The Final Boss.

Instead of writing a very important essay, I've decided to turn this blog back on. Don't worry, essays are a weird animal I tend to tame in minutes. Course that's after long hours of distracting myself and being consumed by that hopeless feeling of failure and waste that comes with being a student. Eventually an idea hits, motivation strikes, and I uncurl myself from the kitchen floor and walk boldly over to Word (or google docs) where I hammer on the keys of victory and vanquish my MLA cited foes mere minutes before the deadline.

Rejoice. Crash. Wake up cranky.

Moving on.

There's a lot ideas and life changes I wanted to pursue and accomplish by this time next year. And this little slice of Internet seemed to benefit me when it mattered the most a few years ago. You remember, that tiny little thing I did, Hot for Con, if you don't then ask around. Essentially I lost buckets of body fat and in the process had more than a handful of adventures and stories that could keep a small crowd entertained for at least 15 minutes.

* Disclaimer* Most photos will not have this D-Bag facial expression.

I timed it at D*Con this year, after 15 minutes people just kind of nod and say "cool story bro."

So it's time to finish the fight and instigate new ones.

Here I lay the plan before you in all its majesty, and it is ambitious to say the least.

* Lose 15 pounds to get down to 165. Which will become the final resting place of my weight.
* Quit smoking cold turkey. (Mostly 'quit' isn't good enough anymore)
* Enter Tough Mudder, and complete. Completion is key.
* 4.0 GPA for the next two semesters. (Full time student, part time Digital Ham Specialist)

So I hope to post something every few days. With a picture of myself to be used for later comparisons, inspiration, and research. (I have plans. Video plans. It's not vanity, promise.)

More details will be given soon since fights like these require timelines and rules, rewards and blog badges.

-Stiver

the further i journey into weight-loss

May 2011

January 2012

May 2012

Oh man. It's been 365 days since I was considered a big dude...

Celebrating a year of weight-loss and general good health. So I deleted the post where I did a progression about 5 months ago. Figuring that since I've hit the gym hard it's best to show the progression from beginning... to my Hot for Con goal... to today. Considering my bucket list for D*Con this year calls for furthering my physique, felt I would'n't get called out too hard for this post.

Besides, everyone likes a good success story right? And I believe I'm succeeding. 

Weird seeing me a year ago, and then even weirder seeing how I'd progressed since January of this year. 

In the May of 2011 photo I believe I was down to 240.
In the January of 2012 photo I was at 190 exactly.
In the May of 2012 photo I'm sitting at 180.

Goes to show that purely looking at the scale isn't everything. I don't know the ancient Chinese equations of muscle vs fat, but I do know that my face has lost a good deal of roundness since January and there definitely seems to be less of me. And that's only 10 pounds.

10 pounds was hardly noticeable when I started, which is something that brings a lot of people down when they first start their weight-loss journey. It brought me down, you could read my older posts on the subject, but you stick with it and 10 becomes 20 and the pattern continues until you see dramatic results.

The smaller you are, obviously, the more dramatic each pound gets and the more muscle you add...well I'm just babbling on about stuff that is common sense...

Just excited and proud, staying humble of course, but seriously dude, it's been a long road.

There's a difference with the way the world interacts with me these days, one I'll explore with you later, but just know that it's different. For better and worse, and the experience has been fascinating to say the least. For now I'm carving straight through the heart of my bucket list and, like last year, nothing will stop me.

As for the other items, I'll be posting about them soon enough. The tone tonight is light hearted and I expect a return to the more jovial side of life for a few posts. There's a revelation that I've got bigger fish to fry then previously explained, these pursuits, and others I haven't mentioned are making all the difference in the shape of my smile.

To quote a song...

"I use to hate cell phones. Now I hate car accidents."

Maintain.

It's been a good, long, exaggerated minute but I somehow pulled myself away from the machinations of life to update you on a few details.

First and foremost let me give this wonderful slice of delicious news. I met my goal weight on the day of dragon con. That's 190 pounds, 60 pounds total lost.  Even a month after D*CON I've maintained that weight. Here's a picture, try to contain your excitement (cause I can feel it from here).

Hot for Con was a success, and I believe I led you on to believe there would be more written about this but I'm a tease and tired, also there's places to go and stray puppies to deliver. I'll check in more often and let you in on my next handful of healthy goals.

No internet for me

Im without the thing I love most in my life. The internet. Writing this post from my phone, be strong.

I will come back for you.

08/10/2011

Days until Con : 22

I have to admit something to you, because I feel like we've got a good thing going here and I don't want to ruin our friendship, I ate pizza. Yeah. So I understand if you want to see other bloggers, or if you think we're just not right for each other.

I mean I did just post about this health revolution, then I stuffed my face with pepperoni and canadian bacon pizza for lunch.

But that's fine, I'll bring it when I work out, and I'll stand taller tomorrow (metaphorically). Pizza is the ultimate sin food for me, it's so bad for me yet oh so good. Like it just screams at me in this cute little voice "but but haames!" and i'm all like "screw you pizza, you're no good for me. we've done this before and it just won't work out for me."

Then pizza gets all angry and ghetto.

Then I have to eat it.

Then I get fat.

The end.

Welcome Back Stiver

08/09/2011

Days until Con : 23

Enough! I'm tired of not being able to post as frequently and I'm taking a stand. For the next 23 days I will keep this thing updated because I made a solem vow, to myself, and though the promises I attempt to keep to myself don't always pan out this will sure as hell will.

Besides, I just got an email from someone who was inspired by what I'm doing and things like that deeply touch me. Because I have become passionate about helping people taking care of themselves and helping them get into a position where they look and feel wonderful, a place I've recently just arrived at.

The feedback from my latest experiences out in the wild have been nothing short of emotionally awesome. So it's back to posting every day, back to the super awesome exercising (did some stupid awesome exercising for the last two days) and just doing everything that feels right and good in the world.

Since it's been a minute let me fill you in.

I've been taking my new found health, opening the doors and taking it for a test spin, not being a whore or anything like that, but you know going out there and being seen. Also testing my willpower against that bitter struggle against the super tasty bad for you foods.

And winning, because I own face like that.

You cannot believe how addictive it is to see people you haven't hung around in awhile and they say "wow" or "you got skinny". Yes, I can see how this can transform guys into d-bags, but I remain firm on being a nice guy who made a healthy choice in his life. Also, the temptations of eating unhealthy simply aren't there.

It's like quitting smoking though. (Which I've also struggled on)

There's always the yearn, that flamilar comfort and nostalgia of great food or a good smoke, but overall it's just not worth it. I shared a red velvet cake with three people, and that was okay. That use to be unheard of. I drink water with every meal now, WATER, I barely knew what that was last year other than it's a component necessary in coffee making.

I eat better foods while others around me gorge on the stuff I use to believe to be righteous and necessary. Did I just compare delicious food to religion? How far off am I really? Anyways, like cigarettes, there's this place you go to when you remember the moments fondly but accept the entire experience as negative. I do sometimes enjoy and indulge without shame yet I don't let it become habit. In one of the many health related postcast I listened to it was said that losing weight is simply exercising, eating right, and making it your lifestyle for at least 60 percent of the time.

I believe it.

Through my journey I've definitely indulged and got off track, but never so much that I couldn't get back on. Had I completely surrendered my entire diet or body to a restrictive plan I think I would've failed this entire thing. But I've lost a total of 51 pounds, and while that's not as much as some of the other weight lost stories, it's been a world of difference to me.

Now I have 23 days to finish the job. Roughly 10 pounds to lose, which use to seem like such a daunting task, now it's merely a fly I shoo away. Then I'll enter Dragon Con a man of 190 pounds, something that hasn't been seen since high school.  Long term I should be settled in at 175, which about 5 months ago seemed like an impossible dream but I now realize it's something I'll have accomplished by Christmas.

Happiness with myself and life, a gift I seemed to have opened early, because I deserve it.

On the Move.

08/03/2011

Days until Con : 29

I'm moving soon and couldn't be more excited. Okay, I could be more excited, like if a red velvet companion cube were promised as a first night welcome home gift. I'll be living by myself, no roommates and no significant others, it'll be a joy.

Things seem to be piecing themselves together nicely for me, which is a welcome relief. Not that things were terrible before, for awhile they were just kind of "eh". Moving is excitement, something new, something that lets me plan and strategize.

I'm convinced I can have a extremely well put together place without it having reek of bachelor. This time I make all the decor decisions, nobody else can stop me, no matter how obscene or seemingly tacky my choices may become.

Ikea shall know thy name, for it is Stiver of Sandy Springs.

As a major side note. Almost to Con! I'm on track to meeting my goal and maybe, just maybe, I'll be touched inappropriately by a zombie. One can only dream.

The Traveler, The Tourist - Fate Vs Science (Lyrics included)

Yup. Another TTTT song done. There's lots of fun stuff happening around us musically right now and most of it with songs you have heard yet. Beau (akat - g) is almost done with the drums portion of our planned album leaving me with a pile of work to complete and turn back in for processing. Once all the songs are complete we'll likely be turning the sound cloud songs into samples and peddling our wares over at Itunes. This is to raise funds so Beau can get the full version of fruity loops.

I'm excited.

Wanted to also mention that as we're releasing songs you may notice a romantic overtone to them lyrically. The Traveler, The Tourist works best when we get a theme going and build everything around that theme. This does of course mean that if you're someone I've dated in the past then it's likely these songs are all about you. Okay not all of them, a few are about women I haven't dated.


Fate vs Science by TheTravelerTheTourist


Fate Vs. Science

My world spun right before I walked into that bar

You and that dress are a tag team 

Refusing to exist by conventional means. I've seen this maneuver before. 

But none as impressive and I'm wanting more.

The truth of the matter is I'm mad like a scientist, no not crazy, just motivated. 

Is this fate knocking at my door? 

Well he better stop knocking before I knock em to the floor.  

I found you first so all he's tasting is dirt and rejection.

(Because I saw you first)

Another knowing glance and I'll be forced to advance

I'll light my cigarette and enter a trance.  

But you're too good for theatrics, 

I'll have to work off on the momentum of our natural reactions

Is this fate knocking at my door? 

Well he better stop knocking before I knock em to the floor.

I won't walk away, back away, or anything thats in a backwards state.

And besides I don't read signs

I'd rather we find that our groove is science

So what do you say we leave this place, and begin our flight through time and space.

Is this fate knocking at my door? 

Well he better stop knocking before I knock em to the floor.

Since emotions betray when fates at play I'd rather he just walk the other way.

In the Wild

08/01/2011

Days until Con : 31

It has certainly been a wild ride in the last few weeks. I'm not use to, you know, the outside world and yet it has repeatedly knocked on my door and I answered more times I'm use to. While it was fun to get out there I'm happy to pull back a little and focus my efforts. This site needs to be updated more and I have a Con encroaching with a goal I'm on track to hit.

This (technically yesterday) morning marks the first time, in well over a decade, that I've weighed in under 200 lbs. It was extremely emotional for me and I would've cried had I not been visiting over at a friend's place and secretly using their scale. When I was able to get home and hidden safely under the blanket of privacy I forgot to cry and instead took a nap, and right now I think the crying moment has past but we'll see.

It's still very emotional. I swear.

I went to the beer olympics in Smyrna on Saturday and no, I didn't compete, but I did have one of those beautiful moments I'd been waiting a very long time for. I'd met up with a large group of friends who hadn't seen me in years and the reactions I got about my weight loss were extremely badass. Keep in mind that these are individuals whom one might be inclined to consider a little 'rough around the edges'. They're friends who pride themselves in the brutal truth, perhaps it should be called bludgeoning, and they tell it to the point that it often hurts literally. So the moment will forever be remembered.

I say that because I took pictures.

Also I made them sign statements.

Okay fine, that's a lie. They didn't have to sign anything.

One month left, and I have 9 pounds to lose in order to reach my goal for D*Con. I can smell victory coming and it smells of delicious rockin mixed with chocolate awesome.

Mwahahhahahahaha!!! [lighting strikes in the background followed by harsh orchestra strings]

The Traveler, The Tourist - Thievery is Love (Lyrics included)

The Traveler, The Tourist is officially resurrected and in full swing. I'll bite my tongue on our plans but I'm excited and haven't been this excited over something musically in a long time. My instinct it to drone on and on about inspirations and the background going into it all but I'll save you the pain.

For now.

If this picks up any amount of steam then I'll release the flood gates, so invest in a rowboat.


Latest tracks by TheTravelerTheTourist

(lyrics)

Thievery is love

It steals the shirt right off your back

It plucks the notes from your favorite tracks 

And delivers them to your lucid dreams

The score to your personal silver screen

Where theres no lines other than the ones you cross and deny

There's no rules to define, no programs to redesign to take what you think is yours

String up the lures, sharpen the knives, grab a net and candle light

Hook and sink, the missing link, at least what was missing for the time being

Careful and cautious, there is no time

Theres only the moment and moment you left behind

Thievery is love

And It takes me, and steals my sense of reality

Hidden messages written with subconscious intent

And as hidden as it, it is read loud without regret

Take what you will, take what isn't nailed down

Or someone else will and walk out with what you found

Thievery is love

And It takes me, and steals my sense of reality

Meditation Week

07/25/2011

Days until Con : 38

There's something slippery and oddly rough about time. But I'm not going to blame the elusiveness of it just yet. I've actually been going out there, you know, into the world. You should be happy for me, thrilled even, perhaps you should donate to the cause. Venturing into the world has its' side effects.

My weight-loss suffered as I hadn't been keeping this blog up which is a constant reminder of what the hell I'm trying to do...with myself. You see riding around on autopilot is what the average person does and if you're core isn't strong enough to support a healthy foundation, that cheaply built foundation will slowly chip away. This week was a chip, and one that I needed if only for the research.

I was okay overall on food and exercise, but it slipped. Slipping, even for a week, shows. There are a couple of factors that went into play that I'll be analyzing in my laboratory. Okay I lied, I don't have laboratory, but if I did that would be awesome and rest assured it would be filled with bubbling tubes and electrical du-dads that beep and print out slips of statistics.

This will be my regroup and calm down week. There's a lot of things in motion, emotionally even, and taking time to meditate can only be a good thing.

Besides, I'm broke until friday tired there's only so much waffle house I can stand.

Text (messaging) is Life

07/20/2011

Days until Con : 43

I've been without my cellphone all day today and I forget how disconnected I feel without it. On one point it's refreshing, but that's a novelty that wears off way too soon.

Anyways. I don't have much to report. I tennis'd with Jones, and had some pretty awesome wings for lunch. I kept myself busy with manual labor all day and I'm ready to stay in bed and devolve into a pile of sleepy goo.

Which sounds bad, but it feels oh so good.

Reliable. Like a Panda. Pandas are reliable right?

07/19/2011

Days until Con : 44

The last 4 days have been pretty non-stop. Usually I post with a reliability rarely seen in men of my caliber but I swear baby, these are forces outside of my control. Okay fine, I could've controlled it, but then I would've had such a great weekend.

For the first time since I started losing weight I went out into the public. Like where people play. Like to a bar in downtownish Atlanta, karaoke night. Though at first I had some social anxiety, I eventually calmed down (thanks to alcohol) and was able to have a completely awesome time with awesome people. A really attractive and wonderfully geeky chick flirted with me. I was perhaps a bit concerned that she could break me into tiny bits and stuff me in her scooter storage compartment (that wasn't sexual) but that's just a normal thing I get scared of whenever meeting anyone new. (strangers can be crazy)

We had coffee the next day. I gave her a panic attack (no really). It was a memorable night.

I've been pretty even on my healthy living. I didn't eat outrageously, but I did indulge a bit on everything else. Haven't really worked out and have had enough coffee to drown a hipster. That's fine. My cheat week was worth it, and you know what? I'm thinking of doing it again, only this time not making it such an extended celebration.

My schedule for the week is completely screwed...

Wednesday - Work/Tennis
Thursday - Work/Mountain
Friday - Work/Gaming
Saturday - Possible Gaming
Sunday - Laundry/Sleeping in/Work/Writing music

I have to squeeze a date in there, I'm sure it'll fit.

I also have to squeeze in some me time, or I'll snap something larger than a twig but smaller than a human in two.

I also need to finish reading Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages.

Busy.

07/15/2011

I've accepted a 6 pack contest. Meaning the first one to get a 6 pack abs wins. What do we win? 6 pack abs. The person I'm in this contest with has a fairly good head start but I've never been the one to let that kind of thing get me down. I have tenacity. Like a wolf. Or a starving chihuahua. It was just the added incentive I needed to kick my exercise back into gear. 

Yesterday I tennis'd with Adam, and it was great to get out and do something active. Of course we didn't really play tennis per say, we just kind of hit the ball around until we were too tired to carry on. 

That's it. I'm done. It's going to be a busy weekend.

Because I Can't Think of a Better Title.

07/12/2011

Days until Con : 51

It's a bit late, and I've had a weird day of sleeping, coffee, and writing. So I'm not exactly in the mood for an all out topic to discuss. But I would, however, like to show you some of the progress I've made. It's hard to tell on my Path to Con section, so I've put together a few photos comparisons.

In a way this has been extremely motivating (and slightly shamefull) as I haven't really looked back at it all until now. It's like the older photos aren't really me at all...

 

Me. Sometime in 2010

Me. Sometime in 2009

So take a look at these, one from 2009 and one from 2010. Compared with the above current pic and wow. I mean, I didn't realize how different my face looks.

That's all. I have some shirtless photos I've been documenting once a month and I'm debating on showing those but it's kind of embarrassing showing some skin on the internet. It's one thing to proclaim you're fat and doing something about it, it's another to show your giant belly progression to the world.

The Most Amazing Shirt in the World (this is a tribute)

07/11/2011

Days until Con : 52

The problem I'm having, the problem I've been wanting to have for awhile, is that I'm not sure what shirt/pant size I'll end up at when I'm done. I'm well past XXL, and XL is starting to look pretty big on me. I went ahead and purchased a few things in LG but where does it stop?

No, I will not consult google, because I needed a topic dammit.

After LG is Med, and I've never seen MED. Never, ever,  in my life. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable buying that size. Like somehow the cashier will spot me as a poser and hit the red button under the counter that calls the police.

Do I buy clothes incrementally? Cause I'm not sure how long I'll be staying in LG. XL went by in  flash. I'll never be a small so do I build my super awesome "hot wardrobe" out of MED? Probably. I'll have to take the leap, and perhaps go ahead and buy a really awesome MED shirt, as my victory shirt. Because we all have a victory shirt. That one thing in the back of closet that if we'd lose a few pounds we'd fit in.

Its the shirt of which we measure our life by.

I had that shirt. It was a glorious day when I could put it on without fighting mass and gravity. It's a white button up thing that I could fit in at the beginning of this Hot for Con thing, and is now way too big. Perhaps I need another one, a shirt that will become the marker for my success, the crowning achievement to my self pronounced hotness. Aha! I just found something to do tonight!

I will scavenge the entire internet for the most amazing shirt in the world, buy it in size Medium, and add a new dynamic to my motivation. Sometimes I feel like a weight-loss villain, plotting and scheming my way to awesome.

What Hasn't Worked.

07/10/2011

Days until Con : 53

Weigh in day, and down two pounds from last week making me at 207.  It's a good day.

My nutrition is in flux and has been since I began this whole thing. But that feels like the natural order of things. Every person is different, has different cravings and body styles so it makes sense that you'd have to come up with something that works best for you. I'm much less in flux now then when I began. The problem I see with being on a  strict diet is that it's not sustainable over a long period of time. Making better decisions is. Whenever people ask me how I've lost the weight I've already lost, I tell them I'm very aware of what goes into my body, and I stay active. It seems like generic advice and sometimes there's a bit of a sigh from the other party because they're looking for a secret ingredient, but trust me when I say there isn't.

I can tell you what didn't work for me.

Diet pills are a sham. I tried them well before I started Hot for Con and I didn't notice anything different about my weight loss, and experienced side effects. Most of the side effects felt like I'd guzzled about 10 cups of coffee in one go (my heartrate increased on a constant basis and I couldn't sleep at night) You don't need them, they're mostly dangerous and the ones that aren't dangerous are expensive. You can save that money and put it towards better foods.

Calorie counting. If you've followed me from the begin you remember I counted calories on my posts, to be honest it was a gateway into being calorie aware, but calorie counting itself is tedious. You also don't get the full scope of a healthy lifestyle that way as foods are not created equal. It doesn't prepare you to broaden your horizons, to eat more veggies and fruits, it just teaches you to buy frozen diet dinners. This may work for most, and I see the benefit. As a long term solution, it wasn't what I wanted.

Starvation. This is ridiculous, and shameful to say, but I tried it. The problem being 1. The hunger pains, and 2. When you do eat your body, having gone into survival mode, stores everything it can. You cannot keep this up. You'll starve yourself all day long, then on your way home from work you'll get yourself something, anything, to eat. I found myself driven mad, literally, and grabbed the first fast food place I could find and ordered a metric butt ton of food. I'd end up losing absolutely nothing and being miserable in the process.

Fad diets. By the time I started sniffing around fad diets I'd already educated myself enough to just come up with something on my own. Fad dieting is, again, not something you can keep up forever so I wasn't too interested.

The way I see it. Starvation, diet pills, fad diets, and calorie counting is somewhat the order of things when you have absolutely no knowledge of healthy living and you're trying desperately for something to work. Calorie counting being the better out of the group but they all have fatal flaws that didn't work for me. I do suggest calorie counting as a launching pad, anything that gets you aware of what you're putting in your body, but stay the hell away from the others.

A few posts back I talked about fasting, and you'd probably try to call me a hypocrite because what's the difference between fasting and starving? When fasting your body never goes into survival mode, which is the key. You'll also know that I'm not exactly fasting anymore, I used myself as research and found that it's something that is interesting but ultimately not for me.

Rewarding Yourself. Better Yet, Rewarding Me.

07/08/2011

Days until Con : 55

I'll admit my blog posts haven't been exactly health related as of late, and to add insult to a sprained ankled, my posts have become  somewhat infrequent. So you haven't seen my lovely mug daily, which is fine, and you've probably even asked why I post a picture of myself with every Hot for Con post.

It's part of the triforce of rewards I planned for Hot for Con journey. Rewards, I believe, become an absolutely critical part of any health plan. As far as I'm concerned you need to grade yourself to know if you're getting better and you also need to see some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.

I planned three big ones. Each in their own right are things that will become the cornerstone of where I am in my life.

Reward 1: Being Hot at Dragon Con. 
The first reward, and this is one that's not a big secret, simply walking into Dragon Con with confidence. In the past I'd been self conscious and shy, to a crippling level. Will having confidence fix being shy? Maybe, maybe not, but the D*Con is my finish line. It's where I stop and take a moment to take in everything I've accomplished.

Also, it's where I'll be drinking heavily with like minded geeks.

Reward 2 : Visual Progression Video
I've been keeping the pictures, the ones in posts like this, and will be splicing them together in a picture a second video of my weight-loss progression, likely to be done and posted a day or two before Con.  It'll be nice to see in a few short minutes just how dramatic a handful of healthy months can effect your appearance. Perhaps the video can inspire others to take up the same philosophy, but when the video is done I believe the results will demand my emotional attention.

Like getting a degree, or a really good slow mo head shot on a zombie in Fallout 3.

Reward 3 : Tattoos
This will likely be the most shocking choice for those who've known me a relatively short amount of time. I don't talk about this aspect of my personality much but I've always wanted, and to some degree need, tattoos. I made a not-so-secret pact with Beau, one of my best friends and something of a tattoo enthusiast, that if I broke in under 200 pounds I'd finally get those tattoos I'd been saying I'd get since we were teenagers. Tattoos are deeply personal pieces of art that stay with you forever, and as I kick open the doors into a new era of my life I want to take with me something I'd always wanted to have but was too afraid to get. My life is litered with these moments, the moments where the act of doing/saying something outrageous or seemingly irresponsible drives me into a frenzied panic and in the end I give up on the matter. Because it's not what sensible people do.

I'm well past the revelation that my life isn't built for normalcy and for the first time in a long time I'm empowered by it.

The Smuggled Pom Pom Metaphor

07/06/2011

Days until Con : 57

I fully admit it. My workout routine has become a confused mess of chaos ever since my work moved locations. Though I got a gym membership (to LA Fitness), I haven't used it, because I'm not in the habit of packing my outfit. (which makes me feel kinda like a superhero) So I work out at home, which has been proving okay results, it's hard to gauge if it's my diet or exercising pulling all the weight in this losing relationship.

As I've come to learn, there's a lot of structure when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. If something rocks your world, it's hard to stand in the center and not fall over. That's where determination comes in right? Well determination needs to wear bra and panties and wave pom poms in my face because as it stands it's just a awkward guy saying, "Lose weight! I mean, if you wanna, if not that's cool to..." That guy, otherwise known as my motivation, needs to be replaced.

Not to say I'm losing steam, more like smuggling it. I do x number of situps and pushups while watching Girls Bravo (my how the mighty have fallen)  and then I go to bed. Sometimes I change it up with jumping jacks and nobody is watching me so I'll pretend I know kung fu moves...moves. I guess what I'm getting at is that surviving a shake in your routine is more important than maintaining intensity. You can always build back up, and I am, I even made progress with my gym bag. I put it on the couch closest to the door, instead of on the floor next to the door. You see? I'm getting there.

Space Mage : Episode 1 - Never Trust Bums

Space Mage : Episode 1 - Never Trust Bums

That's right, it's here.  Episode 1 of Space Mage. You can also take note of the Space Mage section, this is where you'll partake in all Space Mage related activities.


As you're reading Space Mage, if you see any edits that need to happen, then please leave a comment with your email address so I can add you as a contributor, then you can edit to your heart's content. Grammar is something I have trouble with and unless you catch it I may never see the light. So help me. I beg you...plleeeeazzze!

There's still a call to arms with my artistically inclined friends/readers/lovers for Episode cover art and general arts they'd like to do with this project. Space Mage will become my new obsession after Hot for Con is over. I'll be making every effort to get better as a writer, and to market my work.

So with my success comes your success right? Right.