Thursday, February 25, 2010

Signs and Summaries

It's not that I follow astrology, but it's interesting sometimes to see how it correlates with real life. I am a Cancer, although sometimes I wonder if that's what I really act like. I took an online quiz to determine what my sign "ought" to be, and I was pegged as a Pisces. So, I'll list the description of a male Cancer and a male Pisces... I'll let you be the judge.

A Cancer man will come across as an extremely shy person, who speaks less and minds his own business. He is not one of those who tell everything about themselves in the first meeting itself. Infact, it will take a large number of meetings to get even a little close to him. Cancerian male may seem to a different person every time you meet him. He may be nervous and fickle one moment; extremely confident the second minute and too shy the very next. His frown can easily turn, first, into smile and then, into a laugh.

A Cancerian guy may get sad and melancholic at times and then, you will feel like putting your arms around him and comforting him. Then, suddenly his wistfulness will vanish and he will be sparkling with wit and humor. He is a true romantic and sees fairytale dreams frequently. However, he is as close to reality as anyone can be. Baffled? Don't worry, it will take some time, but you will start understanding your Cancerian man slowly and gradually. The changes in him do not mean a changing personality like the Geminis.

It is just a change of moods and he will soon be his usual self again. The basic characteristics profile will, however, remain the same. Just like a crab, he retreats into a shell when his emotions are hurt. The shell is his haven and he will remain there till he is ready to face the world again. Cancerian men may look harsh and distant at times, but inside they are very gentle, kind and affectionate. Rudeness is not one of their personality traits. It just acts a cover to hide their true, vulnerable feelings.

A Cancer man needs to feel secured of your love every now and then, so don't forget to say 'I Love You' everyday. The same goes for money too, debt makes him uneasy. He is the one who always pays his bills on time and he likes saving more than spending. He is not stingy, but he is also not extravagant. However, a Cancerian male won't sacrifice his taste and style in the name of economy. Economy for him means getting the worth of money he spent. Quality plays the utmost importance as far as he is concerned.

A Cancer guy is very conscious of his looks, his house, his car and everything that surrounds him. His clothes need to have that perfect cut, his car that perfect shine and his food that perfect taste. He is not one of those wild men who like going against the usual norms, and sophistication is something he can't live without. There is another thing a Cancer male cannot live without - talking about his Mommy Dearest! She is most likely to be there in his every second conversation.

In the other extreme, he will be totally detached from her. However, his relationship with his mother will never be casual and moderate. It has to be either of the two extremes and the first one is the most likely. At the same time, he will be the most important person in his mother's life. Make sure you pamper him as much and give him as much attention as his mother. Chivalry is in his nature, unless you give him reasons to be otherwise. A Cancerian guy may take sometime to judge you as his probable soul mate.

However, once he is sure, he will shower you with love, care, admiration and gifts. At the same time, you will be expected to meet his standards, which may be quite high. If he has decided you are the one he wants to live his life with, he will pursue you with fierce determination and make you fall in love with him. Now, we talk about the qualities of a Cancerian guy as a father. He will be totally proud of his son and fiercely protective of his daughter. He will be extremely patient with them. With a Cancerian man, there is one thing you and the kids will never be short of - Love!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are basically two types of Pisces men - those who go against the tide and those who go where it takes them. The former types remain on the lookout for the right opportunity, struggle against the world to utilize its full potential and triumph over life. The latter types remain tangled in their dreams, may not notice even when the opportunity knocks at the door and may miss the bright sunlight of success. A Piscean man needs to develop the personality traits of resolute judgment and unwavering actions to realize his ambitions and be a winner.

He also has to bury his old, unrealizable dreams if he wants to move ahead in life. All this doesn't mean that he is weak or feeble. It's just that he lives in his dreams too much and has to will himself to get up and indulge in real action. When he manages to brush off the starry dust from his eyes, he sees the real world and then, goes about doing the business of earning his bread. A Piscean male has a very clever and sharp mind. The moment he starts working towards practical aims, you can be sure that he will win the next 'Achievers Award'.

The only problem comes in making him look beyond those unrealistic dreams. If your fish knows how to swim against the current, you can be sure that you are luckiest girl on this earth. After we have dealt with the practical aspect of the relationship, lets come to the emotional one. This is something you will never have to worry about, with a Pisces guy. A Piscean man will never ever be short on emotions and romance. Infact, he practically breathes them. If the practical aspect of his characteristics profile is fine, you can be sure you have been rewarded with the best guy in the world.

He never holds a bias against any person. You will never find him passing a judgment in context of anyone, unless and until he has experienced the same situation in which that person is now. Even then, he will try to understand that person's reasons, rather than criticize him. Accusations don't go down well with him either. A Pisces man is never ever mean. However, at times, he may say something, which turns out to be quite different from what he intended. He is totally dependable and you can trust him with your darkest secrets.

He is a very good listener and people always come to him to discuss all their major and minor problems. When he is with you, try not to burden him more with your tensions too. Throughout the day, he has been listening to other people's troubles and the way he is, he would have absorbed all those negative energies. Now, when he is with you, he needs to get all of this out of his system and rejuvenate himself. Piscean men have such an empathetic disposition that they need to rest every now and then, to bring back the calmness and steadiness.

If they want to be left alone, they should not be disturbed. Closeness and togetherness is good, but let them have their moments of solitude. Give them the space they desire and the heart will only grow fonder. A Pisces man is very sensitive and can get hurt very easily. He appears to be confident of himself, but on the inside, he is painfully shy. He needs to know that you appreciate him, care for him and love him. He has a very quick temper, but the anger subsides as quickly as it comes.

He will never remain angry for a very long time and will seldom hold a grudge. He has the ability to see right through people's outer layer and that makes it very difficult to fool him. On the other hand, he can fool you if he wants and such situations will arise frequently, since he likes to keep his own affairs to himself. A Piscean man may speak a small lie once in a while. This is because he has some secret fear of revealing all about himself. However, you don't need to worry, as these lies will always be completely harmless and help keep his imagination running.

Jealously is not one of the personality traits of a Pisces male. He trusts you totally, but remember he is also a man and will definitely expect loyalty from you. As far as he is concerned, you will get plenty of reasons to be jealous, as he will have close friends of both the sexes. He will also appreciate beauty, but he will never be disloyal. That's just not him. If you can cope up with this, you will be rewarded with the most romantic husband, with whom you talk about almost everything under the sun.

A Piscean guy is never too cautious about money and you will have to handle that front. Infact, you need to present yourself as the perfect example of a saver and he will, sooner or later, follow suit. He learns quickly from the people he admires and respect, so what better person than you to teach him economy. With children, he will be a lot of fun and extremely loving. He will listen patiently to their childish problems, provide them with solutions, keep their imagination oiled and minds active. However, teaching them discipline will be your responsibility.

Remember that a Pisces man is very fond of his dreams. Never ever step on them or laugh at them - he will be hurt. Infact, believe in them and one day, you may be walking on the red carpet besides him. Trust him, give him love and keep him emotionally nourished. In return, he will shower you with lots of love and affection and provide you with a happy and rich home. Don't nag or criticize him and always support him in realizing his hopes. Nurture his imagination and one day, you will find yourself blessed with some incredibly good luck!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Frown Lines

The past needs to stay in the past. I don't need anyone bringing their stupid memory-digging-up shovels and unearthing all these negative feelings. Ugh, stupid stupid stupid. Get out of my head. Ok, it's time to take this shovel, bury the past again, and get ready for a great vacation.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Flakes and Flurries

I'm watching a wintry mix of accumulation drizzling and blowing about outside, and it's times like this I remember: I hate winter. I used to hate spring, but now it's winter. Maybe it's because my first winter in Cincinnati was ridiculously cold (the wind chill one morning when I went to work was -15... that's a bit much). Or, because during my first winter here, everyone back home was dealing with the Ice Storm. I capitalize it because it actually was a pretty big deal. People were without electricity for weeks. It freaked me out, and I wasn't even experiencing it firsthand. I was also still employed at the Cabinet, and that was just a big pot of stress soup.

Anyways, I'm ready for spring time. I'm ready for short sleeves, 60 degree sunny days, the return of greenery, and more humidity. The dry air here is ridiculous! I've never had dry skin before, so I'm taking it kind of personally.

Yesterday I forgot to take my Adderall before going to work. The funny (and by funny I mean hilarious) thing was, people could tell without me having to say anything. I was pretty useless at work. I didn't get much accomplished in terms of paperwork until near the end of the day, when my brain finally kicked into gear. Needless to say, when I get my next prescription, I'm going to bring my old bottle into work with a few doses in it so that if I forget my meds again, I'll have an emergency stash. I'm usually able to multi-task even when there's a conversation going on in the office, but yesterday I couldn't even finish typing an e-mail because I was too busy listening to MaryClare and Bree talk about adoption stuff. I'm not complaining about them--it's just interesting to see how I function without my meds.

I have to give myself a pat on the back. The past 3 months I've been working really hard on building muscle. I've done tons of research on exercise routines, nutrition, and overall health. Most of that has been because of the extremely helpful guys at the Mens Health magazine online forums. Without them to set me straight, I'd still be doing pointless exercises that got me nowhere and eating all the wrong things. Over the last year, I have gained 12 pounds--10 pounds of that is muscle. 4 pounds of muscle was gained in the last two months. For my final consult with my trainer, I had him take my measurements. In the past two months, I've added 1 inch to my shoulders, one inch to my chest, one inch to my arms, one inch to my thighs, and 1/4 inch to my calves. I'm so excited! I need to adjust my diet a little bit to reduce the amount of fat I'm storing, then I should be golden.

I'm going on a cruise in a week! I'm stoked! I can't wait to get off the plane and walk onto that gigantic boat! If you are feeling especially generous, you (and some friends, if you want to split the cost!) can buy me some drink tickets. Just click on this link and enter Booking Number 99NZ85 and Stateroom Number 7280. :)

Friday, January 15, 2010

Goals and Gateways

I haven't made an entry in a while. Life has been kind of a whirlwind, what with the holidays and work amping up a little bit. Then again, there have been relatively few big happenings in the Life of Nate lately. That's pretty much fine with me. Finishing up Christmas and New Years was a mixed blessing. Although it was great getting a break from the ordinary and getting to see more of my family and friends, I'm definitely glad to be back into the daily grind.

I decided a few years ago that I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions because they, for the most part, fail. So instead, I've decided to just make a couple goals or themes for myself to follow. This year, I want to pay off my credit card and apply for a new one with a higher credit limit. I've learned some valuable lessons with my first credit card and still have pretty good credit, so it's time to move on to something more adult.

My other big goal is weight gain. I know for years I've struggled with this image of myself being fat, chubby, overweight, or just "oddly proportioned." The problem has been that I've been going about this whole fitness thing entirely wrong. I was afraid of putting on muscle because it was a daunting task that I didn't understand. I also didn't want to look like a meathead... you know, because I'm such an intellectual and all. But if I'm ever going to reach a point where I'll be totally comfortable with my body, I'll have to take a different road. So I've been dedicated 3 days a week to lifting weights. I have a structured program that I've been working on for the past 8 weeks and already I've seen some pretty encouraging increases in my physical strength. I can also eat a lot more! I feel like I have learned SO much about fitness and nutrition in the past couple of months. So the goal for the year is to put on lots and lots of muscle, then go through a period of "cutting" starting around October or November. As I think about it though, that may be a bad time to start, with holidays and all. So it may be January of next year before I start the "cutting" phase.

Either way, this year is about building and growing.

Oh, and I'm applying for grad school this fall to start in fall 2011.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Bursting and bubbling

Periodically throughout the day, I have this very weird sensation of being nearly overwhelmed by emotion. I'm not sure exactly which emotion--whether it's happiness, sadness, anticipation, worry, the list goes on--but it fills me up and I feel like I'm going to explode with it. Right now, I'm feeling impatient about getting through this workday, going home, wrapping up my last few presents, loading them in the car, eating dinner, going to bed, then going to work tomorrow, wrapping some stuff up, doing a home visit, then hitting the road. Each thing I do I rush through so I can do something else.

I love Christmas and all that comes with it (except the unhealthy food) but all I'm excited about is seeing my family. Then I just want to get back to my normal routine!!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

thoughts and theories

It's no secret that I have a wide variety of interests. I mean, heck, just look at the list on my facebook profile. Just do it. It's cool, I'll still be here when you get back.


..you back? You didn't actually look. Gah, what are you good for?

Anyways, it's also no big secret that I'm not on-task at work 100% of the time. I have little research projects that I like to do throughout the day. In the past month or so, I've learned so much about personal fitness and nutrition. I know just enough to be dangerous. But it's totally fun, because I've gained 2.5 pounds in the past 3 weeks, and I'm convinced it's muscle. My shoulders look bigger, chest looks wider, I've grown a pair of horns, and now I'm 6'3" tall. Two of those statements are true.

Wikipedia and I have become very closely acquainted. The other day, I got to thinking about something James said to me the other night about my skin looking yellow. Now, I know I don't hae jaundice, and my kidneys are working fine as far as I know, so I did a little research into yellowish skin. As it turns out, I have a skin color known as "olive," which is common to people near the Mediterranean and the southern parts of Germany. When olive-skinned people don't get much sunlight, their skin takes on a dull yellowish color with a greenish cast. Sexy, no? But I compared my skin to some scale by Von Laschlon or something else that sounds like a sneeze and I match the "olive" or "Mediterranean" skin type. I thought it was pretty cool.

Oh, and I did a little research into the origin of my family name. As it turns out, it's either derived from the German name "Futch," it's derived from the old French "vautre," or "hunter," or it's a dirty slang term from French ("foutre") that has to do with the act of lovemaking. I'm hoping it's the second one, because the idea of coming from a clan of hunters that crossed over to England with William the Conquerer is way cooler than thinking I have the namesake of an explitive.

Once again, I have to just say that I'm one of the most blessed people I know! I have so many awesome people and things in my life right now. Woohoo!

Monday, December 14, 2009

sighs and smiles

Feeling much better this week. Not sure why I was so moody last week, but I had a few pleasant surprises that really turned me around. I have the most amazing people in my life. I'm truly the luckiest guy in the world... or pretty darn close.

It's funny sometimes how sometimes, you look into your past, and when you catch a glimpse of it in the crowd of your memories, the guy has grown a beard and you don't recognize him at all.

That's a metaphor, in case you need an assist there.

Although I have in fact grown a beard. But I'm not a metaphor. I'm a man. With a beard. A literal beard.

...this is going nowhere.