Got this email about the Borgata going smoke free. Very awesome of them. They might already be the most popular casino down there, but they’ll be doing even better. The other casinos should quickly follow suit.

Borgata to be first Atlantic City casino to go 100% smoke-free

In an effort to best accommodate our customers — smokers and
non-smokers alike — Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa has submitted plans to the
NJ Department of Community Affairs (DCA) that will make the resort
the first 100% smoke-free casino in Atlantic City. To accommodate smoking guests, Borgata will offer several outdoor lounges that will be designated smoking areas. These outdoor spaces will offer guests a comfortable, climate-controlled environment reminiscent of Borgata.

We feel this decision will best maintain the fresh, upscale atmosphere
associated with Borgata, while accommodating both
smokers and non-smokers alike.

Subject to NJ DCA approval, the plans will take effect in compliance
with the Atlantic City smoke free ordinance.

Just this morning, I booked a room for Kim and I for our anniversary. (I proposed to her at a suite at the Borgata.) Not sure if it will be smoke free by then, but we can hope.

I met Bo at a Haverford College Alumni function, and since then we’ve become friends and colleagues. Last month I set Bo up with a blog at www.boheadquarters.com.

There is some great writing up there already… some short stories and poetry that Bo had in his stash. I’m so excited to see what he writes once he gets into the swing of things and starts updating more regularly. The blogosphere needs more folks like Bo; his voice and opinions are really unique and not at all like the typical stuff out there.

I just read this blog post, cheerfully titled “Ron Paul Hates You“, which points out some reasons Democrats and swing voters shouldn’t fall too in love with the straight-talking Ron Paul. (emphasis his)

… the diaries are full of people who can’t find enough nice things to say about Rep. Ron Paul, whose smiling face is at this moment being beamed to America from the site of the Republican debate in New Hampshire–after which, we may be sure, we will see yet another round of diaries brimming with joy about Paul’s sweet words against the Iraq war. You, dear reader, may even be considering writing one or more such diaries yourself.

Before you do, fellow Democrat, please understand just one thing: Your affection for Paul is far from mutual. Through his words, his actions, and his votes in Congress, he has made one thing abundantly clear over the decades: Ron Paul hates you. By building him up, by supporting him, by taking him seriously, you are not driving a wedge into the heart of the Republican Party–you are only giving him a helping hand along the road to his goal of destroying just about everything you stand for.

Please read on for the well researched rebuke against Ron Paul.

This kind of reminds me of another straight-talking Republican presidential candidate out of Texas who seemed to be shaking things up before election time but ended up catering to all the wrong folks when he got to bat.

(Thanks, Ugly)

While in Puerto Rico last month, we got a chance to see VIVANATIVA play live at a free concert put on at Guajataca beach. Ever since, I’ve been tuned into their website almost daily where they let you play any of their songs off any of their albums.

This band is supposedly the shiznit in PR. I think they’re pretty rocking. Check out their stuff at their website. You’ll probably have to buy their albums at Amazon if you’re in the states.

I might recommend this to some clients if it works well.

Let’s see what adding an image is like. Well. there it is. Gonna try to float it to the right. Done. That’s a picture of my brother Jeremy and his lovely bride Dawn, who just got married in Puerto Rico last month.

Let’s see how it looks!

‘was reading some E.E. Cummings poetry today. Here is probably my favorite poem by him or anyone.

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

I’ve been in the 220lbs-224lbs range for the past 3 weeks or so with no improvement. I’m not surprised. While I’ve been going to the gym fairly regularly, I was going well over my 2000Cal goal nearly every day. I don’t think I was hungry once the past couple weeks. And as we recall, you need to be hungry to lose weight.

So what happened? Life got busy. Half of the reason I haven’t blogging here (the other half is guilt). And while I wasn’t too busy to keep me from the gym much, what happened is that after a long stressful day of work I wanted to reward myself. Kim and I ate at Fellini’s (Italian) like twice a week and ate out about half of the other days. That’s what fat guys like me do: reward ourselves with food.

I was also getting content with my body. I’m no stud yet, but I’m building up some muscle and not nearly as disgusted by myself as I was when I was 15 pounds heavier. So I haven’t been as motivated to “stay good”.

Even so, it sure would be nice to be at 210 down in Mexico (on our honeymoon next month). That would take a monumental effort to lose 10 pounds in one month. To weigh in at 215 would be a great feat, as that’s about as light as I’ve been since I hit 6′2″.

In an effort to get back on track, I am starting a challenge for myself. I’ve tried these before with very little success, but I think I know why. Old challenges were of the form “this much weight lost = this reward”. This time around, I’m going to reward myself for smaller goals, which are both more immediate and easier to measure.

This challenge is going to focus the 2 pillars of weight loss: exercise and eating less. Each day that I go to the gym for 1hr or more, I will award myself 1 “point”. For each day that I eat 2000Cal or less, I will award myself 1 “point”. At a potential 2 points per day, I could get as many as 60 points in 30 days. I’ll run the challenge from April 3rd to May 3rd. If you think of a point as 500Cal burned or saved, that’s about 8 pounds in one month. Aggressive, but doable?
So what are “points”, other than pounds lost? I thought I could turn points into a bankroll for a poker run in AC. One point would be like $10 or so. Maybe less, since 30 points (and kind of poor showing) would still give me $300, which I could play with at a $3-$6 hold’em table all day.

But I’m not sure I need some other motivation besides looking good. So I think I’ll just let points be points. And try to get a high score just to fuel my own ego and self esteem.

50-60pts = I’m a stud.
40-50pts = Nice effort.
20-30pts = I suck.
00-20pts = I suck real bad.

I got 2 points yesterday and weighed in at 220 pounds this morning. Am I back on track?

Kim just posted an amazing article on selecting a wine cooler over at the WineLog blog. She lists all of the criteria you should consider when shopping for a wine fridge, and highlights 4 models that are decent. I wonder which one we’ll register for.