only 2 exercises tonight:
- The first one was with a box underneath the pull-up machine. With hands on the box, jump feet back and do a push-up. Jump feet forward and with both feet together, jump up onto the box. Do a pull-up, jumping if necessary (it was) and try to lower self slowly. Jump back off the box and repeat.
- The second was with a BOSU ball. I've done this one before a few times - lean all the way back with your back on the ball. From there, stand up without using your hands. With legs straight, bring hands to the ground and walk hands forward into push-up position. Do a push-up and walk hands back to feet, then stand up. Repeat.
I got through 2 sets of 15 reps of each exercise.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Convention-fail!
Today we went to Comicon. I think Lawrence is now permanently opposed to all future conventions. We actually drove down to san diego on saturday. There was a bunch of stuff we had to take care of beforehand though so we didn't actually leave until 2pm or so.
The drive down was rather uneventful until Lawrence asked if I had brought our ticket printouts. I hadn't seen them on the bed (where he said he had put them) when I put the bedsheet into the washing machine (meaning there's no way I could have missed them if they were there). Turns out he had already put them into our bag.
We spent the night at Xin's place. His coworker, Lynn, came over with her griddle and we cooked Korean bbq for dinner. We played rock band, I chatted with Lynn, the guys played Wii Golf & Street Fighter IV. I totally conked out around midnight. Lawrence, since his sleep schedule has been skewed, did not go to sleep until around 4am. We got up around 7:30am and left for the convention at around 8:00am. Xin lives about 20min. from the convention center so it didn't take us too long. We drove around trying to find a breakfast place as well as parking. We parked, and then we realized we left the ticket printouts in our bag at Xin's house. Major-fail. By this time is was 9am. We had to drive back to Xin's house and then back to the convention center - by that time it was 10am and Lawrence's cousins had reached San Diego (they drove from LA). There was some traffic and in that hour we were driving, all the parking lots had completely filled up. We ended up parking at a mall that was about 5 blocks from the convention center.
I was real grumpy and tired because we didn't have time to grab food. We stopped by a Ralph's supermarket and picked up some breakfast burritos. After we left, Lawrence asked if I had the ticket printouts. I told him no. He had asked for them earlier because we had his cousin's ticket and he wanted to give it to his cousin (haha, before we ended up losing it probably). He never gave any papers back to me. This caused him to get majorly stressed and frustrated. He went back into the supermarket to try to find where he left the papers. Finally he found it and we proceeded on our way to the convention center. We got in without much trouble as there wasn't really a line. For being the last day, there were still a TON of people there. Of course, this was Comicon.
We walked through some of the exhibition hall...first back and forth through the artist tables and then all the way down the hall along a wall. At the end we were kind of tired so we sat down at the tables there. By then it was about 12pm and everyone wanted to get some food so we left the convention center and walked back to the mall we had parked at. We ate at the mall's food court - can you say BLEGH? I was hoping to try out some good local dining but the others I guess just wanted cheap mall crap. Um, so I guess I'm a food snob. :)
We went back to the convention center to explore the exhibition hall some more. Along the way, we managed to lose the others (there were 6 of us total). I actually kind of liked it because 6 people is too many to have to stop at every table every person wanted to visit. It makes me feel bad when I want to stop at a table because I take a long time and it's not usually anything anyone else is interested in. Then, Lawrence gets a call from one of his cousins and it turns out the other cousin is missing (Phillip).
Phillip didn't bring his phone, and he wasn't with any of us. This was around 2:45pm. We all sort of freak out because the place was freakin' HUGE and now we had to somehow find Phillip - who could have been anywhere. We all circled through the exhibition hall multiple times. Lawrence walked back to the parking garage. I walked through the upper level of the convention center. His other cousins sat near the Lost & Found. Unfortunately, they don't page people unless there's a medical emergency or it's a child under 10. We did not make any contingency plans, and I had not even known that Phillip did not bring his phone. That was admittedly very stupid of us. We were all so hot and tired...it took us until 5pm to find him. By then the convention was over and we didn't even get to explore the booths. I had even just found the area of booths I was interested in and I didn't get to shop around. What a waste of a trip to Comicon. :/
Not only was the trip a waste, there was so much frustration involved throughout the entire process. I feel bad for Lawrence because he said he expects to be frustrated. It makes me sad that we can't take it easy when we're supposed to be on a trip to enjoy ourselves. Is this how all our vacations are going to turn out? I hope not. Partly, I think it would be easier to go to things with just the 2 of us. I also feel like I should take it upon myself more to think about stuff that needs to be done. If I had been more diligent about keeping track of our tickets, it would have saved us a lot of frustration. If I had thought ahead I could have suggested we set up a designated meeting place in case someone gets frustrated (or maybe even suggest that we split up and then meet somewhere at a specific time). I hate it when Lawrence gets frustrated. I get sad, and then that feeds his irritation because he doesn't like making me sad. We get stuck in this stupid self-feeding loop of irritation until it blows up or blows over. At least we don't hold grudges against each other.
Now, we are back at Xin's place. Lawrence is sleeping, I got to take a shower (it was bugging me all day that I didn't get to take a shower this morning because my hair felt greasy). We're waiting for Xin to get back so that we can go grab dinner and then we'll drive back to LA. We would spend the night and drive back tomorrow but Xin has a 6am flight to catch. We'll probably just chill tomorrow and play some WoW so that we can hopefully at least do something relaxing this weekend.
The drive down was rather uneventful until Lawrence asked if I had brought our ticket printouts. I hadn't seen them on the bed (where he said he had put them) when I put the bedsheet into the washing machine (meaning there's no way I could have missed them if they were there). Turns out he had already put them into our bag.
We spent the night at Xin's place. His coworker, Lynn, came over with her griddle and we cooked Korean bbq for dinner. We played rock band, I chatted with Lynn, the guys played Wii Golf & Street Fighter IV. I totally conked out around midnight. Lawrence, since his sleep schedule has been skewed, did not go to sleep until around 4am. We got up around 7:30am and left for the convention at around 8:00am. Xin lives about 20min. from the convention center so it didn't take us too long. We drove around trying to find a breakfast place as well as parking. We parked, and then we realized we left the ticket printouts in our bag at Xin's house. Major-fail. By this time is was 9am. We had to drive back to Xin's house and then back to the convention center - by that time it was 10am and Lawrence's cousins had reached San Diego (they drove from LA). There was some traffic and in that hour we were driving, all the parking lots had completely filled up. We ended up parking at a mall that was about 5 blocks from the convention center.
I was real grumpy and tired because we didn't have time to grab food. We stopped by a Ralph's supermarket and picked up some breakfast burritos. After we left, Lawrence asked if I had the ticket printouts. I told him no. He had asked for them earlier because we had his cousin's ticket and he wanted to give it to his cousin (haha, before we ended up losing it probably). He never gave any papers back to me. This caused him to get majorly stressed and frustrated. He went back into the supermarket to try to find where he left the papers. Finally he found it and we proceeded on our way to the convention center. We got in without much trouble as there wasn't really a line. For being the last day, there were still a TON of people there. Of course, this was Comicon.
We walked through some of the exhibition hall...first back and forth through the artist tables and then all the way down the hall along a wall. At the end we were kind of tired so we sat down at the tables there. By then it was about 12pm and everyone wanted to get some food so we left the convention center and walked back to the mall we had parked at. We ate at the mall's food court - can you say BLEGH? I was hoping to try out some good local dining but the others I guess just wanted cheap mall crap. Um, so I guess I'm a food snob. :)
We went back to the convention center to explore the exhibition hall some more. Along the way, we managed to lose the others (there were 6 of us total). I actually kind of liked it because 6 people is too many to have to stop at every table every person wanted to visit. It makes me feel bad when I want to stop at a table because I take a long time and it's not usually anything anyone else is interested in. Then, Lawrence gets a call from one of his cousins and it turns out the other cousin is missing (Phillip).
Phillip didn't bring his phone, and he wasn't with any of us. This was around 2:45pm. We all sort of freak out because the place was freakin' HUGE and now we had to somehow find Phillip - who could have been anywhere. We all circled through the exhibition hall multiple times. Lawrence walked back to the parking garage. I walked through the upper level of the convention center. His other cousins sat near the Lost & Found. Unfortunately, they don't page people unless there's a medical emergency or it's a child under 10. We did not make any contingency plans, and I had not even known that Phillip did not bring his phone. That was admittedly very stupid of us. We were all so hot and tired...it took us until 5pm to find him. By then the convention was over and we didn't even get to explore the booths. I had even just found the area of booths I was interested in and I didn't get to shop around. What a waste of a trip to Comicon. :/
Not only was the trip a waste, there was so much frustration involved throughout the entire process. I feel bad for Lawrence because he said he expects to be frustrated. It makes me sad that we can't take it easy when we're supposed to be on a trip to enjoy ourselves. Is this how all our vacations are going to turn out? I hope not. Partly, I think it would be easier to go to things with just the 2 of us. I also feel like I should take it upon myself more to think about stuff that needs to be done. If I had been more diligent about keeping track of our tickets, it would have saved us a lot of frustration. If I had thought ahead I could have suggested we set up a designated meeting place in case someone gets frustrated (or maybe even suggest that we split up and then meet somewhere at a specific time). I hate it when Lawrence gets frustrated. I get sad, and then that feeds his irritation because he doesn't like making me sad. We get stuck in this stupid self-feeding loop of irritation until it blows up or blows over. At least we don't hold grudges against each other.
Now, we are back at Xin's place. Lawrence is sleeping, I got to take a shower (it was bugging me all day that I didn't get to take a shower this morning because my hair felt greasy). We're waiting for Xin to get back so that we can go grab dinner and then we'll drive back to LA. We would spend the night and drive back tomorrow but Xin has a 6am flight to catch. We'll probably just chill tomorrow and play some WoW so that we can hopefully at least do something relaxing this weekend.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Word Associations
So I was on the pooper today when I my mind turned towards the word "fecal". I realized that when I see or hear the word "fecal", as in "fecal matter", I tend to think of the word "fetal"...."fetal matter"??? It's not pretty, however which way you look at it.
Popular fantasy authors/books I'm personally not a fan of
I've seen some lists of recommendations for fantasy authors and I always notice a few that pop up that I don't really agree with even though they are popular with other people. Here's my list with my reasoning why I don't like their books. I'll add to the list as I come up with more.
Diana Gabaldon - [Outlander] - This was recommended to me by Peggy. I've seen this recommended on some female-heavy recommendation threads too. I peg (haha) this one as more romance than fantasy even though there is "time travel" involved. The fantasy elements are way too simple and basic to be integral to the story. Perhaps the sequels improved on this - I read in the synopses that there is more time traveling involved. Sorry, but it was just a step up from trashy romance for me. Not that there's anything wrong with trashy romance...but it's not what I'm looking for in a good fantasy novel.
Sharon Shinn - [Archangel] - This book/series was recommended to me by a former roommate who knew I liked reading fantasy. However, I would probably categorize this book more as a fantasy-romance crossover. I tried to like it but it just didn't do anything for me. I don't remember specifics as this was 5 years ago, but partly what killed it for me was the reliance on Christian themes. It paralleled Christian mythology too much, and at the time at least, I was so over Christian mythology for it to add any value to the story for me. There may have been some interesting story elements, but nothing that really stood out to me.
Anne Bishop - [Black Jewels Trilogy] - I bought the trilogy because I saw the series recommended a few different places. I even bought an additional sequel book. Lawrence even read all the books. The mechanics in the world Bishop created are definitely interesting, however I think the story and its execution sucked. Part of it may just be a preference in style. Even though this was set in a fantasy world, the characters felt very modern- as in I could imagine the characters from Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the story as a TV show. It didn't have the non-modern fantasy feel that I personally like. Actually, this is probably a big reason I don't like some of the fantasy-romance crossovers out there. I also don't read any of the currently popular vampire teen fantasy novels because they mesh too much with modern life. Back to this series though - the thing that really killed it for me was when I realized the main characters were never in any real danger and the antagonists were comically stereotypical bumbling villains. Every tight spot the protaganist found herself in, somehow every time, something fortuitous would happen and nothing was ever really tragic. I know some bad things did happen to her (I read this a couple years ago so my memories are fuzzy) but the "dangers" always felt grossly over exaggerated and the resolutions entirely predictable.
Robert Jordan - [Wheel of Time series] - I read these books in my freshman year of high school, 10 years ago. I really got into them but I stopped midway through the 5th book because I realized it was getting repetitive without every going anywhere. None of the characters were really likable and I couldn't take one more mention of the icy stares and braid pulling. NONE of the women were likable, and I think one of the men was but he didn't get much attention in the story. It sucks because the story had SO much potential if only it had been properly developed and paced. I heard the last few books were much better but I don't think I could put myself through the torture of reading the middle books (literally thousands of pages where nothing happens).
Diana Gabaldon - [Outlander] - This was recommended to me by Peggy. I've seen this recommended on some female-heavy recommendation threads too. I peg (haha) this one as more romance than fantasy even though there is "time travel" involved. The fantasy elements are way too simple and basic to be integral to the story. Perhaps the sequels improved on this - I read in the synopses that there is more time traveling involved. Sorry, but it was just a step up from trashy romance for me. Not that there's anything wrong with trashy romance...but it's not what I'm looking for in a good fantasy novel.
Sharon Shinn - [Archangel] - This book/series was recommended to me by a former roommate who knew I liked reading fantasy. However, I would probably categorize this book more as a fantasy-romance crossover. I tried to like it but it just didn't do anything for me. I don't remember specifics as this was 5 years ago, but partly what killed it for me was the reliance on Christian themes. It paralleled Christian mythology too much, and at the time at least, I was so over Christian mythology for it to add any value to the story for me. There may have been some interesting story elements, but nothing that really stood out to me.
Anne Bishop - [Black Jewels Trilogy] - I bought the trilogy because I saw the series recommended a few different places. I even bought an additional sequel book. Lawrence even read all the books. The mechanics in the world Bishop created are definitely interesting, however I think the story and its execution sucked. Part of it may just be a preference in style. Even though this was set in a fantasy world, the characters felt very modern- as in I could imagine the characters from Charmed or Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the story as a TV show. It didn't have the non-modern fantasy feel that I personally like. Actually, this is probably a big reason I don't like some of the fantasy-romance crossovers out there. I also don't read any of the currently popular vampire teen fantasy novels because they mesh too much with modern life. Back to this series though - the thing that really killed it for me was when I realized the main characters were never in any real danger and the antagonists were comically stereotypical bumbling villains. Every tight spot the protaganist found herself in, somehow every time, something fortuitous would happen and nothing was ever really tragic. I know some bad things did happen to her (I read this a couple years ago so my memories are fuzzy) but the "dangers" always felt grossly over exaggerated and the resolutions entirely predictable.
Robert Jordan - [Wheel of Time series] - I read these books in my freshman year of high school, 10 years ago. I really got into them but I stopped midway through the 5th book because I realized it was getting repetitive without every going anywhere. None of the characters were really likable and I couldn't take one more mention of the icy stares and braid pulling. NONE of the women were likable, and I think one of the men was but he didn't get much attention in the story. It sucks because the story had SO much potential if only it had been properly developed and paced. I heard the last few books were much better but I don't think I could put myself through the torture of reading the middle books (literally thousands of pages where nothing happens).
Exercise
Last Thursday I sliced open the index & ring fingers of my left hand. I was at Union station when a sticky piece of hard plastic tape got stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I tried to pull it off, but of course because it was sticky and stuck to my shoe, and because the edges were jagged, I ended up slicing my fingers on it. It bled profusely and the kind cleaning lady in the bathroom at Union Station gave me some toilet paper and told me in Spanish to press on it for a few minutes so that it stops bleeding. Melody also told me that cuts on your hands and face tend to bleed a lot more than other places. Lawrence confirmed it was because there are so many capillaries close to the skin, so a cut doesn't need to be deep before it bleeds a lot in those places. Melody also said that because of the increased blood, wounds tend to heal faster there too.
Thursday night, I went to workout but I told Melody I had to hold off on anything that required too much hand gripping for fear of re-opening my wound. I did some exercises on the BOSU ball (the half sphere with the plastic backing) instead. These should all be in reps of 15.
By yesterday, my finger was speedily on its way to a good recovery. It has sealed up nicely and is just a little tight as the new skin is being formed. Monday night's workout consisted of 2 mini circuits of 2 exercises each. 15 reps for each exercise, repeated 3 times for each pair of exercises.
Thursday night, I went to workout but I told Melody I had to hold off on anything that required too much hand gripping for fear of re-opening my wound. I did some exercises on the BOSU ball (the half sphere with the plastic backing) instead. These should all be in reps of 15.
- Squats with each foot on a separate BOSU ball.
- Dumbbell rows while standing on a BOSU ball.
- Lunges with each foot on a separate BOSU ball.
- Push-ups with feet on a BOSU ball.
By yesterday, my finger was speedily on its way to a good recovery. It has sealed up nicely and is just a little tight as the new skin is being formed. Monday night's workout consisted of 2 mini circuits of 2 exercises each. 15 reps for each exercise, repeated 3 times for each pair of exercises.
- Push-ups with shins on an exercise ball, alternating pulling in the exercise ball so that your knees reach your chest. This was tough on my core because it was very difficult to maintain my balance with my legs on the ball throughout the push-ups. I wimped out and only did 10 reps of this one each time. If I gave myself more time I might have been able to do more, but by the 10th push-up, I was falling over each time lol.
- Low rows with the cable machine set to something over 100lbs.
- With one foot resting on a bench behind me and holding a 12.5lb dumbbell in the opposite hand, bend your knee to touch the ground with the dumbbell, then stand and press the dumbbell straight up above your shoulder.
- Lying on the ground, lift one leg up and rest your other foot on an exercise ball. Lift your midsection so your body is straight and then bend the leg resting on the ball to bring the ball in towards you. Straighten the leg bringing the ball away from you while your torso is still lifted above the ground and repeat.
Monday, July 20, 2009
yarn-gasms
I wound a skein of my Sundara Aran Silky Merino in Black Cherry. I started a Cavern Cardigan with it, a top-down low-cut cardigan with raglan sleeves. It's about 4 inches long now and whenever I look at the smooth swaths of stockinette, I'm overcome by yarngasms because the aran silky merino is so beautiful. It's silky soft to the touch but the merino ensures that it's not as limp as a 100% silk yarn would be. It's got the slight sheen from the silk, accentuating the subtle variations in the rich black cherry coloring.
I finished knitting my $90 scarf this weekend. It's awesome and totally cute and currently drying on the dining table.
I finished knitting my $90 scarf this weekend. It's awesome and totally cute and currently drying on the dining table.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Money-saving food
So I've been doing pretty well so far in eating the pasta I cooked.
Monday - dinner + Lawrence's dinner
Tuesday - lunch (I had 2x $1.25 fish tacos from Rubio's for dinner)
Wednesday - lunch + dinner
Thursday - lunch
Assuming I finish off the last bowl of pasta tonight for dinner, that would mean my $10 pasta has lasted 7 meals. That comes out to about $1.43 per meal. Comparatively, I would typically spend anywhere from $10-$15 for lunch each day, and on top of that maybe a drink from Starbucks that cost ~$4. Then, on top of all of that, Lawrence and I would eat out for dinner. That turns into anywhere from $20-$35 for dinner for the two of us.
I would love to make a spreadsheet for myself but I'm feeling rather lazy about it. I would probably log into my Mint account so I can see all the restaurants we've eaten at to extrapolate an average amount spent, and then compare that to future expenses if I cook all my food at costs of <$2 per meal. That's too much effort, but maybe I'll get around to it if I'm bored enough. What I really need to do is come up with some options for myself. I need figure out proper well-balanced meals that I can make in a large batch and then bring to work for lunch.
Granted, there are other areas I can save money...like for breakfast I could probably go cheaper than the $1.50 cups of Greek yogurt, I probably shouldn't be getting random $.75 bags of chips from the office snack shack, and $3.50+ for a Starbucks espresso drink is probably not very cost effective. Baby steps...
Monday - dinner + Lawrence's dinner
Tuesday - lunch (I had 2x $1.25 fish tacos from Rubio's for dinner)
Wednesday - lunch + dinner
Thursday - lunch
Assuming I finish off the last bowl of pasta tonight for dinner, that would mean my $10 pasta has lasted 7 meals. That comes out to about $1.43 per meal. Comparatively, I would typically spend anywhere from $10-$15 for lunch each day, and on top of that maybe a drink from Starbucks that cost ~$4. Then, on top of all of that, Lawrence and I would eat out for dinner. That turns into anywhere from $20-$35 for dinner for the two of us.
I would love to make a spreadsheet for myself but I'm feeling rather lazy about it. I would probably log into my Mint account so I can see all the restaurants we've eaten at to extrapolate an average amount spent, and then compare that to future expenses if I cook all my food at costs of <$2 per meal. That's too much effort, but maybe I'll get around to it if I'm bored enough. What I really need to do is come up with some options for myself. I need figure out proper well-balanced meals that I can make in a large batch and then bring to work for lunch.
Granted, there are other areas I can save money...like for breakfast I could probably go cheaper than the $1.50 cups of Greek yogurt, I probably shouldn't be getting random $.75 bags of chips from the office snack shack, and $3.50+ for a Starbucks espresso drink is probably not very cost effective. Baby steps...
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