Where were you and what were you doing when you heard the results? Tipu and I were wearing matching Obama shirts watching CNN while eating sushi and Taco Bell at home.

Ok, so I’m up to eat at 4am.  5am is rolling around and I have a few minutes to kill so I turn on the tv.  I graze through the channels and find the most interesting work out show I’ve ever seen.  I thought it was a hoax.  There was an Indian man dressed in a heavily embroidered dark blue silk shirt doing Bollywood dance moves with three or four women behind him.  The women were dressed like sparkly superheroes.  I couldn’t make this up.  I keep expecting someone to yell cut and a director who’s auditioning the group to say something like… “that’s really interesting but not what we had in mind”.  It keeps going though.  I realize slowly that this is all intentional.  It’s the most entertained I’ve ever been at 5am.  You have to check it out.  It’s very informative.  It looks like a great work out and where else will someone teach you Bollywood dance moves on tv in Canada?  I am not making this up.  Someone please see it.  There are two shows each weekday at 5am and 9am on Canadian Learning Television.  The host is Rohan D’Silva.  Here’s a link.

On a completely unrelated topic, fasting is going great.  I am greatly pleased and utterly shocked with my abilities this year.  The food and drink thing has proved surmountable.  The sleep thing a bit more tricky but I have been working on it.  I am so proud of myself.  I even overslept one day and thought for sure I wouldn’t be able to keep my fast.  I went to school with emergency provisions and didn’t have to use them.  I just kept myself busy and before I knew it it was sundown.  Very light workouts in the evening have helped me sleep much earlier than I ever have.  It also regulates my brain explosions.  I am definately over eating.  However I won’t stop that.  I am drinking more water than I have in years.  I’m doing really well.

Hi, me again.  I found a little snippet. I think they wear different outfits each time.

It’s here again.  Fasting tips anyone?

The month of June was largely spent on my Embedded Systems project.  I did very very little else.  Fortunately I finished the project but it was a difficult month.  I would go to bed every night around 2am and wake up at 10am and just program and ponder.  I gained 6lbs during that time because I didn’t take the time for any physical activity.  I didn’t really socialize all that much either.  Occasionally I met up with people at coffee shops or bubble tea places to work.  During that time I was at my table and a friend would be at the other table and we would try our best not engage each other in meaningful conversation.

So on June 30th I had a great day.  I went and played basketball for 2 hours.  It was great.  My skills have seriously deteriorated though.  I can dribble and maneuver fairly well but my shooting skills are deplorable.  Right after that I went to a friend’s house and did karaoke for the first time in my life.  That was a real hoot.

The next day Tipu and I joined some friends and went to Grand Beach.  We packed our car with bikes, rollerblades, snacks, swimming stuff, chairs and headed off.  Once there we were able to swim and have a lunch.  Then we started a walk down the shoreline and it started to rain, and then HAIL.  We had to run back to our picnic area, grab all of the stuff and climb sand dunes to get to the safety of our car.  IT WAS GREAT!!!  One of the funnest days of my life probably.  After that we came back into the city.  Tipu went to work for a bit while I wandered the Forks with Qamer.  Later we joined him at work and watched the fireworks while eating pizza.  Super day.

I think working on a short time project was a positive experience for me.  It felt great to be done.  However the lifestyle I was living during the month of June was not sustainable.  I am now trying to develop healthy, enjoyable and productive practices to carry me to graduation.

So I’m a tea drinker now.  I drink it straight.  No sugar.  No milk.  It happened rather suddenly.  I had gone years without participating in the consumption of hot liquids.  To be truthful, I still don’t drink the tea when it’s super hot.  I often miscalculate the thermal energy and burn some taste buds off.  I started getting interested in tea first many years ago when Oprah talked about the end of the day ritual past which you were only allowed to have fluids.  It seemed so solemn and peaceful.  Then a couple a months ago around Christmas I found this cute little store on Academy called Cornelia Bean.  I walked in and an attendant asked me which tea I liked and I said none.  He went on about the health benefits but I wasn’t sold entirely.  Since then I did little bits of research and did find the man credible.  Tea does have lots of anti-oxidants.  Then I came across Ahmed tea and found I liked it.  Then came Mother’s day and I went back to Cornelia Bean.  So I have tea.  I’m having a cup a day.  Problem is that I don’t do so well with caffeine.  It can hurt my stomach or give me small headaches.  I think I have to find decaf tea which still has the anti-oxidants.   First I have to get through the tea I have.  That may take a while.  I’m trying not to add sugar because I find I don’t need it.  I’m not adding milk/cream b/c I read somewhere that it can counteract the anti-oxidants somehow.  I also read that the water shouldn’t be boiling when you add the tea b/c that reduces the health benefits as well.