Bitter uprising

My stomach hurts when I sneeze. I think I did too many plank exercises… then again, it does feel good and I suppose I can expect some more prominent abdominal muscles now. You can tell you’ve had a good workout when you’re sore. Hah! Time to run up some stairs.

So I read that if you’re heavier, you burn more calories than someone skinnier if you’re doing the same thing. Well, I’m thin, so I guess I don’t burn many calories and perhaps that’s why I don’t gain much weight if I don’t exercise… and if I do, there isn’t really a difference. I think it’s just good to exercise to keep in shape. You have to move some time. I don’t exercise a lot but it’s certainly not good to be sitting at the computer all the time.

I had my presentation on Tuesday. It went pretty shit, to be honest. I thought I’d be an idiot (again) and try to talk spontaneously. I had no speech prepared, I had my Powerpoint slides and some notes on paper (which I didn’t even use) and I just got up there and talked. I figured that if I was interested in my topic I would be fine and I wouldn’t have a care in the world – I’d just fly through.

Everyone else made me feel shit, because they were obviously more prepared. Ryan said mine was good. I don’t think so. My presentation was on Twitter and the imagined audience, as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts. I guess I had good ground, something really unique, but to be honest, the presentation itself sucked, and I said “um” about twenty times. Which, as you can tell, is bad.

My tutor for that subject is also rather by-the-book, and old-fashioned. :( Last year I had tutors who were keen on asking questions and making the presentations more interactive, and getting to know more about students’ projects. I felt so cramped during this presentation, intimidated, like I was going to be judged. Of course I’m going to be judged and marked on it, but ugh. Very uncomfortable. I’m just glad that it’s all over.

Four assignments to go.

Since I didn’t get to see James that day as he had other things to do, I had the pleasure of going home early. I sat on the train on a seat that was meant for two people. Quite naturally, I hogged it up… pretended to sleep when people walked past… because I didn’t want anyone to sit next to me. I admit it. I don’t like sitting so close to strangers on public transport.

I felt bad because before I pretended to sleep, I saw an elderly man walking up the stairs. :X

I opened my eyes a little later on, after Graham Coxon’s Bittersweet Bundle of Misery stopped playing in my ears from my phone. Another ten minutes of the train ride, and I just spent it staring out the window.

I saw the elderly man shuffle past, going back down the stairs. He must not have found a comfortable seat.

When the train nearly arrived at my stop, I was about to exit my seat when I saw the man again. I stopped, and let him through, but he refused to go past first. I only thought it was polite.

He was smiling with crooked teeth and insisted I go through first. I didn’t quite hear what he said over Graham Coxon but I said a quiet “thank you” and walked out. I often see old people as weak, a bit mean, and to be given respect without earning it.

I think this man earned it. He made me smile. :)

Comments on this post

Hm, if the burning calories thing is true that makes so much sense because I’m small and I don’t put weight on at all. It’s easier for me to lose weight then to put it on. Whenever I did presentations I never really put a speech together or anything. The most I’d do is write a few points down and just go with it. And I’m sure you’re just being hard on yourself and your presentation was fine. :) Friday night I met an older man walking with a cane down the sidewalk as we sat on the sidewalk. He stopped and asked if there was a show and we all said yes. He looked at two of our shirts. One girls had peace signs on it and mine had the O & X logo. He asked if they really had a message. The girl spoke up and said “Yes, it’s about equailty justice and peace”. The man said “That’s great. I was alive in the 60s and it’s great to see young people still fighting for what’s right”. Normally older people just put their nose in the air and walk past. He was awesome.

Old people, i live in Boca Raton and i everyone here is old. Stay away :) However, it is alway brave to get up there and just do it. Of course, the polished and refined your presentation, the better it sells to the crowd. But it becomes nothing more than a stage act. It takes courage to wing it and over time, you will be better at doing it that way. Believe me if the man with 44 powerpoint slides is asked something he did not cover, he will not know how to roll with it.

Well that’s good your exercising! You’re gonna be tank with an 8-pack when you’re done. :P I don’t exercise too much, I walk a lot though so I guess that counts. I have a small frame too so if I were not to exercise I wouldn’t gain much weight. But sometimes ectomorphs (type of body type, I think you have this type of body type), they still look fit, but their stomachs just get larger, but like their legs, arms, and everything else looks fine. I guess it just shows how you can look skinny, but you’re not necessarily “in shape”.

I’m sure you did fine. :D Wow – four? You’ll finish them in no time. :) I’d feel embarrassed to pretend to sleep, but that’s a good idea for later so I can use in the future! Well, the people you see on the train you’re probably not going to see again, so I guess it’s okay. Same with me, I don’t like sitting beside strangers, I just feel awkward, I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. Aw, lol. Well, atleast that gave him an excuse to exercise! :)

Well, that’s nice what the elderly man did. And I guess I have that “stereotype” on seniors too, that they’re weak, mean yes, kind of like grumpy sometimes (some of them), and that’s true about the respect thing. I don’t really know why though, about the respect thing, maybe because they’re older and the saying you’re use to, “respect your elders”? Or maybe it’s just that they’ve “gone through they’re years” (I can’t really explain, like they’ve experienced so much considering they’re way older than you are), that they kind of earn the respect of others automatically.

By the way, you probably saw me tweet you this but, our font has been uploaded to DaFont. Let’s hope it gets lots of downloads! http://www.dafont.com/georginas-hand.font

I love it when my abs are sore! sign of a good workout. yes, the bigger you are, the harder your body has to work. and muscle burns more calories than fat. that’s why men can eat more. they suck like that.

yay for sweet old men. long as they’re not creepy old men :P

First off, I’d like to give you massive kudos for even exercising! LOL. I’ve been trying to do the same and lose some weight, but it’s definitely harder when you don’t really have massive weight to lose. My goal is about 4 kilos. I’ve taken to download an app called “Noom” to push me to exercise more 🙄

Sorry that everyone didn’t appreciate your presentation. Does it count for a huge part of your grade? I hate public speaking. I feel like my brain shuts down & I tend to always have cards in hand & I practice like crazy. I definitely admire your going up there and speaking as it comes to you. That doesn’t come naturally to me, so GOOD FOR YOU! ♥

Sorry to hear about your presentation, and I hope it wasn’t as bad as you thought! I get anxiety attacks at the mere prospect of having to talk in front of my peers, so I can relate with disliking them and having to “um” your way through some parts. I remember having to do a presentation my freshman year, when I was still ridiculously self-conscious of my English-speaking skills (since it isn’t my first language), and it was horrible for me (although my classmates didn’t seem to think so, for some reason…). I spent the next couple of years avoiding presentations as much as I could, hahaha, although a business writing class that I took my senior year helped a bit. ^_^

I’m a blobby lazy sod. I would love to exercise….but I don’t. I play rugby a lot, but I don’t count it as exercise really. I’m not sure why!
I’m sure your presentation went better than you think, you don’t have to worry. Other people may have been more prepared, but if yours was a unique topic, it would be more difficult to create a similar presentation to more…usual topics? That made sense in my head sorry! Anyway, I’m sure there’s no need for you to worry.

You have an upstairs on trains? That’s amazing! I know exactly what you mean, frequently old people cause problems on the bus, but that man sounds nice and polite!

Good luck with the rest of your assignments!

Hmm, I don’t think that you burn more calories when fat than when thin, and the reason I saw this is because muscle burns more calories than fat. Therefore, a person with more muscle would lose weight/burn my calories than someone who is fat & out of shape.

Good luck finishing up your last four projects! ^.^

Look at you working on those abs! I should probably do the same; as part of my marathon training, I should definitely work on improving my core and upper body strength. I have actually felt the rest of my body start to give out before my legs during long runs or bike rides, and I can’t let that happen! Plus, who doesn’t want an awesome set of abs?

I do the same thing with most of my presentations. I don’t prepare actual things to say and just kind of let myself be guided by my presentation slides. It never seems to go as well as I envision it. Hopefully yours actually went better than you thought; after all, you are your own worst critic, and only you know what you left out or forgot to say.

I also don’t like when strangers sit next to me on public transportation, particularly after a long day. Fortunately that never happened to me last summer when I took the train to and from work because not that many people took that train at that time. However, when I take the bus to and from campus in the winter, about half the time I do wind up having someone next to me. Oh well, it’s a short trip, and it doesn’t bother me that much.

I feel like I stereotype old people into two types: sweet and adorable, or stubborn and grumpy. I much prefer the former, haha.

Aw that reminds me I’m so out of shape. I mean, I can barely go up 4 flights of stairs now … I actually have done 8 before in high school in one breath because of the 4 minutes between class thing. I certainly spend too much time in front of the computer but there’s just so much to do! :P

Honestly I think many people don’t even pay attention to presentations so in the end you’re just talking to the teacher. :P As long as the teacher thinks it’s good then you’re all good. You know, a lot of people say um every other minute. Or maybe Americans are slow. It’s not unusual when you’re nervous though.

Sounds like a nice elderly man. Most old people are naggy and talk too much. Not necessarily mean though, I think people are mean based on gender in relation to age and culture. Complicated stuff I won’t rant into it. ^^

I’m doing a lot of core exercises lately and usually after the Zumba or Spinning classes.

I like to talk, but honestly when it comes to presentations I usually get nervous and forget some lines even though I came prepared.

Regarding with public transportation, I’m not really fond as well of sitting next to total strangers unless if they’re smoking hot hahahahah. My classmate told us something funny when she took the bus to school. The bus was full and there was an elderly woman standing, so my classmate offered her seat, but she got berated by the elderly woman who was somehow offended by the gesture. The woman said, “Do I look old to you?” lol

i wish i was like u and didnt put that much weight on but yet again i dont eat that much i just dont have a good matabolism (hope i spelled that right). i hated prsentations because i was never prepared and i almost everytime read my presentation lol. old people make me laugh because they dont understand us new generation groups lol, i love my gran she makes me laugh everytime. good luck with the rest of your assignments

Okay, I’ll be honest: I’m lazy. It’s almost the end of May, and one of my goals was to start working out. I have not. So kudos to you for working out! /bounce

Sorry about your presentation not going so well. I can relate. Before a presentation, I have all these witty things I’m going to say to make the audience laugh, as well as make my presentation come off as serious and thought-provoking. But then I get up there and everyone is staring and I’m all “um” and “so” and “yeeeeeah.” Then I walk off and think of all the things I could’ve done instead of saying “um” and “so” every other word. /bash It’s a curse, really. I wish you the best of luck on your next presentations, though. Hopefully those will be better than this one, at least in your own opinion. :)

Old people are incredibly cute. Though sometimes they’re crotchety and rude, they are also very nice people who happen to have feelings too. They’re also very pleased when you’re young and defy the We Don’t Give a Shit About Respecting Old People Because We’re Young and They’re Old stereotype. It makes me wonder how I will act when I’m older…you know? /ehh

I did the same thing on my last presentation. I hadn’t done a presentation in ages, but I thought I’d be fine with spontaneity since I’d become more spontaneous in my life in general. Well, I was totally wrong. I managed to get a good grade because my project itself was decent and apparently I make delightfully cartoonish faces when I’m in a jam. Marvelous.

But hey, at least it’s over. Maybe you did much better than you think. You never know when you could be pleasantly surprised. Whenever I think I did poorly on something, I just try to scope out all the flaws in everyone else’s projects or presentations. It’s cruel, yes. But it could make you feel a hell of a lot better.

Ha! I remember using the sleeping trick on the bus. I used to just stick my bag next to me and hope no one would ask, but they always do. I think I’m one of those people that looks like a nice seatmate since there’s nothing particularly obnoxious or offensive about me. People eventually got wise to my act, though, so I had to suck it up. Ah, well.

I adore old people! Well, not all of them. I like the ones that are still “with it” and have that jolly, senior citizen vibe. I volunteered at an old folks home once and it was a disappointment. Those aren’t happy old people. But when my grandma takes me to church? GOLD MINE. They’re all fabulous there. I can see why most people dislike the elderly, though. Many of them are cranky and they smell funky.

Cheap jeans are wonderful! Actually anything cheap is wonderful. :D

Routine is utterly boring…I don’t get why some people do the same thing everyday at the exact same time…oh well :/ Isn’t uni more flexible than school? When are you graduating? :D

Argh :/ I hate people who are like that. (Fakes and secretive behaviour). Someone in our group is like that and our group is actually at war again…there’s a lot of tension and it’s driving a wedge between that person or those people and the rest of us. /bash

Thanks :D It’s for City2Surf. Do you know about that? ^^

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Sorry, but when I first read that you were doing plank exercises, it reminded me of planking! & Good on you for doing all this exercise! :D I’m definitely going to try and get out there and do more sport…haha I need it…

Aww, sorry about your presentation. I couldn’t have been that bad! Best of luck with that and all your other assignments :( They seem to pile up, don’t they? D:

I don’t mind sitting with randoms on the train – as long as they aren’t obnoxious. But it’s good to see that there are still people that respect old people out there :)

Working out sounds like fun, and I’m sure my overweight brother (he’s mostly just big and eats a lot) will be more than happy to hear that strange little fact about heavier people losing weight quicker/easier/etc.

In my speech class I had learned that speeches and presentations should always be planned and that you should take a lot of time – my last one? Yeah, that was such a fail. Haha.

Hm. At least your break is almost here, though, right? :3

Different elderlies act differently. Not all are crabby, but not all aren’t so crabby, either.

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Yeah, a lot of people’s “commenting etiquette” articles are very hit-worthy, or at least that’s how it makes me feel. In their articles they state that, if someone takes the time to comment your blog, you have to comment said commenter back on their blog – not your own – because otherwise it’s “rude” and disrespectful. Okay? No, it’s not. Not to me, at least… Also, some articles say that if you don’t have enough time to return a lot of comments then you shouldn’t have/keep a blog at all… I don’t really talk to them.

I’ve recently been questioning my blogging friendship/buddy system/thing with various bloggers I often comment. For many (the one that have the “rules”), I feel like I’m just another statistic on their hit counter and/or another person to visit their blog that day and raise the number of views on that entry. It’s really annoying. I use UserOnline, WordPress Popular Posts Stats and Count Per Day, but it’s merely out of curiosity. It’s for merely me to see and know about, unless it’s casually brought up in a conversation. It’s just for me – not for the public eye.

Kind of makes me wonder if I should just … reply directly on my blog from now on. People are so ill-mannered about comments these days. Just because they comment my blog post(s) doesn’t mean I “owe” them anything. D: I just feel like I’m being used.

Although receiving comments back is nice, I really don’t mind if you just reply to me via your blog, especially if it is easier/easier for you. o.o

To be honest, I’ll probably end up going on hiatus. /faw

You definitely burn more calories if you’re heavier. If you’re trying to lose weight, the more weight you have to lose, the easier it is to see initial results. Makes sense, as it takes more effort to move a bigger body around.

You are always your worst judge of your own presentations, and I think that it goes that way for everybody. But believe me, you couldn’t have been that bad. I have seen professional presentations (by engineers and mathematicians), that had bad slides, were unrehearsed, and almost incomprehensible.

For me the worst part of presentations is when people ask me questions. This could just be characteristic of engineering in general, but I’m always afraid that somebody is going to tear me apart in the middle of my presentation. Anyways, I’ll stop rambling now…