On Gaining Comfort..

What to do when you dream about breaking your diet? When you see yourself, as if you were the fly on the wall, and you watched yourself stuff a box of Good n' Plenty down your throat. Now, I know it was just a dream, but dreams mean something, right? Was it my subconscious crying out for more sugar (it ain't happening), was it me testing my strength? Whatever it was, I dreamed I broke my diet. And that ain't right.
Nevertheless, this past weekend I moved to my own little apartment and I can't help but think of myself as a not-as-famous black-Detroit based Carrie Bradshaw...I have a studio, the closet (that you walk through to get to the bathroom) is packed, I'ma writer and the men in my life are as random as my shoe collection. So, maybe I look more like her assistant (J. Hudson's character), but even then these women have goals and a livelihood that they've adjusted to the optimum level of comfort. They fit them. And this diet is teaching me this.

You see, I was addicted to candy. When most 25-year old women go to the store and buy a small bag of pretzels, I was always found nibbling on a Jolly Rancher, Laffy Taffy, Dum-Dum sucker or Gummi Bear. It was horrible, I'd spend about $3 a day on sugary treats (thats $90 a month), and I picked up about 30 lbs. from the time my parents controlled what I bought to now..that's a lot of candy.

So, one day out of the blue after a rude awakening (I actually tore through the trunk of my car to find a mini box of Good n' Plenty) I kicked my habit cold turkey, in the middle of the week. And I couldn't be more happy. More comfortable. And that comfort comes from the fact that I don't get the dangerous mood swings, I can run farther on the treadmill, my hungry-full receptors are really working and my teeth are no doubt whiter. Not to mention I've dropped/reshaped an estimated 10 pounds!

So, make your own comfort people. Introduce positives in your lifestyle, because you are the you that you are going to be for the rest of your life. So either accept it and be miserable, or take control, atleast you'll be comfortable.

Happy Birthday Mom
Have a great Monday people.

Um..Monday's Revelation

Good evening everyone ... gnrlstudies here. i don't think we've met. i an extremely comfortable individual who has decided that i am going to let go of a few hard earned pounds. naturally, i am very comfortable with my appearance, accepting early on that my situation doesn't really offer the opportunity to change anything about myself, physically, thus and therefore, i work with what i've been given. and so far it has been workin' quite well, lol... i mean, i haven't had many complaints. (ii someone's mind somewhere that sentence is going to be taken in the wrong context, but hey...that's you)

and yes, i do know that i haven't capitalized the letter i at all in the previous paragraph. bare with me, i am going somewhere with this.

Nevertheless, in the recent events that have bought me this far, I've learned one thing. I need to stay busy.
But that is not to blame for my growingly round body. A very expensive YMCA membership didn't even persuade me to stay on track and work off the pudge.

And now, in lieu of a cross country excursion of the minds (check out twitter accounts lilkimqueenb and LadyWhitehead), I've decided to prepare physically.

Also, the launch of my new career in public relations and marketing has to first and foremost benefit me. I am my on first client. And I should act in the interest of the well being of my public appearance. Which leads me into my discussion. What do you think of companies that require their employees to maintain a healthy lifestyle?

Yeah, I said REQUIRE. There are plenty of companies that provide programs offering healthy incentives. But its all for naught. Have you ever gone to one of those contracted in weight management/aerobics after work events, its a bunch of office women flopping around for an hour after sitting for eight hours on a computer. It's hilarious.

In Japan it is not uncommon for an employer to require workers to attend weight management courses if they do not abide by company body size standards. Harsh treatment? I wouldn't think so, it's more like a protection of an investment. Studies show that costs formerly used for healthcare and settlements would instead be spent on maintaining business practices and improving the investments that the company had previously built.

That's me justifying the fact that I am about to be super duper sexy in just a matter of months (I'm not dillusional, I know it takes time and dedication, yada yada yada). I am doing it for my future, to be a better worker...for myself. This is what being black in the city is all about...this is what I am learning on a day to day basis...this is Monday's Revelation...work for you, in all of your life and livelihood. If a dancer wants to be successful, he must dance...and a singer must sing, if I want to go into the business of creating a public image of someone...then my image must be A-100 ...

Check back in for progress...I'm thinking I am going to dance it off, follow my twitter (darealchrisreed) for updates and cravings.

GRAFFITI ... thou illegal art ...Detroit, its temple

So far this has been an extraordinary week. The highlight, visiting the old and abandoned Detroit School of Arts...its was awesome.

A modern day Graffiti Museum, it defines American Urban Wrecked culture, completely delapidated. Broken tile, warped floor boards, exposed pipes, random shoes dusted over in corners. And then there are the walls. Beautified with the illegal colors of graffiti.

Detroit has a strong graffiti community. One that I have not yet formerly introduced myself to. I have been recognizing their work in under-passes, along free-way walls, abandoned buildings, on billboards and sprawled over too many facades to count.

A few years ago there was an initiative in Detroit to go after graffiti artists and make them pay for their crimes (after all, it is a defacement of public or private property). But I believe whole-heartedly that they graffitti will never be fully policed...not as long as there are shadows and ladders.

But, graffiti artists are far from being the everyday criminal. They are a band of brothers (and sisters), who have found the way in which they want to communicate with each other and the world. In the pictures that I took with my TREO 700cw, I see the far from instant messages left between artists on once bulletin board clad walls of the Detroit high school. Its awesome...take a peak yourselves.