Welcome Back Workout

It's already been 2 full weeks of classes, 1st full week of practice... Things are going well so far, just extremely busy, you know how that is, I have barely been on here, let alone the internet, i'm rarely on now days unless it's to print off notes or something. I miss being online a lot though, hehe.
Well today we had a welcome back workout, it was a good time, but i'm very sore so I was just stopping by. Hope all is well for you. Tomorrow is another long day, fundraiser from 9-1, reception w/ UT president at 4, then first home football game at 7 and then a good night to follow :) later on

Don't Rile up, dial up Dr. Weil (up)

Ok that's a lame title, but it was fun creating it.
Anyway, I was reading my brother's post on cardio exercise. And there you will quickly find a link that goes to Dr. Weil's homepage. I just briefly browsed the website earlier. I have been to the website before, and again I think it is a great website for the health conscious person.

Dr. Weil practices Integrative medicine, which can be briefly defined as, "Integrative Medicine is healing-oriented medicine that exists to serve the needs of patients by bringing together the best of conventional and complementary therapies."

This profession sounds very intersting and worth learning about more. Recently I have been reading a lot about "Medicine" whether it be articles, med schools, residencies, professions, anything! I have really been reading about the differences between an M.D. (doctor of medicine) and a D.O. (doctor of osteopathy). I have recently been oscillating between the two choices. D.O. sounds really cool, brief description here. Please check it out! Anywho, it sounds very interesting. It seems like Integrative Medicine (dr. weil) is more closely related to D.O. But I am still learning about the differences in each, so I don't really know for sure.

"Imagine a world in which medicine was oriented toward healing rather than disease, where doctors believed in the natural healing capacity of human beings and emphasized prevention above treatment. In such a world doctors and patients would be partners working toward the same ends."
~ Andrew Weil, MD

If you know information about Dr. Weil, like where he went to med school, and residency, and additional training and that stuff, please leave a comment about it because I would love to know And if you just have thoughts or comments on recent health/medical issues.

Let's Go!

So summer '07 is finally coming to an end. We finally purchased the bulk of our furniture, which has put me in a very good mood. We are trying to buy minimum but still came to a pricey amount. All I have to do now is call the apt. on Mon to confirm are room availability to move in on Fri.

Tomorrow, I am doing one last round with my tennis students: I'll have them come out and play for awhile then I am treating them to cici's pizza (cheap pizza buffet) and just get to talk with them a last time before leaving.
Monday, [hopefully] last therapy session.
Tuesday, Hair cut and the furniture is being delivered home.
Wednesday, Last minute packing.
Thursday, ATP tourney in Cinci
Friday, TOL
There's a brief description of my week, you can see how fast things are moving; but I am very excited to get moved in and relax in the new couch :)

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

Random Media Talk

Silversun Pickups, introduced to me by Jay, is a very cool band. I have no idea how to classify music these days, so help is needed here. But when I first heard them from a cd in the car, I did not like them; As I kept driving, I kept hearing them, and they grew on me quickly. I like when Jay introduces me to new music because he listens to so much music that I have never heard before. I am stuck jamming to the radio and he listens to bands I have never heard of. It's funny though, Jay will make a cd, put in car, I hate the music, and like 2 days later I'm asking him for more :)
Favorite songs by Silversun Pickups: Lazy Eye, Rusted Wheel, and Little Lovers So Polite.
Another cool band is Julianna Theory, once again, I don't know the genre...?

Oh, while on music, check this song out, It's from a clorox commercial, but it's simply awesome and I like to turn the volume up way loud and jam to it :)

I once read this chain letter type thing, and it was going around asking people to sign there name and write the title of the song that they were listening to and add in bed to the end, and then send it to whoever. Ever since reading it, I sometimes find myself adding in bed to titles, and laughing about it...

Linkin Park - What I've Done in bed
Five for Fighting - Easy Tonight in bed
Nelly Furtado - Why Do All Good Things Come to an End in bed
haha the list goes on, have fun :P
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I can't wait for the Bourne Ultimatum to come out. I really enjoy the series and I have a feeling the 3rd one will kick ass.

300 is available in stores now, I might just go scoop that up and check out the extra footage and see if they have included the "300 diet and strength program." :P

Okay!
"TAKE LUCK CARE...GOOD
YOU TOO!!"
-Brian Regan, A very funny comedian, "idiot," "so stupid," "hilarious," are words that come to mind when I see him or hear his voice.

Stop complaining, but but but...

Do you ever have one of those days where you could complain about things wrong with your body/health, and then get it checked out, and there is really something wrong with you?
yeah, neither do I.
But, I do have days where things just seem wrong with my body. Whether it be a skin rash, headache, or symptoms of a cold, it's very bothersome and I find myself complaining (not to people, just to myself). I won't go in to detail with my "little" troubles, but sometimes I find myself asking if I should get whatever problem checked out, especially if some days they start adding up to be really bothersome, ehh.

I wonder if some people have no problems at all, or if some people do have problems just don't bother complain about it, or have multiple troubles and do something about it, like seeing a doctor or if some just wait it out thinking it's nothing; And what are the results of each situation.

Hmm I just wish there would be a day where everything about my body/health were in complete harmony and I wouldn't have a reason to complain or think about complaining...

ahh the little things that bother us.

You're A Flanders!

"spider pig spider pig, does whatever a spider pig does"
^Lyrics from the new Simpson's movie. I grew up kind of watching episodes of The Simpson's but I have not seen an actual episode in many years. To my suprise, I recalled every character presented in the movie, even itchy and scratchy.

The movie was pretty funny. The funnyness was due to its stupidity. If you like the tv shows you will like the movie. I just want to describe it as so stupid it was funny. You definitely have to be in a goofy, laughing mood to really enjoy this stupidly-funny movie. I was in a great mood and therefore enjoyed it. Our theatre was packed, but me and my friend managed to get ok sits; this has nothing to do with how I felt about the movie.

I would not watch it again in theater, but definitly would rent it and watch it. If you're a Simpson's fan, then I highly recommend it; if not, save your money.
5.5/10 for me.

-mmmm donuts-

Random Thought

I was thinking...What if my goal in life was to not like anybody that read or likes Harry Potter...

Do you think I would have [A] friend(s)? Are there some "cool" people out there that don't obsess over Harry Potter?

I sit in befuddlement as I talk to a friend who is obsessed w/ h.p.

Props to J.K. Rowling for creating such detailed stories to brainwash America, while raking in "over $8 million" on her recent book - Book 7 - not forgetting about her recent Harry Potter movie. I can't imagine how much money she has made over the years with her magical series. I hope she continues to write books and movies, not only continuing to ameliorate her life, but encouraging kids to READ (whatever the material).

Harry Potter is simply not for me anymore. So should I try for that goal :P

One of those days

First time in an mri machine was quite an uncomfortable experience. You lay on an uncomfortable sliding apparatus. It slides you into the machine, which reminds me of a tunnel. While the images are being taken you must lie perfectly still so the images don't get distorted. Here is an exercise for you, Lay perfectly still for 15minutes without falling asleep or movning; I bet you can't do it. Anyways, staying still for roughly 15+ minutes while images of my knees were taken was a very hard task after awhile. My back felt the most discomfort; after about 5 minutes the back was starting to hurt and I needed to reposition myself, but nope I couldn't; well I could have but that would require me hitting the "call" button, which would stop the procedure so I could move. Hmm, part of me really wanted to do that but the other part of me just wanted to hurry and get finished and get out of there. Another 20 minutes for the other leg. In addition to this trouble, they let you listen to music through their headphones because the machine is Very loud. These headphone are enormous, the thick muffs kind. After like 3 minutes, it got kind of hot, so the muffs were sticking to me and VERY uncomfortable. I'm not sure which was worse: the discomfort of the headphones or the aches of my back...

Physical Therapy (PT) was awesome, I love going to PT. It is such a neat experience and I learn something new Everytime I go. Everytime I go, it interests me more and more to a related field, or even a PT. So I always end up thinking what I want to do whenever I leave that place. I want to take the mcat, I want to be a doctor, but I love sports, strength training/stretching, athletes, and all that stuff. I want to find a related field. Orthopedics is closest to that, but they also do bone surgery, and i'm not sure if i'm up for that. Ahh, decisions, decisions...I'll see how the mcat test goes :p

After PT I rushed to the tennis center to teach at 4:30. This group started off GREAT, one of the girls brought me a "present," we were laughing, playing tennis, and enjoying ourselves. After a while, the 2 boys, who tend to be troublesome, start arguing, and it begins escalating from words to ball throwing to hitting balls at each other. Well I ended that when one of them hit the ball at the other in the face. I had to yell at them, I hated doing it, but I had to. Picked up the balls, brought them in, and angrily explained to them that they are wasting their time, my time, the girl's time, and this won't happen again. Ah I hate feeling like the bad guy, but I don't regret it, they deserved it. My next group at 5:30 is Always a fun time! Thank god for them :)

Due to my soreness from PT, I did the bike for about 15 more minutes before locking up the tc so I could do my "intense" stretch routine.

*SIGH* What a long day. I'm not sure if today was a good day or a bad day? Do you ever have days that you don't know how to rate? (Assuming you even rate your days). A lot of ups and downs, I don't like days that have many ups and downs, I like consistency and normally I can control the outcome of a good/bad day but some days/things are just out of our control. Well the best part about it all is that, when I wake up, it's a new day, fresh start 8-)

It's The Name Of The Game

Stretching

Stretch! For as long as I can remember, people have been telling me to stretch. Stretching is a very underestimated process. I think it’s not done as much because it takes so long. After a workout, I am tired and want to go sit down, so I’ll hurry though a stretch maybe 20-25 seconds and be done. Stretching should be held much longer than that and more frequent. I am starting to become more conscious about stretching because it plays a huge role in helping patellar tendonitis, and even saving the knees.

If your quads, knees, tibia, any where around that area, are hurting, here are a couple of good stretches to be done.
These stretches should be done before/after activity regardless of injury:

Hamstrings – (forward bend, elevated) – with foot on chair or stool, lean forward until stretch is felt.
Upper Leg – (quadriceps) – With left hand grasping right leg, gently pull heel toward buttocks until stretch is felt.
Lower Leg – (gastroc) – Keeping back leg straight, with heel on floor and turned slightly outward, lean into wall until a stretch is felt in calf.
Hip – Position like the calf stretch, stand straight up, pushing the hip out in front, should feel the stretch from the hip down though the quads
All of the above stretches should be held for 20-25 sec done 4 times each.

It is said, “Proper hamstring flexibility reduces pressure on the knee cap.” So take time when stretching the hamstrings and make sure they are nice and loose before and after activity.
The doctor I saw compared the quadriceps muscle to a rope. More specific, from the patellar tendon to the top of the quadriceps (extending to the hips) is like a rope. If the rope is tight (inflexible) then when used, the “rope” is pulling on the tendon, creating discomfort or pain. However, if the rope is loose (flexible) and there is some slack, it will take much longer before the rope has to start pulling (on the tendon). I really liked this analogy and it’s hard to explain like he did but it makes sense.

It is best to stretch warm, so after a warm up and after activity get in to the routine. If you stretch cold, like before you go to sleep or when you wake up, listen to your body when stretching. Do not expect your flexibility to be like it was after running, just stretch enough to feel it.

IMPORTANT: When doing a stretch, just because you may not feel the burning, sensational stretch, does not mean that it is not stretching. This is very common. “I don’t feel the stretch, so I’m not going to do it.” Wrong! If you have the right technique, do it for the 20-25sec 4 times anyways, it is stretching!

Stretch! Stretch! Stretch! Do not underestimate the power, importance, and benefits of stretching.

Pilates

"I never really got in to Pilates, well in college, I did a lot of pull-outies." -Larry The Cable Guy, comedian.

But I am seriously thinking about starting Pilates. I will just start with a dvd and book and just try it at home, and maybe if i'm doing OK and really like it, i'll try to enroll in a class at school (if i have time).

A quick description here:
--Pilates builds a strong core, increases strength and flexibility simultaneously, and improves posture, stability and alignment.--
I think this type of exercise would be great for the athlete, or even the non-athlete that wants to work on his/her figure and all the above features. I bet it's a lot of fun as well, a nice mix to your usual workouts. I'm sure "fancy" gyms offer this class, like yoga.

Well if you try it before me, let me know how it goes, i'll let you know how the dvd goes :)

"Batteries have the worst life..."

"Swimming is an interesting sport; some do it for fun, others do it to stay alive."

"game set match = tennis; set match run = arson"

HaHa these are some lines from the comedian Demetri Martin.
I did not like him at first because I think he has a different kind of humor, but the more I watch him the more funny he is. He thinks of random things (that are funny) and expresses them in a funny way. He does stand up, he draws cartoons, and plays guitar to express his jokes. He's very entertaining, I think you should check out some of his stuff.

Here are two links you can check out, they start off the same but are not the same, check them out, enjoy it. haha

Demetri Martin Stand Up on Rove Live

Demetri Martin Stand Up Performance 2006

"Love all, trust a few"

^^ The above quote from William Shakespeare is very intersting to think about.
Trust is hard to gain, hard to keep, and easy to lose. I believe everybody has good in them, but my opinion oscillates when trust is broken. If a friend, even an acquaintance, needs my help, I will go out of my way to help them. It is when that favor is unappreciated, I start thinking.

I am talking about a recent happening: A guy asked my friend for some money. Yeah, there's more to the story than that. So it was about midnight, and the doorbell rings. It rang twice before my friend goes downstairs, from his sleep, to answer the door. The guy at the door looked tired, scared, and helpless. He was standing there asking for money (like $80) to help him get a tow truck for his car that broke down about 2 miles away. My friend recognized this guy, an acquaintance he hasn't seen in awhile, and decided to help him. Moments later, my friend returns with the money and lends it to the guy. The guy, all excited, thanks him and assures him he will return the money first thing in the morning. The repetition of this sentence was almost annoying, as if you could start thinking that he probably will not return the money. Story ends with the guy not paying the money back. It's a true story but i'm not using names, because it's here as an example.

But, what a blow to one's judgment. It's hard to trust people; it's easier to give your trust when you believe that everybody is good and will respect you as you respect them. Unfortunately, this would be the ideal world, or a utopia, which everybody realizes it will not be.

Thinking about it now, it still upsets me, that people can be so oblivious to there words. I'm sure everybody has done it time to time, including me, but i'm hoping the effects of my actions were not as severe. I keep thinking of lines from movies or tv shows that help describe the situation:
"Trust everyone, just not the devil inside of them" -Italian Job
"Expect the unexpected and you'll never be suprised." -Ep of Scrubs
The latter quote is interesting to think about. "Expect the unexpected..." sounds easy, but seems really hard; it would be like you are always on your toes looking out for everything? or maybe just be prepared for the worst scenario, and it's that much better when the expected happens?

I can't change who I am though, I will continue trusting and respecting everyone as I wish they would do the same for me. I'll take the chance of giving my trust and hope for the best.

"The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship." -Ralph Waldo Emerson, adapted

If the trust is betrayed, I will move on, learning from each experience, as I did from my friends situation. But what can be learned from his situation? If someone you don't know that well asks for a little bit of money, instinctivly do not comply? Or trust that this person is different from the last and will follow his words and pay back?

I trust everything will work out in the end; as a Christian I like this quote, but then it gets me thinking again...

Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

sweeties

Aspartame is found in many gums, diet drinks (e.g. diet pepsi), and other products. It is used as a sugar substitute to reduce the sugars and calories in the product. Aspartame’s chemical name is L-alpha-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester.

Chemically, this compound is composed of the two amino acids aspartic acid and phenylalanine, as well as methanol. The two amino acids here, aspartic acid and phenylalanine are found naturally in foods containing protein, such as meats and dairy. L-phenylalanine combines with methanol to give the methyl ester of phenylalanine, which then reacts with aspartic acid forming the compound aspartame.

When aspartame is digested, it breaks back down to those 3 components (aspartic acid, phenyalanine, and methanol), which are then absorbed and used in the body. These components are used as if they came from food, but in much less quantity.

Many concerns arise with the topic of aspartame, for as long as I can remember, it was bad for you. I have read many articles stating it was bad for you and many stating it is not harmful.

Based on the synthesis of this compound, and its potential breakdown, I do not see how it is different than consuming the same substances in foods. However, I do think that harm with this compound begins with its breakdown. I think during its breakdown, it does not breakdown to those 3 components entirely. During the breakdown, the substances might react with enzymes in the stomach, causing a potential detrimental effect.

Here is an article I came by “supporting” the use of aspartame, who knows how credible,
apartame does not cause cancer in rats
We are not rats!

Sucralose (splenda), another highly debatable sugar substitute seems to be more popular. It is FDA approved and tastes like sugar, looks like sugar, but is not sugar. I wish I had the resources, technology, and experience to find out for myself the effects of these sugar substitutes but I do not, so I go with what my gut tells me.

My opinion, stay away from aspartame as much as possible, enjoy real sugar rushes, and fall back to sucralose if you have to. It is all a matter of moderation. I do not believe the amounts of these “sugars” and sugars are enough to kill someone if they consume the products. Maybe over many many many years, yes, your blood will turn into “sugar” but as long as its in moderation, I think you’ll be ok.

Now go enjoy a pixie stick, hopefully made up of real sugar and not a substitute, who knows nowadays!

Boring but interesting

So I was watching an episode of House and one of his many theories was that the kid had an OTC deficiency. My curiosity lead me to find out a little bit more what this deficiency was. A quick definition of it is defined here:

Basically, OTC deficiency is a Urea Cycle disorder (UCD). Ornithine transcarbamoylase (OTC) is one of the five enzymes that take part in the urea cycle to rid the body of ammonia, which is a toxic breakdown product of protein. If OTC is missing (deficient) then ammonia will accumulate and lead to severe symptoms, ultimately death. This is the most common UCD and is genetic.

However, before reading about the urea cycle, I read about amino acids. There are 10 amino acids that the body can produce. There are 10 essential amino acids that the body needs that will be supplied from our diet. These 20 amino acids are found within proteins as the building blocks. Anyways, I was looking at the list of nonessential amino acids, the ones the body is able to produce, and I came across two that looked familiar: asparagine and aspartate. These two remind me of Aspartame and got me thinking. This morning I had some yogurt with sucralose (splenda) in it. These artificial sweeteners got my curiosity in gear again.
Continue with sweeteners

More “boring” information on the urea cycle, nitrogen, amino acids, can be found here:

7-15-07

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND JAY 8-)
20 YEARS OF FUN AND ADVENTURE UNDER US NOW
HOPEFULLY MANY MANY MORE YEARS OF FUN AND ADVENTURE AHEAD OF US
AND TONIGHT:

Whatchu' Benchin' ?

Keep lifting those weights!

As I sit here in my "post-workout-euphoria" I am reflecting on my workout I just completed and exercises I like doing, want to do, need to do, and shouldn't do.

That large chest muscle seems pretty popular to workout since a common question when it comes to working out is "Yo, how much you bench?" I can rep 135, but it does not matter what I do, it is what you do.

Some chest exercises that come to mind off the top of my head are:
Bench Press [flat bench barbell]
Bench Press [flat bench dumbell]
Incline [barbell]
Incline [dumbell]
Cable fly [cable system or a machine if you have one]
Decline [dumbell]
and some good old fashioned pushups.
The excerise and chest muscle it targets is shown here.

I do not do decline for personal preference as my reason alone. They are probably very helpful, build that lower chest muscles, but I think they are not as important as your mid and upper chest muscles. Plus, while doing bench press, you hit the lower chest, along with mid and upper chest muscle.

I recommend not doing more than 12 sets for each body part. I say this because one of my friends who lifted suggest this. I think it makes complete sense and I rarely do more than 9 sets per body part; 12 might be exhausting the muscle (maybe good for bodybuilders).

What's the difference between the Bench Press and the Cable Fly you might ask? Well after talking with my strength coach, it really is a simple difference. While reading the difference, please imagine doing a rep of each exercise and you will understand the difference. While the Bench Press works out the chest muscles, it also works out the triceps (ohh it burns) and the other arm muscles used for this controlled motion. Now the Chest Fly only targets the chest muscles! Those muscles are the main focus of this exercise. Such a simple, yet powerful difference. This exercise can be down on a cable system or on a machine if your gym provides one.
I started doing and paying attention more to the chest fly in my workouts. After a good set you can normally feel stretch in the chest muscles, and can feel that muscle bulging right around the armpit.

Man it feels good, the soreness is great, a sign of hardwork and staying strong!

What is the difference between using barbells (a controlled motion) and dumbells (less controlled motion) you might ask? I'll address that in detail in a later post.

What's your least favorite number?

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

I did not realize it was Friday the 13th until this girl I taught this morning mentioned it. I do not really believe in the whole Friday the 13th = bad luck. I do not really look at things in terms of luck. I try to eliminate the phrases good luck and bad luck out of my everday speech. Luck aside, if things are going to happen, then they will happen. I find it very irritating when people confuse luck with accomplishment. Bill gates is a millionaire, billionaire at that. Some people will say he is "lucky." Obviously he worked hard to get where he is. How about using the phrase "man, hard-work pays off" rather than "man, he got lucky."

But that is "good luck". On the other hand, bad luck just seems like an excuse for ones troubles. [dangit, I was going to say ones mishaps, but one of the definitions for mishaps is simply bad luck] I do not think one particular day will cover you with a black cloud of problems and "bad luck", unless you create problems and blame the day.

It is probably a superstitious thing, it has got to be to some degree right? Hmm, I am superstitious about some things too, just not this.
Maybe the whole day thing -Friday the 13th-is evoked with how you grew up, who you grew up with, and how you spent your Fridays. Friday the 13th always seemed like another day to me. You too?

And I do not have a favorite or least favorite number, do you, why or whynot?

On a lighter note, my birthday is in 2 days :)

My Tendonitis

If you break down the word Patellar tendonitis, it simply means inflammation (-itis) of the patellar tendon. The patellar tendon connects the kneecap to the shinbone, or the tibia. Patellar tendonitis is usually caused due to overuse in activities such as running or jumping. Another overuse injury is Osgood Schlatter disease. This “disease” will cause pain and swelling over the tibial tuberosity (the top of the shinbone), just below the kneecap.

As a student athlete at the University of Toledo, I spent a lot of time in our training room before and after practice. Terms like patella, tendon, tendonitis, inflammation, tibia, tibial tuberosity, swelling, and ice, although new to me at first, became part of my everyday vocabulary. My knees started hurting in November ’06 and I think we just treated the pain. It was not until January ’07 that I was diagnosed with “patellar tendonitis” and we began treatment and physical therapy for that.

As I said before, my knees were hurting. However, the pain was not in the same spot for both legs. My left leg hurt from the center of my kneecap to the tendon that connects to the top of the shinbone. My right leg mainly hurt at the bony structure known as the tibial tuberosity, sometimes moving above to the tendon, never as far as the kneecap. As presented, it seems there are two different injuries, yes? I thought so.

When you are in the training room, you are around a lot of athletes. What is the one thing most in common with us athletes? TENDONITIS. Hmm, it makes sense for us athletes to have tendonitis, since we all practice hard everyday, thus, making it easier for overuse injury. But, just maybe, there could be an injury aside from tendonitis. A popular phrase agreed upon by teammates and athletes was “When in doubt, it’s tendonitis.” Part of me does not blame the trainers for telling us what they do, they see athletes all day, with majority of them having tendonitis in some part of their body. What is stopping them to think that one more athlete won’t have the same/similar injury? The other part of me wants to tell them to not assume tendonitis, initially fine, but after weeks and months, it might be something else, maybe you should take a look.

Now, I am convinced I have patellar tendonitis in my left knee. When I play or run, the area just under the kneecap gets swollen, tender, and is in pain. This area under the knee is that tendon. Sometimes, the center of my kneecap hurts running all the way down through the tendon, stopping before the tibial tuberosity. The tibial tuberosity on the left leg Never hurts, just above it. I am convinced I have patellar tendonitis in my left knee.

However, with my right knee, I think there is something else going on. It may be patellar tendonitis as well, but the symptoms are not the same. The center of my knee rarely hurts, the tendon hurts if an excessive amount of stress is put on it for an extended period of time. The main concern here with this leg is the tibial tuberosity. That bulge in the leg, looks like a button, and when you press that button there is pain. The pain on this leg goes from the top of the shinbone extending down about two more inches. There is an interesting lump there, which I believe is due to Osgood-schlatter. However, the trainers and even the doctors eliminated Osgood-schlatter because of my age (too old for this disease). My knees, your injuries, leave one frustrated and confused. The best course of action is to stay positive and work to heal the injury.

Finally, it is time to treat these areas of pain. There are many different treatments used for tendonitis. Along with treatment, physical therapy is extremely helpful. Treatment and Physical therapy for patellar tendonitis will be discussed in a later post.

More Than Meets The Eye

TRANSFORMERS! Come on, most everybody remembers the cartoon from their youth. The cartoon was great but the only characters names I remembered were the two leaders, Optimus Prime and Megatron. Check out the above website to learn more about the movie and the rest of the robots.

The story line was great, the movie was about 2.5 hours long, but it definitely did not feel that long; The movie was filled with action to pass the time quickly. The movie had a great flow, introducing and building the characters smoothly. All of the human actors did a great job, especially my boy Shia


I thought the fight scnenes were amazing; computer graphics never cease to amaze me. However, because of the colassal, complex structure of the autobots and decepticons, I felt the fight scenes were hard to follow. At times, the scene was moving so fast, the camera was moving so fast, it became a quick blur to me. Also, with my lack of knowledge of the names of the robots, it was hard to follow along with who was fighting who. These are my only 2 complaints; next time I watch the movie, which I will, I'll be better informed able to follow everything as they intended for us.

This is a movie I think everyone should see atleast once; it is definitely worth the $7-10 to pay for a movie ticket. If you're a Transformers fan, you will love every aspect of the movie. If you have an idea about the Transformers but not a total fan, you will thoroughly enjoy this movie, and probably become a fan! I give it about 9.4/10. It was probably the only movie I'll see in theatre's this summer, and it was was well worth it, it will be hard to top that movie.

"Bring the rain!" GO SEE TRANSFORMERS 8-)

Ann Arbor Weekend

We competed in Ann Arbor last weekend. It was my first tournament since the MAC (about 2 months ago) so yeah I was a little rusty with competition. I won my first match and then lost my second match to a kid I knew from juniors, he just outplayed me that day and he went on to win his next match and lost to the #2 seed, so I don't feel too bad with the results. I guess I was a little hard on myself for not doing better, but remember it has been a while since I competed.

Ann Arbor was pretty cool though. Friday, when we went up, we checked in and then met up with my friend Rahul at 1 of 2 Jimmy John's in their downtown/campus area. The hotel was good and the tourney was good, it was just really hot!

Another issue is my knees. They won't seem to get better. My mom wants me to stop competing for the rest of the summer, rest the knees and get them prepared for the actual college season, rather than bang them up more in these tournaments. Part of me knows she is right and that I should let my knees heal (if they will), but the other part of me just wants to play and train and get ready for these tourneys...ehhhh injuries!

Happy 4th of July

What a crappy day out, it's been overcast and windy all day. Finally just now it started to thunderstorm and rain. I do not think there will be fireworks tonight, not that Parkersburg has ever really had a good display of fireworks.
I spent my day of indepence relaxing, studying, playing tennis, went out to dinner with the parents and bro, and more relaxing. This is a great day for me, too bad everyday could not be like it. It would have been great to end the day with some fireworks, but at the rate the storm is going, I highly doubt it will happen.

I love fireworks, there is something about them that leaves me staring agape. I do not know if it is the mix of colors, the variety of sounds of explosions, the surroundings of people coming around to celebrate the 4th of July, or just a combination of the three. All I know is for that 10-20 minutes of sparkling light and crunching sounds, my mind is free, with a mixture of emotions racing through my body. Any chance I could get, I would watch fireworks :)

As I am writing this, I am enjoying the noise of thunder and the streaks of lightning, while watching the rain come down in spurts of fast, splinter-like drops to spurts of slow, calming baby drops, it is a mediocre substitute for fireworks.

I hope others are blessed with good weather and enjoy a great display of fireworks, Happy 4th of July.

vapid living

The days are seeming to get shorter and I am getting more tired/exhausted. I think I need to stop working or get a change of scenary or something, but each day it feels like this place sucks a little more life out of me. A typical day here consists of me arriving around 8:30am, sitting around, watching tv for awhile, trying to get motivated to study and do work but it seems so hard to here. I'll work out and practice, by 4pm I have lessons til 6/7. I leave here about 8pm and get home exhausted, having enough energy to shower and get online. Something needs to change,it could be my nutrition, (considering i have to be here all day and can't leave it's hard to find food), i'll find it soon...

This past weekend we went to Toledo to see friends and coach. It was a very productive weekend and we were blessed with good weather. I learned a lot and have some things to work on to bring my game to the next level. I'll get to try these things in practice this week and this weekend when we go to compete in Ann Arbor. I'm very excited to compete again and excited to get out of here.
Change of scenery, my temporary solution.

TOL

Finally, we get to make our trip up to Toledo this weekend. We are leaving today around 5ish, after our haircuts, to get there around 9:30ish pm. Tomorrow (Fri) we will hit w/ coach all day, Sat a little bit, and Sun a little bit before heading out. I'm excited to get outta pburg/marietta and go to Toledo. I'm staying with a friend and a couple other friends will be around to hang out, so it should be a fun weekend :)

Other than getting ready for the next couple of weekends, paper work, apartment plans, entry forms, i've been practcing, finding a new racket, studying (just got done reviewing physics portion), and watching Wimbledon

Until I have more time to update, Have a good weekend...

High IQs, Where Do They Come From?

Firstborn children are the cleverest


The article suggests that birth order plays a role in level of IQ (relative intelligence of an individual). I believe there are many things that play a role in one's IQ including: the person's enviornment, association with people, curiosity, determination, the list goes on, including birth order. Of all the things affecting IQ, I beleive birth order ranks in the middle to the lower end of the scale.

It is clear that only-children do not apply to this article, however, their IQs are strengthened by certain actions. One would assume that the first born child would have the highest IQ for numerous reasons. The first born is given all of the attention, support, and love. That is until a brother or sister comes along. The knowledge of the first born is reinforced as he teaches his siblings the things he/she has learned. This pattern would continue with each younger sibling resulting in an upside down pyramid of IQ. The first born is at the inverted base, and the younger siblings follow (IQ getting smaller). This would happen if teaching and learning were up to the family, but in an advanced society we have today, there is no stopping the learning curve of an individual.

There are many opportunities for one to gain knowledge outside of family help. School is the obvious way of honing your knowledge of subjects. Those determined younger siblings have classes, professors, internet, tv, library, friends, etc. in their hands to learn whatever they want. Ultimately it comes down to the individual and his/her desire to learn and enhance their knowledge.

The article may suggest that first borns are the most intelligent based on their studies/findings, but it does not have to be and it should not be for we are in an advancing society. Every day there is something new being created, a new article published, etc. and the younger you are the more up-to-date you could be with what is going on around you.

However, IQ seems to be based on tests; those dreadful, long, stressful standarized tests. Some people are good test-takers, some people are smart, and some people are both. I do not believe tests alone should determine one's intelligence and possibe future. But this just seems to be a way society has succeeded thus far.

The first borns seem to be the cleverest, but give us time and we will break even and change the figures to new studies titled "Younger Siblings Possess Uncanny Potential"

-Written in envy of and admiration to my intelligent brothers :)

"I closed my eyes and I slipped away"

More Than A Feeling by Boston is my new favorite song. It's just awesome. I'm trying to learn it on guitar, that would be fun to play, hehe.

Here is more proof that the song rocks

Enjoy :)

The Story

In case you were wondering how I got the name. This was Halloween week and we had to dress up the Friday before the weekend to weightlifting. That's my weight training coach and I obviously won the fight, haha. I was looking for a pic to put up on this profile thing, and I found that pic so there's the story to that.

Right now I am still looking for a new racket, it's either going to be a Babolot or Head racket. I hope to decide by the end of the weekend. Tournaments are coming up! 8-)

Another Journal

So my old journal thing is being shut down and so I tried livejournal (my very first journal) again but I don't really like it anymore, it's kind of annoying to get everything set up; seems harder than when I first got it. So Jay uses this one, so I decided to give it a try. Hopefully i'll like it...