We got a conviction: Attempted First Degree Murder of a Police Officer. Sentencing is Dec 21st, and he's looking at 24-99 for that one. HA!

I've been hearing and seeing a lot of stuff about how the majority of the population is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from the 9-11 attacks. I've been mulling over this for a while, mostly because I have not felt at all "post-traumatically stressed." Yeah, there's all sorts of insane shit on the news, and yeah, we're at war, but I don't feel like I'm personally traumatized or unable to function normally. Of course the snap "diagnosis" would be to say I'm in denial of what's been happening, but after much thought, I really don't believe that to be the case. I think, rather, that I don't feel drastically different for two reasons: First off, I've been on the "front lines" for two years now, and let me tell you, just because thousands of people were killed horrifically in New York and Washington, that didn't mean the other, "smaller" wars suddenly stopped. We're still dealing with burglaries, robberies and thefts... still dealing with violent crimes and drug use... a father shot his wife and two children, then called 911 to tell them what he'd done before shooting himself... a crackhead beat his girlfriend to death, hitting her so hard he split her liver in two... houses continued to be rolled in toilet paper during homecoming season. Secondly, while I grieve deeply for the 71 police officers and agents killed during the attacks, one must realize that over a hundred officers had already been killed in the line of duty this year prior to 9-11. There's far more danger of me being hurt or killed in my normal line of work than there is of me being hurt or killed by a terrorist attack. I've already looked down the barrel of a gun that was pointed at me. Survived it. Got on with my life. Kept going.

This pic is one that was snapped after it was discovered that a friend had brought his digital camera to the gym. The woman on the left is Felicia, who is wanting to compete in a fitness competition or two next summer as well. (I'm the one on the right!) If I look somewhat bedraggled, it's because I was about 3/4 of the way through a very intense leg workout. (Said workout left me so sore that I ended up resorting to ibuprofen after the fourth day of soreness. Okay, maybe I pushed a bit too hard!) Felicia is in about the same boat I was in last year, bodyfat-wise. I have put back on some bodyfat since this summer, but I've been fairly succesful at staying within about 10 pounds of where I'll probably need to be for next summer's contest. My goal for this fall has been to just pile on as much muscle as I possibly can...which isn't going to be a grotesque amount no matter how hard I work--don't worry, guys! I don't have the genetics for Big Muscle, and I have no desire to do steroids. However, I'm seeing nice results through a lot of hard work, heavy weights, and decent nutrition. I'm eating a lot of carbs--trying to stay with complex as much as possible, though I do let myself cheat every now and then--so that I have plenty of energy for my workouts. One of the reasons I'm wearing the tank top in the above picture is because my six-pack is GONE!! Still, I'm pleased with how I look, and I know that come January I'll be able to start cutting it down again. (Which is why I'm allowing myself the occasional cheat day now--just a few more months and there will be no cheat days!)

Kelly and I were working out the other day, and we got into a conversation about health and fitness and diseases, and I made the comment that I'd recently read that regular exercise can reduce a the risk of breast cancer by as much as 50%. "Well duh!" Kelly replied. "That's because you lose half your breasts!"