About Me

Today, a list!

~ Shara ~ 12 Comments

1) Yesterday, I saw two dead animals: one was a rabbit at the entrance of my neighborhood. I was all like, “Awww, cute bunny!” because I thought it was just SITTING THERE and then as I passed, it didn’t jump away, and I saw its leg. Poor bunny…. the second dead animal also was discovered in my neighborhood: a snake that ran afoul with a lawn mower. Except I didn’t know it was dead when I came upon it in the street while walking and nearly had a heart attack. I’d say “poor snake,” but… yeah. It’s a snake. Poor bastard is better.

2) The teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has been released, and I’m as giddy as a schoolgirl. If I were still in college, or if I still had my ginormous crush on Legolas, I would’ve found high-def screencaps of this sucker and already made Live Journal icons out of all the Legolas shots. Because that’s how I used to roll.

3) Speaking of The Hobbit, I’m totally excited about Evangeline Lily’s character Tauriel. Yeah, she was made-up for the movies, but you know what? I’m cool with that. The books will always be the books and the movies will always be the movies, and damn it, the movies need more girls! And this one brings me a kick-ass elf. So yay. However, I have a theory: she and Legolas will somehow have a RELATIONSHIP (either closely platonic or verging on romantic or actual romance) and he’s all sELFish (see what I did there?) about not helping others except elves and she’s all like, “We have to defeat evil no matter what.” and then? MY THEORY: poor girl’s gonna die. Just you watch: she’s going to die (hopefully heroically), and that will soften Legolas’ heart enough to volunteer for the Fellowship come Frodo’s quest. JUST YOU WAIT.

4) Oh, you probably want a trailer now, don’t you? BEHOLD! The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug teaser trailer.

5) I’ve decided that when I take a day off of work, the office also has to close. Because when I’m gone, all sorts of crazy crap comes out of the wood work, and seriously, why does this stuff WAIT until I’m gone? Tuesday was DEFINITELY my Monday. I did not appreciate that. :-/

6) Fans of Johnny Cash might know that he and June Carter did have one son together: John Carter Cash (hey, John Carter… of Mars?). Well, that son has apparently written a book (by the cover, it looks to be children’s/middle-grade, but I could be wrong), and what I’ve read of the review on Tor.com indicates it’s actually really good. Color me surprised, if for no other reason that I wouldn’t expect a novelist to come out of those two singer/songwriters. 🙂

7) This week I’ve been spending my lunch breaks watching Moonrise Kingdom. I’m not done yet, but it’s weird, quirky, and has both a kitten and Edward Norton. Those latter two things alone make this movie a WIN.

8) I wish this Ariel Makeup Kit from Sephora had come out when I was still an undergrad. Not only did I have shirts and stuff in those exact colors, but I also had the balls to match my eye shadow to said shirts and rock it. Nowadays, I have some shirts to match the eye shadow and nail polish, but it’s not such a good idea for a professional look. But who am I kidding? If I had this kit, I’d totally try it!

9) I’ve decided: if I use the elliptical, then I’ll only do a single lap around the neighborhood. If I don’t use the elliptical (like on weekends or days off from work), I’ll do TWO laps around the neighborhood. Laps are, of course, weather permitting. So weather, permit it, damn it.

10) We’ve started to reach that point in summer where I may need to ignore my own hatred of how my legs are shaped and walk in shorts instead of my usual yoga pants. On the plus side, I’ll be much cooler. On the negative side, my legs are showing. Also, bugs. :-/

Podcasts versus Music (On the Elliptical)

~ Shara ~ 15 Comments

When I started getting my sorry ass up at 6:00 am to work out on the elliptical, I filled my Nano with podcasts. I liked putting on something that woke up my brain while I was using the elliptical to wake up my body. Well, this morning, I’d run through my available podcasts and was too lazy to download a new one to the Nano, so I put on a music playlist and started working out.

And I’ll be honest: with the exception of the FIRST day I did it (by it I mean waking up at six am, getting on the elliptical for 20 minutes, and feeling my body go OMG-WTF-WHY?!?!?!?!), this is the hardest workout I’ve had. I mean that in a good way: I didn’t feel sick or tired after, but I definitely worked up more of a sweat than usual, and my pores still felt like sweating even after I showered and dried off. Definitely got my heart-rate up, which is the whole point of exercise, right?

Which makes me realize that while I like stimulating my brain first thing in the morning, music may be the way to go. 2-3 minute songs also make the 30 minutes on the machine go by faster, especially since my pace is more determined by whatever beat I’m listening to.

For those of you wondering what I’m listening to, here’s the breakdown: Continue reading →

The Me Project

~ Shara ~ 13 Comments

It’s hard to pinpoint when, exactly, I made the conscious effort to “get better.” By “get better,” I mean realizing that waiting until I grew up to do things has long passed, and that I don’t want to look back on my thirties like I do my twenties and wonder what the hell I was doing with my life.

If I had to pinpoint, I’d say the impetus for this decision was born out of my father’s death (no sympathies needed, please and thank you; we were estranged). I wouldn’t have imagined his death would’ve shaken me the way it did, but shake me it did, because any chance for us to really get to know each other is long gone, you know? It did allow me to get to know more members of his side of the family, and it allowed me to get some real answers about his and my mom’s marriage from my mother. I see my childhood in a far more complete light now, which allows me to see my decisions and myself in a far more complete light.

Which brings me to the here and now. I’m thirty-two, and still wondering what I’m going to do with my life. I know I’m not alone in this, but I realized it’s time to make a serious, conscious effort to make changes. Continue reading →

Weekend in Review

~ Shara ~ 20 Comments

1) On Saturday, my hubby and I visited his grandmother in the nursing home. The nursing home cat fell in love with me and tried to follow me home. An elderly lady resident fell in love with my hubby and wanted to keep him. Fun times.

2) On Friday night, I finally looked at my big toe on my right foot to see why I’d occasionally have a pinching pain on the side of it. Turns out, there was a blister UNDERNEATH a pre-exisiting callous. How does that even happen (I know now, but then, I didn’t)? So for my Saturday walk, I was so focused on the blister itself that I ended up walking funny and therefore rubbed the back of my right ankle raw. Also gave myself a SECOND blister beneath the callous. Go me! Took Sunday off from walking (sadly). I don’t think the blisters will be a problem (one’s already gone) but I want to let the back of my ankle heal.

3) Got a LOT of laundry done over the weekend, which always fills me with a sense of accomplishment.

4) Got a LOT of reading done over the weekend, including John Scalzi’s The Human Division (John Scalzi book = fun reading times) and more important, Jeff Smith’s epic graphic novel fantasy BONE, which I’d highly recommend. It’s unique, it’s fun, it’s original and different. The omnibus I read was nearly 1500 pages long (I started it last August and ended up taking a break because it’s such a LARGE volume), so for anyone who decides to read it, I suggest getting the trade paperbacks of the various volumes instead. 🙂

5) Watched a few movies: Cars 2, finally, and while I still think it was an unnecessary sequel, it was fun. Also watched (finally), Trouble with the Curve, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Not sure what the critics are gnashing their teeth over, unless they don’t like that the movie’s more about the father/daughter relationship and the daughter’s potential new romance (all set against a backdrop of baseball), but I liked it a lot.

6) We were supposed to have met with friends on Sunday evening for dinner, but plans changed, which was good: I had a weird headache all Sunday afternoon, and while I managed to chase it away before bedtime, it came back at 1:30 this morning and I ended up staying awake for over two hours. No elliptical this morning!

7) But while awake, I’ve decided that my cat’s snoring/wheezing is both cute and worrisome.

8) I also discovered he (my cat) considers my head his own personal teddy bear.

9) Ann Aguirre (author of Grimspace, a favorite of mine) posted a fantastic but utterly disheartening post about the existence of sexism in science fiction (I don’t not use that term as science fiction AND fantasy, just science fiction) and how it’s affected her. It’s a great post, and I encourage everyone to read it here. The bottom line: if you’re a guy, don’t be a douchebag. If you’re a girl, don’t be afraid to stand up for your rights (easier said that done, as evidenced by the backlash poor Aguirre is getting).

10) This past weekend was my 10-year college reunion. I did not go. I’m sorry that I couldn’t, and felt rather wistful looking at all the pictures on Facebook. A friend of mine posted some fantastic thoughts about reunion and out alma mater here (great food for thought, especially given that we went to all woman’s school), and I feel like I need to comment on my own experiences as an undergrad. Not today, of course. But soon.

But now the week is starting, so happy Monday! How was your weekend?

Calico versus The Elliptical

~ Shara ~ 8 Comments

For those of you curious how my crazy idea to end all crazy ideas worked out, here’s the rundown:

Tuesday (Day One): put in 20 minutes on the elliptical, kind of wanted to die, definitely felt a bit sick to stomach. Walked two laps around the neighborhood that evening and my legs felt like they belonged to Gumby afterwards.

Wednesday (Day Two): put in 25 minutes on the elliptical, but sipped some G2 (different than regular Gatorade as it has lower calories) before, during, and after the workout. Didn’t feel like dying, not sick to stomach. Walked one lap around the neighborhood that evening but kind of felt guilty for not doing two, as my legs felt like they could handle it.

Thursday (Day Three): put in 30 minutes on the elliptical, sipped the G2 at appropriate times. Still don’t feel like dying, nor do I feel sick. This is progress! The decision will be for my evening walk tonight: one lap or two? I’ve usually been doing two laps when I don’t have enough steps in during the day (there’s an initiative at work to reach 10,000 steps every day), but now that the elliptical is part of the plan, two laps aren’t necessary in that regard (hence why I only did one last night). So we’ll see.

In short, so far, so good. My body’s getting used to me putting it through hell. And while I’m not woo-hoo! EXERCISE!!! afterwards, the recovery period isn’t taking long and I’m pretty awake and alert. The trick will be on the weekends, when I don’t plan to work out on the elliptical (but still plan to walk), or on mornings I’m really not feeling it (due to sinus, headache, or just simple bad sleep).

We’ll see how it goes!

Crazy Idea to End All Crazy Ideas

~ Shara ~ 17 Comments

There are people in this world who adore working out. They’re the kind of people that can do a grueling workout or run and feel more energized afterwards than when they started. They’re full of energy and joy and happiness and do everything in their power to convert you to the Church of Workouts Are AWESOME.

I am not one of those people.

But I have been walking daily since the weather got warmer, and I’ve made a specific point to do so when my employer announced a fitness initiative that encouraged staffers to walk 10,000 steps a day. Pedometer provided, incentives every week, and I signed up, because it was just the thing I needed to make sure I didn’t put off the daily walk.

Well, now I’ve gotten a crazy idea: Continue reading →

To Hunt an iPod Nano (6th Generation)

~ Shara ~ 12 Comments

On Monday, I returned from my daily walk and announced two things to my husband:

1) 30 Seconds to Mars’ new album would be releasing the next day, and he needed to get it for me.
2) I needed an iPod Nano.

Now, let’s talk about why I needed an iPod Nano. I currently use the iPod Classic. It was a hand-me-down from my hubby when he transitioned over to using his iPhone as his iPod (via the Cloud) and my old iPod (the rather awesome U2 Special Edition) used up all its memory and I had to pick and choose stuff to upload to it. The old iPod had a case with a clip, which was great for when I used to work out using the elliptical. My current iPod has a case but no clip, nor do I want a clip for it, because it spends most of its time in my car, and a clip would get in the way.

When I started making the effort to walk daily, I grabbed my U2 iPod and clipped it on my pants and started it up. Only the battery was dead. So I charged it and just put my current iPod in the pocket of my hoodie.

The next day, I took my fully-charged U2 iPod and started it up. It allowed me to scroll around a bit, and then the battery died. Again. Okay…

So what I’ve been doing is carrying my current iPod. The one with no clip. And because of the size and shape differences between the U2 iPod and my current iPod, I couldn’t just switch cases.

Carrying the iPod in my pocket is fine. When I have a pocket. Which happens when I wear my hoodie. Given the warming temperatures, that’s not always an option unless I want heat stroke. And workout clothing, for some reason, hates pockets. So I’d have to carry the thing, paranoid I’m going to drop it (it’s a rational fear, folks).

Hence, I need an iPod nano. It’s cute, it’s small, and it clips on to whatever I’m wearing. Only, when I started researching it, I realized the nano doesn’t look like this anymore. It looks like this, which is the 7th generation.

Which is cute and small, but does not clip onto whatever I’m wearing. In order to take it with me, I’d need pockets or one of those armband thingies, which, after reading reviews for, I wasn’t excited about.

However, iPod does offer the shuffle, which looks just like the 6th generation nano I wanted, but no touch screen and a smaller memory. But it’s cute, small, and has a clip.

So I did my research. I kept concluding all I NEEDED was the shuffle. But I wanted a touch screen so I could search my music. And the nano offered this really cool built-in fitness app sponsored by Nike. Which was tempting… really tempting, despite my having my own (bulky) pedometer that I’ve been wearing 24/7.

I couldn’t make up my mind. My hubby couldn’t help either, because he saw the pros and cons of both. Saturday, we went to Target, but beforehand, he went to a website that talked about the likelihood of the iPod getting an update soon (the keynote speech announcing new products and upgrades is in June). For the iPod shuffle? Upgrades are LONG overdue. But my husband is convinced they’re gonna phase out the Shuffle, which means no upgrade.

So picture me, sitting in Target, my eyes roaming back and forth between the Shuffle and the Nano. Neither is exactly what I want, but both have things I want. What I really needed, I knew, was the 6th generation iPod Nano, which had the size and clip of the current Shuffle, but the touch screen and fitness app of the current 7th generation Nano.

We decided to wait. I thought there might be places that sold used iPods and I might get lucky. We had to go to Hastings to return a book, so while I was handling the return, my hubby went back to the music section to see if there were any used 6th generation Nanos.

There were. But better still, Hastings still had unopened, brand-new, 6th generation iPod Nanos.

My husband finds me at the counter and asks, “What color do you want?” In which case I did a mini giddy-clap/happy dance, scaring the poor teenager trying to ring up the return.

I got it in green. I’ve had two walks in it, and it’s exactly what I wanted.

Thus concludes the great, epic hunt for the iPod Nano (6th generation). And yes, for those of you wondering, I got my 30 Seconds to Mars album. It rocks.

When Bugs Attack…

~ Shara ~ 11 Comments

So, on Friday, I vaguely remember getting ready that morning and noticing a big red welt underneath my right armpit. I paid closer attention Friday afternoon, after my walk, and realized it was some kind of bug bite from hell. On Saturday, there was an addition red circle above the welt, and then, when I went to the graduation party for my boss’ son, I got bitten in the stomach by an ant.

Yes. I got bitten, ON THE STOMACH, by an ANT. While I was STANDING on deck that was two stories high. I can’t make this stuff up.

At any rate, I’ve officially reached that paranoid feeling, where every creepy-crawly feeling I get is something biting me. I’m itchy for no reason, convinced that some new welt has popped up.

It’s super-annoying.

In the recent years, I’ve been pretty lucky in regards to bugs: I don’t go outside, so I don’t get bitten. Because of that, I forgot that I was a bug magnet, and now that I’m taking daily walks, nature is reminding me that bugs love me to bits. And I’ve always said that I’m proof vampires don’t exist: if they did, I’d be dead by now. That’s how much bugs like my blood.

So that’s my current realm of woes, which is rather minimal compared to what I’ve been complaining about. But what about you: are you a bug magnet?

The Quiet Game…

~ Shara ~ 3 Comments

It’s been quiet around here, and I apologize. The past few weeks have had me running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and this weekend won’t be any different. But I’ve got a moment of downtime before I carry on to the next adventure, so I thought I’d say hi.

So, hi!

One thing I would like to share: the hubby and I visited Chattanooga a few weeks ago to visit friends and go see Iron Man 3. In Chattanooga, they have a theater: the Carmike Majestic 12. In the Carmike Majestic 12, they have a special theater called the Ovation Room. This room is 21 and over, and the ticket price is more expensive than the regular price, regardless of 3D. What makes it special? By being for people over the age of 21, it means no screaming babies. It also means you get to order alcohol off their special menu. Also, THEY HAVE A SPECIAL MENU with items you can’t get at the concession stand. You have a waitress. You have an assigned seat (so none of this, “Hey, can you scoot down so we can all sit together even though we got here at the last minute and can’t find seats?” bullshit). You have leather reclining chairs. You have a never-ending bowl of popcorn.

I could get used to this kind of luxury. 🙂

Do any of the theaters near you offer cool and unusual experiences to their customers?