2011-03-07

Worth Commemorating

I have finally worked my way up to 60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise every single day. I have not been able to do this since before my diagnosis in 2009. We'll say it was about July 2009 when I last did this much cardio exercise regularly.

From my perspective, this is a huge accomplishment. I was convinced that I'd never be able to do this regularly again. A big thanks to Sean Burch for writing the book Hyperfitness, which has given me the right workout philosophy and some great workout ideas. I see reading this book as being the turning point for me, allowing me to push myself back to my previous exercise levels.

In other news, I finally have about 30 data points in my bio-stats spreadsheet. When I get some spare time, I will run some regressions and see what seems to be affecting my blood glucose the most. In terms of "gut feel," I'd say total duration of exercise and number of consecutive days of exercise are the two variables that make the biggest impact.

More to come.

2011-03-06

A Morning With Frank Zappa

Sunday morning. I've spent it listening to the 1996 PRI documentary Frank Zappa: American Composer. On all levels, this is a fantastic documentary, and I highly recommend it to any and all. (Yes, I even recommend it to those of you who are not Zappa fans. As many have discovered, Zappa's television, radio, and cinema contributions are entertaining on a more public level. But you don't have to take my word for it...)

Cruise on over to Zappa.com and stream the documentary directly to your chair now!

One of the standout aspects of this documentary is the recurring theme that Zappa's music is essentially the artistic representation of freedom. I whole-heartedly agree. One of the real challenges of being a Zappa fan is the tragic shortcoming of language as tool used to describe the beauty and importance of Zappa's work. All Zappa fans run into this. We try to explain to people what they're dealing with, and the words just don't come.

But it comes down to freedom, beauty, creativity, and the pioneering spirit.

Zappa was creative essentially every waking hour of the day. He was constantly composing or planning an idea of some sort. Today, we all sit surfing the internet rather than pursuing the kind of intense creativity that Zappa pursued. (And others!) I think this comes through in art today. We are so incredibly lazy in our intellectual pursuits. We have too many distractions to invest in anything whole-heartedly. I think Zappa was among the last people in the modern world who had the kind of dedication and intellectual integrity to rise above the distractions.

Well, have a listen to the documentary and learn something. Then get out there and do something