Day Six

Still becalmed, I feel the first stirrings of wind. I would swear my abdominal area feels tighter, less, well, fat! I'm reducing the size of my meals purposely now, because I just don't want to eat as much. My personal behavior disaster - inhaling a bag of chips and a bag of SourPatch Kids with a few beers when I get home - not only doesn't seem as appealing, it hardly seems possible any more. I mean, I tried. And I actually had to put the candy away and roll up the bag of chips and stash it in the magazine stand next to my chair. I'll try again tonight.

I found a great Romantic Realism art site. As often happens, though, the linked sites are just as good, especially the one about the Rational Basis of Happiness. I may HAVE to buy an Ayn Rand cap and bumper sticker.

I was thinking what would have happened if AlGore had been president during 9/11. He would probably have invaded Afghanistan, but then, if he followed the Liberal Democrat line, would have left the Iraq situation as it was. Sooner or later the pressure would have been off Saddam and the whole region would have sent terrorists into Afghanistan. Does anyone really think that would have been a better situation than the one we're in now? Does anyone think Libya would have caved and Pakistan would have exposed Dr. Khan? And how many tens of thousands of Kurds and Marsh Arabs and other Iraqis would now be dead who are now, because of the sacrifices of our young men like Pat Tillman, alive?

Plateaued, becalmed

I feel like Captain Cook in the Horse Latitudes, stuck at 200 pounds, which, I concede, is better than being stuck at 205 pounds. I need to put some longboats out with every available man in them in pull for moving air. It's only day 5, so I have some hopes of getting off ten pounds this month, which is all I really need. Under Atkins it would take several weeks to get through the 200-pound plateau.

Day Four

OK, I'm disappointed I didn't lose a lot in the first three days. I feel as though I've lost, but the scale says no, though I'm still very close to 200 pounds. I have always had trouble breaking through my 200\-pound plateau. I'll be happy to break through in the next two weeks, especially if I keep feeling this good. I'm also back to eating a lot, for me, of carbs. That's kind of an experiment, to challenge the Cortislim to work even though I'm inhaling bread and pasta.

John Kerry's wife is a hoot, eh? Is she really, really stupid or just so arrogant she can't bring herself to understand what is demanded of a presidential candidate's wife? Of course, Kerry himself seems dubious about doing what a candidate has to do. Teresa's income tax returns will be interesting, when the reporters beat them out of her. What a circus! I should go to a Kerry rally with a big sign saying, "Hey, Liveshot, montrez vos plaies!" That would make me happy.

Noon

I would swear my focus is better, even my eyesight is improved and I am definitely calmer today. Placebo effect can only account for so much. Jayna Davis, who wrote that book about Iraqi intelligence being involved in the Oklahoma City bombing, was on Glenn Beck this morning. I want to believe! But it's going to take a little more real evidence. Perhaps the Terry Nichols trial will bring out the oddness of his trip to the Philippines, where he apparently learned to make a really good truck bomb.

Day Two

Interesting night last night. Cortislim is supposed to help you sleep better. I had a heck of a time getting to sleep, but I didn't seem to mind. When I did get to sleep, I had vivid dreams. My mind seemed to be racing. Supposedly the stuff racks up your metabolism, which would explain the inability to sleep. "Thermogenesis", they call it. This stuff could save billions in oil during northern winters. Unfortunately, I'm coming up on a Tallahassee summer, so that may not be a plus. The pills cost about a dollar a day, so I'm hoping I can save at least that much on food. I may end up spending it all on books if I can't sleep! This morning the scale actually showed I had lost 2.5 pounds! In one day. At this rate I'll disappear in three months! I seem to be happier. Happiness in a pill! The millennium IS here! Tonight I'll stay up later, see if that makes it easier to sleep. I've finished with the thirteenth century, having killed off Simon deMontfort and that idiot Henry III, turning over the running of England to Edward Longshanks, the Hammer of the Scots. And I'm moving on to a biography of Captain James Cook, speaking of Scots.

Second

At 12:08 PM, I took the second Cortislim. So far no particular reactions aside from a slight metallic taste, which may be my imagination. The great effect is supposed to be a lessening of cravings for sugar and other carbs. We shall see, as I plan a spaghetti dinner.

9:10

As of 9:08 I felt no great tide of good feeling. Perhaps I am calmer. I am putting off taking gout pills for as long as I can, to give the Cortislim full rein. I'm reading Thomas Costain's The Magnificent Century, all about the jolly fun-loving thirteenth century in England. Makes me want to travel and examine cathedrals in minute details to pinpoint the genesis of the Gothic. Hubert deBurgh sounds like a man.

Did it

At 8:08 AM, April 18, 2004, I took my first capsule of Cortislim, with a "good breakfast" (in my case, six Krispy Kreme donuts). I record the time because the Cortislim folks - or what's left of them! - say that one hour after taking the first capsule the peace of Jerusalem will descend on your soul. Or maybe they didn't say that exactly, but maybe something more like your pants will fall off and supermodels in skimpy bikinis will appear at your door. Or maybe it was just that you would feel less stressed. OK. Full disclosure. I'm 55 years old, male, five-eight, weigh 205 pounds and am losing my hair. I expect at least one of those conditions to be improved by the Cortislim. My goal is 160 pounds within six months. And I plan to keep exercising on Matt Furey's Combat Conditioning plan if my gout allows. So we're off.