So I admit, I have gotten lazy over the years - as have most people I know. When I was younger I would play outside everyday all day. Being inside was boring. There was nothing to do. Outside was where all the fun was!

But not anymore. After I hit my teen years I locked myself indoors. It started with MTV and VH1 Classic (I was a music video addict) and now it’s the internet. It’s so convenient having everything at my fingertips. Google answers all my questions and social sites let me interact with others. But sitting around on my butt all day isn’t healthy.

And I’m not the only one who sat down in my teen years.

Kids who were averaging three hours of moderate to vigorous activity when they were 9 barely manage to get more than a half-hour of daily exercise by the time they reach 15, according to a study in the July 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. [Health Day]

When I think about it, it’s kind of sad. I used to be outside riding bikes, playing games, swimming, and running around. It would keep me entertained all day. I was rarely bored.

So what is it that brings us inside in the first place? Do the games start to bore us?

For me, I think it’s the lack of stimulation outside. I used to live in a social neighborhood where kids were always outside playing and everyone hung out together at the pool.

Now I live in a neighborhood where I don’t even know who lives next door and pretty much no one is outside. No one to talk to, no one to do anything with. Being outside by myself is pretty boring.

I also live in an area where there is no where to go. We have lots of neighborhoods, grocery stores, gas stations, and other such places. No where to go for entertainment. No where for kids to hang out.

In fact, after school the kids go across the street and hangout at the library. Yes, the library is the hangout spot. But not for reading or studying, they just hangout and chitchat while they wait for parents to come get them. And they hangout there because there really isn’t anywhere else to hangout.

I noticed that in areas with more to do (and more people) kids seems to be more active. Heck, people in general seem to be more active.

For example, the park near us is almost always empty. The only time there are people there is when there is a baseball (softball?) game.

When I went to California in 2006 we went to a park/garden and there were all kinds of people wandering around. It made it more fun. I ran around with my cousin for awhile as we fake-sword fought.

There was also a lot to do in the area. There were stores and zoos, resturants, skate parks, and so on. Tons of places to meet up and hang out.

I think if areas offered more stimulation then people would be more willing to go outside more often. Going to the grocery store was only fun back when I was 6.

For a limited time only I have a beautiful baby German boy for sale for the low low price of ONE Euro! That’s about $1.57! Hurry and call now!

Just kidding. Or maybe not.

Yahoo news posted an article about German parents putting their baby son on eBay for one Euro. The mother claims it was just a joke but police are still investigating.

Here is a snippet from the article:

BERLIN - Authorities in southern Germany said Saturday they have taken custody of a 7-month-old boy after his parents posted an ad on eBay offering to sell him for one euro, the equivalent of $1.57.

[...]

“Offering my nearly new baby for sale, as it has gotten too loud. It is a male baby, nearly 28 inches (70 cm) long and can be used either in a baby carrier or a stroller,” police quoted the ad as reading.

[...]

The full article can be read on Yahoo! News.

Now, my parents have joked about giving me away when I was being difficult but they’ve never gone so far as to actually try to sell me.

Even if it was just a joke I don’t know how the parents could think they wouldn’t get in trouble for this. Seems pretty obvious to me that the police would come after you.

It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? I mentioned before I go through odd moods of silence, and I am going through one now. Part of me wants to keep updating this and part of me says “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

But it seems ‘tomorrow’ never comes and there hasn’t been an update since March. So instead of waiting for tomorrow, I will update today.

I am currently out of school and Spring is in full swing with suffocatingly hot weather. I want to open the window but I know the heat will be unbearable. I think it’s in the 80F outside - which is not too bad - but if we turn off the air and open the windows it will be much hotter here in the office. It is always hotter in the office.

Soon, I will be turning 21. Exciting for most people - they can legally drink! - but not a big deal to me. I don’t drink alcohol. But I should be getting a new computer which I really need.

My current one is on the verge of death. It has served me well over the years but it is time for it to be replaced with a faster and more up-to-date computer. One that doesn’t crash in the middle of me doing something.

Anyway, I have been crazy busy lately so I’m a bit out of the loop on things. I think The Last Post Wins might be back. Maybe. It seems to come and go.

If it is back I encourage everyone to go and post - maybe win some money. I’ve won several times in that game but maybe if there is more competition it will lessen my chances?!

Okay, not really. But I am going to be a tiny tiny bit healthier. Maybe.

For my Health class we had to sign a Behavior Change Contract, which basically says that for 6 weeks we’ll change something in our lives.

I have decided that I will drink no more than one soda a day.

I went through a phase in the past where I was addicted to the caffeine in Mountain Dew and would drink tons a day.  After my mom cut me off from Mountain Dew I started drinking Root Beer.

No caffeine in it so I’m not addicted but some days - especially when I’m working - I can drink a lot. And soda isn’t exactly the healthiest thing around.

So for my contract for 6 weeks (and longer if I can stick with it) I’ll limit myself to one soda a day.

So far I’m doing pretty good. I haven’t had any soda for the past few days. I’ve been wanting to cut back on my soda drinkage for awhile now but I need to make sure I have plenty of other things around to drink. Because I drink a lot.

I’m also going to maybe try to get some exercise this Spring and Summer if I can get my mom to go out walking with me. Warm weather makes me want to get out and do stuff.

So hurrah for getting a little healthier!

In other news, I’m looking around Ebay torturing myself. I’ve seen a couple things I want and I’ll think “Well I do have money in my paypal account…” ..”No! I want to save my money” … “I could buy this and then make more money…”

To buy or not to buy. Agh.

And goodbye winter!

Spring is on the way and the weather is starting to warm up. Today was pretty nice and I only hope the weather continues to be nice.

I’m sick of the bipolar winter we have here. Warm, warm, warm, cold, cold, warm, cold, cold, cold, cold, warm, warm, snowing, cold, warm. The weather can never make up it’s mind during the winter.

But now that Spring is on the way it will hopefully be warm, warm, warm. A good day is any day that it’s warm enough for me to open up the windows. I get kind of sick of feeling trapped inside all the day so opening the windows makes me feel better.

Though, the bad part of Spring is allergies. I’m sure within the next couple weeks people will be sneezing their heads off in all their stuffy nosed, teary eyed glory.

Thankfully, I do not suffer from pollen allergies. Ha!

I’ve been kind of quiet lately, eh? I’ve been in an off mood for pretty much the entire past month and going into this month. I don’t know why, but I do this all the time. I’ll be active for awhile then inactive then active then inactive.

My moods are weird.

I was hoping that I’d perk up over ‘Spring’ Break but it’s now the last day and I’m not feeling any more active. I sometimes wonder if I have a mood disorder or something. Or if I’m anemic. My mom thinks I am but I haven’t been tested yet.

Anyway, despite the fact that I feel like I’ve been doing nothing I’ve actually been working on my Jrock Gallery.  I’ve uploaded roughly over 600 images and (finally) changed the layout. That’s my ‘main’ site so it gets the bulk of my hard work.

In fact, I’m still working on it now. Waiting for someone to email me back so I can throw up some JSHOCK banners.

But it sucks when I’m in moods like this because I want to do things, but then at the same time I don’t. There are so many times where I am about to update and then I change my mind and decide ‘I don’t feel like it.’

I just hope that by the time Spring rolls around my mood will be up and active again.