Dictation Record

Cool, I topped yesterday's record walk word count of 744 with 783 today. Strange, because I thought I would be lucky to manage any words. The trail was so crowded that every time I went to begin talking, another person approached walking their dog, and I had to turn it off. I wonder if I could have hit 1,000 if it had been a less busy day.

My First Book Is Published

I'm pretty excited about this. After all this time of hemming and hawing and dragging my feet, I've finally got my first book published. You can buy it right now on Amazon. It's totally available for anyone to read. You should check it out.

Many of you will know what I'm talking about, but if you haven't been following the blog recently, you might be unfamiliar with the book. This is a short story collection that I have assembled of all of my Christmas-related short stories. It's called, "Christmas Creatures: A Twisted Christmas Story Collection."

I published it through Amazon as an eBook first. You can buy the eBook for $5.99 or if you are one of those Kindle Unlimited people, then you can read it that way too. I'm new to this, but from what I understand, it's a three month window that it has to be exclusive on Amazon to qualify for the Kindle Unlimited program, then I can release it wide to all the other bookstores out there. So, if you don't do a Kindle, it will be coming to other venues eventually.

So far, it's only available as an eBook, but I am working on the audiobook and the print book, and I mean to have them available long before Christmas is here, so you can buy the book and read it as a part of your annual holiday traditions, because I'm certain you will want to include it in those activities that say,  "It's Christmastime" to you.

The book includes eight stories: one novella, four novelettes, and three short stories. They are:

1. The Christmas Creature
2. The Spirit of Christmas
3. Dear Santa
4. A Christmas Wish
5. Reiterating Christmas
6. Taking a Left Turn
7. Klaus Kringle
8. Crossing the Globe

Some of them you might recognize from the Dunesteef show. Others are brand new, never before seen stories, and if you ask me, they're all good. In fact, I think you could ask anyone. Tony the Tiger says they're great.

So, please, head over to Amazon and pick yourself up a copy if you are so inclined, and enjoy the Christmas stories during your yuletide this year.

Oh, I probably ought to give you a link, right? How else will you know how to find the book? Here, click this link, and head over to the Amazon page to pick up the book. Thanks, everybody.
 

More Big Anklevich On Health

Rather than post the videos every single day, I've decided to just put them on here in chunks. So, since we finished off the last chunk at day 70, here's day 71. I was having a bit of a crisis that day:

My Frustration From Lack Of Progress - Day 71 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

September is moving along, but I'm pretty sure I haven't made any progress. What do I need to do? Stick with my method? Or change things up? More fasting? I'm open to suggestions.

Here's day 72:

Still Going After All This Time - Day 72 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

72 days and we're still at it. There are plenty of troubles and challenges, but we keep going and eating the proper human diet, and we're a million miles away from where we were back in March before we started this journey. Also, I'm gonna order me some electrolytes to see if that makes any difference.

Day 73:

Is Everything I've Been Told About Carnivore True? - Day 73 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Eat right, restore your health, and the weight will come off as a side-effect of the process. That is what I have believed for a while. Is it true? Will that happen? What is most important? Health certainly has to be the number one priority, and the weight loss can come when it comes, right? This stuff is all true, isn't it?

Day 74:

Can Carnivore Fix Everything? - Day 74 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Carnivore seems to fix everything, so if you are on carnivore, can you even get sick? Just what exactly is carnivore capable of fixing?

And lastly, this is the video from this morning, day 75:

When Sick, Should You Listen To Your Body? Or Force Feed It? - Day 75 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Marshal is dealing with being a little bit under the weather. His appetite has been suppressed. Should he fight that? Does his body know what it's talking about or does his brain know better?

Okay, see you again soon with another chunk of the daily videos. Or you can just go to the Big Anklevich on Health channel on YouTube and subscribe, to get the videos each and every day. Marshal and I are in the home stretch. Almost to the end of this 90-day BBBE challenge.

Getting Better Every Day

I think I'm getting better at this. 666, a new record, yesterday. Today I got 626, which would have been a record if not for yesterday's heights. It used to be hard to make it to 500, but now I'm getting 600 without feeling like I'm trying any harder than I was before. I wonder how fast I can get at this dictation writing with enough practice.

Word Count Of The Beast Again

Today, I went on the walk of the beast. Here's my word count I managed to dictate while I was out.

The Curse Of The Curious Cat

 My daughter opened up a new puzzle yesterday. All the pieces came in a plastic bag, and she dumped them out and the table, tossing the bag aside.

Later, however, she discovered that she should have thrown that bag out right away, because she came downstairs to see this:

Jupiter has always liked crinkly things like plastic bags, and she had to investigate this one too. It was just the right size to squeeze inside of.

The bag says to keep it out of reach of babies and...but then you can't see what else. I wonder if it says pets. How many times have you seen cell phone video of some poor raccoon with a bottle stuck on its head, Jupiter could have wound up like one of those poor creatures.

Luckily, my daughter was there to help, but even if she hadn't been, it would have been okay, because Jupiter extricated herself from the bag all on her own.

I wouldn't be surprised if something like this ended her some day, though. She is the proverbial cat that was killed by curiosity.

Backlog Of Videos

I took the weekend off from posting stuff, but the scheduled daily BBBE videos continued, so I'm going to post all of the ones I missed here in one post. Enjoy. First of all:

Is There A Way To Get Your Family To Join You? - Day 67 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Is there a way to get your family to join you? I'm asking because I don't know. Can setting an example be enough?

Then there's this one:

Want To Get Healthier? Take A Walk - Day 68 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Exercise is key to health, and nothing is easier, more accessible, and more effective than walking. Both Marshal and I have added it to our daily routine.

And also this one:

What Do You Do If You Mess Up? Don't Quit! Keep Going! - Day 69 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Marshal had a big slip-up, and now he's got to keep himself from sliding down that slippery slope. What's he going to do to get back on track? I bet he's going to keep going...

That's a big one. Marshal had a big slip-up. We all gotta stand behind him, and encourage him to stick with it. How did he follow it up? Let's see the next video:

How To Deal With A Setback - Day 70 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Marshal is shocking his system to get back on track. Big thinks he should just eat more butter. Which is best? If only we knew the answer.

So, there you have it. That's what happened over the weekend while I wasn't posting anything here on the blog. Let's all get behind Marshal to help him stick with it. Feel free to join our Facebook group to give him some encouragement or you can just leave a comment on the videos. Thanks. I'll see you again tomorrow.

Almost There

The kitchen is finally coming back together. I showed you a while ago when they put in our sinks, and how excited we were to finally have running water. Now, we've almost got all the stuff back together. The dishwasher is in, and we've started bringing down dishes again.

Look at this, real silverware, not plastic stuff that breaks if you try to press down on it at all.

Yesterday, we had a guy in to re-do the lights. We had these ugly fluorescent panels before. He put in five can lights.

They make the kitchen surprisingly bright. I think we had two burned out fluorescent tubes in our panels, so it had been relatively dim in there up until now.

The next thing they need to do is texture the ceiling, and they install the pendant lights that will hang over the island. That's supposed to happen on Friday.

Before you know, this will all be a memory...and by before you know it, I probably mean several more months from now.

To Avoid A Diet Disaster, Plan Ahead - Day 66 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Temptations are all around us, everywhere we look people are offering sugar, sugar, and more sugar. How do you stand up to all of that temptation...well, I posit that planning ahead can make all the difference between success and failure.

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

A New Guy For Halloween

When I was out looking for toys, this week, I found this guy at Ross, and decided I should add him to my Halloween collection.

I think he'll look really cool with my other Fortnite guys I got for Halloween.

Of course, I still haven't gotten my den in order yet, so none of my books or toys are on the shelves yet. It's already time to put the Halloween stuff up, but I haven't done a thing yet. I really need to get on that. Don't know when I will, though...

Carnivore Diet or Carnivore WOE, Your Body Knows What To Do - Day 65 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

The carnivore diet isn't really a diet as we understand them today. It's a diet according to the old definition, which is a way of eating. The carnivore WOE (way of eating) makes things so very easy. No measuring, counting, or weighing needed. Just use the natural systems built in to the body you were born with. 

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

Good Advice

Went to the soccer game the other night, and as I looked for parking downtown, I saw this graffiti on a fence.

You know what? He's right. I'm giving up on this carnivore BBBE thing with Marshal right here and now. Forget that Keep Going crap we've been espousing all these months. Stay Fat is my new mantra! Somebody get me some Mountain Dew!

Keep Good Habits To Avoid Training Your Body To Fail - Day 64 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Our bodies are run by hormones and circadian rhythms, and we can very easily program our bodies to work against us with bad habits and desires, so be careful not to do that...I guess that is all. I already gave you the whole message, you don't have to watch the video now if you don't want to. Whoops, that won't help the algorithm, will it? As if the algorithm even knew we existed. Don't be silly, Adrian Peterson.

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

In On The Joke

I watch this YouTuber called Pat Finnerty every now and then. I say every now and then, because he does videos pretty rarely. I think that is mostly because his videos are so elaborate and well produced. I can't complain about the frequency when every single thing he puts out is such high quality.

Anyway, his videos are called "What Makes This Song Stink?" He jokes a lot about his show being a sort of anti-Rick Beato channel. Beato has nothing on Finnerty, however. That guy just sits in his studio and talks while playing along with some great song from the past. Finnerty goes all out in his videos, interviewing randos on the street, or the Blinds To Go Guy, or his neighbors like Lloyd.

Well, in August, he put out another "What Makes This Song Stink?" episode about Machine Gun Kelly's "Emo Girl" song. It was, as usual, a lot of fun, but then he took it up a notch, and launched into his plan to get in on the money that all of these shitty songs make by the truckloads.

I know it's a time investment, but I recommend you actually watch the video. It'll be worth it. Really fun.

It didn't work out for him, but that was the joke all along. However, that wasn't the end. A little while later, he gave us an update. Another time investment, but this one is even more worth it.

Oh my God, I can't remember having so much fun watching something stupid like a YouTube video before. And now I'm in on the joke. I went to the channel for the fake band, subscribed, hit the bell, watched the video, and found that I actually really liked this fake song.

I want the EP. I want a T-shirt for August Is Falling. I was really getting into this internet hoax. I guess maybe it felt good to be in on the joke, I don't know. I wanted something to come of this thing.

The comments on the video were hilarious, and there were 14,000 of them! Do yourself a favor, and go over there and read them. They remind me of the stuff Rish talked about on his Rish on Records about the Flaming Lips song "Do You Realize" (something you can only listen to if you are a member of his Patreon. I'd suggest you check it out. Rish is worth a buck a month, don't you think?). They are these hilariously earnest, heartfelt fake comments about how August Is Falling changed their lives, and I can't help but crack up at each and every one.

Well, I had to share this with my daughter, who really enjoyed the fun of the whole joke, and then, I figured I ought to share it with y'all as well. He has 100,000 followers, and I have maybe 100 (twenty of which read these blog posts if I grab them by the neck and rub their noses in it), but if even one person sees it and has fun from it, then it was worth it. Hope you check it out.

How To Avoid Sliding Down The Slippery Slope - Day 63 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

After a screw up, what can you do to keep from sliding down that slippery slope into a long-term bender? What if you haven't screwed up yet, but you're facing heavy temptations? What is the key to beating those problems?

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

September Third

We're a third of the way through September, more or less. That's the big month where I take the final step from writing every day in July to writing 500 words every day in August to writing the full 1,000 words every day in September. 

I was a little worried about it, to be honest, because in July, I only managed 1,000 words four times. In August, I only managed it seven times.

Today is the twelfth of September. Meaning that, if I have succeeded, then yesterday was the day that I doubled the amount of 1,000 word days for the entire rest of the year. I had to achieve in 11 days what had taken 62 days to achieve before. Was that something I was going to be capable of?

Well, it turns out that, yes, I can do it. I did just fine. Here's where I am so far.

Interesting to think that I've almost reached my first month's total, but in so short a time. Weird thing was that it was pretty easy. I guess that having a goal to shoot for makes it simpler to reach. I checked my word count, and if I wasn't there, I kept going. Eventually I made it. 

Some days were harder than others, but I don't feel like I accomplished some monumental task or anything. Before the month began, I was feeling like it might be just that.

So, where am I at for my monthly goal of 30,000 words?

12570 / 30000 (41.90%)

I'm at 41%, which is several percentages ahead of where I have to be. Of course, as long as I make it to my goal each day, I will nail it. Any overages are gravy, and the way writing is, it's pretty much impossible not to get overages.

What about my year goal? How close am I to getting to 304,475?

55122 / 304475 (18.10%)

18% of the way there, or basically 1/6 of the way there. I have to keep up this new faster pace for the rest of the year, basically to make it to my goal. My present average pace of 755 words per day wouldn't be enough to achieve my goal for the year. I would only get to 275,575. 1,000 words a day from here on out would make me achieve my goal easily, so that's what I'm shooting for.

Actually, that's not totally true. If that was what I was shooting for, I wouldn't have bothered to buy this book by Chris Fox:

He also recommends this other book that I may check out:

It would be pretty awesome to be able to write a lot more words each day. If I write 1,000 words a day, I could finish a 90,000 word novel in three months. If I could write more, like say 3,000 words a day, I could do it in one month instead. Imagine how great that would be.

The guy who wrote that first book, Chris Fox, has a YouTube channel where he has done several novel writing challenges that make NaNoWriMo look like child's play. He's done, for example, a fifteen day novel writing challenge, and he's succeeded, then gone on to sell that novel to many people, and has made sequels to it as well.

So, I want to actually go above and beyond the 1,000 words a day limit. In fact, right here and now, I will commit to doing NaNoWriMo this year in November. That is 1,666 words a day, to reach 50,000 in one month. So, that will be a big step up in just a few months. Not sure what I'll do next month, but it might be some amount in between 1,000 and 1,666 per day.

How will I ever do such a thing? Well, one of the tricks that I have been wanting to implement for a while, and Chris Fox suggested, is dictating some of your words.

I've started doing that each morning when I go out and walk around the greenbelt trail. The first day, I got over 500 words. The second day, only 366. The third day was closer to 250, but then the fourth day I was all the way up over 500 again. This morning?

394 words by 8:45. Having that many words in the bag before 9:00 AM makes hitting 1,000 much easier, but what I really ought to do is start zeroing out my count after the walk, and considering whatever I wrote on the walk to be gravy, something I add on to my 1,000 word total at the end of the day. Then I could be hitting 1,500 words a day frequently.

Now, my daily walk is not the only time I have that is wasted with a task that doesn't require my full mental energy. On weekdays, I have a commute that lasts 45 minutes each way. That's 90 daily minutes of brain free time that I could also dedicate to dictating books.

Add that to my approximately one hour walk, and I have two and a half hours of useless time that could become writing time. I don't expect dictation to ever reach the levels of concentrated writing that I do at a keyboard, but I am absolutely certain that in that time, I could do at least 1,000 words a day. I could hit my goal every day without ever writing at a keyboard, but if I added keyboard time as well, then bam! The sky's the limit.

I could take my word count up to 2,000 a day, maybe more. Then there's all the suggestions that Chris Fox had in his book. I'm going to start trying to implement those, and see what kind of improvement I can reach. 3,00 a day? 4,000 a day? 5,000 a day? Or even 5,000 an hour like the book is called? Who knows, but I'm willing to give it my all to improve.

For now, I'm going to keep writing on my walks every day, and keep hitting 1,000 a day. I'll give it this month, and then I'll step it up in October, before getting to NaNoWriMo in November. But I really do think the sky's the limit.

I Blew It Yesterday, What Do I Do Today? - Day 62 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

The day after my big slip up with cheese, what did I do to make sure it didn't happen again...because you better believe my mind was telling me I should eat more cheese. Did I avoid that, and get back to the program? And if so, what did I do?

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

And To Think I Saw It All On The Greenbelt Trail

I guess I could turn this blog into a 'what cool things did I see on my walk today?' blog. I did a post like that yesterday, and here I am, back again with another.

I thought I'd start with these cool berries.

They didn't taste very good, and I'm starting to feel a little faint. In fact, I can't feel my legs anymore. Is that a problem? Sorry, tangent. They're kind of pretty, anyway.

Later, I came across two turtles in the drainage canal that I cross over twice every day.

Now, let me assure you that I like turtles, and I'm always happy to see them on my walk.

There are some places where dozens of turtles all congregate, but way over here, I'm lucky if I see even one turtle. Seeing two today was rare luck.

Although I would guess that they wouldn't agree with me, judging by their reaction to my presence.

I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but the big one there is really big. That little one is the size of what most people's pet turtles get to be, maybe the size of a human hand with the fingers all stretched out. 

That big one, on the other hand, is so big it would require both hands to pick it up. They only tend to get this big out in the wild, when they have room to roam as far and wide as they want, which is what these two had done, taking a long walkabout from the rest of the turtles at turtle town and the far end of the canal.

What's best, is that I saw all that stuff, and managed to dictate more than 500 words on my Ankletown Station book. I've dictated story while walking for the last four days, and I'm really excited by the progress I've been able to make. I got 500 words twice, 366 once, and the worst I've done was 250 something words.

If I'm going to take a walk every day for my health, adding 250-500 words while doing it is a total win. Wait, it's what they call a win-win, isn't it? Two great tastes that taste great together? Double double your refreshment? Double double your enjoyment? No single gum double freshens your mouth like doublemint doublemint gum?

Confession, I Blew It. I Ate Cheese - Day 61 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

I have to confess that I blew it today. I broke the BBBE rules and ate some cheese. I was weak, and succumbed to the temptation. Now I have to get back on track, and make sure this doesn't become a habit...I gotta keep going. Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

Trumpet

I was out walking this morning, and I saw this pretty trumpet vine tangled around a tree branch. At least I think it's a trumpet vine. I could be wrong. I'm not a botanist or anything.

Before moving to Texas, we used to have a trumpet vine on our house that my wife had transplanted from her Grandmother's.

I guess the sight made me a little nostalgic for 2011, that's all. I thought I'd share it with you, in case you like pictures of flowers too.

We've Made It 60 Days, And We Will Keep Going - Day 60 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

We're celebrating the 2/3rds mark of our challenge. We've made it two months and there's only one more to go, and we're going to keep going!

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

More Fun Pics

My daughter did the drawing that I wanted for my Christmas short story collection cover, and I loved it.

The other day, I showed her how I had incorporated it into the book itself as well. I like to put little pieces of clipart in as the divider between story sections instead of just leaving them blank, or putting the three stars that let you know there's a section break if it happens at the bottom of a page. So, I showed her this:

The rest of the book just had more generic public domain clipart that I'd gotten off a website called clker.com. She looked at it and said, "I can make you pictures for the rest of your stories too."

That seemed like a lot of work, so I told her that if she did, she had to make them minimally difficult. No big deal. Simple clipart kind of things.

Well, she gave me the picture for the next story, and it just makes me smile so very much. What do you think?

I love it. In case it doesn't look familiar, it comes from the Christmas episode we did on the Dunesteef back in 2009. I made a prose version of the audio drama we did, and that will be the second story in my Christmas collection.

Seeing this picture just makes me chuckle every time. And it looks really good in between the story sections on the book.

I really need to get going on this book. I was planning on having the eBook out sometime this week. Looks like it will be, at best, next week. But I promise it will be very soon. I just gotta get my priorities straight. Like, publishing the eBook needs to come before doing blog posts about the clipart that is going into the eBook. I can bother with the blog later.

Resiliency Because Of Carnivore - Day 59 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Sometimes, hard days are thrown at us, and we never know when they'll come, but if you eat carnivore, you're resilient enough to handle those days. If you have to skip eating until late in the day because of how busy you are, you can handle that, because you have the nutrition you need.

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

The Anklecast Returns For All

The Anklecast is back. For those of you who joined my Patreon, you've already heard it, because it came out for them last week, on the 1st. Thank you, so much to those who are supporting the Anklecast.

Now, a week later, the time has come to release the Anklecast to a wide audience. So, I've put it up on the Anklecast feed, and it is now available for all listeners. Check it out, and hopefully enjoy it. If you feel that it's going to be worth it, worth maybe a little tip for the creator, then head over to Patreon and sign up to donate. There's several levels to choose, ones that should fit in the budget of pretty much anyone.

Okay, on with the show. Check it out and enjoy! 

I got together with Announcer Man and Rish Outfield, and we put together a fun episode of the show for y'all. It's the first monthly installment of the relaunched Anklecast.

Today's story is called "Eye-opening". In it, a woman who has suffered a heavy loss looks for help in dealing with her grief, but the healing doesn't go as she expected for anyone. 

Renee Chambliss, Marshal Latham, and Rish Outfield all provide voices for the story, and making his podcast debut is Little Anklevich. I really hope y'all enjoy the show, and please come over and support the show on Patreon.

You can find the episode in your podcast feed, right click the link HERE to download it, or just click the play button below. Have fun.

Expanding Your Taste Buds With Carnivore - Day 58 - BBBE Challenge Daily Update

Marshal talks about how good things can taste on carnivore when you don't drown the flavors out with sugary sauces, and I concur.

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

I was heading out for my morning walk, and taking my kid to school for the day, when my neighbor passed me. She was on her way back from dropping her daughter off at school. I waved and said, "Hi."

And then she said, "I found your podcast and your instagram. It was amazing."

What? That seemed weird. She found my podcast? Someone I actually know in real life found my podcast? And not even because I told her about it, but she just found it?

I laughed and moved on to get my walk in, but I couldn't stop thinking about that comment. She found my podcast? How? How did she know that Big Anklevich is me? What the heck?

I remember...I believe it was John Higham who said it...a story about a listener who was on vacation in France, and he saw someone with a Dunesteef T-shirt on, and he said, "Hey, Dunesteef. Cool!" And then the guy gave him a thumbs up or whatever, and they went on their merry ways.

That story still sounds so preposterous. I think, at our height, we had maybe as many as 5,000 listeners. Which is pretty good for a podcast, but when you factor in that there are, according to Google, 1.35 billion English speaking people in the world, the chances that any two of those 5,000 would randomly meet are preposterous.

Yet, here I was faced with a similar thing. I had to know what was going on, so on my way back home, I stopped in and asked her how she found my podcast. 

Well, it's still pretty preposterous. She says that Instagram recommended that she follow my Big Anklevich on Toys account.

She saw my picture and said, "That guy looks really familiar." So, she clicked in and then found the link in my bio to my videos on YouTube.

She followed that over, and then saw me and heard me, and realized that it was her neighbor from across the street.

So, it wasn't my podcast podcast. It was my YouTube videos...that I guess are technically a podcast, but still...

Weird, right? Why did Instagram recommend me? She does have a few Funko Pops on her shelves, but who doesn't these days, amiright? Do you think Instagram tries to recommend people who live in close proximity of each other? It's just so crazy to me that my neighbor was led to my shows out of pure chance.

I wonder if I got a new listener/viewer out of this coincidence. So weird.

LeBron Joins The Monstars

I told y'all before about how I bought a Cyber Hero LeBron James Space Jam figure, thinking that it would be a nice fit with the rest of my 3.75 inch figures that would inhabit Ankletown Station, but when I put them together, I found that they were horribly out of scale.

I was thinking I would just have to sell it on eBay or give it to my son to bash together with his other toys, but Rish said that I just needed to give it an alien head, and that would explain why it was so much bigger. Then I could still use it.

I considered it, and my options. I looked at a bunch of different ideas for an alien head, but never quite pulled the trigger. Then, I found the one I wanted. A new wave of Final Faction figures hit the dollar store, and they included this thing:

If you're like me, then you have no idea what you're looking at. The bubbles on these packages are so hard to see through. They make the figures look weirdly warped and distorted. Here's what it looks like out of the package.

Looks like an alien spider or a crab or something like that. I was looking at that thing one night, and I thought, could I pull the legs off of this thing and make it a head? So I tried it.

The legs came off easily enough, I think they were made to be easily fixed if they broke off. When I held the thing where the head would be on the LeBron body, it looked pretty good. So, I got my drill, estimated what size bit I needed to make a hole that would fit LeBron's neck, and drilled a hole in the bottom of the alien crab spider.

It looked even better when it was properly fitted to the neck.

I couldn't decide if I should keep the pincers or not, so I texted a picture to Rish. He said the pincers should stay, so I let him be the deciding vote.

I couldn't leave him there with these human hands and a decidedly non-human head, so my next move was to turn something into alien hands. I took my snips to the legs I'd removed, and fashioned a set of alien claw hands. Then I snipped LeBron's hands off and drilled out his forearms so that I could shove these new hands up inside like pegs in a hole.

I also shoved some beads into the vacated arm holes. I didn't mean for this to happen, but now they looked like eyes. Not sure if I'll leave it that way.  I'm going to have to paint all this stuff now. I don't want it to be the lavender and gold that it is right now. I think I'll turn my alien into a little green man...or giant sized green man considering the scale difference. I'll get to it eventually, I suppose.

I think I like it. It's at least made that LeBron figure that I thought I couldn't use into something that I certainly can. Looking like this, though, I think we have to say that LeBron is playing for the Monstars team now. He doesn't look like he belongs on Bugs and Daffy's team any longer, that's for sure.

I also have the leftover LeBron head. Maybe, instead of using it in TikTok videos, I should put it on one of my Halo guys. He could be in the military with our friend Laka Baba.

I think that works. He needs some paint and stuff, but I think he'll be a good member of the guards...I think these guys are going to be the guards at Ankletown Station. Old President Government uses them to intimidate the citizenry into keeping quiet and docile and paying their exorbitant taxes.

September Weigh In - Are We Still Making Progress With BBBE? Is Weight The Best Measure Of Progress?

It's the first of September, time to weigh in again. How did it go? Marshal was hoping to get under 400 lbs. and I was hoping...well, hoping to show progress, hoping not to fail. I prepared myself for the worst in hopes that my spirits wouldn't be crushed if it turned out poorly. Let's see how it went.

Join our Facebook group, and find support for your struggles against a crazy world eating unhealthy food.

More 'Shrooms

I had a post a few weeks back about seeing some mushrooms in the parking lot at work, and how, as a boy from the dried out west, this was a big deal to me. Well, it's been raining a lot around here recently, so there have been plenty more mushrooms where those first ones came from.

I ran a bunch of them down this weekend when I mowed the lawn, for example.

But today, while I was out doing my morning walk, I found some that I don't think I've seen before. Check these guys out.

I thought they were cool enough to stop and take a picture of. But then I turned around, and on the other side of the trail, back in with the thick brush, there were dozens and dozens more.

The vines and branches are really thick off the side of the trail, but I decided to push my way back through and get some pictures of them too.

On my tiny phone screen, I couldn't tell if the scale of the number of mushrooms was coming through, or if they were just to spread out to be able to tell. Now that I've got the photos home, and I can see them bigger, it seems like you can tell that there is just a ton of these things, and the pictures actually look pretty good.

I took a couple of wider shots to try to show how many mushrooms had sprung up in this spot, but they are the ones that don't seem to show the scale nearly as well.

This one is a little better.

I do really like how the pictures turned out.

They're neat looking mushrooms. They look like tiny umbrellas. Umbrellas for fairies or something.

I'm not sure if it was worth it to traipse back into the brush like I did, however. At one point I got stuck, because the vine I had brushed up against wasn't like the others. This one had thorns. It felt like I'd bumbled into a wild blackberry bush or something. I had to stop walking, and back up several steps just to get the thorns to release me...and they didn't leave me unscathed.

I look like I've been playing with my cat. She's a vicious little beast.