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This is the last post in the old blog using Blogger. The new blog location is http://www.kentkingery.com. All the old entries will be here until they get transferred into the WordPress archive on the new blog.

Join me in the new place, won't you? And please update your links appropriately!

Feed Weirdness

I just noticed today that my feed stopped updating at some point in April. I'm not sure why, but I think I have it fixed now. If you were just deluged with posts, my apologies...

"The Happening" - Don't waste your time...

Sorry for bursting anyone's bubble about this movie, but save your time and money. Even if someone pays your way, don't go. Your time is worth more than this experience.

Now, having set up the discussion, I'll say up front that I don't normally post to Chipotle. But consider this a Public Service Announcement from someone who loves movies and was absolutely appalled by this one.

I like M. Night Shamalayan. I think he can be inventive, quirky, and generally a good filmmaker. I thoroughly enjoyed "The Sixth Sense", "The Village", and "Signs". And "Unbreakable" ranks in my top 10 all-time favorite movies (where it enjoys some fairly prestigious company).

But "The Happening" was flat out awful. From the horribly stilted acting from the main players to the gratuitous violence to the weak, weak, weak story line to the downright offensive eco-nutso-weirdo ending, this thing stunk. Stunk like your old gym socks. Stunk like Grandma's cellar. Stunk like... well... like "Blue City" (which up until today ranked as the worst movie of all time in my book).

Sorry for the complete downer negative posting, but I just can't figure out how anyone thought this would be a good movie to release. After all the hype, I was expecting Shamalayan to redeem himself after the relatively unsatisfactory "Lady in the Water", but it was not to be. I'm going to have to watch "Unbreakable" in the next day or so just to remind myself that the guy did do some excellent work at one time. Maybe it's Bruce Willis that makes the good ones work...

Don't go see this.

Long-Overdue Update

I realized today that it's been a little over two weeks since I last posted. My blogging tends to come in spurts as I juggle work, kids, music, and a dozen other commitments or interests. Now that summer is in full swing, I thought I'd post an update on various things...

Create in '08

I've been doing a lot of creative "stuff" lately, but it has mostly been without a lot of direction. While I'm perfectly comfortable with some "goal-less" experimenting, I always need some sort of target in order to really finish what I start.

Someting I did do in March (which I need to write about at some point) is go through an exercise where I listed out a lot of things I'm involved in and then tried to understand how they contributed to my overall journey (both personally and professionally). It was a valuable experience and led me to do some interesting things:

• rearranged my studio to make it more efficient
• weeded out a lot of books that I thought I wanted but never really looked at much
• laid out some plans to work on my guitar playing over the summer (sorely needed!)
• laid out some additional plans to work on some sample libraries I've been wanting to create for quite a while
• experimented with some drawing and watercolor ideas that have been rolling around in my head (nothing to show yet but a bunch of color-streaked paper, but I have hope)
• really buckled down and started to deal with the clutter in my life (both physical and mental)
• committed to more time with God and more study time in the Bible (most important item on the list)

For some reason, over the last year or so, my normal hyper-attentive planning gene has been dormant. I feel like I've been wallowing or flailing or treading water or whatever for the last 12 months, and now I need to kick myself in the butt and get moving.

Fitness

I'm currently at 320.6lbs. I was 330lbs on May 21st, so I've lost a little over 3 pounds a week. Most of the loss comes from just cutting back on what I eat instead of any real progress on the exercise program. I'm walking a few times a week (2-3 miles at a time), and I'm doing some weights here and there. Frankly, I got discouraged after my initial workout because I overdid it and couldn't do much for several days.

But I feel like I'm making some progress.

Politics

Now we finally see the race come into focus. I really thought Hillary had a shot at taking the nomination, but she just couldn't seem to shake the old school approach to campaigning. Plus, I think that (regardless of what others may say) she's saddled with the Clinton name and image. She doesn't represent change for a lot of folks, primarily due to the fact that it would be Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton if she won. Does that matter? To some people, it probably does. The party machine certainly got out from behind her in a hurry after some ill-timed and ill-conceived public statements, and I think even the old guard was engaged by Obama. Whatever else he may be, he's certainly charismatic.

I still don't have a candidate. I'm leaning back to McCain given some of the Barack-isms that are emerging, but McCain still seems too old and too out of touch in some areas. I won't deny that he makes me comfortable about his ability to secure the country, but I wonder how he will handle some of the more pressing problems facing our economy. I don't expect any President to cure social ills, but I certainly want them involved in the financial factors that may exacerbate the social problems.

It's going to be an interesting race.

Church

We had a great Vacation Bible School this year. I don't know what the final tally was, but I know the projection was around 2,000 kids. I was at the church a couple of times during the week, and I felt like I was wading through a sea of grade schoolers. The program was great this year, and I really have to hand it to all the volunteers that made it happen. As many of you know, I would prefer a smaller church, but there's no denying the programs that are available at the larger churches.

I got to spend some time with some great folks this week and hear some great music. I also got to be around our youth choir (Puresound), and that is always something that boosts my energy level.

A great week indeed.

Music

I'm working on a personal project for the next couple of weeks. I'm finally creating demo tracks for a bunch of songs I've had sitting in my notebooks for the last several years. I'm not trying to get too fancy, just wanting to get melodies attached to words and have some sense of where they might go. God is continuing to move me in directions I never thought possible when it comes to music, and I'm trying to be still enough to listen most of the time.

Blog

I'm working on a couple of other blog ideas that seem more interesting than life blogging. Some folks can make that work, but it always seems to me that I don't stay focused and regular in posting, so there are chunks of context missing. I like to write about several different things but primarily about music/technology in worship (my main passion) and technology in the workplace (my profession). So, I'm thinking about separate blogs for each idea.

More thought is required, so we'll see...

Whimpering...

Well, I'm starting to recover from my workouts this week. I haven't lost much weight (maybe a pound or so), and I'm hurting all over. Today I could finally walk up and down the stairs without a lot of pain, but it still hurts to sit down. Lunges are truly the Devil's work.

However, it's good to actually be back to doing something active. On Monday, I did my first real workout in a few years, and it hurt. A lot. Of course, it didn't help that I then moved a set of bookshelves and about 40 boxes of books to my new office. Even with the help of my wife, my daughters, and their friends, I still ended the day whimpering like a kicked dog.

I'd forgotten about these muscles in my legs. Oh, and being 46 probably doesn't help the situation any. Still, I press on...

As mentioned in my previous post, tomorrow is the start of my new fitness regimen. I have to admit that I'm apprehensive about this, but I'm excited about the possibility of feeling (and looking) better at some point. I hate that I've let myself go to this point and really want to try and reverse some of the damage I've done to myself over the last several years.

I spent some time this afternoon putting together a weight bench that has been sitting in a box since we moved to San Antonio. It was in the back of the garage and forgotten until recently when I started to think about this whole weight loss/fitness thing. It was a bit of a workout just assembling the thing, and now it sits in my garage like some torture chamber device. I think it is silently mocking my inability to put it together without huffing and puffing.

And I've been mentally preparing for the whole eating thing, trying to cut back on portions, thinking about what I'm going to eat going forward. I'm also psyching myself up to go to bed earlier each night because I know I'm not getting enough sleep. I'm fairly certain my lack of sleep has contributed to my general lack of wellness, too.

So, tomorrow it starts. Words of encouragement, derision, humor, etc. are all welcome. I'm going to need all the motivation I can get!

Saved by... Mario Lopez?

(I was going to title this post "Lose Weight in '08", but but the year is almost half over.)

It sucks to be out of shape. All through my life I've struggled with my weight and fitness in general, and at the age of 46 I have high blood pressure, type II diabetes, and am generally a mess. I weigh 330lbs according to my wife's fancy digital scale. I hate the way I look and feel.

I'm still moderately active and can definitely walk up and down a few flights of stairs without collapsing, but I can't play basketball for four periods without some significant pain and suffering. I can't run more than a mile without throwing up. And I can't fit into this great pair of jeans that I've had hanging in my closet for years. Most of all, I know I'm hastening my death, and I really would like to stick around to see my daughters get married.

About ten years ago, I lost a bunch of weight and got into better shape by following the stuff in Larry North's "Get Fit". I joined a health club, went several times a week, watched what I ate, and did a reasonable job keeping up with it. Then, I went back on the road for work and became a couch potato again. And I gained back the weight and all the problems associated with it.

Each year as summer comes around, I tell myself I'm going to get back on a program. But I never do. I never get motivated enough to make the time to walk, ride my bike, run, lift weights, swim, etc. It's just easier to flop on the bed or in front of the computer, turn on Law & Order, and "blob out" as a friend of mine referred to it.

But this year, I've decided, it will be different. And what made me decide this is the turning point is a book by Mario Lopez called "Knockout Fitness".



For those who haven't realized it, this is the same Mario Lopez from Saved by the Bell. The same Mario Lopez who sits in for Larry King and Regis. The same Mario Lopez who hosts one of the weekend entertainment shows (can't remember which one). The same Mario Lopez that my wife still lusts after admires. In fact, she even told me that I should try "whatever Mario is doing".

And yes, I realize that by posting the picture of the book, I am likely to cause consternation among those of you who are wondering if this isn't simply some homoerotic thing going on (it's not). I'd be dishonest if I told you I wasn't sucked in by the picture, dreaming of having a similar physique, knowing that the reality is I'll probably never see this sort of modification to my own bulk. But I was. And the cover did what it was intended to do. It made me pick up the book in my local Barnes & Noble. And reading through it made me buy it.

The book appeals to me. It's written in a very conversational tone, the exercises are pretty much ones that can be done without a lot of fancy moves or equipment, and the whole investment is six weeks. At the end of six weeks, I'll either look and feel better or I won't. At the end of six weeks, I'll either know it was a good move or that it wasn't. But the point is that I'm motivated to do something about my predicament other than grabbing another flour tortilla.

So... I've decided (as have many others in the world of blogging) to be very public about this. I've decided to post updates about my progress, both good and bad. I've decided to try and make an entry here every day if only for me to have a personal historical record. Every entry will have information, and once a week (probably on Sunday) I'll post my weight and other pertinent details.

Monday is the big day for starting. Wish me luck!

Be Still My Heart

Admit it. You didn't even know it was gone...

...but you're glad it's back.