I love the fact that I have some friends that feel that I'm the kind of person that they can talk to and trust enough to tell personal things to. That makes me very happy.
Having said that...holy cow. There are just some things you never expect to know.
And that's all I have to say about that.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING
1) I'm so excited about the new Hunger Games movie that will be coming out soon! I mean, I'm not going to wear a bow and arrow to the theater or anything, but I'm excited. The books were phenomenal, and that isn't something I usually say about YA books. I got these books because my sister told me that my oldest nephew, Logan, liked them. I figured that if the book could hold a non-reader's attention long enough to finish the series, I should try them. I'm so glad I did. :)
One funny thing I've noticed about the whole deal, though, is that so much of the marketing of the movie has become a reflection of some of the aspects of the book itself. On purpose or not, the author paints a picture of a society where materialism, marketing, and entertainment have become a driving force for the government of Panem, which, if you aren't familiar with the books, is a future, dystopian United States that was fractured after some cataclysmic war. A great deal of time is spent detailing the frivolous lives of the people who spend so much money advertising and promoting the hunger games, not to mention the people who go nuts watching the thing and buying products either promoted by the games, or by the winner. Just in the last couple of days I've seen an influx of merchandise that promotes the movie, as well as things like "Train Like a Tribute" exercise classes, hairstyles and clothing, and even a wedding photo shoot (not for an actual wedding, mind you, just an artistic shoot) on styles based on the book and movie. It's become this huge thing, and it's almost funny how closely it parallels the story.
It's kind of mind blowing, really, when you realize that the subject matter of the books is basically children murdering each other in almost Roman gladiatorial games types of ways. It's a brutal story. However, I completely understand the marketing and all that, since they've got to make their money. I just wonder how many of them realize that they are promoting a movie that is basically mocking them?
2) I think I'm the only person in my gym that sweats. Well, me and this tiny, Indian lady who runs on the treadmill. I'm not kidding, I'm starting to get a complex. I see people working as hard, if not harder than me and they look like they just stepped out of a freezer or something, and I'm sweating like crazy. Of course, I suppose if I didn't sweat I'd die of overheating, so I guess I should be glad for my own sake that it's happening. Yuck, though...
3) I'm currently following a gimmick Twitter feed about the Titanic. (@TitanicRealTime) It's interesting, because it is basically supposed to look as if someone, or different someones, are doing a Twitter feed during the actual building and maiden voyage of the Titanic. They talk about how the building is going, they post pictures, and talk about the different luxuries and such that the Titanic offers. I've got to wonder, though, how far they'll take it? Will they be tweeting about how the ship is sinking, or how the back is starting to raise out of the water, and the ship breaks in half? Honestly, if we are pretending that people from the Titanic are tweeting the events, at what point should these imaginary people just put their iPhones (iTelegraphs?) away and get into the stinking lifeboats already!!! My personal hope is that the last tweet will be something along the lines of "Well, I guess this is it. None of the lifeboats came back, so I guess I'm going to freeze to death in the frigid waters of the north Atlantic. I REGRET NOTHING!!!! #glub"
One funny thing I've noticed about the whole deal, though, is that so much of the marketing of the movie has become a reflection of some of the aspects of the book itself. On purpose or not, the author paints a picture of a society where materialism, marketing, and entertainment have become a driving force for the government of Panem, which, if you aren't familiar with the books, is a future, dystopian United States that was fractured after some cataclysmic war. A great deal of time is spent detailing the frivolous lives of the people who spend so much money advertising and promoting the hunger games, not to mention the people who go nuts watching the thing and buying products either promoted by the games, or by the winner. Just in the last couple of days I've seen an influx of merchandise that promotes the movie, as well as things like "Train Like a Tribute" exercise classes, hairstyles and clothing, and even a wedding photo shoot (not for an actual wedding, mind you, just an artistic shoot) on styles based on the book and movie. It's become this huge thing, and it's almost funny how closely it parallels the story.
It's kind of mind blowing, really, when you realize that the subject matter of the books is basically children murdering each other in almost Roman gladiatorial games types of ways. It's a brutal story. However, I completely understand the marketing and all that, since they've got to make their money. I just wonder how many of them realize that they are promoting a movie that is basically mocking them?
2) I think I'm the only person in my gym that sweats. Well, me and this tiny, Indian lady who runs on the treadmill. I'm not kidding, I'm starting to get a complex. I see people working as hard, if not harder than me and they look like they just stepped out of a freezer or something, and I'm sweating like crazy. Of course, I suppose if I didn't sweat I'd die of overheating, so I guess I should be glad for my own sake that it's happening. Yuck, though...
3) I'm currently following a gimmick Twitter feed about the Titanic. (@TitanicRealTime) It's interesting, because it is basically supposed to look as if someone, or different someones, are doing a Twitter feed during the actual building and maiden voyage of the Titanic. They talk about how the building is going, they post pictures, and talk about the different luxuries and such that the Titanic offers. I've got to wonder, though, how far they'll take it? Will they be tweeting about how the ship is sinking, or how the back is starting to raise out of the water, and the ship breaks in half? Honestly, if we are pretending that people from the Titanic are tweeting the events, at what point should these imaginary people just put their iPhones (iTelegraphs?) away and get into the stinking lifeboats already!!! My personal hope is that the last tweet will be something along the lines of "Well, I guess this is it. None of the lifeboats came back, so I guess I'm going to freeze to death in the frigid waters of the north Atlantic. I REGRET NOTHING!!!! #glub"
Monday, March 12, 2012
LONG TIME NO SEE
Well, hello there! It's been a while, hasn't it?
I wanted to assure you that I wasn't dead (at least not at the time of this writing I wasn't. But if I were, it'd be wicked creepy, right? Can ghosts even type?) and that I hadn't completely abandoned the idea of blogging. I've just been...eh...well, I guess you could say I've been otherwise occupied.
OK, that's kind of a lie. The reason I haven't been writing is because I've been to tired to type. I know that sounds absolutely dumb, but it's the truth. For the past two weeks, I've been too tired and brain addled to actually function as a thinking person. I've had all these things I've wanted to write about, but I didn't have the energy. Of course, now I can't remember any of my stories, which stinks, because I'm sure they were entertaining.
Anyways, so why have I been so tired? Well, because I have recently been put on a rather demanding (for me anyway) diet and exercise regimen and I think it's killing me.
It all began a little over two weeks ago when I had to go see my doctor for my quarterly weight-loss checkup. For those of you who know me well, you know that I've struggled with my weight for years. I'm not, you know, carnival side-show fat or anything, but I've been heavier than I should be for a while. I'd been trying to lose weight, but I wasn't having much success. I'll admit to the fact that I'd been kind of half-hearted in my attempts since my last check-up, at least at first. There were the holidays to get through (which is when all the good food is around) and also, I really, really, really like food. I'm serious. I like to eat a whole lot. However, after the new year, I decided to get more serious about trying to lose weight and I thought I had been doing a pretty good, if kind of erratic, job at it. At least I thought so until I went for my checkup and saw that I'd gained 5 pounds on top of all the other weight I needed to lose. I actually started to cry, sitting right there in front of my doctor. It was embarrassing.
I wasn't crying because I'd gained weight, really. I was frustrated. I'm sure everyone knows what it feels like to think that you are finally making some headway on a project or whatever, only to realize that you are not only stalled, but starting to go in the complete wrong direction. Gah! My doctor, who is a dear, sweet, old guy, apparently doesn't like crying ladies, so after a few more questions, he walked out and sent a nurse in to finish up my appointment and to tell me they'd made an appointment for me with a dietician the next week. That was not a good day for me, as you probably noticed, because I had to put an otter on this blog to make myself feel better. Shut up, otters are adorable.
The dietician was not a fitness nazi like I'd assumed she'd be. She's very young, very sweet, and very perky. I really have no idea how to explain my first impression of her, because I'm sure she wasn't being rude in any way, but I think tactless is the right word. She took me into the room where she does her appointments and weighed me, and she said "Wow, I'd never had guessed you weighed that much! I mean, I can usually call it withing a pound or two, I could probably work for a carnival, but you don't look like you weigh that much!" Uh...thanks? Luckily she turned out to be very nice and professional, so I forgive her initial comment. :) Very good of me, no?
The things she said actually made a lot of sense to me, and surprisingly I'd been eating most of the right kinds of things all along. However, as a whole, I was doing almost everything wrong as far as portions, exercise, and I was cheating way too often. It wasn't until she lay it all out for me that I realized what I was doing wrong. I'd learned a lot about about nutrition from a church program we had years ago called First Place, so that part was easy, but the exercise part was what gave me pause. She asked how often I'd been going to the gym, and then said I'd probably need to be going 5 times a week. Oy vey, y'all, the only thing that had made it possible for me to go to the gym up to that point was knowing that there were days I didn't have to go. She also said one thing that really stuck with me. She said that I'd have to make the decision: Do I want to eat the things that are bad for me more than I want to reach my goals. Crap. I hate it when people remind me that my own decisions affect my life. I enjoy being able to blame other people!
It's been hard, I'm not going to lie about that. Changing my eating habits has been, and continues to be, very hard for me because there are so many delicious things I want to eat and have to avoid. I'm not on a diet, per se, because I can eat whatever I want, but for the first time I'm having to decide if it's worth it to eat the things that I know are bad for me. It sucks, but it's slowly getting better. At least I'm passed the point of being willing to trade sexual favors for cookies! :)
The exercise, though...is the worst. I think the exercising is what is slowly killing me. I know that it's just because I'm just starting out with the new exercise regimen, but so far it's sapping my will to live. I've been going in the mornings, and by the time I get back home I'm a worthless lump of person. There have been days where I haven't been able to do anything at all for the rest of the day. The best way to describe it is this: Have you ever gotten really bad news? Like, I don't know, someone you love has died or committed a murder or something equally as bad, and after the initial shock and tears are over, you just sit there in a soupy fog of despair, unable to think or move or function in any useful way? That's how I've been feeling, minus the despair of course. That sounds kind of melodramatic, but hand to God, that's as apt as I can be. I've even had moments were my brain has thought "Oh, are we doing the moveless-depression thing?" and I've gotten tears in my eyes - which I suppose is some kind of reaction my body has to snap me out of that- but then I remember I'm not sad and crying would be weird and unhelpful. I've had moments when one of my legs just refused to do what I asked it, and I've gone places to do errands and had to leave because I was so tired that I was afraid that I'd fall over in the middle of an aisle. I'd sat down a couple of times to write on this blog, but the act of typing was just too much to deal with. That part is also getting better, but very, very slowly.
So that's where I am. I have no idea if I'm going to be able to stick with this, because quite honestly it's hard and I'm a little flaky, but I'm going to try. I'd like to be successful through sheer will-power, but I don't have much of that. We'll see. Hopefully now I'm getting on top of some of this and there will be less of the jelly-legged exhaustion and more of the "Hey, exercise makes me feel good" type of stuff I'm hearing so much about. I've got to get my head in the game, as the saying goes. Maybe once I am able to see some kind of results from this, it'll get easier. I hope so! Keep your fingers crossed for me, 'cause I'm going to need it.
At any rate, at least now I'm not too tired to write, so there's that. :) Now, if you will excuse me, I've got to drag myself across the room and find a place to curl up and sleep for a couple of hours.
I wanted to assure you that I wasn't dead (at least not at the time of this writing I wasn't. But if I were, it'd be wicked creepy, right? Can ghosts even type?) and that I hadn't completely abandoned the idea of blogging. I've just been...eh...well, I guess you could say I've been otherwise occupied.
OK, that's kind of a lie. The reason I haven't been writing is because I've been to tired to type. I know that sounds absolutely dumb, but it's the truth. For the past two weeks, I've been too tired and brain addled to actually function as a thinking person. I've had all these things I've wanted to write about, but I didn't have the energy. Of course, now I can't remember any of my stories, which stinks, because I'm sure they were entertaining.
Anyways, so why have I been so tired? Well, because I have recently been put on a rather demanding (for me anyway) diet and exercise regimen and I think it's killing me.
It all began a little over two weeks ago when I had to go see my doctor for my quarterly weight-loss checkup. For those of you who know me well, you know that I've struggled with my weight for years. I'm not, you know, carnival side-show fat or anything, but I've been heavier than I should be for a while. I'd been trying to lose weight, but I wasn't having much success. I'll admit to the fact that I'd been kind of half-hearted in my attempts since my last check-up, at least at first. There were the holidays to get through (which is when all the good food is around) and also, I really, really, really like food. I'm serious. I like to eat a whole lot. However, after the new year, I decided to get more serious about trying to lose weight and I thought I had been doing a pretty good, if kind of erratic, job at it. At least I thought so until I went for my checkup and saw that I'd gained 5 pounds on top of all the other weight I needed to lose. I actually started to cry, sitting right there in front of my doctor. It was embarrassing.
I wasn't crying because I'd gained weight, really. I was frustrated. I'm sure everyone knows what it feels like to think that you are finally making some headway on a project or whatever, only to realize that you are not only stalled, but starting to go in the complete wrong direction. Gah! My doctor, who is a dear, sweet, old guy, apparently doesn't like crying ladies, so after a few more questions, he walked out and sent a nurse in to finish up my appointment and to tell me they'd made an appointment for me with a dietician the next week. That was not a good day for me, as you probably noticed, because I had to put an otter on this blog to make myself feel better. Shut up, otters are adorable.
The dietician was not a fitness nazi like I'd assumed she'd be. She's very young, very sweet, and very perky. I really have no idea how to explain my first impression of her, because I'm sure she wasn't being rude in any way, but I think tactless is the right word. She took me into the room where she does her appointments and weighed me, and she said "Wow, I'd never had guessed you weighed that much! I mean, I can usually call it withing a pound or two, I could probably work for a carnival, but you don't look like you weigh that much!" Uh...thanks? Luckily she turned out to be very nice and professional, so I forgive her initial comment. :) Very good of me, no?
The things she said actually made a lot of sense to me, and surprisingly I'd been eating most of the right kinds of things all along. However, as a whole, I was doing almost everything wrong as far as portions, exercise, and I was cheating way too often. It wasn't until she lay it all out for me that I realized what I was doing wrong. I'd learned a lot about about nutrition from a church program we had years ago called First Place, so that part was easy, but the exercise part was what gave me pause. She asked how often I'd been going to the gym, and then said I'd probably need to be going 5 times a week. Oy vey, y'all, the only thing that had made it possible for me to go to the gym up to that point was knowing that there were days I didn't have to go. She also said one thing that really stuck with me. She said that I'd have to make the decision: Do I want to eat the things that are bad for me more than I want to reach my goals. Crap. I hate it when people remind me that my own decisions affect my life. I enjoy being able to blame other people!
It's been hard, I'm not going to lie about that. Changing my eating habits has been, and continues to be, very hard for me because there are so many delicious things I want to eat and have to avoid. I'm not on a diet, per se, because I can eat whatever I want, but for the first time I'm having to decide if it's worth it to eat the things that I know are bad for me. It sucks, but it's slowly getting better. At least I'm passed the point of being willing to trade sexual favors for cookies! :)
The exercise, though...is the worst. I think the exercising is what is slowly killing me. I know that it's just because I'm just starting out with the new exercise regimen, but so far it's sapping my will to live. I've been going in the mornings, and by the time I get back home I'm a worthless lump of person. There have been days where I haven't been able to do anything at all for the rest of the day. The best way to describe it is this: Have you ever gotten really bad news? Like, I don't know, someone you love has died or committed a murder or something equally as bad, and after the initial shock and tears are over, you just sit there in a soupy fog of despair, unable to think or move or function in any useful way? That's how I've been feeling, minus the despair of course. That sounds kind of melodramatic, but hand to God, that's as apt as I can be. I've even had moments were my brain has thought "Oh, are we doing the moveless-depression thing?" and I've gotten tears in my eyes - which I suppose is some kind of reaction my body has to snap me out of that- but then I remember I'm not sad and crying would be weird and unhelpful. I've had moments when one of my legs just refused to do what I asked it, and I've gone places to do errands and had to leave because I was so tired that I was afraid that I'd fall over in the middle of an aisle. I'd sat down a couple of times to write on this blog, but the act of typing was just too much to deal with. That part is also getting better, but very, very slowly.
So that's where I am. I have no idea if I'm going to be able to stick with this, because quite honestly it's hard and I'm a little flaky, but I'm going to try. I'd like to be successful through sheer will-power, but I don't have much of that. We'll see. Hopefully now I'm getting on top of some of this and there will be less of the jelly-legged exhaustion and more of the "Hey, exercise makes me feel good" type of stuff I'm hearing so much about. I've got to get my head in the game, as the saying goes. Maybe once I am able to see some kind of results from this, it'll get easier. I hope so! Keep your fingers crossed for me, 'cause I'm going to need it.
At any rate, at least now I'm not too tired to write, so there's that. :) Now, if you will excuse me, I've got to drag myself across the room and find a place to curl up and sleep for a couple of hours.
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