back on the wagon

So, I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting in about two months yesterday -- a new one in a new location that I can go to on my lunch hour at work. I stopped going to the other one for several reasons. First, I was getting a little bogged down at the meetings; I wasn't losing any weight (although I wasn't really gaining any either), and I wasn't feeling inspired to work harder. The leader lady was very nice, but after about 20 weeks or whatever it had been, I felt like I had heard all she had to say. Several times over. It was becoming harder and harder to convince myself to go to the meeting after work rather than just going home, and when I did go, it was usually just to weigh in and then get the heck out of dodge.

I also stopped going because I was getting more and more frustrated by being on a plateau and not being able to break out of it. But, at the same time, I wasn't willing to put in the extra effort to take myself to the next level. A lot of emotional factors also came into play, and I just stopped going.

I realized recently, though, that I'm still not entirely happy with me. I've gained back five pounds that I lost, and while that may not seem like a lot, it is a LOT when you consider how hard I worked to get rid of them, and how easily they slipped back on. WW is having it's no registration fee thingy again, so it seemed like a good time to go back.

I'm glad I did, too. The leader at this new meeting is a firecracker and I like her a lot. She calls everyone her "precious angels" at the same time she's telling us not to feed her a line of crap. She was talking about the language we use and how it affects our consciousness, and she told a story of a person who got on the scale, saw that she had had a loss, and said, "That's wonderful, because I cheated this week." The leader said she looked at her and asked her what that meant. How do you cheat at eating?

Her point was that there are no good foods or bad foods, there's just food. If you put it in your mouth, you're taking responsibility for it. There's no such thing as "cheating" or getting away with something -- because it'll all come back to get you at some point.

I really liked her down to Earth attitude. I especially liked that she said that she wasn't worried about losing her job until they come out with a safe pill for weight loss. "And then I'm outta here too!" she said. Ha! Isn't that how we all feel?

So. My first day back On Plan in a long time. Doing OK so far. A little hungry, but I made some 94% fat free popcorn which is my SAVING GRACE here at work -- even if it does annoy everybody else with the smell. =) I have extra; all they have to do is ask.

Anyway, I wanted to say a big thanks to my two friends -- a mother daughter team -- who recently joined Weight Watchers and have been going together. You may not know this, but you guys inspired me to get back on the wagon, and I just want to say thanks. *squishes you!!*

Woah

So, I'm sitting at the cafe in Barnes and Nobel, surfin' the net (am I bragging? Maybe a little bit.) and there's this woman sitting near me working on a computer. She has a HUGE binder and several large magazines, and she's working on a spreadsheet.

I've only just realized that the binder says "The Ultimate Wedding" on the spine and that the magazines are both those three inch thick $12 wedding magazines. I have no idea what the spreadsheet is, but it's definitely wedding related.

Dude. I think one of us is doing this the wrong way.

*wink*

Today has been a craptastic Monday. Everything decided to blow up in my face. I made an assumption. It was a false assumption, and I had to admit to my mistake (which sucks in and of itself) and go back to try to fix the problem. *sigh*

In other news, I wrote a rather lengthy description of Holy Week Services in which I participated this year at St. Paul's of Tustin. =)

Happy Easter a bit belatedly!

A Different Kind of Game: The Phenomena of Milliways Bar

JIVEMagazine.com - A Different Kind of Game: The Phenomena of Milliways Bar

This is a really interesting article about a role playing game hosted on Live Journal called "Milliways Bar." For those of you who don't know (and you should be ashamed of yourselves), Milliways is the Restaurant at the End of the Universe from Douglas Adams' book by the same name, the second in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

The idea is simple. Any character from any established work of fiction, be it a book, a television show, a movie, or even a song, can show up at Milliways Bar and interact with any other character. I don't personally participate in Milliways, but over 950 other people do. On a daily basis.

It's a kind of massive attempt at fanfic collaboration. The plots are intense, the story lines complicated, and the back stories as rich as a dark chocolate truffle.

In any case, the article gives a good overview not only of Milliways, but also of Live Journal and fanfiction as a whole. It's worth a read. Check it out! =)

A Meme for you!

Gacked from calmaquetta:

20 years ago I... (1985)
1. Got expelled from preschool for being "emotionally disturbed."
2. Got a new baby sister.
3. Admitted that I could read. (For about six months, I pretended that I couldn't. Don't ask me why. I don't remember.)

10 years ago I... (1995)
1. Was in the eighth grade.
2. Became best friends with Allison H.
3. Was a HUGE Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots fan.

5 years ago I... (2000)
1. Was a freshman/sophomore at the College of Santa Fe studying Moving Image Arts.
2. Made the 10 hour drive from Dallas to Santa Fe by myself for the first time.
3. Had as many as four jobs at one time.

3 years ago I... (2002)
1. Was getting ready to graduate from college and trying to figure out what the hell to do with my life.
2. Was part way through a nine month imposed absence from my best beloved.
3. Was living with Allison H., a cat named Cleopatra, and a dog named Bruiser, also known as the Satanic Hell Beast of Doom.

1 year ago I... (2004)
1. Got a temp job with the company I am still temping for.
2. Got engaged.
3. Started writing again after a four year hiatus.

So far this year I... (2005)
1. Lost my grandmother, a great uncle, and a great aunt.
2. Attended a conference for writing children's novels and started plotting out an original novel.
3. Had "Sect" made Story of the Month (for about two and a half months) at one of the fan sites.

Last week I...
1. Celebrated three years of being with Brandon.
2. Turned 24.
3. Went to my bridal shower.

Yesterday I...
1. Got stood up by a friend for a dinner date.
2. Brainstormed the third chapter of Prankster's Guide.
3. Tripped over my own feet and spilled hot cocoa all over myself.

Today I...
1. Canceled my Columbia House membership.
2. Paid bills and balanced my checkbook.
3. Attended a progress meeting for my department.

Tomorrow I will...
1. Fill out paperwork to change my temp contract from one company to another.
2. Build a new database.
3. Sing at the Maundy Thursday evensong.

In the next year I will...
1. Get married.
2. Travel outside the US for the first time.
3. Finish Sect of the Serpent.

Here's how things stand, today:

Location: California
Tuesday: Sucking Purple Monkey Butt like nobody's business
Trip Home: Excellent -- but busy!
Bridal Shower: Totally overwhelming and wonderful. Found out that my little sister is Martha Stewart's secret twin. Seriously. There were wedding cake and wedding dress shapped cookies involved.
Birthday: Pretty darn good. I got a bridal shower, and an airport (the Macintosh variety, not the LAX variety). Wheeeeeee for WI-FI!
Brandon: Better than ever =)
Job: Not so much
To Do List: Roughly three miles long
Shower gifts: Scattered haphazardly all around my apartment

holy crap

I think I just died and went to heaven.

They're bringing back Blake...

*dies of the joy*

Stop being on my side! You're making my side look stupid!!

So, I found this on Sam's livejournal. It's a link to a Christian fundamentalist comic book which is parodying Harry Potter and it's... I can't...

There are just no words for how stupid this is. It has to be seen to be believed.

Apparently, according to this comic, reading and knowledge are bad and will get you right on God's naughty list. Also, magic and sorcery are real and a major threat to your soul (I don't remember sorcery being one of the seven deadly sins, but it's been a while since I was in Sunday school...), and when Ari Potiphar's (yeah -- who came up with that name??) parents were teenagers, they were into that sort of thing and conjured up some big green scaly demon.

But they're better now. (Seriously. It says that.)

Uh huh.

It just makes me hurt. Honestly, I can't quite figure out how anyone would think that way. I mean, SERIOUSLY think that way. It boggles the mind. I just can't wrap my brain around it. I really really try to be a tolerant person. I go out of my way to try to see things from other peoples' points of view. And, OK. You don't want your kids reading Harry Potter for religious reasons. That's OK by me. I don't agree with it, but that's your perogative.

But this is just stupid.

Seriously. I thought these people would be against crack, but apparently...

And the flying pig? How is that NOT an emissary of Satan? I'm just saying.

;c)

urban adventurer

So, I know that some of you have gone canyoning, slept in tents with goat heads, and so on, but I -- I -- have braved the wilds of downtown Los Angeles.

Oh yes.

Today, I went to the fashion district downtown in search of inexpensive fabric and ribbons to use for decorations at my wedding reception. I've been to the area of the fashion district known as Santee Alley before, and I was as dumbfounded by the spectacle this time as much as last time. Picture this: block upon block of open mini-warehouses selling everything from shoes, to jewelery, to clothes, to fabric and notions, to electronics and perfume, and everything in between. There are people on the corner with carts selling parakeets, lizards, and fish. Live animals. There are vendors standing outside every shop screaming in English, Spanish, and various Asiatic languages. DISPOSABLE CONTACT LENSES!! FIVE DOLLARS A PAIR!!!!

Seriously.

I did, however, get an excellent deal on the fabric. After finding my excellent deal on fabric, I went to a craft and party supply store which blew my mind. Bucket after bucket of plastic tchotchkies. Everything from plastic babies and bottles for baby showers, to tiny doves, cake shaped bottles of bubbles, and more fake flowers than you've ever seen. It was... disturbing, to say the least. I also found several shops which sold myriad enormous tiaras and crowns for both weddings and quincenteras (is that how you spell that?) that were beyond tacky well into the realm of "Oh my lord and biscuits that's hideous!"

The really amazing thing is the sheer number of people and the sheer quantity of STUFF they have for sale down there. EVERYTHING. It's downright scary. There are carts which sell bags of sliced mango and watermelon right next to the carts which sell these hot dogs that are served wrapped in bacon and topped with grilled onions and peppers, jalapenos, salsa, and crema fresca. Yeah. (They smell GREAT, but honestly, I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole. I probably gained five pounds just smelling them.)

But I was victorious. I conquered the crowds, the haggling AND the parking structure staircase which smelled STRONGLY of urine. I am an urban adventurer: hear me roar.

confessions of a part-time bachelorette

So...

I skivved off of work today. A bit. Just a bit.

I didn't feel so hot. That much is true. So I left. And I came home, had some lunch, and then decided to go shopping. I went to SO many stores, I about walked my feet off, but I finally found something I like to wear to the bridal shower next week. (NEXT WEEK! How exciting!!)

I had a scrambled egg and toast for dinner and then took a lavender bubble bath and exfoliated and gave myself a pedicure and all that good whatnot. And drank vast quantities of tea. And ate a couple of chocolate chip cookies I found hiding in the freezer (my best beloved must have had a cookie craving last night while I was at choir -- I'm guessing.)

Now, I'm lying in bed all exfoliated and moisturized and on my way to being devestatingly beautiful (don't hate me) and watching a DVD of Red Dwarf (or, more listening to, really) while messing about online and writing blogs.

Oh yeah, baby. This is the life. Can I just say, for the umpteen kajillionth time, how much I LOVE my laptop???

Tomorrow, the plan is to go to Trader Joe's for groceries (YAY!! We loves TJ's, Precious), get my hair cut, and then high tail it up to downtown LA to muck about in the fashion district for a bit and try to find pretty things for the wedding reception.

I've got to stay busy whilst my boy is out of town. Keeps me from missing him too much. Or thinking about the mayhem he's probably getting up to. (Free alcohol and grad students is really NOT a very good combination...)

'cos I'm a hazard to myself

It's Friday morning. Thank God. This week has been... interesting (if you find mass insanity and insecurity interesting).

My wacky ass coworker that I didn't like quit last Friday. Without giving any notice. On Monday, my department had a Disaster Recovery meeting to try to decide what we would do if the entire database blew up. There were concerns about the possibility of sabotage, and that's all I'm going to say about that.

So. The focus of our department has just done a huge shift from designing and implementing new projects to trying to keep our heads above water and praying nothing actually physically explodes. There are now only three of us. None of us is an actual permanent employee of the company.

And we just found out that our new parent company just aquired an IT outsourcing company in India.

Uh-huh.

As if that weren't enough craziness for one week, my best friend here at work turned in HER two week notice last Friday as well. I don't really blame her. Good for her, bad for me. =( We'll keep in touch, of course, but who am I going to stand next to in meetings when she's gone? On the upside, I might get to live in her cube once she's gone and get away from the noisy copy machine and the fire alarm which goes off for FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT. (No, I'm not bitter. Why would you say that?) We shall see.

You might think, after reading all of that, that I would be looking forward to my weekend with great zeal. Eh. Brandon leaves today for a retreat up at Big Bear with his department at school. As far as I can tell, it's an excuse for them all to get together and get completely smash-faced drunk and sing bad kareoke with their professors. *shrugs*

I will be filling my empty hours with a list of errands that is about three miles long. Hopefully going to try to make it to downtown LA to look for some fabric and stuff for wedding decorations, as well, but I'm going by myself, and me and twisty turny one way downtown type streets normally don't get along very well. We'll see how that goes.

My only other news is that Prankster's Guide to Life is HUGE and spiralling madly out of control. If you haven't been to see the site, you should go, because it's wicked cool.

Yes I just said wicked cool. Shut up.

Is it time to go home yet? Oh. Damn. It's only 9 o'clock.

favorite line of the day

"That so happened to me on my first night out in Cardiff when I didn't know anyone and so couldn't say anything about it. I think I did my trousers up with an earring in the end actually. Then I got off with this most DISGUSTING bloke, who kissed like spam with teeth. Yuk. And me and my newfound friends met this bloke who had a really cute accent and Kat was like 'Oh wow, so which part of Ireland are you from?' To which he replied, 'Boston.' Yeah. I KNEW he was american all along. Really I did."

Fromanother conversation with Lucy. Spam with teeth? Yuck!!

favorite line of the day

lvbarr: Forgive me, it has been a long and taxing day and I have had to deal with a classful of the most flatulent kids known to man.


lacylu42: LOL! Dare I ask?


lvbarr: I wouldn't.

But I will rant for a couple of lines on the fact that at this age, the kids NOTICE when they fart, and so spend most of their time with little pieces of paper trying to waft it in someone else's direction. Hence the reprimand,

'Look, PUT YOUR PEICES OF PAPER DOWN AND FOR GOODNESS' SAKE DON'T WAFT IT, IT'S ALL GOING ON ME!'

Little buggers.


lacylu42: 'It's all going on me!'

*dies laughing*


lvbarr: well it was!!!

I think I should pass my year for being able to say that with a straight face...



From a conversation between myself and British schoolteacher to be, Lucy.

The Prankster's Guide to Life

Fellow Pranksters,

I have a confession to make. Over the last several weeks and months, I have been a part of a super secret consortium of literary geniuses, charged with bringing to light a priceless artifact of the time of the Marauders. A book was found, the last and only remaining copy, in the effects of one Mr. Remus J. Lupin, which casts light onto the life and times of his compatriots previously shrouded in canonical mystery.

But it is, you see, much more than a mere book. Because of the magical nature of the original authors, artifacts have been discovered between the pages, sandwiched between lines of text, which, when properly encouraged, expand into full blown memories.

My colleagues, sheafratherdon, ignipes, krislaughs and myself have begun the painstaking process of retrieving these texts and preserving these memories for the benefit of the greater good.

My friends, I give you, The Prankster's Guide to Life.

"Prologue:
( In which Mr. Prongs corrupts the younger generation, Mr. Wormtail identifies an obstacle, Mr. Moony is accidentally very clever, and Mr. Padfoot allows himself to be convinced. )"

[NOTE: For those of you who do not speak Harry Potter, allow me to translate. My three friends and I have been working on a collaborative fanfiction project, the first installment of which has been published at the aforementioned website. If nothing else, go take a look at the site; it's really nifty. =)]

ignipes: Force Balance

"Denial is a bloody hurricane that surrounds and swallows the lost dinghy Canon on the high seas, during a dark night, in the middle of the frickin' Bermuda Triangle. There is no denying the power of denial."

From ignipes' Force Balance

Complaints department

I would like to return today and ask for a full refund pleaseandthankyou.

• Oscilllating pulse tone coming from the phone room that gave me a headache yesterday and required the administration of two margaritas: still oscillating.
  
• Project the boss man gave me yesterday with almost no explaination: still a mystery.
  
• Elusive "Q" drive I am supposed to be granted access to: still inaccessable.