Writers' Quotes

Chris loves documentaries.  I never would have figured him for that, but he is most definitely a nerd when it comes to history, animals, and the extras on the DVD.  Lately he's been watching war shows by Ken Burns.  One thing Burns is very good at is incorporating excerpts from journal entries, letters from participants/eye-witnesses, interviews, and quotes from people of the times that pertain to the subject matter.

These quotes humble me.  I like writing.  I truly enjoy it.  Many of these quotes are from people that didn't consider themselves "writers" but as something else and their writing was done kind of as a sideline.  And they are beautiful.  The turns of phrase, the descriptive wording, and the flow and meaning ascend into art.  When you take their backgrounds (many are uneducated or self-educated or educated up through grade school only) into account, they move towards genius.  I feel honored to be able to recognize the elements that make up these comments, and despair that there is no way I could put anything close to this standard onto paper.


As far as my weight-loss journey goes, today was a good day.  I am going to go over on my calories by just a bit.  It'll be close, but I'll go over.

I weighed in at 216 this morning.  If I compare that to my Dr's history of my weight I've lost 10.8 pounds.  If I compare it to my records on my own scales (which have the benefit of all being taken at the same time first thing in the morning), I've lost 9 pounds.  I'll use the 9 pounds as it reflects the weight I typed into caloriecount.about.com,  my "weight ticker" below, my calendar tracking page).  I sit here amazed.  We started this diet technically last Thursday and the VLCD on Saturday.  I've lost 9 pounds in 8 or 6 (depending on which day you want to flag) days.  If (and I'm a Doubting Thomas) I continue at this rate, by the end of this phase of the diet, I will have shed about 50 pounds.  The Dr said it was probably going to be close to 40, so I figure it will do as all diets do & slow down.  We shall continue to do our best & we shall see.

food log:                                calories
melba snacks                                 60
chicken (75g)                                124
cucumber                                         34
apple                                                 95
chicken (75g)                                124
cucumber                                        34
orange                                             62
total for day:                              531

I do not feel well today, but do not feel like it is a reflection of the diet.  I have a bladder infection that truly hurt today.  I've developed a raging headache as the day's progressed.  I believe I shall call it a day very soon & put myself to bed.  (Dear My Follower, I will call you sometime this weekend just because I love you.)