Shrinking Zeriel Project:

208lbs Trend, 205.6lbs on the scale.

In other words, in just over 10 weeks, I've dropped nearly 35 lbs. ...go me. =)

Shrinking Zeriel Project: 224.8lbs trend, 220.6lbs on the scale. Go me.

Election: Concessions and no Florida crap this time. Maturity returns in some small measure. Go Kerry. Here's hoping Bush does SOMETHING to make the part of me that's Republican happy (hint, PNAC hegemony crap ain't it, and neither is fiscal irresponsibility).

Election, again: I've been branding people around me as suffering from "raving liberal/conservative syndrome". Do you suffer from the following symptoms?

• Emotional reaction of comparable strength to the birth of your child or the death of your mother, with regards to the election results.
• Inability to discuss members of the opposite party (or of both major parties) without the use of ad-hominem attacks.
• Desire to leave the country with no plan and no job waiting for you OR desire to fund the people in the first part of this question.
• Desire to see [Dick Cheney|Hillary Clinton] on the ballot in 2008.
• Disappointment that Kerry conceded instead of turning Florida into a 2000-esque fight because [he'd probably win|we could REALLY make fun of them lib'rals then.]
• Desire to make every conversation you partake in today cover the election in some way.

If you answered yes to any of the previous symptoms, you almost certianly suffer from raving conservative/liberal syndrome (RCLS). Please smack your head on your desk repeatedly until the symptoms recede or you lose consciousness and stop ranting at Zeriel how all Bush voters are clearly brain-damaged. Yes, this means you, my office-mate.

Oh, yeah. Set my AC modifier to -5 and browse my journal at 0.

Some guys just can't handle getting trolled, I guess.

By the way...GNAA is still the worst trolling group on slashdot today. Y'all need to take a cue from Trolling4Dollars, the_mad_poster, and other masters of the art.

The "You have 458 new messages" thing at the top of the slashdot mainpage made me giggle, at least.

Warning, this journal is full of vitriol I've accumulated today between windows upgrades, so if you're unaccustomed to angry Zeriel and would rather not see it, close the browser. Really.

Thing one: People who don't understand firearms and melee combat and the relationship between the two.
I saw a bunch of people bitching today about some police shootings where cops were being criticized for shooting melee-armed (knives and clubs) assailants who were 20ft away.
People. If you've ever taken a serious tactical pistol course, you know that 20ft is considered the absolute closest you can let someone with a knife get to you before he has a credible chance of knifing you before you shoot him. That's just fact. The qualifier for "expert pistol" is 21ft, starting from holstered pistol. Now, most cops in this situation aren't draw-and-firing, but they likely aren't expert-rated marksmen either.

Thing two: My fucking whore of an ex-girlfriend, who, in addition to telling everyone she knows that I'm a rapist and she isn't pressing charges because "she doesn't want to get dragged through the mud by [Zeriel's] lawyer" (ha ha, bitch, you mean the detective who we both gave statements to told you that you had a 0% chance of getting the DA to attempt to prosecute on such a bullshit accusation), has now just disbanded the acapella group I helped create--after running me out of it--for no good reason whatsoever aside from "she's sick of doing it". Bravo, you stupid cockpunch, screw it up for everyone just to get one more tiny cut in my side.

Thing three: Take a compliment, people. If you ask me to read your writing (this one goes out to you, my fiancee), especially when said writing IS PUBLISHED IN A MAJOR REGIONAL MAGAZINE, do not then say "oh, not really, it's not great" when I tell you I like the two pieces you did.

That's all my vitriol for the week.

BTW, Diet Day whatever (19?): 230.1lbs. Go me.

Annoyance is when a machine pages due to full hard disk at 2:30AM.

Irritation is when a second machine pages due to full hard drive at 4:45AM.

Anger is when a third machine crashes utterly at 6:15AM, and said machine is the main processing machine for the main revenue-generating business unit, and it can't be remote-rebooted so you have to go in to work to kick it.

Seething anger is when you subsequently have to go in to work at 8AM anyway because your boss can't concieve of not having a sysadmin in the building for a few hours during the workday.

Rage is when the office is subsequently out of hot chocolate, and there's nothing but cheap decaf coffee and donuts your diet won't let you have.

Incoherent rage is when the guys leave for lunch without getting a pickup order from you, despite knowing that with the other sysadmin away, it's policy that I'm not allowed to leave the building even for lunch during my shift.

Blind, fearsome, total hatred is when the development team blithely returns the Visual C++ CD that's been the one black spot on your software license audit for EIGHTEEN MONTHS, after claiming all this time they were clueless as to it's location, when it was apparently sitting in the CD drive of the dev server they don't let IT touch.

Now someone hosed their Windows XP machine and they want me to nuke the OS from orbit to be sure it's fixed, despite the fact that it's broken because they insisted on not letting me handle the install the first time around.

I'm going to be getting the sledgehammer out of the maintenance closet very damn soon now.

ASZP Day 22: 231.3lbs Go me.

Damn cheese fries at the bowling alley last night, but for you I mighta hit 231 today.

Oh willpower, why do you desert me when Ryan and Jeff order fries?
-----
I left a comment on religion on Sol's journal here, and there are a lot of other interesting responses from other people.

Gets one to think about their beliefs a bit, seeing the answers a cross-section of relatively smart and creative people have.

I can never shake the feeling that no one ever sees the whole picture, and there are so many different ways to approach the divine.
-----
Yeah, so I hear a lot about people chatting on IM and exchanging e-mails and such. And y'all are pretty cool people, so I want in. *grins* You can see my e-mail address, and my IM name is JYRamius (registered it for an online RPG in 1995 and it stuck. Hard.)

There's at least one or two of you that I need to give my phone number to, one because I told you you could call me if you needed someone to talk to, and one because I live in the same town and we need to go grab a beer or something.

Day 15: 234lbs.

This in spite of massive quantities of indian food (little hole in the wall called Marsala, best in town) and to-die-for ice cream (Abm0raz, I realize I'm behind the times, but on the off chance you're further behind than I am, get yer ass to the Cold Stone Creamery if you haven't already--it's next to Quizno's on Beaver.)

I felt bad at the restaurant, because I only ate about a third of the food that I ordered, due to diet, and the waiter asked if anything was wrong. I assured him that it was great, and that I wanted a box to take the rest home.

So then, the cook came out, and asked if it was all right. *sighs* J and I were the only people in the place, I guess he must have thought he was going to lose business since neither of us ate the whole serving (it would have been hard--on top of the pile of chicken curry and rice I had, we ordered a 12-piece basket of assorted naan flatbread that's served six people in the past when we went there with friends), and it took me about five minutes to explain we were on diets, and they were the best indian place in town, and we always go there when we want indian food.

So the ice cream. There's this place called Cold Stone Creamery, and I dunno if it's a franchise or what (I think it is), but the basic deal is you go there, and you pick your flavor of ice cream (which they make on-site, so they say), and then you pick the toppings or whatever you want mixed in, and then they mix it in by hand and blend it until it's smooth, and give it to you (with optional waffle cone). It's like custom ben-and-jerrys. Pricey, admittedly. but very well worth it. The atmosphere was good, too, the employees seemed to be having fun (more than yer average counter person in essentially a fast food place), although it was explained to me that if we tried the completed mixture and it wasn't exactly to our liking, we could start over at no charge. It was further explained that the employees got to eat the mistakes. =)

So that was my exciting weekend of both food and dieting. Peace.

Diet Day 11: 235lbs. Two pounds a week is my goal weight loss rate, so I'm feelin' fine.

The every-day-15min-of-sweating exercise program is making me feel much better, too.

And I'm not hungry anymore. This despite eating as little as 1000kCal in a day, I'm not hungry.

It's both weird and supremely cool, given my previous intake.

--- *** --- *** --- *** ---

On the job front, a literally perfect job just opened up for me.

• At the nearby university, which I love dearly with all my blue-and-white heart (even as I hate some of the administrators. =P)
• Cisco networking gear, edge routing--my long-term chosen career path.
• BS, two years experience, CCNA preferred-but-not-required--Got the first two, working on the third and expect to be done in two months at the most.
• Some travel but not much, and only overnights--I like being alone, occasionally, and I hope the overnight frequency will help with that.

So I applied, so cross your fingers and knock on wood for me. And if anyone reading this works for ITS at Penn State in the edge router department, let me know so I can tell you who to put a good word in for. =)

--- *** --- *** --- *** ---

If anyone plays Final Fantasy XI here, and is on the Diabolos server (or wants to be!), let me know. I'm always on the lookout for new companions who don't suck--games like FFXI prove the fact that there are lots and lots of people who are just not any good at gaming, judging by the population of people stuck in the 10-18 level range who roam over the one good xp area for that level range like really stupid zombies, making random xp parties a life-or-death coin toss.

I am dieting.

Trying to lose weight without losing muscle mass--I weigh ~240lbs at present, and I'm 6'0". I'd really prefer to get myself down to ~190-200, which is more than I was in high school, but I could deadlift 150lbs then and I can deadlift 350lbs now, so I'm hoping the muscles will stay on even when the pounds come off.

I'm not doing any fancy diet plans other than "don't be stupid." I'm using the basic methodology of The Hacker's Diet, but I'm not counting calories except as differential calories--i.e., I'm tracking my weight and extrapolating calorie excess/deficit from that.

So far, it's working pretty well, in that I'm in constant calorie deficit, but I'm not terribly hungry all the time. I'm exercising a bit every day, too.

I hope this'll go fast. In general, I'm a damnably hefty eater--I can eat 4500ish calories a day and not feel stuffed, and I have been (sadly enough). I've dropped almost 500 calories from my daily intake just by forgoing the three little bags of chips I eat at work every day.

Wish me luck. I'll post progress reports here every so often, so you folks can help keep me honest. =)

Current State: Diet day 4. 237lbs.

Johndii asked the question here. Sol answered it, and brought it onto my radar.

I. I am the Lord your Zeriel. You will have no other Zeriels before me. Or after me. Or between me. Insert other prepositions as appropriate.

II. Thou hast been gifted with intelligence, so that thou are not like the animals. Thou shalt be expected to use thine intellect, and plan for the future of your world, not be as the animal and eat and shite thyself from plenty into starvation.

III. Thou shalt reject instinct and inanity, and strive to master your emotions and desires. Sharpen the edge of your intellect, for sleepwalking through life is an insult to Me.

IV. Neglect not thy emotions, but master them and turn them to good ends.

V. Be good to one another and to anything that shows you care. Anyone not capable of treating other humans as themselves will be lowered to the rank of "food animal" and treated appropriately.

VI. Abandon all jealousy, greed, and rage. These are base and unfit for My people.

VII. Abandon, too, all outdated and irrelevant moral values. Your sole rule shall be "do no harm to another".

VIII. Sacrifice your dead technology to Me, by recycling it to serve the next generation. As you walk a circle of life, so should your creations.

IX. Worship Me not in closed spaces or isolated shrines. Worship Me wherever you are moved to joy, whenever you are moved to love, however you are moved to express thanks.

X. Remember, We create and destroy together, Me and you. You share some of the divine essence each time something not-yet-seen is produced by your hands and minds. Creation and sharing are the highest forms of worship. You mock the divine essence each time you destroy something, hide something, or hoard something unique for no other reason than to have it, when someone else could use it for loftier goals.

Jeanne. How do you pronounce it?

My mom (who happens to wear that name well) says "JEE-NEE". The NWS and most people I hear talking about the hurricane say "JEAN".

Opinions?

" [I do not] look on any religion as a "super religion" or advocate any one world religion. Just as I would expect doctors to prescribe different remedies for different illnesses, different spiritual needs require different spiritual remedies."

And he's a smart kid, for 22. Anyway, we were talking about politics and how so many people seemed to have hugely well-thought-out stock arguements for their particular planks, and he comes out with this gem, which I'm going to use liberally on intelligent/well-spoken bigots from now on:

"An individual's ability to articulate his ignorance does not validate his point."

This applies particularly to the anti-gay-marriage crowd on Slashdot--reading OnLawn made me think of it. 'Cause when it comes down to it, most of the arguements I hear against gay marriage involve the issue of childbirth (well, my fiance and I probably shouldn't get married then, we don't want kids right now or maybe ever) and "rightness".

Y'know, this is gonna turn into a polemic, but I'm going to keep it brief. Fuck "god". I connect with the divine on a regular basis (thank god for experiential (like Buddhism/Zen, as opposed to prescriptive (like Judaism/Christianity/Islam) religions) and I don't feel any particular wrongness with homosexuality, or any problems with homosexuals getting the bennies of marriage without the possibility of childbirth -- just like LOTS of hetero married couples.

Just remember. God hates shrimp, and menstruating women are unclean. It's in the bible, after all.

eXpressive: 4/10
Practical: 9/10
Physical: 3/10
Giver: 5/10

You are a RPIT--Reserved Practical Intellectual Taker. This makes you a Love Geek.

Heh heh -- you love geek! You are weirdly sexy. It doesn't take people a long time to get to know you, but people *think* it takes a long time, because you are as cool and regulated after a year as you are on a first meeting. You don't tend to date casually -- you just suddenly find yourself in long term relationships.

Your approach to conflict is your greatest asset -- it complements almost every other type. You don't express yourself or your feelings in dramatic terms, but you will speak up to those who do. You are generally calm, but capable of ramping up, and you don't give up until the issue is resolved -- this means even the hottest temper or coolest conflict-avoider can feel comfortable pursuing their satisfaction with you. And you don't hold a grudge -- you get through it, and it's done. You rock.

Sure, you like the sex. And you communicate with your partner well, so you're good at it. But it's not something you would make jokes about or bring up in polite company (not that you don't appreciate that kind of humor). You're no prude, but that's just not your style.

You'd make an excellent parent.

You enjoy food and can be a ravenous eater. A good cook will get your attention quickly.

Of the 36946 people who have taken this quiz, 4.8 % are this type.

I dunno, personally, I think I fall somewhere between this one, the Brute archetype, and the Archtypical Oldest Child type--more the latter, in my moods and my need for solitude, and more the former, in my non-relationship dealings.

My personal entry into the "things that are alcoholic and taste good" pool of knowledge:

The 1939
Take one shot vanilla Stolichnaya or your favorite vanilla vodka from the freezer (must be entirely freezer-cold) and put in martini shaker with two shots worth of crushed ice.
Add one shot Black Haus or your favorite raspberry schnapps from the freezer (again, must be COLD).
Shake and serve in a martini glass (or a rocks glass if you're a heathen and can't get crushed ice).
Enjoy. If you use cheap or warm liquor, it's going to taste like cough syrup.
If you use good, cold liquor, it tastes great.

Name comes from the fact that it's got some Russian involvement and some German involvement, and it's 90-proof and tasty so you're going to fall as fast as Poland did. (I'm ancestrally from that area, I'm allowed to make fun of their losses)

If you've got a good-tasting original drink idea, post here. I need some new flava.