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Nutrisystem: Week 16 Review

October 15, 2014 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Wednesday I was off diet.

Thursday I was kinda on diet.

Friday I was on diet until dinner. Spike came over and we got Giorgios and watched Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart. It was a good movie, though a little weird.

On Saturday, Babylon and I went to G&Ms for crab cakes. It was delicious. Then we went to my parents’ house so I could do laundry and they could get to know him a bit.

Sunday I was off diet, hung out with Babylon, and did some overtime work.

Monday I was on diet.

Tuesday I was on diet.

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Nutrisystem: Week 14 Review

October 1, 2014 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Foods I tried:
– chicken with baked beans: meh, very meh. The chicken was a very small thing.

Wednesday I was off diet and just blah in general.

Thursday I was on diet except for the free donuts at work. Went to pick up some packages from the parents.

Friday I was on diet and went to the gym with TinyFists. Then went to see Boxtrolls with Spike. It was awesome!

Saturday and Sunday I was off diet and hung out with Babylon.

Monday I was on diet until dinner. Got my car fixed and had dinner with my mom.

Tuesday I was on diet until dinner. I finally ordered my new dining room chairs too! I’m so excited! I’m ordering the table on Saturday.

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Nutrisystem: Week 7 Review

August 13, 2014 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Wednesday I was on diet except for dinner when I went out to Duclaw with a friend.

Thursday I was on diet except for dinner, which was Panera. OMG the mac and cheese is AMAZING! Went to work a little bit after camp and then went home and played some Pokemon Y.

Friday I was on diet except for dinner again. Saw Guardians of the Galaxy with Babylon and it was awesome! And now I have a new celebrity crush. Chris Pratt. Yum.

Saturday I felt awful because of allergies and got nothing done and was off diet.

Sunday I was off diet again. Sigh. Had D&D so that didn’t help me be on diet at all.

Monday I was on diet all day!

Tuesday I was on diet until dinner, because Babylon came over and we had BBQ. It was delicious.

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Nutrisystem: Week 5 Review

July 29, 2014 in Mindpieces | Permalink

New foods I tried this week:
– Granola cereal: very sweet. They should’ve put more granola and less honey/sweetener.
– cinnamon bun: very dense, icing was weird, not that tasty, prefer the muffins
– fudge graham bar: kinda gritty tasting, but coated in chocolate
– honey mustard pretzel bits: very tasty but hardly any in the bag
– hearty beef stew: tasty, lots of stuff in it so it was decently ‘hearty’

Wednesday I was on diet until dinner, when I made Asian Chicken Legs to eat with Babylon. I had been planning on doing the recipe with wings, but the legs were much cheaper at the store. They turned out pretty delicious. I brought a few in to work for my supervisor and gave the rest to Babylon for lunch, so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat them again and go off diet again.

Thursday I was barely on diet. But I went to the gym with Wolfe since I didn’t get to go on Wednesday.

Friday I wasn’t on diet, since there were leftovers to finish, but I went to the gym again after work. Then I had dinner at UNOs and went to see Lucy with KrazyK. It was a good movie, but very trippy.

Saturday I was on diet. I had tutoring in the morning but the girl forgot we had a session and didn’t show up. Then I hung out with Babylon and we went to the Video Games Live concert together. It. Was. Awesome.

Sunday I was off diet because of D&D. But I did eat less than I used to.

Monday I was on diet. I really need to have more days like that. Ugh. I’ll get the hang of this eventually. At least I’m trying to go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week now.

Tuesday I was on diet until dinner. Got home late from work after staying to do some OT. So I was kinda starving. Temptation is hard when you’re really hungry. Sigh.

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Moving On Up to the East Side

September 22, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Well, the east side of the beltway, compared to my current home. But still west of Baltimore.

In case someone has missed out on the news, I am moving to a new abode this week. I’ve already moved a few things in and Saturday will be a huge furniture moving day. My first night sleeping there will be tonight after my free viewing of the Killer Elite premiere. (So awesome.) Thomas will be coming with me so today is his last day of lonely freedom at Irish’s house. And last night was the final time that he will be jumping on the headboard and annoying us all night, since he’ll have to just curl up on the futon with me now.

I had been apartment hunting for a few months, then got really serious about it a month or so ago. I asked around on Facebook first and got a few hits, but only from people who don’t have jobs or the money to move out just yet. Which is totally understandable. Then I got on Roommates.com and did some searching. Most things were out of my price range, and unless I paid for a membership, I couldn’t receive messages from the people directly, so I had to send them a message with my email and hope they cared enough to get back to me. That didn’t work out too well. Then I hit Craigslist – a veritable gold mine of listings that I had somehow never used before. I replied to a bunch of people looking for roommates or renters, about 8 per day for a week or so.

The first day of my search, I came upon a gem of a post that was so specific about what the girl wanted in a roommate that I just couldn’t pass it up. She clearly knew what it was like to have a crappy roommate. And she knew how to be an adult and deal with household problems. And she’d accept another pet in the house, since she has a dog. And she was looking for someone right away. And the rent wasn’t too high. So I dropped her a line. Not 30 minutes later, I received a heartfelt and excited reply confirming my hopes – the room was still available and she loved my email, which included a detailed description of my habits, interests, etc. So we setup a date and time to meet and for me to checkout the house. Yes, HOUSE. It’s a small townhouse. Not a crummy little apartment thing.

The hurricane had knocked out her power, so when I came over it was light outside, but getting dark by the minute. We hung out for 3 hours in the dark and just chatted and got to know each other. It was pretty awesome. Her dog was friendly and fun. We talked about so many things I can’t even remember it all, but it ranged from our favorite shows to video games to boyfriends to dinner/cooking arrangements (she’s vegetarian and I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be offending her by eating meat).

Finally, we said our goodbyes and I went home to Irish. I practically exploded with information when I sat down on the couch next to him. Babbling on and on about the things we talked about and the pros/cons of the house and potential situation. He just smiled and nodded as he continued watching TV or playing a game or whatever he was doing.

I let it simmer for a few days, widening my search and continuing to reply to Craigslist people, even getting onto the Facebook Marketplace thing for housing – Roomster or something – but that didn’t last long. I couldn’t find anything cheaper that I liked better or that would accept Thomas, so I emailed the girl again and we kept talking about prospective details and becoming more and more friendly.

Now, about a month later, we’ve exchanged several emails (90% of them longer than 400 words apiece, some about 800, like this post), had a lasagna dinner together at the house with our boyfriends, watched a movie together (As Good As It Gets), and had a pet visit so the dog, Biloxi could meet Thomas and they could get over the initial shock of “What the hell is that furry thing looking at me?!”

I’ve already moved in a few boxes and small furniture, there’s a futon for a bed from the previous roommate (yes, I washed the cover), and I’m moving the rest of the big furniture on Saturday with Irish, Grapple, and my parents. Thomas and I will start sleeping there tonight, as I mentioned, so that’ll be the true test of the futon’s sleepability.

And I realize that between house hunting and looking for a second job, I haven’t really bothered blogging. Shame on me. I’m 10 posts behind for PostAWeek2011. Must… catch… up… but that won’t be happening anytime soon. Maybe another post will pop up on here today about the job. Who knows?

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American Cowboys. Gods and Aliens.

August 29, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Just realized that it’s been over a week since I said I’d post a review of American Gods and of the movie Cowboys and Aliens. Well I’ve finally stopped failing and have decided that it’s about time I post this.

American Gods

This is, shockingly, my first real exposure to Neil Gaiman’s work. And what a good choice it was. I originally picked the book up on a whim shopping spree at my local used bookstore, Second Edition, where the clerk recommended it as my “4th book is free” or something like that. I am now forever grateful to that man. He has officially rekindled my love for sci-fi reading. Thank you, random guy! I think his name was Josh or something… I don’t know, but anyway, bakc to the actual book.

The book starts out a tad oddly and at the end of the first chapter you’re taken into a scene where a man is swallowed by a vagina. It scared me a bit, and I definitely said “What the FUCK?!” but it didn’t put me off from reading the book. In fact, it made me want to figure out how the hell that scene makes ANY sense based on the things I had read so far, which was not too much, as it was the first chapter. So Mr. Gaiman, I have this to say to you: “What the FUCK? And also, good job sir. That was amazing and ridiculous and kept me reading.”

There are random bits toward the end of almost every chapter where the time perspective switches to show a bit of history and backstory of events leading up to modern times. These little bits progress through time as the book goes along, eventually catching up to the present. It was an interesting technique and at first it confused me, but hey I’m easily confused. Har. Some of them weren’t nearly as interesting and some were rushed, like the story of a pair of twins that depicts their entire lives. But still, an interesting technique.

I don’t want to give too much away, but this is a really great read for Sci-Fi and Fantasy fans. It is engaging, it is clearly written for adults, and it almost mocks religion, but doesn’t cross the line. Overall, it was about 500 pages of “what happens now?” and then a few “I KNEW IT” occurrences. But also a few great “abuh?” and “WTF?!” spots. Action, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, love, betrayal, sex, murder, war, drama, and comedy and probably more that I just can’t think of right now. Mr. Gaiman, I would tell you to pick a genre, but you seem to handle 17 at once just fine. Wow. Applause.

Five stars.

Cowboys and Aliens

This movie was a fun little summer blockbuster from which I expected nothing. I had zero expectations walking into this film. All I knew was that it had New James Bond (Daniel Craig), Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), and Thirteen (Olivia Wilde). I went in there wanting to enjoy it and just have some fun.

Upon my exit, I was very much satisfied. The trailers I had seen didn’t give away any of the resolution, which was a pleasant surprise. Sometimes I knew just what would happen next. Sometimes I was blown away and completely surprised.

The characters were simple, but deep enough to make a bit of a connection to them before too long. The plot was very 1-2-3 and straightforward. The glimpses of Jake’s past were interestingly portrayed and well-placed, though his history with the wife wasn’t full of all the information I’d wanted, but it was all that was necessary.

A simple tale of bad to good mixed with an old west environment makes for a shoot-em-up time and an entertaining result. Simple and satisfying.

Four stars. Maybe four and a half.

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Recent Movies

March 28, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

Hey there, Internet. It’s been awhile. Sorry bout that. I’ve been busy with work and a sickly boyfriend and stuff and… finding excuses not to post. But in that time, I have seen 2 movies in the theatre. Which is more than I have seen in the past few months. It was much needed and enjoyed.

Adjustment Bureau:
Saw this with Gadget while Irish was working last Saturday. It was awesome. I finally got to have popcorn at the movies. First time in years. (Irish doesn’t like popcorn for some reason.) The movie was really good and I’m going to be avoiding people in hats for awhile. Just in case they’re after me. You never know.

It had romance and action and I felt it covered a lot of demographics of moviewatchers. I highly recommend it. It was a lot less Matrix-ish than I expected, which is good. It was like Bourne, with Inception qualities. Very well done.

Sucker Punch:
Saw this with Irish and AngryGinger this weekend. It covered a lot of audiences too. It was very creative and well done. It had a lot of interesting camera work. The anime style to the fighting is really cool. The different scenarios are imaginative and colorful, while violent and action-packed, but not violent enough to warrant an R rating. And I may have found a new costume for my stash of cosplay things. Babydoll. I’ve done similar costumes before, so it’s nothing new to me, and she’s blonde which makes things easier.

I’ve heard a lot of varying opinions on the movie, mostly bipolar/polarized – either loving it or hating it. Both Irish and I have tried to remind people to keep in mind that the whole movie takes place in a young girl’s imagination while she’s locked up and dreaming of escaping. This causes it to be very over the top and quite ridiculous at times.

Overall, I liked it. It was ridiculous and fun and fast-paced. Not one of my top movies, but a good one to see while it’s still in theatres.
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Also, I got my first BzzAgent pack, so we’ll see how that whole thing goes. Not sure exactly of all I need to do for it yet. And I’ve been playing a lot of De Blob 2 – it’s pretty awesome.

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Last Valentine’s

January 13, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

After that whole fandango went down, we were talking about our previous Valentine experiences. I told him how until last year, I hadn’t had the stereotypical gifts on V-Day (candy, card, balloon, bear, etc.), but Jay changed that. And it was stupid and terrible. Also, it was made worse by the fact that I didn’t love him anymore, but that’s beside the point.

I mentioned that other than the gifts, I couldn’t remember V-Day being all that good with Jay. Then he said, “I think WE were together on Valentine’s Day.” This was a huge memory shock. I had almost forgotten about that. We went to Don Pablos for dinner and had the Fajitas for Two Valentine’s Special (which I found amusing, and now ironic) and then we saw Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief. I remember using AngryGinger as my cover story since Jay hated the mere idea of Irish, let alone me being alone with him. And for good reason I guess.

So here we are, and we’ve come full circle. I’m a college grad now, I’m no longer on psych meds, I’m employed at a good company that is actually 9-5, we’re living together, and he’s finally learning to be a boyfriend, kinda.

Life isn’t perfect. It’s an adventure.

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Season of the Meh

January 10, 2011 in Mindpieces | Permalink

We saw Season of the Witch this weekend with BoobsMcGee and friends. It was alright. Tons creepier than I thought it was gonna be, and not really all that good. Nicholas Cage was playing a different kind of role at least, which was refreshing. I hadn’t heard all that much about it and didn’t really know what to expect. And the previews before it were all movies that looked very ‘meh’ and I had never heard of either. Very much a B-Movie experience. And considering I paid for both Irish’s ticket and my own, it was even worse.

But after the movie, the guys invited us to Serafino’s the next day to watch the Ravens game. I was totally excited to go and that we got invited. They’d apparently been doing it all season, and just never sent us an invite. Well, I didn’t get one at least. Most of the time, they’ll send something to Irish and just assume he’ll tell me about it. Well that doesn’t happen. And no one seems to retain that information when I enlighten them to it. Oh well…

We did end up going to Serafino’s though, and it was pretty cool. They had $1 sliders but they tasted burnt. Someone else got a different batch later and they were fine, but I still didn’t like them. They had mozzarella cheese on them and it wasn’t nearly as good as it sounds. At least the 22oz draft Yuengling was good. And we walked out only spending $12 total. Granted, I had made a decent breakfast that morning at 11ish of cinnamon rolls, eggs, and bacon, so we weren’t all that hungry. And we only stayed til halftime. He was tired and had a Spirit of the Century game to get to by 4. And since his car’s in the shop right now, that meant either I had to drive his ass there, or he had to get picked up by someone also going to game. The latter happened, thankfully.

While he was gone, I played some Fable 3 and got some of the last achievements I need to complete the game. There’s a glitch with the Popularity Contest one. You have to get 20 friends, but the counter goes down over time, as you apparently lose friends. Why you don’t get it automatically when you become king or queen, I don’t know. That would make too much sense I guess. Sigh. But I did finally get the King Henry cheevo: Get married 6 times as royalty and kill 2 of them. There are still a bunch online that I need to get, but that’ll happen all at once. It doesn’t work to just have Irish login and join my game, it has to be someone connected through Live. Which means I either do them with a random person, the rare actual friend who has Fable 3, or rent a second copy to play on a borrowed xbox after moving the saved game to the borrowed hard drive. So much crap.

Anyway though, I played that awhile until Irish came home and made bratwurst for dinner, which were pretty good. But then insisted on playing Borderlands with Guardian until midnight or so. I tried to work on actual work to get a start on the project due at noon today, but I got a few more pages into it, and just had to give up. I was too tired. And frustrated with my computer being lame.

I went to bed around 11pm and his game was keeping me awake, but I still tried to sleep. Then I finally drift off and he comes to bed, waking me up again. Then this morning was really hard. I felt crappy in general and was actually quite frustrated that the weekend was gone already. Without any good reason though, I was quietly sobbing, not crying really, but shaking and there were involuntary eeps and squeaks coming from me.

I guess Irish noticed because he pulled me out of the fetal position I had wrapped myself into, and held me close to him. A few more sobs escaped my lips, but I definitely felt a lot better and comforted by his embrace. Granted, it led to other things, but that helped relieve the stress inside me too. And it got me moving so I could eventually get up and get ready for work. Not that I wanted to leave his side then, but at least it got my mopeyness out of the way for the time being. And that’s all I needed right then.

Sometimes he gives me just what I need. Whether it’s what I think I need or want isn’t always true, but the fact that he can do that even sometimes, is pretty awesome.

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