samuel ashford

Slept in. Then did my workout routine. Same, but with a little progression of reps. There was rain, and it was abating as the morning unfolded. Prepared my usual breakfast and added some Chobani yogurt and blueberries. Put on House of Cards (starting to wonder about this one ever ending), and then cleaned up the kitchen. I pulled the Pixel Book out and was able to stomach (eventually) creating a "blog page" on Facebook. Reluctance does not even come light years to describing my angst and other allergic emotions to doing this. Alas, it was done, and I am still not certain it was a colossal mistake.  Without any surprise, I got little attention at this move from the 31 "friends" on my FB. Nothing disparaging meant by the quotation marks on friends. I just know that they are mostly superficially in my life at this point (and I in theirs) but they are still friends nonetheless. So, it's alright. My expectations were low to start with. The main point is that I spent

Up and after it this morning with my regular morning routine, which consisted of simple sets of resistance exercise, as always.  I'm not hitting the road or the gym today, though. Neither will I tomorrow. Taking two days to rest from exercise in any intensity to prep for the labs Monday. I'm eating the same as usual, but refraining from exercise to see if that makes an impact on my AST and ALT enzyme levels. They've been high, though no other markers of liver damage are out of range. I suspect it's the training. We'll see. Today came with a decent smattering of rain showers. Dustin, my tech for today, came in and ran service. I worked in the shop to prep for an upcoming installation. Then some office work. Then, I broke out the strat and played some Steve Miller Band. Being Saturday I could crank it a bit. It's a little Marshall practice amp, and it's alright, but I'd have been happier with some slicker tones from my effects processor. But it's fun t

"And Gandalf said: 'Many folk like to know beforehand what is to be set on the table; but those who have laboured to prepare the feast like to keep their secret; for wonder makes the words of praise louder. And Aragorn himself waits for a sign.' " — J.R.R. TOLKIEN, The Lord of the Rings, Return of the King

Joy. Sometimes you need to hear it in a person's voice. Had a marvelous experience with Lex Fridman's talk with Ivanka. Had no idea. Made me sad on account of some folks in my life  — myself included —  and a lot of the knee-jerk reactions we all have as events unfold around us. Oh, that we could just practice patience, listening, curiosity, courage, and love. And acceptance  — of others, and ourselves.  I had an encouraging talk with a co-worker this morning on these and other important matters. It helps to have a friend.  But oh, that we could all have Ivanka's joy.  As I write, it occurs to me how one might read that statement, and regard her privilege and status as the basis of her attitude. Who wouldn't feel elated about life when one doesn't want for anything? Heck, we should all be so lucky... and then our faces also would shine. Let me remind all of us that neither she, nor any of us asked for it. We didn't ask for our parents, our country of origin, our

That's what came to mind as I listened. Not that I'm stalking anyone on the internet.  What I mean is that the space of health and fitness can be a lonely place, as it's not (at first at least) easy to walk a path of discipline in good choices of what we do with our bodies, when the status quo and path of least resistance is just to fall in and become absorbed in the ocean of normalcy. None of us are immune to it. It's the air we breathe. The infusion of care, empathy, courage, and truth into this very public sector (health, fitness, and nutrition) is not easy. That is attractive to me. It shows a genuineness that is not easily seen. It's a vulnerability that is often lacking in every field and a breath of fresh air when it emerges. It's easy to fall for anyone who possesses and cheerfully lives out these qualities. To clarify, it's good (and rare) to see someone in the health care space so passionate about the well-being of those under her care, while at th

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." - C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity 

A desire of mine is to curate and share all of the timeless scenes from movies that I've enjoyed over the years. Many come to mind; Jurassic Park is full of them.  One such I'll share on my birthday (there will be many to come) that is apropos. It's a quote from the President of the Galaxy himself,  Zaphod Beeblebrox . After a long quest to find the answer to the meaning of life, his inquiry to the great computer returns a simple sum: 42. Distressed, he turns and pronounces his next move:  "Great. I'm gonna go and find something else for my entire life to be about." That's how I feel today on my birthday. What to do? I had a session yesterday with my therapist / coach. Her one idea offered to leave the session was for me to ponder what peace looks like for me, right now. I told her that days ago I confessed to my sister that, "I just want peace." I meant that I'd really like for the rush and busy (meaningless) activities to calm down and rest