Things I have loved this year – tv, apps, podcasts
Posted by Sarah in books, geek toys, recommendations, reviews, television, tv on Dec 30, 2011 | 1 commentI listened to A LOT of podcasts this year. It started with The Nerdist (which I still love) and led me to some comedy podcasts that I DIDN’T enjoy so much but ultimately I found Girl on Guy (Aisha Tyler) and Sklarbro Country (the Sklar brothers) which made up for any missteps. Episode 1 of Girl on Guy has, by far, the funniest story I have ever heard. The rest of her shows are right in my wheelhouse. She’s a chick who thinks like a dude and has wide-ranging interests and plenty of geek hobbies. And she’s funny. Sklarbro Country is a great combination of comedy and sports with impressive guests. I’m less enamored of their ‘celebrity call in’ segment but it’s toward the end so I usually just skip it.
I also love Pop Culture Happy Hour and Culturetopia from NPR. The former was a recommendation by my friend Mimi and it consistently makes me laugh.
Book podcasts! Bookrageous is a fave because it’s three friends talking about books and graphic novels they like and frequently trying to convince one another to read something they love. It’s been great and I got a couple of excellent recs out of it this year, not to mention it’s fun to listen to. Incidentally, I recommend Brews and Books (Josh’s blog) since it’s the way I found the podcast and I love his beer reviews. Books on the Nightstand is a little more polished but also gave me great reading ideas this year.
Sound Opinions from NPR was my go-to music podcast and I enjoyed every single episode.
The 404 was my geekcast of choice, as I have raved about before. Buzz Out Loud switched to once a week podcasts with special coverage episodes, which means I listened to it more than I would have expected.
Doug Loves Movies was, hands down, the funniest podcast I listened to all year. I could be seen laughing out loud at work REGULARLY while listening.
Android Apps:
Words with Friends. Do I really have to explain this? I was the kind of kid who learned to play Scrabble by making the coolest words we could- we didn’t keep score. Words with Friends has taught me strategy. I dig it.
Tweetcaster replaced Tweetdeck toward the end of the year because it’s got a great user interface and it does everything I want it to.
No Time to Cook by Real Simple is a great app and cost about the same as one issue of the magazine. Consistently delicious recipes. ChefTap I already raved about but I am still loving it and having lots of success.
Foursquare continues to be my default ‘travel’ app, with a side of OpenTable for getting reservations. My fave utilities are Springpad and OurGroceries. My calendar is Jorte, whose only fault as far as I can see is an inability to create bi-weekly events. Now that I work in an office with a radio, I understand and use Shazam.
Gentle Alarm is still the way I wake up and I still love it. Tea Timer has been great for making tea, the Starbucks app is great if you’ve got a Starbucks nearby (I no longer do) and the Eljay app has made my LJ flist mobile.
Tab Tools is a GREAT app for guitar tabs and my goal for the new year is to actually USE the Meditation Support Timer.
Greader and Gmail are on my homescreen with G+ and Tweetcaster. Password Card is the best thing for creating safe passwords on the go.
Dear Emergency Medical Spanish App – YOU ARE AWESOME.
Untappd is a recent addition which I’m playing with. Verdict is still out.
TV.
Dude. I watched A LOT of TV this year.
Tops on my list: Revenge, Justified, Homeland, Community, Castle, Sons of Anarchy, Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Criminal Minds, Modern Family, Ringer, The Mentalist and Covert Ops.
Whether it was brain candy (Revenge, Covert Ops, Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Ringer), interesting crime drama (Justified, Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, Castle) or comedy (everything else), this was the stuff that made me keep watching.
Revenge is campy, but awesomely so (and FYA does GREAT recaps), Covert Ops is slightly less campy but equally fun. I’m enjoying the modern takes on fairy tales and I loved the comedies. That said, if I was going to recommend something to everyone, it would be Homeland, Sons of Anarchy and Justified.
Homeland had tight and intense writing, focused storylines without a dozen hanging threads and some INCREDIBLE performances. Claire Danes better get an Emmy. Watching Sons of Anarchy is like a terrible accident – you know what’s probably going to happen, you can’t look away and then HOLY SHIT something else comes out of the blue – but so out of the blue that you disengage, you’re just pissed you didn’t see it coming. Justified has Timothy Olyphant so that’s 1. He’s a cowboy in Wild West sense of the word, so that’s 2. It’s got one of the most interesting fencesitting characters (is he good? is he terrible? does he even KNOW?) in Boyd Crowder that I’ve seen on television, so that’s 3. Add in the very specific kind of subculture that happens in rural areas and it’s engaging, thoughtful and consistently a wild ride.
So there you go. That’s my favorites roundup. My list of this year’s books is at Goodreads and I think I posted about MOST of them, so you should be able to click on the 2011 books tag on this post and get all the entries. At Goodreads the books are all listed chronologically. I’m hoping to get through a reread of some of the Dresden Files books this weekend so I can start catching up.
Salvage the Bones
Posted by Sarah in books, reviews on Dec 27, 2011 | 0 commentsThis ended up being book 60 of 55 Books I Read And Am Willing to Tell People About. I’m pleasantly surprised to be exceeding my goal but I’ll probably keep it to 55 again next year. With any luck, I’m going to end this year’s reading with some brain candy.
Back to my original point: After reading about a dozen reviews that loved Salvage the Bones but didn’t seem to really know how to TALK about it (including Jen Weiner, who I LOVE), when it came up as a Kindle Special Offer for $2, there was no chance I was passing it up.
First, the hype is justified. It’s an incredibly lovely novel, written with equal parts hope and sadness and captures an experience that most will only ever read about. The language is beautiful and the characters painfully well-rendered. For those unfamiliar, it’s the story of an impoverished family’s experience surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Before you jump to the ‘holy depressing’ conclusion, it’s also an amazing story about community and family and how we try to take care of our own. Definitely worthy of the acclaim and awards.
In only tangentially related news, I completed my online FEMA emergency training and while being PAINFULLY DULL it’s actually full of good things which makes me hopeful about our response to further natural and man-made disasters.
Hey girl, I’mma leave this post
Posted by Sarah in books, food, miscellany on Dec 22, 2011 | 1 commentYes, that’s a Ryan Gosling/Kanye West meme mashup. Because THAT’S the kind of nerd I am. Know what other kind of nerd I am? I got a Littman II Classic and that motherfucker is LIKE MAGIC. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s totally fine – just keep scrolling.
Book 59 of 50 this year turned out to be The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. I remembered enjoying The Historian but not so much I wanted to purchase this particular book, so I checked it out from the library. The premise involves a mystery surrounding a painting and the disturbed artist who attempted to attack it. It’s told in varying viewpoints by the shrink, the artist’s wife, the artist’s mistress and a painter in the 1800s.
There was probably not a single twist I didn’t predict, which is not a dealbreaker for me. I was thoroughly uninterested in the mistress, so I skimmed her chapters. The language, while lovely, was a bit… forced throughout. For example, you can write the way people speak or write the way they’d write (which is frequently more lovely) but you can’t purport that speech patterns are the same as writing patterns as I’ve literally never met anyone in my life who speaks exactly as they write. That was just a bit weird.
I think my biggest complaint is that it took the best story elements and techniques from The Blind Assassin and Possession and just didn’t deliver well on it. It doesn’t help that those are two of my favorite novels but I was predisposed to enjoy the premise and the mode of storytelling and ultimately for me it just fell a bit flat. Which is not to say it was BAD because lord knows I’ve read some absolute shit this year that I wouldn’t even talk about (hence the 50 list) and this was a good read, it just fell a bit short of its potential.
Hrm. Self edit here: I looked at my review of The Historian and apparently I DIDN’T enjoy it that much (I gave it two stars), so I guess this comes out ahead at 3 stars.
Unrelated, I’ve been inspired by the BrokeAss Gourmet and I think I’m going to create a recipe for Dark Chocolate Cranberry brownies. I’ve got spare cranberries.
Also, Dear WordPress: I KNOW there’s an update but I’m not installing it until I’m completely convinced it will not utterly fuck up my site. This is because I had that whole snafu earlier this year with my site being utterly b0rked and that’s not how I’m looking to go into the new year. I’mma let you update in my own damn time.
What is making me happy
Posted by Sarah in miscellany, reviews, tv, yoga on Nov 8, 2011 | 0 comments1. I’m about to cut two hours of commute out of every workday. I get to wake up when it’s not dark. I’ll have time to WORK OUT before I leave for my job and a whole extra hour after work. I’m giddy with the potential in those two hours.
2. Books. I’m almost done with my 55 books I’m willing to talk about (my best estimate is that I’ve read about 100 books so far this year total) and I’ve found some that I thoroughly enjoyed and have recommended to others.
3. Yoga! I’ve got fun new yoga stuff around the corner.
4. Guitar! My class is almost over and I’ve learned A TON. I also picked up the free tabs app from Amazon the other day so I’ve got guitar notes for some of my all time favorite songs.
5. Google Plus. With the change away from Reader’s share function and the addition of business pages, I’ve got a lot more activity in my stream that is exactly the kind of stuff I want to read.
6. @ellenbarkin on twitter
7. The Walking Dead continues to kick ass, but I’m practically jumping OUT OF MY SKIN about tonight’s Sons of Anarchy.
8. Last night’s Castle was as Castle ever is – cheeky, clever fun. I can’t wait until I start my new job so that I can watch all of prime time TV during, you know, PRIME TIME.
9. Homeland is epic. Not only are Damien Lewis and Claire Danes amazing, the writing is tight and the storytelling is intense. I am loving this show.
10. Fairy tale TV. I was a huge fan of Grimm’s and Hans Christian Andersen growing up so both Grimm and Once Upon a Time are hitting all the right notes, albeit in very different ways. I found myself *looking forward* to OUaT this week. That hasn’t happened with a network show in a while.
Vacation
Posted by Sarah in books, miscellany, travel on Aug 23, 2011 | 0 commentsI can’t BELIEVE I haven’t posted since the end of July. In my defense, there was vacation and book reading and PLENTY of twitter and G+ posts. So while this is not a real post, there is soon to be a long post about vacation book reading and how I recently bought (*gasp*) two actual PHYSICAL books. Shocking!
Books and ebooks
Posted by Sarah in books, geek toys on Jun 3, 2011 | 0 commentsI’ve got several started on my K3 but as I was cleaning last week, I found three hardcopies that I haven’t read yet. Once upon a time i would have told you there was NO WAY I’d enjoy an e-reader because I love books. I loved the feel, the smell of the pages and all the sounds associated with reading. Now I look at this tiny pile of books (three, actually) and wince. The idea of having to lug one around, keep my place… it’s just a hassle.
It was noticeable last night when I was plowing through Deadline. No hand cramping, no pages lost when I got up to let the dog out. I clicked through those pages so smoothly and quickly that it still impresses me how much they improved since the last gen. All of that is just to say it’s official – the Kindle has utterly converted me away from carrying text and preferring my e-Ink. Technology win.
K3 also gets extra bonus points for currently holding a couple hundred books on it, guaranteeing that I’m NEVER reading something I don’t want to be.
Additionally, I’m considering a new skin for the K3. My netbook skin arrived and has been inspiring (thanks, Decal Girl!).
Deadline (Mira Grant) kicks ass
Posted by Sarah in books, reviews on Jun 1, 2011 | 0 commentsSometimes you read a book and it’s so big and awesome that you’re thrilled to have read it and sad that it’s over. I felt like that about Feed and then I was simultaneously delighted and horrified to find out it was the start of a trilogy. After all, how often to the other books measure up to that initial, amazing, blow-your-mind goodness?
Deadline delivers, in spades. From the start to the kick, it sinks its teeth in (ha! Zombie pun!) and doesn’t let go. The thing that made Georgia awesome – and some more – in Feed makes Shaun awesome and deranged in Deadline. If you’re like me, you were worried about the voice and how it would work out without Georgia. I can safely say you’ll enjoy the result. At the same time it’s a rip-tearing adventure, it’s also a chilling commentary about news, information and who decides which is which – and who should be controlling the flow (or not, as it were). In a time of wikileaks and Net Neutrality, the recent major corporate hack attacks are going to have those who pay off our representatives itching to pull the trigger on half-baked (if well-intentioned) legislation. More than ever, we need to be paying attention to this and speaking loudly about what ‘freedom’ really means. Pretty awesome that you get all that and zombies to boot.
I started Deadline and couldn’t stop clicking until I was done 4 hours later. It’s so good that I got out of bed to post about how awesome it is on the internet. It’s possible I’ve never been so excited about a third book coming out.
Top 10 (Book Edition)
Posted by Sarah in books, reviews on Jan 1, 2011 | 0 commentsIn 2010 I read probably 70 books and some of them were utter crap. Plenty were good, but this is the list of books I recommended the most:
1. The City and The City, China Mieville
I got this first on audiobook and loved it so much I got it on my Kindle. While I can’t say I’m a huge Mieville fan, this book is super accessible – a sci-fi-ish conundrum wrapped in an old fashioned Cold War-ish hard-boiled detective fiction. I have literally recommended this book to everyone I know – sci fi fan or not.
2. Feed, Mira Grant
Yeah, this is the book I recommended second most to every single person who asked for book recommendations this year. It was a little slow to grab me in the beginning, but once it took hold it was a screaming, heart-pounding ride. I loved the (different) take on zombie apocalypse and the effects on US culture (pop or otherwise). I read World War Z after this and it paled in comparison. When I say heart-pounding, I’m not exaggerating. At the climax of the book, I actually noticed the fierce thumping in my chest. It’s that fucking good.
3. the Heart series, Chelsea Cain (Heart Sick, Sweetheart, Evil at Heart)
If you like mystery and crime fiction, you’ve probably gotten to these already. If you even have a passing interest in the genre, or didn’t like the Stieg Larsson books, READ THESE. This is an amazing series that features an awesome sociopathic villain and deals with the emotional fallout of the detective who caught her. That’s right, HER. And she’s incredible. Not only that, Archie is incredible. Intensely broken, aware of it and attempting to function (and not) in the only ways he can. As the series unfolds, it gets even more crazy/fantastic/awesome. The third book, Evil at Heart, BLEW MY MIND. Cain keeps finding depths and intensity you wouldn’t expect and I read all three books within 48 hours or something equally absurd.
4. The Lady Julia Grey Bundle, Deanna Raybourn
Another cheat (kinda) as it’s three books I got on my Kindle. I’m not a fan of regency or romance, especially. These books are more regency mystery with a dash of romance and they were FANTASTIC. The characters and stories were great, the mysteries weren’t hackneyed and they were a really fun read. Another batch that I read in rapid succession because I enjoyed them so damn much. Think Sarah Tolerance mysteries by Madeline Robins and you wouldn’t be far off the mark. (More Sarah Tolerance books, please!)
5. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
Probably the most controversial book I read this year – see Cat Valente’s excellent dissection of problematic elements over on her livejournal. I’m going to preface this with the fact that I’d been working around picking this book up all year but the first three paragraphs of this post made me buy it and read it immediately. Read the book before you read her post. There are a lot of things she says that I agree with, but there is a commenter – way at the end of the list – I agreed with more. This is an interesting story told by Death during WWII. Death seems to focus on the experience of this one little girl – and its interactions with her – because it can’t focus on the vast horrors humanity was ravaging upon itself. To me it came across as a novel about life, about death and about how the little things we do change us in ways we don’t expect and the big things we do, while so much bigger than ourselves, are still sometimes not so much. It’s about how politics and fear change the way we look at our neighbors and ourselves and that we still have to live with ourselves at the end of the day. It’s worth a read, whether you hate it or not.
6. Mind Games, Carolyn Crane
This book (I gave it 4 of 5 stars) makes it on the list because it has a different take on urban fantasy than I’ve seen before. It w as a good read, not cookie cutter and created an interesting set of problems that aren’t easily solved. The hallmark of a great genre book, in my opinion.
7. East of Eden, John Steinbeck
I know there are plenty of people who love Steinbeck but I’m not one of them. I read this because it was part of a GoodReads reading group and I’m really glad I read it. You don’t hear the words ‘timeless’ accurately applied to a lot of things, but that is what this novel is. Set in a different – and not so different – time, the economic challenges will resonate with anyone who’s paying bills these days. The convoluted family dynamic is also nothing strange to anyone with complicated relations. Sweeping and expansive and surprisingly modern. If you’ve never read it – or if it’s been years – pick it up.
8. The Apprentice, Tess Gerritson
You may have seen the shockingly terrible Rizzoli and Isles TV show. The pilot and a couple of episodes were based on the first book in the series (which was really not good) and this book – a solid procedural with interesting characters. While some of it was a bit heavy handed, I really enjoyed this read. It may say something, however, that I haven’t picked up the next in the series.
9. World War Z, Max Brooks
This is a solid book. If I hadn’t read Feed first, I might have enjoyed it more. The interview-style writing and short vignettes were interesting and covered far more personal experience (as a self-billed Oral History should, I guess) but I was left with the sense that something was… lacking.
10. The Passage, Justin Cronin
Possibly the most overrated book of the year. Not that it wasn’t a good book, because it IS, but because if I’d known it was part of a series I’d never have picked it up. Actually, having read it, it’s a good book but I still won’t pick up the next in the series. It did a great job of creating a post-vampire-apocalypse culture and I think it succeeded where WWZ failed. On the other hand, GD some of it was SLOW GOING. There were pages where I was like REALLY? THIS IS WHAT WE’RE DOING? There are interesting characters and complicated challenges and slightly unrealistic cultural resets in a very short timeframe, but at the end it was a pretty satisfying read. There was some cryptic supposed cliffhanger that didn’t feel like much of a cliffhanger (though it’s cryptic enough that I still don’t know WTF it means, though I won’t buy the next book to find out) but it was a good book. I just reread this and realized it’s not the most glowing endorsement ever but I really did like it, I swear.
Books I wanted to read in 2010 that I’ll get to in 20eleventy:
The Windup Girl (already on my K3)
The Autobiography of Mark Twain
Never Let Me Go (already on my K3)
Matterhorn
Dreadnought (already started)
Kraken
Juliet, Naked
Territory
Freedom (hardcover gift for Xmas)
any of the 150 free books I have lingering on my Kindle
(edit: Anyone who wants to exchange email addresses for Kindle loaning purposes, let me know!)
Kindle 3 redux
Posted by Sarah in books, geek toys, reviews on Oct 24, 2010 | 0 commentsSo my disappointment with the Kindle 3 (3G +WiFi) was primarily because they seem to have reduced the size/quality of the antenna, resulting in less 3G connectivity in my rural area than I received with the Kindle 2. Annoying. That said, when I purchased the Kindle 2 I also used it to check my email with some regularity. Since I’ve gotten my HTC Eris, I never use the Kindle’s connectivity for anything but buying books. My phone is my primary internet mobile device and I like it like that.
The Kindle 3 is definitely lighter – something that’s not as noticeable at first as it is when you’ve been reading for 20 minutes. Using the alt+top row shortcuts for number input has also solved one of my other tiny complaints. I’m still finding the five way controller to be a bit too sensitive but it’s a pretty minor annoyance.
I don’t travel that much, honestly. I mean I commute to work but if I’m going to download a book I generally do it from home anyhow. The WiFi connection is great and I haven’t had any issues with it. For travel purposes, it’s not like every Starbucks, McDonald’s and bookstore don’t offer free WiFi these days so I’m not too concerned about lack of connectivity. Along the I-70 corridor the 3G signal is very strong as I’m sure is the case for more urban areas. Even in my small town there IS connectivity, I’d just been spoiled by the K2. What I discovered through this experiment is that the WiFi K3 is more than sufficient for my needs.
The reason I decided to keep the Kindle 3 – not just keep it, but I grabbed a WiFi only version for myself and gave the 3G version to my husband – is because of the changes in clarity. Not only are there three font choices and additional options for line spacing, but the color gradient improvement is shocking. Black is much blacker, white is much lighter. Reading experience = vastly improved. I’m also tempted for the first time ever to actually utilize the .mp3 function on the Kindle.
Don’t get me wrong – I love my K2 and I’m tempted to keep it as a backup but it makes more sense to me to let someone else try the e-reading experience at a lower cost. I don’t have any doubt they’ll be converted.
So that’s what I get
Posted by Sarah in books, movies on Oct 7, 2010 | 0 commentsI wrote a ranty post about Laurell K. Hamilton and how she killed a kind of fantastic idea in a horrifying cold-blooded way, not to mention violating the last truly great character she’d written and then I decided to attempt (again) to import my old blog posts. I successfully killed the blog AGAIN. Luckily this time the only thing I really lost was my anti-LKH post and the epic boring of Robin Hood 2010 but STILL.
So I guess I’m going to let the old yoga-grrl.com posts rest in peace and maybe try to resurrect the LKH rant from LJ.
Frequently Asked Questions – How do you stay so thin?
Posted by Sarah in books, food, health, recommendations, yoga on Dec 1, 2008 | 0 commentsI get asked this question on a pretty regular basis. It’s a weird question because almost everybody has food and/or body issues and it’s kind of uncomfortable for me to talk about – in part because I’m a thin person. There are also no simple answers to that question.
1. I am a small-boned person. If you don’t believe in big bones, the next time I’m with my sister I’ll get a picture of both of our hands side by side. Frame size is not an illusion. This is not a determining factor to weight, but I believe it plays a role.
2. Yoga. I am a yoga instructor. You might imagine I do a lot of yoga. You would be right. I also jog from time to time, to mix it up. If you don’t mix it up, you get bored, you stop doing what you’re doing. Play basketball, go snowshoeing, try something outside of your comfort zone. Someone asked me today about running vs. walking. Running is harder on your joints. Check your heart rate – if you’re working aerobically in your target range, you don’t need to run. Want to get there without running but have maxed out your speed? Increase your incline.
3. Food. I’ve got a weird relationship with food – as does almost everyone I know. My relationship with food is definitely a determinant of my body shape/size.
- I’m really lucky that I’m not a stress eater. This is even more important if you had any idea what the last six years were like. I lost weight during my stressful situations. Most people (Spouse included) don’t do that. As far as I know you can’t teach it or change it. It is what it is, you just have to determine what you’re eating at that point.
- I don’t snack. I generally don’t eat unless I’m eating a meal. Sometimes the meal is small, sometimes it is large, but you don’t generally see me sitting around with a bag of pretzels on the couch and grazing. I say generally because yes, that totally does happen, it happened two weeks ago when I had a terrible pretzel yen and you can even ask Carly.
- I have an aversion to some pretty popular snack foods (potato chips, popcorn, candy) and am kind of a picky sweets eater. I only really like one kind of ice cream. I’ll eat other kinds, but I only really love one (mint chocolate chip) and you can only eat so much of one thing. This also applies to cookies.
- I eat in hella weird cycles. For example, when Spouse and I were dating he once (famously) said that he could eat pizza every single day and never get tired of it. About a year later, I got a pizza jones and we literally ate pizza every day for about a month right up until Spouse (who was not yet Spouse) said “I CAN’T EAT ANY MORE PIZZA!” The day lives in infamy. But then, once the cycle is over, I don’t eat whatever that thing is for like six months. It’s not always like that, but it’s frequently like that, and that’s part of the reason I stay physically active.
- One of my favorite books with regard to food and food relationships is The Yoga of Eating. I highly recommend it. It does not tell you what to eat, it tells you how to eat it. You might be surprised about the difference between the two. And if you’re looking to avoid fast food for a while (at least one year, in my case) pick up Fast Food Nation (the book, not the film). It will absolutely change how you think about food.
4. Genetics. More and more studies show that genetics plays a huge role in how we gain weight (and where). It’s not the only determining factor (e.g. my mother is always talking about how she needs to lose x pounds) but it definitely makes a difference. That’s not to say you don’t have any control (see previously given example) but you can be aware of your family history. You can take action.
The bottom line is that there’s no magic answer to weight loss. More than anything else, it requires lifestyle changes. Lifestyle changes are hard and people don’t want to make them. I don’t generally enjoy working out. Crazy, right?
I played sports when I was in school but when I went to college I got out of the habit. I was active, but not really active. And no one had ever talked to me about weight training. One of the things that started me with strength training was when Spouse-who-was-not-yet-Spouse was talking about triceps and I was all “Wtf?” He had me flex it, then pushed his finger RIGHT THROUGH MY MUSCLE to the bone. Lack of muscle would be more accurate. It grossed me out and I started lifting free weights. I did not love it and I didn’t do it on my own. Having a partner was key for me.
So then I got a job away from my workout partner and promptly went back to not working out. This continued into the first couple of years of marriage while I worked really high stress jobs. I bought a yoga book on the bargain rack at Barnes and Noble and started doing some stretches on my own. Eventually I went to an actual class and I got completely hooked. That’s all she wrote.
The more muscle you build, the more calories you burn, the more efficiently your body runs.
Black Friday: survived
Posted by Sarah in books, entertainment on Nov 28, 2008 | 0 commentsMom and I were packing last night so I didn’t get to bed until about 12:30 this morning. I did most of my necessary shopping on Amazon.com yesterday, but mom had a few things she wanted to check out today. We left around 7 and were done by 10:30. We got decent parking places, didn’t wait in long lines, and found more than a few deals. All in all, successful – and uneventful – outing.
After breakfast (post-shopping) I needed a nap. I fell asleep around 12:30 pm and then resurfaced at about 3:00. We spent the afternoon packing and the entire upstairs of the house is complete (including all the beds dismantled). The entire basement of the house is complete. The living room is 99.99% complete (the movers have to move the furniture), the kitchen is 98% complete (all that remains are a few dishes and the food), the living room is 95% complete (it’s relocation central), and the office is about 50% complete. The back of my car is chock full of more things to be donated to Goodwill tomorrow.
My brother- and father-in-law are coming over tomorrow on an errand of mercy for Spouse.
Next week I’ve got a lab exam and a paper due. In my spare time, I might start reading Proust was a Neuroscientist. One of my students (who lives near Boston but comes to my classes during the holidays and vacations) recommended it and I’m pretty excited about it.
I’ve got a couple more tables to clean off tonight, so I’m going to go do that.
Twilight. Meh.
Posted by Sarah in books, entertainment, media, movies, television on Nov 21, 2008 | 5 commentsI did not love the book. I did not like the movie. If you loved the book, you will probably love the movie. I found it to be kind of stilted and too chock full of high school female angst, pregnant pauses, and swelling musical interludes. I liked the second book much better but I don’t think I’ll bother seeing the movie when it comes out. The only thing I DID like about the movie was Bella’s mittens. I clearly need some.
My main issue with Stephanie Meyer’s vampire mythology is the cold skin thing. Who wants to make out with a corpse? Ew. Also, SLEEPING with a corpse. I’m not one of those people who gives off heat in my sleep (see: Spouse) but I sure as heck would absorb the cold and it would wake me up. Also, CORPSE. EW.
More packing for me tonight. On the TV front, still loving The Mentalist. They did a masterful job of bringing in his old family tragedy this week. Loved it. Grey’s has taken a turn for the crazy but I still adore Kevin McKidd. His chemistry with Sandra Oh will keep me tuning in. Loves them. I thought the True Blood finale was going to be this past Sunday but I was wrong. I actually felt terrible for Jason in the episode, which is a testament to how great the actor is. And last but not least, I am LOVING The Real Housewives of Atlanta. I am positively EXCITED for the reunion special, which promises to be a trashy napalm trainwreck. I can’t wait.
FINALLY
Posted by Sarah in books, entertainment, me, miscellany, music, travel on Nov 8, 2008 | 0 commentsI return to regular posting and it’s on the weekend, right? But that’s not what my finally is all about. I finally got Zune 3.0 loaded onto my computer. I’ve got NO IDEA what the problem was, just that it was immensely frustrating. But last night when I tried the secondary download (first one still failed) it WORKED. Let me say to you now, games on Zune are LOVE.
I had a second gen iPod once upon a time, as well as a shuffle. The iPod treated me well but I ran out of space. Around the same time, Spouse ran out of being able to use iTunes. I was constantly having to tweak the settings for him and then, memorably, iTunes stopped playing the songs he had purchased. He went from frustrated to fury in pretty much no time flat and at that point swore off of DRM music. And when the time came to upgrade, it was 2nd gen Zune time.
I love the Zune. I know a lot of people bitch and say it’s not as sleek or userfriendly as the iPod, but I’m calling bullshit. Having used (and liked) both, I much prefer the Zune software to iTunes. It takes less time to load and is easier to manouever. It accomplishes the same goals (playlists, etc.). And my Zune is the whip. It’s got an enormous screen. It’s super easy to load video and pictures on to (perfect for trips to the hair salon without magazine clippings). The sound is great, the scroll button is slick, and I don’t have a single complaint.
As I stood in line to vote on Tuesday, I got to watch my Yes We Can video. I buy my mp3s from Amazon (who has everything from current music to the karaoke versions of current music – as evidenced by having to buy some for the recent nuptials) and I don’t have to worry about it not playing on my software. It works in Media Player, Zune, and (if I chose) iTunes. When I finally uninstalled iTunes I felt a huge relief (and my laptop sped up considerably). I also completely heart that I can sync my Zune wirelessly and now (should I choose) I can purchase music from the Zune store over that wireless connection right from my Zune. Love it.
I’ve also crafted a few of my yoga playlists using the quicklist function (adds current song to a temp playlist) on the Zune and that works out pretty great for me.
Packing is skipping along. Today I donated around 300 books to the local public library. I’ve got about another 75 to take to the V.A. hospital. We’ve also sorted out the clothes to be donated to the local battered women’s shelter and have something along the line of 50 t-shirts, 10 pairs of pants, 10 pairs of shoes, several pairs of jeans, several sweatshirts, and some dress clothes for women. We’ve got about one more closet to raid and then I just have to parcel out which things I’m keeping and which other things I’ll donate.
Being able to drop things off has been a relief. Every pound of stuff we give away makes me feel that much lighter. I’m also very happy to be able to support the local library and women’s shelter. The shelter takes first dibs on the clothes and then sells things they aren’t using and the proceeds support the shelter. The library has a donated-book sale each year and uses the proceeds accordingly. The V.A. hospital will make the books available to their patients (including hospice patients who live-in long term) as well as the vets that they travel to treat.
Still to be done: finish boxing the last of the books we’re keeping. Finish washing clothes, sort and pack. Pack bedding. Pack CDs and cases that are remaining. Ideally we’ll get a fair chunk of that done tomorrow and then Thanksgiving weekend will simply be wrapping up loose ends.
Right now though – to couch.
New Yoga mix
Posted by Sarah in asana, books, classes, me, media, miscellany, music, recommendations, teaching, television, yoga on Oct 21, 2008 | 1 commentI made this mix a week or so ago and have been listening to it kind of nonstop on my Zune. Fair warning – I just pulled it up on the lab computer on campus (killing time before Micro lab) so I haven’t actually heard it. I’m hoping all those songs are the originals. It’s also missing Woman! Man! by Gomez, so when I get home maybe I’ll upload it.
Related to that, it was awesome to see Adele on SNL last week. I really love her album and I would not have picked it up if it weren’t on eMusic.com
I’ve got to say that as far as websites/apps that I’ve used the most in the last year, imeem and eMusic are right up there. Imeem lets you find out if you like something before you buy it. Emusic lets you pick up loads of music for way cheap and has a metric asston of awesome indie artists. If you like Hem, eMusic is Hem heaven. 
Micro midterm was meh. I’m not thrilled with my performance, but I guess I’ll wait to get the final results before getting overly worked up about it.
I am still way tired – ostensibly left over from the weekend. I’ve got to pick up my costume today (alterations done) and my bra for the wedding (ditto). My major plan after that is paying bills and sorting/boxing books. I live a life of wild excitement, I’m telling you.
Last night was the Bandwagon Book Club. I always enjoy the discussion there, though I sometimes feel conspicuous with my English degree. Last night it meant an explanation of Gothic literature. It’s weird because I’m in a group of mostly retired teachers and I’m also the youngest person by at least 10 years. This month’s book was The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I really enjoyed it and thought she did a great job of incorporating the Gothic style and themes, but making it a more modern and interesting story. I’d recommend it (gave it 4 out of 5 stars).
If you’re looking for something fantastic, read Infidel by Ayan Hirsi Ali or A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Housseini.
TV Notes:
Heroes- WTF? I mean, really? WTF.
Sarah Connor Chronicles (Terminator) – Getting wicked awesome. Also, Brian Austin Green has NEVER been this hot. Not ever. I dig that the kid playing John is able to convey a lot of emotion with a minimum of dialogue. I also like that Sarah is starting to see things unravel. Love.
Chuck – I started watching this season after having caught a couple of episodes last season. This show is great. Funny and slapstick spy show with heart. I cracked up at several points.
Yoga notes:
If you don’t normally read The Yoga Journal, I’d recommend picking up this month’s issue. They’ve got a great article on Warrior I as described by people from various yoga disciplines (Kripalu, Anusara, Ashtanga, Viniyoga, et cetera). I love it because it highlights that everyone teaches things in slightly different ways to accomplish different things (I tend to go with the Viniyoga approach to Warrior I). It also shows that just because someone is describing one variation, it doesn’t mean you have to use it. Most importantly – EVERY VERSION talks about safe knee position. I’m a stickler for knees.
My class schedule is changing slightly and I’m excited about it. Life is about to get wicked hectic, though.
