Thursday, 7 January 2010
Winner of the Week
This week I've been obsessed with this Iris Robinson scandal. For my non-British readers (aka most of you), Iris Robinson is an MP for Strangford, in Northern Ireland, and married to Peter Robinson, who is Northern Ireland's first minister. Iris is really really crazy. I wasn't going to write about her in fears of offending my Northern Irish readers (Yes, I do have an extensive Northern Irish fan base... NOT), also because I think she has some serious mental issues and I kindof felt bad.
But now Iris has gotten really really crazy. Well, more like this story has gotten a lot better.
Basically, the Iris saga started because she hates gay people. No, as she stated "love the sinner, not the sin." Oh yea, Iris is really really religious. So Iris made some public comments calling homosexuality an abomination and saying that she knew a doctor who could "cure" them. Naturally, many many people were horrified, but Iris kept being an MP.
Now a few weeks ago she resigned because of severe mental health issues. This week it turns out she tried to kill herself back in March because she cheated on her husband. When I heard this, I felt really bad for her family, but I felt she was kind of a hypocrite because while she was preaching about one kind of supposed "sin," she was committing a very serious (in my mind real) sin of her own. Also, Peter Robinson seemed really really devastated during the interview he gave for Northern Irish journalists, which is extremely understandable.
But now the story has verged into soap opera territory. Iris's lover was NINETEEN. She's SIXTY. COUGAR! I honestly figured he was an older very religious man who she met at church. This is a ridiculous twist! Her children are probably older than him. Also, she got her friends to lend this Kirk McCambley of South Belfast money for his commercial venture. Anyways, I realize this is very difficult for the Robinson family. But it's a pretty intense scandal given all the points.
Also, I suppose from a governmental stance she broke five codes of conduct. And when their relationship turned sour, she asked for the money back and then asked that he give half the money to her and half to a church in Belfast where her husband's sister is a pastor (via BBC). And as the BBC points out, prior to these allegations most people it seemed to be just a sad, private, family matter. But now the charges are of pretty serious breaches of conduct, particularly for such a prominent political family. But, no matter what, to state the obvious, this is a nightmare for the Robinson family.
DIET
So I'm on this weird diet called the up-day/down-day diet. It sounds crazy but thus far it's worked. Basically I eat normally one day and then the next day I eat only around 500 calories. I have to do this for two weeks and then I can push the down day calories up to around 600-700 calories until I reach my goal weight. I know it sounds crazy and kindof unhealthy/dangerous, but it was developed by a doctor and appears to be safe. Also, I learned about it in the Times, so it's legit.
The down-days are getting easier (today is my fourth, except I'm cheating for dinner tonight (see previous post) and I always get to look forward to an up-day. Also, I've seen really good results so far. Right now I'm at my lowest recorded weight since Freshman Year of college. However, I've hardly ever weighed myself so I may have weighed less at some point. I don't know if I feel skinnier though. I guess I need to start walking more and wearing clothes that aren't "lounge-wear."
Anyways, I really want to stick to it and I'm going to buy a scale at Argos once I get back. My goal is to lose 25 pounds, which I can't even imagine how that would be. I'm just sick of feeling occasionally gross and large. And also having those feelings to occasionally blame my perpetual single state on. Hopefully by writing it on here, I'll encourage myself to keep with it. WOOOOOOOO.
Goals for Today
Today is my last full day in Rochester. It both feels like I've been here forever and that I just got here, if that makes sense (I'm sure it doesn't). Anyways, here's a list of things I want to do today:
1- Get to 1,500 words on my essay, ie halfway done (I'M TAKING A BREAK RIGHT NOW!). Blahhh
2- Go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and not feel guilty about cheating on my diet (more on that later)
3- Go to Marshalls and find something cute to buy with my gift certificate.
4- Watch the Jersey Shore tonight yyyeeeaaaa!
5- Pack
And that's about it. EXCITING day.
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