I have www.quasilaur.net back in working order!  Stay tuned there!

I’m putting up this post until I can get the situation rectified that allows spammers to exploit this generation of WordPress I’m using. It seems to be only attaching to the most recent post, and then it only seems visible when viewed from RSS or another manner. I’m not a nerd, and I’m unfortunately not able to update WordPress on my own, so I’m getting creative.

Hey spammers, attack this post!

(EDIT: I’ve moved my posts to quasilaur.wordpress.com until I can figure out how to get this working better.  I’ll work on spiffing quasilaur.wordpress.com up, and maybe just be pointing quasilaur.net over here.)

I’ve been busy losing 51 lbs (since September) — and then learning how to scuba dive.

I got my Open Water certification today! Thanks GirlDiver!

I promise to write more soon!

…to ask strangers on the Internet for free shit.

Last week was a doozy. We were counting down til our departure to Ireland, Jon was required to go to NYC for business during the week, things were intense at work for me, and serendipitously on Monday morning, I was emailed about interest in a job interview.

By the end of the week, I had a job offer for a job less than 2 mi from home with great benefits. I gave 1 mo notice to my current job (my boss seemed happy for me, but not so happy at the same time.) The house was cleaned and we were packed. We spent Friday evening with friends, having a wonderful time, and then Saturday we started our journey. I’m still discombobulated because my life took a turn last week, and hopefully for the better.

We’ve been wandering around Dublin so far, and today we are going to wander more. There seems to be a marathon today, which may account for all the American athletic types I’ve seen around. What a coincidence we just happen to come here during a tourist time.

The weather is not unlike Seattle, which is a relief. Jon has now approached me at this little computer station, so it’s time for breakfast.

Here’s to all life’s adventures!

Diets.

I remember once when I was a kid I saw a poster featuring Garfield. I remember it saying something about “Diet is just Die with a T.” There’s diets emphasizing this, that and eliminating everything else. And it’s all promoted as if one thing fit all. Where exactly does evolution fit into all this? Where it is obvious that American culture (super-size me and all) encourages obesity (well, that and that people live in suburbs, drive cars miles and miles to the “corner store” and rarely do any physical exercise), what about us as individuals with tons of evolutionary genetic heritage?

As for me, I know that my family heritage is rural. Craftspeople, tradespeople, farmers and shopkeepers. Also, there’s the poverty and walking up-hill both ways in the snow. A body that burns calories slowly, knows how to store for long times w/o food and has endurance would be helpful in lean, hard-working times. Some of the women at work call my body-type “thick.” And it’s true, I’m not scrawny woman. While I am overweight, I’ve got big bones. I’ve got my mother’s family’s hips, broad and solid. I was well nourished as a kid — perhaps over-nourished compared to my ancestors. Maybe I’m genetically built to be optimized for hard labor and lean times? I find that I’m not as jazzed by proteins, but I ADORE complex and simple carbs, stuff that is cheap and easy to get. Protien actually makes me more hungry, and I tend to eat more when proteins are involved. Funny, huh?

Jon is different, though. He NEEDS protein. A veggie diet leaves him starved. We’ve found a happy medium, for the most part.

Maybe weight loss, health maintenance and optimization for our lifestyles has nothing to do with what our current culture and science is telling us — maybe we need to ask ourselves, how did our parents grow up and eat and work? How did their parents live? Maybe that can serve as a guidance?

Of course — I have no scientific back up, but it’s an interesting thought.