what's new with you?

My best friend is leaving in a little more than a month to the USA - both her and her DH are going to do their Post-Doc in Stanford. If they could wait until the end of the semester, I would fly with them (and their toddler and their few-months-old baby) and help them out with the settling and all. As it stands, I hope I'll get to visit them sometime in the next year or two.

a guy who is trying to bring pro (more or less) baseball to Israel.

Well, there are a few cities that have a large community of immigrants from the USA, so he may have a chance there. In any other place it'll probably be really difficult.

Here's a picture from Sunday.

You look lovely and healthy. And I love how your hair in the picture looks almost black, but the little light shed on it shows the blue.

And she lives by her word, too.

Yeah, but her body is different from yours, right? If you start the extreme way, and make small changes, and see if and how they influence you, surely you can find a balanced way that works for you, right?

In any other place it'll probably be really difficult.

He's apparently trying to attact people using the sort of give-aways and special entertainment that some of the farm teams use -- the sort that the Atlanta Braves were famous for, back when they were the worst team in baseball. To get people the the ball park, the Braves had, over the years, the world's largest wet t-shirt contest, kazoo night and an ostrich race. Also, there was the time the then owner, Ted Turner, pushed a ball down the baseline with his nose.

Bill Veeck was infamous for those kind of stunts. He hired a midget for the St. Louis Browns (no pitcher could get the ball in his strike zone), introduced the exploding scoreboard for the White Sox (he also started up Harry Caray's tradition of singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the seventh inning stretch) as well as had one of the most notorious publicity stunts ever--Disco Demolition Night.

Yeah, but her body is different from yours, right?

bwah ha ha ha ha!

Yeah, it's different in that hers is perfect. Seriously. As in Jennifer Lopez once said she wished she had A's body. Frankly, I'm not even wishing for a body like that, I just want to live long enough to see my kids grow to adulthood.

Disco Demolition Night.

Considered by many to mark the end of the disco era.

Relatedly, the most fun I ever had at Wrigley Field was when KC and the Sunshine Band played before a game.

Well, soccer is pretty much the national sports here, and there's practically nothing done around it other than the actual playing of it. And the rich people who own the teams are far too self-important in their own eyes to try and pull stuff like that themselves. Maybe pay people in order to do that, or maybe politicians. Hmm.

Until very recently, to the best of my knowledge, there were no cheerleaders here, in any game (they have them in basketball now, I think). Our sports experience is a little different from yours, I guess.

I'm not even wishing for a body like that, I just want to live long enough to see my kids grow to adulthood.

I should have been clearer. I meant to say that your bodies are different on the inside - what works on way for one person may work in a completely different way for another, you know? And sometimes the stress of trying to keep such a strict diet destroys some of the effects of that diet, so there's no point in working hard in order to keep these "corners" all straight and sharp.

But the first part, the cleanse, needs to be completely grain and carb free. And sugar free, including natural sugars, like fruit. And I've never been on a diet in my life. This is going to suck.

Maybe it's a better idea to do something less radical then? Like just avoid white carbs and processed sugars? And make sure you're eating lots of vegetables. Maybe the results won't come as fast but the diet will actually be something that does not suck and is something you can sustain.

I dunno. I spent the first three months of the year making changes in my diet and exercise patterns. I still had whole grains though and I had fruit because I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep up a diet that prohibited those things for a couple of days. This was also the first time I'd try to do anything like a diet and I wanted to create better habits for myself more than I wanted to just lose weight.

The most radical thing, for me, was going without the drinking alcohol at all for those three months. That was more of a willpower thing than anything else, doing it just to see if I could. And I did and am proud of myself for doing it but having a glass of wine with dinner, for example, is something I enjoy too much to cut out of my life forever (unless it became medically necessary that I do so).

The most radical thing, for me, was going without the drinking alcohol at all for those three months. That was more of a willpower thing than anything else, doing it just to see if I could. And I did and am proud of myself for doing it but having a glass of wine with dinner, for example, is something I enjoy too much to cut out of my life forever (unless it became medically necessary that I do so).

I gave up booze for lent one year. I was eeeeevil. Mostly because almost all of my social activities revolve around going to bars/eating at restaurants with wine.

Maybe it's a better idea to do something less radical then?

Or changing the amount of time? I go three days on almost all protein, and then I go to protein and + grain for breakfast, protein for snack, salad with protein + fruit for lunch, protein for snack, salad + protein + fruit for dinner and a protein snack for the remainder of the time.

I mean, it makes me tired of protein, that's for sure, but is more manageable. And I look forward to my grain in the AM.

Mostly because almost all of my social activities revolve around going to bars/eating at restaurants with wine.

Mine too! It was hard! But people being really impressed with my willpower helped. I'm a total whore for praise!

In other news, hi, Nilly!!!