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health

a cleansing ritual

Aug 8th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
4 comments

Today I’m starting a cleansing ritual: body, mind, soul. The details of how and why are quite personal and complicated. But I’ll tell bits and pieces as I feel like I can. The process itself isn’t even that straight forward. Some of it is clear, others have to be invented as I go along. It’s right for me.

I may be a bit distant for a while. More than likely I’m just too caught up in fixing myself to have the thought of reaching out even cross my mind. But I’m not seeking isolation. So please, if you desire to, feel free to reach out and distract me from my own mind for a bit in whatever way you’d like. It will be appreciated.

After a few weeks I can move on to healing and you’ll probably notice me reaching out to you a bit more. I’m going to try to continue writing here and posting photographs. It’s part of the process. So even if we don’t get together, you’ll still have bits of me here.

Thank you for understanding.

a day of moments and thoughts

Aug 5th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
5 comments

I know that most of you didn’t like the auto-twitter posting that appeared on my site. In truth, I don’t really care for it on other sites either, unless I don’t follow that person in Twitter and so long as they have more than just nothing but Twitter posts for months on end.

At the same time, while a lot of what is written there is an ongoing conversation with people you may or may not care about, a lot of important stuff is said too, since the platform is so readily available throughout the day. So I’m going to try something new. Once a day, week, month, year, whatever works out in the end, I’m going to collect the important bits and use them as jumping off points for more thought and clarification.

Please, let me know what you think of this. As I’ve said many times before, while I write these words for me, if you’re not reading them they are pointless. Let me know if you like these all in one big post like this, or if I should spread them out into tinier posts throughout the day, or if I should just not do it at all.

# – We have been Wiifitted. Wee! Or rather, Wii!

It started out as a silly idea. I thought the WiiFit was an absurd idea for a “game” and at the same time, an absurd way to “work out”. In my mind, it didn’t fit either role very well. In practice, I was 100% right. However, it does have it’s own sense of charm. It takes all of the instruction, timing, counting and tracking out of exercise. While it doesn’t make certain you are doing the exercises correctly, it at least tries to make sure you stay balanced while you do them. That plus everything else, and it’s about 50% as good as a personal trainer that comes to your house whenever you want her to. And cheaper too.

I particularly like the strength exercises, the yoga practice, and the step aerobics. But, like others, # I find myself wishing the step aerobics were more varied. There are only two “courses” after which comes “free step” which is quite boring. A couple of people think that there will eventually be a Wii Step Aerobics game that will capitalize on this wish of mine. They’re probably right. So release the damn thing already.

# – I’m VERY sick to my stomach. Too much coffee, not enough food. Email me distractions for the next few hours until I can get lunch. Please!

As I get older I’m starting to realize that food can affect me quite a bit more than it used to. Too much of one thing or not enough of another and it can really throw me off. However, I haven’t quite figured out what’s good and what’s bad, what can be tolerated and what should be avoided at all costs.

Yesterday I had 6 “cups” (per the lines on my coffee pot) of coffee in the morning. By 10am I was spinning like crazy and very sick to my stomach. At almost 1pm I got something heavy to eat. Within an hour I felt 75% better. It wasn’t until a had a little down time and another meal that I felt 100%. But, by the end of the day, I felt okay enough to get on the Wii Fit again.

A special thanks to those who sent distractions. I find that, for many of my ailments, keeping me from thinking about them is the easiest way to get around them.

# – Time to build up my harem. Apps are being accepted! Especially if you like stairwells. Maybe this is a good time to use Craigslist. :)

This is a case of “ha ha only serious“. It’s clearly a joke. I don’t have a harem and therefore, don’t have a harem to build up. At the same time, the group of friends and special people that I share physical closeness with is dwindling for various reasons. I certainly don’t require a large group by any means, but, those that remain are largely unavailable. Physical closeness is one of those things that I crave and yet, at the same time, can be absolutely petrified of. It’s a need I don’t fully understand and yet feel very strongly about. It’s comforting. It’s safe. It’s sexy. It’s silly. It’s warm. It’s freeing. And, sometimes, it’s dangerous. All good things.

So, while I don’t actually have a harem, if physical closeness is something your situation allows and something you desire, then, please, really, “applications are being accepted! Especially if you like stairwells.”

Should I use CraigsList for such a purpose. Probably not. I’m better at being close with friends than I am with strangers. But, at the same time, it seems to be well suited to finding such new friends.

# – wanted list: friends: skype, stumble; wishes; harem members; photo: subjects, partners; dreams; dinner friends; progress; peace.

This doesn’t require too much explanation, really. It’s a list of things that I currently desire. Not matieral things. Emotional things. Mental things.

Skype Friends. Check out Skype. It’s the best cross-platform Video/Audio Chatting application I can find. You don’t have to have a camera or a headset to enjoy it either. Sure, it’s more fun if you do, but not required.

Stumble Friends. Check out StumbleUpon. It’s a way of browsing new, interesting websites, as well as sharing new websites that you like with your friends. It’s very easy to use and quite addictive. I’m looking for people to share their interests with me, for people interested in sharing my interests, and hopeful that people will Favorite my photographs so that others will be introduced to them through the world of Stumble.

Harem Members. See above.

Photo Subjects. It’s been ages since I’ve done a portrait session. My studio has been torn down, which makes this harder. But that doesn’t reduce my desire to create and to use the human body as a subject and muse. If you’re interested in being photographed, I’d love to hear from you. I’m specifically looking for people who have free time on weekends to go out to interesting places and be photographed in nature. Additionally, I’m looking for someone who would like to be photographed in the rain. I’d like to set up all the details and logistics so that the next time it’s raining, all it’ll take is a quick phone call and we’ll both be ready to go.

Photo Partners. This is similar to the above, except instead of being in front of my camera, you have your own to stand behind, or, at least, enjoy walking around in various places and stopping for lots of photos. It can get fairly boring to be out alone all the time. I’m looking for someone to share these times with. Someone to lean on for encouragement, to share the waiting with, and to get excited with.

Dinner Friends. See my post from yesterday — you’re invited to dinner — for more information.

Wishes. Dreams. Progress. Peace. These are all self-explanitory.

you’re invited to dinner!

Aug 4th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
5 comments

I’m tired of eating out. I’m nearly forced to do so when I travel for work. But at home, I do have options, yet I eat out a lot more than I should. Most of the time, when I eat out, it’s because I’m in a hurry, or because I’m meeting people for dinner.

So, my goal is to stop eating out. I can’t say never, of course. So instead, I’ll say no more than once a week which I will, hopefully, upgrade to no more than once every two weeks once I get going.

Instead of eating out, I’ll be eating at home: my home, your home, a strangers home, a mutual friends home. It doesn’t really matter where, as long as it’s at someone’s home.

You have an open invitation for dinner at my house every single night. Depending on the day, dinner will be served sometime between 6pm and 9pm. You need not bring anything. All food and drink will be provided. The only stipulation is that you must make reservations at least 24 hours in advance so that I can be sure I have enough food and so that I can tell you that we already have other plans.

What other plans could I possibly have, you might ask, since I’m not eating out any more. Good question. If I’m not eating at my home, then I may have been invited to eat in the home of someone else. Oh yes! I’m that rude guy who’s actually asking you to invite me over for dinner. The same basic set of guidelines as above should apply. You’ll need to have food on the table and ready for consumption at some point between 6pm and 9pm. Otherwise, making it to work the next day is impossible. Additionally, if you’re going to ask, you should do so at least 24 hours in advance. Otherwise, I may already have plans.

In case you needed more motivation other than free food and/or my presense at your meals, here are some reasons why eating out makes no sense for me (and maybe not for you either):

  1. Time is precious. Wasting 15-60 minutes getting to a restaurant, 5-45 minutes waiting to be seated, and then another 15-60 minutes to get back home isn’t doing me much good.
  2. And if I’m in a hurry to eat, in most cases, I could have preplanned a snack or quickly picked up a snack from a store. This is healthier, cheaper, and, in many cases, faster. And, if I pick up the right food, I can eat it on the way to whatever I’m rushing to do.
  3. Meeting people at a restaurant rarely leads to good conversation. Popular places are often crowded, seating can be tight, and long tables are only conducive to conversations at at each end. Further more, despite the fact that restaurants want you to drive to them, and then wait for them to be ready to seat you, once you’re done eating, unless you’re buying round after round of expensive drink, they’d usually prefer you to leave, and often do things to indicate this, like not keeping drinks full, or taking the snacky food off the table.
  4. Restaurants serve too much food. Having my portion decided for me is usually a bad idea. I’m reluctant to let any food go to waste so I feel obliged to eat everything in front of me.
  5. It’s usually not healthy food. Restaurants that serve healthy food are generally farther away, harder to get to, more crowded, and much more expensive.
  6. Finally, it’s expensive. Sure, some meals at some places are cheaper than you could make them at home for. But this is often because they are using sub-par ingredients and you are cooking for too small of a group to make it worth while.

So, if you’d like to come over for dinner, let me know. And, if you’d like to make a similar open invitation (in private, or in public like this one) please do so.

Bon Appetit!

health check

Jan 11th, 2008
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

Jess had her first Doctor’s Appointment since Celeste was born. Her incision looks great. She’s lost all but a few pounds since her pre-pregnancy weight. She looks fantastic. The doctor has given her a clean bill of health and has indicated that all previously restricted activities are no longer restricted. She can drive, lift objects, climb stairs, exercise, etc.

Celeste also had a check up today. She’s eating great and has now exceeded her birth weight by 5oz. She’s also grown 2 1/2 inches since birth. Yikes! Her cord stub still hasn’t fallen off, though. The doctor said to give it two more weeks and bring her back in if it hasn’t fallen off by then.

Though most don’t ask, I’m doing pretty well do. I’m crazy, tired, anxious, paranoid, worried, wondering and yet, still blissfully, happily wrapped up in both of them.

Life is pretty damn good.

a bowl full o’ BMI

Dec 6th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

Kate Harding has created the Illustrated BMI Categories photo set — a collection of photographs of various people doing various things along side their BMI Weight Status (underweight, normal, overweight, obese, morbidly obese). This really shows that BMI is a useless number having very little to do with how attractive a person is or what physical feats they are capable of.

So, go ahead an calculate your BMI and see just how useful it is. Women who don’t manage to get a “normal” rating… please… for the love of all that is good in the world… contact me for a photo session. And the handful of you “normal” girls… well… you should too.

–
Daniel
BMI: 28.4. Overweight.
I’ll give ya something to look at.

[via Jenny]

the true results of puritan thought

Jul 6th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

There are so many things I feel strongly about that I no longer bother to bring up in public discussion lest I work my fingers to bruised and calloused stumps or rub my vocal cords bloody from speech. I’m grateful to find, from time to time, someone who shares one of my beliefs and is able to express themselves in a clear, well thought manner.

Our predecessors made a terrible mistake when they decided to use religion as a method for mentally and socially linking sex and love in some unbreakable bond. While, at the time, limits may have been needed to control population, social unrest, the spread of disease, and a plethora of other things, implementing those limits though sex and enforcing them through religious fear was a wrong turn. This has led to a society of people that are not only missing out on some of the finer aspects of physical pleasure this body has to offer, but are also unknowingly contributing to their own unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and confinement by holding these false and outdated beliefs.

I was delighted to read Sami’s article, “We Few, We Happy Few, We Band Of Brothers“, this morning on this very topic. If it is possible to present this idea in a way that might actually be understood by remaining members of the masses that haven’t been so totally brainwashed by the religious zealots and “born again virgins” that they have no remaining brain cells with which to participate in independent thought, then this is surely it.

If you’d like clarification of my own stance because you find it interesting I’m happy to talk with you. If you would just like to offer a conflicting point of view with nothing to back it up, then please, kindly take your arguments into your own spaces and discuss them there where I’ll be happy to read along and comment when I see fit. If you’d like to suggest that you are one of those rare people that have sex and love linked in your brain (or the brain of your significant other) that was not brought on by religious or social upbringing, then that, too, can go unspoken here. Just go stand with the others making that same claim in the dark boring corner back there. You know the one with all the girls wearing very low cut shirts and all the guys knocking each other in the ribs as the girl with the great ass walks by. It’s my birthday this weekend and I’m hoping I’ll have reason to use my fingers and vocal cords for other purposes.

coping with imbalance

Jan 5th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

I think starting to just barely understand “what’s wrong with me”:http://revjim.net/2004/06/03/menieres-disease/, or, at least, what might be wrong with me.

Since I’ve delt with allergies my entire life, it seems safe to assume that my inner ear is affected in some way by this. So I’ve come up with a sort of theory that also helps to explain why I’ve always had a poor sense of balance. It goes like this.

Everyone has a “normal” state. The average normal human body temperature is 98.6°F, for instance. However, some people just naturally run a little colder or a little hotter. While 99°F would indicate a slight fever for an average person, it might mean nothing at all for someone who tends to run a little hot.

I’ve begun to theorize that, due to allergies and a near constant allergic reaction in my inner ear, my sense of balance and the communication provided by my inner ear has always been a bit muted. However, I’ve come to rely on sight and feel to make up for what my inner ear does not provide and, other than being a little more clumsy than most, I am able to cope just fine. Based on this theory, a few more come to the surface.

On the days on which I feel intense pressure and ringing in my ears, it is possible that I am having a more severe reaction than usual. In addition, this causes my head to feel cloudy, my hearing to suffer greatly. With a severe enough reaction, the inner ear could be disturbed causing improper signals to be sent, which would lead to vertigo, light-headedness, and, in extreme cases, severe nausea and vomiting.

Now imagine the opposite. What about the days when, for whatever reason, my body experiences significantly less allergic reaction than normal. This would mean that the sense in my inner ear would approach “average” which would be way above normal for me. Imagine the effect a speed-like drug has on the body. It raises the alertness of the body, and heightens each and every sense. By unmuting my inner ear, this same effect is produced. This causes my brain to get a lot more balance information than it is used to which could lead to an over correction on its part that would echo through the body reverberating ad-nauseum, literally. In the initial stages of this, it might cause one to feel a bit rocky or unstable. It might be accompanied by tingly feelings and a heightened sense of hearing. This is precisely what I feel today.

This would also explain why, when I feel that I’ve located a “trigger” ceasing that trigger seems to make me feel worse.

If these theories are true, this would lead to one of two solutions.

The first solution would be to train the brain to ignore the inner ear altogether. In severe Meniere’s Disease cases, surgery is performed to disconnect the inner ear from the brain. While some retraining is required, this almost always relieves the Meniere’s symptoms. Of course, it also eliminates the ability to hear in the corrected ear, so it’s not something I’ve considered at this point. However, with enough agitation of the inner ear, and various physical exercises during that time, the brain could learn to ignore those signals entirely.

The second solution is to manage my body through food, water, exercise, and chemicals in order to achieve a constant state. By being able to maintain ANY state at all, the brain can adjust to that level of communication and learn to respond accordingly. Unfortunately, since my triggers are largely unknown and potentially food based, this would mean developing a rigid schedule of meals and drugs that would attempt to keep the body pumping with precisely the same chemicals at all times. This would mean reevaluation of that schedule every couple of months to look for alteration opportunities as well as little to no deviation from that schedule in the mean time.

Of course, these are all just theories. But, I figure that if that’s all the doctors can do anyway, then what’s the harm in experimenting on myself a little. Neither of these “treatments” will be easy to take. I’m still not sure which, if either, I should attempt.

There is one thing I am certain of, though: when it feels as bad as it does today, almost anything is better than this. I spent 40 minutes driving in a mind-induced tunnel today, afraid to move my head in either direction lest it send me spinning and land me parked in front of the Emergency Room again.

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