I'd hoped to have made and I simply don't feel like I've completely done enough.

When I first got home for spring break I weighed 116 pounds, meaning I was underweight. I'm always been on the skinny side. Being underweight, however, wasn't the issue, the issue was that I was tired of being both short and small. I decided I wanted to gain weight and start exercise to build muscle. It's worked to an extent, I changed my diet and found a gym buddy and made a few gains in weight lifting and weight gain. I currently weigh 122, just over the threshold for normal weight at my height. The problem now, though, is that not only have I gotten sidetracked from my diet and have stopped gaining weight, but I am also finding it really hard to make gains at the gym, probably due to the problem of not eating to support muscle growth. While when flexing, I do look a lot better, I still haven't reached any noticeable gains yet. I'm still pressing in the same weight range as I was about a month back. I've hit a plateau and it's discouraging. These next few weeks are going to be telling. It's not really just a matter of whether or not I look the way I want or how many pounds I gain (although I am aiming for 125 at the moment), it's about asserting that yes, I can control some aspects of my life and feel good. It's about being down and being able to make a goal, and carrying those vibes over into my art and schoolwork.

I've drafted out a new diet consisting of calorie, protein, and carb-rich foods such as corned beef hash, eggs, oatmeal, and yogurt. I've tried to find as many ways to get the most out of my meals as humanly possible such as by using whole milk as opposed to skim and using it for oatmeal rather than water, by scrambling eggs into my hash, and by adding Propel to a bottle of water for a few extra calories and to ensure that I consume at least three cups of water a day. I've scheduled upper, lower, and full body days three days a week and decided to alternate my upper body Saturdays between dumbbells and barbells so that I can better work surrounding muscles while pushing more weight (not that I'm pushing much to begin with). This is more or less a message to myself ensuring that I actually stick it through. Cheers to change.

Labels: Inspirational, Life, Personal