"Hi there. Day 18—it's GREAT to see you again! Been awhile...I guess the last time was around December 9th last year?"

Hearing the train in the dark of these pre-dawn transported me for a moment to our old place near the UofM campus. How I loved to jog alongside the passing train...

It's Wednesday, which means I conjure a loaf of bread. (I'm doing a MWF thing.) It's a LONG casting spell! Fashion it all together, 45-minute rise, flatten, 45-minute rise, and bake for 37 minutes. Of course, though the smell is delightful, this bread is decidedly NOT for this carnivore!

A lot of the time, I'll champion my 637-day streak on Carnivore and how I wish to best it. (c'mon June 27, 2025!) I tend to forget that it was part of a larger narrative, those 795 days when I never ate anything outside of my plan—NOT a SINGLE cheat! (c'mon New Year's Day 2026? *gulp*)

By the way, what was the best of my low-calorie, 1000-1240 kcal/day attempts? 116 days. And THAT was miserable. "Ooh, lemme have a lunch of dehydrated spinach, broccoli, and flaxseeds."

"Naw, bacon, man. Bacon."

While I take in my protein whenever I want to plug that into the day, I need my energy first thing, something that unlike carbs/sugar our body needs: fat. The butter coffee I drink every day currently accounts for around 67% of my fat intake. It aligns with our cultural tradition of eating breakfast foods with a higher fat content than other meals.

While I've been active this morning, I still want to implement my fitness routines amidst my breadmaking and early morning planning. Part of that is meditation, which is REALLY hard to do, 'cause I don't want to sit around and do nothing! That said, while my 30-minute sessions are out of reach for now, I'm delighted to find a favorite app on F-Droid, Breathly, updated and available on both Google Play and the App Store. It's a simple app that lets me practice my breath. I like to set it square breathing and run it for a couple of minutes.

Speaking of numbers, isn't it GREAT that 2024 starts on a Monday?

I have been intending to write for DAYS now! I have been beleaguered with tasks and projects—OK, overwhelmed— and just haven't set aside the time to put something down on paper!

But, it's good I've been busy 'cause that's a symptom of being AWESOME! And yes, I say that from a 2:30 AM alarm this morning.

Now past 15 days, I am in week 3 of The 34th Expedition. As you can see on my Intake page, I've been maintaining the 200+/75 schema and have been rewarded with a big ol' rig hauling VITALITY! (Level up me!)

I do feel really good! My day-to-day isn't so focused on eating, that is, there's not this mindless devotion to carbs. Instead, I monitor hunger indicators to see if I need to pop back ~2.5 oz of meat. One or two days prior, I'll cook burgers so I can just grab 'em when I feel the gauge is low. For lunch—really my only meal of the day—I'll fry up some bacon and eggs to eat while I'm doing other chores. Though I have yet to flip on the workout toggles, I already feel online.

The sword-wielding is coming. I already do a stretching-balance morning routine to bring my body to a ready status. I just have yet to implement a agility-focused, bodybuilding focus complete with a scaffolding stamina regimen.

That's penciled in to kick off this morning, but as I'm making bread, I'm finding that I'm squeezing in a blog post instead of a bicep.

So there's room to improve. Last night while watching our seasonal tradition of The Lord of the Rings, specifically The Two Towers, I made my Homeschool agenda spreadsheet again that uses a script to feed into a doc template. Some time ago, I incorporated that functionality, but it's the sort of thing that's lost when a fella blows up his Google account time and time again. But hey, Google is on the Software Standards page for 2024! Yeah, he's nosy as all get out, but outside some number crunching, I share the same on here.

Still, there remain things I need to pick up. The new year is under 49 days from now; I will be in rhythm on Day 1 with everything I want to accomplish for the year. I have no interest in stumbling into 2024 with those "Golly, losing weight might be good for the beach" resolutions. One does not simply walk into Mordor—err, the new year. "To what end?" is both a wise consideration and pragmatic. We all have our metaphorical junk that needs to be tossed out of the house, why add to the pile?

It was another 3-something in the morning. I really ought to pencil it in earlier to 2:30 AM as I'm planning on kneading that time for bread—not for me.

Continuing on the theme of yesterday, last night, I worked on my project management approach and I think I've got it hammered down. You'll recall that I prefer projects to be about assigning things to identities rather than bland what's. It's a bit more organic and if I see it as a person, it leads to a fuller project. In the past, the schema was more of a title thing like Fitness Guru.

I dinged to the next level.

In RPG games like Dungeons & Dragons and World of Warcraft, it is typical to run a 5-man party for a dungeon run. In the case of WoW, there is the tank that generates aggro so that the monsters focus on him while there is a healer whose primary responsibilities lie on healing the tank. The other three characters are damage classes that are there to advance the group by neutralizing the threat. When people carry out their roles within the party, success occurs over and over again. When people fail to recognize and perform their role, generally it leads to a party wipe.

I burrowed through all of my projects and whittled them to be achieved by five characters. Initially, I considered having more by making a village, but thought remembering who did what was beyond the Todoist platform. I called up two of my own characters and three from movie franchises:

The Tank: 🛡️ Makyah, Orc hunter

Last adventuring in 2015, Makyah returns as the most successful character in World of Warcraft with an impressive menagerie of exotic and spirit beasts to choose among to fight at his side as the situation calls for it. While it is virtually unheard of for a hunter to tank for a party in all but the most dire of circumstances, this party prioritizes agility with an emphasis on maximal damage output. Makyah's diverse responsibilities span supporting daily upkeep, checking the coin purse, hammering out builds, upgrading the castle, tending to the adjacent garden, and maintaining the stable.

DPS I: ⚔️ Legolas, Elven paladin

Stepping into this world from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Legolas is known for his unmatched archery proficiency, graceful close combat, agility, and adaptability, making him a formidable and versatile warrior. In this instance as a paladin, he trains mind, body, and spirit for the fight.

DPS II: ⚔️ Thundercast, Tauren druid

The venerable Thundercast's journey began many years ago in 2000 in the world of Evercrast, where he first appeared as a Halfling druid amidst the Ruins of Kunark. Later on, he was reborn as a Night Elf druid in Teldrassil in the World of Warcraft. Disenchanted by the Alliance's extravagances, he made a life-altering sacrifice, becoming a Tauren in devotion to the Horde. Thundercast now offers his wisdom and instruction.

DPS III: ⚔️ Tony Stark, Human bard

Tony Stark's departure from the Marvel multiverse into the role of a bard is a captivating transition, where his charisma, ingenuity, and quick wit not only captivate his newfound companions but also serve to mitigate threats, and his technological acumen proves invaluable, even in a realm where conventional flight is not feasible.

Healer: ❤️‍🩹 Tauriel, Elven cleric

Also hailing from Tolkien's trilogies, Tauriel gracefully leaped from the shimmering portal into the fellowship, offering more than just her role as a battlefield medic; she brings formidable damage-dealing prowess to support fatigued warriors, stepping in to mend Makyah when needed.