Vegas... and Chad Kroeger's Hair

Jeez. What's up with Chad Kroeger's hair in the new Nickelback video? I just saw a clip.... and I'm thinking... he used the MagicCuts coupon from the Sunday paper.

So, yeah. Trying new stuff. I went to Las Vegas for the first time this week, and I did LOTS of new things within the larger New Thing of Traveling to Sin City. Not a lot of it was sinful, though, as we shared a room with friends, and Chris and I Just Won't Go There (unlike some people we know who went at it like bunnies in the queen bed right next to our friends while they thought they were asleep, gag). (Hmm, lots of random caps and parentheticals in this post. Oh, well. It's literary.)

Some of the new things I did, not in order of importance, coolness, or enlightening-ness, are:

1. Drank what was essentially a slurpee spiked with 151 out of a clear plastic football while watching a girl with DD boobs and a size 0 waist wearing fishnet stockings and a cheap bustier spin the Money Wheel as our male friends lost hundreds of dollars on Freemont Street.

2. Took a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. Oh, God, my credit card is never going to be paid off, but it was an incredible experience worth every penny. We took off from Boulder City, flew over the lake and Hoover Dam, then landed right by the Colorado River, how cool is that?

3. Puked on a helicopter. Cool people do not get air sick. Good thing I don't have to worry about being cool. At least I made it in the bag.

4. Took in a Cirque de Soliel show. I've seen a Cirque show before, but never in Vegas, and never on a stage built solely for that purpose. It was also amazing.

5. Watched the World Series of Poker final table, live and in person at the Rio. Poker was neato, the Rio was kind of depressing in an 80's kind of way.

6. Was offered prostitutes. Multiple times.

7. Watched the Bellagio water show. Which I could do all day long. Loved it. For someone born under an Earth sign, I am obsessed with water.

8. Listened to a friend barf on my hotel room carpet. Not particularly life-altering, that one.

9. Walked eight gazillion miles. I'm not exaggerating. It's a walking city. Next time I go I'm going to bring a pedometer, and recommend that anyone else who goes does too, so you can count the eight gazillion miles you will walk.

10. Admired and hated the architecture of the city, for it's imagination and it's awful, awful wastefulness.

All in all, a worthwhile trip. It's one of those things that everyone should do once in their life, whether they want to or not. In many ways, I found the city depressing. The entire place exists solely for the entertainment of people who have enough money to entertain themselves, and there were moments where you could literally see folks trying to decide what to do to distract their minds from... their minds. On the other hand, the creativity that went into making it, the artistry of the shows, the diversity of the food, and the diversity of the people, were pretty neat. And the alcohol was cheaper than food or water. I think that should be the city motto.

Working out for its own sake

I definitely did something new today. I admit, I was kinda burned out from the fire - mwhaha - and the lack of routine and the total drudgery of the workout routine that I did have, so I didn't work out, like really workout, for two weeks. Sure, I played tennis once or twice, went for some long walks, went for a swim in Whistler, but unless the sweat is pouring out of me, and I feel like Guantanamo Bay would be a better fate than the one I'm imposing on my body by my workout, then I'm not working out. So by today, I was absolutely excited to workout.

Usually, when I workout, it's because a) I want to lose weight and b) I want to be healthy. Though I will admit I'm feeling lumpier than usual, and so recognize the need and desire to get back on the weight loss wagon, today, I worked out for neither of those reasons. Today, I kicked my own ass on the treadmill and the weight room because I wanted to. And no, that's not some messed up self-masochism. I wanted to feel my muscles exhausted, I wanted to pant for breath, I wanted to burn. Okay, that sounds kinda pervy. Or, like I'm too stupid to figure out that great sex would provide the effects described above. Nope, not stupid. But, unfortunately for me cause I'm lazy and sex is easier than a hard workout, sex and a hard workout just don't produce the same endorphins.

My workout today was everything I hoped it'd be. I was so damn happy to be able to work out, that I had the opportunity to do it. I ran harder than I've run in at least six months, my resistance training was challenging and kept my heart rate up in the training zone, and I had to walk home from the gym on wobbly legs. It was fucking awesome.

Getting away, just because we can/should/need to and not feeling guilty about it

Let me tell you, folks, that's a new one for me. Usually, when I get away, my life has gotten stressful to the point that if I don't go away, things in my brain will start to crumble and break. This time, I recognized the stress before it got to the stale-cookie-like crumbling level. See previous post regarding fire.

Our good friends Mike, Stacey, David and Jenny got us a weekend at their condo in Whistler for a wedding present, and Chris and I both agreed that now was the time to use it. We left after work on Friday, and had a kind of harrowing drive through the rain and construction-confused roads, but got to Whistler safely at about dinner time that night. We had a nice dead-animal dinner at the Keg, came back to the condo, and enjoyed the heated outdoor pool and jacuzzi. That was QUITE nice. Saturday we did some hiking, shopping, and brunching. It's absolutely gorgeous up there this time of year - the trees are all turning, and everything was green and yellow and red, against a bright blue sky. We got home early Sunday afternoon, and spent it putting our house back together. Between the mini-vacation and just having our living space back in order, my brain and body and soul felt a helluva lot better.

Usually, after a trip like this where I spent too much money eating out and gas driving and twice as much on a new memory card as I would have at home because I'm a moron and left my other memory card in the computer, I am wracked with guilt - I should have spent this money elsewhere, I shouldn't have wasted, etc. This time, I was like, "Yeah. We needed that. It was good."

So... we're going to Vegas in November. The Grand Canyon is kind of close to there. I really want to go, but since we're only there for four days, I don't want to drive. So a friend (a much wealthier friend) suggested a helicopter tour. Mike looked it up (he and Stace and a bunch of others are also going to Vegas in November) and couldn't find any for less than $300 per person. My eyeballs almost fell out of my head. I started making excuses for why it wouldn't work, which really boiled down to the fact that I'd feel guilty for spending the money. Then I thought... when will you ever get the chance to see the Grand Canyon from the sky, and land in the middle of one of the crevasses? What if you NEVER get the chance to do that again? And I decided in that moment that Chris and I are going to do it, without guilt, because experiences are worth a helluva lot more than material shit is.

Please remind me of this magical thinking mindset if I can't afford groceries in December. Thanks.

2-? Lots of Stuff

So I haven't been posting regularly. That's what happens when you procrastinate. By that, I mean this: I procrastinated putting up new posts, thinking I could just get to it, you know, whenever, the next day or the next day. And then OUR FREAKING HOUSE CAUGHT FIRE. We are fine, and most importantly, our material possessions are fine, but it's been a damn stressful time dealing with the landlord's insurance company and blah de blah blah, I won't bore you with the stresses. I'm sure you can all imagine. Well, okay, maybe one thing. The stench of smoke and fire-killing chemicals was AWFUL for about 10 days. Better now. But I'm pretty sure I killed some healthy cells breathing in that shit air. That is all.

On to the new things I've tried since my last post. I have to admit, I haven't done something new every day, but close. Every other day, maybe? In no particular order of date, cause I can't remember dates anymore:

1. Hosted a wedding shower - it was made clear to me from this experience that you only ask people to be your bridesmaids if you hate them.
2. Made crafty little takeaways for said shower - which I sucked at, but did anyway.
3. Tried new pasta salad recipe - yeah, that was a mistake. It was a crappy recipe.
4. Ate at awesomely cool college-town restaurant in bellingham - OMG, best hash browns EVER!
5. Went to a Mindemporium, this place where a local geek built all these miniature science-world type exhibits and only charges people 2 bucks admission. It was pretty damn cool, actually, to know that someone cares enough about science to build all that shit and write the blurbs to explain wtf was going on to dummies like myself.
6. Tried new torture device in the dungeon, ahem, tried new exercise equipment at the gym. I think the closest approximation is the Gazelle, by that guy with the long pony tail. I wasn't a fan.
7. Convinced a border agent not to arrest my mother. Long story short, she was not arrested, but she did not come to Canada.
8. Thanks to Margarita, developed an obsession with True Blood. You must watch it if you enjoy wonderful writing, directing and acting. Best show on TV right now, period. Yes, even better than Project Runway, or that work of artistic genius, Hole in the Wall.
9. Was in a wedding party. New one for me. All my best girl friends are single! People should not drink and do emotional things on the same day. It leads to drama. I don't do drama, unless it's acted out by good looking people that I absolutely do not know and can be turned off when I get sick of it.
10. Tried a new... ah... erotic aid? Is that what they're calling them now? Anyway, we had a presentation at Nikki's stagette and I bought it cause I've been wanting it for a while now. I'm not selfish! I'm not! It's called a "We", so Chris likes it too. ;)
11. Went to a gourmet cheese store. Hard to believe I've never done this, given my love affair with hard, moldy cow's milk, but yet... it's true. The cheese was fabulous. I want to roll in it. And build an apartment in the shop.
12. Cleaned up after an upstairs fire. Learned A LOT about insurance companies. Dear reader, please please please check your policy to see what is covered and what is not in terms of alternative living arrangements, who gets to decide whether to replace or just clean, etc. My landlord is getting SCREWED.

I think there are more things, but I feel guilty typing because my husband is doing the dishes, and I feel useless. I promise, now that we are getting more settled after the fire, I'll be posting more often. I also promise that I have learned my lesson about procrastination - don't put it off cause you never know what will happen tomorrow!

2 - Sitting in a different chair at work-type meeting

Yes, it's a weak new thing. Especially since I didn't actually speak to any of the new people on the new side of the room. But, it did give me a different perspective on the meeting, and its dynamics. For one thing, I had less stuff to look at while I daydreamed. For another, I got to see different looks on the new people's faces while they daydreamed. All in all, not a bad experience, but not a particularly special one, either.

Tomorrow, I plan to try something new at the gym. And if something else new comes up, I'm trying that, too.

1 - Tai Chi

Because I'm kind of mentally ill on a lot of fronts - lacking in both self-discipline and body awareness, being overly self-conscious - after some research, I decided that one of my new things would be to take a Tai Chi class at the local community centre. Practicing Tai Chi is supposed to increase your ability to position your body, breathing and posture, while also helping to develop a more disciplined mind. Chris signed up for the class with me, in spite of not being mentally ill, cause he's into the trying new things thing, too.

I gotta say, I think it's going to work out. Our teacher has been practicing for 18 years, and seems to be very capable and comfortable in the instructor role. She was good at pointing out mistakes without making anyone feel like a tool, and took things slow and easy for the first class. There are only 12 people in the class, and it's in a great big classroom, so no one was in danger of being whacked in the face by someone's (my) flailing arms. Just kidding. There were no flopping limbs. Just a lot of controlled movements (18 of them in fact - going to have to practice before next class, several times), and some breathing and stretching at the end of class.

I found the experience very positive, because

A) While I'm doing it, I'm not thinking about anything other than what my body is doing. And that feels awesome.
B) I felt more focused both while I was tai-chiing and afterwards.
C) I was definitely more in touch with my body, how it felt and how it moved.

Anyone looking to improve fitness through Tai Chi might want to consider a different martial art. From what I can tell so far, Tai Chi will improve balance, posture, and flexibility, but I could have worn a coat and long underwear and still wouldn't have broken a sweat. My heart rate probably peaked around 100 bpm, and other than a slow burn in my thighs while doing some front/back movement (not nearly as exciting as it sounds, though it could certainly end up that way if you found someone to stand behind you and follow your movements -- oh, inspiration!)
I didn't feel any strain on my muscles whatsoever, so it's unlikely to make any significant improvements to muscle strength. However, I do think it could cause significant improvements to the strength of a certain large and wrinkled organ, and said organ's ability to stop being such an isolated fucking snob, and connect with.... everything.

Reset

Third time's the charm?

I've changed templates again, which is a way to signal my brain that I've changed formats again. This time, though, I've also changed the title. My old title was past-oriented, and it didn't really reflect what I want to write about these days.

So without further nattering... may I present... a path to self-growth, self-improvement, and general self-something... the new blog! Here, I'm making a commitment to myself (and maybe to the occasional reader) to experience something new every day. I might not post every day - probably won't, in fact - but I'll DO something new every day, and write about it eventually.

Yeah. What do you think?

whatchoo gonna do?

for the sake of non-repetition, i'm just going to stop apologizing for sporadic posts and making promises for more frequent ones. what can i say? i'm streaky.

i have no idea what to write about. i'm only on here because i need to procrastinate with the book writing, and chris is glued to the new harry potter like i used to be glued to quarter pounders with cheese. that is to say, he is quite engaged. so, here's some random miscellanea:

-- i liked the deathly hallows, though not as much as some of the other books, which i think has a lot more to do with my newly discovered inner editor than any flaw in her imagination of the novel.

-- i registered for the surrey international writer's conference today, and i am alternating between moments of insane fury (WHY haven't they confirmed my fax registration by email yet???), rolling nausea (what am i thinking, believing i can successfully pitch my totally unfinished novel to kristin freaking amazing nelson?) and pure excitement (OMG, OMG, OMG, kelley armstrong, diana gabaldon and jack whyte might TALK to me!). luckily for me, and unluckily for you, i get to go up and down this emotional roller coaster for another three months. that means much blog-worthy angst and mania.

-- the exhaust support structure for the portable air conditioner i bought last week won't fit into our ridiculously small basement suite sized windows. i have to wait until tomorrow to call customer service for alternate suggestions because the fascist manufacturer is based in backwards ontario, and has been closed for the last three and a half hours.

-- the muscles in my abs, back and thighs are absurdly, whine-inspiringly sore, and i have no idea why. yes, i've worked out, but i haven't changed my workout's intensity or duration, so i don't know wtf.

-- my mom is sick with some sort of hitherto undiagnosed illness, and it's driving me nutso not knowing what's wrong with her. i live in constant fear of yet another person i love calling and telling me that they have the big c. fair warning: if my mom has the big c, you can just count on me to lose my shit. lose. my. shit. lock me up, give me a straight jacket, and padded walls. and then take me to visit my mommy so i can take care of her.

-- i'm not writing my book right now, and i don't know why. i can't say it's the publishing fear, really i can't. usually when i procrastinate, that's what it is. not this time. this time, i'm kind of scared that i can't write creatively anymore, that i spent so much time writing to please a potential publisher i don't remember the elements that made my writing unique back in the day. i'm hoping that writing this blog post will jump start the book writing, because it has in the past. fingers crossed.

-- i think i'm getting an out-of-the-house research job, and a very large part of me feels very 'eek' about that. however, it's time to wake the hell up and smell the burnt coffee that is life. the reality is that even if i finish the book, find an agent, and get the book published, i won't make enough per book to support myself financially. therefore, i probably need to get used to the very real world lifestyle of waking up early to exercise, getting ready, taking the bus downtown to work, coming home and hopefully having enough energy to write, because let's face it folks -- i'm not going to make enough money from writing to be materially comfortable, especially not with my boyfriend on strike. yet the prospect of facing this reality is most daunting, and frightening, because i have much at stake on other levels. i worry that this job will interfere with the book writing (what book writing? what?), with the healthy lifestyle changes i have made for myself (which are good for my health in so many ways i don't have enough fingers to count), with the largely stress free mental space i've got now. but alas, you never know until you try, and if i hate the job, i can always burn my bridges and quit, right? also, on the brighter side, the job might eliminate stress about finances, introduce me to new and nice people, and impose an external schedule that would actually force me to work on the things that are important to me rather than procrastinate by writing on my blog.

-- i should have hired a wedding planner.

-- i've decided on a honeymoon location, and i am freaking thrilled about it. can we just skip the wedding part and get on with the honeymoon part?

-- there's nothing good on tv this time of year.

-- i need some good book recommendations. anyone got any ideas?

-- i've been trying, and succeeding, at reading more. i think the more i read books, the more i am inspired to write books. the more i read publishing blogs, on the other hand... at any rate, just finished the year of magical thinking by joan didion and storm front by jim butcher. totally different books. magical thinking is a memoir about death and loss and grief, and it is both well-written and incredibly touching. i bawled at numerous moments because didion manages to communicate the intimacy of her relationship and the chaos of her loss in such a way that the reader can remember and imagine their own losses. it's a very good book, though certainly not happy reading. storm front is the first book in the dresden files series by butcher. i tried to read this series months ago, and totally hated it. i think i started with a middle book instead of the first book. anyway, for some reason -- i think because of butcher's inclusion in the urban fantasy pantheon along with hamilton, armstrong, harrison and harris -- i decided to attempt a re-read and boy, was i wrong the first time. i really enjoyed butcher's world building, and his main character, harry dresden, is funny and interesting. he's also a wizard listed in the yellow pages who consults for the police on the weird and whacky cases. butcher does a good job of melding back story with description and action, and he has great technical writing skills. there are times that the drama is a bit overwrought, but i'm willing to overlook that for all the other great things he brings to the table. page. whatever. the point is -- reading books is good for me. i should have a book on the go all the time. now, if only the publishing industry could manage to produce enough good ones for me to read. (did i mention that if i like a book, it rarely lasts for more than two days?)

-- it's getting hot again, and i don't like that at all.

i've got lots of other stuff to update, i could do this forever, but i'm bored, so i'm going to go try something else now. thanks for listening.