Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

MemetotheMax
Leave a comment telling me you want me to ask you questions and:
❶ I'll respond by asking you five questions to satisfy my curiosity.
❷ Update your journal with the answers to your questions.
❸ Include this explanation and offer to ask other people questions.

Questions 3-5 from inktea.

3. You have been breaking a lot in the past few years! How is your body doing nowdays?

It's true! I really wish I'd gotten the extended warranty!

Right now, I am basically as functionally healed as I will be, though the final verdict on how functional this makes me is not yet in.

My knees are somewhat more fragile than your average athletic person, and worst of all, I'm now aware of it. So is my over-protective husband. Which sucks. Also, there are some very basic things that hurt or are impossible now--squatting on my heels, getting on my hands and knees to reach something that fell under the couch, etc. My knees make horrible noises at the slightest provocation. And they ache more when I've been active, to a level that's quite uncomfortable.

My biggest problem with my body right now is my weight, which 2 knee surgeries and a prolonged inability to exercise really affected badly. I am extremely displeased with it right now. I am fat and I do not like it (this is not up for discussion; suffice it to say that I qualify by various metrics, including my own opinion, which is the important one). My new approach is to use headology to lose weight. Following the wisdom that is statistics, I now eat off smaller plates, and I'm tracking my calorie intake and exercise at http://www.sparkpeople.com. I plugged in various factors and they gave me an estimated daily calorie intake that I should aim for. It's pretty interesting learning how to weigh calorie counts of different foods, I never would have thought tortilla chips were so bad--aw, who am I kidding, it's tedious as heck. But it's working. This has led to me losing about 5 lbs in the last week-and-a-bit, so I think I'll stick with it. 5 down, 41 to go.

I'm also trying out the assortment of workout videos available from the library and Netflix, since actual class costs are not an option right now. Any money we have has better things to be doing.


Bellydance for Beginners. Fusion Fitness Pilates. (Library) Not really a good workout, though holding your arms up for an hour will become painful. Some very good stretches, and some mind-boggling muscle isolation. You haven't lived until you've seen a dozen buttocks twitching in unison. Acceptable for an off-day workout, and entertaining. Also, Phil walked in and asked, "Why are you watching porn?"


Get Ripped! To the core. (Library) Spent a lot of time swearing during this video, which is a good sign. Also, I had sore muscles for the next three days. It was a very good workout. There were some things that hurt my knees, though, so I have to figure out negotiating that.


Self Workout: Bikini Ready Fast! (Netflix) An easy workout, except for its heavy emphasis on arm workouts. Ow. My arms hurt, but the rest wasn't much affected, and there were no sore muscles the next day.

For reading through all that, here, have a bizarre kitteh exercising ad as a reward:


Also, I got my nose pierced! More about which eventually.

4. How is your photography doing these days? I haven't seen any images from you lately. Is it on the backburner?

Nope, I've been taking photos--the not posting is a side effect of my desktop computer dying. I've been trying not to upload photos to my laptop, so they've been going to the stand-alone HD, and--well, I'll get on that. Also, I've been crazy distracted, and so haven't been doing my Sunday photo safaris. That must change. But for now, let's just say--photos soon! Thanks for reminding me!

5. Zombie apocalypse. What's your plan? Where do you go, who do you take with you, do you plan for the future after zombies, or do you just try to survive as long as you can, and worry about survival later?

Jeez, die? Unfortunately, I've sorta lost contact with my heavily armed acquaintances. It really depends how fast the zombie apocalypse spreads. High ground is crucial. Y'know, grain elevators, or Arkansas mountains, depending on if we have time to go somewhere. Probably we'd head north--zombies freeze solid, right? The human brain being the wonderful squirrel wheel that it is, I imagine I'd plan like crazy, and hopefully that wouldn't get in the way of survival.

My first results said I wrote like Dan Brown. Reader, I was distraught. But then somebody else pointed out that I may have had religious symbolism in my first chapter, so I selected randomly from somewhere in the middle of Vicesteed, and the result was much, much better!

x-post LJ/Fb--

Because internet friendships (and even real-world ones) are strange things, with unexpected intimacies and startling gaps.

I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that you think should be obvious, but you have no idea about. I promise true answers.

I'm especially entertained by "Eat more old buildings" and "Go fighting three times a week."

January Fabulous party at [info]gunn and [info]ytinas's last night!
February I like the strange face flags tangled in the tree.
March [info]damninteresting may be my favorite feed right now.
April Dear body, waking me up at 3am for no damn reason is *not* a funny April Fools' joke.
May Was running around like a Mad Hatter this morning after realizing have physical therapy apt. today.
June Made editing changes to "Salvaging Scottwell" FKA "Police Bot," correcting a rather large problem with how thermal imaging *actually* works.
July 4th of July party at our place!
August Realized this morning that houseguests had No Way Out of our house except by breaking through a window.
September Added in details for a custom 404 Google widget to my "update the website" plan
October As I was biking home the other day, a girl biking on the other side of the road fell over into the parking lane in front of the court building.
November crocodile
December Instant Chrysanthemum Beverage is actually pretty good with a little lemon and sugar.

Since I have a camera now, I can actually do this! I still think it was cruel and unusual that this meme started circulating through my friends page right after my camera broke.

If you want to play this meme, take a picture of yourself right now. Don't change or edit the picture. Post it as is with these rules.

( Who comments the most on this journal? )

Of course this is skewed by how long somebody's been around, because the stats are cumulative.

Questions from utilitygeek--should have done this a while ago!

What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?
Science fiction can a) take place in the (not-immediate) future, or b) require as a plot point (or setting, but I'm more lenient than most in this) the use of some technology that may or may not exist that is used in a way it is not currently being used in.

Fantasy can a) involve magic or magical creatures, or b) take place in worlds and countries that never existed and are not science-fictional.

See also hybrids like magic realism, alternate history, and science fantasy.

What was (or is) the worst part of knee rehab?

The uncertainty. The fear that I would do something wrong while I was healing and mess it all up. Not knowing how much flexibility and strength I would get back (I still don't know).

Other than writing, what would you like to do for a living?

Photography.

Brainstorming as part of a think tank or concept-creation thing.

Making the lives and/or businesses of others run more smoothly by figuring out more efficient ways of doing things.

If you could only eat one style of food, what would it be?

Asian, probably. I don't think I could give up my stir-fry and curry.

What is something you are really, really bad at, but enjoy anyway?

Difficult to come up with something here--I tend to cut my losses if I'm not improving. Dancing? I don't think I'm that bad, but I'm certainly not "good". Martial arts? I don't think I'm in the "really, really bad" category, but it's one area where there's a huge gap between where I should be (by my standards and probably those of others) and where I am.


I believe this is one of those memes where if you want questions, you can comment and I'll ask.

From that What you don't post about and should meme. See, I get around to it when I have time! Also still accepting challenges if anybody else has any.

WHY you write.
I started writing because I was frustrated by an inadequate supply of the sorts of stories I wanted to read, and I didn't like the endings of some of the stories I had. So I rewrote them the way that *I* wanted it to end.

At some point, I had the inevitable "I can write better than that" epiphany while reading a published work. I also had lots of encouragement from my parents, and even from one English teacher who took me aside after class and asked if I'd ever thought of becoming a writer when I grew up.

The real reason that I write so tenaciously, though, is because at some point it dug itself into my psyche so deeply that I have problems when I don't write. Around college and a little after, I would whine about wanting to write or not writing...but I didn't actually *do* much. I was also frustrated, depressed, and not a little psycho. Those who knew me then might have just shuddered a little as they read that! Eventually, I got called on it.

So I started writing again. And things got better. Because basically, some part of my psyche is so tied up in being a writer, in creating, that when I'm not writing, I get frustrated and depressed and start feeling like my life has no point and no purpose and I'm accomplishing nothing, just treading water. I feel trapped and desperate and meaningless. Bad Times.

A light bulb went off. Aha! And so, as part of my ongoing attempt to maintain sanity and meaning in my life, I write.

Giant sandwiches.

I'm quite fond of giant sandwiches. Really. I think they're delicious. Especially when somebody brings the "party-sized" ones to an event? They're best after they've sat out for a couple of hours and are room-temperature and the flavors have "cured" a little. Also? I can't see food go to waste (v. poor growing up, lived in Africa, too, etc.), so these giant sandwich remnants will frequently come home with me.