This time with prompts from 
scarvenartist! (As previously, if anyone else cares to leave me more topic prompts or wants to get some prompts from me, just let me know in the comments!)
Cupcakes: I am... surprisingly torn on the subject of cupcakes. On the one hand, they can be, and often are, Excellent. But on the other hand, they often seem oddly less... well balanced?... than cake. Maybe it's just because they're more likely to dry out quickly if not made quite right, because by all logic they should be the ideal version of cake, or maybe it's because they're weirdly awkward to eat (yes, I know the trick of making it into an icing sandwich by breaking off the bottom, but I have a small mouth). On the other other hand, filled cupcakes are incredible and easier to do well (and with less mess) than those kinds of fillings in cake, generally. Anywho, on the whole I love them and any defects are only in relation to their relative position on the scale of "desserts that are good."
Hotels: Generally, I enjoy staying in hotels. I've seen juuuuuust enough "behind the scenes" type stuff that I have to make a conscious choice to Not Be Bothered by certain highly unsanitary potentialities, but fortunately I really don't have any particular germophobic tendencies, so that's generally not too tough for me unless I actually see something egregious. One thing I despise about hotels? The showers, which have only gotten increasingly stupid over the years with "ecofriendly" (i.e. not actually making a significant difference, except to the hotel's budget) renovations. I have very thick hair so it can be hard to rinse shampoo, but most hotels these days have adjustable showerheads whose options are basically "gentle mist that spreads over a reasonable area but will never wash anything off ever because the water pressure is zero" or "powerwasher that could blast take paint off, but only covers an area the size of a quarter." Either way, I'm probably gonna end up cold and annoyed. :P
Roller coasters: So, I used to be a truly massive coward when it came to roller coasters and other such rides. I won tickets to Valley Fair once and it was basically the worst possible timing for it because I was juuuuuust too big to ride the kids' rides and petrified about trying any of the adult rides. My poor dad stood in line with me for a long time waiting for one milder one that I'd finally worked up the courage for, and I think I would've actually enjoyed it if I'd gone on it, even at that age... but unfortunately, JUST as it was our turn to get on, the person standing next to me chose to start going on about how, "Yeah, I bet the REALLY scary thing about THIS ride is..." and I panicked and wouldn't go. :( Anyhow, fortunately for me, these days I enjoy a much wider variety of rides. Generally, I tend to really like ones with plenty of spinny centrifugal force and I enjoy some with big drops better than others, but I'm not a big fan of going all the way upside down. There's one spinning roller coaster (where the cars themselves spin in circles, in addition to the coaster as a whole being twisty) at MoA that's basically the 100% perfect blend of spinning and dropping and speed for me, so whenever I do rides there I wind up wanting to just go on that one like half a dozen times. I don't get motion sickness easily unless I'm either overheated or really hungry, so Dad's been pretty stunned at the way I can eat even rich fair food and then immediately jump on the spinny-est ride I can find and enjoy it.
scarvenartist! (As previously, if anyone else cares to leave me more topic prompts or wants to get some prompts from me, just let me know in the comments!)Cupcakes: I am... surprisingly torn on the subject of cupcakes. On the one hand, they can be, and often are, Excellent. But on the other hand, they often seem oddly less... well balanced?... than cake. Maybe it's just because they're more likely to dry out quickly if not made quite right, because by all logic they should be the ideal version of cake, or maybe it's because they're weirdly awkward to eat (yes, I know the trick of making it into an icing sandwich by breaking off the bottom, but I have a small mouth). On the other other hand, filled cupcakes are incredible and easier to do well (and with less mess) than those kinds of fillings in cake, generally. Anywho, on the whole I love them and any defects are only in relation to their relative position on the scale of "desserts that are good."
Hotels: Generally, I enjoy staying in hotels. I've seen juuuuuust enough "behind the scenes" type stuff that I have to make a conscious choice to Not Be Bothered by certain highly unsanitary potentialities, but fortunately I really don't have any particular germophobic tendencies, so that's generally not too tough for me unless I actually see something egregious. One thing I despise about hotels? The showers, which have only gotten increasingly stupid over the years with "ecofriendly" (i.e. not actually making a significant difference, except to the hotel's budget) renovations. I have very thick hair so it can be hard to rinse shampoo, but most hotels these days have adjustable showerheads whose options are basically "gentle mist that spreads over a reasonable area but will never wash anything off ever because the water pressure is zero" or "powerwasher that could blast take paint off, but only covers an area the size of a quarter." Either way, I'm probably gonna end up cold and annoyed. :P
Roller coasters: So, I used to be a truly massive coward when it came to roller coasters and other such rides. I won tickets to Valley Fair once and it was basically the worst possible timing for it because I was juuuuuust too big to ride the kids' rides and petrified about trying any of the adult rides. My poor dad stood in line with me for a long time waiting for one milder one that I'd finally worked up the courage for, and I think I would've actually enjoyed it if I'd gone on it, even at that age... but unfortunately, JUST as it was our turn to get on, the person standing next to me chose to start going on about how, "Yeah, I bet the REALLY scary thing about THIS ride is..." and I panicked and wouldn't go. :( Anyhow, fortunately for me, these days I enjoy a much wider variety of rides. Generally, I tend to really like ones with plenty of spinny centrifugal force and I enjoy some with big drops better than others, but I'm not a big fan of going all the way upside down. There's one spinning roller coaster (where the cars themselves spin in circles, in addition to the coaster as a whole being twisty) at MoA that's basically the 100% perfect blend of spinning and dropping and speed for me, so whenever I do rides there I wind up wanting to just go on that one like half a dozen times. I don't get motion sickness easily unless I'm either overheated or really hungry, so Dad's been pretty stunned at the way I can eat even rich fair food and then immediately jump on the spinny-est ride I can find and enjoy it.
So, cairistiona7 was doing the "random topics" meme and gave me some topics so I could join in the fun. :D (If anyone else cares to leave me more topic prompts or wants to get some prompts from me, just let me know in the comments!)
Breakfast: I LOVE breakfast foods. So many different things that're among my faves, from sweet and almost dessert-like to savory or comparatively simple, just love it. Which you would think would mean that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day that I go all-out for, except that my hatred of mornings exceeds even my love of breakfast foods. So 98% of the time, I just end up grabbing a protein bar or a yogurt rather than trying to actually cook anything (and then needing to clean up after it) in the mornings. Which wouldn't be such a problem, because I am very on board with the concept of breakfast for dinner... except that my dad basically hates all breakfast foods. To the point where his mom used to make him hamburgers for breakfast just to get him to eat something. So basically, I am a very sad and breakfast-deprived individual and my life should really have significantly more pancakes and waffles in it. /trauma
Bioluminosity: I am for it. \o/ I love glowy things very, very much. I tried to grow some bioluminescent mushrooms a while back and had a very cool setup for it, but tragically, despite my best attempts to follow directions, my black thumb struck again and I was unable to grow a single one. One, day, though...
Also, if you haven't seen this part from Blue Planet II, you are Missing Out. (This clip's mostly behind-the-scenes filming stuff, but it shows some bits from the actual documentary so you can get an idea of how spectacular it is.)
Ballet: Ahaha, okay, so. I have very little experience with anything ballet-related. We used to have a VHS recording of the Nutcracker ballet that I remember loving as a young child, but that's about it. EXCEPT for the one time I was out of state at a conference and the church service I attended featured ballet-style interpretive dance as part of the sermon. Which, um, was potentially intriguing in theory, but turned out to be so bizarre and uncomfortable that I ended up walking out on it. So, there's that.
cairistiona7 was doing the "random topics" meme and gave me some topics so I could join in the fun. :D (If anyone else cares to leave me more topic prompts or wants to get some prompts from me, just let me know in the comments!)Breakfast: I LOVE breakfast foods. So many different things that're among my faves, from sweet and almost dessert-like to savory or comparatively simple, just love it. Which you would think would mean that breakfast is my favorite meal of the day that I go all-out for, except that my hatred of mornings exceeds even my love of breakfast foods. So 98% of the time, I just end up grabbing a protein bar or a yogurt rather than trying to actually cook anything (and then needing to clean up after it) in the mornings. Which wouldn't be such a problem, because I am very on board with the concept of breakfast for dinner... except that my dad basically hates all breakfast foods. To the point where his mom used to make him hamburgers for breakfast just to get him to eat something. So basically, I am a very sad and breakfast-deprived individual and my life should really have significantly more pancakes and waffles in it. /trauma
Bioluminosity: I am for it. \o/ I love glowy things very, very much. I tried to grow some bioluminescent mushrooms a while back and had a very cool setup for it, but tragically, despite my best attempts to follow directions, my black thumb struck again and I was unable to grow a single one. One, day, though...
Also, if you haven't seen this part from Blue Planet II, you are Missing Out. (This clip's mostly behind-the-scenes filming stuff, but it shows some bits from the actual documentary so you can get an idea of how spectacular it is.)
Ballet: Ahaha, okay, so. I have very little experience with anything ballet-related. We used to have a VHS recording of the Nutcracker ballet that I remember loving as a young child, but that's about it. EXCEPT for the one time I was out of state at a conference and the church service I attended featured ballet-style interpretive dance as part of the sermon. Which, um, was potentially intriguing in theory, but turned out to be so bizarre and uncomfortable that I ended up walking out on it. So, there's that.
So! Back from our annual cabin trip - aka Reading Binge Time - with some thoughts on the books I read.
This trip felt, in some ways, really different from past. Partly just all the changes happening right now (my brother’s fiancee was able to come for part of the trip), partly the fact that, despite best efforts to step away for some peace and quiet, some wedding-related drama managed to follow on the trip (not our causing or the fiancee’s fault in any way, just family issues), partly dumb health stuff.
I’d intended to do a fair amount of exercise and outdoors stuff this time around. (LOL, less than three months’ notice on being a bridesmaid = very thankful I’d already been putting in the effort to be in decent shape, at least.) But then shortly after arriving I came down with a cold and then a nasty allergic reaction. As in, welts and itchy, hot rash all over my arms, throat, and face, waking up in the middle of the night feeling like my skin was about to catch on fire, the whole nine yards. Nothing I could do to treat it seemed to give more than temporary help and I couldn’t seem to figure out what was causing it. The fact that I’ve never had remotely sensitive skin or anything more than sniffling-and-sneezing-variety seasonal allergies made it doubly bizarre. I even brought a sleeping bag and pillow from home, so???
ANYhow. Made for a slightly different trip than expected. Thankfully, once home the reaction cleared up pretty quickly and the trip was otherwise very restful. It was really nice to get a chance to go back to something so familiar in the middle of all the upheaval.
And I got some good reading done - 23 books finished, partway into two others, for a total of… something a little over 7,000 pages read. ^^ I did a little more re-reading this year than usual (again, nice to have some familiar comfort reads), but some really good new reads as well.
Finally got stuff together from the Wisconsin trip, as per usual!
First the book stuff:
( Book stuff here!Collapse )
And just a few pictures from the trip. (It was hard to narrow it down to only a few. XD)
( Photos here!Collapse )
First the book stuff:
( Book stuff here!Collapse )
And just a few pictures from the trip. (It was hard to narrow it down to only a few. XD)
( Photos here!Collapse )
Soooo, those book comments I was talking about are coming, I just got sick for like a week and a half and it basically killed my brain for a while there, so now that I'm back up and running I'm finishing it up.
But I just have to say, totally late to the party, that I finally, finally got to see Wonder Woman today and oh my heart, I did not know I needed this movie butapparently I did. It was just so beautifully done and sincere and bright (and... also heartbreaking) and just. The whole tone of it was everything I like best in superhero movies and it makes me so happy.
Saw the preview for Thor: Ragnarok before it, too - which looks very good - and my mom's comment was, "See, I like Thor. He's not just a pretty face." And I about died of giggles. So yeah, looking forward to that.
(Also, wearing a Captain America shirt to a DC movie will get you Comments, but hey. My strong preference for Marvel movies these days has nothing to do with any Marvel vs DC feelings, just being so done with the bleak tone of recent DC movies. I have more than enough love in my heart forboth, when they're done well.)
But I just have to say, totally late to the party, that I finally, finally got to see Wonder Woman today and oh my heart, I did not know I needed this movie but
Saw the preview for Thor: Ragnarok before it, too - which looks very good - and my mom's comment was, "See, I like Thor. He's not just a pretty face." And I about died of giggles. So yeah, looking forward to that.
(Also, wearing a Captain America shirt to a DC movie will get you Comments, but hey. My strong preference for Marvel movies these days has nothing to do with any Marvel vs DC feelings, just being so done with the bleak tone of recent DC movies. I have more than enough love in my heart for
Just got home from the cabin! It was such a wonderful, relaxing time. :) Didn't quite manage a reading record - finished 26, read part of a 27th - but if was pretty close.
Shall be catching up for a while, but I'll be typing up a books post, and probably pulling together some of the photos I took, soon.
Shall be catching up for a while, but I'll be typing up a books post, and probably pulling together some of the photos I took, soon.
Getting ready to head out to the cabin for The Reading Vacation tomorrow night... Books are packed! (I'm not actually bringing them in plastic bags. I just needed those to get home from the library.) I think my suitcase is about half books, in addition to the backpack I filled with books... Good thing I don't need too much in the way of clothes for this trip. XD
I'll still be around tomorrow, but otherwise - I'll see you all when I get back on the 23rd!
Got the chance to sit down and talk with the karate school's owner a few days ago about the fact that I'm not going to be continuing training, at least in the near future (not unexpected at this point, given my accumulation of injuries and the need to deal with that before pushing myself more).
The fact that I won't be continuing to teach for the time being was not expected for them, but the conversation went a lot better than I thought it would. She told me they were really happy with the work I've been doing and actually offered to sit down and see what they can offer me if I want to make it more of a full-time career, now or later on down the line. Which... I was not expecting out of that conversation. I'm too tired and in need of a break from some of the disorganization and craziness going on right now to consider it at this point, but I left the future possibility open. For now, I'm continuing my current teaching until they switch over to the summer schedule at the end of May so they've got time to figure out staffing, and we'll see where I'm at once fall comes around again.
Anyhow. Good to have that settled with a lot less drama than I was expecting.
On another front, anyone want to see some zoo pics?
( Zoo pics!Collapse )
The fact that I won't be continuing to teach for the time being was not expected for them, but the conversation went a lot better than I thought it would. She told me they were really happy with the work I've been doing and actually offered to sit down and see what they can offer me if I want to make it more of a full-time career, now or later on down the line. Which... I was not expecting out of that conversation. I'm too tired and in need of a break from some of the disorganization and craziness going on right now to consider it at this point, but I left the future possibility open. For now, I'm continuing my current teaching until they switch over to the summer schedule at the end of May so they've got time to figure out staffing, and we'll see where I'm at once fall comes around again.
Anyhow. Good to have that settled with a lot less drama than I was expecting.
On another front, anyone want to see some zoo pics?
( Zoo pics!Collapse )
Finished my black belt screening, and I didn't actually collapse. Was pretty sure I was going to for a while there, but I didn't. XD I won't know what the verdict is until... Saturday, probably. But right now I'm feeling pretty good about how I did, all things considered, so I'm hopeful. If I passed, that'll be four of the seven down, three to go. (The next two being the hardest, but heh, let's not think about that now. ) And it is such an incredible relief to have it done.
In somewhat less happy news, I managed to do... something to my hip in the process of doing the tornado kick portion of the test. It felt like it might be really bad, especially when I could barely raise my knee this morning. Didn't seem like any pulled or strained muscle I've had before, more like something was wrong with the joint itself. But then in the process of stretching and testing my range of motion today I apparently managed to pop whatever-it-was back into place. At any rate, I felt something click in my hip and now I seem to have pretty much normal range of motion back with just general achy soreness instead of sharp, Something Is Wrong pain, so... Not sure exactly what happened, but crisis seems to be averted in that regard. Pretty sure it's gonna be okay with a couple days of taking it easy.
So. Nothing definite, but I'm no longer in I May Die mode for the time being. ^^
In somewhat less happy news, I managed to do... something to my hip in the process of doing the tornado kick portion of the test. It felt like it might be really bad, especially when I could barely raise my knee this morning. Didn't seem like any pulled or strained muscle I've had before, more like something was wrong with the joint itself. But then in the process of stretching and testing my range of motion today I apparently managed to pop whatever-it-was back into place. At any rate, I felt something click in my hip and now I seem to have pretty much normal range of motion back with just general achy soreness instead of sharp, Something Is Wrong pain, so... Not sure exactly what happened, but crisis seems to be averted in that regard. Pretty sure it's gonna be okay with a couple days of taking it easy.
So. Nothing definite, but I'm no longer in I May Die mode for the time being. ^^
Well, I've officially got whatever nasty cold Nef's been down with this week. Going to sparring anyway today was maybe not the smartest decision I've ever made, but since I knew it'd be a couple weeks until I could get to it again...
On the one hand, I did better than I expected. On the other, now I can't be sure if I'm sore and headachy because I'm sick or because I got repeatedly punched in the head and knocked down by a guy twice my size. (Still won the fight, though. And the instructor said I was turning into a superstar on them. So there's that. ^^)
As a more interesting diversion from being sick, though - a flying squirrel has moved into our attached garage/the walls of our house. I knew we had some living nearby, but we don't see much of them because they're usually really shy, besides being nocturnal.
This one, though, is the most brazen, attitude-filled little thing I've ever seen. Doesn't seem to much care who knows he's around. And Ella, our mighty, fierce huntress cat who will take down anything that moves, including rabbits nearly as big as she is, seems to have just shrugged and decided this is okay. Last night I went to give her dinner and he was right there and just... didn't leave. Scooted over a bit, and then just sat there a couple feet away. She just looked at him, then looked at me like, "Yeah, so? He's my roommate now. You gonna give me dinner, or what?"
He stayed there while I went to get her dinner and came back, like he was waiting to see if he'd get dinner too. Didn't head off to the other side of the garage until Ella practically stepped on him. She acted like he was invisible.
????
I mean, he's adorable. And I don't actually want him to get killed, because I love flying squirrels. But having one living in our house is probably not a good thing? Even if he hasn't done any noticeable harm yet. And. Uh. This cat is apparently going to be no help at all in figuring out what to do about it. (She killed a mouse last night and left it by the door, just to prove that she hasn't actually forgotten how to do her job.)
So... for now, we've got a kind-of-pet flying squirrel? And yet one more illustration of why our friends call us the home for confused animals.
I think I'll call him Sam.
On the one hand, I did better than I expected. On the other, now I can't be sure if I'm sore and headachy because I'm sick or because I got repeatedly punched in the head and knocked down by a guy twice my size. (Still won the fight, though. And the instructor said I was turning into a superstar on them. So there's that. ^^)
As a more interesting diversion from being sick, though - a flying squirrel has moved into our attached garage/the walls of our house. I knew we had some living nearby, but we don't see much of them because they're usually really shy, besides being nocturnal.
This one, though, is the most brazen, attitude-filled little thing I've ever seen. Doesn't seem to much care who knows he's around. And Ella, our mighty, fierce huntress cat who will take down anything that moves, including rabbits nearly as big as she is, seems to have just shrugged and decided this is okay. Last night I went to give her dinner and he was right there and just... didn't leave. Scooted over a bit, and then just sat there a couple feet away. She just looked at him, then looked at me like, "Yeah, so? He's my roommate now. You gonna give me dinner, or what?"
He stayed there while I went to get her dinner and came back, like he was waiting to see if he'd get dinner too. Didn't head off to the other side of the garage until Ella practically stepped on him. She acted like he was invisible.
????
I mean, he's adorable. And I don't actually want him to get killed, because I love flying squirrels. But having one living in our house is probably not a good thing? Even if he hasn't done any noticeable harm yet. And. Uh. This cat is apparently going to be no help at all in figuring out what to do about it. (She killed a mouse last night and left it by the door, just to prove that she hasn't actually forgotten how to do her job.)
So... for now, we've got a kind-of-pet flying squirrel? And yet one more illustration of why our friends call us the home for confused animals.
I think I'll call him Sam.
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