Diary of a Mad Pack Rat: Part 2...the flashbacks

Previously, in Diary of a Mad Pack Rat

After admitting to be a pack rat....albeit a recovering one....................

My rules for donating/letting go of clothes:
I don't care how much I loved it in high school or college or whatever, If I haven't worn it in 2 yrs i prolly wont. There are tons of ppl who will prolly want or need it more than I do.
If I know that this is not my style anymore, I don't wear it.
I'm not Kriss Kross or MC Hammer. Funny thing is, I've gotten bigger as I aged, yet my clothes from 4-6 years ago are too big for me?? And in another ironic note of jest, all the clothes I didn't like bc they were "too small," now fit just fine? What was it with the 90's and RIDICulously baggy clothing?!!!! No more rolling the pant leg or rolling up the sleeves, I'm grown, I know my sizes, my clothes are fitted.
How many of the same color do I need? (And I know somewhere out there there's a female who will argue tooth and nail on each point and somehow make an argument that seems to make sense).

Childhood memory junk flashbacks - The stuff that's hard to let go:

Lunch tickets. If you went to NYC public schools and either your household income was in a certain range.....or you forged one....or only claimed a certain amount, you know that you're lifeline of sustenance was the cafeteria lunch ticket. You used it to get that free lunch which everyone thought they were too cool to eat, but EFF YOU, bc that free lunch was DELICIOUS!! OR, on days when your paper was low, you'd hustle those tickets for some pocket money for other more important things (jansport strings, comic books, the candy shop or "cake line".........that ironically never sold cake). The benefit is then you had money to buy a milk and one of those 3-pack of cookies that for the life of me I can't recall the name (forget butter crunch and oatmeal, my favorite was always chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies). SIGH!!
JANSPORT STRINGS!! I had to mention this for kicks and giggles, but no way in hell I could bring myself to throw these out. I don't know about other cities, but in Brooklyn, early 90's, there were no bigger trend than the lanyard strings ppl tied onto the Jansport backpack zippers. It was so hot, I steered clear of it for the first 3 years until I was old enough and had enough clientele to wear them safely. For these ridiculous strings, ppl got robbed, chased, beat down, sliced, stabbed, shot and in few extreme circumstances killed. Don't believe me, just ask someone who grew up in BK early 90's. I had to fight, run and do a host of other things to collect and keep my strings (including burn the knots and tips so ppl couldn't untie and steal em off your back in crowded places). I decided to keep em. They're like battle scars and ribbons. Not quite ready to part with em just yet.

Here's where I'm stumped:
Currently, I have a draw full of stuff that isn't mine, so next time my brother comes to visit I have a box worth of "gifts" for him. In a previous blog I discussed the glory of antiquated technologies and it rolled over so long i revisited it again. The biggest hurdle now are the remaining boxes and bags of:
CASSETE TAPES
HI-8 TAPES
VHS TAPES (EVEN 3 betamats)
CD'S
ZIP DRIVES!! - that one made me laugh.

A massive cleanup is like a trip in a time machine. So far, the box of VHS tapes was used temporarily as a christmas tree stand, and now makes for a good plant stand. Any other suggestions for my outdated medias? For now, they hide and cower under my bed. Out of site and out of mind.

Diary of a Mad Pack Rat

I am an admitted pack rat, and I am okay with it. According to Brian Tracy, ppl who are pack rats usually result from poor/wanting childhoods, which psychologically speaking makes SOME sense. I been traumatized by my parents throwing away most of my favorite toys, comics, drawings etc..... coincidentally all the things I've built my lifestyle and career off of, THANKS MOM N DAD!!!! (I'M NOT BITTERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!) My philosophy has always been, "I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it" which is why I believe about 9 out of 10 guys walk around with condoms........that and one of the most painful experiences in life is turning down "the occasion" bc you are ill prepared (side note: be weary of anyone in that situation who willingly wants to proceed, but that's another conversation).

I therapeutically purged (can't exactly call what I did "cleaning") my room and over the course of a few months, culminating in the last weeks of 08. I threw away well over 3 full sized garbage bags, donated 4 bags of old clothes and more on a more impressive note, recycled SEVEN FRICKEN LARGE SIZED CLEAR PLASTIC BAGS OF PAPER!!! What the hell? Was I secretly running a printing press/accounting firm in my sleep?!!!

I was deterred many a time bc I feared that I "needed" these things. What I finally had the strength and courage to realize is, I don't NEED these "things" what I needed was some BLASTED SPACE!!

Here's how it went down:

First of all, a paper shredder is a God-send. Everyone should own one. It's just divine. Make it a part of your routine. That being said, amongst the POUNDS of paper I shredded, here's just SOME of what I found:

Receipts - THROW THEM OUT!! And if you fear being audited throw out anything over 3 yrs.
Movie stubs - Can you believe I had every (99.99999999%) movie for every movie I seen since 1996!!!? Including, Godzilla - the atrocious remake, Titanic - made me laugh as much when I saw it as I did in the theater back in '98.
Pay stubs - I had pay stubs from 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005...............2004? 2002? 2000?? 99?? 98??!! 95!!?!?!
Menus
Notes and documents from old jobs
Flyer
Semester syllabus', welcome letters and other bs mail from college
And the biggest one of all - JUNK MAIL!! Credit card offers out the wahzooooooo

Next Chapter, I'll discuss some hilarious flashbacks and how I managed to cope with parting from my past.

Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 1

YEAH I SAID IT!!

I can easily see myself as a future Bill Cosby, giving key note addresses at graduations in a sweat suit and slippers and cursing out the young generation.

I've been pondering this question for a number of reasons. First of which, if you're not up on "JUSTUS" comic, you really need to check out last weeks http://www.isitjustus.com/ comic "recreatioNULL"

So other than having every means of access at their disposal, we have an alarming increase in the rate of high school drop out, late graduations, and students reading below grade level. So I began looking at our society and amongst many reasons, here is a major one.

Why kids today are so DUMB!! Theory 1: NO G.I. JOE

I would love to give my parents ALL the credit for my fairly stellar upbringing, but they didn't get home till about 4-5pm. So alongside a host of wonderful cartoons, too many to name, the most influential was G.I. Joe. Let's ignore the latent pro-army/patriot, anti-terrorist, good vs. evil dialectics, the gratuitous fascination with guns (every man born btwn 1970-1989 can accurately mimic any gun noise with their mouth and easily identify a tech-9, mac-10, m-4, m-16, desert eagle, colt .45, glock .45, 9mm, .38, .22, Beretta, calico, ak-47, Uzi, or German Luger...to name a few.....or just anyone who grew up in "Reaganomics" Brooklyn). Let's ignore the fact that it was the most racist show in the history of TV (like I'm the only one who notices all the black ppl rapped or barbecued, and the one Chinese guy was bare-footed and while everyone had guns he carried throwing stars).

G.I. Joe did something that saved the lives of so many other children..........PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!! We live under the guise that "Common sense" is "COMMON." ITS NOT!! Look at just some of the valuable lessons GI JOE taught us:

• Don't swim in a lake during a thunderstorm
• Don't touch downed electrical lines
• Don't accept offers or talk to strangers
• How to stop a nose bleed
• How to swim and not drown
• Don't touch stray animals and not to run away if a dog approaches you, walk away slowly.
• What to do if your clothes catch on fire
• What to do if your house catches on fire
• Don't stereotype and prejudge ppl
• Don't hide in things that can potentially suffocate you (saved my life many a game of hide n seek)
• And 15 others!!!!!!
  

I watched the GI JOE movie on dvd the other day and as an added feature it includes ALL ORIGINAL 25 PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS. OMG!!! I last night realized I quite possibly learned more from GI JOE than from any other one source in my life!!!!

At a latter time I will delve into the seemingly disturbing question as to why a Joe was always in a 2 minute radius of these children when something went wrong. I found it quite alarming that Wetsuit emerged from a lake as soon as the kids are about to get into trouble. Does he spend his free time observing kids swim from the bottom of lakes? Idunno. Damn pre-megan's law ass stalkers!!

"Thanks R! And now we know. "
"And knowing is half the battle!"

GEEEEEEEEEE.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE!!!!! [dunna dun da dnnnnnnn!!]

Bloggers Block

Of all my handicaps, I must say one is inconsistency. I tend to fluctuate amongst so many things that something always gets procrastinated. I'm probably one of history's greatest procrastinators. I say this bc I've mastered to art of productive procrastination. Here's how. When I do something, I go hard [giggity] so much so that it perpetuates for a long time. The residual affect is I appear productive even when I'm not working. I learn this from exercise (here he go again). People always tell me they need to burn calories, they need to burn fat....no you dont. You need to build muscle. Why? Not only does it speed up your metabolism (which is really what you want to do or else all the fat you lose will come right back) muscle burns fat EVEN when you're not doing anything. Not to mention the exercises to build muscle burns fat ANYWAY, but that's another conversation.

note to self....future blog..."the art of procrastination."

The irony I find is that I got so many complaints about my blogs being too long, then I get even more complaints about not blogging enough. Hence, do what you want to do in life bc either way you'll piss off and please ppl, so you may as well do what makes you happy.

So why the hiatus? I'm a travel whore. In the last 30 days I been to Jersey, Stonybrook Long Island, Boston, Toronto and Cybertron (shout outs to Transformers fans), and I'll be outtatown every weekend this month culminated in Trinidad Carnival.......... CYAN WAIT!!!!!!!

Needless to fear, I've been blogging via my notes application on my crackberry so soon as I transfer them I'll copy and post them, so expect like 3-8 blogs to be posted all at once.

Staying Motivated in the Gym..........Part 3

Previously on My $0.02---------------->Staying Motivated in the Gym.......Part 2

And in our first installment-------------> Staying Motivated in the Gym....Part 1

NOW....Part Tre........ The Return of...err...the...uhh...My.....$0.02...Yeah! That's it! That'll do...just nicely....

Oh yeah, Junk food and fast food is the devil. Avoid sugary simple carbs (cakes, pies, candies, donuts, pastries) more than 2x a week. Notice I don't say cut them completely. Very few can go cold turkey and the cravings will stockpile and ultimately sabotage your dicipline and eating habits and you fall victim to binging. What helps me is getting those halloween packs with all the fun sized candies (I LOVE CHOCOLATES!). Just discipline yourself not to have TOO much fun and finish the whole bag in one sitting. Stick with complex carbs (wholegrain, breads, pasta, veggies). More small meals combined with increase complex carbs will speed up your metabolism.

At least once a week 0r once a month, on a weekend or day off, fast for about 4-6 hours....8 if you can. Drink lots of water and fruit juice (REAL fruit juice please...non of that "drink"). Your body has so many natural ways of spring cleaning itself.

Now we discussed eating habits, exercise time:

-Football or any sport 3 times a week is an excellent start. Overall cardio is key. You cant just target the core (I wish), you need to lower your overall body fat %. Everyone has abs, the muscles are there....it's just that some have more fat over them than others.

-You're better off finding a simple routine that you can do everyday instead of working out 3 times a week. Either before you go to bed or when you wake up. However, if you have an intense ab work out, do not do it every day. Like every other muscle, you need time to recover. Stretching helps.

-on weekends or days off, try doing a several small workout (like a quick burst or 25-40 reps) every hour 5-10 times a day.

-there are a billion ab exercises, switch up your routine frequently. It will be a shock to what your body is used to and nothing promotes development like keeping your body guessing

-do core workout on an empty stomach for maximum results.

-your core (not just abs) is composed of 12 families of muscles. I hate traditional crunches, would never recommend doing more that 30 of em at a time.

-make sure your workout has variety. I used to hear insane stories about ppl doing 400 crunches or situps...for what? Look up the record for most situps in a minute and everyone trying to break that record and see if you're impresed by the physiques.

-dont worry about even sets. The key is to feel the burn, high numbers, back to back. Go till you feel like you want to stop then push for 10 more...and keep pushing for another ten...and another ten... People who excel in anything physically command their body to go beyond thier limits instead of quitting at the first sign of discomfort.....which is what most of us do.

-weights are not necessary. Cons: If you over do it you may cause serious back damage and it cuts down the amount of reps you can do. Pro: It helps develops and strengthen muscles IF used in moderation and with light weights. Its good to develop muscle bc muscles burn fat constantly, long after the work out, even when you're not doing anything. I suggest cable pull downs or LIGHT weighted decling crunches.

-do chains of exercises back to back that target different parts of your core. You need to make sure each workout targets your upper abs, lower abs, obliques and highly overlooked, lower back and back. Too much ab work can upset your back if you're not careful.

Suggestions (my favorites)
jackhammers
oblique v-ups
horizontal leg raises
suspended leg raises (hanging from a pull up bar)
decline crunches
cross crunches
scissors
air bicycle
hip raises (bent or legs pointed straight up)
cable crunches
planks
cross body knee raises (hanging from a pull up bar)
Swiss ball crunches

try doing any 10 of these back to back (each 10-30 times depending on your level of fitness) for a minimum of 100 reps straight with about 30 seconds in between.

Standing cable curls or tricep extensions, squats, lunges, deadlifts really help develop your core in addition. Except for bench presses, I try to do all my exercises standing up to work my core and build my stability. There is no magic dust, no x-factor (shout out to lauren hill) it takes a multitude of things I discussed in 1-3 to make the whole. Exercise without eating right is like forming voltron with just one lion, however, you can maintain a very slim slender core without exercise just based on the foods you eat.


I wont recommend any workout programs bc quite frankly... nobody's paying me to and I doubt they'll cut me a check. I saved this gem for the end as a gift/treat for my loyal readers. A lot of ppl have the excuse "well I hate to get on the floor" and as do I. If you do it right and not cheat yourself, there are many ab workouts you can do on your bed, in a chair on a bench. Personally I do an intense workout right on my bed (granted my bed is firm, I do gym, and floor exercises as well) that is very affective.

Bottomline, you have to want it. I type this for myself (I need reminders too) and ppl who really want it. There is nooooooooooo and I repeat NO easy way to a nice slim core, let alone a 6 pack. Tony Horton has this quote which fully personifies my stance on core workout:
"I HATE IT!!! But I love it!!"

HOPE THIS TRILOGY HELPS SOMEBODY. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF IT DOES.

Staying Motivated in the Gym.......Part 2

Previously on My $0.02 -----------> Staying Motivated in the Gym....Part 1

And now....Part Deux:

Terron Andrews wrote
"Any advice on how to get my 6 Pack back? i play football 3 times a week im fit but just cant seem to get my 6 Pack back in shape."

My $0.02...............

The biggest oversight in fitness is that six-packs and weight loss occur in the KITCHEN, not the gym. This leads to the misconception that you can just pound a bunch of crunches and get a six pack. WRONG!!

Things you need to eat a lot of and a few tips. The following is for serious ppl with serious goals. Curious, feel free to proceed:

-NEVER EVER EVER EVER MISS BREAKFAST. Even if its just juice and something small to snack on, I don't care, DONT MISS BREAKFAST. Wanna know why? Try going 8 hours a day without anything to eat or drink. Now when you hit the 8 hr mark, see how much longer you can go without anything before you feel a certain ways. Most mornings I have a bowl of instant oatmeal and a mix up protein shake. However, any form of eggs in the morning is a good source of protein, ideally on some whole grain, multi-grain or whole wheat bread (white bread is the devil). Whole grain cereal and yogurts are good. Fruit. Switch it up. The same thing everyday is not healthy.....believe it or not.

-Instead of eating 3 times a day, eat 3 small meals and have 2-4 snacks throughout the day. Keep around a jar of trailmix, peanuts, almonds, fruits, baby carrots, yogurt, oatmeal....anything that's too small to be a meal but can satisfy hunger cravings (I'm a big fan of peanut butter). WHY? bc eating smaller meals more frequently speeds up your metabolism. People who are naturally slim have faster metabolisms. Who can speed up their metabolism? ANYONE!!! Isn't that goodnews?

-heres a key weightloss trick. EAT FROM SMALLER PLATES. WHY? Using a large plate subconsciously convinces your mind to eat WAY more than you need and compels you to finish gargantuan proportions far after you're already full. Eat when your hungry, stop when ur full.

-Eat lots of whole grain and whole wheat. WHY? They put your stomach and intestines to work and help to keep your system running "regular" and flush impurities.

- you need a high fiber diet lots of fruits and plenty vegetables. as a rule of thumb at least 1/3 of my plate for all meals has to be green. Works well for me.

-DRINK LOTS OF WATER!! WHY? Your body is 70% water.......... you think water is important? A gallon/ 8 glasses a day or more. coffee, tea, protein shakes count towards it. Not juices OR soda, which leads to my next point

-avoid drinking high caloric drinks.

-avoid sodas or any carbonated drinks

-HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP IS THE DEVIL. artificial sugars (sweet n low, splendor, etc) are even worse. they both have addictive agents and create a dependency. ever notice when you have one sweet you get cravings for more?

-Pay close attention to nutrition facts. even though they say "150 cal per serving" keep in mind the average bottle has 2-3 servings. You just subconsciously added 400+ calories to your meal.

-do not drink fluids 40 mins before or after meals (see previous point)...wait for the "why" after this next point.

- avoid cooking with and adding excess salt to your food (in conjunction with last point). salt absorbs fluids and causes water retention and bloating in your body. The problem with that water build up is you really have no control of that distribution or where that excess retained water weight goes. Now here's the part where someone says "well I dont really cook with salt"..... Well unless you live on a farm, don't season your food, and you don't live in America, damn near most foods have salt in it. Remember the big fuss about that whole slavery thing?

-drink at least 16 ounces of water first thing in the morning. imagine how you would feel if you worked 8 hrs straight with nothing to drink. Here's a tip, drink 16 ounces before bed and I promise you'll get up in the morning.......[giggity!]

-reduce foods high in carbs, sugar and fats. Even though your body needs these things, they can be detrimental to your physique in excess (key word so far is "excess")

-make sure you're getting a good amount of "GOOD FAT" omega-3, omega-6 typically in vegetables, peanuts, peanut butter, gel capsules, fish...etc.. lookitup. Good fat enriched with good cholesterol helps lower your BAD cholesterol. High cholesterol is not the problem, high BAD cholesterol is.

-avoid white bread, rice and potatoes. for some reason they bleach wheat and rice, which kills all nutritional content. Then most bread will add chemical nutrients (under the name of "enriched"). However, the temperature needed to bake bread kills the added nutrients thus canceling them out.

Here's a tough one even for me and one I admittedly struggled with.
You cant have a six pack if you drink large amounts of alcohol and beer. I Drastically decreased the amount i drink, but since I still DO on social occasions, this is what keeps me at a "5 pack" (4 on top and just one on the bottom). I've come to realize that the "Elusive 8 pack" is an anatomic variable and something you either have or don't. I know ppl who work way less on themselves and have 8 when at peak condition I have 6... but I havent given up yet.....and I digress...

Amongst other calamities such as calories, fats and sugars, alcohol dehydrates the body (a major cause of hangovers) and I hope we established how important water is to muscle, skin cells and everything on your body. Whats probably most detrimental is that alcohol slows down protein synthesis in the body and protein is the fundamental building block of muscle production, development and growth. When I went to Trinidad carnival last year, I ate and drank like a viking and I should show you guys a side by side comparison of my abs carnival tues morning compared to the end of the day... or worse, the next day lol!!

Tune in to the Climactic Trilogy Epic finale in.............Staying Motivated in the Gym..........Part 3

Why I hate Myspace Part 1

Ok, I just checked myspace for the first time in like..........months, and reminded myself of all the reasons why I hate going on there. Was about to write about it, but looks like i did that over a year ago. Some of these still stand and I have a few more. Until I compose my current thoughts, feed off of some 2007 'R.' Happy New year you all!!

Best Regards,

-R

p.s. 1 mont, 16 days 22 hours, 53 minutes, 10 seconds till carnival!!!!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

I finally come back and MYSPACE still sucks! Current mood: pissed off Category: Blogging ..>..> Those of you who know me, may notice I never leave comments, reply to messages or put html on your page. I've been on myspace for over 3 years now (give or take) and nothing seems to change except things just get worse and worse. Everytime I try to send a message, leave a comment, reply to a messsage, this annoying site crashes. After deletings all the friend requests from 73 "Webcam girl's," MC So n So, DJ Skratch n Sniff, Band #45,345,689.05, and declining invites from "My man's an nem" Promoters, I usually try respond to messages. If you haven't heard from me, please know that it's because I probably speant 5-10 minutes writing you a really nice letter/note and when I tried to send it my pc freezes or crashes and I get so annoyed I don't sign on for another two to three weeks or months. Typically it's one of these messages: "Sorry, we can't do that right now" "Sorry, you can't leave comment until the next quarter moon" "Sorry, our system is being hacked - I mean, we're doing maintance" "Sorry, you can't recieve pictures, see comments, press enter, use the delete key or adjust your top 24 until 3am pacific time. SIDENOTE! My friend is a designer and he took his work down bc he told me in the agreement (that none of us read and just clicked "accept") is says anything you post, you basically surrender the rightst and ownership to. Can someone confirm this? Am I the only one on this thing who's never been hacked? Why am I getting all these comments about "Male Medicine" (I'll leave it at that) ringtones and trips to disneyland from strangers and ppl I know? Don't they show the image that warns you, "Make sure when you re-login it has the myspace url at the top" It even points this out if you're paying attention. Sorry if I sound a little insensitive but the reason most ppl get hacked is bc they have 8 accounts online and use the same password and email for all of em dummy! Switch it up ppl if someone hacks your myspace and you have the same password and name for your email, checking, and credit card, you may be in trouble. Quit crying if you're not in my top list, I'm just too lazy/busy to change it all the time. 24 out of 900+ is a tough choice, give me a break! And after 3 years, I can't recognize half of you bc you change your name and your pic EVERYDAY!! You know how confusing that is? I have some great friends I met/found and I have no idea where they are anymore. You aint no car or anime character. How are ppl supposed to find you? Everyone one in the real world teases me about my name BUT YOU REMEMBER IT DONT YOU? DONT YOU? HA!! And it's been the same since I opened my account. AND FOR THE LAST TIME, I LIKE THE COLOR ORANGE, NOT THE FRUIT. THAT WOULD BE "GUY WHO LIKES ORANGES" LEARN TO READ. Stop asking, that joke got old 400 times ago. SIDENOTE: My user name btw has always been, is and forever will be "Guy who likes Orange" On the bright side, I'm thankful for all the ppl from highshool, junior high and other places that I've gotten in touch with. I'm thankful for all the ppl that I met on myspace that have become good friends to me. Keep in touch and thanks for listening to me vent my $0.02.......now let me copy this and save ithis before I hit "post," bc if I lose all this typing, I'll probably be so pissed, it'll be another month to a year before I attempt this horrible site again and then this will be longer and more MA-17. 1:03 AM - 5 Comments - 3 Kudos

Beware of bullshit dancehall reggae dancers online!

So I'm going through youtube today, one of my sources to stay up to date in dancehall reggae and other dances and tweak my techniques, and I come across this bs tutorial video. This dude is really thinking he's doing something....and he thinks it helps that he's wearing Jamaica apparel (despite not having a lick of an accent).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2PnN1-oZso&feature=related

For a real laugh, read the comments below the video.

This is just hilarious and sad. Hands down THE WORSE DANCE TUTORIAL EVER!!!! They are completely off! Not to mention any dancer will tell you you need to stay on your toes (whether hip hop, dancehall, tap, ballet, modern whatever) NOT YOUR HEALS! Unless you wanna break your ankles.

To see how the dance is really supposed to look (you'd think after 2 yrs ppl would have this down by now) check out this tutorial, or even better the Mr. Vegas video for the song about the kiss-me-ass dance. HMPH!!

Sidenote: If youtube is your only source for dancehall or any other dances, you'll always be at least 6-12 months behind. The average dancehall reggae song takes about 3 months to get to the US DJ's, about another 3 months for it to get big in the clubs or make it to radio... hence why radio is notorious for playing 6-12 month old reggae and calling it new music (and thats only big tunes bc the average reggae song takes 1-2 yrs to make it on the radio in the US). My suggestion, keep a host of Jamaican and dj's as friends. It's kind like having a Korean friend who sends you designer clothes from back home.

Beware of this fool. I'm sure he's probably an excellent dancer, but dude, know your genre and area of expertise, just as well as your area of suckspertise.

"Everyone can dance, but not everyone who dance is a dancer."

PEAK PERFORMANCE SEASON - gettin ready for Carnival!

Last year I became a health nut for a number of reasons: health concerns, a "medical situation," high cholesterol, hereditary traits, trips to Miami, Jamaica & Trinidad, 300 - just to name a few. I realized that I've been in my "Off Season" for too long and have fallen TERRIBLY out of shape (to each his own, everyone has their own standards). I lost a total of 15 lbs of body mass. Time to get back peak performance. Winter and Summer is the death of fitness to even the most die hard fitness junkies and gym rats. Everyone runs to the gym in the spring, but its harder to stay there when you'd rather be doing something out in the sun. And as the weather gets colder, unless the gym is in your job, school or building, it takes olympic gold medal discipline to keep it up............or really huge goals....

In less than three months I'll be going back to Trinidad to play mass in Carnival 2k9. There is no font nor exclamation in english, arabic, hebrew, mandarin or germaic that can express my level of excitement. I went last year and I must say it was arguably the BEST week of my life. I only say arguably bc I'm leaving some room for error in the event that I'm forgetting some super phenom that happened to have slipped my mind. I mean, sure graduation is ahsum.....weddings.....relationship things..... maybe for a day or two......BUT SUN!!!!! This whole backside week was just pure and unadulterated fun!

I mean seriously! (did I say that already...nope) Every single day was paradise and bliss. We ate like vikings on some of the most exotic tasty cuisines, drank until we were no longer capable of intoxication (btw, STAG- "A man's beer"- is the greatest beer ever brewed...and I loathe beer) , danced, partied and limed all day - "lime" is a West Indian term for "chill" but more carefree if you can imagine.

Here are a few tips for optimum fun if you go. Now I can't guarantee that everyone who goes will have as much a blast (although I can't imagine how you can possibly noz that up) but the key for me were the ppl we went down with. Nothing was planned until we got there, but we had two locals with us who knew where and what everything was (note to self....for optimum fun, travel with at least 2 locals who know the place, not just someone who lived there 8 yrs ago). Here was the basic planning process...."hey wanna do this? Sure why not? Aiigh, coo!" SEEMLESS!! (note to self.... for optimum fun, travel with drama free, attitude free easy-going ppl)

"OKAY. So Raphael, why is there a half nekked guy on your page lookin like a black ass spartan?"

EXCELLENT QUESTION LITTLE TIMMY!!!!

SO this is the costume of the section that I'm playing with with the band TRIBE!! The name of the section is "Pheasant" and this is the male costume....I'll post the female costume later for future motivation. So on Carnival Tuesday, I'll be jumping down the road dressed like this... but with shoes on.


Now last year I played with Tribe as well, in a section called "Black Magic"


<------------------------and this was the costume, photo courtesy of TRIBE. I made this my facebook profile on September 5th, and from that date I never missed a week in the gym for over a year. My goal was to TRUMP this dude's physique in the photo and look way sexier than he did. And that was a very good motivator, as I said in Staying Motivated in the Gym....Part 1,
"1: get a clear mental image of what you want your body to look like.."

.........but this year.............

I don't know if the ppl at TRIBE watched "300" as often as I did, but these models this year?............. Talk about dangling a carrot [PAUSE]. Looks like I got my work cut out for me this year, bc this dude has more lean and definition than mass......... Me grimlock need new strategy. I'm working on a plan to combat this. Stay tuned and I'll keep yall posted on my 90 day regimen.........