Second post Wednesday September 15th, 2010 MorningStar article

This article isn't about dieting, but I like it. 

• September 15th, 2010 4:18 pm MT

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Denver's MorningStar Senior Living is rolling out an ambitious computer and Internet training series

Grandparents rule!

Photo: by surlygirl

On Thursday October 7th, 2010, MorningStar Senior Living’s Dayton Place Denver will begin classes on “Basic computer knowledge 101.” The first meeting of this pilot course presented by Denver’s Modern Senior Technology, Inc.™ begins at 10:30am and is scheduled to run one hour. 

Kevin Tong, MorningStar’s Life Enrichment Director at Dayton Place, said that if this course is received as well as anticipated, they may expand the program to their other Colorado communities. “We want to offer a class that helps our experienced and inexperienced residents on the computer and the Internet.”

Tong explained further that, “We have received numerous family requests for online social networking training.” One of the pitfalls of senior living is keeping in contact with friends, sons and daughters as well as grandchildren.

One of the primary objectives of the program is to introduce the residents to social networking websites like Facebook.com™ who now has over 500 million registered users or the 26 million micro-blogging users of Twitter.com™. 

Perhaps the most useful social networking phenomenon for seniors is Skype.com™. Originally used by companies the world over, Skype now has over 600 million registered users from both the private and public sectors. Through the utilization of Skype’s online video conferencing, seniors can video conference with their families in “real time.” 

Opening communication channels may not be the most significant benefit. According toMedicineNet.com™, “several studies also have suggested that people who engage in intellectually stimulating activities, such as social interactions… significantly lower their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.”

MorningStar’s quest to expand their resident’s knowledge through the utilization of the computer and the Internet will not only enrich their lives; it may even extend it.

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Wednesday September 15th, 2010 - Ambitious hump day

Just for a change I am going to make a small post in the morning. Let's start with s status report then glide into weight loss. I am fairly house bound today. If I do need to go anywhere I can ride my bike. I should probably go for a ride this afternoon anyway. My poor bike hasn't been ridden for weeks.

I'm stuck at home because my wonderful lovely BMW needs a whole new radiator. A few weeks ago I was picking up Bobby from school and as I neared our neighborhood the radiator stated spewing fluid everywhere. I was only a few blocks from my house and the temp gauge was okay so I drove it home. By the time I reached the house the gauge started shooting up to HOT. I opened the hood and thought "wow, my hose came loose." So I waited until after the engine had cooled and I saw that part of the connecting neck was broke off as well. The BMW has a closed high pressure system that needs all of its parts. In the end, the whole radiator needs to be repaired at a whopping cost of $600 something. With the seasonably slow art business and my new job with the Examiner, I decided that being without a car would be fine for a while.

I am not going to the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver today because I basically quit Wednesdays, but I will work grand openings and special idea box events. I decided I needed the time to write. And then there is the car thing, but that's only temporary. I needed my Wednesdays back. I'll be volunteering for two openings in October so all is well.

So here I sit broken hearted, thought I'd %#*, but only farted. Ever read that on the bathroom stall? I'm just being silly. I don't know whether I have fully woken up yet.

Today I want to write two articles for the Examiner and maybe one for Ezine and then I want to work on the book. Hopefully I will have time to paint. I have a painting stuck in my mind that won't go away until I paint it. It will be a slight deviation from my normal, but perfect for the season. If you want to see my artwork and photography go to http://www.paulsharits.com/about_chris.htm The one shown above is called "Fury."

So on to the diet. I will be making slow cook beef stew. I will be stuck with the vegetables, but I can still put a bit of cheese on them. I just ate oatmeal and toast. For lunch I'll probably have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I will find some time and some way to get my heart rate up for at least 30 minutes. Maybe I'll mow the lawn. That would do it and I would get rid of one of my weekend chores.

I haven't talked about bariatric surgery for awhile, but my wife's friend at work is all over it. I just can't alter my body like that. Obviously some people must do it or die, but I'm very large and very fit and very happy. I do not need surgery. I don't think it would be a very good idea because of all the bipolar meds I take. Sure wouldn't want to bipolar and starving. I'll probably make another post later today and then we can see how well I did. 

Monday September 13th, 2010 - Writing my butt off

I wish that were true. If only I could actually write my butt off, rather, I need to be more diligent about time management so I can find more exercise opportunities. I did work up a great sweat flying through my Monday housework. That has to count for something. Tomorrow is my gym day. I will have to do a quick circuit loop. And I will have to seriously reduce my calories. The challenge here is that I forget to eat when I'm writing. There is always one more idea I need to write down out of fear that I will.... what was I saying?

What ends up happening when I do remember to eat is that I run to the frig and eat whatever is the easiest and quickest. That usually ends up being unhealthy or real healthy and too much healthy. At least I did get the hike in on Saturday. Tomorrow will be a challenge between dropping off my wife at work on the other side of the world in the morning and then the orthodontist in the afternoon and then dinner.  Well, at least the women in the house will be out tomorrow evening and I can throw some boy food in the oven. I have my eyes on a southwest vegetable mix. It's actually rocks with jalapeños and a touch of sour cream. You know I hate milk and raw milk is downright dangerous, but I still love cheese and a touch of sour cream. It's still vegetarian so it's on my diet.

So, anyway, I'll have to deal with tomorrow and still push out two articles. I've already started one about online simulation training for creating in-office crowns. Dental crowns. Anyway, this is the link to today's article on Christian online learning.  http://www.examiner.com/online-learning-in-denver/colorado-christian-university-offers-student-s-online-faith-based-curriculum  

Monday September 13th, 2010 - Ezine article on homeschooling laws

I write local online learning specific articles for the Examiner. Anything outside of that topic, I publish on Ezine Articles. Here's one that was published today.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Colorados-Homeschooling-Laws-Make-It-Easy&id=4992354

Sunday September 12, 2010 - Reprint of my latest Examiner article

*Had a good relaxing Sunday with Football. My fantasy football team easily won. My Broncos did not, but I think they will do fine this year. I didn't exercise at all today. Had a little bipolar moment this afternoon, but I recovered. It's scary how those anxiety attacks can start regardless of the positive events and status of things. Here is a full copy of my latest Examiner article published 9/11/2010...  (To read all articles and subscribe for free to receive my article headlines via email, follow this link: http://www.examiner.com/user/2624016/2050016/articles )

Jefferson County Public School's credit recovery program helps high school student's graduate

• September 11th, 2010 2:44 pm MT

Jeffrey, center, accepts his diploma

Photo: Photo by Christopher Sharits

Jefferson County Public School’s Virtual Academy andcredit recovery programs offer several options for class credit recovery. These programs include night classes, computer based curriculum as well as a variety of additional interventions designed to meet the individual needs of the students. The program facilitates students who…

• may not be fully successful in the traditional school environment
• who participate in school sports or acting
• who require greater flexibility
• come from military or displaced families
• transfer in from other districts
• are returning students seeking graduation
• are seeking advanced or additional classes in preparation college
• are preparing for life after high school
• simply need a fresh start or a second chance

Courses that include core classes like math, English, and history and elective classes like video gaming design. The online courses are generally offered free of tuition to those students under 21 and the night classes are offered at incredibly low tuitions. The courses are offered five times a year.

Recent Bear Creek High School graduate Jeffrey Sharits has the credit recovery program to thank for his victorious on-time graduation. Jeffrey explained, “I was worried that I wasn’t going to get to graduate with my friends.”

He had transferred to Bear Creek from Thunder Ridge High School in Douglas County in need of two missing core credits. “I had to take one online course during school and one at night school. I thought they might be a little bit easier, but I was wrong. They were hard.” With stubborn determination, in May 2010, Jeffrey walked proudly across the Red Rocks Amphitheater stage with his friends. 

Saturday September 11, 2010 - New writing job is ALIVE!

Today was almost perfect. I wrote an article on high school credit recovery and then went on a three mile hike up on Mt Falcon. Thankfully, we are 20 miles south of the Boulder wildfire, but you  can see and smell the smoke from our house.

So my new articles with the Examiner can be seen at http://www.examiner.com/user/2624016/2050016/articles
Please read one and if you like it enter your email from the "subscribe" button next to my byline. I get paid for traffic so read often!

My diet was crap today. I didn't settle into breakfast until lunch time and then I ate two "beef" hot dogs with sour kraut. I was too hungry to resist. And yes, they were good. Tomorrow is FOOTBALL day. I can't wait!

Thursday September 8th, 2010 - Examiner.com

I was accepted as a contract columnist for Examiner.com as the new Denver Online Learning Examiner. I guess I thought it was going to be like any other freelance writing job, but I was wrong. The learning curve and expectations are intense. After I was hired I scratched out a couple of relevant articles and have since gone back in and completely re-wrote them. I spent four hours this morning in the Examiner University and I only took a few courses, but it was enough for me to realize that I needed revise my submitted articles. Fortunately they have publishing tools that allow you to go back and revise even published articles.

After a week of journalistic re-education I only have two polished articles published. They won't be live on my page for a few more days because they are having technical difficulties with their new website. When they are they will be at http://www.examiner.com/x-67194-Denver-Online-Learning-Examiner . Once online you can, and I hope you do, sign up as a follower. The pay structure and bonuses are better than I could have imagined. I have found my new full-time job. In order to meet my financial obligations without relying on the art business, I need to write at least four quality articles a day. Now that I have figured out how this thing works, I should have no trouble cranking out the stories. My main job right now is spreading my network to all of those Colorado institutions that provide or use online learning.

What does this do for my diet? It blows it all to hell! I've been grabbing food and snacks without even considering the consequences because I'm just so busy trying to get on the ball. Additionally, most of my time on this job is sitting on my butt in front of this particular computer. The only exercise I'm getting is voluminous house chores and running errands. And to top that off my BMW needs a new radiator so I'm essentially without a car. Well that's not exactly true. I've been borrowing my son's car and using the Honda whenever my lovely wife is not using it. However, I need to get to the gym three times a week. I don't like to, but I may have to ride my bike to the gym. If you knew the trek to the gym, you would know that just riding to the gym is an exhaustive affair.

At any rate, I can't use this job as an excuse. I need to manage my time better and lose some pounds. Speaking of pounds, I wonder if we have any more ice cream. KIDDING... maybe.  

Tueday August 31st 2010 - second post regarding freelance writing

I have posted four of my recent articles on my other blog http://writingsbychristopher.blogspot.com . Here is my first article for the Examiner...

Homeschooled Online Advantage

Many opponents of the homeschooling option cite quality of education and socialization skills among students as arguments against the homeschooled. Today’s homeschooled students and teachers come from all walks of life and tend to be more mainstream than their predecessors. Many parents turn to homeschooling in frustration over what they perceive to be a collapsing public school education suffering from massive budget cuts, deteriorating infrastructure, and increasing violence among its students.

In a traditional school setting, teachers specialize in subjects from computer sciences to math to foreign languages. In the past, homeschooled parent instructors hired expensive tutors for courses that exceeded their capabilities or experience, but tutors are expensive and they tend to work on fixed schedules. There are literally hundreds of accredited online K-12 courses online that offer homeschooled parents an affordable and flexible alternative.

 Another concern of homeschooled opponents is the certification of instructors. While some parents are certified instructors the vast majority are not, but one has to consider the efficacy of a traditional teacher with 30 to 40 students as compared to a statistically well-educated parent with a deep investment in their child’s future. The addition of online courses can squelch those arguments by providing accredited certified instruction in areas of the greatest concern like English, math, and science. An additional feature of online course is transparency and accountability. While many of today’s universities and colleges consider standardized entrance exams to be a better barometer of a student’s academic prowess, the addition of online education transcripts can only help.

The second most common objection to the homeschooled option is the perception of stunted socialization. Homeschooled students, particularly online students, have more flexible schedules and can often meet with other homeschooled students of a wider variety in age than the public schooled for true quality time rather than sitting in a crowded classroom with limited opportunities to interact. Homeschooled students operating online have the advantage of organizing events and gatherings through homeschooled web and socialization sites.

The complexity of primary education has changed. Many students, including a growing number of traditional students, have grasped onto online instruction as a viable alternative or in addition to traditional classrooms. Do the addition of online instruction and the steady rise of the homeschooled spell the end of traditional schools? Of course not, but online course have certainly enriched the homeschooled and made them even more competitive against traditionally taught students.  

Tuesday August 31st, 2010 - The Examiner

My workouts have been temporarily suspended due to being overwhelmed with work. Tomorrow is jam packed so I won't see the gym until Thursday. I can't wait. I don't like the mushy feeling I get when I don't work out. As a result of my crazy schedule, my diet has gone to poop. I have had to eat when I can and whatever I can. Thankfully I did some real healthy shopping so I'm not stuffing my face with oatmeal cookies.

If only losing weight was as fun as gaining it. It is so discouraging to work hard and sacrificing yummy food for weeks to lose the weight and then put it right back on in a matter of days. However, one must continue to fight and accept gains where ever and whenever you can. I'm in it for the long run. It feels way to good to be healthy. I'll never let myself get so far out of shape again.

As previously discussed, I am trying to expand my schedule to accommodate additional freelance writing. Today I took a big step by accepting a contract position with Examiner.com. My assigned subject matter in online learning. I love when passion meets practical like getting paid to do what I love... writing. DENVER BILLIONAIRE BUYS SF EXAMINER.(San Francisco Examiner): An article from: NewsInc

Sunday August 29th, 2010 - Survived Babysitting... barely

This past week was consumed with babysitting Rylan. They really shouldn't call it baby "sitting" because, when she was a wake, I was not sitting. Well, maybe I sat while she was eating. But then again, that was a whole new challenge because she's testing her limits and often refuses to open her mouth. 10 months old with attitude. My strategy was too let her finger eat pieces of cooked carrots, canned peas (her favorite), toddler puff snacks, and then shove cereal with either baby food apple sauce or more peas, or squash. Rylan is also at the stage where she loves to drop things off of her high chair. I could handle the toys and even the wash clothes, but the air born distribution of food was discerning. Nonetheless, we had a splendid week. I love that little girl like she was my own. We just play, eat, sleep, and poop. Lots of mutual giggling. I can't wait for the next time.

My own food consumption and exercise went to hell this week, but I'll be back in the gym tomorrow. I'm afraid to hit the scale because I'm sure I gained weight. When you only have moments to eat, you tend not to pay much attention to what is going into your mouth. At any rate, I think running after Rylan all week constituted exercise.

I may have mentioned before that the art world, which I rely on for income, comes to a complete halt during the month of August. So the major acquisition that I had hoped would close in August will not close. As a matter of fact, it may take many more months to close if it closes at all. This has cut my pay by 90% so I decided to aggressively pursue freelance writing contracts. I thought I had found my wind fall with freelance.com but I was very wrong. I was bidding on over ten jobs a day, but I was either losing the bid or the job went to someone who would do a ridiculous amount of work for $30. Many of the article requests were being bid out at less than a dollar for 500 words. Plus, your expected to write 30 to 100 articles in just a view days. Basically your supposed to write 10 new original articles a day... for a lump sum of $10. Forget that. I can make more money doing surveys only.

But God is good and He has brought money back into our family financial needs. I really need to contribute about $3000 per month to the family budget. As you can see, ramping up to speed will take some time, but in the mean time God helped me obtain a substantial "front" from my NYC gallery and He has helped me collect film royalties from some of my more compassionate distributors. In addition, He surprised us with an oil lease contract signing bonus.

Since my grandfather died, we have kept up on the property taxes for three mineral rights sites. They were not producing. They were just sitting out there so I really didn't pay attention to the size of our stake. I assumed it was trivial but I continued to pay the taxes anyway. As it turns out I own 1/8th interest in 680 acres of high potential oil fields in north east Colorado. And it would appear that one of the world's largest oil exploration companies is very optimistic about finding oil shale and natural gas on our land. I don't own the surface rights, but everything below the ground. The Green River Formation in Northwest Colorado is said to be one of the biggest oil fields in the world. Maybe some of it bled over to our land. Who knows? The potential is there. We'll just have to sit and wait until they fully qualify the find. Could be real fun or at the very least, another source of royalties. If it paid my auto insurance and the cable bill each month I would be happy. So I guess the conclusion to this story is that the Lord has always provided for us in ways we could not have foreseen. I publicly thank you Lord. Now maybe I can continue my trek to better heath.

Tuesday August 24th, 2010 - Babysitting Rylan

This week I'm babysitting my cousin's baby. Rylan was born in October 2009. She is adorable and the happiest baby I have ever seen. Nonetheless, babysitting is exhausting. She has two speeds; awake and asleep. Not too much in between. She is crawling, but like a very fast tank. She will probably be walking soon. She has this speed racer car she can sit on an scoot, but she usually gets behind it and pushes. Sometimes she will reach out for things and kind of take a step. I wouldn't classify it as a real first step. More like a reach.

Rylan has liked me since she was born. Maybe I'm warm. Anyway, when I enter a room or peek around a corner she immediately drops what she's doing or whom she is sitting with and bolt towards me. I would like to teach her to say Uncle Chris or even Teddy (bear), but her words are currently restricted to da da, ta ta (our dog Tatum), and doggy. Everything else is more of a baby demand. My greatest concern right now is that she keeps calling my da da. All the time. She does call her dad da da, but it's awkward when she calls me too.

Yesterday I took Rylan out on some errands with me and she loves me to hold her through the store or place her in the cart, but its exhausting. Being a full time mom has got to be a killer. My wife and the other momthers just roll their eyes at me when I talk about how tired I am. Anyway, Rylan is like a built in gym. I can't go to the regular gym this week unless I go in the evening, but babysitting is some serious work and a good workout. My diet was not great yesterday. I over ate lunch and dinner. I'l try to be better today.

August 22nd, 2010 - Great Sunday

I always pound out the same concept. Weight loss and good health rely on everything. Today I went to service at a new church (same as last week) and thoroughly enjoyed it, but looking at the parishioners it was clear that the old saying that Sunday is the most segregated day of the week. True from my perspective. It inspired a new article. Not prejudicial; more factual.

My diet was okay today, but not great as far as calories go, but good healthy food. After church I changed clothes and went to the gym. Great circuit training and hard basketball. Went home hot tired and sweaty.

Managed to work on painting. Started two new paintings and worked on an existing project. All in all, a very good day.

August 17th, 2010 - Writings from Christopher

Today was my day to visit the gym, but I didn't make it. I spent most of the morning in the orthodontists office while my youngest, Bobby, had his new braces put on. He has a weird bite and upper jaw line which required widening. In order to do this they put this contraption called an expander on the roof of his mouth that is designed to slowly, over the course of 18 days, split his bone. Then they tie it off and wait for the jaw to heal and fill in. If it works as planned, he will develop a temporary gap between his front teeth like David Letterman. Needless to say, his pain today was monumental. We stocked up on soft foods and Ibuprofen.

Tomorrow I will work until 2pm at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in the Idea Box as usual. Hopefully I'll get some interesting school groups, but I think the only ones already in school are from Douglas County. Afterwards I'll be helping my friend Woody move to his new house. Woody has Cushing's disease and has recently found a large malignant tumor on his sternum. I suppose that will be my exercise for tomorrow. Then, of course, I have Thursday's gym scheduled which is probably the next time I will post.

While I have been busy managing my late father's film and art career, painting, and writing I have a bit of an unexpected gap in paychecks that has necessitated my new job search. I went to an employment support group at the church I attended on Sunday and came to the conclusion that I simply do not want a new career or employer. I also do not want to go back to car brokering or warehouse management, so I have determined my best course of action is to solicit contract work as a technical and/or creative writer. In order to do so I have joined the Society for Technical Communication and I've started another blog called WritingsbyChristopher.blogspot.com to showcase my writing and to share my experiences writing and publishing my "Positano" book.

Most of my problem with employment has been the "too" syndrome. I am too experienced, too expensive, too educated, and, as ridiculous as this sounds, too old. I believe contract work will be less threatening to employers and hopefully allow me to continue taking care of the family while earning a descent "gap" earning.

How does this effect my weight loss? I suppose you have to take care of the basics in order to concentrate on  losing weight. The financial stress is enough to fall back into stress eating which is partly responsible for my current size. I think I will have to design a new website to display my writing portfolio. While I have some examples of my research essays and various technical writings and the Positano book samples, I will need to add any new work. If you have any written work or know of any written work contracts, please let me know. Thanks.

Sunday August 15th 2010 - Vacation's over... damn

Yellowstone was wonderful. Not only were the sights fantastic, but the hikes and opportunities for vigorous exercise were limitless. You would think that with all the gym time I put in that a few hikes would be a cake walk, but I can tell you that each night we were very glad to be back in our hotel room. While it's not necessary, having a nice clean large hotel suite makes the whole experience just a little bit better. No. Actually, a nice room and a nice relaxing dinner each night makes everything better. Especially because I didn't have to cook or do the dishes. And I love someone else making my bed. I don't know about you, but I can't sleep in a bed that hasn't been tightly made. My wife thinks I'm a little compulsive about the bed thing, but I like the cool stretched sheets when I climb in the bed. I usually make my bed while its still warm. 

Back to the benefits of a nice active vacation. I think it's very important to escape the day to day at least a couple of times a year. It doesn't always have to be Europe although I am fond of Berlin (very clean city) and Paris (very dirty stinky city, but still cool). A nice weekend holiday just a short drive away can do the trick. Of course living in Denver right at the base of the Rocky Mountains allow us a great selection of get aways.

It's like I always say; becoming healthy and controlling your weight has to do with everything in your life. Your physical shape not only helps burn calories and makes you feel strong, but it also reminds you of your goal. Mental health is necessary because losing weight is 90% in your head. If you aren't ready to change your eating habits nothing can make you thin for life. Eventually a weak mind will allow you to regain the weight.

You can get stomach bypass or super dupper expensive frozen diet meals, but they all come down to the same thing... eat less calories than you burn. Simple. It's always about the calories. There is no magic pill that lets you eat 4 slices of pizza with a couple of beers sitting on the couch watching other people play sports. If there is, let me know because it is football season and I would love to eat like a pig and lose weight. Sounds funny, but many people fall into the trap of easy solutions when the only solution is calorie control. The products are just tools to achieve the same goal... calorie control.

One other element that I've left out is spiritual health. Regardless of your religion or beliefs, maintaining a positive and hopeful outlook on life is critical to weight loss. Happy people lose weight; depressed sad people gain weight or lose so much weight they become unhealthy. It's just better to be happy.

Today was great. I started the day by going to a new church and praying for direction and balance in my life. Afterwards I returned home just long enough to change clothes and hit the gym. I did my circuit training because it doesn't take as long and leaves me actually being stronger which feels real good to me. I like being strong and have great stamina. My training certainly helped me enjoy my Yellowstone vacation. I was ready and willing to go on any hike. This vacation was much better than my last trip to Paris where I was very out of shape and restricted in movement. Tuesday is my next gym day, but I think I will be helping a friend move tomorrow and everyone knows that's a bitch regardless of your shape.