fires

It's scary, we could see the flames in the mountains as we drove home on the 210 tonight. Apparently the fire near La Cañada quadrupled in size today. Driving over to Melrose, we could see the huge mushroom cloud of smoke coming from the mountains. It has burned over 20,000 acres so far and has been rapidly spreading in every direction. At least...the fire has to get all the way through Altadena before it reaches Pasadena.

monday workout

Tonight I did 2 sets for 4 exercises:

1) With 1 foot propped on a bench behind me, and holding a 15 lb dumbbell on that same side, bend the other knee so the dumbbell touches the ground. Stand up and lift the dumbbell to the shoulder, then press it straight up. 15x each side.

2) With a 12kg/26lb kettlebell in each hand, do alternating rows, 15x alternating sets.

3) With those same kettlebells, do a kettlebell push-up (with hands on the handles). 15x

4) On a BOSU ball, lean back all the way and then lean forward to stand up without using hands.

At the end, I still had a couple minutes so Melody had me do one-handed kettlebell windmills. With the kettlebell kept pressed up with one arm, rotate and lower yourself so you can touch the ground with the other arm. I got through 6 of these on each side. It was much more difficult for my left side than my right side.

Thursday workout

kettlebells
- 30x each - 2 handed kettlebell swings, left handed swings, right handed swings (all using the 12kg/26lb bells)
- alternating deadlifts with a kettlebell in each hand
- suitcase squats with a kettlebell in each hand
- clean, squat, and then press with an 8kg kettlebell

medicine ball
- with the 4kg/8.8lb medicine ball, do..."basketball" moves? Holding the ball at waist level, step to the left as if passing, then turn to the right and jump up, extending the ball up as if to shoot, then step to the right as if passing

ground exercises
- in push-up position but with forearms flat on the ground, lift one arm to press palm to the ground, and then the other arm. Lower the first arm so forearm is again flat on the ground, repeat for the other arm.
- lying straight sideways with one forearm flat on the ground under the shoulders and the other hand on the hip pointing up, lift the torso so the body is in a straight line from toes to head. Lower the torso and repeat.

TV

In college, I didn't watch TV. I had one that I picked up from a cousin, but it just collected dust in a corner of the room. All viewing of any sort was on the computer. Even then, I mostly just watched anime and Japanese/Taiwanese dramas. After moving to Pasadena, we bought a nice plasma TV and got cable. I've now got favorite programs that i watch. :) It was surprising to realize that when I saw the "Fall Preview" on Yahoo's front page, I was looking forward to several of the shows on the list.

First of all, both Project Runway and Top Chef are starting up this week. YAY!

I may watch Dollhouse but I'd have to get through the first season. I've only seen the first episode, but the Yahoo article hints it may be promising. I'm looking forward to the new developments on Fringe. The finale of the first season was a cliff-hanger. I love the Big Bang Theory and can't wait to laugh at more nerdy jokes. Castle was cute (hah, Nathon Fillion...) and the romantic tension is quirky and funny enough to not make me want to roll my eyes. House! More House is always good.

Because I like to have these things on hand...
Dollhouse - Sept. 25
Fringe - Sept. 17
Big Bang Theory - Sept. 21
Castle - Sept. 21
House - Sept. 21

Monday night workout

After a week-long hiatus, I met Melody at the gym last night. In the afternoon I had seriously considered canceling again as I just got my period and was feeling tired (did not get a good night's sleep either), unfocused, and was getting abdominal cramping. After I got home, I took a brief half hour nap and that seemed to help a lot. I was able to exercise last night without too much of an issue. Melody had me do floor exercises. Each exercise I did forward across the mat, then backwards back across the mat.

1) 2 lunges forward 1 lunge back one way, then 2 lunges back, 1 lunge forward going back
2) inchworm push-ups forward and backward
3) broad jumps forward and broad jumps backwards (jump as far forward as possible from a standing position)
4) squats, starting sideways and rotating 180 degrees for each one to move across the floor and back
5) alternating diamond push-ups and wide push-ups to move across the floor and back (only half the floor for this one)

I felt guilty I didn't actually finish that last one. I tried to go down for the diamond push-up, but my arms gave out. I felt like I should have been able to because I wasn't exhausted or gasping for breath, but as Lawrence pointed out, this was strength training and this is what strength training is like. You do it until muscle failure, and the effects are different from cardio. But still. :( I wanted to be able to finish!

Elements Kitchen

I just had a brunch meal at Elements Kitchen, in Pasadena. That was some good food (and it helped that we didn't have to pay for it). I got the buttermilk biscuits that come with honey butter and strawberry jam. The biscuits were so deliciously flakey! YUM. For an entree I ordered the croissant sandwich that came with bacon, eggs, and a tomato aoili with a side of sweet potato homefries. The croissant was also deliciously flakey. The eggs were perfect and just a little gooey in the yolk. The bacon would have been better if it were folded up so that I didn't have to bite of chunks of it at the ends to reach the rest of the sandwich.

Lawrence got the duck burrito and said it was good. There was also a farmer's market salad that was very fresh and yummy. Josh got the lobster mac'n cheese with wild mushrooms and truffle oil. That was very delicious but came a little too late in our meal (they may have forgot about it).

I think...PHP is not for me?

I've had thoughts, but I always pushed them down because I felt like I was *supposed to* like it, use it, breathe it, learn it, and put it on my resume because "OMG duh, who doesn't know PHP?" I've tried to use it a few times but I never got super far. It took reading a post on SitePoint today for me to realize that maybe it's not just me. Apparently PHP does have its very real problems since it has grown in inconsistent ways. I've also never been forced to use it in a professional setting. Nonetheless, I can't help but feel guilty for preferring C# & Java.

Julia Child

I wish I had watched her show when I was a kid.

Barbell exercises

Today I used the barbell. I'm not sure how heavy it was...there were 2 plates on each side that said 7.5 (lbs?) plus a smaller one that may have been 2.5 (lbs?). However, that adds up to close to 40lbs, and that sounds like too much.

- First exercise, lift the barbell to shoulder height. As Melody put it, don't lift it with your arms, put your arms under it. I'm not sure I described that correctly, but I think it's to reduce strain and risk of injury. From shoulder height, press the barbell up. These are full body moves that require strength from your legs as well. I had to do as many as I could, with a goal of getting past 15. I made it to 25, w00t!
- With the barbell lifted at shoulder height, do 15 squats.
- Holding on to the barbell with both hands, do 15 one-legged deadlifts on each leg.
- With just two 7.5 lb plates on the barbell, do 15 one arm overhead barbell presses. I did 15 with my right arm, but only got to 8 on my left arm.
- Lastly, I did 15 barbell rollouts.

Harry Potter Club?

I found an interesting group on Ravelry today. It's the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup group. People can join for a Hogwars "school term" at the beginning of which there will be a sorting ceremony to divvy up people into their houses. There are various course subjects like Charms, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, etc. that you can sign up for. Each one will have assignments that you can complete to earn points for your house. For example, an Herbology assignment could be to create something with a plant fiber. There's even a Quidditch tournament of sorts, adapted to the knitting/crocheting process.

It sounds like a ton of fun and I only wish I had found out about it sooner. I'm not a HP fanatic, but I do enjoy the series and have always loved stuff like this. That brings me to my next point - this totally reminds me of the online Redwall Clubs I used to be in back in junior high! At that time, however, everything was writing/fan-fic based. It's interesting to see the concept carried out to another series in another medium. I wonder if there are more out there. How would I go about finding them??

Monday exercise

Plyometrics.

20x each (also each side where applicable)

- With feet together, jump up onto the box and then back down.
- On the Smith machine, with the bar set at the lowest level, do a push-up and push off the bar.
- One-handed lateral cable rows as quick as possible, with the weights set to 25 lbs.
- Repeat these 3 exercises 3 times each, but the 2nd and 3rd box exercises are, respectively:
- One-legged jump ups onto the exercise box.
- With one foot up on the box behind, bend the other leg and jump up.

- Last exercise, which I was only able to get through 7 of...push-ups with 8 lb. dumbbells. With hands on the 8 lb. dumbbells, jump legs back and do a push-up. Jump legs back in, stand up and press both dumbbells straight up.