Just a little A to Z…
Challenge accepted!
Wanted to give a little update on my A to Z Blogging Challenge.
We’re all in the home stretch and, to be honest, it’s showing.
At least with me.
I’m slipping on visiting my ‘usuals’ and have, pretty much, given up on trying to check out any new blogs. To my credit, though, I have visited about 40 new folks during this month, so that’s not too bad….especially for this being my first year taking the challenge.
Anywho, yesterday was “V” for Vindicator and today was “W” for The Whizzer. Check ’em out!
Until next time….
Peace and quiet…sort of…
I like quiet…
Not much going on here at the Means Ranch (still). The wife went south (literally) with her sister to celebrate her birthday (the sister) and brainstorm some business ideas, as they’re having some issues with the state of Florida.
That left me in a quiet house with some writing, editing, and blogging.
Sometimes it was too quiet, so I was forced to turn on the t.v. to help alleviate the lack of sound.
As a lot of you probably know…at least anyone who knows me, even just a little bit…I’m not a big fan of what passes for “programming” these days, so I started checking out what Netflix had to offer.
Surprisingly enough, there were quite a few things that caught my eye. It looks like the Cartoon Network has opened their vaults and Netflix is now offering some of my old favorites such as Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Dexter’s Lab, Batman Beyond, and Samurai Jack.
All great blasts from the past and, while I was scrolling through, I also checked out Netflix’s original programming….House of Cards and Lilyhammer.
Lil Steven and friend (on top of his head) in the house!
I’m five episodes into Lilyhammer and I’m really liking it. I never saw Lil Steven Van Zandt (that’s how I still think of him) in The Sopranos, but I think he does a bang up job as Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano. Lilyhammer is just the right blend of ‘wise guy drama’ and ‘fish out of water comedy’ entertainment. There’s been a bit of ‘colorful’ language, but nowhere near a Sopranos quantity of the stuff.
If I didn’t know it was from Netflix, I’d think it was from a major cable network.
I also watched the first episode of House of Cards and, while it didn’t grab my attention like Lilyhammer did, it was still a pretty solid show and, well, anything with Kevin Spacey in it can’t be all bad. I’ll be getting into that more once I get caught up with Lilyhammer.
Challenge accepted!
We were off Sunday, and boy did I need it, but yesterday and today the A to Z Blogging challenge is still in full effect.
Yesterday was “S”, for Starfire and today was a wild west double dose of “T” with Thunderbird and the Texas Twister.
Check ’em out!
Until next time….
A Quick Quickie….
Well, what are you waiting for??
Not too much going on this week…still chugging though the A to Z Blogging Challenge and I don’t mind saying, it’s been a bit challenging, at least from a ‘trying to keep up’ standpoint. Still trying to eat healthy and juice, at least, one fruit and one veggie a day….still plugging along in a lot of areas.
Earlier today my wife and I, along with her sister, took a trip ‘downtown’….which, in a town as small as Vero Beach, isn’t all that far to go….to the local ‘juice bar’. Sad to say, I wasn’t impressed. I got a strawberry and banana smoothie that seemed like it was more ice block then anything else. My wife got some sort of veggie smoothie that tasted like it had sugar in it….not, at all, what I was expecting from something that had kale in it. My sister-in-law had the best tasting thing of the three of us. It was a chocolate thing, which I’m still not sure exactly what was in it. Regardless, though, it was good.
Overall, not a place I’d frequent…especially when we’re making a way better juice and smoothie product at home…for a lot less.
Challenge accepted!
Quick update on my A to Z Blogging Challenge:
Yesterday was “O” for Oracle and today was “P” for Puck….check ’em out!
Until next time…..
Thoughts and prayers…
Amen.
I’m sure we’ve all heard by now, at least those of us who don’t have our heads stuck in the sand, about the terrible tragedy that happened during yesterday’s Boston Marathon.
These type of things always have me asking myself “Why?” and “Who does this sort of thing?”
While eventually I think we’ll find out the “why?” I also think, in this stage of our development as a nation, we all know whom the “who?” may be. Right now it’s just a matter of determining which ‘who’ it is, in this case.
First and foremost, I think it’s of the utmost importance to not jump to conclusions …..regardless of where you may lean, politically.
Do you hear that Chris Matthews?
How about we wait and see where the evidence leads us before we start hanging people?
Regardless, my thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by this horrible, cowardly, tragedy.
Challenge accepted!
For some upbeat news, my A to Z Blogging Challenge update:
Yesterday was “M” for Miss America and today was “N” for Nova….check ’em out! 🙂
Until next time…
Re-rebooting, again…
Makes sense to me…
Last week, I was talking about our “juice fast’ and how I thought we were doing it wrong by not eating. Doing a bit more research, I’ve found that we were, indeed, doing it correctly (as a commenter also mentioned) and that there are a few ‘reboots‘ that tell you to eat…but not the one we were trying.
Tomorrow, we’re giving it another go and starting another five day ‘juice fast’/detox. We took a trip down to our local produce place and stocked up….we’re ready to go.
Plenty of juicing and water as we try to give our systems another jump start on the road to getting healthy.
Challenge accepted!
A to Z Blogging Challenge update:
Yesterday was “K” for Kid Flash and today was “L” for The Liberty Legion. Check ’em out! We take a break tomorrow and it should give me time to get a jump on next week’s posts.
Until next time…
…don’t know when I’ll be back again….
…and back again.
In my previous post, I mentioned my wife and sister heading up to Jersey to attend their aunt’s funeral. Originally, they were staying until Monday, because it was cheaper than trying to fly back during the weekend.
Well, since then, there’s been a huge kerfluffle (thank you state of Florida!) with their business and she feels she needs to head back down to help take care of things. So, after her aunt’s funeral, she’ll be flying back tomorrow night …which is good, because the cat misses her.
O.k, o.k…I do too! 🙂
Challenge accepted!
For my A to Z Blogging Challenge update:
Wednesday was “I” for Iron Fist and today was “J” for Jack T. Chance. Check ’em out!
Until next time…
Leavin’ on a jet plane…
Soaring towards the heavens.
Just a few months ago my wife’s mother passed away and now her sister, my wife’s aunt, did the same two days ago. That meant a very sad trip to New Jersey for my wife and her sister (as well as other extended family members) while I stay behind to help them with their business.
While I thought her aunt was great and a wonderful lady, I’m not much of a flyer so I’m sticking around here with my feet on the ground. Can you say “unnatural fear”? Sure you can…
So, I packed my wife up, sent my condolences, and drove them to the airport thinking how sad it is when a family has to get together to bury one of their own.
Rest well, Lil, you deserve it.
Challenge accepted!
On the A to Z Blogging challenge front:
Yesterday was “G”…for Goliath while today was “H” for The Human Fly. Check ’em out!
Until next time…
This is why you’re supposed to read the directions….
Duh!
So, for the past few weeks I’ve been talking about juicing and the “Reboot” thing from Joe Cross’ documentary, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”.
I also mentioned how the wife and I were giving the ‘juicing fast’ a shot and what our results would be as we tried to detox our bodies. Well…there’s good news and bad news.
The good news is that we managed to make a five-day fast and have nothing but juiced fruits, veggies, and smoothies. We weren’t terribly hungry and our energy levels were pretty good.
Good stuff!
We had some good results, as well. I lost five pounds and my wife lost ten. Now, granted, it was probably a lot of waste products and, not to get too graphic, but I was in the bathroom a lot during the first day. I think, though, that’s a part of the cleansing process.
At least, it was cleansing for me….. ahem
Anyway, a few times we’d get pretty hungry but, for the most part, we stayed strong. On the fifth day, I looked at Joe Cross’ “Reboot” website and they have the ‘juice fast’ plans spelled out for you….so I started reading…..
….and found out you could EAT fruits and vegetables as well as juice them!!
What??
Wait a second here….we could have been eating, as well?
You see, we took the ‘juice fast’ thing literally, from watching the documentary and they made no mention of being able to eat….or, if they did, neither one of us caught it. Boy, did we feel a bit stupid, but it was our own fault for just jumping in feet first with no prior prep.
Not that it was a totally terrible situation…it wasn’t and, if anything, it was good for us. We look at it as just another good step in a direction we need to go to get healthy and start eating right.
So, now were a bit wiser and we’re going to try the ‘juice fast’ thing the RIGHT way in about another week.
That, folks, is why you always do your research and/or read the directions!!
Challenge accepted!
Oh, almost forgot my A to Z Challenge update:
“E” was for the Stretchable Sleuth, Elongated Man and “F” was for the high flyin’ Falcon.
Check ’em out!
Until next time….
Newsflash!
“This just in…”
O.k, not really a flash…just a bit of news.
I mentioned, in my last post, about giving the “juice fast” thing a try. Four days in and we’re still doing pretty good. We went to a local produce place and bought tons of fresh fruits and vegetables. They were pretty inexpensive, too…..something else I’m loving about this.
A bit blurry…but you get the idea.
We’ve been juicing fruits and veggies as well as making smoothies along with a lot of water. We’ve also been drinking decaf tea and coffee and ‘treating’ ourselves to one cup of caffeinated coffee per day….but no more than one. I haven’t had a Coke in over a week and haven’t felt any ill effects.
My wife even started her own blog, talking about our adventures in juicing….Juicing with Jackie.
As of this morning, I’ve lost five pounds. Now, granted, it’s probably just waste material (I was in the “can” a lot during day one), but that’s fine…just another sign that the process is cleaning me out.
We’ve also been going for walks everyday….which I’m not so sure is the greatest idea…but I haven’t felt any ill effects from that and I seem to have a lot more energy then I did just a few days ago.
We’re going to keep at it and see how it goes. Tomorrow is the ‘official’ last day of the fast but, if we’re feeling o.k, we may try to go the whole ten days and see how we do.
If you’re interested in the whole “Body Reboot” process, you can check out Joe’s site HERE.
Challenge accepted!
The A to Z Blogging Challenge is still going full steam and it’s been a lot of work, actually. The blogging every day thing is not that big of a deal…I’ve been doing that since January. The tough thing is keeping up on trying to comment on my favorite blogs as well as those stopping by mine. I’m also helping one of the co-hosts by checking the sign ups to see who’s still participating, etc.
Whew!
Still, though, it’s been great fun and I’ve found a bunch of cool, new blogs to follow…which is the main idea of the challenge, anyway.
My entry for yesterday was Chlorophyll Kid and today was Doctor Occult. If you haven’t already….check ’em out!
Until next time…
What’s goin’ on?
It’s a timeless question…there was even a song about it by the late, great, Marvin Gaye. The overall answer is ‘not a lot’, but we have been doing a few cool things around the Means Ranch.
On Saturday we went and saw G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
Yo Joe!
I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, but I found it to be a very entertaining movie and keeping kind of/sort of true to the original source material. That’s always a sticking point for me. It had some semi-heavyweight starts in it. Channing Tatum (who I’m not a fan of…by any stretch) reprised his role as Duke, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came on board as Roadblock, and Bruce Willis played Joe Colton……the ‘original’ G.I. Joe.
Willis’ role left me a bit confused though as he didn’t have fuzzy hair or a fuzzy beard…or the scar down his cheek.
The Original Joe
Meh…what do I know, anyway?
Later that night, we watched a movie on Netflix called Fat,Sick, and Nearly Dead. A documentary about Australian, Joe Cross who wanted a healthy change in his life and decided that juicing fruits and vegetables was the way to go. He had a medical condition that caused skin eruptions…sort of like mosquito bites…to form on his skin. The problem being that he didn’t need to be bit by a mosquito to have the lesions appear. The film documents Joe’s journey across the country as he meets different people, inspiring them with his story.
Inspiring!
One thing is for sure…it sure inspired us. We’ve already been watching what we’re eating and have been doing a bit of juicing, but this…this challenges you to try a ten day ‘reboot‘ of your system. Basically a juice fast…which we’ve already been doing for one day a week….now, though, we’re being challenged to stretch it out to ten.
So, yesterday, we started our juicing fast. Nothing but juiced fruits, veggies, water, and some decaf tea. We’re going to try for five days first and, if we’re doing o.k, we’ll go for ten. I’ll be keeping you all updated on how we do and I know I’ll struggle with one part, for sure…
….not having coffee!!
Challenge accepted!
Yesterday also started the A to Z Blogging Challenge with my theme “Obscure Superheroes”. My entry for “A” was Adam Strange.
Today was “B” and my entry for that is Black Goliath.
Until next time…
The Phantom M-pire 