Two days ago we got a lot of ice. "A lot," that is, for Georgia. Meaning there was no real hindrance to drive, but everything shut down anyway. Kind of pleasant, actually.

Yesterday we held the "Lord of the Rings Movie Marathon" in the basement of the Student Center. All three movies, in widescreen extended edition, were shown from 10 am to 10 pm. It was pretty fun, but (of course) there were those who just couldn't stop whispering, or asking questions, or shuffling cards (!!), and I kept having to tell people to shush. I tried not to come down too hard, but it has to be done, or the people who want to watch the movies will get annoyed and leave -- and then you're left watching the movies with a bunch of people that you'd rather not watch movies with.

At its peak, we had 18 people present, and we probably had two or three times that number stop by for a while and watch a half-hour or so and leave. It stayed pretty solidly between 12-16 for most of the day.

The only disappointment was that the concession bar downstairs didn't open because the ice "prevented" the people from coming and working. So I had to eat roasted peanuts from my office for supper.

The movies contain several references that are never explained. The books explain them, so if you've read them, you understand what's going on, but the movies sometimes mention them without explaining them. So, I made a handy reference sheet to pass out: "What You Need to Know for Lord of the Rings." I have reproduced it below:

Who are the Valar?

The Valar are an angelic order charged with carrying out God’s will on earth. They made an earthly paradise for the Elves in the West, called the Undying Land. When the sorrow and grief of extended years becomes too great a burden, the Elves go to the Grey Havens on the western shore of Middle-Earth, where ships await to take them permanently across the ocean to their eternal home, where all grief and cares are washed away.

What is Numenor?

Numenor was the island in the West granted to the kings of men by the Valar in reward for their service to the Elves against the Enemy, Morgoth, under whom Sauron was but a lieutenant, back in the First Age. The men of Numenor were also granted a lifespan thrice that of normal man, but immortality (and the Undying Land) was denied them.

From the highest mountain of Numenor, one could just barely make out the Undying Lands far to the West. As the power of the kings of Numenor grew, they became jealous of the Elves, and eventually decided to invade the Undying Land, and wrest the gift of immortality from the Valar by force of arms.

The Valar destroyed the fleet before the first ship landed. In wrath, they destroyed the island of Numenor. Those faithful to the Valar, who had opposed the invasion, fled the destruction to Middle-Earth, where they came to be called Dunedain (“Men of the West”). There, their leader Elendil and his son Isildur founded the kingdom of Gondor (and thus the story begins!)

Why didn’t the Valar help Middle-Earth against Sauron?

They did, just not openly. Further explanations would constitute extreme spoilers.

Other miscellaneous facts:

Galadriel is Elrond’s mother-in-law. Elrond’s wife (Arwen’s mother) left long ago for the Undying Lands.

I got some bathroom scales yesterday. I tried to get a good set, since I understand that the cheap ones can be sort of flaky with accuracy. Anyway, this morning before I stepped into the shower, I weighted 129.0 lbs. After I got dressed and had breakfast, I weighted 133.5. My goal is to put on muscle mass while decreasing (or keeping stable) my body fat. Of course, my primary goal is to increase my cardio so when I return to BJJ I won't get short of breath, but yesterday after my cardio workout, I felt so good I did some dumbbell presses and worked the rowing machine.

Last Thursday I had meetings all day long. In the morning, I had some sort of meeting about insurance for faculty members. That afternoon, we had a regular faculty meeting. A couple of hours later, we had our preplanning session -- which normally takes place before the semester's classes begin, but our dean was oversees at the time, so we put it off a couple of weeks.

We spent two hours arguing over which day to begin the semester next year. Really, does it make that much difference? Maybe it will mean more to me after I've been hear a few years. I hope not.

I've been trying out new recipes lately. I picked up my Starving Students' Cookbook and tried out some of the tuna recipes.

Baked Tuna Quesadillas: Just like your normal Quesadillas, only the hot-n-spicy jive is moderated by fish oil and black olives! One must really be hungry to enjoy this.

Something Different Tuna Salad: Something different, indeed. I halved the amount of black olives suggested, and it was still unbearable. I'll stick to my own recipe, thanks.

Salmon Patties: No black olives were suggested, thank goodness. Unfortunately, they didn't stick together well in "patty" form. I just dropped them in the skillet as amorphous blobs, and it worked passably.

After these experiments, I decided to call it quits with that cookbook. As a part of my New Year's Resolution to eat healthier, I've been reading Protein Power and Mastering the Zone. It's interesting to see where they agree and where they disagree. To summarize, for those who haven't read them:

1. "Dry Carbs" -- grains, breads, pastas, and starches -- are bad. They cause an insulin spike. Over time, insulin spikes lead directly to obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
2. "Wet Carbs" -- fresh, brightly colored fruits and green, leafy vegetables -- are good. Substitute them for dry carbs.
3. Drink lots of water 15-30 minutes before your meals.
4. Figure out how much protein you need daily for your lean body mass and activity level. Divide it equally among your meals.
5. For every 7 grams of protein you consume at a meal, eat 9 grams of wet carbs. This is for people who don't need to lose weight. (Like me.) To lose weight, reduce the number of carbs. To drastically lose weight, try a daily limit of 30 or 55 grams of carbs. As for me, I have 14% body fat, which is towards the lower end of the 12-18% suggested for a man of my age.

I've slowly begun buying lots more fruits and vegetables -- spinach, tomatoes, onions, peppers, strawberries, etc. As I finish my dry carbs, I'm not replacing them. I'm trying to come up with some good recipes for the fruits and vegetables that I can

I've stopped eating Cheerios for breakfast. While slow-cooked oats are good, oats in breakfast cereals (unfortunately) are about the same nutritionally as white bread. I've replaced them with two eggs (6 g protein each) scrambled with two egg whites (4 g protein each) and a slice of cheese (4 g protein), along with a cup of Tropicana Pure Premium Grovestand (Lots of Pulp) 100% Pure Orange Juice (Not From Concentrate). Total = 24g Protein, 28 g carbs. What a great breakfast!

My lunches, amazingly, have needed no adjustment: one apple + 6 tablespoons of peanut butter. It's a little high in fat, but it's nearly all monosaturated fat (the good kind). Also, a recent study has shown that, gram for gram, peanuts contain as many antioxidants as strawberries!

I've also begun exercising. The college has a gym, so I've decided to take advantage of it. I'm doing Taku's Intervals, an interval-training program designed for combat athletes (like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners). I could see a noticable, measurable improvement by the second session!

Last week, I caught a $7 error (NOT in my favor) on my heating bill. I went down to the city offices and got it straightened out. Boy, you have to watch these people! If I didn't scrutinize every bill I received, I might be nickel-and-dimed to death.

Classes began yesterday. Everything went well. I'm looking forward to this semester's classes.

Well, I’m back. The last month has just been one thing after another. I finished grading the final essays, posted my students’ final grades, had surgery, redecorated my apartment, and helped my sister build her cottage. I have one week now before classes start, and I have some course revisions I need to make this week.

Obligatory retrospective: I started this blog one year ago, and how things have changed! I wound up moving three times in 2004, and hopefully I’ll stay settled for a little longer than I have in the past. I returned to Georgia after a 2½-year absence, and it’s such a relief to be home.

The two major things that happened this year:

1. I got a full-time job teaching English at the college at which my dad used to teach.

2. My best friend, Dann, finally got married.

The first was a major change change to my life – the best thing that’s happened to me since I graduated UGA in ’01. The second was probably the best thing that’s happened to my best friend – and so, psychically, it’s affected me as well. (Not to mention that his wife’s a good cook! MMMMMM)

New Year’s resolutions?

1. Start back taking (formal) Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lessons.

2. Eat healthier. (I made strides last year, but good eating habits take a while to build.)

3. Become a better teacher.

4. Read more books.

I’d also like to get the arcade machine in my office to working, but that’s dependent on finding someone who knows how to fix it.