Daily Archives: January 20, 2006

It's a New Phil, Week 3

Weighed in this morning at 283, bringing the total weight loss to 14 pounds.

One thing I’ve learned — when you’re counting calories, calories really count. Go figure.

Meat is just way to dense to eat more than once a day — if that. (And by “meat, I mean meat, poultry, or fish.) I’m getting a lot more mileage out rice and beans with a little salsa thrown in. Plus, I’ve discovered a wonderful thing called baked tortilla chips. Not bad.

Whole grains are good. I’ve discovered these little Swedish crackers called Kavli. The packages says that they’re “flatbread,” but I’m 43 years old and I guess I know a flipping cracker when I see one. Still, they’re pretty good. Plus, of course, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. All that sensible stuff. It works!

Also, Weight Watchers makes some pretty good ice cream novelties for those moments where it seems like some chocolate is required, but you’d rather not just blow the whole thing. Turns out you don’t have to actually be on the WW program to eat their stuff. Who knew?

It’s a New Phil, Week 3

Weighed in this morning at 283, bringing the total weight loss to 14 pounds.

One thing I’ve learned — when you’re counting calories, calories really count. Go figure.

Meat is just way to dense to eat more than once a day — if that. (And by “meat, I mean meat, poultry, or fish.) I’m getting a lot more mileage out rice and beans with a little salsa thrown in. Plus, I’ve discovered a wonderful thing called baked tortilla chips. Not bad.

Whole grains are good. I’ve discovered these little Swedish crackers called Kavli. The packages says that they’re “flatbread,” but I’m 43 years old and I guess I know a flipping cracker when I see one. Still, they’re pretty good. Plus, of course, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. All that sensible stuff. It works!

Also, Weight Watchers makes some pretty good ice cream novelties for those moments where it seems like some chocolate is required, but you’d rather not just blow the whole thing. Turns out you don’t have to actually be on the WW program to eat their stuff. Who knew?

Comments Back Up

Thanks for your patience, folks. Feel free to resume commenting any time you like!

Comments Down

Comments are not working; I’m looking into what the problem is. Will let you all know when they’re back up.

UPDATE: My hosting service confirms that they have disabled comments in defense against a spam attack. I’m making some configuration settings that will solve the problem, but I’m waiting until I get the *exact* procedure from Movable Type. Anyone who remembers the painful transition from Speculist.com to blog.Speculist.com will understand why.

Final Answer?

In 1772, James Cook set out on his second voyage looking for the mythical Terra Autralis, the great southern continent which had been described originally by Ptolemy. Before the Portugeuse successfully rounded the tip of Africa, it was believed that this enormous continent wrapped around the end of the world, connecting Africa with Asia and making the Indian Ocean an inland sea. Throughout the period of discovery that followed the opening up the eastern passage to Asia, explorers such as Balboa, Magellan, Drake, and others contributed to the overall scaling down of hypothetical continent. Cook’s voyage put to rest once and for all the idea that there was a vast habitable continent to the south. He came within 75 miles of the coast of Antarctica — the much smaller, ice-covered continent that really was there — but left discovery of it to a pair of Russians, Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, in the 1820′s.

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I wonder whether the mission to Pluto just launched might serve to provide a final answer to the question of whether Pluto is, indeed, the ninth planet? In a decade or so, thanks to what this spacecraft shows us, Pluto may be vindicated as a planet or reclassified an asteroid or trans-Neptunian object. In the latter case, the Ninth Planet will join the great southern continent, the realm of Prester John, and myriad other fanciful notions of what lies beyond the horizon that have had to be abandoned in the harsh light of discovery.

Personally, I’m rooting for Pluto to keep it’s status. But if it is reclassified, it had a pretty good run as a planet. Not as long a run as the southern continent, perhaps, but then things happen faster nowadays.

A Speculist Milestone

Wow, check out these traffic numbers.

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For the first time ever, we have broken the 50,000 mark for unique visitors in a month…and the month is only two-thirds over.

Thanks for dropping by, everybody!