Las Vegas

As I mentioned in my last post, Mr. Frisby and I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas over Valentine's Day/President's Day weekend. It was for business, not pleasure, but since the business consisted of taping a few ankles, we had plenty of off-hours for pleasure. It was my first trip to Vegas, so it was all new to me. The first night we were there, we got dinner, drove around the strip with our friend Aaron (who is also my boss), and we also went to the older part of Vegas on Fremont Street to see the lights there. There were so many pretty lights. It was so glitzy. It was trying so hard to be better than it was. And my first impression of Las Vegas was that it might be kind of cool.

Then, I saw Vegas during the day. It was so desert-y. It was so dirty. It was full of idiots who walk down the street with a drink in a lame novelty cup like they're having the time of their life. The sidewalks are littered with discarded porn. And then I decided that Las Vegas really wasn't very cool.

Mr. Frisby and I had a good time, though. We went to the temple one morning, so that was good. And, really, inside the hotels, away from the casino parts, there was some cool stuff. We saw the lions in the MGM Hotel.


We saw the gondolas inside the Venetian.


Speaking of the Venetian, that was probably the coolest hotel I've ever seen. In fact, one of my favorite things we saw was this little old guy playing the accordian in "St. Mark's Square" inside the Venetian. Awesome.

The next day we even went to a car show that would've made my dad jealous. Mr. Frisby was practically drooling over the Mustangs they had.

And I liked the fountains at the Bellagio.

So, all in all, we had a good time and it was a fun weekend. But, now that I've seen all the pretty lights, I don't need to go back to Las Vegas. Cuz' I live in California!

Virgin America

Mr. Frisby and I just got back from a weekend in Las Vegas. I will blog all about Vegas with pictures and everything later. But, for now, I'm going to focus on our transportation to and from. We flew on Virgin America Airlines. We had never flown with Virgin America airlines before, but let me tell you - it is one of my new favorite things! Virgin America is how the airline industry should be. The Virgin America folk are all very nice, helpful, and friendly. The planes are all new and awesome-looking, complete with purple interior lights. They were very forthcoming with information regarding our weather delays (which we had both leaving and returning to San Francisco). They had the best pre-flight safety information video I've ever seen (so good that I would watch it again outside of an airplane just for the sake of watching it). They also have a power source at every seat, individual screens at every seat with an on-board computer that allows you to listen to music, watch TV, watch movies, play games, and chat with people in other seats. Their flight attendants all had cool-looking uniforms. None of this ugly striped scarves/vests/jackets business. When we got on board, it felt like we were on the cool plane and that we should look out and wave goodbye to all the suckers on all the other lame airlines. And the best part about Virgin America is that they're cheap! Cheaper than most of the other airlines, in fact. The problem with Virgin America is that they only fly to a handful of cities. So, if you're not going to the right destination, they're not even an option. But, based on our Virgin America flying experiences, I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone. And if I get the chance again, I'm taking the cool plane!

HMB

On Saturday, Mr. Frisby's brother and his wife and daughter came to visit us. We decided to go to Half Moon Bay for the day even though it was supposed to be cold and overcast. The weather surprised us, though, and it turned out to be a beautiful day! We got lunch at a deli on Main Street and then headed north a little bit along Highway 1 to see the ocean. After a failed attempt at going out to Mavericks (too many people had the same idea since it was so gorgeous), we pulled off at a small state beach which is usually not too crowded. It was Shelby's first trip to the beach and we had a great time. Thanks for visiting us, guys!


Mr. Frisby and I

Jordan, Shelby, and Bernie

It was a little rough at first, but by the end, Shelby was liking the beach

Isn't he cute?

In my defense. . .

I've taken a little heat for my last post. Of course, I won't name names *cough*Sharon*cough*, but I do now feel the need to defend myself. It appears that my comments were misunderstood. When I said that I had lost weight without trying, what I meant was that losing weight was not my goal. I did not mean to say that I just stand around and lose weight. Let me reiterate that I do cardio workouts 5-6 times per week and I lift weights 3 times per week. Although it was not my goal, losing weight was a very unsurprising result. And these are not pansy workouts that I do. I played collegiate soccer and I know what tough workouts are. I'm not going to pretend for a minute that I work out as hard as I did during my soccer days, but I work hard. And, predictably, my hard work is showing results. Such as losing a few pounds. And putting on some muscle (want proof? Next time you see me, just ask to see my guns. Jared was a little surprised when I showed him). The point of my last post was to share some weight loss tips with everyone who cares because I know that losing weight is not easy. So, before you get all mad because I've lost a few lbs, remember that hours of hard work and sweat were the reason.

Weight Loss

This is me (with Mr. Frisby, of course) at the end of September, just after getting on a regular weekly workout schedule. I do not look at myself and think, "I should probably lose some weight." It's not something I try to do. I do not do diets, I do not work out to lose weight, I do not think about my weight on a regular basis. It's never been an issue for me. However, over the last 4.5 months, I have lost a good 5 or 6 pounds. Without trying. Do not think for a moment, though, that I haven't been working hard. In September, I decided that since I had plenty of time, I needed to be working out regularly. I like to work out because it makes me healthier. I'm also trying to put off the ill effects of old age for as long as possible (And I'm not all concerned about old age because I'll soon hit 30. I just know that by the time you start to have ill effects from old age, it will be difficult to do anything about them. So, I'm trying to prevent them from happening at all. I know I can't really stop getting old from happening. I'm just trying to make it as pleasant and classy as possible. Don't rain on my parade, okay?). So, I started working out regularly to improve my overall health. For the past 4.5 months, I have been working out 5-6 times per week and lifting weights 3 times per week. And taking into account the muscle that I've gained (bear in mind that muscle tissue is heavier than fat tissue and, therefore, most people actually gain weight when they lift weights because, even though you're losing fat, you're gaining muscle which weighs more), I'm about 5 or 6 pounds under my normal weight. And I haven't been consciously doing activities/working out with the goal of losing weight.

Now, onto my point. As I said, I don't really care about losing weight. It's a beneficial consequence of the work I've been doing for my general health. It's great that I've lost a little weight, but it doesn't get me all excited. So, why am I blogging about it? Because I know there are people out there who do care about losing weight and have a hard time doing it. So, for anyone who cares, I will now give you two little tips for losing weight that will hopefully help you in your weight loss efforts.

1. Lift weights. Fat is burned within muscle tissue, so the more muscle you have, the more space your body has to burn fat.

2. Do interval training. Forget the old notion that steady-state aerobic exercise is the best way to lose fat. Losing weight is a simple matter of math. The calories you consume must be less than the calories you burn if you want to lose weight. So, you should do exercise that burns more calories. Well, don't you burn more calories if you work out at a steady pace for 30 minutes instead of doing one or two minute intervals with a 2,3, or even 4 minute rest in between? The answer is yes, if you only look at the calories burned in those 30 minutes of the workout. However, to put it in simple terms, interval training increases your metabolism for a much longer period of time after the workout. So, if you look at an entire 24 hour period, you actually burn more calories total with interval workouts because you continue burning a lot of calories even after your workout is done. With steady-state aerobic exercise, your metabolism will return to normal much faster and then you're just burning your normal amount of calories. Make sense? I think so.

So, if you want to lose weight, try it out. It worked for me and I wasn't even trying.

Call Me Lazy

I have many aspirations. I would like to be really good at taking awesome pictures. I would like to be much better at playing the guitar than my current skill set allows. I would like to be able to sit down at a piano and play something decent. The list could go on and on of the things to which I aspire. But, I've had a recent realization about myself which makes these aspirations seem a bit out of reach. I don't want to LEARN to be a good photographer. I just want to BE a good one. I don't want to LEARN how to play the guitar better. I just want to PLAY it better. I don't want to LEARN (or relearn since I did have lessons when I was younger) how to play the piano, I just want to PLAY it. It seems I have a problem with patience. I'm not patient enough to take the time to develop these and other skills that I aspire to. I just WANT them! I know that this completely goes against the whole character-building, learning to appreciate the work that goes into developing talents, developing a good work ethic rigamarole that we always get from those "older and wiser" than us. And I know that that's not the way things work - especially for me. And, I know that suddenly having a talent without doing anything to develop it is not going to happen. But, it doesn't change the fact that I just want to be good at stuff without having to try. Maybe it's something I'll aspire to.

Apple continues to kick BUTT!

I know I'm stating the obvious, but Apple is amazing. Let me tell you my newest discovery. I know it's been around a few months, so some of you may already have been experiencing the joy that has filled my life today. But for me, this is a new discovery and I find it so exciting, that I must share. Last September, Apple added a fantastic new feature to iTunes called Genius. I have known about Genius and played around with it a little since the update, but today I discovered what the true genius of Genius really is. The Genius feature of iTunes sends info regarding your entire iTunes library to Apple, which then compares it with all of the information it has in the iTunes store regarding song ratings, similar songs, etc, etc, etc. Then, based on all of this wonderful information, Genius gives you recommendations for other music based on what's in your library and what other people have said about the music. Cool, right? Just wait - here comes the best part. Say you like a particular song in your library and you want to make a playlist that includes songs similar to it. Here comes Genius to make your life better. You select the song you like, hit the genius button, and Voila! you have a playlist of similar songs all ready to go. You can then save that playlist and transfer it to your iPod if you like. It's amazing!!!!! I would say that Genius is the best thing since sliced bread, but it's not. It's the best thing since fire! I chose the song Dancing Queen and with the click of a button, I have a playlist that includes ABBA, Pat Benatar, Wham, Queen, Michael Jackson, and many others. My life is changed for the better!