Ahg.

I believe in rewards - I bought Jon and me a six-pack of Michelob Ultra last night. 3 beers (okay, pseudo beer) is moderate. But a combo of the beer (dehydrating), a ketogenic diet (dehydrating), and the pseudoephedrine (dehydrating) I have been taking because of the lingering effects of a cold means I woke up with a hangover. Not bad but I still feel bleah.

I felt better after I got out of the gym - 20 minutes of cardio (running - at the top of my game I can run over 2 miles, but today I only did 1.8 ) and back and biceps. The back exercises are machine lat pulldowns (70 lb), Machine rows (60 lb), and dumbell back flyes (8 lbs).

Biceps are preacher EZ curls (45 lbs, assuming the EZ bar is 25 pounds. I need to find out) and flat bar curls (35 lbs, assuming the short bar (standard?) is 25 pounds). I got rid of one of the bicep exercises - with all the compound stuff I do I don't see the point - and now am doing dumbell wrist curls (8 lbs). The wrist curls help other exercises - I used to wear a brace on my left wrist due to tendonitis (a beer accident - brewing, not drinking go figure). I haven't had to wear it since the end of last summer.

All exercises, by the way, are 12 reps, 3 sets. Yep, I'm at the low weight high rep end of a periodization cycle. I'm doing a 14-15 week cycle and I should eventually be doing 3 sets of 4 reps at some ungodly weight levels (ungodly for me). The week before my birthday I want to test my 1 rep maxes on the big 3: Bench Press, Squat, and Deadlift.

Anything else to yammer about? I started writing again upon being inspired by my friend Nancy's blog. She said she'd link to mine so I am returning the favor.

I'm listening to music at work - it seems to help me concentrate and get work done. I'm a software developer. I won't fill you in with the details - software development is as boring as it sounds, although it can be mentally stimulating and financially rewarding. I do have an unreasonable love of the movie Office Space like many cubicle denizens. I hinted around to many of my loved ones that I wanted a red Swingline stapler for Christmas, but no luck.

Top Ten Favorite Actors:

How do I judge how much I like an actor? By this formula: "Hey, X is in this movie. I gotta watch it!" Sexual attraction has little to do with it. Okay, that's not true for many of them. But all of them can act.

This list is not in any particular order.

Damian Lewis: As you might have read, he is definitely my du jour. As much as adore Major Winters in Band of Brothers and loathe Soames in The Forsyte Saga, I finally realized I was having impure thoughts of him when I watched Dreamcatcher on Halloween.

Lord, that movie was not good, but I like it more than most people did. It was a waste of a good cast (Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Tom Sizemore, Morgan Freeman); the cast was why I rented it in the first place. There is nothing special about Lewis' character - he plays a college history professor (and he plays it well! I think I had him for a few classes). There is good chemistry between him and Jane, Lee and Olyphant at the beginning of the movie. All four do a great job coming across as old friends. Too bad about the shit weasels. Lewis has great chemistry with just about anyone he works with - I loved the scenes between him and Ron Livingstone in BoB.

One other thing - most British actors learn American accents to get more roles. I can't blame them but it's a shame they have to hide their true accents. Lewis, on the other hand, has a fantastic American accent and I actually prefer him as an American.

Jason Isaacs: Another Brit. I first saw him in the not-so-good Event Horizon but I didn't really notice him until Armageddon. *Heh*. Armageddon is indeed a bad movie, but it's a favorite bad movie. I almost love it as much as I love The Swarm. Armageddon is another collection of wasted actors. Like Lewis, Isaacs could play opposite a cinder block and have great chemistry.

Ewan MacGregor: Who knew Obi-wan Kenobi was so hot when he was young? MacGregor has a great smile, nice bod, and isn't afraid to display his tackle. God, I love the British! His American accent, unlike Lewis or Isaacs, is a little off. I haven't watched Down With Love yet so maybe he's worked on it.

Eric Bana: Australian comedian - something of a body builder. I noticed him while watching Black Hawk Down, a movie with a great deal of good actors including the aforementioned MacGregor and Isaacs. He as a convincing American accent. He has been in a limited amount of movies, including the highly recommended Chopper and the not-as-recommended but I still liked it Hulk.

Christian Bale: Welsh hottie, flawless American accent. I finally took notice when two separate friends whose movie instincts I trust urged me to rent Equillibrium. I can't wait to see how he does a the new Batman.I loved American Psycho too. God, that was funny! Like Bana, he's a bit of a bodybuilder. Both actors will manipulate their body shape to fit the role. Bana got fat for Chopper; Bale got intensely thin - we're talking Holocaust victim thin - for the as yet unreleased The Machinist.

Bill Paxton: I have been a fan of his since Aliens, and developed a good-sized crush sometime after Apollo 13. His accent is of course flawless, because he's a Texan. Finally, I list an American! Since I've booted Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson off he has logged the longest running time on the list. Unlike Gibson or Ford, Paxton is still turning out movies worth watching. I enjoyed Frailty. We'll see about Thunderbirds and Club Dread both of which I'll see but I'm kind of fearing.

Frances McDormand: This woman is a goddess, dammit! Talk about underappreciated. I have always liked her, but she became a member of the list when she played Sheriff Marge Gunderson in Fargo.

Michelle Yeoh: Kicks ass! I want to be her when I grow up. If you haven't seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon why not? The scenes between her and Chow Yun-Fat are devastating. Her best Hong Kong work, as far as I'm concerned, is Wing Chun.

Guy Pearce: Another Australian. Hot, great American accent, Memento and L.A. Confidential. May fall off the list because he's been MIA. I have not seen The Hard Word yet, though.

Ralph Fiennes: Another Brit. Decent American accent. I can't remember what I saw him in first but I've loved him since Quiz Show. He's at his most gorgeous in The English Patient. He is second after Paxton for most time on the list. I still haven't seen some of his later projects, but I did like his turn as Francis Dolarhyde in Red Dragon. I saw him in a stage production of Hamlet in London in 1995. I had myself a good laugh when I was researching Damian Lewis' career: he played Laertes. I do remember a severely redheaded actor in the cast.

Honorable Mention: Gibson and Ford are gone and I haven't been able to trust Willem Dafoe in years (although Spiderman was a great start back in the right direction). I don't really have anyone else to list. But I also like Michelle Rodriguez and Luke Wilson. Oh, yeah! I really like Matt Damon. He has taken some chances which impresses me. I think there's so few American actors on the list because they don't take chances (Do you hear me Mr. Affleck? You're cute as a button but come on!).

I wouldn't kick Thomas Jane out of bed for eating crackers, but other than *61 which was a damn fine baseball movie, he has a habit of choosing bad projects. He does decent work, but damn there's only so much punishment I can take. Pun very much intended.