First 10 Songs, 19 August 2012

Here's the songs that showed up on my iPod today:

1. Jambalaya - (The Carpenters; Now & Then) - This is one of my favorite Carpenter's songs. I've been told it's not as good as the original, but it's still great.
2. Love and Anger - (Kate Bush; The Sensual World) - Kate Bush's first appearance on my iPod. Not as well known as some of her other songs, but it's Kate Bush: it's all good.
3. Blowin' In The Wind - (Peter, Paul and Mary; Around the Campfire) - Classic folk revival. I've always loved Peter, Paul and Mary. This is a wonderful rendition of the classic Dylan song.
4. Surf City - (Jan and Dean; Cowabunga! The Surf Box) - Pure surf pop. Not my favorite surf band, but still very good. If you're a fan of surf music, this box set is well worth the price.
5. Manhattan Project - (Rush; Power Windows) - Rush is one of the great rock bands. This is from their post-Rand period. One of the top songs from the album.
6. A Little Respect - (Erasure; The Innocents) - Erasure is one of my favorite 80's bands. This is probably one of their most accessible albums, and definitely one of the most popular songs from it. I love it!
7. Everybody Loves a Lover - (Doris Day; 16 Most Requested Songs) - A happy song from a great entertainer. It reached #6 on the 1958 Billboard Best Sellers chart.
8. Hurricane - (Bette Midler; Thighs and Whispers) - From Midler's "disco" album, this is one of myt favorite late 70's songs. Critics hated the album. I still love it. Also, one of her best album covers ever!
9. Volcano - (Jimmy Buffett; Volcano) - The title track from Buffett's 1979 album. A popular song,  but the album was not well-received by critics. Still, happy party music that brought Buffett a lot of new fans.
10. Please Mr. Postman - (The Carpenters; Horizon) - Another one from all-time favorite singer, Karen Carpenter. This remake of the old Marvelettes song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974.

First 10 songs, 18 August 2012

Put my iPod on shuffle, here's the first 10 songs that came up:

1. Malambo No. 1 - (Yma Sumac, Ultra-Lounge, Vol. 2: Mambo Fever)
2. Lay All Your Love On Me - (A-Teens, The ABBA Generation)
3. Boy Pop (Go Bottom Go Top Mix) - (Book of Love, Boy Pop)
4. Only Time - (Enya, The Very Best of Enya)
5. Watermark - (Enya, The Very Best of Enya)
6. Martin - (Tom Robinson Band, Rising Free: The Very Best of Tom Robinson Band)
7. The Christmas Can-Can - (Straight No Chaser, Christmas Cheers)
8. Goodbye To Love - (The Carpenters, Yesterday Once More)
9. Amid the Falling Snow - (Enya, Amarantine)
10. Surfin' U.S.A. - (The Beach Boys, Cowabunga! The Surf Box)

Kind of surprises me to see Enya come up three times, but that's OK, because she's great. I'd also forgotten I had Christmas music on here. This is all really good music, but I've got to say...

No one compares to Karen Carpenter. She's the best there ever was.

Running the Books, by Avi Steinberg

I've been reading Avi Steinberg's 2010 memoir Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian for our mystery group. Today I finished it, which is good, since we meet tonight. I was really looking forward to this book for a couple of reasons. First, I'm an accidental librarian myself, although in a public library and medical library setting. I wanted to see how his experiences in the profession paralleled my own. To a certain extent, they did. There's that feeling of being out of your depth that you have in the beginning when you're not quite sure how things work. You do eventually get your bearings, though. Working in a prison library has very different dynamics than any other library, and it was fascinating to see how power and authority, and patron relationships play out in that environment. Very different from my experience, and I'm not sure I could have adapted as well as Steinberg did to such unique circumstances. The second thing that really interested my was why a "good Jewish boy" would go into such a line of work. Although Steinberg is nonpracticing and never comes right out and says it, by the end of the book it's clear that he feels a sense of duty imposed by his heritage, a feeling of tikkun olam (restoring the world). This comes through most clearly when he writes about prisoners he has gotten close to, only to lose them to violence. Those are probably some of the most moving parts of the book.

Daily Check-In #3

OK, here's the results for today:

Blood glucose: 261
Blood pressure: 161/106

Slowly coming down. Maybe not as fast as I'd like, but everything's still headed in the right direction. It'll do.

Workout Check-In #2

I think I must have added something wrong, but I'll report it as I've got it:

Treadmill (walking): 1h 12m (246 calories)

I actually walked faster and for more distance than I did yesterday, so I'm not sure how it's less calories. Unless I added wrong when I combined the two workouts (one 60 minute and one 12 minute). I'll see what it's like tomorrow.

Daily Check-In #2

I remembered today. And there's some slight improvement over the last time.

Blood glucose: 275
Blood pressure: 168/108

So exercise, even as minimal as it was yesterday, does help. So it's off to the gym again.

Workout Check-In #1

Well, I missed my daily check-in this morning. Too much going on, I guess. I went to the gym, though, so here's a workout check-in.

Walking (treadmill): 1h 12m (248 cal.)

It doesn't sound like much, but it's a start. It's enough for someone my age who hasn't really gotten any exercise for years. I felt pretty good afterwards, so it'll be easier for me to increase that next time. I had the machine set on level 1, and it was a real problem for me to go as slow as it wanted to. Next time I'll try level 2.

Daily Check-In #1

This is my first daily check-in. Each one will have my morning blood glucose reading and my morning blood pressure reading.

Blood glucose: 305
Blood pressure: 174/111

It's obvious from these numbers that something needs to be done. I know from past experience that losing weight and not eating after 9PM is enough to get my blood glucose and pressure under control. However, diet alone is not longer enough for me to lose weight. I need exercise for that now, which begins today. With numbers like those, though, I probably need to start slowly.

I look forward to seeing those numbers drop in the near future.

Weekly Check-In #1

OK, here's my first weekly check-in. This is the basis for future comparisons.

BMI: 32.6 (obese)
Waist: 44"
Weight: 227.2 lb.

As you can see, I've got a long way to go. My first goal weight is going to be 204.4 (10% of my current weight). I'd really like to set a waist measurement goal of 39.5", but we'll see.

Next weekly check-in: June 8.

Indiana Religious Adherence

According to data from the 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study, Indiana is the 33rd most religious state (44.33% of the population are members of a religious group, calculations are my own). That's slightly less religious than Virginia (44.83%), but more religious than Ohio (43.96%). Of course, It's not so much how many religious people there are in an area that shapes its culture as it is what type. So I'll be breaking the data down by religious group. I'll also be going down to the county level, since the state level is too broad. For example, where I live in southern Indiana is significantly more religious than some other areas, and the mix of religious groups is very different. There's a higher proportion of evangelical Christians here than in other parts of the state where mainline Christian groups are stronger.

Below is the full data used. The last three columns (only one line of numbers) are simply totals for the US as a whole: total adherents, total population, and adherents as a percent of population.

And so it begins...

I joined the local Planet Fitness today. My work schedule will keep me from going until Friday evening, so this whole health project will officially begin Friday morning. That's when I'll post beginning measurements, etc.

I'm looking forward to this whole thing. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, and it'll be good for me in the long run. Probably some pain at first, though. At 53, it's definitely going to be interesting.

Exercise, Health, and Weight Loss Blogging

I've decided it's time to start getting some exercise. I'm having some blood glucose issues, as well as creeping weight gain. What worked for me a couple of years ago (limiting carbohydrates) isn't working as well anymore. I'm going to be using this blog as a kind of support/accountability site, so a lot of the posts here are going to be dedicated to this new project. What does that mean?

I'll be posting daily about my morning blood glucose levels and blood pressure readings. There'll be daily posts about my diet (what I've eaten, what I need to do better on), and my workouts. I'm joining a gym, and I'll be focusing at first on aerobic/cardio exercise. Lots of treadmill work. After a while, I'll start adding strength training. There will be weekly posts about my overall progress, including current weight and waist measurements. I understand things better visually, so I'm seriously thinking about tracking my progress with photos. Well, that's not entirely true: I've already decided I'll be doing that. I'm just not sure I want to include those photos in the blog. I'll admit it, I have some body image issues, and I'm not sure I want half-naked (or even shirtless) photos of me out on the internet. That's an issue I'm struggling with, so I'll see how I feel about it when the time comes. I may decide to push my boundaries, I may not.

I'll still write occasionally about other topics: politics, LGBT rights, book reviews, etc., just as I have in the past. But this will be the ongoing focus for some time. As always, I welcome comments (although they'll still be moderated to weed out spam), and look forward to sharing this new project with you.

Benefits of Vegetarianism

I'm thinking of going vegetarian, maybe even vegan (again). I know from past experience that it'll help me with some weight and blood glucose issues, so it makes sense for me to do it. Unfortunately, it's also not as easy or convenient for me to prepare meals and take them to work. I chose not to drive, so I rely pretty much on public transit. On this side of the river, that's pretty much a joke. I'm pretty sure, though, that I could do some decent vegetarian sandwiches (greens, cucumbers, radishes, avocado, maybe some tempeh) that would travel well.

We had lunch yesterday at a local café that focuses on area foods and has a lot of vegetarian/vegan options. I wanted to give it a try since it's moving into the café space at our library, and it's really good. If you're in the area, I can really recommend giving them a try: Earth Friends Café. The people are friendly, it's a comfortable space, and the food is fantastic! I had a cup of Farmers' Market Vegetable soup and a Power salad with Almond Chia dressing. The soup was one of the best I've ever had, with lots of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, potatoes and what appeared to be sun-dried tomatoes. The salad was delicious, with a nice peppery bite, lots of greens, carrots, sunflower seeds, shredded beets, and tomatoes (which I don't like, so I didn't eat them). I think the salad dressing, while wonderful, kind of clashed with the soup. That's not the fault of the caf´, but of my choices. Next time, I'll try the Spinach Strawberry salad with poppyseed dressing, which sounds just as good. Anyway, I'm going back to vegetarianism for a while and see how it works out. I usually like lighter foods in the summer, anyway, so it should go pretty well.