The Column

Motto: I just now learned Timbuktu is a real place August 1st, 2014: I turn 25, my second second-a-day video will be complete, and, even more importantly, the Guardians of the Galaxy are coming. Is coming? That question just lead me to a solid 15 minute Wikipedia session on clauses - even though the question I posed wasn't really a matter of clauses... I don't think. Back on track - Guardians of the Galaxy is the next chapter in Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It falls between Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4th) and The Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1st, 2015). Guardians has the distinction of being the only movie from Phase 2 not to be based around a franchise hero established previously during Phase 1. Some might consider that a risky move by Marvel; but it's a very necessary move if they want to keep making movies much into the future. There can only be so man Iron Man movies. As if it weren't risky enough to be mak...

Motto: Fight Club Reference The following is a (non-exhaustive) list of products I, Aaron Gillespie, publicly endorse: Nalgene Bottles Timbuk2 Bags Leatherman Multitools Casio G-Shock Watches Converse Shoes Papermate Flair Pens Moleskine Notebooks Google Services (all) Nexus Phones Boulevard Wheat Beer Rubber Duckies, any brand GoPro Cameras Pelican Cases KeePass & TrueCrypt Programs Dominion That's it. One other thing - I tore apart one of the wireless chargers I have for my phone and rebuilt it into a more useful form factor using scrap cardboard and some hot glue. When I put my phone in that spot, it will charge... wirelessly. Like this: I'm pretty proud of it. I'll make it pretty later. Top 5: Products I Do NOT Endorse 5. Western Digital External Hard Drives 4. Call of Duty (not since I've played Battlefield) 3. Facebook 2. Microsoft Outlook 1. Windows 8 Quote: “Once upon a time, all roads lead to Rome. Today, all roa...

Motto: I'm Really Proud of the Title of this Post, Too On the first of this month I wrote about my experiences while on a Paleo diet. I mentioned that I felt better throughout the day. I slept better. I woke up easier. I no longer had any stomach issues. Now that I've been off Paleo for a couple of weeks, I'm surprised at just how BAD it is going back to regular foods. I feel like I'm constantly nauseous or bloated. I am getting headaches. I can't fall asleep as quickly or easily. I don't sleep as well. Basically, things suck. What I'm saying is this, I'm more impressed with how bad going back to normal food was than how good the diet made me feel. I'm talked with Melissa about this and she largely agrees - Paleo was great. It was also terrible and too restrictive, but going back to normal foods cold turkey has been rough. We have discussed a long-term dietary change. More whole foods, less boxed crap. Speaking of Melissa -  She's gr...

Motto: We're Going Through Changes One week ago was 2/1/2014, my half birthday. In the week since, some intense snow has given me the opportunity to sit down and put together the first half of the video that will eventually be "My 25th Year". Because I can't think of a better title, I now present to you - "From 25.0 to 25.5": So, that's that. I have two other things to share with you today, though. After having it on my list of goals for probably half a year, I finally sat down and made a complete Life Reference using a highly portable, open-source encryption method. I no longer will be without the extremely important private personal information. The list contains (among other things) a list of account names and passwords, a list of policy or account numbers, a list of phone numbers for insurance or financial agencies, a list of my most valuable personal possessions, and living, education, medical, and employment histories. ...

Thor Odinson Gillespie: 09/01/2013-02/05/2014. Yes, that was his name - and yesterday Melissa and I had to take him to see the vet for last time. October 13th, just 3 months and 24 days ago, Melissa and I walked into a pet rescue/adoption center to look at their kittens. My heart grew three sizes that day. "two or none" I said to Melissa, and she immediately picked out a beautiful, dark kitten from a cage in the corner of the room. We called her "Loki", and I set out to find her a proper brother. I stared into a large cage on the opposite side of the room and watched a half dozen little golden kittens play for 20 minutes. One particular little guy saw me kneeling outside the cage, eye level with him, and got curious. He walked over to the wall of the cage and begged me to play. I opened his cage, picked him up, and gave him a name. He was 5 weeks old. We took Thor and Loki back to their new home and they took to their roles perfectly. Loki won ...

Motto: I'm Really Proud of the Title of this Post Melissa and I finished our first 30 Day Challenge. Today's post will be a comprehensive review of the Paleo (+ CrossFit) challenge. For this and all future challenge posts I'm going to be using the new tag 30DAYS. That way at the end of the year you'll be able to find all the 30 Day Challenge posts easily. The Challenge For thirty days, we followed the Paleo diet. This diet consists of foods that man from the Paleolithic era would likely have eaten. It removes many major staples of the Western diet - namely grains, milk, legumes, potatoes, refined salts, refined sugars, and many other things. As a supplemental goal (with an emphasis on the "mental" part), we started CrossFit. CrossFit is essentially a high-intensity approach to achieving optimal functional fitness in a minimal amount of time. You do heavy, compound lifts as quickly and as often as you can manage with proper form. The Hard Re...