April 2006 Archives
...Officially Almost 30. Since I turned 28 today. Been celebrating all weekend. I feel kind of old, but in a good way.
As a Pistons fan, what do you take more joy in: watching Manu Ginobili take an forearm to the head, or knowing that Ron Artest was suspended one game for doing it?
At Detroit Bad Boys, where they refer to Ginobili as "Balki."
Thank you, Sherri, for saving me from a totally content-less day.
1. When is the last time you had a papercut? Last week. Although, technically, it's more of a foil cut.
2. Would you rather have a 5 pound tumor on your face or a 50 pound tumor on your back, neither of which could ever be removed? *shriek* On my back, I guess. I could not look at that in the mirror every day.
3. What was the best part of your weekend? I did several enjoyable things this weekend, but frankly, I had the most fun grocery shopping with Fly Girl.
4. Do you like peanut butter? Only when mixed with chocolate. Especially in Reese's Miniatures.
5. List three foods you can't stand. Hot peppers of any variety, olives, and anchovies. It's a total coincidence that those are all pizza toppings.
6. Did you make your bed this morning? Yes. I never ever used to make my bed, but FG has gotten me in the habit and I think I might actually keep the habit.
7. When it comes to handshakes, are you firm? Absolutely, yes.
8. What was the most effective punishment for you as a kid? I didn't get punished a whole lot, but I seem to remember having to go a week without television as being particularly difficult. I also distinctly remember hiding under my bed once trying to avoid a spanking.
9. What is your favorite way to fix/eat potatoes? Mashed, with some sort of cheese. White cheddar or gorgonzola.
10. Ask me something. Say I have $300 extra out of my first new and improved paycheck. What should I spend it on?
(S+C) x (B+F)/T = V is the formula that describes the "ideal female ass" in shape, bounce, firmness and symmetry, according to psychology lecturer David Holmes of Manchester Metropolitan University in England:
S is the overall shape or droopiness of the bottom, C represents how spherical the buttocks are, B measures muscular wobble or bounce, while F records the firmness. V is the hip to waist ratio, or symmetry of the bottom, and T measures the skin texture and presence of cellulite.
Via Chaz, who once again gets points for Best Post Title.
Carla tagged me. And congrats on your new baby! Once you go Mac....
So here are 10 Mac apps that I use on a daily (or almost-daily) basis, somewhat in the order of frequency of which I use them:
Camino
Mail.app
iTunes
Cashbox
ecto
Meteorologist
MacJanitor
Transmission
iCal
VLC
Acquisition
I ordinarily skip the tagging part, but I will pick on the other Mac-using folks I know and pass this along to Neil and Sherri.
May 1 is my first official day in my new job.
I met with my new director today to get the logistical lowdown. Show up at 8:00 a.m. Report to my new manager. He and the senior validation engineer have my training plan all together. Business casual.
He mentioned that he really watches for two things, and that's attitude and work ethic. He expects from my interview that neither of those should be a problem. He also gave me the "my door is always open" speech. I do actually believe it coming from him, from what I know of him so far. And he also said that he wanted me to know that they never intended to just give me this job, but that I hands-down earned it and he repeated that everyone was impressed with me during my interviews.
Cool.
I had hoped I'd move some time next week so I could have next Friday evening off without having to take a vacation day, but I'm not complaining. I can skate through one more week. The deal was I needed to stay until we finished some controlled substance activity (not something we normally do, so this was a special occasion). So the hard part's over.
The maintenance guy told me he just made my name plate. He wanted to decorate it, but he didn't think that would go over so well.
I was told the validation group is having lunch out next week to commemorate my moving in and another guy's moving out. So I guess I can mosey on down here a couple hours before my normal starting time to hang out with my new team.
One more week. One more week. One more week....
Neil totally made my day by suggesting that Thandie Newton should play me in a movie about myself.
That is so perfect!
I've just become the new captain of the TC Metblog as the previous captain found himself too busy to handle it. I'm excited. There's a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on in the network that I'd like to know more about. (The "network" being all the Metroblogging sites.)
I'm still finding out what exactly the captain does, but I'm sure it's gonna be neat.
And after a bit of a lull, I'm finding myself back in the Top 50. Which, somewhat scarily, isn't that hard to get into. Must. Keep. Blogging.
One of the things that tickles me about writing for Metblog is that people write me and ask me about things I've posted, or mention that they saw I posted something about their group before and could I maybe mention them again. More people read Metblog than I thought. That's pretty cool. Although I don't actually have any idea what the traffic stats are like. Maybe when I get to be captain I'll be privy to that sort of thing. I wish people would comment more.
These Mondays just keep on coming.
1. If forced to choose, would you rather eat your weight in Peeps or in Cadbury Creme Eggs? Cadbury Creme Eggs.
2. Have you finished your taxes? (If you live outside the US, how is your income taxed?) Yes. Just last night. And I think I'll have to amend them.
3. Should I re-design my blog? Sure, why not? Somebody's got to and clearly I'm not doing mine.
4. What is your favorite kind of cereal? Basic 4. But I also (more) regularly by Corn Chex, Kix, Honey Nut Cheerios, and sometimes Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.
5. If, in 3 months, you were forced to permanently leave the city/town in which you currently live, where would you go? San Francisco, baby.
6. What one word best describes you? Someone once told me "audacious" and I like that. At the present moment, I'd say "transformed" would also be a good one.
7. Which actor would want to represent you in a movie about your life? Pfffft. I have no idea. Based on vague physical resemblance I might say Halle Berry, but I don't really actually like her that much.
8. Do you have any birthmarks? No.
9. How many states have you lived in? Just two. Michigan and Minnesota.
10. Ask me something. What are you proud of this week?
From reality blurred:
The BBC will air a talent-based competition series called How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? this fall. The winner "will get a contract to star as the eponymous rebel nun in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s famous musical in the West End, London, this autumn," according to the Independent. Both shows will be produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Like Pop Idol, the show will have open auditions, and judges will narrow the group to 50. From that group, "[t]en will make it through to the television shows where they will undergo training and perform live for the panel and the public who will vote."
Besides causing everyone who reads the show’s title to start singing the song in their heads, the show has upset actors’ union Equity. They say it’s "'demeaning' to its members' professionalism and questioned if an unknown newcomer could handle such a role," the paper reports.
Auditions start later this month and the show will air this summer. Graham Norton will host.
I can't decide if I'm excited or horrified. Actually, the fact that it's to be hosted by Graham Norton takes all the joy out of it.
This is totally cracking my shit up today.
Congratulations to Dee on the birth of her son, Aidan.
Fat baby cheeks!
Tayshaun Prince is apparently a verb.
When you think you have a chance at scoring only to get rejected in the end.
Man: Hey, do you want to go out?
Woman: No thanks.
Random Guy: Holy shit.
Random Dude: That dude got Tayshaun'd.
(via Detroit Bad Boys)
A little Spin Doctors for you there.
For some unknown reason, I can't sleep and thus I'm up at this ungodly (to me) hour of 8:00 a.m. I'm still sleepy, so really I'm not functioning or getting anything accomplished. I'm just sort of staring off into space. Maybe I'll just go on and fix myself some (decaf) coffee and see what happens. With my last teaspoon of sugar. I should probably get some more.
Considering I normally get up somewhere between 9 and 10, 8:00 is not a completely crazy hour. But I think I tossed and turned for about 30 minutes before I actually got out of bed. So really, I've been up since 7:30. This is even stranger because I was not just up, but out and about until 1:30 last night. I should be out cold right now.
Having to be at work at this hour is gonna be a bitch. I've never ever managed to get myself on a schedule that allowed me to wake up easily and be fully functioning much before 10:00 a.m. I'd get up and zombie through the morning, and then end up staying late because I wouldn't get on a roll until the afternoon. And I was never able to make myself go to bed very early. Although part of that was because I had a roommate who would also stay up.
So maybe this will turn me into one of those grownups who goes to bed at 10:00. Okay, maybe 10:30, after the news. I won't actually watch the news, because it sucks, but you know what I mean. I think my mind has an ingrained hatred of this time of day and knowing that I will have to be up at 7 will make it rebel, even if I do get enough sleep.
I have three active email addresses that are all pulled into my mail program. Apple's Mail.app consolidates your inboxes, so you can view all your messages from all your accounts together if you like.
Except that I haven't been doing that because there's always so much shit in my inbox that I get overwhelmed by the large number of messages. I know, relative to important and busy people, that I don't have that much email, but it's still more than I can handle.
But I sucked it up and cleaned the ol' inboxes out and I'm ecstatic to report that the combined total of messages currently in my inbox is hovering around 38.
You know what really pleases me about it? You know how, as a page increases in length, the scrollbar shortens, and if the page is long enough the scrollbar gets to a point where it can't get any shorter? I now have few enough messages that my scrollbar does not default to a little dot.
I feel so free.
Damn Straight examines two headlines written on the same topic:
It’s kind of like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure for media consumers.
If you decide homosexuals should be permitted to meet the Easter Bunny, turn to Gay.com.
If you decide homosexuals are plotting to eat the Easter Bunny, turn to LifeSiteNews.com.
I got a heads up that the daily deal on woot.com is a Timex T58501 Ironman Triathlon Speed + Distance GPS Watch for $74.99. So of course I bought one immediately. New toy! New toy!
The problem with contributing to more than one blog is that, even though you may feel like you are posting a lot and even though you may actually be posting a lot, it doesn't so much look that way in either place.
Relatively speaking, I have put quite a bit up here lately. But I've also been trying to get back in the swing over at Mpls Metblog. I've hit that nice sweet spot where I do enough to have stuff to blog about, but I'm not so busy that I don't have time to blog about it.
And I must say, one of the things I'm really excited about with my upcoming transition back to a cube job is the extra time during the day with internet access.
I got an email from the HR lady last Wednesday asking me to stop by her office and stating that she's usually in until 4:30 every day. I saw the message at about 4:05 and ran downstairs to see her.
She said they had officially sent my paperwork off to the Parent Company for the stamp of approval, with an effective date of April 17. There will be some paperwork and other HR stuff to go through when the official okay comes back from the PC. Which it did on Friday and which I found out yesterday.
Remember that Britney Spears statue I mentioned before? You haven't fully experienced it until you've seen the reverse angle.
(via Feministe)
Both Fly Girl and KathyHowe have been saying for a long time what a great movie What the Bleep Do We Know!? is. I watched it with FG last night. (If I had realized she had it on DVD, I would have watched it a long time ago!)
OMG. I don't even know where to start. It's mindblowing. I'm going to have to watch it a few more times. And watch all the extras. And read all the books.
In case you're entirely unfamiliar with the concept of the movie, the message is basically about the intersection of quantum physics and philosophy. What is reality and how do we know that?
The main things I took away from it were:
- Your reality is what you think it is.
- Your brain can't tell the difference between what you're actually sensing, and what you may be imagining. It responds in the same way. e.g., think of sexual thoughts and how your body responds. It responds much the same way to actual physical stimuli as it does to whatever mental fantasy you create.
- Similarly, what you think about yourself becomes true, just by your thinking it. e.g., think of how attractive someone who is confident in their attractiveness is.
- We're all addicted to something, in some way, and that fuels our actions and perspective. Because addiction is about emotions. We're actually addicted to emotions. Those emotions may be caused by a substance, or just by our experience.
All this science and philosophy is delivered via interviews with a bunch of doctors/scientists/philosophers/really smart people. And this is interspersed with and expounded upon by a fictional story about a photographer, played by Marlee Matlin.
Hell, it's got it's own study guide.
(I was trying to figure out where the fictional story was taking place, as I thought the city looked vaguely familiar, and I like to do that with skylines in movies. I finally decided on Portland (mostly based on the view across the Willamette River). I googled a sign from the transit station just to check and it turns out I was right.)
Anyway, it's an amazing movie. It will definitely make you think. I feel smarter just having watched it. And I know from having watched it that because I think I'm smarter, I am! Go see it. Go!
I saw this bumper sticker for the first time yesterday. And then I saw it again.
Iyari Limon, who played Kennedy on Buffy, recently did an interview with AfterEllen. In it she reveals that she read for the part of Carmen on The L Word. She didn't get it, obviously, but she still made a contribution:
IL: [Y]ou know in one of the last episodes where Carmen is whispering something into Shane's ear?
AE: Yes.
IL: Do you remember what she whispered?
AE: Yes I do.
IL: That was what I had whispered to her in the audition.
[Note: The words Carmen whispered were, “Quiero lamer te hasta que te vengas en mi boca mil veces.”]
Dirty!
She also thinks Sarah Shahi's Spanish sucks and the representation of Carmen's family is disgustingly stereotypical and inaccurate. I agree.
I did not realize that there were not going to be new episodes of Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy last night. I feel cheated.
Hot damn, y'all. The spring weather feels so good. SO GOOD!
So last week I complained about my hip flexors being tired (but not sore), and then I came across a thread in the Cool Running forums about... strengthening your hip flexors! How 'bout that? I tried adding some flutter kicks in with my push-up and sit-up routine. My hip flexors went from "tired" to "sore" with the quickness.
There was also a thread about running just to run vs having a strict training schedule. I wish I could run just to run, but right now I can't. I did that all winter with no set schedule and I hated it. That might have had more to do with the fact that it was winter. But still. I think part of my problem is that since I'm still pretty new to running, I haven't raced all the distances that there are to race. I feel like I need to actively work towards a five-miler/8k, a half marathon and a marathon, and then after those monkeys are off my back I'll feel better about getting out there and doing what feels good every day. I have a feeling I'll probably make better progress if I just stop worrying about it. Although if I'm running just to run, how do I track progress? Or why do I need to progress, exactly?
I took my long run yesterday. Started from Lake Nokomis, took Minnehaha Parkway over to the Mississippi River and back, then did a lap around Lake Nokomis for about 6.3 miles. Now, there's a spot in town where Minnehaha Ave and Minnehaha Parkway intersect. Minnehaha Park is right there. As many times as I've driven, biked, and run through there, I never until yesterday realized that Minnehaha Falls are right there. I mean, I knew the falls were somewhere between Lake Nokomis and the river. In my defense, they're not very well marked. There's a roundabout there, so if you're in a car, you are not at all looking around. You're just trying to figure out where the hell you need to turn off. You can't see the falls from the road. Anyway, now I can say I've seen the falls.
Today I took my first bike ride of the season with Fly Girl. (Note to self, get your bike checked out. You could have gotten up this morning and at least made sure you had air in the tires and the chain was on track and you had all your gear instead of noticing this stuff as you're on your way out the door.) It was a nice day out, but windy. And our route was hilly. Talk about a hip flexor workout. Sheesh.
*pooped*
Today is Chaz's 10th Blogiversary.
Ten years!
Our lifehacks, which art in contexts,
Inbox zero be thy aim.
Thy Kinkless done.
Thy Mind Sweep fun, in @work as it is in @honeydo.
Give us this day our next action.
And forgive us our open loops, as we forgive those who delete our email.
And lead us not into web surfing.
Deliver us from IM.
For thine is the Moleskine, the Project and the Due Date
For someday/maybe,
Allen.
I've only been following this stuff off and on, and I am totally amused by this.
(via 43 Folders)
Andy Dehnart at Reality Blurred has been taking notes on each week's episode of The Amazing Race (which Sherri and I should be on, but whatever *sniff*).
In the March 15 episode, he took note of Lake calling Ray a "rotten mammy jammer" and thought something seemed not quite right about it. He googled it and found that it's a racist euphemism for "motherfucker." Classy.
(I feel like I should have known that.)
Think Progress has an item on a guy who got up in front of the president and told him he ought to be ashamed of himself. There's video and a transcript there, and also video at Crooks and Liars.
Gotta love the Shrub's response as he's listening to the guy talk.
(via House 8)
What makes this joke work so well is that, sadly, it's totally believable.
Vermont labeled “rogue state” by Bush administration
By Shay Totten | Vermont Guardian
Editor's Note: Due to a last-minute legal challenge by federal lawyers, the Guardian was not able to post this story yesterday as scheduled. The administration's temporary injunction was not granted, so we are now posting the story.
posted April 1, 2006
WASHINGTON — Efforts to impeach the president are helping to place Vermont on a new list of "rogue states" being circulated by the Bush administration, the Vermont Guardian has learned.
I Don't Hate Tax Time
But then my taxes are relatively simple. Not quite 1040EZ simple, but simple enough.
I'm about 75% done with my taxes. Waiting on one statement. So far, I'm expecting a whopping $1 from the state of Minnesota and $34 from the federal government.
That's much better than I expected. I figured I'd owe, but I don't owe! Perfect. I don't even care if I don't get a refund. I'm expecting my bonus from work this week or next, so it's kind of like getting a refund, because I don't have to spend my bonus on my taxes.
Also, It'sDeductible is now a free service via TurboTax! w00t! So you can track what you give away -- both cash and goods -- and it estimates how much it's all worth for you.
I know I gave away a ton of shit last year. Some really nice stuff, too, because I was too lazy to put it up on eBay. I can't even remember how much, but I guesstimated what I could remember and it came out to be a decent chunk of change. Now I'm excited to track what I give away this year. Except that I did quite a bit of fluff-cutting last year, so I don't even have that much to give away at the moment.
I wrote all that, like, in February. Now it's April 5 and I'm not done. I was supposed to receive a particular 1099 in the mail which I never got, and all sorts of stuff has happened with the account in question over the last year so I don't have access to it online. So I have to get my online account access set up, but that won't happen in time to file my taxes on time, nor can they send me a replacement 1099 in time. So I was going to file an extension, but they tell you you still have to pay what you owe by April 17. Which confuses me because I don't know exactly how much I owe because I can't accurately report my income without the missing 1099. So maybe I'll just leave that off (and thus neither owe nor get a refund) and file an amended return later...?
I should probably ask somebody about that.
The top 5 Fortune 500 companies for 2006 are:
- Exxon Mobil
- Wal-mart
- General Motors
- Chevron
- Ford Motor
How an oil company is making $36 billion or $14 billion dollars in profit is beyond me.
Rosie O'Donnell on Star Jones:
"Pilates my ass," read a recent post about Star Jones. "That’s how she said she lost 200 pounds," O’Donnell says, her voice rising. "Here’s what annoys me about Star Jones. As a former fatty, she has an obligation to her tribe. And to write a book about how to be the perfect woman that she now is, and to leave out gastric bypass and the supposed gender-identity issues of your husband, it’s just like selling bullshit to the point that it’s sickening." She shakes her head. "She pretends that she was never one of us. And she pushed away a plate of Oreos with Joy [Behar, co-host of The View]. They had new Double Stuf Oreos they had to eat obviously because they had a Nabisco deal at ABC, and Star goes, 'I’ll just have one, because I have self-control.' And I thought, Joy’s gonna say it. She’s gonna say, 'You lying sack of shit, you can only eat one because you poop soup!' Authenticity is the only thing that people want to buy. If you give them the choice between loving Star Jones lying or loving Star Jones telling the truth, they’re going to love Star Jones telling the truth."
*snap*snap*
I heard talk of this exchange on The View on the radio this morning, but I didn't quite catch the part where they explained exactly what the tiff was between Star and Joy. Why did I stop watching The View?
1. Do you have phone at home, or do you only use a cell phone? Just my cell phone.
2. Do you like the feeling of wet sand squishing between your toes? NO!
3. What's your favorite kind of donut (if you LIE and say you don't like donuts, you're no friend of mine!)? It's between a regular Krispy Kreme glazed donut, and those apple stuffed/cinnamon powdered donuts.
4. Did you play any April fool's pranks on anybody on Saturday? Nope.
5. Did you remember that Daylight Savings Time began on Sunday? Yup.
6. On a scale of 1 - 10, how would you rate your swimming ability? Maybe about a 3. I can keep from drowning and I'm not particularly afraid of the water or the depth, but I'm not very comfortable in the water, either.
7. Are you allergic to anything? If so, what? I'm not accutely, anaphylactic-shock allergic to anything, but dust, mold, ragweed, and grass make me sniffly.
8. What are your three favorite shows on TV? Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and Survivor.
9. Would you rather be covered in 100 bee stings, or 100 mosquito bites? I've done the mosquito bite thing before, but I've never been stung by a bee. I guess I'll go with the bites over the stings.
10. Ask me something. What's one of your favorite items in your wardrobe?
Have I mentioned that I {heart} Bette? I think I have. And you know what? The way my life is going, I so am Bette right now, which made her story a little difficult to watch. (No, there are no babies involved.)
Jennifer Beals is fuckin' hot. Seriously. Anyway.
To cut to the chase, the point of this post is that Fly Girl and I have broken up. Again. While, again, I'm disappointed that things didn't work out in such a way that we're still together, I am actually quite happy with where we've ended up. Namely, it's a reasonably amicable breakup and we're still gonna be friends.
I told her the first time we broke up that I'd rather have her as a friend than nothing at all. And I told myself when we got together the second time that I thought that things had to happen the way they did for a reason, even if it seemed to be less than ideal. I'm pleased to find that both those notions are holding right now.
It's funny, actually. The predicament we're in. And this is where my Bette comparison comes in. Bette and I are both:
- biracial
- living with our ex, who is dating a guy*
- unhappy with our job situations, but with a hot prospect on the horizon
- hoping for some sort of pleasant amicable future with the ex
Except FG and I are getting along much better than Bette and Tina are. In fact, I'm planning on going apartment shopping with her (I'm keeping this one, assuming I get my new job, 'cause it's a sweet ass apartment). She's gonna stay in the 'hood. Nobody's moving to California in the immediate future. We'll hang out. Ride bikes together (you know, like eight-year-olds). I think it's gonna be cool.
So, yeah, I thought y'all should know.
*Now, there's a condition on my telling of and your reading of this story. Throughout the history of my relationship with FG, I have found myself to be extremely protective of her. That may or may not be justified. The details of what happened are not so much important. Sure I was mad at her, hurt by her, frustrated with her. A lot of stuff I didn't broadcast, for a variety of reasons. So I appreciate y'all's support, but I really want you to remember that it's about me. It's not about her. Don't hate on her. Trust me, she's got her fair share of issues with me. She and I (and our respective therapists) know what's up. Thanks in advance for your cooperation in this matter.
Tuesday (28 March) was the one-year anniversary of starting this crazy habit o' mine. I might have to treat myself to some gear.
And now a PFT Update, as of Friday.
2-mile run: 17:40, for 85 points.
Pushups in 2 minutes: 26 for 71 points.
Situps in 2 minutes: 53 for 69 points.
For a grand total of 225. Still not passing (need 240 points for that), but much improved. Again, pushups seems to be the greatest room for improvement. I'm rather impressed with myself on that 2-mile time. It was definitely a push and I did it without taking my inhaler, too. That's definitely a best time for me. And here's my thing about the situps: you're not allowed to have your feet held or tuck 'em under something, so I feel like my situps are limited by the fact that my feet keep popping up off the floor. I'm not sure how I could do them much faster.
My friend Tim and I are all signed up for Get in Gear. I've switched training programs, so I've been putting in a lot more miles. Where by a lot more miles I mean about an extra mile a day, and about two extra miles on my weekend long run.
Since I ran such a good time in my last 10k, I'm down with running GIG for fun, not for time. Besides, GIG is the largest 10k in Minnesota and it'll be crowded and six miles is not enough room for folks to really spread out. In light of that, I probably don't really need to be running the extra miles, but hopefully getting my base up sooner will give me the endurance and flexibility to run a half marathon sooner in the year.
When I start to add on the mileage, I really start to feel it in my hips. Right along the front. What are those muscles? Hip flexors or something? I figured I ought to be feeling it in my legs, but it's not in my legs. And it's not soreness. They're just tired. I like a little bit of soreness. But my hips just feel tired. Especially since being up north last weekend altered my schedule and I've been trying to play catch up, which meant I ran every single day this week. And which means I'm taking today, my long run day, off. Besides, it's really gross outside. 40° and drippy. If it were warmer I'd love to run in the rain. But it's not.
I'm really enjoying Slow Burn. I was gifted with it from my Amazon wishlist. It gets a bit repetitive, but there's some good information in there. I've already read through all the mental stuff. Now I'm in the meat of the training stuff. And I have yet to read the nutrition stuff. I had read about some of these concepts in the Cool Running forums when I started out, so I think I really had the right approach when starting this running habit from scratch. Namely, I started out slow.
Also in the CR forums I came across DJ Steveboy's Podrunner. Each mix is at a fixed BPM, so you can pick one to match how slow or fast you want to go. I've only run once while listening to it. I found the 150 BPM mix to be too slow, but the music was still good to listen to. Sometimes it's nice to have a good beat that you can zone out to. The 180 BPM mix was great for keeping my feet moving. 180 steps/min is supposedly the optimal cadence for running efficiency (and biking as well). It was a funny little shuffle, because I was trying to keep the cadence, but I was also not trying to go very fast, so I was talking these really short, quick steps. But I was comfortable, and that's all that matters. There are other mixes at other speeds that I haven't downloaded yet. They're really long, about an hour each. The Groundpounder mix — the 180 BPM one — is two hours. They'll be better for when I get to longer runs and into marathon training where your long run is two or three hours.
And it's finally warming up some. It's been a little dreary, but I haven't had to keep it indoors and go to the Y in weeks.
I'm still going back and forth on this 43 Folders and Getting Things Done stuff. I sort of feel like with my new job coming up (hopefully) where I have to go back to being an office drone, that I will need some sort of organizational system (other than piles) to keep my shit together.
Of course, I can totally spend forever on the process and getting organized and not actually doing anything. And there's really quite a bit to the GTD thing if you want to get into it all.
But one tool that looks really appealing to a procrastinator with a short attention span such as myself is the dash. It's "a short burst of focused activity during which you force yourself to do nothing but work on the procrastinated item for a very short period of time—perhaps as little as just one minute." Similarly, the idea of timeboxing looks sensible and doable, too. It's basically setting a limited period of time (on the scale of an hour or two) to work on a task.
I've been looking around for something to do. I did process my inbox today. My actual paper inbox, aka, a pile of stuff. I feel so efficient.
<Blaine and Antoine>
Hated it!
</Blaine and Antoine>
I mean, really. Let's just throw some random crap in at the end of the season and then we'll have a few months to figure out what the hell we're doing. Ugh. On the whole I'd say this season was okay. There were some good spots (like that one episode with all that sex, Fly Girl and I agree), but definitely some low points as well (like the finale, and the fact that Dana had to die). But still, really, the best part is the AfterEllen recaps. Hilarious.
Spoilers after the jump.
