Sketches of Life

Avatar.

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:23:20 GMT

Someone actually took credit for writing this cliche ridden stuff? Ok. so the effects were good, and Sigourney Weaver is always hot to watch. But really, the story was unimaginative, and the lines were all predictable, recycled garbage. Boo. I had such hopes.

The Closer

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:49:47 GMT

I'm still trying to figure out what it was about last night's episode that bugged me so much about this otherwise stellar show. Maybe it was Jeff Bridges' unplucked eyebrows, or his makeup applying technique, the feeling that I kept getting that he was phoning it in or playing for laughs, or both. The team and Brenda's reaction also bugged me some. I couldn't shake the feeling that it was insincere and indulgent."There there, now that He's a She, let's all give a great big PC smile". But then again, that is most likely the actual reaction of people in the real world.

Owww...

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:46:06 GMT

I get these new enthusiasms that tends to take over me. Sometimes they stick around. Mostly, they don't. But however long it lasts, I have fun in that period. It's something I look forward to doing, something to inspire, and something to stave of the boredom. It's the times when I don't have anything whirling around in my head that I tend to withdraw into myself and get all gloomy and depressed and positively anti-social. Not fun.

So I'm glad that I've kept myself busy with one thing or the other since I moved in. First, it was painting my cheap craigslist desk (I'd never really done the Home Depot round before!). Then I built a couple of mini-bookcases, which involved a return to Home Depot (or Dyke Mart, as T calls it) and lugging home a couple of wooden planks cut to size, and some more paint. There was also the part where I plucked up the courage to bike all the way to work (2.5 miles) through the busy roads, and actually surviving (srsly, Cali drivers are too nice. If I had tried that in Chicago, I'd have been roadkill long ago).

This past week, it's been all about my shoes (yes, this is another VFF post. I won't blame you if you start thinking that your Flist needs a trim). I've steadily been getting myself comfortable in them, walking around and waiting for my feet to get acclimated. I'm surprised how quickly that has happened. All the researching and reading running forums and that damned book finally got to me, and I decided last night that I'd try one more time to start running again. I've never been successful before, never got to a point where I could sustain a run for more than two minutes.

So I set off this afternoon, thinking to go about a couple of miles and see how I fared. It was an hour and a half before I got back, and my calves were beginning to feel it. I walked waaaay more than I ran, pacing myself so I wouldn't overdo and exhaust myself. It was such a gorgeous, mild, though cloudy afternoon, with intermittent showers. Part of the route was a pebbled trail. Most of it was on sidewalks, which were covered by carpets of gorgeous fall colored leaves blown down by the rain. I felt like a kid half the time, running through them, feeling them a little damp under my toes. I could feel myself grinning like an idiot, getting weird looks from people in passing cars. Around the return stretch, my calf muscles were beginning to twinge with soreness, but it was pleasant ache. They were definitely woken up, and that kinda added to the fun of it.

When I got home, I was curious to know the actual distance of the little trek, plugging the route into google maps, and was stunned to see it was 5.5 miles! W00t! I don't remember ever going that far in my previous attempts. Not on a single stretch, without a break for rest or water. Awesome. The bottom of my feet felt just fine from all that almost barefooting. Just a little expected soreness from all those unused, waking muscles ... which is making it very hard for me to get my butt off this chair as I'm suddenly very stiff and oww owww owwwww...

I am officially addicted ...

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:41:39 GMT

.. To my VFFs. I haven't worn any of my sneakers this past week. I even tried running for a couple of minutes in them tonight, and I felt fine (even though it probably looked dumb as I was carrying my kindle in one hand, and a carton of icecream in the other, and wearing a rain jacket). I could never learn the midfoot technique with my sneakers. I'd always hit the heel, and I'd feel it after a few steps. The VFFs make you a natural midfoot runner. There's no choice. You'll feel the jarring if you land on your heel. I am seriously interested in trying to start running. Again. I've tried twice before, and have never managed to keep it up for more than a few days. Maybe this time, I'll do better. And I'm almost feeling like a cultist for reading this. Damned inspirational stories and the way they make you want to do things that aren't really sane.

So is anyone actually using Google Wave?

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:16:04 GMT

I know some of my f-listers have it. Are any of you actually making use of it? I found this article on Lifehacker with user suggestions on some of the ways to utilize it. The one that caught my attention was the collaborative storytelling. It could be an excellent way for ralst to crack the whip at her minions, or tossing around ideas. I was also thinking that it would have been great to have around back in the old drinky days. Or during any of the footy tournaments we've been watching (I miss that!).

Anyway, back to the question. Who's been using it, and how? And does anyone want invites? I have spares.

Dude! They're fun!

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:30:36 GMT

I retrieved my long awaited mail from the realty office this morning (got home too late for that last night. Grrr!), and could hardly wait until I got to work to try it on. It's fun to see all the "what the heck is THAT??!!" reactions. I guess I just established my dorky credentials here.

So far, they're comfy. It took me a little while to get adjusted to the feeling of it, and it's fine. It's slightly snug on my 3rd and 4th toes (I seem to have rather long toes), but it's not too bad, and I think a little wearing would make it sit better. I walked around a little in the office, and to the cafeteria to get lunch, and they feel fine. I can feel my toes spread out a little more while walking, to gain a better balance. I wish I could wear it when I'm heading home this evening, to see how it feels on a longer walk, but it'll be little too chilly for that by then. Guess I'll have to go for a long walk in the weekend.

ETA: And for trancer21 and dathon , the toe separation thing really doesn't bug me at all. It feels very natural.

It's in the mail!!!

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:50:52 GMT

I've been drooling over this for so long! In my defense, this is all in aid of my fitness regimen ~~and not just because it's so geeky cool~~. I really wanted the KSO version, but it's been out of stock forever (or atleast since I managed to scrape the money for it), and I'm too impatient to wait until then, so I'm going with the Sprint.

In other news, the good and bad part about my work is that it's not a strict 9-5 schedule. On one hand, I can saunter in around 10 in the morning, and head out to the gym by 4:30. On the other, I might be spending most of the night prepping for meeting with the China team, which could go on as late as 10 pm or even midnight. So there go my TV watching plans if I ever had any. *sigh* I'm so darn sleepy.

I'm having fun biking into work these days. Downside is that I have to pack a change of clothes on top of my heavy laptop, as I'd be dripping sweat by the time I get to work. I'm ok with showering twice a day, but twice in the morning is too much. I'll have to rethink my strategy.

Criminal Minds.

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:21:05 GMT

I'm really kinda out of the fanfic world and might be late catching up on stuff, but does this mean it's canon now?

Huh?

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 22:46:45 GMT

Can someone please tell me when plaids and flannell became cool again? I thought it was dyke uniform! I'm getting fashion confusion here.

In related shopping news, the sucky thing about being short and losing weight is that you can't look in the clearance section for pants that actually fit you well.

Wine Rec

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:16:43 GMT

Don Rodolfo Torrontes from Argentina.

I'm usually not a fan of whites, but I have to recommend this one. A good pizza always requires a white wine as accompaniment, so I opened this one yesterday to go with my Chicken Bruschetta pizza (yum). It's really smooth, and there were no hints of a headache or any sense of dullness in the morning. Just perfect. My kind of wine.

Audiobooks give you a different perspective ...

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:28:17 GMT

For instance, every time I hear the sentence "Harry felt anger boiling/bubbling in the pit of his stomach", or its various, and not very varied versions, my disappointment with JKRs writing increases. She's an amazing and inventive storyteller, but her descriptions of the reactions of Harry, Ron and Hermione at facing various situations can get one-dimensional and repetitive. I never really noticed it when I read the books, but now it's hard to get past it without wanting to hurl something.

Catching Up.

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:13:05 GMT

First things first - Happy Birthday, THI! I guess it's kinda belated. I haven't been on the interwebs very frequently in the last few days. Hope there was lots of booze and strippers ;-)

I'm sitting outside a starbucks, just off of Castro street in SF, watching people go by. It's all pretty and hilly and lively and maybe a little touristy. I like the fact that there are so many people walking around on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. After running around the last couple of days looking for an apartment and getting a little familiar with San Jose, I decided to take advantage of my free day to come over here. After 8 years of living in Republican land, I needed it bad. Watching hot dykes making out on the subway was definitely a good start.

Walking around in San Jose is a completely different, though equally awesome experience. You know you're in Silicon Valley when you keep coming across companies whose software you have pirated at some point in your life. I was very, very tempted to open up my torrents delivered copy of photoshop while waiting for my bus to Santa Clara at the stop outside Adobe.

whimper

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:35:21 GMT

WANT! WANT! WANT! WANT!

If this thing works as shown in the video, I won't even give the apple tablet a single glance. It's practically geekgasmic!

asdf

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:12:59 GMT

I loathe packing.

Oh Otalia!

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:40:39 GMT

What a sad thing to realize that I was giving the same treatment to your scenes as those of Reva: Fast Forward. If I had to hear Natalia say "we're a family!" one more time with the perky smile and without looking like she wanted to kiss the hell out of Olivia's gorgeous lips, I would have had to hurl something at my very expensive and precious 40-inch teevee. So much promise, so much fail!

Is there any hope for the new fall season? Anything?

The Closer.

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:02:23 GMT

Can someone please write Brenda/Captain Raydor fic? I hadn't kept up with the show the last couple of seasons, but now it looks like it's getting better and better. Also, there can never be enough Mary McDonnell on my screen. I love it that they paired two strong female actors/characters to go up against each other. We don't get enough of that on TV.

Women's Soccer: US vs Canada

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:32:54 GMT

On ESPN, 3 pm eastern/ 2 central.

It's been a while since I had a chance to watch the women play. It'll be good to catch up.

I wanna be a fly on the wall.

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:22:31 GMT

Becks and Landycakes to have a throwdown.

Oh My God!

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:54:49 GMT

Torchwood tore my heart! Practically fucking sank its claws in and ripped it to shreds. I couldn't stop the tears rolling down my face. Actual freaking big fat rolling drops of tears! I think I'll need the whole damned weekend to recover from this.

It's all ralst 's fault for reminding me about the new season.

Note to lady at the Gym:

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:55:00 GMT

Leotards are so 80s. Srsly.

- This tweenerspeak is brought to you my Geeky's bleeding eyes.

Gratuitous Scully Post: Spooky Scully

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:13:23 GMT

Underwhelmed.

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:36:41 GMT

I can't stand to watch most Bollywood movies. A lot of it has to do with the seriously crappy acting, cheesy dialogues, campy melodrama and lack of logic. I know all that could be very amusing, but I just.can't.sit.throught.it!!! It's literally like nails on a chalkboard for me. It's one of the reasons I couldn't really watch Xena.

It's why I'm having a really, really hard time watching Merlin. I'm trying to catch up on the DVR'd episodes, and now I remember why I didn't bother downloading it when it originally aired after the first couple of episodes. I'm just sad to see Giles reduced to this. Oh, and Michelle Ryan sucks even on this show. Bionic Woman was doomed the moment she was cast in it.

Palin Resigns As Governor!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:03:01 GMT

Pass the popcorn. This will be loads of fun to watch.Speculations are ranging from potentially huge upcoming scandal, to presidential bid. Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC saying that according to close Palin sources, she's quitting politics. Say it ain't so! That would break T's heart if her favorite girl quits.

I'm .... speechless!

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:45:40 GMT

Robo Geisha!

Oh, The Humanity!

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:26:32 GMT

I bought a hairband today. A couple of months ago, I gave in and bought a hair brush. I haven't had to own either for over 10 years!!! It's a weird feeling for me, getting used to this growing ... thing. I feel like I'm losing my identity and morphing into something quite unknown. The hairband was necessary to keep my hair out of my eyes at the gym. I was just so freaking tired of being half blinded by this thick curtain of unruly hair flopping infront of my face!

*sigh*

On the good news front, I've lost over 7 lbs since I started going to the gym and watching what I ate. I don't think I've been in this decent a shape for a few years. I'm fitting again into my size sixes (though still a touch strained). And my arms are actually showing some muscle tone. They've got a long way to go to get to Michelle O levels of hotness, but I see a glimmer in the dark. So, inspite of the fact that I am learning of the existence of hidden muscles in my body by the ache I feel in them, I'm a little bit proud of myself, and not avoiding looking at the mirror so much. The extra pounds show up very badly on my small frame, so it's good to feel them melting away. And my knee feels just a little stronger. So it's a win all around.

Except for the hair ... I'm still doubtful about that.