John LeMasney (lemsy) is an artist, graphic designer, and technology creative. He is located in beautiful Nelson County, VA, but works remotely with ease. Contact him at: lemasney@gmail.com to discuss your next creative project.
I was given a great opportunity to teach people how to create great presentations.
TIME: January, 2013
LOCATION: METRO, NYC
The presentation I used is here:
Learn how to incorporate design elements to create captivating, memorable, and effective slide presentations. In this day long session, technology instructor John LeMasney will cover a variety of design tools and techniques, including images, colors, fonts, readability, and movement. Skill Level: Intermediate.
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How do I feel today; What did I do today?
I’ve been rather depressed lately. It’s mostly chemical-based, but there are a few stressors and other triggers that have been bringing it on. I tend to meet depression at major points of life change, and some, like the end or beginning of the year, are built-in. There’s also, though, the change that my body has gone through, and the ways in which my eating has changed for maintenance mode, rather than losing mode. One might think that the suddenly allowed addition of 700 extra calories in a day would be welcomed, but for me, it has been a fearful transition. There’s fear that my eating habits will return to the way that they were, where I eat simply because food is there, or simply because of the way that I feel, and that’s scary. I enjoy eating according to a plan, with a purpose, and to a goal, but now that the goal is reached, there is more unknown than known in the future. One might ask “Isn’t your goal now to stay where you are?” Well, yes, but there is more enjoyment in movement towards betterment (transformational) than stability in betterment (transactional), and even though I know what I must do, there is a struggle there with no clear wins or finish lines. I’ve met this depression before, when I graduated from degrees, when I accomplished other goals, and when I changed relationships. There is pain in ending, and fear in new beginnings. It works out in the end, when there is stability and familiarity in the new situation.
What or how have I been eating recently; What did I savor?
I have been eating cautiously lately, mostly whole foods, mostly vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fruit. There is joy in eating what you know, and a certain solace in the familiar.
How have I been moving?
It’s cold, and so I’ve continued to slack a bit in my movement. I’m walking about 5000 steps a day, about half of what I walk in nicer weather. I’ve been spending most of my usual walking time finishing projects and starting new work.
My FitBit profile: This is where I track my daily activity, sleep, and workouts.
My Fitness Pal food diary: This is where you can find out exactly what I ate today.
Eat Real Food by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org
Feeling: Today, I thought I might talk a bit about some of my feelings about categorizing foods into good and bad. I try to categorize food in better ways, as it’s a much more complex issue than that, and it’s generalization to group foods wholesale into moral standing. For instance, I’d rather eat foods that make me feel good than ones that don’t. I’d like to eat foods that make me satiated and energetic. I think that very often we label food bad because of the stereotype of that food, rather than the food itself. I think that the worst foods in moral standing can easily be the ones that help you stay fit. My key rule is that it’s very hard to make whole food bad.
In no case should anyone be eating any food to excess. Let’s take pizza. I’m not promoting eating a whole 16 inch pizza to anyone. I’m saying that if you have a slice or two, it need not be rubbery, overindulging, mass-produced slop, but something to savor, to luxuriate in, to benefit from.
A Pizza Hut Supreme pizza. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Eating: If all you ever ate was Pizza Hut pizza, I could understand it being referred to as a bad food. They are often thick, bready, messy takes on what can be a delicious and wholesome delight. If all you ever had ever eaten was thin crust Jersey pizza shop pizza, you’d be better off, but still I could see it as being called bad food. These pies are often more about grease and cheese and meat than the crust or tomatoes, though the crust is sometimes spectacular. My favorite pies are ones I make at home with pre-packaged naan bread (about 500 calories), topped with thinly sliced Roma tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil (50 calories for all of it), topped with 3 ciliegine mozzarella balls (60 calories). It’s whole food, it’s soft inside with a crisp crust, and it has depth of flavor. You can customize it to your every whim, and you can control exactly how it tastes, with little effort. It is in no way bad food.
Naan Pizza by John LeMasney via lemasney.com
Let’s look at fries. Skip the McDonald’s large, and julienne a single medium potato into a hot lightly oiled pan, flip until tender, add salt, and you will have a very nice treat with about 300 calories.
Moving: I’m not back up to 10,000 steps a day yet, but I got about 6,000 in yesterday.
Learning: I’m taking new approaches to project management today.
Insights:
My FitBit profile: This is where I track my daily activity, sleep, and workouts.
My Fitness Pal food diary: This is where you can find out exactly what I ate today.
LeMasney weight loss progress from April 2012 to December 2012
Feeling: I’m feeling pretty good. It’s the new year, and I reached my weight goal on Christmas. I met my goal of 200 pounds, set in April 2012, when I was 295 pounds. I was a much different person at the time, and many things have changed. At this precise moment, after just returning from a holiday trip and taking on a new maintenance calorie regiment of about 2000 calories a day after being at about 1300 calories a day, I’m full. I weighed myself this morning, and not surprisingly, I had gained a few pounds. I’m not concerned though, as the newly added maintenance calories will take a bit to work themselves out.
Eating: So far today I’ve only had coffee, but over the break I enjoyed some of the foods that I have not enjoyed in a long time, like apple crisp, brownies, petit fours, and bagels. Mostly though, I ate apples, bananas, lots of coffee, egg whites, and salads. It was nice to splurge a little, but I’m back home, and looking forward to more whole foods again. I think for lunch, I’m going to eat on campus and enjoy some salad and pizza.
Moving: It has been incredibly cold here in the Northeast, and as a result, I have walked less. I’m going to force myself to get out and move today.
Learning: I just started learning some new programming skills.
Insights: I’m happy to have reached my weight goal, and now maintenance is the new thing to learn.
My FitBit profile: This is where I track my daily activity, sleep, and workouts.
My Fitness Pal food diary: This is where you can find out exactly what I ate today.
20121231: thank you for everything by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #creativecommons #design #thanks
Thanks so much for all you do and say and are. It was a pleasure to have you here; To be with you a short while cc-by lemasney
Thanks so much for all you do and say and are. It was a pleasure to have you here; To be with you a short while cc-by lemasney
While I intend to continue to post here from time to time, this is the official last post of the second set of 365 sketches. I wanted to take this moment, at the end of 2012, to thank everyone who contributed to the project with ideas and support, patience and kindness. In many ways, this project changed, maybe saved, my life. Thanks to all of you.
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Thanks so much for all you do and say and are. It was a pleasure to have you here; To be with you a short while cc-by lemasney is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
20121230: two vices: nicotine & caffeine by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #creativecommons #design
20121230: two vices: nicotine and caffeine by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org #creativecommons #design
On nicotine and caffeine
I have had some vices in my life, including alcohol and tetrahydrocannabinol. I’ve gotten rid of most of them, and am down to these two. The nicotine is in the addictive, but fairly harmless form of an electronic cigarette. It goes really well with a large cup of freshly brewed strong coffee. I’m not advocating that you start enjoying either of these if you don’t already, or even that you continue if you do, but I do enjoy this combination, especially without the others.
