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February 21, 2009

This is the second part of me explaining some things about my 100 things list. Part One is here.


  1. I firmly believe that the most important lesson anyone can learn is when to quit. I've seen too many people get in trouble because someone else didn't give up, and I've seen to many people force bad ideas onto others because they don't admit they're wrong.
I've seen too many conflicts because of this. These conflicts come in three forms. First is when someone doesn't give up when they've lost, which does nothing more than infuriate the other person. I can each both men and women blaming the other side, but both sides are equally to blame. The second happens when someone does admit defeat and a third party starts calling them a quitter. This either leads to loss of confidence or a situation like the first form listed above. The third is when neither side gives up, which inevitably leads to the equivalent of World War III.

  1. I have seen seven UFOs. Three were at my house, two were on the road, one was walking back home, and the other was in New Mexico. (“Teenage girls kidnapped by UFOs piloted by Elvis impersonators and forced into prostitution in Singapore—on the next Geraldo!”)
Not a joke. The one in New Mexico should not be surprising because more sightings happen there each year than in Texas, California, and any six other states combined. As for what they were, that's something I may talk about in a future blog.

  1. I believe that we’re not supposed to find love, but that love is supposed to find us without our help. We fight it, and that’s why there are so many failed marriages out there.
I had to bite my tongue at work the other night when someone described love as "a connection" and "a relationship". These are two possible results of love, not love itself. Love is when you care about someone so much you put their needs above yours. That doesn't mean stalking; that's something else, entirely. I willing gave up someone for that very reason, the one I travelled a thousand miles for (mentioned in #1 and #2) almost twenty years ago. I may mention this situation again, but I will not talk about her, herself.
  1. In high school, I bench pressed 120. One rep, and never again. When I was working with weights a couple years ago, I started at 60. I then reached 145 and had to stop because the weights were hitting the side padding of my set. Last week, I got started again and did 95. My goal is to do a 300-pound full body lift, like pro weightlifters do; I maxed at 160. Before I stopped, I did two-hour endurance workouts, and that was just upper body.
My bench has two sidebars, kind of like dumbbells, but for a different purpose. The problem is that the padding on either side (indicated in the pic) is not far enough out to be missed by two 25-pound weights on one end of a barbell. I really just need to get a bunch more smaller weights, I know, but it's a hassle to put that many small ones on at once.
  1. I am heavily into ancient history, especially Egypt and the Middle East. I can actually hold my own with college students on a number of topics. (Did you know Cleopatra was Greek? Or that there’s proof the early Pharaohs were descended from a conqueror from the Middle East? How about how they made beer?)
Okay, I'll have to answer those questions...

Cleopatra (actually, Cleopatra VIII) was the last of the Ptolemies, the Greek rulers of Egypt. Although some of the Ptolemies intermarried, it is believed her mother was from Greece, making her almost entirely Greek in heritage.

There's a back room in the Temple of Horus that describes an invader from the east who went north along the Nile, then back south again. Given the frequent wars with the neighboring African peoples, the Egyptians must have therefore been descendants of the Middle Easterners.

Egyptian beer was made by mixing yeast and bread dough. It then fermented in vats before being filtered. Once done, spices were used for sweetening. It was finally strained just before drinking.

  1. I love all animals. Except raccoons. That thing jumped on me and put two holes in my leg!
Dateline: 1996. My mom had a refrigerator on the back porch, and a raccoon had been wandering around. One night, I went out to get a drink and the raccoon came on the porch. It was just looking up at me. I took a cautious step back, and that's when it jumped up and bit me just above the left knee. I still have two small brown spots where it got me.

  1. I'm a cheese lover. I put extra sharp Cheddar on just about everything, and I'll get Glouchester, Edom, or Brie for crackers, and sometimes Bleu for salads. And it has to be real cheese, not that processed junk!
With my conversion, I've had to give up cheese during certain times of the year. The next period starts on March 2, and I miss it already!


I'll get some more done next time.


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