(no subject)
May. 18th, 2008 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bironicI visited Cambridge (MA, not UK) for a couple of days and had a nice time. The drive up Thursday evening went quickly and smoothly, the drive back not much worse; the most painful part was watching the fuel pump price climb and climb and climb when I had to top off the tank. (When I first got this car, it cost $12 to fill the tank. Last month, I was going to post about how that had tripled. Now, it's stretching for quadruple.) Gas went up 10 cents a gallon here in the 48 hours I was gone. Next time, it might be cheaper to fly than to drive. WTF, USA. WTF.
Otherwise, aside from some rain, it was lovely. I stayed with my friend S., who led me on a lovely walk to the southern edge of Harvard's campus when I got in Thursday night, across the Charles River and into one of the business school buildings for snacks. As a graduate student, it is vitally important for him to know where all the free food is. He also took me to the Hillel House services Friday night, which were very pretty and full of songs and maturely run by a pair of graduating seniors, the congregation a mix of younger and older students and community members. As a guest, I was invited to light the Shabbat candles. At the kiddush S. managed to pick up a random German Ph.D. student who's in the U.S. for a year studying the history of Jewish classical musicians in German-speaking countries, and we took him out for dinner and drinks. Very interesting conversation. Funnily enough, he's at Harvard because the library gives him access to German documents he can't get in Germany.
S. and I rounded off the weekend with a few Trek episodes, as it is our tradition to cram as many as possible into our get-togethers. This time it was "Whom Gods Destroy" and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" (TOS), "Parallels" and "The Pegasus" (TNG). Man, those shows were smart. I forget that sometimes with all the cheesiness and line predictability and unfair but persistent belief that newer = better. Smart in an ethical-cultural-societal way, and smart in a technical way; instead of dragging things out for the sake of a solution or twist only at the end, they state why they can or can't do something and move on; instead of letting the characters be stupid to advance the plot, they let them catch on and plan ahead so more complicated events have to happen. Case in point: Scotty on the bridge in "Whom Gods Destroy" (which I didn't remember at all; Kirk are Spock were down on the poisonous planet below, trapped in an insane asylum that had just undergone a mutiny.) He intuited what was going on and went through a checklist of possible causes and actions. S. asked, "Why can't they do X?"; the next line was Scotty saying, "We can't do X because…" Scotty and Kirk had set up a code beforehand that came in very handy. Etc. Has SGA ever had that much faith in its characters and audience?
Also enjoyed myself noticing new ways in which John Sheppard is Kirk-like. I definitely didn't remember Kirk being forced to his knees quite so much as he was in "Whom Gods Destroy." He also looked like he shared Sheppard's distance/discomfort in being seduced by alien women when the Orion slave girl draped herself all over him at the banquet. I was proud of Kirk for steadfastly refusing to divulge the password to get onto the Enterprise despite a man being tortured and a woman killed in front of him, and being tortured himself. I wouldn't mind seeing a scene like that on SGA where Sheppard held back important information for a while but maybe gave it up—or didn't—when one of the team was put in danger. I thought that's where they were going with this episode, but the villain didn't bring out Spock to put in the chair. (He did shape-shift into Spock while watching the girl seduce Kirk, though, which was a little mind-bending.)
Anyway. Nice weekend. In the car, I was serenaded by a CD of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
the_oscar_cat, jadesfire2808, triedunture and dodificus reading SGA, House and Torchwood podfic. Much fun, and I need to leave them all feedback.
In short (or not): I am feeling good about life right now. That could all change tomorrow, when it's back to work as usual and some things in limbo cease to be in limbo, like receiving my Birthright return date, my school housing assignment and the results of the liver biopsy I had a couple of weeks ago. But for the moment, contentment. Why, you ask?
- New music care ofisiscolo's international music minifest. elynittria, do you know the Polish band Mordewind? There's a song by them over there that I think you'd like. And to both you and catilinarian, if you follow the link to a collection hosted by whatistigerbalm, I think you'll both find a lot to love.
- Despite mailing in my phone rebate two days late, I got the refund.
- I went grocery shopping along with my father for a change, and now we have delicious, nutritious summery foods instead of a fridge full of beef and a counter full of bread and chips. Avocadoes, tomatoes, salmon steaks, corn, cereal, canteloupe, new potatoes, canned tuna. Mm.
- We bought and planted two and a half rows of vegetables this morning, and just in time, because it looks like rain. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, roma tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, basil, broccoli, string beans, cucumbers and zucchini. We're trying a new patch in a different part of the yard in the hope that the plants won't die like they did last year; our hypothesis is not enough sun. The old patch went entirely to the peas this time.
- Coming back to find French gay Kama Sutra illustrations featuring partners who look like Sheppard & McKay and an accompanying story by sheafrotherdon and siriaeve. Yum.
- I seem to have lost weight. Ironic, I suppose, because I haven't been trying, whereas I had been trying my last couple of years of college—long story, to do with distracting myself from my parents' separation—and nothing happened then.
Let me tell you a funny story about body blindness. Last year, or maybe earlier, my pants started slipping down all the time. I figured it was because I'd stretched the waistlines out, and went and got new ones. They were a size or two smaller than I was used to, but they were different brands too, and we all know women's clothing sizes are anything but standard. Nothing unusual. I stepped onto the ancient scale in our bathroom for the first time in a while, and when it read 10 or 15 pounds less than usual, I assumed it was finally broken and threw it out. When several doctors' scales then said the same thing, I attributed the drop in weight to the fact that I'd recently stopped going to my weekly dance class; the muscle I'd built up was gradually atrophying, and muscle weighs more than fat. When I went pants shopping again last fall and somehow ended up fitting into 6's and 4's where I'd been wearing 12's and 10's when I graduated four years ago—and may I just say that I can't remember a time in my entire adult life when I wore a size 4—, I snorted at how Dockers and Gap brands were marking down their sizes to make women feel better about their figures. When a few people at work recently remarked that I looked like I'd lost weight, I credited the better-fitting clothes I've been trying hard to shop for (thank you, makeover TV shows. *facepalm*).
See a pattern? It sounds kind of obvious now, but I looked—look—the same in the mirror as I have since school, or at least I thought so. Well, last night I was rooting around in my t-shirt drawer and thought I'd test the theory by putting on the Alexi Murdoch shirt I'd bought almost exactly four years ago which was always tight across the chest and unflattering at the stomach. It slipped right on, and it's even a little baggy. So. Huh. Apparently one way to lose weight is to sit at a computer every workday for four years, eat whatever you want, and not really exercise. I'd say mild depression could be a factor, only that hasn't changed from weight one to weight two. *shrug*
Annnnd it's raining now. Which reminds me that I am thirsty from gardening. Off to find some water.
Otherwise, aside from some rain, it was lovely. I stayed with my friend S., who led me on a lovely walk to the southern edge of Harvard's campus when I got in Thursday night, across the Charles River and into one of the business school buildings for snacks. As a graduate student, it is vitally important for him to know where all the free food is. He also took me to the Hillel House services Friday night, which were very pretty and full of songs and maturely run by a pair of graduating seniors, the congregation a mix of younger and older students and community members. As a guest, I was invited to light the Shabbat candles. At the kiddush S. managed to pick up a random German Ph.D. student who's in the U.S. for a year studying the history of Jewish classical musicians in German-speaking countries, and we took him out for dinner and drinks. Very interesting conversation. Funnily enough, he's at Harvard because the library gives him access to German documents he can't get in Germany.
S. and I rounded off the weekend with a few Trek episodes, as it is our tradition to cram as many as possible into our get-togethers. This time it was "Whom Gods Destroy" and "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" (TOS), "Parallels" and "The Pegasus" (TNG). Man, those shows were smart. I forget that sometimes with all the cheesiness and line predictability and unfair but persistent belief that newer = better. Smart in an ethical-cultural-societal way, and smart in a technical way; instead of dragging things out for the sake of a solution or twist only at the end, they state why they can or can't do something and move on; instead of letting the characters be stupid to advance the plot, they let them catch on and plan ahead so more complicated events have to happen. Case in point: Scotty on the bridge in "Whom Gods Destroy" (which I didn't remember at all; Kirk are Spock were down on the poisonous planet below, trapped in an insane asylum that had just undergone a mutiny.) He intuited what was going on and went through a checklist of possible causes and actions. S. asked, "Why can't they do X?"; the next line was Scotty saying, "We can't do X because…" Scotty and Kirk had set up a code beforehand that came in very handy. Etc. Has SGA ever had that much faith in its characters and audience?
Also enjoyed myself noticing new ways in which John Sheppard is Kirk-like. I definitely didn't remember Kirk being forced to his knees quite so much as he was in "Whom Gods Destroy." He also looked like he shared Sheppard's distance/discomfort in being seduced by alien women when the Orion slave girl draped herself all over him at the banquet. I was proud of Kirk for steadfastly refusing to divulge the password to get onto the Enterprise despite a man being tortured and a woman killed in front of him, and being tortured himself. I wouldn't mind seeing a scene like that on SGA where Sheppard held back important information for a while but maybe gave it up—or didn't—when one of the team was put in danger. I thought that's where they were going with this episode, but the villain didn't bring out Spock to put in the chair. (He did shape-shift into Spock while watching the girl seduce Kirk, though, which was a little mind-bending.)
Anyway. Nice weekend. In the car, I was serenaded by a CD of
the_oscar_cat, jadesfire2808, triedunture and dodificus reading SGA, House and Torchwood podfic. Much fun, and I need to leave them all feedback.In short (or not): I am feeling good about life right now. That could all change tomorrow, when it's back to work as usual and some things in limbo cease to be in limbo, like receiving my Birthright return date, my school housing assignment and the results of the liver biopsy I had a couple of weeks ago. But for the moment, contentment. Why, you ask?
- New music care of
isiscolo's international music minifest. elynittria, do you know the Polish band Mordewind? There's a song by them over there that I think you'd like. And to both you and catilinarian, if you follow the link to a collection hosted by whatistigerbalm, I think you'll both find a lot to love.- Despite mailing in my phone rebate two days late, I got the refund.
- I went grocery shopping along with my father for a change, and now we have delicious, nutritious summery foods instead of a fridge full of beef and a counter full of bread and chips. Avocadoes, tomatoes, salmon steaks, corn, cereal, canteloupe, new potatoes, canned tuna. Mm.
- We bought and planted two and a half rows of vegetables this morning, and just in time, because it looks like rain. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, roma tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, basil, broccoli, string beans, cucumbers and zucchini. We're trying a new patch in a different part of the yard in the hope that the plants won't die like they did last year; our hypothesis is not enough sun. The old patch went entirely to the peas this time.
- Coming back to find French gay Kama Sutra illustrations featuring partners who look like Sheppard & McKay and an accompanying story by sheafrotherdon and siriaeve. Yum.
- I seem to have lost weight. Ironic, I suppose, because I haven't been trying, whereas I had been trying my last couple of years of college—long story, to do with distracting myself from my parents' separation—and nothing happened then.
Let me tell you a funny story about body blindness. Last year, or maybe earlier, my pants started slipping down all the time. I figured it was because I'd stretched the waistlines out, and went and got new ones. They were a size or two smaller than I was used to, but they were different brands too, and we all know women's clothing sizes are anything but standard. Nothing unusual. I stepped onto the ancient scale in our bathroom for the first time in a while, and when it read 10 or 15 pounds less than usual, I assumed it was finally broken and threw it out. When several doctors' scales then said the same thing, I attributed the drop in weight to the fact that I'd recently stopped going to my weekly dance class; the muscle I'd built up was gradually atrophying, and muscle weighs more than fat. When I went pants shopping again last fall and somehow ended up fitting into 6's and 4's where I'd been wearing 12's and 10's when I graduated four years ago—and may I just say that I can't remember a time in my entire adult life when I wore a size 4—, I snorted at how Dockers and Gap brands were marking down their sizes to make women feel better about their figures. When a few people at work recently remarked that I looked like I'd lost weight, I credited the better-fitting clothes I've been trying hard to shop for (thank you, makeover TV shows. *facepalm*).
See a pattern? It sounds kind of obvious now, but I looked—look—the same in the mirror as I have since school, or at least I thought so. Well, last night I was rooting around in my t-shirt drawer and thought I'd test the theory by putting on the Alexi Murdoch shirt I'd bought almost exactly four years ago which was always tight across the chest and unflattering at the stomach. It slipped right on, and it's even a little baggy. So. Huh. Apparently one way to lose weight is to sit at a computer every workday for four years, eat whatever you want, and not really exercise. I'd say mild depression could be a factor, only that hasn't changed from weight one to weight two. *shrug*
Annnnd it's raining now. Which reminds me that I am thirsty from gardening. Off to find some water.
no subject
Date: May. 18th, 2008 08:55 pm (UTC)2. Thanks for the link to the international music meme - I downloaded a bunch, and will try offering stuff too.
3. Avocados! Mmm...
4. Yeah. Ultimately, it doesn't matter how much you weigh, but how you feel about your body. There was a time where I checked the calories of every single thing I ate, always calculating, never being able to enjoy food, and it took me a long time to get over that. I eventually got over that, though, and just decided that as long as I see that my regular routine never makes me gain weight drastically, I'm fine fluctuating between the same 5-10 or so kgs. I don't know what I weigh now; I don't think I've eve weighed myself in the past year. When people tell me I've lost weight, I try to take it as a compliment, but know that I'll probably gain it back within a few weeks.
Anyway, that was a ramble. I don't really have anything to say. Except that shopping according to what looks good on you and not what's currently the fashion or looks good on models is very important, and I try to do it more often.
no subject
Date: May. 18th, 2008 10:56 pm (UTC)2. You're welcome! I've really been enjoying some of the songs over there.
3. One word for you: Guacamole!
4. Ultimately, it doesn't matter how much you weigh, but how you feel about your body. Very true. The number itself doesn't mean much beyond the fact that if it's high, it probably also means that you're not looking your best. The thing for me was that I gained weight at college and wanted to lose it -- or rather, that I developed fatty/loose areas that I wanted to tone/slim down again. If I'd achieved a better figure and weighed more, say by building more muscle, I wouldn't have cared about the weight.
shopping according to what looks good on you and not what's currently the fashion or looks good on models is very important
I've never had a problem ignoring fashion trends. *g* Actually, quite the opposite: it's taken years and years to grow out of the "styles" I wore as a kid, which was basically t-shirts and baggy sweatshirts and jeans and stretch pants (ugh). Anyway, your comment reminds me of a time while dress shopping when I complained that I wasn't the right shape to fit in anything, and my father, who is very wise, said that maybe I should be complaining that clothes manufacturers were only designing for one particular body type and concentrate on finding something that fit me instead of wishing I were different. Which has stayed with me for a long time. The *one* thing I like(d) about What Not To Wear is that they indirectly gave me a few tips about what sort of tops look good on my kind of upper half (deep v-necks; layers; lapels; etc.).
So, yes. What you said. :)