The Oracle of Apollo
Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

One year ago today, I got on the scale and saw that ugly 196 pound reading. By New Year’s Eve, I had lost 46 of those pounds. The scale read 150. This morning, the scale reads 150.

Through focused, almost obsessive, attention to my diet and working out (doing CrossFit since September), I have been able to maintain a lithe 150 pound weight (some days, I’m a pound over; some days, I’m a pound under) while building functional strength since then. My next step is to buy a barbell and bumper plates to ramp my fitness training up to the next level.

A year isn’t very long, but this year feels like an eternity. That big, bulky Apollo of 2007 has given way to a lean, mean machine that sets personal bests on workouts with startling regularity.

Here are my five upcoming fitness goals.

1. Acquire a barbell, bumpers, gymnastic rings, a Dynamax ball, and squat stands for portable workout awesomeness.
2. Max the APFT by my 38th birthday.
3. Take the CrossFit Level I Certification, the Running & Endurance Sports Training Certification, and the Olympic Lifting Certification.
4. Figure out the muscle up, double under, unassisted one-legged squat, L sit, and handstand pushup.
5. Score a first class on the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test.

There are some exciting things coming. I can’t wait.

Over the past couple of weeks, my Blackberry Pearl has been having some issues. Lately, it deletes all the text messages and phone logs very frequently, so that I sometimes miss things. So, this afternoon, I decided to go over to the Apple Store in Palo Alto and rectify the situation. After reports (and a visit in Pleasanton to confirm) of stores being out of them, I took my chances and walked into the store in Palo Alto.

“Hi. I’d like an iPhone, please,” I requested.

“Which one?”

“The 128 GB.”

“Oh, we don’t have those. We have the 16 GB. That’s the biggest one there is.”

“Well, consider it sold.”

Ten minutes later, I took this picture with my Blackberry Pearl.

At last! I’m a cool kid now.

Randy Pausch succumbed today to complications from pancreatic cancer. This is really sad. He was an inspiration to everyone who knew him, even if we only knew him through his Last Lecture.

If you haven’t seen it, you must.

Rest in peace, Dr. Pausch.