Over my lifetime, I have seen my parents own just about every piece of work-out equipment ever marketed on TV. Starting with one of these really small trampolines (they now call them urban rebounders!). Then, a stationary bike. Then, a treadmill. Then, the ab-roller. Then, the ThighMaster. Then, the Gazelle. And, the one they’ve had the longest has been the Total Gym.

I think each of these I thought of as amusement rides. I would come home and use it once (the first time I saw it) and thought “wierd…”. Especially because none of these devices were every really used.

A few years ago I was turning 30 years old. Six months prior, I freaked out and told myself I needed to be in shape when I turned 30. So, out I went and purchased this lovely home gym. It’s been four years, and I think I’ve used the thing maybe 20 times total. That’s not a good ratio.

This past weekend, while visiting my parents, I hopped onto the Total Gym. I don’t know what it was about this tryout. But, I really got into it. I love the versatility. I loved the continuous workout. And the up and down motion somehow makes you feel like you aren’t working out. It really is a good system.

So, today I posted my home gym for sale on Craigslist, and am actively looking for a Total Gym. I can’t wait!

If you are interested in the fine piece of equipment pictured above, please feel free to contact me. If you contact me via this blog, I’ll give it away for free.

The Charlotte Observer has been running a reader response story based on Hemingway’s six-word story (For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.). The Observer asked for readers to send in their story, limited to six words. Today, the paper posted some of the responses on their website.

I wondered if I would be able to limit mine to six words. So, I took 10 minutes and came up with a few. All are good contenders.

1. Clarity found, partially at age thirty-three.
2. Hope is for those without grace.
3. Grace erases guilt for fresh starts.
4. God’s love will be there always.
5. Loved, lost, will try again soon.
6. Tried it my way, didn’t work.
7. Finding peace with Christ, my blessing.
8. Love is a verb. Give selflessly.
9. To love unabashedly is the goal.

I like the first one a lot. There’s some good imagery in that one. The second one I stole from a TV show. The third is for a brother who asked me once, “what if there are no second chances?”. Four is a reminder to me, family and friends. Five sums up the last 10 years for me. Six is my current realization, and a difficult one to accept. Seven brings me comfort. Eight reminds me to stay humble. Nine remains a question, for now.

Editors Note: (whoa, this was deep. time to go out and have some fun now. TGI FRIDAY!!!)

The other day LifeHacker.com had a great article on ways to improve sleep. I’m a terrible sleeper in the summer. I toss and turn, and can never sleep straight thru the night. I look forward to the fall and winter when I can pile on the blankets. I sleep like a baby when it’s cold outside.

Here are some of the things that they cover in the article.

1. Don’t watch TV or veg in front of the computer screen before bed. (Guilty!!)
2. Exercise to enhance your sleep. (I need to do much better with this.)
3. Eat to enhance your sleep.
4. Master the power nap.
5. Avoid the rude wake ups by alarm clocks. (no problem.)

I’m going to work on these things this coming week.

What a great weekend!
On Friday, my brother Wesley got in the car early in the morning and started driving to my house. From DC to Charlotte it’s normally about a 7 hour drive. With Wesley’s busiest day ever (his press release was the front page of DrudgeReport on Thursday), it actually took him 9.5 hours. But, that was understandable.

When he arrived at 7:30 on Friday night, the fun began. I planned a fun filled, but no-stress weekend. That evening we ran up to Creation for dinner. If you haven’t been there, I highly recommend it. Then we rolled over to the Gallery Crawl in NODA. There, we first hit The Rat’s Nest where the Loose Lugnuts were playing. We hung there for a little bit, then checked out Dolce Vita for a bit, then rolled home to prepare for a big day on Saturday.

Saturday morning Wesley’s good friend, Brian, drove into town and joined us for the rest of the weekend. When he showed up we jumped into the car and headed over to the US National Whitewater Center, conveniently located here in Charlotte. This is a brand new facility, and it was quite impressive. We had a blast. After a short instructional, we were on the water and rafting class 2, 3, and 4 rapids. We were on the water for about 2 hours, of which Wesley and Brian spent a few minutes each outside of the boat being rescued. Ha!

After a long afternoon rafting, we bolted over to the Pengiun to refuel. Pitchers of beer, fried pickels, and one of the best burgers you’ve ever put in your mouth was just what the doctor ordered! After going home and watching a movie, we went out to Cabo Fish Taco for some dinner, then called it a night.

Sunday, we slept in then rolled over to Kenilworth Park to play disc golf - 36 holes! The first 18 were great. The last half was a bit taxing. (Thanks for Jared joining us to keep us honest on the scoring.)

Here are the photos from the weekend.
Great times, even better company! Happy birthday, Wes! Hope you had a great time.

This would be funny if it weren’t true.

I’m starting to get a bunch of spam comments on my blog. Random people bots are trolling my site and submitting lame comments with links off to spamville and phishland. Akismet is supposed to ward off these spamming troll-bots. But, apparently, it’s not 100% foolproof. If these spam comments don’t stop soon, I’m gonna have to look at other alternatives.

Speaking of other alternatives, we all have our preferences for our favorite browser. Mine happens to be Opera. People typically use Internet Explorer. And techies seem to love Firefox or Safari (macs). But, I noticed that Firefox is jacking up my Wordpress Theme. What the…!?!

(Continue reading…)

Ok. I think I have finally tweaked the site well enough to start blogging on a more regular basis. So, with that in mind, you’ll want to update your subscription links. Here’s the new Feedburner link for your RSS readers.

Most of you know that around Christmas last year I purchased a barely used 2005 Dodge Magnum. I love this car. It’s such a smooth ride, has tons of room inside, and looks very gangster. The only changes I want to do to the car are maybe add a bit more tint to the front windows and possibly change out to a better radio receiver.

But, in the 8 months that I’ve owned the car, I’ve noticed one very important trait about my new vehicle. It is an animal killer! Literally. Not counting small insects, I am positive that I’ve mamed, wounded, and killed more animals driving this car moreso than anyone other car I’ve driven. I’m not sure why this is. Is it that this car is sneaky? Is the engine quieter than other cars? Does the engine hum in a frequency that attracts animals - kinda like a dog whistle? There has to be something to this.

The numbers don’t lie.

Be patient, and listen to this guy. A great message for the American public of why we fight for and defend freedom. This is an amazing video from a well spoken Marine. I’d have this guy in my corner any day. Here’s the text of his prose…

Will Smith tells the kids at a Nickelodian Kid Awards show what the key to life is. He says it’s Running and Reading. I think he may be right. Give a listen.

technorati tags:marines, war, iraq, freedom, Will Smith, Key To Life, Motivation, Inspiration

A few weeks ago Lifehacker had a user photo contest for the coolest workspace. I meant to submit my photo, but the deadline came and went. But, who can really compete with this view? Sitting in my bay window, looking out onto the lush hardwood trees. This view really looks cool in the fall and in the winter after a snow/ice event.

But, for now, this is my little slice of heaven.