Motivation

So I'm not gonna' beat around the bush; over the years I have gotten fatter. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a husky guy, but these past few years here in Sacramento have caused me to balloon in size! Now yes, I'm extremely self conscious about this, but no, I'm not going to pretend it's not an issue.

I know over the past few years I have steadily gained weight. It's not because I have a gland issue, it's not because of a million other excuses, but it's the combination of using the excuse that I'm busy in other aspects of life and becoming more and more sedentary. I was looking at photos taken of me this past Christmas break and holy crap I need to get up and work out.

I think that's what's wrong with people and weight. Too often, we pretend that it's not a problem, and we let ourselves fall into the mindset of saying "I'll workout tomorrow." Well, tomorrow keeps happening, and soon enough you gain like 50+ lbs. Looking at my pictures of just three years ago I can definitely tell that I've let myself go.

So why am I wasting breath writing this as a post? Well, in one way it helps motivate me. I finally dragged myself to the gym today after a plethora of excuses and I guess me posting this is a way to keep myself reminded that I need to keep it up to get results. Unlike the typical person who thinks that they can't change, I've done it before; I have successfully lost a lot of weight by merely pushing myself to the gym everyday and I know I can do it again, but I just need to stay motivated.

Yeah, I know we always come up with these resolutions to lose weight at the beginning of the year and by mid February (if we're lucky to even make it that far) we pretty much have given up on upholding them but to that I say this:

Why does it have to be a resolution? Why not just make it a lifestyle? Hell, I may just fail at continually going to the gym after today, but what counts is I went today.

And that's a start.

Two Years Later . . .

So the last time I wrote anything on this blog, it was 2010 and I was smack dab in the middle of finishing college. I was still unsure as to what I wanted to do in life, but I had an inkling that I wanted to venture into education. Also, the last time I had posted, my lovely car had just been stolen outside of my apartment complex. Ironically, about 3 weeks later, my old Nissan pathfinder was found and I still have her to this this day (although my fiancé' is using her now.) Anyways, a lot has changed since I last posted; most significantly, I have become a high school English teacher. It still really weirds me out to say that out loud. I am 24 years old and as a career, I educate the youth of America.

Hoo boy.

Anyways, I have really been slacking for the past few years in all other aspects of my life aside from my career. While I do agree that it is actually a good thing to be young and have a semi-decent career laid out for me (more on that later), I regret not keeping on the other projects that I’ve always wanted to commit to. I created this blog, Animated Diction, with the idea of launching a hub where I could:

A)   Post about my thoughts of life in general

B)   Post web comics and artwork that I create

C)   Review various video games or forms of media that I enjoy

Seeing as it’s not 2012 and we’re all supposedly going to go out in a ball of fire and brimstone this December (bring it on baby!), I figure it would be good to sit down and breathe life into my dead blog once again. Will I continue with this endeavor? Perhaps. Will anyone actually read this? Who knows? Will I feel accomplished for attempting to do something I’ve always wanted to commit to?

Definitely.

Stay classy baby.

-JC

A Fourth of the Way:

Alright, so as of the writing of this blog, we are about halfway through March and yes, it's been quite sometime since I wrote anything here! That being said, I make my return into blogging with this post about 1/4ths of the way through the year. if I can recall correctly, my last blog post talked about how 2010 is going to be the year of all years and how it was going to be a good one. Now before I dive into that statement I made in more depth here in retrospect, it would probably be proper for me to fill everyone in on a little background information as to what's been going on with me this year so far:

 My car got stolen.

Yes, friends, you're reading that right, my baby 1994 Nissan Pathfinder got stolen at the end of February and as the days went by I never thought I'd see it again. Instead, however, of drowning in despair and feeling like it was the end of the world (because believe me that thing has quite a sentimental attachment to me) I decided to be optimistic about things and look at the brighter side of reality. After a week and a half of not getting anything from the police, I went car hunting and by the end of the second week I had a brand new 1996 Nissan Pathfinder (what can I say? I like the brand and model). The point though is that I remained optimistic and decided that maybe getting a new car would be for the better.

A good month had passed since my old faithful car was stolen and I've become accustomed to her new replacement, (whom I properly named Norman) Suddenly out of the blue, I get a phone call from the California highway patrol and guess what?

Yep. They found my old car.

Luckily it was actually in good condition when they found it. Ironically enough, they had found it abandoned about 5 minutes away from my apartment complex (where it originally got stolen from) and when I went to the tow-yard to pick it up, aside from the interior being rummaged through and all sorts of my papers and junk thrown about, the car runs exactly like I remember it.

The point of this blog entry?

You make reality what you want it to be. I'm still determined to have the most amazing year ever and even with the slight setback of having to buy a new car and losing a good chunk of money from getting my car stolen and then retrieved, I'm optimistic and in good spirits.

Like Tupac Shakur once said:
"You gotta' keep your head up"

-John

Maybe I'm a Lion:

End of Year Thoughts

So 2009 is pretty much coming to a close with just about a week left in the year, so I thought I would post my thoughts looking back. I think that 2009 for me personally was something that I had to learn from. Tons of attributes in my life have changed for better or worse and that's just a part of growing up and progressing through the future. I'll admit that this year wasn't so much one of my better ones, but I still appreciate all of the insight I have gained into life this year. The year, however, is ending with a bang for me as thing's are looking up, which leaves more than optimistic for 2010. Speaking of 2010, next year marks 5 years since I've graduated high school! Kinda' crazy to see that my class has hit the half way mark towards the 10-year reunion.

Although many things have happened throughout this year, I can't help but feel like next year will be so much better. I'll be graduating (hopefully) with a Bachelor's degree in English and starting my teaching credential training in August (again, hopefully). Aside from that, I'm EXTREMELY excited that I'll be opening up a whole lot of time for my social life. I've been thinking that since moving down here to Sacramento, I've limited myself in terms of socialization because of things like full time school and working two jobs, but next year I really want to make an effort to socialize a little bit more and get in touch with some friends that I've kinda' distanced myself a bit from. Although 2009 has brought an end to many things, especially one so-called "friendship" of mine, 2010 is looking promising for new opportunities and memories.

So here's to the end of 2009, everyone have a great holiday season, and let's make 2010 even better.

-John