Tonight on the news when they covered the stuff going on in Libya, I was shocked by the uncensored, violent video and pictures they were showing, most of it featuring bloody bodies, some without limbs.  What happened to the age when we wouldn't show the bodies?  I know a lot of people are desensitized to violence and seeing images of the real deal doesn't register as a true fatality, a life being snuffed out, but for those of us who are still sensitive to stuff like that - it's shocking and disturbing.  I don't care why these people were killed, it's still the end of a life and it's SAD.  It's upsetting, and it doesn't make me want to stay tuned.  It makes me want to turn the tv off or go to another channel.

It's officially the weekend.  Woohoo!

Now what to do with myself?

I've been busy.  If you keep track of my writer's blog, you've seen some of my current events blogs about writing or things surrounding writing and books, and my series on world building that's wrapping up this weekend.  I've also been writing and reading like crazy.

And then there's the book buying! Dear ohEMgee!  Borders has gotten its chunk from my hide.  I'm doing a recap of books I've bough on my website Saturday, but I bought like $200 worth of books for a little under $100.  A lot of money, but I'm excited about a lot of what I was able to pick up for a little discount.

I haven't talked about my teeth a whole lot since last weekend.  I had ten days to get through with those capsules in my mouth.  Last weekend they really started to irritate me, but as of Monday they're all gone.  I've also had a lot healthier gums and less swelling and bleeding.  TMI?  Maybe, but that was the goal of having the procedure done in the beginning.

Last week I started belly dancing up again, spurred on by two friends who showed interest in joining me.  We're working on a slightly Indian routine that's kicking my booty.  I can do the steps, I think I have the sequence down, but I can't do the dang thing for a solid hour.  It's been exhausting, but lots and lots of fun!

This weekend I'm going to do a deep clean of the apartment and make an appointment with my plumber to fix my washer.  I'm also going to put my dining set on Craigslist.  I'm not quite ready to do that to my Chinchillas yet.  I'm thinking about it, but not there.  I'm also going to be away doing writing things.  I'm not going to DFWCon, which is this weekend.  At $300 I couldn't afford it, so I'm looking at FenCon in the fall instead.  We'll see!

Well, it's Friday, and I want to do something selfishly indulgent, like watch a movie or some more Paranormal State.  Dude, PS is research!

Well, not really.  Sort of.  I'm blogging because um, I seem to have the bug right now and I haven't blogged about my attempt to lose weight recently.  I switched over to using LoseIt.com because it does a better job of tracking calories and stuff than I do, it's also not as time consuming.  What is difficult is not being able to tally up the fat grams.

Right now I eat around 1,200 calories a day, on averate.  Technically I'm "allowed" 1,800 and on some days I do.  Must most I don't.  Most days I don't even consume all of my alloted fat grams per day.

I've gone back to belly dancing, once a week.

I do half hour walks fairly often.  I can read and walk which is helpful.

And I've only succeeded in losing a very small amount of weight.  It's not even worth saying.  It's depressing.  So, I'm thinking that in the coming weeks I should do a few things.

1. Cut back on Dr Pepper.  Not cut it out, but cutting back.  I'm transitioning from drinking a full can, to one of those 100 calorie cans.  Smaller portion, still get a little caffine kick in my day.
2. Carbs.  I have a suspicion that this is a big culprit in my life.  I eat oatmeal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and then there's dinner which is sometimes just a repeat of lunch.  That's a lot of carbs.  And this last week was like a carb induced coma between the bagels, pizza and donuts.
3. Try to exercise more.  More walking, which will mean more reading, but I'm okay with that.

If I don't see an improvement after a month, I think I'm going to go see the doctor I saw when I hurt my hand.  Maybe I've developed allergies to something or some other really weird something that's preventing me from losing even a little bit more weight.

Dispite my ability as a blogger to say anything of real worth here, it seems that I have quite a large audience.  I'm going to play with the stats of my blog here a bit, because really this is kinda fun.  I've heard that blogger's stats aren't very honest, so when I lay some of these numbers down, please take them with a grain of salt.  I don't think my innane ramblings are anywhere near this fascinating.  How can they be?

I've had Cid Bloggity Blogs since September of 2009, when I started it as a weightloss blog.  I failed miserably.  Now, as Shona pointed out, this is my 'cocktail blog' and I talk about - whatever.

To date I have had 5,700 views.
These viewers come from mostly 10 different countries.
The most surprising country my viewers come from? South Korea.
Most of my referrals come from a water filtration site that I've never heard of.

My most popular post was on Dr. Who's Angels. It's had almost 700 views.

The keywords people use to land here the most are:

• avatar the last airbender movie 2; avatar last airbender character names; avatar the last airbender 2 movie
• blogger
• dr who angels
• cid(s) blog
• "eric james stone"

So thank you Dr Who and Avatar for plenty of random views.

I go through waves of blogging, I know.  But thanks to everyone who has stuck with me, especially those of you in far flung countries I wouldn't have expected.

I've been looking around my apartment, weighing staying or moving in the summer.  My lease is up in late July or early August and I need to start making decisions.  I think that with everything else going on this year, I should stay another year so long as rent does not increase.  I'm not crazy about the new payment system, which is a tangled web of problems on the best day and a complete wreck on the worst.  I would prefer that the gates, ya know, CLOSE.  But the apartment is comfortable, I like the layout.  And lastly - it's expensive moving.  Movers cost hundreds of dollars and because I was an idiot and bought huge funiture when I moved out on my own I've kind of sealed my fate where movers are concerned.

So I'm evaluating what I have, what I do, and what could make me happier.

And I start thinking about happiness, and I wonder if my Chinchillas are happy.  And now I get worried.  I'm not at home as much as I was when I got them.  I've steadily become more and more busy.  I no longer spend time each day feeding them raisins or scratching their little ears.  My Chinchillas aren't incredibly social, they're rather shy and perfectly happy just coexsisting in the same room with you, but that doesn't mean they don't feel my lack of presence.  I've begun to think that I should re-home them.  Find a person or a family who would take care of them and love them.  My Chinchillas are a little older, 7 and 5 if I remember correctly, so they are not breeding animals.  They're also attached to one another.  Both of those factors make it a little more difficult to find them a new home.  I'm moving very slowly on this idea.  But, if you're interested in them, shoot me an email at [ mailto:cidsound@gmail.com ] and we can talk.  I'm not looking to make money off of the rehoming, it's more about finding them the right home.

With that in mind I started to look at the rest of my furniture. 

• Bookshelves are a must. 
• The entertainment set has been taken over by more books, which is fine.  It looks quite nice with all those books on it. 
• I'm still very much in love with my overstuffed leather couches. 
• The ottomen are new additions, but hold all of my knitting stuff. 
• The old coffee table is now a side table for the couch and I've discovered its presence is quite necessary.
• The dining set..... has become a repository for 'stuff'.

The dining set could really go.  I wasn't thinking functionality when I bought it.  I thought 'dude, that's a seriously stylish and cool set' and it was mine.  I didn't think about how the height of the chairs would make it uncomfortable to sit there for longer than an hour.  When I lived at the apartments before the one I'm in now, I had people over for dinner all the time.  I haven't done that in ages, and really, my current friends would just as soon eat sitting on the couches, laptops in our laps or knitting in hand.  So I'm thinking I'll get rid of the dining set and use the money to purchase a lower table and a nice desk chair.  I'm looking at Ikea stuff, so for maybe $150 I could set up an L shaped work area and have a nice chair for writing.

My problem here is that Craigslist seems to be the only really useful place for something like this, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this.  I live alone.  People coming over to look at my furniture makes me nervous since I no longer know my neighbors.  I'm not sure how to get around this problem, but I'm thinking about it.  Suggestions anyone?

As someone on Facebook said, this is like my cocktail party blog, and today I want to do a little venting and a little lecturing.  I've had an interesting two or three weeks.  This blog post isn't the response to any one instance, but many in several different situations with more than one group of people.  So if you're reading this and you think I'm talking about you - I'm probably not, but your conscience is probably trying to tell you something.

Growing up, manners were imparted to me through many different avenues of experience, but none more so than my personal code of consideration.  My parents taught me to be polite, say yes ma'am and no sir, get your guests a drink and never ever touch a man's hat without permission.  My horses taught me to respect personal space because not everyone wants to be touched all the time.  My friends taught me to share like I wanted them to share with me.  And somewhere along the way my Code of Consideration was born.  I realized somewhere in life that I liked when people were considerate of my feelings, wants and desires and that I should do the same in return.

However, it seems like more and more people don't even attempt to be polite.  I know I'm a colorful individual, by just being myself I spark controversy with my hair, or my jewelry, or my lifestyle, or my beliefs.  I accept this.  I've posted before that I just can't be any other way than the way I am.  I tried to be something else for a long time in life and failed. 

I like who I am, and I'm offended when people think I should change something about myself because they think it should be so.  Are there aspects of myself that could be changed for the better?  Sure, but that doesn't mean you have to point out the fact that I am technically overweight by medical definition according to my BMI.  Before you do that, would you stop to consider that I once had a very serious eating disorder?

Thumper probably said it best when he said, "If you can't say something nice... don't say nothing at all."

Okay, if you're single, even if you aren't a Christian, some of this will make you laugh.  Micah turned me on to stuffchristianslike.com and I couldn't resist filling out the score card.  I'm bolding the questions that apply to me, and adding my own answers below them.  You'll figure it out.  You're smart!  Now, I haven't gone to church regularly for a while, so I'm basing this off of the last church I was a member of.

The Surviving Church as a Single Scorecard

1. Your church doesn’t have a singles ministry. = + 1 point

2. Your church has a singles ministry but it’s combined with the college ministry which creates opportunities for conversations like this:

Student: “My roommate bought a microwave for our dorm room. I love being a Freshman!”

Single: “My 401K is underperforming.” = +2 points

3. Your church has a singles ministry but it’s a triad that combines college, single adults and divorce recovery. = + 3 points

4. Your church has a singles ministry but it’s the dreaded quad, combining college, single adults, divorce recovery and retired widowers that refuse to move to Florida. = +4 points

The last church I was an active member of, had a huge singles ministry.  The main singles events were open to anyone who was basically over the age of 18, and single.  That's it.  Granted, there were supplimental groups, but when you went to the meetings they covered everything from moving into your new dorm to living on your own and organizing home care.

5. Someone pays you the world’s most backhanded compliment, “I just don’t understand how someone as great as you isn’t married yet.” = +1 point

How do you reply to that?  Like seriously!  "Yeah, me neither."  I can't count the number of times someone has said this to me.  The times that really sucked - when it was a fairly nice guy friend that I could have possibly have dated, were he not affraid of me.  I seem to inspire terror in the male sex.

6. Someone told you, “If you stop looking for love you’ll find it.” 2 points for each time you’ve heard that.

I didn't know I was looking for it....

7. At church, people give you weird looks if you refuse to sit in the “singles” section of the sanctuary. = +1 point

Because I can't have lots of friends, and even *gasp* ones who aren't single?

8. When people introduce you, they say, “This is Matt, my single friend.” = +2 points

"Hi, I'm Cid and make boys cry." I think that would be a much more effective way of introducing myself. I establish the fact that if you're easy to intimidate, I will scare you, and later on we could mention the fact that I'm also single!

9. When people introduce you they feel compelled to list out your accomplishments, “This is Sally, my single friend who owns her own home, drives a luxury sedan and has a very, very stable job.” = +3 points

Usually the first thing people mention is the tattoos and roller derby, then the rest...

10. Your friends that have been married for 15 minutes act like they suddenly don’t remember anything about dating and therefore can’t give you any advice. “It’s been so long since I dated, things have changed so much. I’m just out of that whole scene.” + 2 points

I don't ask for advice, so this really doesn't apply to me.

11. People are constantly volunteering you for things because, “you’re single, you’ve got so much free time.” = +1 point

I'm always - always - busy.  This seems to just shock a lot of people.  I don't understand this reaction.

12. People at church act a little surprised when they ask you, “How are you doing?” and you respond with, “Things are great right now. I love my life!” = +1 point

Yeah, as if my life cannot be fulfiling without a partner.  I'm busy!  I don't always need someone to take care of on top of what I'm doing - and having fun!

13. Married friends try to live vicariously through you, asking questions like, “What did you do this weekend? Road trip? I bet you went on some crazy cool, singles road trip, right?” = +2 points

Yeah, okay, granted I am the type who would and will take crazy road trips, but it doesn't mean it's a singles adventure.  Maybe I'm going to a convention or something, huh?  But there are a lot of weekends I stay at home - writing.  People give me really crazy looks when I say that, but it's the truth!

14. Someone you just met for the first time said a sentence like this to you, “If you want to get married, you need to ______.” = +2 points

I was once told that if I wanted to get married, I needed to lose weight, get the tattoos removed and then I tuned them out.  I was shocked.  I think I wanted to do bodily harm to the person.

15. Whenever married friends call you at noon on a Saturday, they start the conversation by saying, “Did I just wake you up?” = +3 points

Okay, with this one it's my own fault. I regularly sleep late on the weekends!

16. You assume that if you don’t get engaged by final exams of your senior year in college you’ll never get married. = -2 points

I had a professor in college who told me this.  I was in my senior semester, dealing with some really bad issues thanks to a guy who decided punching me in the face was a great idea, and then I heard this.  For that whole last semester of college I thought about this, and I let the fear that she was right sink in.  I don't believe it any more, but for a while I did.

17. You’ve secretly always wanted your own cat but are afraid that ownership of a single kitten will become some sort of gateway drug to becoming “the cat lady.” = – 2 points

18. You’ve ever given an impassioned, enraged monologue on the injustice that men who are single get to age gracefully and be considered “bachelors” while women are instantly judged as “crazy cat ladies.” = – 3 points

I think I have done this - because it's true!  Men are allowed to age and stay single and noone really cares.  But if a woman wants the same thing, there must be something wrong with her!

19. You’ve got a “don’t perpetuate the cat lady stereotype,” monologue locked and loaded at all times and have already stopped reading this post so you can put it in the comments section. = – 5 points

20. Someone has quoted the “it’s not good for man to be alone” Bible verse to you. = +2 points.

Are we sure that verse is talking about being married?  Can't it talk about, like, walking to your car in the middle of night in downtown or something?

21. When friends invite you to their church they start the invite by listing both the quantity and hotness of the singles that go there. = +1 point

Yes, I feel sorry for the people I'm introduced because they get that deer-in-the-headlights look.  Quick, your on the spot, make yourself look good!

22. That friend was named Jon Acuff and he said, “No one in Atlanta should ever involuntarily remain single with so many awesome single people at North Point Community Church.” (I’ve said this a lot. My bad.) = + 3 points

23. Your married friends tip toe around you during February because they think you’re too delicate to handle the completely made up holiday, Valentine’s Day. = +1 point

I don't usually even remember Valentine's Day exsists.  Most of the time it arrives, and I'm clueless until the day of.  In college I avoided going to the caffeteria on V-Day because they made such a huge deal out of it, and that was awkward, but usually I don't care!

24. You are too delicate to handle Valentine’s Day and have been known to describe it with a rich tapestry of words no Christian should even know exist, never mind actually say out loud. = + 1 point

25. The person that leads the singles ministry at your church got married in 1964. = +10 points for each decade they’ve been married.

26. Someone told you, “Maybe you need to focus on being more like a Proverbs 31 woman.” = 2 points for each time it wasn’t sincere encouragement.

To the people who have every suggested this.... HAVE YOU READ PROVERBS 31??  You can BE that person - without being married.  And I think that a "Proverbs 31 Woman" is the kind who could also be very happy on her own, ya know, taking care of the 101 businesses she starts and all her crafty adventures and stuff.  Just saying. 

27. You didn’t know you were supposed to be unhappy as a single adult until you went to church and found the singles ministry to be akin to a support group. = +3 points

Yeah! I sort of like my single life.  I can do whatever I want! Why am I supposed to be upset about this?

28. Upon hearing that you went on a first date with someone, your single friends at church stop inviting you to the single events because “you’re in a relationship already.” = +2 points


29. Upon hearing that you went on two dates, your married friends at church start telling you, “I’ll be praying that this is the one!” = + 3 points

I tend to date guys who don't fear commitment, they're also the kind of guys who state early on where they see the relationship going.  I, however, like to take things easy and not too serious in the beginning.  Friends, or even the guy, saying things like that - or mentioning the M or K words (Marriage, Kids) freaks me out.  I feel like they're tightening the noose already.  Um, do we have to already?

30. Your best friend of 15 years gets married and then suddenly acts like a magical gap has opened up between you and decides that until you get married too you can’t be close again because you just don’t understand each other anymore. = +3 points

This royally sucks. I hate that this happens.  I don't understand it, especially when we were all friends before they got married, but it keeps happening.

31. To justify giving a four week marriage sermon series to a congregation that is 60% single, the pastor throws out one blanket statement like this at the beginning of the series, “And you single people listen up to this too, this well serve you well when you get married too.” = +2 points

The trick of preaching directly to one group of the congregation and hitting the othes with stuff they didn't know they need to know, only works so many times, and after a while it gets old or we resent it.

32. You set your alarm to “not going to church today” after the first week of the marriage sermon series. = – 2 points

Whoopse....

33. The only time your married friends invite you over is when they need a babysitter. = +3 points

We've already stopped hanging out because I'm single, so they don't ask me over to watch the kids.

34. Someone throws the “Paul was never married” card on you. = +2 points

Wow, REALLY? Like, never??  I NEVER heard that before!

o__o

35. Friends assume that the only qualification that matters to you when it comes to finding a date is that she’s available and set you up with people you have nothing in common with. = +2 points

The paint has been more interesting at times....

36. You’ve ever said the rhyme, “I’m a bachelor til’ the rapture.” = – 1 point

37. During a prayer at church celebrating wedding anniversaries, the person praying says a special prayer for all the people that are still single and lonely. (True story) = +1 point

*sigh*  Again?  Can't we just remember that I'm happy this way?

38. You have a friend that feels like creating a dating profile on eHarmony is a sign that you might not be trusting God enough to provide a soul mate. = + 1 point

Because you can ONLY meet someone at church...

39. You’ve developed highly sensitive, “They’re about to throw the bouquet” radar and know exactly when to leave a wedding. = +2 points

HAAHAA!! OMG YES!! I usually find a reason I really have to go put on more lipstick, or pee, or fluff my hair.....

40. Instead of saying that you’re “single” your friends describe you as “Not married yet.” = +2 points

Okay, most of this was for fun, but seriously - it's how it is in a lot of circles, not just Christians.  My score was: 40somehing

I've twittered and facebooked about this a little, and people keep asking me what's going on - so I'm writing this blog post!

In case you didn't know, and most people don't, my front six top teeth are fake.  They've been fake since I was in high school.  I had braces, which straightened my teeth quite nicely, but also tore off the enamel on my teeth when they came off.  I went to Russia for the summer, and came back to my teeth practically falling out of my mouth.  This was not good, so they did what's called a facial composite.  It's a porous kind of filling material that gave me my faux teeth.  The problem is that the composite facials age, yellow, chip and wear poorly making me look like either a lifetime smoker or someone who has a coffee mug attached to my hand - and neither are true!

I have always been sensitive about my teeth, self conscious that they aren't white and that I have teeth smaller than most kids.  I've always known that I would eventually have to have something else done, something more permanent.

Starting in February, we're doing a whole process of cutting and molding and implanting.  This last week I had the first phase done.  It was an invasive type of cleaning.  I've always had sensitive gums that bleed easily.  In order to get the porcaline teeth I need to get them in as good of shape as we can.  So they went in and cut out two possible infection areas and then there has been between 15 and 20 very tiny antibiotic capsules injected under the surface of my gums.

It's painful.  The capsules are small and designed to release antibiotics into my system slowly over two weeks time, but it still hurts and I haven't been able to eat anything but soup since Friday.

I'll be going back in six weeks to do another cleaning and evaluation of my gums.  At that point we'll start thinking about taking molds of my teeth, looking at what finish to put on my porcaline teeth and working towards doing the actual impants.

So there you go!  That's what I'm up to with my teeth, it's semi painful, but in the end it'll be worth it, right? I hope so!

Okay, so I'm just going to admit that I'm failing at blogging here.  It's hard enough for me to keep up with writing, the review site, and my writing blog.  This one is more for me to ramble on, so I'm just posting this so it's official - I may or may not post here as I so wish. 

And, I  moved my writing blog to another wordpress.  Now it's http://cidtyer.wordpress.com/

So that's it!