John

visited 15 states (30%)Create your own visited map of The United States

All needed application materials have been sent in, and my package is under review. Should be hearing back from the university within a month’s time. Oh man, the nerves. All of the nerves.

Got this one the past November… it’s the symbol for Okinawa, Japan, where I’ve been living for the last year and a half. Number six will be done in the next few months. :)

I replaced my incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones. I don’t notice any difference in light output, but one thing I definitely notice is that the fluorescents produce almost zero heat. What’s next?

I’ve been living in Japan for the last five months for work, so my everyday conversational Japanese has been improving drastically. It also helps that I carry a phrasebook with me any time I go out in the area. If I could only just get at least one of the writing systems down…

I’ve made great strides in accomplishing this goal over the last few months. Open accounts with zero balances are a beautiful sight. Things will only improve from here.

Japan this summer. It’s happening without a doubt!!

I quit my job a week ago. It wasn’t fulfilling and I couldn’t see the situation improving any time in the near future. I have enough cash saved up for a few months of bills and I’m already sending out my resume to new places. I was smiling the whole time I was packing up my desk. I should have done this months ago!

I went out to a few parties in the last month, situations where I’d usually overindulge and wind up very drunk. But I stuck to my 2-drink limit. It was great. I consider this accomplished. This isn’t a temporary thing either, I believe it has become a lifestyle change.

I’ve gone skydiving, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t bungee jump, also…

My passport arrived yesterday. Now that I have the legal ability to travel, time to really start saving up…

So over this past weekend my weight consistently stayed at 205. So Id’ say that I lost 10lbs since January. Okay, 10lbs in 14 weeks really isn’t a lot, but it’s been mostly due to diet changes that I needed to make anyway. If I actually start jogging again now that the weather has changed, I imagine my goal will be achieved even faster…

It took me a bit longer than I intended, but I finally submitted my passport paperwork. The goal now is a South American cruise – Brazil, Argentina, Uraguay. Jan/Feb 2009. Excellent.

Photos were taken last night. Next week I’m getting paid $100 to play a gig, all of which will go immediately toward covering the passport fee. I’m stoked. It’s all starting to come together. Some friends are talking about South America in January 2009. That would be amazing.

So, I was able to press a few copies via a friend’s PC just before the holidays. So that makes my official release date December, 2007. Already sold about a dozen copes, and now with my new iMac (drool) I’ve been burning more copies to sell at open mics and performances. I’m playing a show in NJ in mid-March. Perhaps I’ll get a few more copies sold!

Got a star around my left elbow in late December. It symbolizes guidance, taken from the concept of a nautical star. Next piece will either be the foo dog on my right arm, or a number 13 inside the star (on my elbow… ouch!)

I’ve had this resource all along, and didn’t even think about it until the other day – a good friend of mine is a nutritionist. She sent me a few surveys to take and we’re meeting up this week or next to work on a plan that will help me lose weight, and have more energy. Hooray for having friends.

I’ve put myself on a 2-drink limit for the last month. When I go out, I will not have more than 2 drinks. Since I’m really not a fan of hard alcohol, this pretty much means two beers or two glasses of wine. It’s really allowed me to enjoy my evenings out and appreciate the conversations, sights, sounds, and people. No hangovers! I should have done this years ago, haha.

Age – 25
Height – 6’ 1”
Current weight – 215 lbs

Medically “healthy” range – 145-190 lbs
Goal – 185 lbs

My friend Mike and I challenged each other to lose 30 lbs by April 15th. That will give us a 2-lb per week average loss, which is nice and healthy.

So now it begins.
Current weight – 215 lbs.
Goal weight – 185 lbs.

I’ll try to update this every week. Here’s hoping!