The Peaceful Gnome

Here is a nice explanation of randomness and evolution.

I have decided not to fast this weekend after all.  I still think fasting is a good thing to do from time to time.  There is just way too much going on with all of the church services and activities.  To fast I need a quiet day where I can relax and not have to do all that much.  Yeah, I know, I'm a wimp.  :-) I will be fasting next week probably, after all it's "Intermittent Fasting" and having it sort of spontaneous is supposed to be best so I'll do it when the urge strikes in conjunction with opportunity. 

I'm going to fast during part of the Easter Triduum this year.  The Easter Triduum is the three days starting from Maundy Thursday, today, through Easter Sunday.  I'm going to fast from the evening of Good Friday through Easter morning.  I'm fasting at this time to focus my mind and spirit on the events of the passion and the resurrection of our Lord.  I know that we aren't supposed to "brag" when we fast but I have another reason for posting this and that is the health benefits of fasting. I've fasted periodically over the years and found that it made me feel better afterwards.  I never really thought much about it because mostly the reasons I chose to fast were to set aside a time for prayer and reading God's word. Lately while reading Mark's Daily Apple , a website about Primal Living, like Paleo only a bit more relaxed, I encountered the concept of Intermittent Fasting.  This is the idea that a short fast, one skipped meal or even a whole ...

Whew!

On my way to work this morning I climbed up the Coit tower steps.

We never had lion alerts when I was a kid. This from a Danville (where we go to church) school.  "This evening we received an as yet unconfirmed report that two deer were seen running near the creek by the Charlotte Wood Middle School campus at around  7 p.m. , and were being chased by what appeared to be a mountain lion. At this time we are contacting both the Town of Danville and the Danville Police Department for the appropriate assistance. We are letting you know so that you and your child can take any necessary precautions when coming to school  tomorrow morning . We will also have extra supervision around campus at that time. We will keep you updated with any new information."

Are getting married! Woo hoo! I'm hoping for more grandkids out of this you know :-)

I had thought to go with the "low carb" diet again after my foray into Veganism turned out not to work for me so well, meaning I didn't actually lose any weight and, more importantly, I felt weak and lethargic on it.  I know I'll hear people tell me I just didn't do it right but it's really not me.  I like vegetables just fine, and I LOVE to eat pasta and rice and beans, but they don't like me that much. So, I've decided to experiment with something else in the diet realm, the Paleo-diet, also known as the Caveman diet.  The idea here is we eat what our ancestors ate up until the agricultural revolution about 10,000 years ago.  I read one book on the subject and have done some browsing.  The book is The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf.  It's an entertaining read and I do recommend it if you want to read up on some of the biology behind the idea.  This diet is a lot mor...

Memo.m4a Listen on Posterous It is more blessed to ask forgiveness than permission. Sent from my iPhone Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

Memo.m4a Listen on Posterous It is more blessed to ask forgiveness than permission. Sent from my iPhone Posted via email from The Angry Gnome

For 3 months I was on a strict vegan diet. With only a couple of minor deviations I consumed no animal products at all. This was a choice based on my belief that factory farms are cruel and immoral places. A second consideration was health. I thought perhaps a vegan diet would be healthier and maybe result in weight loss. After all, have you ever seen a fat vegan? (only when I look in the mirror!) I still know factory farms are awful places, but the health side I've reconsidered. I noticed a couple of months into my strictest vegan eating that I was feeling weak. Really! When I added in more cheese and meat I felt better. So, to prove how erratic, inconstant, fickle and perhaps just plain unstable I am I'm going to go back to what I call the Un-Vegan diet. Low carb high fat and high protein. Here is why, I've tried the balanced meal food pyramid moderate eating that is supposed to be good for you. I've done absurd amounts of exercise at the same time to try and burn mo...