I am erratic.

I still haven't posted my food diary, in part because I am embarrassed. I made reasonable choices until Thursday night, but that's when it started to go downhill. After donating plasma, I went over to a friend's apartment and proceeded to eat a bag of tortilla chips with pizza sauce, and drink two Lone Stars. That was my dinner. The following morning I ate three plums and three breakfast tacos. The director at my school was nice enough to bring in some vegan ones: black bean and potato.

The tacos tasted so good I started craving more. So, I went to Taco Bell and had two bean and potato burritos. Oh, and I forgot about this part until just now... I was already dehydrated before eating the burritos, so in a state of total irrationality I drank one liter of 7-Up. I rarely drink soda, and if I do, well... No, I just hardly ever do it. I can't remember the last time I had soda.

I haven't been sleeping enough so maybe that's part of the problem. I've been a little stressed by my new job. Oh, but I haven't even gotten to the terrible, depressing climax yet.

After spending more money on food yesterday than I intended, I decided to stop by Supermercado El Rancho on my way home for enough cheap produce to last me through the weekend. I didn't make it past the fifteen feet of pastries (pan dulces) that greet you as you walk in the store.

I though, "Hmm." I've feeling tired and stressed out. I want to relax tonight. I'll buy a couple of pastries. I won't give you all the details of my brain's machinations, because it's too depressing to go into, but I ended up purchasing nine pastries, eating four of them on the ten-minute car ride home, and proceeding to eat the other five before bed while watching three hours of YouTube videos.

I need a vacation.

A Budget

I made a budget: two-week periods, detailing how to spend my paycheck. I won't post that budget now because it would take too long. I will only post post my food and gas expenditures (my only necessary costs that are also variable).

August 15
-$20 on gas
-$4.97 on food

August 16
-$3.72 on food

August 17
-$5.14 on food


My goal is to limit food costs to under $5 a day, and I'm finding it really easy so far. By insuring I spend under $5 each time at the grocery store, I have to choose foods I can eat throughout the day. Because I probably won't end up buying food every day, I may be able to bring that number down even more. Ideally, I want to keep the combined food/gas total below $100 per pay period, and then I would be able to cover the cost completely through plasma donations.

I have a plan to eliminate all non-student loan debt by the end of the year and pay to finish my teacher certification. From there, I want to develop and implement a one-year program to meet a lot of goals I've been wanting to achieve the past few years that I've never had the discipline to accomplish.

I will also be keeping a food diary again. I've been tracking since Wednesday, but I don't have time to post it this morning.

Cheers,
Stephen

I might

This blog never became what I wanted it to be, because I never made a good-faith effort to be the reluctant athlete that I had some intentions of becoming. The pessimistic name I gave it, "Stephen Can't Run Good," acknowledges my doubts about my abilities, and may have been part of the self-fulfilling prophecy I laid out for myself.

I might do a couples "tri sprint" next month. I might go on the "80/10/10" diet for the next 4 weeks. I might train regularly. I probably won't do any of these things, but I wanted to let you know just in case.

Get Boozy for Lent!

"A clause is a group of words that forms part of a sentence and has a subject and predicate. A principal clause makes a statement. It can stand alone like a simple sentence. A compound sentence contains two or more principal clauses usually joined by a co-ordinate conjunction."

I haven't blogged about anything in a long time. The cobwebs have formed on my previous vain literary ventures, and my heart has grown cold from months of blissful introspection and self-improvement. But no longer will I continue to mildew in the throes of that doldrum!

With another Judeo-Christian holiday season rearing its ugly head, I have decided it is time for me to loudly proclaim my vigor and excite my wit once again.

Usually I only realize it's Lent about a week into the process, but my girlfriend happened to make me aware of the impending event only hours ago. It's Lent! Yea!

I immediately decided to pose this question on Facebook, and now I also pose that question to you, the World! Question:

Hi Facebook friends/enemies! For Lent, I have decided to give up things other people don't like about me, in the spirit of selfless Christian love and the intrinsic goodness of conforming to societal expectations! Shoot me with your arrows of discontent! Please!

World, as you probably don't know me as well as my many hundreds of acquaintances and handful of friends, and although you're probably not reading this, if you happen to be, feel free to project onto me your various absurd worldviews and dogmas, minus any actual understanding of who I am as a person! (Was that a run-on sentence, or a brilliant and determined use of well-placed commas to create a dramatic statement?)

Wow! Talk about burying the lead! I was trying to get around to saying that I haven't been very exciting lately. I don't have much money, having been un/underemployed for over four months now, and the winter weather has added to my glumness and subtle malaise. But spring is around the corner! Flowers! Rabbits! Chocolate! Cleaning! And with them...hope. And whatnot.

And so, for that reason, I have decided to commit to consuming alcohol throughout the month (or 40 days... 40 days. Right? It's like, a really long lunar month? A super month. Biblical month. Magic month.) of Lent. I think it makes sense. I haven't been drinking. Catholics drink. It's a Catholic holiday. Act Catholic.

You're welcome,
Stephen