"You can't find the undertow. How long til you let go?" - Undertow, Ivy

The way my life is configured right now, it's probably easy to get swept up. This week is a perfect example. I have requirements and expectations every night of the week. I either work, teach, or work. that means very little time to myself, and rest is something of a commodity. Here, for example, is my next four days.

WEDNESDAY - Work my regular job for 8 hours. Walk home, and then schlepp to Towson to teach. Get back home around 10:30 pm

THURSDAY - Up at 5:45, because I have to get to Towson to teach that morning. Administer a quiz. Jump on the bus, then the light rail. Hot foot it it Hunt Valley. Stay for an all day conference (boring), and then make movement home. Go to see a performance of a friend, and from there, my part time job at the Eagle. Get home around 2:30 am.

FRIDAY - No rest for the weary. Up at 5:45 am because I've got a workout session at 6:30 with Den (my trainer). Back home around 7:45 and at work at 8:45. Work until 5, and then make movement to Hopkins to do interviewing for SHARE. Get home around 9:30. Run for 30 minutes.

SATURDAY - Up early, and get in an early morning run. Then catch the train to DC to do SHARE interviewing at Whitman Walker. There until 3, then a meeting until 9.

I get anxious when I think about it.

The good part is that there's something served by everything I'm doing every night: I make money. But as my friend Marty keeps rubbing in, it's money I don't need. So, that makes me question, halfway through, why I even put forth all of this effort. I don't think next week is anywhere near as intense. My Friday is free and my Saturday isn't as early. I *do* work at the Eagle (again) on Thursday, but after that I am off until the 24th.

Just can't get swept up.
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Other than activity chaos, things are generally good. Even with conservative eating I managed to gain like three and a half pounds around Thanksgiving. That's insane; I'm the one quoting that the average person gains 8 lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I gain almost 4. I realize it was because I ate very poorly Friday and Saturday (and Sunday) and I didn't exercise as much as I could (it was Thanksgiving week, my Wednesday workout got cancelled, and even though I ran on Thursday, a heel spur kept me from running Friday or Saturday). i've made a plan to combat the gain, and hopefully I can "walk through" the heel spur. It sucks.

The transition program at Towson offered me another course for the Spring, which I may have to turn down. Towson U will only allow me to teach one additional course, and I think I'm set to teach a course in Owings Mills in the Spring. *Sigh* Luckily I know another adjunct who would love to teach that course.

I'm trying to set vacation/travel plans for 2011, but it's hard without knowledge of whether I'm teaching in the Winter. If I am not, it changes my saving patterns for Italy, and it means I might go somewhere the 2nd weekend of January. I might still go even if I get the course, since it's another furlough weekend.

I was talking with my friend and his partner about finances and retirement planning. Yeah, in your 20's you talk about what clubs you're hitting, and in your 30's you talk about retirement. Well, for us, it's kind of more real than it was 10 years ago, and frankly, 30 years from now I don't want to subsist on a daily diet of Alpo dog food.

My friend is a bit...sporadic (okay, certifiably insane), so I was looking to his partner more for their idea of retirement. My friend would probably put a couple of thousand into magic beans and hope that money grows out of the ground. I was expecting his bf to have a bit more sound judgment.

Uhm, yeah.

Their retirement plan looks like this:

COMICS. My friend loves comics, and unlike me (who gets comics, reads them and throws them away), he actually collects 'em. Frankily, as a communication theorist to some degree, I see crap on paper as a dying concept, and the environment is going to go so far south that paper will probably disintegrate. Well, maybe not. But frankly, he believes, 60 years from now. His copy of Wolverine #1 is going to be worth $70,000. Yeeeeeah...Amazing Fantasy #15 (the first appearance of Spiderman) in absolutely mint condition is worth $65k right now, and that's because there are still only limited copies around. Wolverine #1, which every nerd on the planet saved thinking it would be worth something, *might* be worth $1,000 in 30 years. (Think about it this way. In 1965, nobody was saving comics thinking they'd be worth anything. In 1989, EVERYBODY was saving comics thinking they'd be worth something). I tell him and his partner that is a...well, stupid part of the plan.

DEATH. Ah, the even dumber part of the plan. The bf's father isn't rich, but he isn't broke, and he's managed, through work and family, to save up some cash, probably many hundreds of thousands. The codger is in his 70's now, so they are waiting for him to kick the bucket. Well, the guy got married again and the wife is probably 6 years his junior. And let's be honest, women live longer than men. So even if the guy manages to cough out 7-8 more years (easily. I say he gives 12), the wife has about 15 more years on top of that. And after SHE is gone, do they get some of the cash. Whatever is left.


Frankly, these are dumb retirement plans. They might as well buy those magic beans.

My plan looked like it was designed by a disorganized schizophrenic, but according to a couple fo financial advisors, makes sense on some levels. I diversify my money into seven seperate aspects:
(1) an old 401(k) that I rolled over into an IRA
(2) two other old 401(k)s that managed to *make* money during the recession, so I let them sit
(3) a 401(k) the Army provided us
(4) Savings bonds that I buy every couple of months (I now have 60 of them)
(5) A pension plan through my part time job (not much, but hey, its 4 steaks a month)
(6) A ShareBuilder account where I buy stocks every moth
(7) a 401(k) on my current job

Some of it is illogical (because I could roll all of those old 401(k)s into the IRA, but the rate of return is different on all of them, so even if 2-3 of these aren't making anything, 4 of them are (2-3 of them definitely make money). This isn't about being overly cautious; its more about being sensible and practical. And frankly, if something is always working for me, I don't have to monitor everything like a hawk.

The point of the post isn't to brag or point out how great I am. What it does illustrate is the fact that sometimes the most phenomenal of things start in places that might seem to make no sense. And the fact that in all things in life, it's good to have a plan.

Oh, and that comics are horrible retirement investments. Kibbles and Bits!!

Writing. So, on the sociologists community of ElJay, there was a posting for a blog called 'Below the Belt', which looks at gender from a queer POV. I liked what I read. I sent something to the editor, and he asked me some questions about what is my area of interest and what type of writing I'd be doing. We decided I'd write talking about gay men as the 'other' , a very symbolic interactionist take on the whole thing. I finished my first piece talking about the invisible working class in the gay community, a piece he liked. So, I think by the second week of December my work will be posted! I think I will be able to post something every month, and I'll feature my junk on here, just in case anyone is interested.

Buffy. For a bit I've known about Slayage, which is a scholarly journal with articles by academics on the topic of Buffy the Vamp Slayer (and other Whedon stuff). I've wanted to write something for Slayage for a while, but it was hard considering my foci in sociology (namely health sociology, social inequality, and communication theory). But they are having a conference in June, and I submitted an abstract for a white paper. My title? "I Didn’t Want This” – An Examination of the Male as Inconvenienced Gender in Buffy, The Vampire Slayer" My paper plans to talk about the topic of how females in Buffy get supernatural stuff thrust upon them and they deal essentially well (Buffy, Tara, Willow, Cordelia). It's the guys who have to either seperate themselves for extended periods of time, use outside aids, or anguish uncontrollably before they accept their state (Angel, Oz, Riley). This is knd of a spin on the general idea of gender in our society, and puts the concept of social inequality (via gender) on its head. We shall see if my abstract gets accepted. Will keep people posted.


Part Time stuff. Well, if you're keeping score I effectively have 3 part time jobs. No, wait. Five. Whoops sorry. However, if you categorize them, I have only three. I have the SHARE Study, which I am an interviewer in a longitudinal study for gay men (for both the Baltimore site and the DC site), I am a professor (for both CCBC and Towson), and I work at the Eagle. Teaching I talk about all the time, so no real update on that. I didn't have any classes this week, as I cancelled my only class (yesterday). The SHARE stuff should pick up, and provide me a couple of extra hundred for the holidays. The Eagle will be six or seven checks I just don't cash until, oh I don't know, March. For example, I have a check waiting for me now. December will be the most intense month for all of this.

Christmas. I still haven't made my Christmas list. This isn't like me at all. By now my list is done and I'm already winnowed people off of it. But this season I don't have a list. Additionally, since October I normally have sat some money aside for holiday gift purchases. Haven't done that either. I'm just slacking all the way around. I *wish* I could say it was because of the recession, but it isn't. I've just been lazy and preoccupied. Bah. I will get to the list on the bus ride tomorrow, I think.

Thanksgiving. Just going to my mom's for the day to see all of my sibs. Leaving at 7 to head back to Baltimore and working at ye olde Eagle. Waking up Friday morning around 8 ish, going for a run. Will hit the comic book store around 1 or so. Will do laundry (bleck) and clean my bedroom (double bleck). Nothing really planned for the weekend (at all).

Here's the latest comment about me:

"He is a sarcastic arrogant teacher! I learned a lot 50% from text 50% him. Although I got an A I worked extremly hard for it and he gave out a lot of work. Material is pretty much online and he will give notice. Just read the chapters and you'll be fine. I think he may be gay. And yes he hates Abercrombie for some reason. TRY IT U COULD GET WORSE"

But the numbers I got (Ease 3, Helpfulness 4, Clarity 4, Rater Interest 4) were great, even though the comment is kind of jerky...

"There's always another wound to discover, there's always something more you wish he'd say" - Veritcal Horizon, Everything You Want

I've spend a lot of years being generally blind to some things, and there's definite problems with that. Oy. This commonly occurs with guys. I think I give people the benefit of the doubt way too much. I hold myself to an impossibly high standard, and frankly, don't hold the guys I'm with to any standard...at all. It's like that quote I posted - so long as he has lungs, a head, and a job...kosher. But that's wrong. What if his job sucks, and he isn't earning enough to even survive. What if he's stunted and doesn't want to progress at all? What if he's a complete asshole and all of your friends hate him? In the past, I've ignored all of this, because of a semi-Taoist belief that everything, eventually, balances out.

But it doesn't.

So I find myself actively looking for the 'wounds' that men either easily show or desperately trying to hide. It turns dates into episodes of Law & Order or Murder, She Wrote. And when someone seems too good to be true, I believe, well, they must be. It's up to me to realize, okay some people don't have a lot of baggage dragging behind them. Why? Because *I* don't. And if I have less baggage than psychotic men, then that means a lot people do, also. So, that means a lot of looking at things that I've been blind to, but enjoying the moment.

Ain't easy.

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Sooo...my camera came, my iPod nano came, so I've been in electronic geek heaven for the past weekend. Next? I'm getting a DVD-R so I can start recording Glee and not have to pay for it. Speaking of which, I just realized that if I get the class I want, I will never see glee. I will probably end up teaching Wednesday nights until 10:30, so no Glee. Yeesh. The gayest show on regular tv and I can't see it. LOGO ain't cutting it for me.

Obviously I need to watch more porn, or gay movies, or gay porn movies.

Speaking of which, I got to work at the Eagle on Thursday and get ogled by the men who didn't go home for Thanksgiving. A post later this week on why I chose to go back to the eagle.

Gave my students off tomorrow, so I don't have to get up super early and run to Towson. Fun fun. Which means I can actually run tomorrow morning. Must work at Hopkins tomorrow night.

Wednesday is just work, because the school made/forced us to cancel Wednesday night classes. Home for Thanksgiving Thursday morn.
Absolutely nothing Friday. Furlough day so the City is closed.

Tonight is normal stuff, and a 7pm class. Hope it goes well. Arms and shoulders. I benched 140 lbs last week; hope to do that again.

So, I met this guy on a website. Yeah, that is *so* not like me, seriously. That isn't how I meet people, at all. Anyhow, I met him, and we exchanged some emails. He's from a ways away, but at the very least, he was someone to talk to. He seemed to have his head screwed on, and a lot of stuff going on in his life (which I admired). After the first email exchange, he gave me his phone # to call him. I know I tend to be really unreliable with that, so I gave him my phone number.

Aaaand then it changed.

I gave him my # in a busy week, so I couldn't answer his first or second call. So then he called again, and again, and again. No lie, one day he tried to call like 17 times, between 10 am and 12 am. I was like "okay, this is kind of freaky". I understand tenacious, but I tend to get weirded out by a person who is trying that hard to contact someone who they've only talked to, via email, twice. Four days in a row he called in patterns like this, and I saw something...pathological about the calling patterns. He NEEDED to talk. It screamed of "I have nothing else to do in my life".

After a bit he gave up, sent an email and said "I leave it to you to call me". I was like, fine. As soon as I get over all of this T-giving stuff, I'll call. Hmm, no such luck. Got this really bitchy 'show your true colors' and 'that's what black tired faggots do' email, which bordered on racism (sort of like a hamburger borders on a bun- smack dab center). It wass a critical, hurtful email which totally screamed "Black men, who I find attractive, never want to talk with me". So, instead of getting bitchy back (too easy), I took the high road, explained, hey, I was busy, and frankly, he needed someone with more time, and that wasn't me. I wished him luck, and thought that was the end of that.

Nah. Got an even BITCHIER email after that, saying those were 'excuses', and that I could have made time if I wanted, but 'reformed black whores' (huh...I was a whore?) always have excuses and no substance. 'Kay. Took a deep breath, and deleted the email.

The moral of the story? Some people are clearly psychotic. I'd love to say "okay, that's the end of it", but I have a feeling I will get 2-3 MORE emails because I don't take the time to acknowledge him, and he will feel dissed. I can see a pattern developing soon.

Next time, I will just go to a bar and meet a nice, safe, non-threatening alcoholic....

SD

I *so* needed a new camera, and a DSLR just makes it better....

Will probably look like this-

WINTER
* Introduction to Sociology -CCBC (satellite campus)

SPRING
* Introduction to Sociology- Towson University
* Racial & Cultural Minorities - CCBC (satellite campus)

SUMMER
* Social Problems - Towson Univeristy
* Racial & Cultural Minorities- CCBC (Auto program)

FALL
* Introduction to Sociology - Towson University
* Introduction to Sociology - CCBC (Catonsville)


It's a little packed, but I can handle it. I imagine each week for the entirety of 2010 I will have a 'busy night' where I am essentially not free (in the Spring, for example, it's Wednesdays; I teach from 3:30 - 10 pm). But, the way it looks, I will have my weekends, which leads me to want to take up a sport (beyond running, that is).

Woman #1: Maybe I can hook you up. What's your type?
Woman #2: Oh, I don't know. He needs to have a job, lungs, and a head. Then I'm set.

- from Sherri

I feel awful because I didn't go running yesterday. It's partially emotional, and partially physical. If I would have woken up on time and not overslept, I would have been able to put in 2 miles. I don't think I can make it up today; I've never run 4 miles before, not even slow. But, I guess I can try to do 35 minutes of running at my normal speed, and see how it goes. I guess the only thing that could go wrong is...it sucks.

I went to my fitness class last night, and actually did really well. I did like 7 dead pull ups (where you literally are pulling your whole body up), benched 136 lbss (which is what my trainer weighs), did curls w/ 85lbs dumb bells, and did 44 inverted pushups. Pretty sweet night. There were competitions, and I won them all. My trainer again pointed out how much progress I've made. I just wish I could make more. Yeah yeah, I'm happy that I have a chest of some note, and biceps now, and my stomach is flatter, but I still want to go down at least 10-12 more pounds. I can get there, I know. It will just take time.

I realize my finances are going a lot better than I thought. Getting to my $35,000 in savings goal by the mid-point of 2011 doesn't seem all that impossible anymore. It turns out that when I was calculating savings, I forgot that I should teach SIX classes in 2010, not 3. So, that's an extra $7500 for which I didn't account. Nice.

Class is going relatively well, but the semester really needs to be over. They're getting antsy, and I'm getting restless.

I really need a new camera. And a DVD recorder. And an iPod (I stepped on my old one). And a PSP (my old one stopped working). Sigh.

So I had an...er...encounter Saturday night, and lets just say it was weird. It's hard to have a sexual experience w/someone who has...okay, I will say it, an inferiority complex, as you have to spend an inordinate amount of time making them feel good about themselves. (And no, it isn't about 'moan here' or 'groan there', its actually stopping in the midst and saying stuff like 'I think you're hot'). After a while it just got old, so I was glad when we stopped in the middle. Ergh.

I ran every day last week! Yup, every single day I put foot to something and ran. I finally got over my fear of running outside and actually ran outdoors Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was an early morning (7:30 AM) run, and I managed to knock 2 minutes off of my 2-mile run, which was awesome. Sunday was an afternoon run as I slept off my 'walk of shame' the night before. That was also a pretty quick run. I was able to put 17 miles in last week, and I will try to do at least 12 miles every week from now on.

Beyond that, not very much is going on. Work is going okay, so is school.

(1) Fitness - go to my 8:30 Fitness class
(2) Walk - walk to the post office to drop off Ben's comics
(3) Run - run 3 miles at 7 mph at least
(4) CoH - Play City of Heroes. Cannot remember the last time I played
(5) Comics - get to Comics Kingdom and snag some more comics
(6) Nap - take an afternoon nap...when was the last time I did that
(7) Market - get to Towson early enough to grab a Boston Market Meatloaf sandwich...Mmmm.
(8) KMart - Make it to Kmart to get some stuff.

Huh...and this is a day off??

Monday was sort of a packed day.  It felt like I had ten thousand things going on (I love that in Chinese numerology of the past, '10,000' meant infinity, and '10,000 things' meant the universe). I had a couple of meetings, most of which were boring. I had to hot foot it to deliver a birthday gift and see a friend who just got back into town. I made it to my fitness class and got my butt kicked. Well, the nice thing is that my trainer said I am 'bulking up nicely', or putting on muscle, which was GREAT to hear. I got home scarfed down dinner, and was able to talk to a guy on the phone for an hour. Oh, and I ran in the morning.

Yeah, on running, I realize I need to speed up.  I run slow. I'm still only going 6.7mph (or the pace of about 9 minute mile). I really need to kick it up to 7mph (8:30 min mile) so I could actually PASS the APFT (not that I will ever take it again).  But 7 mph couldn't hurt if I could keep it up for 3 miles.  That way I know I could do relatively well at the 5k in January.

Oh, the 5k.  I need to make sure by mid-December my 'long day' is up to 4 miles, that way I have the endurance to run a full 3.2 miles at faster than 6 mph.  It will take some work, and I don't need to impress anybody on this first 5k. I just need to finish. That's all.

I am SO GLAD toomorrow (Wednesday) is a federal holiday; I don't have to worry about coming into work. That will be nice.  I have some stuff I definitely need to take care of.  And a 8:30 fitness class. Joy.  And I teach that night. Even better. Yay.

Sigh - better go get stuff done. I have a meeting in an hour, and it will take a bit to get there.

Only sort of awful.

I felt rreally bad this weekend; I don't know if it was the real flu or what have you, but Friday night I slept for HOURS.  As in from 6pm until 10 in the morning HOURS.  I was exhausted, and I felt terrible. I took Day-Quil, and felt a bit better. I was supposed to work in DC that morning, but that most certainly didn't happen.  Neither did work at Hopkins the night before.  I was just in a really bad way.

By Saturday night I was better. I could breathe, and I didn't feel like crap anymore. I ended up making it to DC for the D&D game, and eating dinner. Nice. Good.

Sunday morning wasn't terrible. I was able to get up and do a slightly longer than normal run (3 miles), and joined my buddy Lee at a bar for the Bengals/Ravens game.  I got home at a respectable time, and got enough sleep I feel.  Today I still feel out of sorts a bit, but better than before.  At least my toe isn't causing me any problems.  I will work out today in the mini-camp (7pm) but take it relatively easy for the rest of the week.

This is going to be something of an 'exercise heavy' week.  I've got pretty lofty goals.  First, I have four fitness classes this week (Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri), so I really need to be siked up for them. Second, I plan on running every day, to try and put in at least 17 miles this week.  Third, I want to keep my walking up above 32 miles this week.  That's a lot to do/consider. We'll see, I say.

As far as work stuff, got a lot of that to do additionally. I have to teach Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I have Hopkins clinic Tuesday night, and I will probably go in Friday night, too.  No Eagle this week, but I have to finalize my book adoption by the end of the week, which means I have to get cracking on reading them. Oy.

Two guys are trying to get in touch with me; I don't know why I am trying to push them away. Maybe because the whole idea of 'guy' doesn't really excite me right now? I mean, it feels like so much of a hindrance....but maybe that's me. So, I've been duckin' them this entire week. Probably not a great thing, I'm sure.

Weight loss feels like it has stalled a bit. I'm way more active than I ever have been, with running, walking and junk (for November I am already at 38 walking miles and 17 running miles).  However, my eating patterns aren't what they should be. I really have to work on that.

Eagle. Yes, I am back working at the leather bar, believe it or not.  How did this happen? Well, the manager saw me in there one night and asked "when are you coming back?"  I asked if he was joking, to which he said he was dead serious. I told him I couldn't work that much, because I teach a lot these days, and he said he only wanted like 2 days a month.  So I worked last night. It wasn't that bad. A guy who was 65 talked to me for a while (and he certainly didn't look 65) but other than that the bar was pretty much dead. I mean, I work in a video store that doesn't rent videos! So, I spend most of my time selling lube and jockstraps. Fun.  The pay isn't even worth it, but then, I am so not doing this for pay.  I figure I will keep doing it for 5 months or so, and then quit for good.

Teaching. Going really well. One of my students rated me on 'Rate my Professors.com', which was interesting.  I got a 'hotness' click, which is absolutely funny. One of my students finds me hot. I wonder which one. Cuh-razy.... I'm planning for teaching next semester, which requires reading textbooks and designing syllabi. Crap. I'm teaching three different classes, so that's 3 different syllabi. Damn.  But, hey, its all for a good reason, yeah?

Running. Did I dislocate my toe? I didn't even realize. I've run 12 miles so far this week; even with only 4 hours of sleep, I was able to punch out exactly 2 miles today; I'm actually proud of myself. Yesterday (Thursday) I did a little over 2, and I did 3 on Wednesday.  I'm going to try to wake up hella early before I need to be in DC tomorrow and get in two more miles. Couldn't hurt, but that requires me to be up at quarter til six. Yeesh.

This weekend I have to work at Whitman Walker during the day, then the D&D game in the afternoon. Bar afterward. Schlepp on home, and wake up to go do some grocery shopping. Throw on my Carson Palmer jersey and watch some football at the local dive. Niiiice.

How to work the cheapy cheap camera I bought on Hallowe'en.  The pics I took on there suck anyway- crappy quality.  Tell ya what I'm gonna do. I'll get a friend to stop by on Friday, throw on my uniform, and take pics for you guys to see. It will be the same thing, just slightly ridiculous....

Three miles.  I never would have believed I could complete 3 miles, but I did.  It was such an amazing milestone for me.  There were times I wanted to stop, but I was able to do it.  Granted, it was a SLOW three miles, and it was done in about 27 minutes, but it was still completed.  Yeesh.  I'm just so siked about being able to do it, I don't know what to think/say/do.  Oy.  What a thing, what a thing.

So, I signed up for Den's (my personal trainer) minicamp, and am ticked because out of a possible 9 sessions, I will only be able to attend 7.  The thingee happens on Mon/Wed/Fri at various times (8:30am, 1pm, 5pm, 7pm), and Mondays and Fridays are (generally) not a problem, but on 2 of the Wednesdays, I have to be at work by 9 am, leave at 5 pm, and be to my school to teach by 7pm.  So that knocks out Wednesdays (and they are doing lower body exercises. WAHHH!).  So, partially, the 'long run' was to make up for the stuff I will not be able to do today in class.   I can make next Wednesday; its Veteran's Day and the City is closed, so I can make the early class.  But the 18th and today, I am kind of out of luck.  I might just take off early just so I can make it on the 18th.  Who knows.

I'm just glad I can see the benefits of all of this working out. My endurance has increased, my muscle tone is ever present, my legs and arms have great definition, my waist is shrinking (it was like a 32-33 when I started this, and I am at a 31-30 now) as is my stomach.  Part of me wishes it happened faster, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

I have to read through some textbooks this week to pick my text for next semester; I'm pretty certain I am NOT going with the text I had.  I think it will be a combination of 3 books, and hopefully I can find them cheap enough. I really don't want students to pay more than $100 combined for Soc texts.  They haven't started allowing students to register yet, but I think my class should fill up somewhat quickly - it's an afternoon class after all. But we shall see.

There's a group called the Frontrunners (which is a gay running group) that does their thang on Saturday mornings, and since I am now  free 2 out of 4 Saturdays (instead of just 1), I just might join 'em.  So, I will see about next weekend. Might be fun.

I stepped on my iPod and I need a new one. Damn it! Part of me is thinking 'just get an iPhone, idiot', but.....

I think that's enough for now.

Saturday. This was something of an active day for me. I got up and ran (2 miles), which made me feel pumped.  I'm still wary about running on the streets, so I do it on a treadmill. Afterwards I showered and then walked downtown to my bank, jumped on the subway, and bought some stuff at Target.  I needed a few things for my Hallowe'en costume, but Target had none of them.  I realized how I could improvise with stuff from my house, but still ended up dishing out $60 at Target. Yeesh.  I ran into my friends Alfredo and Ana, who I haven't seen in forever, and took them to lunch. Afterwards, they dropped me offf at Comics Kingdom, I picked up some stuff, and walked home. I vegged out while reading, changed into the costume, and joined Jesse, his bf, and Keith out for dinner. We all went to the Hippo for the Hallowe'en party, and suprisingly, Keith and I stayed until the end. It was relatively uneventful. There were some cool costumes there, and a large number of peopel who didn't even bother to do a costume. Keith felt that was because of the recession. There were 4 other football players there, but several people said mine was more authentic.  After it was all done, I walked Keith to his car, and went home and went to bed.

Sunday. I woke up rather early, and it was a dreary day. Hit the treadmill to kick out 2 more miles, and went on a constitutional walk (and it started raining halfway through). Picked up lunch and spent the day not doing that much.

This week I have a couple of things going on.  I start back @ the Eagle (haha...no seriously) on Thursday, and I have a new fitness class that starts tonight.  I have like 3 books to read, and must do Whitman Walker at the end of the week. Yeesh.

Costume. So my costume is fully in the last piece came yesterday. I tried it on and it looks AWESOME.  I couldn't figure out how to take a pic so everyone will have to wait, sorry, sorry.  I do need one more piece so I don't end up mooning the entire party; a football belt. Hopefully that shouldn't be any more than 15 bucks. I hope.  Haven't had any commo w/ Keith, so I don't know how his costume is going. I shouldn't worry; he's that reliable type.

Foot. Is fine! I walked 5 miles yesterday, and will walk at least 5 (maybe seven) today.  I still limp a little and cannot go my full speed.  I saw the bus coming and I tried to break out into a run and it looked like a retarded gallop.  So, Im getting there. Den (my personal trainer) says I shouldnt' try to run until around the 10th of November, but walking is fine.  Guess I'm stuck w/ cycling.  I will have to up the intensity so I get more out of it.  Will cycle ten miles today, ten tomorrow, ten on the Saturday and 10 on Sunday. Bah.

School. Why do I try these things? The chair of my graduate dept at UMBC had said something about adjuncting being 'a possibility', but when I asked about courses, all he had available was a course in Social Epidemiology.  I barely understand epi; there's no way I could teach it.  It doesn't matter; I definitely have a Towson course, and it looks like I will have a CCBC course.  The degree to which Towson is on the ball makes me sorta mad at CCBC.  Towson had me 'select' my course in September, my choice was confirmed early October, and students are picking the classes, well, now.  CCBC I think registration starts next week, but the courses aren't up, and even when they are, they won't assign adjuncts to courses until they are certain courses will be running.  Considering the glut on community college students, I don't think there's a problem.  However, I'd really like to know what my schedule is going to look like!

Part time work. Seems like I've got Whitman Walker November and December, and about 4 days in November for Hopkins.  The Eagle wants me back, so I'm going to talk to them tonight.  I might end up giving them 4 nights a month (Thursdays).  Meh, kills the time and it's only 6 hours a week. I can dig it. But we shall see.  With Reserves now kaput, I could ideally pick up a weekend gig, if I wanted it. I guess we will see.

 

Regular work. Doesn't suck.  Not much I can say about it, I guess.

Projects. I think I am going to do a study on Facebook and families. Flex my academic muscle before I go into the PhD program, and maybe I can get the damnable thing published. We'll see.

I think this is the most consistent I have been about posting to this damn thing in a long time.  I guess it is a good thing.