gailkwak.com

What a Difference a Year Makes!

2009-05-04T10:01:00.003-05:00

Saturday May 2, was my Weight Watchers one year anniversary. So, I thought you might like to see pics of my progress to date.

Here is a picture of me from 2001, which represents what I looked like before I began WW. I'm not sure how much I weighed here, but it was probably in the vicinity of 275lbs - I had lost a little weight in the summer of 2007 when I had a pinched nerve in my back, so I was right at 260 when I started WW. Assuming that I was 275 in the pic, my BMI was a whopping 47.2 (and 44.6 when I started WW)! As I've said before, I never had a philosophical problem with being fat, but my knees were killing me! Otherwise, I was actually pretty healthy, my cholesterol was less than 150 and my other blood work was normal.

I will say, though, that looking like this forced me to love and accept myself at a much deeper level than I would have otherwise. There's nothing like being fat-and-ugly to the rest of the world to make you appreciate yourself on a whole new level.

My husband took this picture of me Saturday. I weighed 171.4 that morning, making my BMI a much more reasonable 29.4. Still "overweight" but no longer "obese." My knees don't hurt as much, and I don't have to buy my clothes out of a catalog anymore. I'd still like to lose another 30 or so pounds, but I'm in no particular hurry to do so.

So, to anyone who is considering WW, the evidence here is pretty compelling. If you work the program, it will work for you. Period.

Swine Flu Information from DynaMed

2009-04-30T19:07:00.002-05:00

About 36,000 people die in the U.S. every year of influenza and nobody notices. That's approximately twice the population of the town where I live. But, apparently, a few cases of Swine Flu, however unfortunate, are a Global Pandemic.

Anyway, here are some free resources from DynaMed.

Due to the recent global outbreak of Swine Influenza, EBSCO Publishing and the DynaMed Editors have made DynaMed’s information about Swine Influenza free to health care providers and institutions throughout the world. The DynaMed topic on Swine Influenza consolidates information from multiple sources for health care providers to stay current with recommendations for monitoring, diagnosing, and treating patients with flu-like illnesses during this outbreak. DynaMed Editors will continue to monitor information and update this topic as needed throughout this global crisis.

Global crisis? Really?

Li'l Koenig-Smiths

2008-05-05T15:26:00.002-05:00

Cuter than Anne and Ben? Truly, a question for the ages...

Devyn and Sean April 2008

Goodbye, Sir Arthur

2008-03-18T21:43:00.002-05:00

The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation web page reported today that Sir Arthur has passed away in Sri Lanka. He was my first favorite science fiction author with his short stories, and, of course, 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Nine Billion Names of God.

I will miss him.

Related Links -

Arthur C. Clarke Foundation
British Interplanetary Society

Free Government Information (FGI)

2008-03-11T10:05:00.002-05:00

My friend Rebecca Blakely of McNeese State University is blogger of the month!

Let's all congratulate her with a round of ~~rotten tomatoes~~ applause!

Li'l Bouchies

2008-03-10T19:59:00.002-05:00

Aren't they just the cutest?

Anne and Ben circa 1996.

del.icio.us

2008-03-02T16:59:00.000-06:00

Presidential Money Race

2008-02-21T20:15:00.001-06:00

Geek Terror Alert

2008-01-09T11:55:00.000-06:00

I feel so much safer now...

Geek Terror

Related Links -

National Terror Alert
Simpsons Terror Advisory
Terror-Alert.com
Wacky Neighbor Terror Level Alerts

Gawd! I'm So Fucking Liberal!

2008-01-07T14:52:00.000-06:00

89% Chris Dodd
89% Mike Gravel
89% Dennis Kucinich
86% Barack Obama
85% Hillary Clinton
84% John Edwards
82% Joe Biden
76% Bill Richardson
38% Rudy Giuliani
25% John McCain
22% Ron Paul
20% Tom Tancredo
17% Mitt Romney
17% Mike Huckabee
8% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Country Studies

2007-05-31T16:58:00.000-05:00

Here's what the Library of Congress has to say about the Country Studies...

The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.

I guess that's true, but I have somewhat ambivelent feelings about them from a cultural perspective. The government has never made any bones about the fact that these documents were created for military personnel. Manuals for occupation, as it were.

This really bothers the Orientalist in me. It bothers me that native cultures are so easily subverted and condensed into a couple of hundred pages written at a third grade level. It bothers me that our terms/definitioms/place names/etc are used instead of theirs.

All that aside, they really are good reference resources. From a certain point of view.

Related websites -

Library of Congress
USA.gov
U.S. Department of Defense

Peep Research

2007-04-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

Every Easter-time I get the urge to revisit this classic. Click the link to follow some Peeps as they do research at Millikin University's Staley Library.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-02-07T08:08:00.000-06:00

Will the Other Gail Kwak Please Stand Up?

2006-10-16T16:32:00.000-05:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
2
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

And not a moment too soon!

2006-10-03T21:08:00.000-05:00

Halloween Avatars

2006-09-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

For future reference...

http://www.johnswdwpage.com/ava_halloween.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/8650/Halloween.html

http://www.wtv-zone.com/Joker/Halloween_Links.html - Links to Halloween graphics pages, etc.

http://www.iconator.com/tags.php?type=avatar&tag=halloween

http://www.aapavatar.net/halloween.htm

http://gwally.com/avatars/cat_halloween.php

Biblioteki

2006-09-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

I'm glad some libraries aren't buying into this "Let's replace all the books with computers because everything is on the Internet anyway!" crap. I wonder if any of them are taking applications.

Thanks to SonC for the link.

2006-08-24T21:48:00.000-05:00

What Type of Librarian Are You?

You are Rupert Giles, from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Cat/Kitten Avatars

2006-08-22T14:27:00.000-05:00

For future reference...

http://www.avatarity.com/category/33/?p=1

http://www.iconator.com/tags.php?type=avatar&tag=cat

2006-08-22T12:40:00.000-05:00

I'm an Audi TT!

You're not the fastest, nor the most nimble, but you're cute and you have style. You're not intensely competitive, but when you pass by, everyone turns to look.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Happy Cat Day!

2006-08-02T15:00:00.000-05:00

Every dog has his day, so why not cats, too? They've done so much for civilization what with all they lying around and sleeping!

Project Rungay

2006-07-31T18:52:00.000-05:00

My new favorite Project Runway blog. Absolutely faboo.

Butterfly Avatars

2006-07-24T15:03:00.000-05:00

For future reference -

http://www.avatarist.com/avatars/Animals/Butterflies/

http://www.avatarity.com/category/114/

http://avatars.jurko.net/pic/919/

http://www.allavatars.com/avatars/showgallery.php?...butterfly...

World Geography Quizzes

2006-05-24T09:05:00.000-05:00

This is a totally cool interactive web site where you can learn about world geography, and test your knowledge of states, countries, capitols, and geographic regions. I was suprised at how well I did on state capitols - 97% the first try! Other parts of the world, not so much. I guess I have my work cut out for me!

Brought to you by the good folks at Sheppard Software. Take a look at their page - they have a lot of other cool interactive teaching and learning quizzes, games, etc.

Project A.R.E.S.

2006-05-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

The people at the Church of the Sacred Circle have come up with this really wonderful way to support our Pagan (of any tradition) troops - by supplying portable ritual kits using Altoids boxes! On their web page you can find out how to make kits yourself, or you can donate money or materials.

From their website -

Project A.R.E.S. is dedicated to providing spiritual assistance to enlisted personnel in the form of pocket-sized ritual kits which can be easily transported and kept on one's person. The kits are designed to serve the needs of enlisted personnel of many different Earth-based religious traditions.

Related link - The Church of the Sacred Circle