I Have A Favor to Ask of You...

Don't let me drink. No really, don't let it happen.

This rule not only applies to the Arcadia Rodeo, but to my body too.

I have my Navy physical on the morning of October 13th. Its not required, but it would be great if I could weigh in at a good weight. Technically, I'm supposed to be 186 pounds, but with my body structure, being 195 would probably be perfect (I keep getting conflicting information, but I think I really need to be down to 22% bodyfat).

I'm working out, I'm eating well (and less), but there is one thing I haven't stopped doing: Drinking. I only do it on the weekend, but that's probably a thousand calories that I don't need to consume.

So please, if I'm out with you, hanging out at your house, at a party with you, make sure I don't drink. If you see a beer in my hand, you can punch me in the balls (yes, Cush, this time its OK for you to punch me there). If you see me doing a shot, slap it out of my hand, maybe pour it in my eyes. One exception: this weekend, Oded has an awesome drinking/tailgating game that should only take one shot. I will make that sacrifice, but only because its for the Gators.

So this:

Drinking of Flaming Doctor Peppers befor the inaugural Drink Marathon? Yeah, that has to stop. Though if I get that thin again, It'll be on once more.

And this:

Drinking till I pass out on my friend's fiance's shoulder after winning National Championships? Can't happen. Don't let it happen. I'm counting on you.

And of course, this:

The taking of shots? Not gonna happen. And getting that fat again? Also not gonna happen.

Hopefully, I'll be able to drink again in moderation after the 13th, but most likely, I won't be drinking till mid-November. I need everyone's help with this, so please, please, don't let me drink. The fate of the world depends on you. And just think: Thats more for you to drink!

I would also like to thank Alice for giving me this advice, who is as smart as she is beautiful. And if anyone knows about the physiological affects of drinking, its her.

Blogs you should be reading.

I don't read newspapers. I don't watch the news. What little TV I watch usually consists of either dramas or DVDs (or tv-links.co.uk. If you are familiar with that website, you should be).

I get almost all my information from Blogs. I know this is very 21st century of me, and rather cliche, but really, thats where all the good information is. And so, as a valuable resource to my 5 readers, here are my political blog recommendations for 2007 (warning: these blogs contain opinions you may not agree with. Heck, I don't agree with all of them. But reading about what other people are thinking is a good thing, so get off your damn high horse):

In the realm of politics, you can't get much better than the line-up that The Atlantic magazine has online. My favorite, and probably the best known, is Andrew Sullivan, who has an interesting pedigree. He's English (but rarely writes about English politics), he's conservative (little 'c' conservative, more along the lines of what were called 'liberals' in the late 1700's), and Catholic. Oh yeah, and gay. He supported Bush at first, supported the war in Iraq, and now is very very against them both. Also, he's an amazingly good writer. If you like very well thought out politics, where even if you don't agree with him (and I don't on alot), you can at least apprecaite his viewpoint, then read his blog often. Its updated all the time.

Doesn't this look like a gay Catholic conservative that you can trust?

Also on the Atlantic site is Matthew Yglesias. I have no idea how to pronounce that last name either. This guy is an unabashed liberal, a huge fan of debate, and seems to get around lot and report from various places where things are happening (this week, he's at the UN). Actually, one of Andrew Sullivan's running features is the 'Yglesias Award,' where he posts quotes by people around politics that have said something that is not just right, but very well said. Also, Matt appears to have a good sense of humor and good taste in music, so that always helps.

Finally, rounding out my usual three spots is the Swampland. Run by Ana Marie Cox, best known for starting the Wonkette political-satire/making fun of everything in Washington website, its filled with posts by Time's political writers, who are very very good at what they do. Also, Cox is pretty funny, in a very sarcastic way. Its the best place I've found to get the purely political news in a very convenient format. Commentary is there, but its pretty straight forward and usually filled with context, something that is often missing from other blogs.

I read other blogs, like the DailyKos, the European and United States blogs from the Economist, and Talking Points Memo less often, but they're good sources too (OK, Kos not so much. But its good to know what the people even left of me are demanding). Next time, I'll be talking about my favorite type of blog: College Football.

Until then, I remain,
Matt McKenzie

The Weekend That Was

This past weekend found me once again in Gainesville. I was there because...well, because I needed to get the hell out of Jacksonville. I don't know if you know this, but Jacksonville blows. I was talking to Rachel this weekend about not moving to Greenville, SC because its a crappy town. My clinching argument: I live in Jacksonville, I know crappy towns.

Jacksonville...God how I loathe thee.

So what did I do while in the great city of Titletown? I drank, I helped paint Amos' and Christina's apartment, but there were a few things that stood out:

1. The fight. I know its sad when I say that I've been going to parties in Gainesville for six years, but its true. And in that entire time, I've seen maybe one fight, and even that, from what I remember, was pretty tame. The fight on Saturday, not so much. From what I gathered, someone spit on one of the hosts, and work was done. I was playing beer pong on the patio when the tussle spilled out into the patio, knocking over the table. I was stuck in the corner, so there was no place for me to go except through the screen. Sorry about that, whoever's house that was.

The parts of the fight I saw where hilarious and intense. Intense because the participants in the fight kept going at it about every 20 seconds. Hilarious because by 'going at it', I mean 'ineffectively slapping at each other faces until they got pulled away from each other.' That actually kinda killed the mood of the party, which was eventually broken up by the cops, who immediately demanded that all the drunk people get the hell out of there. Good job, GPD. Very smart of you.

2. The Search. Cush showed up drunk at Amo's while we were painting and watching Heroes. He needed one thing for his costume for the party that night: a cowbell. And we could not find one. Anywhere. We got to the Western Wear place about 3 minutes after it closed, Cracker Barrel had a very helpful and very cute girl who helped us look around the store, but still nothing. We eventually went to the costume store, where we found a tiny fake one which Cush never actually used. But I do have to say that Center Stage was still a great experience, as they sold us the cowbell 40 minutes after they had closed. Very nice of them.

This is all we wanted. Is that so hard?

3. The Game. I watched a quarter at the PSP watching party, a quarter at Jess's, where my cheering kept scaring her cats, and the last half at the Dojo. Watching games at the Dojo is fun. If we aren't doing well, Cush has to immediately run out and get victory chicken from Publix. This always works. As soon as he gave Publix money, Tony Joiner intercepted a pass. It went well. Also, the shotgunning a beer every time Tebow scores leads to drunkenness. Not on my part, cause I'm horrible at shottgunning, but Cush was really drunk, Michael was feeling and good, and Dave I'm pretty sure was buzzing.

Other features of the weekend was actually motherfucking going out, something I haven't done in a while, with Christina, seeing Erin and getting in on old job drama (apparently everything went to hell when I left) and the best game of volleyball I've played (this does not mean much).

Until next time, I remain,
Matt McKenzie

Still reading Reality Dysfunction by Peter Hamilton.

Update On My Life

Good Evening.

I discovered Allison's blog today, and it made me ashamed that I can't find the time to write in mine. Also, it made me miss my little, but that's as its supposed to be.

Allison and I in a simpler time, and a much much simpler place (there really is nothing in Arcadia)

I know no one really cares all that much about what's going on in my life, but I need to keep my mind going somehow, and I need to write to do that. So congrats! Here's my blog, started all over again.

- First, an update on the Navy. I took the Aviation Training Selection Battery last Thursday. This is the test that they use to select officers. It tests reading comprehension, math skills, mechanical knowledge, as well as of aviation and naval terms. I'll get my scores tomorrow or Friday, but I'm pretty confident about it. I knew most of the answers in the first three sections, and was able to figure out most of the aviation and naval stuff.

The good news is that I finally met my new recruiter, and I was very impressed with him. He knew what he was talking about, was organized, and made me very happy to work with him. It didn't hurt that he was really impressed with me. When I handed him my college transcript, he asked "Where's the rest of it?"

I gave him a confused look and responded, "What do you mean?"

"Do you have anything from a community college or something?"

Still perplexed, I said, "No....I just went to UF." It wasn't till later that I realized that most of the people who he sees probably don't have degrees from UF, let alone went there alone, and then want to join the Navy. He was even more impressed when he saw my GPA and that I had graduated Cum Laude. Later, as he fingerprinted me, he told me that as long as I got in shape, I'll be a shoo-in.

- Which brings me to getting in shape. I'm not there yet. I'm pushing myself harder, doing cardio every morning (either running, or this boot camp class at the Y, which is taught by an old Marine, which is awesome if very tiring), and then weight lifting in the afternoon. I also signed up for a 5k, so I'm working on being in shape for that. It's Oct. 20th. Hopefully I can get there.

- If you've seen my Facebook profile recently, you'll see that I find Jacksonville really boring. And it is, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that I'm not really trying to find things to do. I'm not going to be here for long, and if I'm bored, I go to the gym.

But what's saving my sanity right now are the weekly trips to Gainesville, for which I am forever thankful to Dave, Cush, Rachel, and Lex, who haven't complained about me crashing on their couch yet. The ability to go crazy for two days allows me to get through the rest of the week.

There's more, but I think thats enough for now.

Till Next Time,
Matt

Currently Reading: The Reality Dysfunciton by Peter F. Hamilton