Just wondering.......

[basschick]

we had a tv, but my mom felt that 30 minutes of tv - 60 max - was enough of most days. and by god, it was!

i also love working when it's quiet, which is why i work on the web alone in my office in our apartment. even when the neighbors are noisy, i turn on a fan to help muffle them.

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i didn't have a tv growing up either. you're right, i think it makes a big difference.

[badgoodDeb]

Whew. Go on vacation and there is SO much to catch up with!

age 51
mental visual of self: 19. or see avatar.
cpap: yes, fairly recent
overhead fan at night, for air movement rather than noise
in a noisy environ, yes, fan at night
childhood reading: yes, was read too. Later, mom limited me to one book a day, and then I had to go outside to play.

@pshrynk: I envy you the weight loss. I'd feel 20-30 years younger if I could manage that too. Maybe I'll try that system. But I spose you have to not cheat. (Chocolate ...... fudgy brownies ..... etc etc )

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Whew. Go on vacation and there is SO much to catch up with!

age 51
mental visual of self: 19. or see avatar.
cpap: yes, fairly recent
overhead fan at night, for air movement rather than noise
in a noisy environ, yes, fan at night
childhood reading: yes, was read too. Later, mom limited me to one book a day, and then I had to go outside to play.

@pshrynk: I envy you the weight loss. I'd feel 20-30 years younger if I could manage that too. Maybe I'll try that system. But I spose you have to not cheat. (Chocolate ...... fudgy brownies ..... etc etc )

I'm a Nutrisystems evangalist. Easiest time I've ever had with weight loss and it is staying off, which is something of a miracle for me. They give you desserts that aren't bad. You learn a lot about protions. Give it a try!

[RickyMaveety]

I've been all over the board with my weight. When I was young (in my teens), I got as heavy as 185 (on a five foot seven frame). Then, at UCLA, I lost the weight and was around 120 for a long time. In my 30s I was under so much stress from work and school, that I became anorexic for about a year, and my weight dropped down to about 100 pounds.

After law school, my weight came back up to 115-120, and I was working out at the gym about 4 hours a day, three to four days a week. That was probably when I was in my best shape.

Then, I had a series of cancer surgeries, which didn't so much make it impossible for me to work out, but it knocked me off track .... so I stopped going to the gym as often. End result, I gained much of my weight back to the point that I hit about 160.

Lately, I've been dropping weight again. I have no idea what I weigh now. I simply know that I fit into my size 8 jeans again. My guess is that the amount of physical labor I do taking care of the animals (for example, I hike with the dogs every day, up and down hills, for about 2-3 miles) amounts to the same as a two hour workout each day.

That said ... this last time that I gained weight, I just said .... ok .... no more trying to figure out what fits and what doesn't. So, I found my favorite brand and cut of jeans .... I purchased 12 pair in each of 3 sizes .... 12 size 12, 12 size 10 and 12 size 8. As long as I fit in one of those sizes, I figure I'm good to go.

Best clothing investment I ever made.

[nekokami]

I don't know what I weigh at the moment. I was considered "thin" for most of my life, but probably not now. What I don't like is how hard it is to buy jeans now-- it's not so much my weight, but how it's distributed. But I've mostly switched to cargo pants and that seems to have solved the problem. Fortunately, nobody much cares what geeks wear to work, even in a business school.

I do need to build up my endurance again, though. I used to bike to school, 12 miles each way. I don't think I could manage it now, especially with New England hills. I'm trying to get back into shape this summer, but with the allergies it's been tough.

[RickyMaveety]

I hear you Nekochan. When I weighed about 100 pounds, I used to bike 30 miles or so from Glendale (California) to the beach and 30 miles back again every Sunday.

I could no more do that now than I could move the earth without a really long lever.

[badgoodDeb]

I starting walking a few months ago (... and I don't know WHERE I am, by now ... oops, wait, that's another joke). I'm up to a mile at a time, but I wish they would put more hours into each day. I can only find time to walk a few times a week. It *does* feel good to have my bod be more responsive to me. Wish I could retire and do nothing but read books (e or other), do hobbies (currently cross stitching but I switch hobbies every few months), and walk some more to exercise. Oh, and sleep maybe 10 hrs each day. See, that's why I don't think there are enough hours in each day. If I were independently wealthy, I could fit everything ELSE in!

[Elsi]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

do hobbies (currently cross stitching but I switch hobbies every few months),

Ah -- a kindred soul. I have observed that I can only sustain one passion at a time. I used to do a LOT of cross stitching, but when we moved to Texas and I had packed everything away, I got out of the habit. I broke my right wrist (I'm right-handed) and couldn't stitch for a while, even after unpacking my stuff. After the wrist healed, I tried to work on a couple of projects but was just "uncomfortable". I thought it was stiffness in my wrist, but came to find out later that the root problem was that I needed "reading" glasses. By the time I got my bifocals, I had taken up digital scrapbooking and that sustained me for a long time. Right now, I'm making eBooks from texts at Project Gutenberg. I am working on the Bobbsey Twins books and then I think I'll try the "Aunt Jane's Nieces" series by Edith Van Dyne (a pseudonym used by L. Frank Baum). The series was designed to appeal to the same audience as Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Little Men.

[Patricia]

I used to do a lot more needlework. But a house only needs a certain number of lace mats, cushions and embroidered tablecloths and I think I've reached saturation point, at least for a while. Making books is good because you can share them with others and clear out one's treeware books as well.

[Taylor514ce]

39.

A moving ceiling fan actually makes a room warmer. Motion = Heat. It's only the effect of air moving across skin that generates the sensation of coolness. I cannot stand being in a room with light breezes, as it aggravates/triggers facial pain with me (trigeminal neuralgia).

I also have very acute hearing, so either need a very quiet environment to work/read, or I need to have on headphones.

I like walks on the beach. I live nowhere near any beaches.

I've read forever, and like John Carter, have always been in my 30s, apparently. Oh, I know I was a child once, but was always the child thinking "sheesh, what a bunch of CHILDREN... I think I'll go play chess with Dad." Or, more often, "Sheesh, what a bunch of children. I shall rule them."

That said, I've spent most of my life trying to consciously recapture a "childlike" state of mind. I mean, really. It's a very powerful mind that can learn to walk, talk, read, and do magical things. I mean that... when I'm in that wonderful waking dream state, and my mind hovers around that state, I remember, truly remember, that when I was a boy I could fly.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

I've read forever, and like John Carter, have always been in my 30s, apparently. Oh, I know I was a child once, but was always the child thinking "sheesh, what a bunch of CHILDREN... I think I'll go play chess with Dad." Or, more often, "Sheesh, what a bunch of children. I shall rule them."

my favorite Chekhov quotation, which describes me pretty accurately (and apparently you as well) :

"In my childhood, I had no childhood."

(not that you would know it, now. but i'm actually more of a child now than i was when it would have been appropriate to my age.)

[nekokami]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

(not that you would know it, now. but i'm actually more of a child now than i was when it would have been appropriate to my age.)

I tell ya, we were twins separated at birth, Z-chan. Maybe you too, Planethead. (Apparently there was also a bit of time travel involved, and possibly some other mysterious high-tech. And someone named Vera....)

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

39.

A moving ceiling fan actually makes a room warmer. Motion = Heat. It's only the effect of air moving across skin that generates the sensation of coolness. I cannot stand being in a room with light breezes, as it aggravates/triggers facial pain with me (trigeminal neuralgia).

I also have very acute hearing, so either need a very quiet environment to work/read, or I need to have on headphones.

I like walks on the beach. I live nowhere near any beaches.

I've read forever, and like John Carter, have always been in my 30s, apparently. Oh, I know I was a child once, but was always the child thinking "sheesh, what a bunch of CHILDREN... I think I'll go play chess with Dad." Or, more often, "Sheesh, what a bunch of children. I shall rule them."

That said, I've spent most of my life trying to consciously recapture a "childlike" state of mind. I mean, really. It's a very powerful mind that can learn to walk, talk, read, and do magical things. I mean that... when I'm in that wonderful waking dream state, and my mind hovers around that state, I remember, truly remember, that when I was a boy I could fly.

Once again Taylor we are much alike.

I think sometimes I am a different sort of being. I think I was born 30, but with a really active imagination. So, while I really could not suffer children for the most part (most of what they did struck me as stupid and pointless ... and I'd rather go read, thank you very much), my mind, with the aid of books, could take me anywhere.

Then, when I was about 8 .... or close to 8 ... I started playing what I called "The Game." I played The Game whenever I was too scared to go to sleep, or later in life when stress would be a problem. What I later discovered is that The Game allowed me to retain a lot of memories from my childhood that I think would have been otherwise lost.

How to play The Game. First, you do your best to relax, and in your mind you go to another place. It has to be a place you've been before. Then, in your mind still ... you open your eyes. You don't "try" so much as you relax yourself until you can see with great detail what's in the scene before you. If it's a room, then note the color of the walls, the placement of the furniture and doors, color of the furniture. Focus on whatever wall you are facing (or whatever direction you are facing if you are outside) until you can picture that view perfectly, until you can walk up to a cabinet, open the cabinet door and actually see what's in there. Then, turn and do the next wall or view.

If there are people, then picture them and listen to what they are saying. But, do that after you have the room or the scene well in your mind.

Whenever I was just freaked as a kid, I would take myself to Disneyland ... go on the rides, and have a great time.

Much later in life, I fell during a race (snow ski) and injured my back pretty badly. In order to cope with the pain, the doctor put me in a bio-feedback program. The funny thing was, at my first session, the therapist was fairly blown away at how well I could do the drills he was putting me through. You know ... to make your hand hot and such.

I told him about The Game, and it turns out I'd been doing bio-feedback exercises for about 20 years without knowing it.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

my favorite Chekhov quotation, which describes me pretty accurately (and apparently you as well) :

"In my childhood, I had no childhood."

(not that you would know it, now. but i'm actually more of a child now than i was when it would have been appropriate to my age.)

Originally Posted by nekokami

I tell ya, we were twins separated at birth, Z-chan. Maybe you too, Planethead. (Apparently there was also a bit of time travel involved, and possibly some other mysterious high-tech. And someone named Vera....)

Ditto .... or thritto??

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by nekokami

I tell ya, we were twins separated at birth, Z-chan. Maybe you too, Planethead. (Apparently there was also a bit of time travel involved, and possibly some other mysterious high-tech. And someone named Vera....)

i always knew i had a lost twin somewhere. i'm glad it turned out to be you.