Well, I’ve got a few projects that are still incomplete, but I’ve started participating in a PBEM RPG that has me doing a little writing every few days. I’m hoping to remain active there and get into the main storyline so I’m writing almost everyday.
I took a few hours earlier this week to get out my acrylics and get a little painting done. Instead of aiming for perfect-looking artwork, I decided to go back to the mindset when I was a kid painting in class… just paint whatever, no matter how silly or unrealistic. I did two pages in my altered book and three half pages of paper. By no means anywhere near my best work (my paintings on small surfaces generally suck), but it was a lot of fun, and I plan to do it again.
I finished, and he likes it! Now to move on to my scrapbooks.
P is for Pasta.
P is for Pizza.
P is for Potatoes.
And that’s what I think about over and over and know I can’t have. :( I’ve been very good about sticking to almost no carbs this week, but I’m looking forward to my helping of Jet City Thai peanut pizza once Monday rolls around. While it’s been interesting and I’ve found some new things to eat that aren’t too bad, I don’t think that in the long term, making avocado, nuts, and cheese my snack food of choice is really the way to go. Next month, I’ll allow myself wheat wraps, small amounts of brown rice, and maybe rice snacks.
I also bought a pedometer (unsurprising conclusion: I don’t walk enough) and a scale that measures body fat (unsurprising conclusion: I’m not overly fat, but I’m above my ideal).
16. satisfying a food craving
17. bed & breakfasts
18. seeing mountains when I’m driving
19. working in the loft
20. trying a new recipe that turns out well
My other scrapbooks got put on hold because I’m giving Justin a scrapbook of the trips we’ve taken together as part of his Christmas present. It’s more than halfway through, and I can reuse a lot of the printed text for one of my scrapbooks.
I put my headphones in the piano last night, so now I’m ready to go for late night or early morning practicing. Pulled out the Hanon and Schmitt books because my 4th and 5th fingers are abyssmal, and I’m misjudging the distance of octaves all over the place. The plan is to at least do technique exercises every other day. I successfully did that this morning!
I’m going to try doing Atkins/low carb for a week starting January 9. This is probably the hardest diet I can possibly do because I LOVE carbs, but type 2 diabetes runs in the family, and lowering my carb intake is probably the way to go anyway. I’ll try this for short periods of time so I won’t go mad and just stop, and see where it goes.
15555 NE 24th St
I’ve been here many times ever since a friend recommended it. It’s a little hole-in-the-wall place that many people pass by since it’s right next to Uwajimaya, but they don’t stop to try it. Worth it! They’ve got a huge, delicious spider roll, among other things. It’s also nice that the people who work there are actually Japanese. I had the sushi lunch there last week, and it totally hit the spot… the fish was delicious. My only complaint is that the prices are beginning to rise a little beyond what I think it should be, and it’s pretty crowded in there at peak hours.
11. a song that seems just right at the time
12. finding something I thought was lost
13. reading my old writing
14. fires on a cold day
15. Cajun food
6. writing letters
7. beer at work
8. Pride & Prejudice
9. seeing beautiful castles
10. good email in my inbox
Roof is fixed and no longer leaking, so I sat down and played a little yesterday. It’s kind of depressing how bad I’ve gotten. My fingers still know the patterns to some of the songs I once knew how to play, but I’m finding that they’re lacking strength and worst of all… they don’t recognize intervals correctly anymore, so I find myself looking at the keys way more than I used to. Hopefully, I can eventually get back into a more acceptable state. It’s tough to practice everyday because I don’t spend much time in my apartment everyday.
304 105th Ave NE
I’ve been here before, but it was Justin’s first time. We were aiming for Sushiland, but the line was so long that we went here instead. The environment is much nicer and less crowded than at Sushiland, and it was full of people our age and older instead of sushi-flinging children, which was nice. Selection isn’t was good as Sushiland, but I feel that overall the quality is better. Portions on nigiri are smaller, so it ends up being more expensive than Sushiland, but still cheaper than going to a non-conveyor belt place. This time, I saw croquettes (good!!) and gyoza on the belt, which I didn’t see last time.
After coming up with many ideas of what I could write but finding no inspiration for the actual execution, I finally completed the rough draft for a poem. It’s bad. But it’s a start! I’ve also got a poem and short story that I have ideas for (both are prompts from Alchera) and some old stories that I might add to.
1. sushi
2. a beautiful sunrise or sunset
3. gray cats!
4. my yellow blanket
5. sleep when I’m exhausted
I had some spare time, since I’m spending Christmas in Indiana, so I finished In Her Shoes (I actually read most of it in a day or so, since I’d barely started before).
It was a good read, and now I really want to see the movie because it got good ratings, and I’m curious if the characters are like I imagined them. Cameron Diaz is definitely not how I pictured Maggie looking. As for the book, I dunno… I didn’t like the ending that much because I didn’t think it closed up as nicely as most chick lit books do. I wasn’t convinced of Rose and Simon’s relationship. And I didn’t like Maggie at all. The author tried to thrown in sympathy for her, but imo, it sounded like she was trying to see things from a perspective she disagreed with and kind of struggling with it. Oh well.
Now I’m reading my newly acquired Fruits Basket Vol. 12 because my other books are in Washington.
(I have a problem with starting multiple books at once and sometimes not finishing them)
In Her Shoes – Jennifer Weiner
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife – Linda Berdoll
Perdido Street Station – China Mieville
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
(and probably other things that I’ve forgotten)
This is an excuse, but it’s seriously keeping me from wanting to play these days. Ever since roofers came to “fix” some things, I’ve had dirty brown water dripping occasionally from a beam on my ceiling. One of the places it drips most heavily is onto my piano bench. I’ve talked to the apartment people about it twice, and they’ve been trying to get the roofers back, but it’s still not fixed. Dirty brown water on my belongings is bad enough, but I don’t want it dripping on my head. :(
downtown Bellevue near the library (somewhere around 12th & 110th) – it’s so small I can’t find it in the yellow pages!
Edmund and I discovered this little hole in the wall because it’s near his friend’s condo and we’ve passed by it a lot. Finally, we decided to go in and try it, and I’ve been there three times since. It’s a little place (I don’t even think it’s in the Yahoo Yellow Pages), but they have a list of 101 rolls! They’re pretty good and not badly priced. My favorite right now are probably the House, Sake, and Tempura rolls.
Come March, it’ll be time to edit. The crappy novel sits alone in its little file until then.
