• On Life and Love

    5/3/1: First Two Workouts

    I’ve done my first two workouts (bench and leg press) of the 5/3/1 program, and wow. Just… wow. I included lat pulldowns and rows as the assisting exercises in the bench workout. Mmm, balance. Wonderfully, my shoulder gave me no guff at all, even in the ensuing soreness. (And oh, the delicious soreness.) I think this might be a serious way for me to finish rehabilitating my shoulder. I’ve been stalling for weeks with all the light-weight, high-rep rehab exercises, and the pain levels were staying the same. I iced heavily after the bench workout, and suffered no bone spur-specific pain in the following days.

  • On Life and Love

    Setting up for 5/3/1

    Have you gotten your recommended dosage of sexism lately? I have. I bought an ebook containing a very smart, simple, sensible weightlifting program, and in the process of reading it and surrounding articles, pushed my sexism meter about as high as it would go without me punching someone in the face. Even if punching Jim Wendler would likely get me snapped in half. Look, the dude can bench press over 400 lb. (Although I suppose that being able to bench 400 lb isn’t a true indicator of his infraspinatus strength, so he might not be able to just rip me in half…) If you haven’t gotten your daily dosage of…

  • On Life and Love

    Can’t Get Enough Purple

    I think I’ve even managed to baffle Mr. Ludo himself with my glee in playing GTA: San Andreas and now Saints Row: The Third. I sing along with almost every song in San Andreas, occasionally missing turns and stops because I’m thinking back to when I first heard whatever jam it was. Unlike whichever GTA I played in high school programming class, I’m playing this one solo and am interested in more than just running from the police and over people. Despite completing several missions, decking out in green (and an eye patch!), and trying to find some real plot here (and some damn money!), though, it’s not resonating with…

  • On Life and Love

    Weekly Linkage: Art, Science, and Spirituality

    It’s been a hot minute since I posted any links. Apparently this is also the Elf Sternberg addition, since three of his posts appear here. Good stuff. Lands of Dream Donation Drive – Jonas is doing one of the coolest donation drive ideas I’ve seen. Donate, and receive a detailed description and beautiful picture from the Lands of Dream. What in the hell is the Lands of Dream? Go play The Book of Living Magic. Took me about an hour (I read every description!), and everything about it is gorgeous: the art, the writing, and the music. Then take a look at some of the art/writing that Verena and Jonas…

  • On Life and Love

    Two Tasty T’anksgivings

    (Ah, ah, ah.) One was just me and Greg, at home, with a beautiful and delicious bird, greens, mashed potatoes, and wine. Quiet and intimate, and strangely, not nearly the most complicated or stressful meal we’ve made even in the last week. House of cooks, y’all. My second was with Meg and my new friend (and fellow running masochist) D., both of whom are gluten intolerant/allergic/unhappy. It was a potluck (so they undoubtedly got glutened by someone, alas), complete with (more) turkey, mashed potatoes (one style with horseradish–really good!), millet dressing, apple crisp, deviled eggs, and my well-received glazed carrots. Well, the recipe is from a cookbook of Greg’s, but…