Thanks RQC! 🙂 My birthday is in two days so I won't start the juice fast yet (will most likely be bombarded with birthday cake from the rellies of which turning it down would be an insult lol) but yeah it's a juice fast by Joe Cross.

Will keep you guys updated on my rowing progress in this post!

1,500M – 28/8/2012

2,500M – 30/8/2012

500M – 31/8/2012

2,500M – 1/9/2012

6,500M – 3/9/2012

6,000M – 9/9/2012

7,000M – 12/9/2012

1,000M – 13/9/2012

8,000M – 15/9/2012

6,000M – 18/9/2012

6,000M – 20/9/2012

6,000M – 22/9/12

6,000M – 25/9/12 – getting really exhausted now, I think I've pushed myself too far lately so will set myself a goal of 4k instead of 6k until I can do more

4,500M – 2/10/12

64,000 meters rowed in total so far, woot

Hey Ann 😛 thanks so much!

Heh, I struggled hitting the 6k mark today. I had left it up to the last minute as mum took me shopping for 4 new amazing pairs of jeans for my birthday this Saturday, as we won't go back into the city for a while. She got me some calvin kleins which feel so amazing to wear (never had calvin kleins ANYTHING before and didn't know what all the hype was about Ck, nor did I notice the label until the guy at the store told me. All I knew was that they felt so good and fit me perfectly), and I put two pairs of my old jeans in a black sack for the sallies (salvation army) as I don't fit them anymore (which is a good problem lol) and my old jeans had nothing wrong with them, so they will go to some good people who need them!

Then mum proceeded to buy me some 'Milkman' underwear to go along with the jeans, because rumour has it they're really good. I wore them and WOW. If any guys want to know what brand of undies are the best, I highly recommend "Milkman wishbone briefs". I'll put the link for them below. They are the best undies I have ever worn – never going back to anything else. Very comfortable, holds *everything* in there, and is a perfect fit. Looks great too. Sorry lol I sound like some marketing guy now, but they're THAT good.

http://www.milkmanunderwear.com/shop/wishbone-brief—red-alert/c-24/p-284

But ya, life is going great for me now ^_^ I feel spoilt because it was a lot of money for my mum. For a bit of mother-son bonding, we watched Prayers for Bobby last night too – she cried because it was so tragic. I fast forwarded past the guys kissing though cause that still makes her uncomfortable :-/ makes me kinda worried if she'll be able to handle the day for if or when I get married, but Wes gave me some great advice there so no worries about that now. I need to give her time.

I think I was born with headphones on my head because I can't go a day without music. I even listen to music while I row too. Here's my playlist for my rowing inspiration / motivation / commitment if anyone's interested, though music is all personal taste I guess so it might not be for everyone:

Demi Lovato – Give Your Heart A Break [Lovey dovey sort of song]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zfzka5VwRc

Deadmau5 – The Veldt [Peaceful sort of warm up/warm down track]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_esYONwdKuw

Lauren Taveras – Through My Eyes [Reminds me of being bullied at school which keeps me determined to keep rowing]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk0JBD3T-jw

Gaia – Tuvan [Trance ftw]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OhWPH_Ri_4

Thomas Heredia – The Witch [More trance]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F0eVWuDygM

Fear Not This Night – Guild Wars 2 [Epic track from the GW2 game soundtrack]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVnPiLi8vOo

Here's some tunes I go running with you might dig for your workout:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B_QnHKblsKk#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M7YhC99qx6M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JITI0FskSG0&feature=player_embedded#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2PmhHPFgcwk#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8L5l3UxCiw&feature=player_embedded#!

And think of those guys who downed you when you hear this song ; )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zFFh8TUCVKg#!

Thanks Ann 😛 yeah they're amazing undies!! 😀

Thanks for all those songs RQC! I LOVE that Studio Killers – Eros and Apollo song in particular. Definitely getting that one on iTunes.

And lol Mother Hen 😛 yes perhaps the undies were a bit too much info ha ha XD they were just so good I had to mention them however awkward it may be lol. Yup things have improved with my mum. She still isn't comfortable seeing guys kiss or anything, but I will have to be really patient with her. Wezflash on these forums gave me some advice on when I had a bit of trouble about it actually. He said my parents grew up in a time when homosexuality was not only illegal, but looked down upon as well, and not much light was shed on homosexuality back then. It's true. Heck, my parents were so anti-gay back then they voted against gay marriage – which still hurts me, but their opinions of gay marriage have obviously changed now 😛

My parents and I went down to the bach for a few days and they were enthusiastic to watch this dvd by Byron Katie titled 'Being gay is unnatural: is it true?'. Byron Katie gets to the underlying root cause of this man's issue which is the fact that he is gay. He finds out that he himself has been his own worst enemy and that he is a homophobic gay man XD it's really quite funny and informative at the same time. Here it is on YouTube if any of y'all are interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98ApKUqb-RQ

I found another two songs I liked a few days ago too!

Safetysuit – anywhere but here (I like singing along to this one actually)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulbvGzM6nzg

Safetysuit – life in the pain (reminds me of all the feelings I had at school – getting through the dark days I was bullied, fighting my inner struggle of being gay at the same time etc.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIk6k3zz3AY

Thanks for all the replies <3

Edit: Lol, mum is going around the house changing ALL the clocks from daylight saving.

I think she did the microwave, two clocks and an alarm clock at the bach, and I changed the time on the tv (pressing random buttons ftw – nah not really, I'm not really tech-savvy, but I do get there in the end). Now she's come home to changing three clocks, the microwave, two tv's, two alarm clocks and her car's clock lol. Don't you just hate daylight saving? >.<

Wow. I had an amazing day today. Listened to some sermons by Rob Buckingham. One of the 'Book of James' sermons in particular. Rob spoke of the tongue and how it's such a small part of the body but it is so powerful in what we say (good or bad, life and death etc.), and it couldn't have been more true than today.

I saw my english teacher today at the supermarket and I could NOT leave without saying what an amazing teacher she was for me back when I was at school. At first she did a double take, like she recognised me, but she couldn't remember where from. So later down the aisle I introduced myself and said my name (because you obviously don't remember student's names 4-6 years later). She said she thought she recognised me from somewhere.

Now, she wasn't just an ordinary teacher, she was an EXTRAORDINARY teacher. I said how many students back then in my class I don't think really appreciated how great she was and that she really pushed me and drove me to get better and better at my essays and such. In fact she was the only english teacher in my entire school life to get me to a point where I was good enough that I could (and did) achieve a MERIT on my creative writing essay.

I said that she was one of, if not the best, teacher at school.

What I said really made her day. In fact she said it was uncanny I said all this today because she was actually thinking about leaving but couldn't make up her mind (and she loves teaching, but reading between the lines I don't think she felt appreciated by students and/or the principal, or it could have been the salary, I don't know). But I thought, wow.

She made my day too. She said that for someone to say that meant I had a really good heart and she wanted a hug :O I was like awwwww. We talked for a few minutes and she wanted to know what I was doing and so I mentioned how I wanted to get back into reading because when I was at school I lost a ton of brain cells playing computer games and I wanted to write these novels I had always wanted to write, but figured I wasn't good enough or lacked the education, so I was looking at getting into books again. I said I wanted to be the next J. K. Rowling but wasn't sure if I could do it. She said J. K. Rowling came from humble beginnings and that I should keep at it, so I decided I will 😀

It really is true, the tongue is a powerful part of the body, and I hope she continues teaching!!! She is really a gem at that school, they are very lucky to even have her.

But yeah I will take her advice and start reading some more. I won't be online as much as I used to from tomorrow onwards, but I will pop on from time to time 😛 It's time I start getting back into my books and hopefully one day get some novels published. My english teacher will surely be mentioned in the forward (I think that's what it's called anyway?).