I'm tired of the internet

I'm not sure what happened. All of a sudden, I find myself completely uninterested in the websites I used to enjoy obsessing over. Rasmussen Reports, stock tickers, email, google analytics, Ron Paul fund raising numbers, they all seem like a total waste of time.

This is great. Not sitting on my computer is going to free up hours and hours of my day. But what will I do instead? Hm...I do have some books I've been meaning to read. I'm behind on my Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazines that Aunt Kathie kindly subscribed me to last spring. I have been meaning to take my dog out for walks more often. There are some drawings I've had in mind. And of course there is always plenty I can do to help out the Grand Old Party. I actually decided to write this blog post only because I needed something to do.

I wonder if this boredom with the computer is a permanent shift or just a phase that will pass.

Addicted to Greens+ chocolate energy bars

They remind me of 3 Muskateers bars. Except rather than consisting of pure crap, each Greens+ energy bar contains 5 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, and lots of other vitamins and minerals. They are free from sugar, genetically modified ingredients, partially hydrogenated oils, and they are alkaline-forming (rather than acid-forming, which encourages disease). This is a very healthy snack by most standards. But it's still a candy bar, and I cannot stop eating them. I've been inhaling them for several weeks now.

I ate 3 just today. The only reason I didn't eat more is that I only bought 3. I usually get 3 at a time, thinking that I'll eat 2 and save the last one for the next day. I don't think that 3rd bar has ever lasted for more than 2 hours. Earlier this week, I made a special trip out just to pick some up. I bought an extra one to send to my sister with her Christmas gifts, but then I ate it. So I had to make another trip the next day to get her another one. I picked up 2 more for myself as well.

Against my better judgment, I eat them close to bedtime, when I know the chocolate will keep me up. I eat them when I am already full. I eat them even after the first two seem to have given me a headache.

Over the last few years, my diet has become increasingly healthy. In fact, I don't even crave most of the comfort foods that used to suck me in. Just today, I looked at a tofu pot pie and some vegan cheesecake, and it didn't appeal to me at all. But I ate 2 Greens+ bars before I even made it home, and ate the 3rd one shortly after. I am totally out of control.

Greens+ is not paying me to write this post. Maybe they should though.

Statistics Addiction

Some people get up and grab a cup of coffee first thing. I grab my laptop. In fact, I grab my laptop before I even get up, as I keep it next to my bed. It's the last thing I look at before I turn my lights off at night, and it's waiting for me first thing in the morning.

I used to be hooked on email, but now that I've moved to a new town and don't get so many emails anymore, my compulsion has expanded into other, more statistical areas. I check stock prices, how much campaign money Ron Paul has raised, whether anyone has clicked on my AdSense ads, which search engines have crawled my websites and when, how my search engine optimizations have affected my google rankings, etc etc etc. And I do this many many times a day. OK, I'll be honest: many times an hour. Sometimes, if I run out of things to check, I even check the statistics of other people's websites. I can't seem to stop myself.

What's worse is that there are so many free online tools that help feed my addiction to statistics. Tools to see not just how many people visited my site, but how long they stayed, how many pages they visited, what countries and cities they are from, how they found my site, whether they've ever visited before, and probably data I have yet to discover.

While my addiction to statistics checking might make me an excellent candidate for geeky internet work, it makes for a pretty dull daily life. This is not why I moved to Asheville. I was supposed to be divorcing myself from chronic computer use. I was supposed to be working less and living more. I was supposed to be making the most of every single day.

So here is my promise, to myself and to all 16 of you who visit my blog (spending an average of 30 seconds, viewing an average of 1.5 pages, 56% coming from referring sites, 5 returning visitors, and hello to you guys in Belgium and New Zealand!): from now on, I will only check online statistics 2X per day: once in the morning and once at night. Starting.....in about 10 minutes from now.

Raw food dish of the week - Sea Vegetable Soup
I've finally, after several disastrous tries, succeeded at making a tasty raw soup! This recipe is from Eating Without Heating, by the Boutenko family. If you have the book and want to try the recipe, cut it in half first. I have enough to feed an army.



Ingredients: Almonds, water, olive oil, lemon juice, agave nectar, bay leaves, Celtic sea salt, cayenne pepper, blended well. Arame, wakame, and dulse flakes stirred in.