I've been addicted to very few things in my life. The biggest one is food. For most of my life, it's been about all I can think about. No matter where I am, or what I'm doing, more than likely I'm thinking about what the next meal's going to be. In fact, the only time I'm really not thinking about food is when I've just stuffed my face with it, and I have that sick feeling of fullness for about 30 minutes. Once it passes, though, I'm right back to food. The good news is, I've really gotten that personal demon under control in the last year through exercise and diet. I've conditioned myself to crave healthier, more filling foods, and I've started running regularly which helps fight the cravings as well.
So with that addiction mostly removed, I'm left with the big one - Soda. More specifically, any cola of your diet cherry variety. Let me be totally honest about this - if Diet Cherry Coke or Pepsi were around me 24 hours a day, I would drink it. I crave it. I want it. I drink it all the time.
I've always struggled with a soda addiction. In college, when I roomed with my older brother and my good friend Nathan, the three of us (along with another ISU friend Chris Gummert) drank 735 cans of Mountain Dew in only the first semester. Do you know how much Mountain Dew that is apiece? If you really want to do the math, go ahead, but I'm glad I've forgotten how many that was per day, per person.
After college though, I've made the switch to diet after talking to a guy who lost a ton of weight by making simple dietary changes. One of which was switching from regular to diet soda. He said (and I have no idea if this is really true) that two regular pops a day for one year can contribute to gaining 15 additional pounds. So, me being a much meatier 40 pounds heavier after college than I was going in, I switched.
And I've settled in quite nicely with Diet Cherry Coke. Oh, if I'm at a gas station, and I'm thirsty, I'll grab a Diet Cherry Pepsi in a bottle because it tastes better than the Coke in a can. But if you're strictly talking cans, then Coke wins the taste test. And I range from 2 to 5 Diet Cherry Cokes a day, depending on my schedule.
I've attempted to quit several times. Most notably the night I found myself in a dentist's chair in Lennox, South Dakota at 10:30PM for an emergency root canal after finishing a late night retreat talk through severe pain. Luckily one of the high school girls attending had a father who could help me so late at night. As I laid in the chair and the dentist drilled me open I looked at a poster on the wall that showed the ill effects of soda consumption. I quit for a week.
It was the longest I've gone, and I only started again because I went to a friend's house and that's all they had to drink. That, and a funny colored tap water I didn't want to touch with a ten foot pole (let alone drink it). Other than that, I've quit here and there for a few days at a time.
But there really are no substitutes for the taste and feeling of that cool, refreshing coke. I've tried tea, water, juice and even coffee. Nothing tastes that good!
But today again, I face off with this nagging addiction. I finished my last Coke of the 12 pack in the fridge last night. My wife got groceries yesterday afternoon, so I can't use that as an excuse to grab another. To drink again today, I'll have to make a specific trip to the store to buy some more. I'd like to think I don't have to do that. I know my poor teeth would be thankful if I just laid off. We'll see how far I make it.
I speak again on Thursday morning for a group called My Choice in Orange City, IA. I get to see good friend Dustin again, so I'm pretty pumped about going up. I'm sure I'll update at the end of the week.
Till then,
Jason
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Butterflies and Basements
This is my second attempt at a blog entry today, as I lost the first one after trying to use the blog spell check and being told I had to turn off my pop up protector. So I turned it off, and it immediately rebooted my page and deleted everything. So much for spell checking this blog ever again.
Once again, I've failed in my promise to post more regularly. I guess I just don't ever think I have anything that interesting to say. I'm not one of those bloggers that thinks, "Hey! I just got a clever idea about a drain cleaner commercial I saw today! I should share it with the world." So bear with me as I try to dream up ways to post more frequently.
I spoke this morning at the Pella Christian High School Chapel. Fellow youth director, and great speaker in his own right, Todd Zylstra was there as well. During the opening music, right before I went up to speak, Todd leaned over and asked, "Do you get nervous before you speak too?" I answered that I did - often feeling nauseous. To which Todd responded, "Right before I speak I always wonder 'Why do I even do this?'" And I had to admit I often feel the same way.
Before nearly every speaking or comedy show I have, I always get the same attack of the butterflies and think to myself, "There's got to be something less stressful I could choose to do with my life!" I think it's a pretty typical reaction for most speakers to have, and the key is to learn how to go on without letting it affect you. But I don't know if it ever really gets better. I've talked to guys who've been speaking professionally for years and make their living at it, and they all tend to think the same way. One even told me that right before he goes on stage, he always hopes the show gets cancelled for some reason so he doesn't have to go on. And this guy makes his living at it!
The talk went all right this morning. Everyone seemed to be paying attention and responded well. But those Pella Christian kids are so well behaved you never really know. I had to speak on prayer, and used 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18.
My next show is in December, and I'm pretty psyched because it's a poetry gig. I wish they all were, but I'll take them where I can get them.
My next year is shaping up really well as far as speaking goes. I'm booked great for the first six months. Several of the engagements are week long, and I get to spend a lot of time with the Sioux Falls crew.
So we had some tornado action here in Iowa over the weekend. I guess one touched down and destroyed a Casey's General Store only a scant few blocks from my sister and brother-in-law Amber and Kyle's place. My brother Chris and I were driving right through the storm as we headed up to Iowa Falls to see my friend Mike in a production of Death of a Salesman.
The weather wasn't honestly all that bad on the way up - a lot of lightning, a little wind, and a little rain. We stopped in to eat at an Italian restaurant called Clark & Addison when we got into town. After ordering our drinks and food, we were ushered down to the basement because the tornado siren started going off.
Normally, a basement would feel like the safest place to be during a tornado, but we weren't so comforted. As the waitress opened the door to go downstairs, we suddenly heard the loud rush of water. There was a large pipe along one wall that was apparently bringing water off the roof and taking it to the sewer, and it had sprung a major leak. Water was shooting out of the hole at about the power of a garden hose turned on full blast with someone's finger partially covering the nozzle.
So we walked through inch deep water to stand in a ten by ten foot space that looked a little less stable than a lean-to made of sticks and mud. After forty minutes, and all the free drinks and Gardetto's we could stomach, we headed back upstairs to eat our meal. The food turned out to be cheap and fantastic. I had a meatball sandwich, and it's the best I've had in a while. So as far as Clark and Addison's is concerned, I'd give the food and service a 9.5, and the basement bunker a -2.
On the way out of the place, I kid you not, every single waitress, hostess, and cook (six or so people in all) told us to have a good night. So I tried extra hard to make sure I did.
Death of a Salesman was a fine play put on by the community of Iowa Falls at Ellsworth Community College. Mike had prepared me to think that it was going to be a travesty of a production, and we'd regret coming, but we thought it went just great. Mike did a great job as Biff Loman, and we had fun. Although the 6 free Diet Coke's I'd gotten at the restaurant made the two hour plus play a little too long for my taste.
Till next time, and I'll try to make sure it's soon,
Jason
Once again, I've failed in my promise to post more regularly. I guess I just don't ever think I have anything that interesting to say. I'm not one of those bloggers that thinks, "Hey! I just got a clever idea about a drain cleaner commercial I saw today! I should share it with the world." So bear with me as I try to dream up ways to post more frequently.
I spoke this morning at the Pella Christian High School Chapel. Fellow youth director, and great speaker in his own right, Todd Zylstra was there as well. During the opening music, right before I went up to speak, Todd leaned over and asked, "Do you get nervous before you speak too?" I answered that I did - often feeling nauseous. To which Todd responded, "Right before I speak I always wonder 'Why do I even do this?'" And I had to admit I often feel the same way.
Before nearly every speaking or comedy show I have, I always get the same attack of the butterflies and think to myself, "There's got to be something less stressful I could choose to do with my life!" I think it's a pretty typical reaction for most speakers to have, and the key is to learn how to go on without letting it affect you. But I don't know if it ever really gets better. I've talked to guys who've been speaking professionally for years and make their living at it, and they all tend to think the same way. One even told me that right before he goes on stage, he always hopes the show gets cancelled for some reason so he doesn't have to go on. And this guy makes his living at it!
The talk went all right this morning. Everyone seemed to be paying attention and responded well. But those Pella Christian kids are so well behaved you never really know. I had to speak on prayer, and used 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18.
My next show is in December, and I'm pretty psyched because it's a poetry gig. I wish they all were, but I'll take them where I can get them.
My next year is shaping up really well as far as speaking goes. I'm booked great for the first six months. Several of the engagements are week long, and I get to spend a lot of time with the Sioux Falls crew.
So we had some tornado action here in Iowa over the weekend. I guess one touched down and destroyed a Casey's General Store only a scant few blocks from my sister and brother-in-law Amber and Kyle's place. My brother Chris and I were driving right through the storm as we headed up to Iowa Falls to see my friend Mike in a production of Death of a Salesman.
The weather wasn't honestly all that bad on the way up - a lot of lightning, a little wind, and a little rain. We stopped in to eat at an Italian restaurant called Clark & Addison when we got into town. After ordering our drinks and food, we were ushered down to the basement because the tornado siren started going off.
Normally, a basement would feel like the safest place to be during a tornado, but we weren't so comforted. As the waitress opened the door to go downstairs, we suddenly heard the loud rush of water. There was a large pipe along one wall that was apparently bringing water off the roof and taking it to the sewer, and it had sprung a major leak. Water was shooting out of the hole at about the power of a garden hose turned on full blast with someone's finger partially covering the nozzle.
So we walked through inch deep water to stand in a ten by ten foot space that looked a little less stable than a lean-to made of sticks and mud. After forty minutes, and all the free drinks and Gardetto's we could stomach, we headed back upstairs to eat our meal. The food turned out to be cheap and fantastic. I had a meatball sandwich, and it's the best I've had in a while. So as far as Clark and Addison's is concerned, I'd give the food and service a 9.5, and the basement bunker a -2.
On the way out of the place, I kid you not, every single waitress, hostess, and cook (six or so people in all) told us to have a good night. So I tried extra hard to make sure I did.
Death of a Salesman was a fine play put on by the community of Iowa Falls at Ellsworth Community College. Mike had prepared me to think that it was going to be a travesty of a production, and we'd regret coming, but we thought it went just great. Mike did a great job as Biff Loman, and we had fun. Although the 6 free Diet Coke's I'd gotten at the restaurant made the two hour plus play a little too long for my taste.
Till next time, and I'll try to make sure it's soon,
Jason
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