I've Started Another Blog

Shut up. It's for a really good reason... or a reason I have deemed really good--so I don't want to hear about it.

So this summer I heard about this report that said people who try to lose weight while in some sort of online support group or have some sort of online support something-or-other are more likely to be successful. It maybe have been like 0.0002% more likely, but I don't care. It sort of inspired me. I thought, "If I tell everyone what I eat every day and what exercise I do every day, I'll maybe feel responsible for actually doing the right thing." We'll see. I mean, I can always fall back on lying, so maybe it won't work at all.

Anyway, I started the other blog tonight. It's just a journal of my food for the day and my exercise for the day, with thoughts about either (or both) thrown in for good measure. Also, I've got a secret way of reporting how close I'm getting to my goal without actually putting my weight out there on the world wide web.

Because, you see, despite all the deep emotional personal crap I've shared on here, I've apparently DO have an inner "line" I do not intend to cross. And it's "how fat I am."

I'm calling it "One of the Big Riggs" because I'm still holding out for some of my siblings and maybe a niece or two joining me on this public display of... wow, I was so close to having a good thing there, but can't come up with a word.

Anyway, at one point we were going to be "Three Big Riggs with a Leake", but that was for some diet competition or something. Now we could be "Three Big Riggs with a Lemmon" or "Three Big Riggs and a Lemmon with a Leake" depending on which niece or nieces joined in. (In my dream world, we were all part of this weight-loss blog, making a team effort, and wowing people with our ability to retain our sense of humor and inability to catch typographical errors.)

You can find it at http://weapologizeforyourweight.blogspot.com/. I'm not going to auto-publish it on the facebooks right now, so you facebook folks will have to follow it if you want to keep up. (I may auto-publish it later... or I may put up a survey about it. I don't know.)

Anyway, feel free to read through it or just stop by to post words of encouragement or chastisement or maybe a recipe. The "lifestyle program" I'm using isn't big on lots of fancy recipes, so maybe just a suggestion as to how to prepare things in a healthy way. Whatever.

Now I'm going to go read a book.

Interlude: Some E-mail From 2006

The day was May 10, 2006, a day like any other day at a midwestern middle school in May. At 9:48 a.m. Jeff sent this to the entire staff:

>>> Jeffery L. 5/10/2006 9:48 AM >>>
Anyone know of someone who does carpet installation? Would you happen to know the price per square foot? Im trying to get some quotes for the new carpet in our house. Thanks


Jeff

<<<<

Then, twelve minutes later, this arrives in everyone's mailbox from Pat:

>>> Pat S. 5/10/2006 10:00 AM >>>
Anyone know a reliable auto air conditioning company.

<<<<<

Two minutes after that, this arrives:

>>> Stephanie H. 5/10/2006 10:02 AM >>>
Anybody knows someone who does fence repair? tennis court repair?

I guess we are getting ready for summer around here.

<<<<<

So, anyone that knows me knows my fingers are twitching at this point. I am required by the laws of my nature to not let this sort of thing just sit there. I would not be me if I wasn't taking advantage of this perfect set-up. So, within a minute, I sent:

>>> Mark Riggs 5/10/2006 10:03 AM >>>
Does anyone know how to get blood out of a shag carpet? We're talking LOTS of blood here.

Five Years

Fifth Anniversary
by Mark Riggs

I think of you a lot when I’m with Binx.
I think of how he would have brought you joy,
And with that comes the ache as my heart sinks
Because you never got to know this boy.
It sinks, but not to where it sank before.

I guess, since time has passed, I could attempt
To keep you up to date—but what a bore.
Besides, I have lost track: my notes, unkempt
Inside my brain won’t help me any more.
I’ll hit some post-game highlights, then I’m out.

I’ve earned my Master’s. Now I wear light blue
If I wear scholar’s robes—right now I doubt
That any time real soon that will come true.
(The pay raise is what that degree’s about.)
But your fifth child has walked across that stage.

And—speaking of your kids—we’re all still here,
Each one with five years added the age
We were when we mourned you that nasty year.
We laugh; we cry; we fight; we love; we rage
Against the tide of time and hand of fate.

I’ve missed you more than I would care to share
Since long before your final resting date.
I wish that—rather than that empty stare—
I’d had one last chance to communicate
The things I’d wished I’d said when you weren’t “gone”.

But is that something new? I’m not alone.
The world is full of fools who have moved on
Since seeing all they’ve missed and could bemoan.
Try this instead: “I shall see you anon.”
Archaic? Yes, but gets the point across.

So, back to Binx: his mind makes me miss you.
And he will not know you. Another loss.
But I’ll remember you in all I do—
These thoughts are rolling stones (they’re all sans moss):
Solid Patsy rocks no tide can destroy.