The Carver's House

I've always wanted to go into some kind of business but, unfortunately, business savvy is something I sorely lack in. I'm the kind of guy who'll readily give discounts to most any friend or family member (if not for free), unless of course I get the biting feeling that some kind of abuse is going on. But I still dream of having my own business, something not directly related to making comics. I've entertained ideas for food cart businesses. While there are a lot of cheap franchises out there in which I can get my feet wet, I still have hesitations over running something that isn't an idea I can fall in love with. Unless, of course, I fall in love with the basic need to earn more money and experience. Business ideas are a dime a dozen, and a lot of them are deceptively simple. King of Balls comes to mind, with their oh-s0-deliciously-sweet red gulaman, the closest to a cheap and addicting sugar bomb I'll ever get. But here are a few of business ideas I've run...

People who know me well can tell you that I've been one to lock my psychological age at 26. In fact, I've been "26" for about nine years now, and the fact that people tell me that I look far younger than 39 seems to prove that age is all in the mind. Sure, I've been noticing more lines on my face, plus the onset of sagging cheeks, coupled with a few aches here and there, but I've otherwise never really felt my age. Not that I know what my age is supposed to feel like, but the words "I'm too old for this," never factored into the way I went about my life. But lately I've been ill-at-ease of a different sort--more irritable, impatient, less motivated, easily distracted, lethargic. For someone who's predisposed to feeling this way, I can say with some authority that this new attack is really different. So I've done a bit of research, including consulting with someone older, and have more or less confirmed that, yes, I am indeed going thr...

Happy New Year! First off, thanks to everyone who wished me well because of my recent cholecystectomy (the gall bladder is apparently called the "cholecyst"). And thanks to those who spared precious time for me throughout the harrowing period. I'm scheduled for a check up this week at Medical City, and I'm wishing that the hospital's pathology department hadn't found anything malignant in the extracted specimen. A week after the operation, I'm feeling better, though being totally out of the woods won't happen after another month or so. I can't exert myself physically, can't eat fatty or fried food, can't climb long flights of stairs, can't a-whole-lotta-things, also for at least a month. Yesterday, I was at SM City Marikina for the first time to get a few groceries and take a whiff of the fresh mall. Accompanied by my sis and niece, I was sluggishly walking around like I was seventy, particularly difficult since I'm one speed walke...

Spent a chunk of this extended Yuletide break in the hospital. My gall bladder had swollen to three times its normal size and had to be "ectomied." So... ummm... that's this week's bit of news on Carver end. It's not so bad. There weren't any complications. No hitches or road blocks. Just a simple procedure that required an incision beneath my right rib... and a catheter in my peepee. Note that I have to make special mention of the catheter in my peepee (which is essentially having a small tube inserted into your urethra to facilitate the involuntary discharge of weewee while you're under general anaesthesia) for the immediate jewel novelty of this event among my limited experiences in life. Anyway, I'm still in one piece. I'll be home in less than a couple of days. Happy New Year to All!

Age Freeze I haven't been feeling well since Eid' Fitr. I attribute it to the sudden shifts in the weather. I think I'm becoming more sensitive to climate changes. (Parang si Storm, heheheh.) At least, I haven't been wheezing, which is what normally happens when there's a shift. Accomplishing the Real Age test, I found out that my body's "older" than my chronological age of 35, thanks mostly to my smoking. But those who read my blog regularly would know that I've settled on 26 as my "fantasy" age, or the age I've chosen to be...forever! (Cue lightning and thunder.) So I've been 26 since the turn of the century, and I'll be turning 26 on my next birthday. Despite the little changes I've been noticing in my body--thinning hair, wrinkles on the forehead, an incidental joint ache and memory lapses--I feel intact. What they say is true...age is but a number. Just choose one you want to be, and live it, yet allowing your matu...

The Sixth Month Now that it's the sixth month of gym-related sadism, I'm presenting the results below. In summary, the upper arms improved most, while the blasted bloody waist improved least despite over 120 crunches per session and reduced fat and sodium intake. (I was able to go as low as 31 inches in 2002 from a high of 37, but I did a helluva lot of cardio then.) But I'm very much content with the fact that the waist measurement fell as those of the other areas rose (save the hip area, which I attribute to fat loss), and I gained seven pounds in the process. I started working out at 145 pounds. I'm 152 now, with 8 more pounds to go before I reach my ideal weight. Average improvement is 2.7%. Not as high as I had hoped, but it's still enough for me to smile. I intend to improve by at least the same percentage by end-May 2005. Below are the detailed measurements, all in centimeters. (It's hard to be exact using inches.) Shoulders (measured ...

Whew! Next month marks the fifth month of my gym ordeal. The target average improvement for the half-year period is 7%. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's darn impressive to me given my limitations. I'll post some results (measurements, not pictures) in a few weeks. By November, I modify the program to include a bit of cardiovascular exercise and some "slow burn" sets. Meaning, if it normally takes me 4 counts to do one repetition or rep, I prolong the rep with more emphasis on the eccentirc phase (or the part of the rep where you go back to your original position). The efficacy of the "slow burn" or "superslow" method in getting more bulk isn't supported by all (just most) fitness experts, though the consensus is that the method does add strength by keeping muscles loaded for an extended period of time. From January to March next year, it'll back to the standard sweat-and-grunt mode, though I don't really grunt like th...

Muscle Talk   I almost tore my lateral deltoid, the left one, during yesterday’s workout. Nothing serious, not like the last time three years ago. While it was the lateral dumbell raise that did it last, it was 75 pounds on the shoulder press machine this time. I could still move my left arm around, thank goodness, though I had to immediately re-tailor my remaining exercises so as not to hit that part of the shoulder. Hopefully that area will heal once I tackle the shoulder exercises again next Saturday. My shoulder has always been a problem. The area that holds my humerus, or the bone of the upper arm is, well, incomplete, which causes a clicking sensation whenever I lower my arm from a certain raised position. It’s not painful, just annoying. I’ve read about this condition and it’s quite common; the reference includes an exercise that corrects this. It doesn’t help my arms are on the long and slender side. The longer range of motion prevents me from loading too much on...

Warning: Feeling-Gym Bunny This is my third month of working out in a real gym, and so far so good. The fear factor over the amount of weight I can handle is more or less over, and the results of my masochistic efforts are becoming more evident as the weeks go by. Since I'm going for strength and bulk (as opposed to definition and endurance), the low-rep, high-poundage program is recommended, with less emphasis on cardio, moreso that my physique is ectomorphic. That is, I'm a slow muscle-gainer compared to the wide-bodied mesomorphs. During my first month, I was too scared to go for the really heavy weights, and played it safe with manageable poundage at 12-reps over four sets. I've recently reworked my program. Same four sets, yet packing in the weight for a plateau of five reps on the second set, then eight on the third, and twelve on the fourth. If I've the time, I go for an extra set to exhaust. It's a bizarre feeling, realizing how much I could actual...

THE AGE THING AGAIN I took the test at RealAge which was supposed to tell me, based on my lifestyle, how older or younger I am to my real age of 32. It revealed that my real age is a friggin' 37.3. Following are the action-steps they recommended for me to be 'younger again.' STOP SMOKING. Maximum Age Reduction: 2 years EAT A HEALTHY BREAKFAST EVERY DAY. 1.1 years MONITOR YOUR ASTHMA. TAKE ASTHMA MEDICATIONS ROUTINELY. 1 year TO RELIEVE THE EFFECTS OF UNAVOIDABLE STRESS IN YOUR LIFE, SPEND MORE TIME BUILDING AND MAINTAINING STRONG, CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS. 1 year HAVE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE MEASURED. MAKE LIFESTYLE CHANGES TO HELP REDUCE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE TO LESS THAN 120/80 mm Hg. 0.5 year AVOID THE CYCLE OF REPEATED WEIGHT LOSS AND WEIGHT GAIN. 0.4 year REDUCE YOUR TOTAL CHOLESTEROL LEVEL. HAVE YOUR HDL AND TOTAL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS MEASURED. INCREASE YOUR HDL CHOLESTEROL LEVEL. 0.3 year INCREASE YOUR DAILY VITAMIN C INTAKE TO AT LEA...

Warning: Vanity Post Gosh! I'm, like, getting so fat. Talk about major blimpoid totally, I swear can I just?! Like, I measured my waistline just a coupl'a nights ago. And it's soooo gross, I swear! Imagine, I was around 32 inches when the year started. Now it's gone up to 34! Major shockers! Terminal, I tell you. *sigh* Going to the gym on a regular basis is not my cup of tea. The less contact I get with people when I work out, the better. Though my references suggest that training with a partner can hasten development, I prefer training alone. In the mid 90s I invested in a set of weights which I use till now, and I've added more plates and bars last year. Even got myself a bench. In late 2000, I weighed in at around 160lbs, mostly due to fat and excess water which sadly is genetically predisposed to accumulate around my midsection as opposed to getting equally distributed throughout my body. My waist was a whopping 37 inches and nobody believed it. Du...