<img width=”650″ src=”http://green-scissors.com/photo/albums/userpics/score.JPG”>

Above you will find the score of the third and tie breaking game between yours truly (The Wallbys) and Jason (The Hydrophobic Rodents) in our annual battle of fantasy football acumen.

Now, I had planned on a witty and totally demoralizing breakdown of the game but with a day or two of sober reflection, I realize that an image is indeed worth 1000 words. And so, for the next year I will be able to proudly proclaim SCOREBOARD!!!! whenever I need to end an argument with our resident court philosopher.

It should be noted that both of our teams finished .500 this year and that by winning our playoff matchup I only achieved 5th place in the league. So this little exercise in ego stroking is merely an effort to make myself feel good about being the paradigm of mediocrity.

Thank you.

In most ways, I am a half-geek. Sure, I try to claim that I have full credentials, but deep down it*s just not the case. I*m not a computer geek anymore, even though I have two machines anda wireless setup at my apartment, even though I*m probably more savvy than 95% of users. The cold truth is that if 1 out of 20 people you meet are more into something than you are, you*re not a member of that segment of geek society. I*ve never used UNIX, I don*t trust myself to install anything more challenging than RAM or a video card, and my wireless router has but 64-bit encryption. A computer geek I am not.

Nor am I truly a science fiction geek. Mind you, I admit this after watching about 10 hours of the Sci Fi channel*s Twilight Zone marathon last weekend. I just don*t think you can really get the medal if you never watched Babylon 5 and find much of Star Trek to be rather tiresome.

The same is true of many of my pursuits (and there are many of them, have no doubt). Yet maybe that*s how I can claim geek cred after all – not by depth, but breadth of geeky pursuits. I know Tolkien better than most, make it a point to attend the Renaissance Faire in period garb a couple of times each summer, can quote many movies that most people can*t, attend live theater several times a year, play chess, still think that blowing up zombies at the arcade is a worthy use of my time (not to mention some occasional Galaga action)…the list goes on. Add in my penchant for roleplaying games and I think I can eke out enough for an official geek card. Call me a Geek Generalist, perhaps. Or, better yet, just call me a Bard. That*s it, the Bard of Geeks.

So the first day of work went well. The people are wonderful and the job is everything it was advertised to be. Going to be a hard first year, but after that it should be a smooth running machine.

The only problem is this. Mornings. Work starts at 7:45 and that is an adjustment of monumental proportions for me. I*ll make it, don*t worry. But there may be less posting from me this month as I try to re-schedule things around the idea that I can get up at 5:30, do some things around the house, go to work and then be in bed by 10 or so at night.

Oh to be young again when sleep was optional during the week.

So, it*s 2005. Another year older, a new one just begun (due apologies to Mr. Lennon for that one) and all that shit. I have decided, not for the first time, to make a concerted effort to lose weight. Such a unique idea – just me and 40 million or so of my closest friends in America, I suspect, have the same thought. Criminy.

I have fond memories of a time when I could eat like a college student and still look like…well, a somewhat emaciated college student. Those were not the best years of my life, but that is one aspect I would like to have return. Sadly, it appears that this is not to be.

There are any number of good reasons to lose weight. Aside from the not inconsequential aesthetic benefits, my family history includes high blood pressure and diabetes, both of which are ample reason to control my expanding waistline. Add in the fact that I am woefully out of shape (as some ill-timed forays back onto the soccer field a few months ago attested) and I certainly have ample incentive.

As is obvious by recent photographic evidence, my shortcomings in this area are legion. Perhaps the most difficult thing for me is lunchtime during the week. I could easily bring food from home, but the fact is that after about 4 hours in the office, I*m absolutely sick of the sight of my surroundings and the denziens therein. I firmly believe that if I don*t get out of here for an hour or so, I will harm myself or others. Also, my biweekly roleplaying game nights generally include approximately 87 billion calories – and that*s if we don*t order dinner.

So, what to do? As it happens, the local park district has a decent fitness center that offers residents of my particular *burb very affordable membership rates. Also, as my parents recently lost a ridiculous amount of weight themselves, I have thrown myself at their mercy for recipes that won*t remind me of cardboard. I made the first of these over the weekend and it was…well, healthy, anyway. I even hear that it included something resembling food, but I*m not yet convinced of that.

At the moment, it seems like a good idea to put these things into a somewhat public place so there is some sort of accountability. Of course, since I can go back and edit the post at any time, when I think better of it I*m sure this paragraph will be removed. Until then, however:

Jan 1: 181 lbs
Jan 3: 178 lbs
Jan 7: 175 lbs
Jan 13: 171 lbs
Jan 20: 169 lbs (Steak and pizza this week. Not a good combination)
Jan 28: 170 lbs (@!$*&! business trips and continued laziness are killing me here)
Feb 14: 168 lbs (I am so freaking lazy!)

Goal: 155 lbs

It*s gonna be a long, long year.