The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book by Don Miguel Ruiz, is a book about letting go of false identification. It's about realizing that the life we're living is nothing more than a dream -- a dream that we have full control over but often fail to take action and do something with.

Don Ruiz, a Toltec nagual guide, uses the wisdom of his ancestors to help us understand how each and every one of us has the power within ourselves to take control of life and experience the happiness we all possess within ourselves. Don explains how to rewire our belief system so that we can create a new world for ourselves -- a new perspective of the world around us and of ourselves.
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The Warrior Elite - The Forging of SEAL Class 228 by Dick Couch follows a class of students as they go through Basic Underwater Demolition School (BUD/S). BUD/S is only one of the many steps it takes to become a Navy SEAL and it is considered to be one of, if not the toughest military training in the world. The drop out rate for BUD/S is extremely high; only about 20% make it through. Physical and mental endurance are pushed to the extreme.

There are three phases in BUD/S. The first phase consists of lots of physical training: pushups, situps, pullups, daily four mile timed runs, boat drills (both in the ocean and carrying the boat around on the land), and log PT where students spend hours doing exercises together while holding telephone-pole-sized logs to help build teamwork. The first phase concludes with Hell Week, which tends to see the highest number of DORs. It's five days of non-stop training with less than four hours of sleep (total).

The second phase is dive phase, where students must become extremely comfortable in the water. Students are expected to be able to swim for long periods of time with their hands and feet tied together. They learn deep diving techniques, with and without scuba tanks. They also attend classes to learn about the physics of diving. There are open ocean swims, with and without fins, and as with the timed runs, there are timed 2 mile+ swims. As in the first phase, there is also continuous PT mixed in with the diving instruction. Daily run distances are increased and maximum allowed times are decreased.

The third phase is the demolitions and tactics. The training is conducted mostly on land and includes land navigation, mission planning, plenty of shooting, and learning and becoming familiar with various weapons. But things don't get easier in third phase. Run distances are increased again. Daily PT continues. Things never get easier for the SEALs, only more difficult. "The only easy day was yesterday" is what the SEALs like to say. They're constantly striving for perfection, both physically and mentally, and improving their skills.

BUD/S training lasts six months. For the few who manage to graduate, another six months of vigorous and more specialized training is required to earn their Trident (which officially makes them Navy SEALs). After that, they're assigned to a platoon and there's another block of even more advanced training called SEAL Tactical Training (STT). When all is done, a SEAL will have been training for eighteen to twenty-four months before having a chance to be deployed.

During the past few months the SEALs have been an enormous source of motivation for my own physical fitness goals. This is the first book I've read cover-to-cover this year, and it was so good that I will no doubt read it several more times. What appeals to me the most about the SEALs is that they're all about pushing past mental roadblocks and striving for perfection. They're all about understanding the real physical limitations of the human body and conditioning it to the extreme. Several books on Navy SEAL fitness and nutrition are very detailed and describe with scientific precision how to train the human body. One such book is The U.S. Navy SEAL Guide to Fitness and Nutrition.

One of my goals for 2009 was to read one book every month. I'm already reading two others, and I hope to have a total of four books finished by the end of this month. For every book I finish reading, I'll write a post like this one.

I just read Seth Godin's ebook Who's There?. It's a bit old (2005) but has some really great insights into how blogging is changing the way we view communication and the world around us. The beginning is a bit boring, but if you hang in there you won't be disappointed.

I've dropped my Blackberry dozens and dozens of times onto concrete, brick, pavement, and even into puddles. Every time it drops, I can't help but wonder if my luck has finally run out and I'll find the device broken beyond repair -- but it always seems to survive. The worst that ever happens is I get a "SIM Card Error" message on the screen, which always goes away when I remove the battery and reseat the SIM card.

Yesterday my BlackBerry took one more step towards total destruction: the screen cracked when the phone fell off my bed onto the concrete basement floor. But the damn thing still works! I'm sure I'll have to be a lot more careful about getting water on the screen though, since any water inside would surely ruin it.

My experience with several different BlackBerry models has proven to me that they are built very well. Ruggedness in any product is a huge factor for me, as I always seem to get things dirty, drop them unexpectedly, or otherwise torture the hell out of them.

I bought a Burton snowboarding jacket last year for around $150. It was a great jacket. A few weeks ago when I started wearing it I noticed some white flakes coming out of the jacket (no, it wasn't snow). Upon closer inspection I discovered it was a manufacturing defect. The waterproof lining inside the jacket (behind the mesh) was flaking off and little bits of it were coming through the mesh.

I really didn't have any money to buy a new jacket and I couldn't wear this one without being covered with white flakes. I didn't have the receipt for the jacket but I decided to see if I could have it RMA'ed anyway. I called Burton RMA service and explained to the rep what happened to the jacket. He asked if I had the receipt or if I remembered where I bought the jacket -- I didn't. He said there is only a 1 year limited warranty and without the receipt there was no way to confirm if the jacket was still under warranty. He told me I could mail the jacket in to the RMA department and someone would call me when they decide what to do with it.

I shipped the jacket on Monday via FedEx ground -- it cost me $5.86. On Tuesday, someone from Burton called me (wow that was fast). He confirmed it was definitely a manufacturing defect. Again, I was asked for a receipt and again, I explained I didn't have one. The guy said even though he didn't have to, he would send me a new jacket anyway. He told me he couldn't guarantee they would have the same one but I said anything black and in the same size was fine with me.

On Friday, I received a brand new 2007 Burton 2/1 System Jacket. It has an inside removable liner -- something my previous jacket didn't have. The retail price on the tag? $279.99! Burton RMA is fast and awesome.

I never thought the temporary closing of Starbucks near my office would be such a good thing! No, I haven't stopped drinking coffee, but I have been lead to discover the awesomeness that is 1369 Coffee House. Excellent coffee! I've never before had black coffee that tasted so good!

If you havent already, watch both these movies!! Passion of Christ is very dramatic and graphic. Because of its obvious connection with the christian religion, it has a stronger effect on people than a regular movie. I'd say 90% of the people in the theater were crying half-way through it. I'd give it 9 stars out of 10.

Another movie, a little older (1997), The Odyssey is also awesome. I actually liked it a little more becuase it's more of a complete movie, with a long story line. It's two parts and is based on the poem by Homer. Excellent movie. 10 out of 10 stars.

Sorry for the slow updates. I've been pretty busy lately. I left Getronics to work full-time at WFCorp for various reasons. Two of them being the fact that I get to spend more time with my GF (she works there part-time) and also that I'm not doing the same thing over and over. I'm responsible for several differnet things and my work varies. After working at Getronics for the past year answering a phone, I now have a better appreciation for varied work. Even if I dont enjoy it, at least its something differnet everyday!

Dont shit your pants just yet, but I'm going to be changing something on this site once again. Nothing major though. For all the styling I want to use CSS. Currently, I'm working on the backend to the site; which is powered by PHP and a MySQL database. I'll explain the entire site and how it works when I finish with it, so please sit tight.

I have a bet with my brother Ravi to see who can reach 12% BF. Well, I need to reach 12% and he needs to reach 15%. And that must be done by March 9th. Last I checked on the scale at my parents house, with the athlete mode on, I was 14.5%, which kicks ass. Realistly, I think I'm closer to 16%, but oh well.

Lastly, I thought I'd add in a few comments on the last movie I saw: The Butterfly Effect. It received bad reviews, but then again, every movie that is hard for people to follow along with receives bad reviews! I thought it was awesome. It never really explains WHY the guy has the ability to move through time, but it doesnt need to. He has a special ability, thats all you need to know! I think it shows that things are the way they are for a reason, and whatever you try to do to change it, you'll still end up in an unfavorable situation. I thought the ending was ironic. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

My previous post talked about the nice weather; well now theres almost a foot of snow outside! I guess the snow is good in a way. I've been dying to try the new snowboards me and Kea bought.

We watched The Last Samurai today. It was kick ass. Loved it. Almost 3 hours long, but well worth every minute of it. It had good battle scenes, lots of drama, explained the honor involved in being a samurai, and lots of other Japanese related stuff. Made me want to learn Japanese and get back into martial arts! Highly reccomended movie. Now go watch it before I kick your ass.

Call me stupid, but in my opinion, The Matrix is highly overrated. Kea and I watched it over the weekend and I will say without a doubt, that the graphics kicked ass. However, so many lines were repeated from the previous Matrix, that I almost had the feeling I was watching Scary Movie 4 (or something like that)! Many scenes seemed more corny than serious, and damn, some people take that movie a little too far! I saw a kid dressed exactly like Neo, sunglasses and all, in the theater. Sunglasses in a dark theater? It was probably his 5th time watching it. The Thirteenth Floor was, in my opinion, a much more realistic movie that was based on the same "virtual world" theme as The Matrix. Anyway, call me a bore. I still think StarWars kicks every movie's ass. Oh, the lunar eclipse was that night as well. I saw it when it was about 90% covered. Didnt get to take any pictures, but oh well, next time maybe.

I'm selling my dog : ( I dont want to give her away, but I know I'm neglecting her. No time to bring her to the vet and walk her, and the stairs to my 3rd floor studio are too steep for her to climb, so I have no way of letting her in when it starts to snow. ::sigh:: as The Oracle says, "Everything that has a beginning, must have an end."

Speaking of an end, I'm finally getting it together and selling my AudiTT. No more useless spending for me. It's pathetic. Oh, speaking of spending, lol, Kea and I bought snowboards today. I guess in the long-run it's more saving then spending. We would end up spending more if we rented the boards every time we went snowboarding.

Updated the /whois page. My weight is down to 167lbs! : ) My dad was right. Consistency pays off.