| From the cleaning. |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|04:59 pm] |
Anyone want a calligraphy set? For free? It's still in the wrapper; got it for Christmas. Not gonna use it and Michael, the only other person I know who does calligraphy, has his own stuff and doesn't want it. It's very much beginner. It's got paper, a how-to book, a ruler, a pen and some nibs different ink colors. First person who responds here to claim it (and can make arrangements to either get it or meet up with me somehow) gets it.
EDIT: ISBNs are awesome! Here's a link to what it looks like - courtesy of Amazon.
And, go! |
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| WATCH THIS NOW. |
[Jun. 3rd, 2009|02:53 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Total Eclipse of the Heart" -Bonnie Tyler | ] | I literally wept and damn near pissed myself laughing at this.
Hard link for the embedded impaired: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA
Backstory: So, I signed up to get Amanda Palmer's twitter updates to my phone. Cool stuff. She twittered a link to this video on Monday, though, and I just got a chance to check it out. OMFG. One of the best music videos I've seen in a long time. The concept fucking hysterical. |
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| Why Music Matters |
[May. 30th, 2009|12:10 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | thankful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Mahler's Adagio for strings from the 5th Symphony | ] | So, I was just reading Amanda Palmer's blog. She posted this, which she had forwarded to her by her dad. ( It's long but well worth the read. ) |
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| Hello, all my bacon-obsessed friends and lovers! |
[May. 27th, 2009|12:31 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | amused | ] | So, while reading an old Hungry Girl update, I came across the baconfreak.com website. Do with this as you will.
Note: The site has a magical sound file that plays when you go to it. So if you're at work, be prepared in your headphones or turn your speakers low/off so as not to alarm anyone when a bacon jam starts rocking out. And....go! |
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| A curiosity. |
[Apr. 18th, 2009|01:41 am] |
Anybody out there have an iPod 4 or 6 GB?
Just curious. |
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| More weight loss challenge! |
[Apr. 10th, 2009|04:34 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | grateful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Strike!" -Commentary! The Musical | ] | So, I recently posted about the weight loss challenge I joined for the first three months of this year. Since then, a few friends and family members have expressed interest in doing it if the opportunity came up again. I thought about hosting my own but wasn't sure I could handle the time commitment. I logged into LJ today and found that a good friend has started one. More info about the cutoff date to join up is located in this follow up post.
I just joined! Who else is with me? |
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| It took me a little over three months but... |
[Apr. 8th, 2009|04:09 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | "Who Am I?" -Les Miserables | ] | ...finally I did it! I lost an even twenty pounds.
Back in January, I joined an experimental, honor-system weight loss challenge made up of friends and friend/family-of-friends. We could all pick our weight loss goals for three months up to thirty pounds. I decided to not be too extreme, possibly setting myself up to fail by setting it too high at the cap of thirty, but also not too middle-of-the-road and only go for fifteen. So I went for twenty. It sounded good and seemed a good start.
The premise was that everyone signed on to pledge $10 a month and at the end of each month, whomever lost the most weight that month (as reported to the person who organized it) got the pool. Sort of like a weight loss raffle. There were challenges issued along the way to help us lose weight healthfully and not crash diet. One week was dedicated to making sure we got our recommended intake of water every day. Another was getting our RDA of fruits and veggies. Another was blogging a certain amount of times that week about anything relating to our new healthy lifestyle. It wasn't so much a diet as a way to jump start a whole new way of eating and thinking about food and my body.
I "lost" January and February. Other people got the jump better and, truth be told, I slacked off in February. But March rolled around and for a variety of reasons, some good and some bad, I kicked it all into high gear. By the time March (and the organized challenge) was over, I had lost a total of 17.6 pounds. 9.6 of it came off in March alone. Not quite what I was hoping for but a damn site better than nothing. And then I got the news that I "won" March! Which means whomever was still in the group would be donating $10 each to me! w00t!
But it's not over for me. I have a much larger goal in mind and I have overhauled my eating habits and exercise habits to reflect this. As such, yesterday when I got on the scale in the morning, I found that I had finally hit that twenty pound goal loss! And only a week later than I was hoping! I'm quite happy about that.
One of the things that's helped immensely is our newfound love of hiking and a gorgeous state park with wondrous trails and rivers and waterfalls exactly fifteen minutes away by car. I've gone to Hacklebarney about six times in the past three-ish weeks for hikes that last at least two hours. I've also started taking walks when the clothes are in the washer at the laundromat. I'm sure people wonder why I walk up and down the strip twenty times or so, but I don't really care. The pattern is nice: walk while the clothes are in the washer, which is about a 25 minute cycle and then read or write while they're in the dryer, for about 45 minutes.
When I found out I won the March challenge, I decided to reinvest my winnings in more fitness gear so I bought a pedometer and balance ball pack at Barnes & Noble (ball, pump, two workout DVDs and a stretch band - rock!)
I've successfully slashed the fuck out of my calories, eliminated bacon, beef and ice cream from my diet and cut back on processed sweets and foods, and shrunk my portion sizes. The bacon, beef and ice cream aren't for any moral reasons, I just realized I don't like them all that much and I could easily do without them so it's easier for me to say, "nope, not having that anymore." I know it's Bacon/Beef Blasphemy to many who might read this but that's the way I roll.
So now onto another twenty pounds in three months. There's no support group or specific challenges handed out or anyone to compete against but myself this time, but I can do it. Here's hoping the end of June finds me accomplishing that goal, too. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 1st, 2009|01:59 am] |
Failures: First self-imposed short story deadline. But I'm still working on writing.
Successes: losing 17.6 pounds in three months. Kicking my health and fitness goals in the ass, including regular hiking and exercise. Keeping ahead of the 50 Book Challenge.
Questions: Does anyone have any recommendations regarding a general practice doctor, a gynecologist, and a dentist in the northern Jersey (preferably Morris/Sussex County area)? I'm looking for all of these since my old doctor/gynecologist is too far away and it's been far too long since I had a regular dentist. If you have any suggestions, can you email info to polyphonist AT gmail DOT com? Much thanks. |
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