I'm Back!

So sorry for the length of time between posts.  I had a month off of school and just never thought about picking up the computer and blogging!  Anyway, I'm back and will try to be more consistent about writing.

I'm never sure about what I want to write, so I'll just stick with what I'm good at: trying to keep up with my brain as it wanders around.  I'm in school right now, training to be an automotive technician.  I've always loved cars, and working on them is one of the best ways to stay around as many cars as possible.  The unfortunate thing about the program is that in order to maintain government funding, we are forced to take math and speech.  I understand that the college has to do this, but it just feels like a huge waste of time.  I took AP calculus in high school, and got a high enough score to test out of all math at my previous college, not to mention the half hour speeches we did as part of my seminar class.  I really get it; some people need those classes to learn how to multiply fractions and make a 2 minute introductory speech.  But it really seems to me that education should be individualized for each student.  Twenty to twenty-five year old high school graduates should not be taking the same class as a 45 year old middle school dropout.  Okay, that's enough for my pre-lunch rant.  I'll be back this afternoon with a more positive and uplifting post.

December 11th or First Official Post

Weight: 260
Smoking? Yes.
Drinking? Yes.

Now that that's out of the way, I can actually start writing a little bit.  Now, I apologize in advance, as I wanted my first real post to be a positive and introspective look at weight loss in society, however, I have my mind on a different topic, and wanted to write about it.  Yesterday, a fraternity brother of mine called me.  I was ecstatic to hear from him, as we haven't talked in over a year, until he said, "I wish I could have called under better circumstances."  Another fraternity brother of mine, one Chris Alonzi, passed away yesterday.  Now, I haven't had a Facebook account in over a year, so I wasn't even aware that in June of 2012, he was diagnosed with leukemia.  A more positive person did not exist on the planet Earth, and to be honest, I really don't think I would've had the wherewithal to fight it as strongly and for as long as he did.  He endured the most painful and terrifying side of the
American healthcare system, including an unnecessary brain surgery, three bone marrow biopsies, a lung biopsy, a spinal tap, 68 days of chemotherapy, 3 weeks of rehab, and (the icing) an ineffective stem cell transplant.  Now, I did not write this post to mourn Chris, nor to rant about the healthcare system we have in this country (that will come later).  I wrote this to celebrate one of the most sincere and upbeat people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.  We met the first day we joined the fraternity, bonding over a shared middle name, and spent countless hours with all of our brothers.  An infinite number of cigars, Guinnesses, and parties brought our pledge class ever closer together.  When I left DePauw, life happened, I deleted my facebook, and fell out of touch with all of my brothers.  I miss them all now, and know that they miss Alonzi just as much if not more than me.  He would not want to be mourned, he would want a party thrown for him, and I will do as much, and if you want to celebrate a wonderful individual, I make one request.  Make a toast to Christopher Alonzi.  You may not have known him, but he would have brightened your life as much as he did mine.  To Chris Alonzi!  Perge, my brother.
R.I.P. Chris Alonzi (pictured in the middle)

My First Post

Greetings, all.  My name's Patrick.  I'm an overweight, smoking, drinking, all around unhealthy man.  Having said that, I'm happily married to the most wonderful woman in the world (to Kelly), have the cutest dog in America, have great friends, and am related to decent and honest people.  In short, I am mentally and emotionally stable and happy, so now it's time to get my physical nature to catch up with my emotional health.  The point of this blog is simply to make me more accountable for that journey.  My main philosophy in life is that stress is more dangerous than about anything else, so my weight loss plan is simple: Don't stress it.  I know that I can do it.  I know how to do it.  I know that if I freak out about it and beat myself up over how much or how little progress I've made, I'll give up and quit.  Now, before I write any more, here's my fair warning to all: I ramble.  I will end up writing long posts that will inevitably go on some long philosophical tangent that won't have anything to do with my healthy goals.  I hope you all find them enjoyable, but either way, they'll stay around.  If I don't write where my brain goes, it will simply lose track and be boring as all get-out.  So anyway, I hope everyone enjoys my blog, and if you don't, it was nice having you visit.  :-)  Stay stress-free, everyone.  ~P