November 1, 2006:

Courage is grace under pressure.
~ Ernest Hemingway

So I'm in my sixth week and I have lost a total of twenty pounds.  The funny part is on Saturday, when I went to Cathy's housewarming, I totally cheated.  And then on Sunday I kinda cheated again.  So on Monday, I had gained 4 or 5 pounds back.  Bad Sasha.  But OMG, I had the best baked goods ever at Cathy's party.  Like to die for.  So I had to lose that weight ... again.  I'm not too sad about it ... it's just a good indication of what the rest of my life will be like.  By the scale.  I will never be one of these people who can eat anything and never watch their weight.  But it came off in a couple days and voila ... 20lbs gone.

School is keeping me busy this week.  So is hockey .. we play the Rangers tomorrow and the Penguins on Saturday.  I'm taking Jim, my boss, tomorrow and Cathy's going with me on Saturday.  And on top of all of that I have a date with Joel on Friday!  And yes, it's an official date.  He said he needed a date and asked me.  So I have a date!  Some record release party up in the city.  And you know what's odd?  I miss him.  I just met him, you know?  But I miss talking with him.  Having him explain his ideas and thoughts to me ... but yea... I miss him.  And I could use one of his hugs.

But yea, school is going to keep me busy when I'm not doing other things like hockey and being with Joel.  Tonight I got home from school and even though I probably should have jumped right into homework, I had to paint a bit.  I painted the stairs blue ... and while I was doing it, I was thinking about the floor.  It's just this concrete floor which has been painted green sometime in the last century.  It's totally missing huge sections of paint and I got this wild hair to see what the brick color looked like on it.  So I painted a section of it.  And now I'm gonna paint it brick instead of green.  I think it's going to take me forever to finish the basement but I can see the finished product in my head and it's going to be grand.  I might be eighty when it's finished but it'll be grand at eighty.

I'm going to take a minute and shamelessly plug a company.  I love art ... and most of the art I find are at comic book shows, ren faires or off the net.  Some are well known artists, like Michael Whelan, Olivia, Luis Royo or HRR Giger.  But some... they are the little guys I've run across when I'm browsing through vendors or websites.  Some are spectacular... some are just so so.  There is a point, I promise.  Most of the art is not framed... maybe not even matted.  This is where my plug comes in.

American Frame is an amazing company.  They are reasonably priced and they have everything you need.  They'll cut the mats perfectly (just be sure wtf you're doing), supply acrylic sheets, backings, and they have an amazing array of frames.  The metal ones are my favorites because they come in so many colors.  So if you're framing stuff ... whether it be your kid's art or stuff you've had in the closet forever American Frame is the place to check out.   Seriously ... great stuff.

Tonight I received two frames for some pieces of artwork that I've had stashed away.  Now that the sewing room walls are painted, I'm decorating them.  And when the big basement is finished?  I'll be putting up artwork in there too.   I'm looking for an oversized chair (aka chair and a half), a four or five panel shoji screen and a piano eventually to finish off the basement.  I've got the rugs... and as soon as the painting is done, along with enclosing the ceiling, I'll look for those items.  I'm kinda excited ... in three weeks is Thanksgiving which means a 4 day weekend.  I'm going to make use of it, that's for sure!  I hope to get a huge amount of painting done... hell, maybe half or three quarters of it!!!

Oh... and this is actually for anyone who's in the South Bay but I'm trying to volunteer at least once a month.  I know, we're all busy but this is like three or four hours out of your MONTH.  This month I'm helping the American Legion pack care packages for the troops in Iraq and if you're so inclined, you can find more information here.

Volunteering is good for your soul - find something you like to do and do it.  Most of us don't do anything that gives back to the community - so if we all found just a little time to volunteer, imagine what could happen.

Ok, I'm going to do a little homework.  God knows I have a shitload to do...