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thisislizheather · 5 years

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July Jiffs 2019

So technically the end of August is the appropriate time to start any and all Halloween/autumn talk (I think I made up that rule, but it feels right), so I’ll respect that and wait. Just know that I’m inwardly filling up with joy in anticipation of the best time of the year. Here’s what went down this month!

I made a list of some of my favourite summer vacation-y movies that I like to watch to pass the ungodly slow summer hours.

I read and reviewed the book Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed (the woman who wrote Wild).

We had a small party for July 4th and it was the best. Here’s what I made and loved: Panzanella Salad with Fresh Mozzarella (I used the How Sweet Eats recipe, but added mozzarella and omitted the corn and avocado - I also made the croutons the Ree Drummond way, because that’s the tastiest way), Spinach Bacon & Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms (because they’re so delicious I want to scream), I used bell peppers as the bowls for holding the ranch for the vegetables, Slow Cooker Ribs, Eggplant Lasagna (I can’t remember the recipe I used, but it was pretty basic), Peanut Butter & Nutella Cheesecake Bars (this was the second time I’ve made these and it’s a perfect dessert to make a night or two before so that it can really set up), Blueberry Lemon Bread, and a charcuterie board (which is like assembling food art & I love it).

My favourite fruit/vegetable season is the end of summer mainly because of the fresh tomatoes and corn, so I can’t wait to try some of these corn dishes available in NYC right now. Although I don’t know how any of them are going to compete with the corn gnocchi at Park Avenue Summer. (I just looked and there’s also a sweet corn agnolotti with black summer truffles on the menu now too, so things just got interesting.)

Jenn sent me a link to this lovely poem Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo that I just love.

I watched the AOC documentary Knock Down The House on Netflix and it’s so, so good. Cried at the ending.

I went on Nathan’s podcast to talk about dogs, cheating and movies.

I went for lunch at the cafe at Lilia in Brooklyn and it was ONLY AVERAGE. So that was disappointing. Maybe I ordered badly? I got the prosciutto, parmigiano butter, balsamic mustard sandwich - and even though it looks great (love whole grain mustard), it was really just too bready and not very flavourful.

Above Photo: Prosciutto, parmigiano butter, balsamic mustard sandwich at Lilia Cafe, Brooklyn

I saw Midsommar (by the same guy who did Hereditary last year) and I really liked it. Some parts are just unnecessarily graphic (and the slow motion shots of this stuff are insane to watch), but the plot was great. Love an original movie.

Watched the entirety of Champions on Netflix and it really bums me out that it got cancelled, it was a really fun show.

Made this chocolate chunk coconut banana bread and it was goooooood.

I visited the new TWA Hotel at JFK and wrote about it over here.

So excited to hear that there will be three more seasons of Big Mouth!

I also rewatched Dante’s Peak (still a great movie) and Twister (again, it holds up). I think I was in a natural disaster kinda mood that week.

Do you remember experiencing or hearing about the ride Kongfrontation at Universal Studios in Florida? I’ve only ever heard of it, but it seems like it was probably the best ride that ever existed at that park. I hate how most ride these days are just 3D screens with no real interaction or animatronics, it’s bullshit.

Fucking obsessed with this strawberry lemonade kombucha that’s apparently only available at Trader Joe’s. I thought their gingerade was the best flavour, but now I have to reassess everything. (Also tried the “watermelon wonder” but it’s pure trash.)

Some songs that I can’t stop listening to: You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift, Blow Your Mind by Dua Lipa, Everybody by Elliphant feat. Azealia Banks, Boys by Lizzo, Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso feat. Florida Georgia Line & watt, Doin’ Time by Lana Del Ray, We Were Young by Petit Biscuit feat. JP Cooper, Calma (Remix) by Pedro Capo & Farruko

Apparently I can’t get enough of Bill Hader.

I refuse to shut up about how great the (square bottle) nail polishes are at Urban Outfitters. They’ve been consistently great for years. I’ve been wearing their neon pink Hot Tub off and on for at least five years, and they keep putting out wicked new colours. There’s almost always a 3 for $10 deal and recently I got Coffee Creamer, Sun Bunny & Optic White and they’re BEAUTIFUL.

It’s currently Restaurant Week again (it’s on until August 16th), so of course I went back to The Dutch for their beautiful wagyu steak tartare. I also had the corn cappelletti with chanterelle mushrooms and marjoram that was heavenly.

Above Photo: Wagyu steak tartare, The Dutch, NYC

Above Photo: Corn cappelletti, The Dutch, NYC

I saw The Farewell and it’s everything I wanted it to be and more! Definitely go see it. It also reminded me of this beautiful song that I had to sing for a competition once years ago, Caro Mio Ben.

There’s a deal with ClassPass where you can use the service for free for two weeks, so I tried it and it’s not that great. It’s just too expensive to justify having it when I already have a monthly gym membership somewhere else. I did try an aqua cycling class through Aqua Studio during the free trial and it was… only okay. I mean, it’s fun and great to be in the salt water, but it wasn’t all that challenging as a workout.

I wasn’t planning on buying it, but I tried it, loved it, so had to buy it: Glossier’s Brow Flick. I’m still learning how to use it properly, but so far I’m really into it. It inspired this eyebrow products video that I posted last week.

I saw Toy Story 4 and I really hope this is the final one they make because the ending was so good. That’s all I’ll say. Quality series of movies, right here.

Some friends of mine recently opened up a small, late night food place called Foodstruck in Astoria and the food is really good. They’ve just opened, so they’re still figuring out their hours but I think they’re catering to the late night crowd, especially servers/bartenders who get off work late. Check out some of the food specials from this past week.

Above Photo: Burger with gruyere, onion marmalade, sun dried tomatoes & a rosemary garlic butter on a potato bun

Above Photo: Fried boneless chicken thighs with a garlic soy tamarind glaze

Above Photo: Fried chicken sandwich with a spicy mayo, cheese sauce & pickles on a potato bun

My too-kind friend Irene got us a housewarming gift of a Diptyque candle (in eucalyptus) and somehow it’s still going after three months of daily use, which is incredible. Do not look up how expensive this candle is.

I watched To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix and really liked it! Especially the hot tub scene. But let’s not get into it. I double-checked to make sure they’re both over 21 and they are, so all’s good.

Made this pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragu when Nathan was out of town (I like to get my mushroom recipes in when he’s gone) and it’s definitely going on my favourite-dinner-recipes list.

I ate at Misi in Brooklyn because I’ve wanted to go for ages and the pasta was solid as hell, I’d definitely go back. We had the charred peppers, marjoram, and whipped ricotta crostini, the corzetti with marinated sungold (peeled) tomatoes, garlic, pecorino & summer herbs (have you ever eaten a PEELED tomato? It almost feels wrong. The good kind of wrong), the strangozzi with pork sugo, nutmeg and parmigiana and for dessert we had the strawberries and cream gelato (it was a special that night) and the espresso gelato. Everything was so crazy good. The service was fantastic and the space is huge. Is it better than Lilia or L'Artusi (pasta-wise)? Ugh, that's such a hard question. It's really good. I'll have to revisit to get more intel to make a final decision on that.

I went to Coney Island with Irene and it was great, as it always should be.

I visited the Profundo Day Club (mainly to get my ass in a pool) earlier this month, and I highly doubt that I’ll return. Mostly because even though the pool was nice (small, but nice) and refreshing, the blaring house music in the middle of the day was a little excessive. There’s also a disco ball above the pool itself. And a unicorn floatie that drifts around the water. And waitresses who shoot sparklers off when someone buys a bottle of liquor. It’s… not for me, let’s say. And the cheapest pass was $70 (tax included), which is waaaay too expensive for Queens. Let’s be real.

There’s a new season of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and the Martin Short episode is just lovely. It almost killed me when he was talking about when he bought his house and said, “We bought it in 1986” even though his wife passed away years ago. Am I being ridiculous in thinking that him using the word “we” is so sad and sweet and nice? Or maybe that’s a normal thing to say and I’d melt at anything to come out of his mouth. And while it was a good episode, I got so fucking sick of all the filler shots of coffee being brewed, coffee being poured into a cup, beans being tossed in a can, flowers sitting in vases - for fuck sake JUST TALK TO MARTIN SHORT AND SHOW ME THAT. Annoying as hell.

Nathan and I started watching season three of Stranger Things and… it’s not good? We saw all of the first season, which was pretty good. Attempted season two and never finished it because it became boring. And last week, we watched the first couple episodes of season three and I think we’ve silently agreed on just stopping it altogether. And look, I’m happy other people like it, but it’s just not for me. Demogorgons are too close to being dragons, maybe that’s why I can’t care about them?

I like to go to at least one baseball game each season, so I went to a Mets game last weekend and got this beauty that was the giveaway (below) since it was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

Honestly, this bobblehead makes me so happy for some reason. I love going to Citi Field especially ‘cause the food is always so good. We got the filet mignon steak sandwich from the aptly named Pat LaFrieda’s Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich, incredible fries from Box Frites, souvenir cups & drinks from Effen Vodka Bar, mozzarella sticks from Big Mozz, and chips & queso with ginger lime margaritas from Cantina.

Above Photo: Pat LaFrieda’s filet mignon steak sandwich, Citi Field

Above Photo: Fries with parmesan ranch and cheese sauce from Box Frites, Citi Field

Two new things that I’m going to start doing:

1. Buying less things off of Amazon. If there’s an alternative, independently run company that I can find the item at (and if the price isn’t wildly more expensive) then I’ll shop there instead. Every new thing I hear about Amazon makes me shudder, and I hate that it’s become my default place for me to buy anything.

2. If a store/restaurant is cashless (ie. credit cards only), then I’ll refuse to shop there. It’s insane that this isn’t illegal everywhere yet. I’m so sick of it and cash should be accepted everywhere, it’s nuts that I even need to say that. (I was excited to have lunch at Ole & Steen in Union Square for lunch the other day, but they’re “cashfree” so fuck them!)

Some things that I’m looking forward to doing this month: I’ve already sent in my email requesting tickets for Saturday Night Live (you can only request tickets during the entire month of August), I can’t wait to see Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark with Layla, there’s a tomato gelato that I want to try that sounds either awful or life-affirming, going on our anniversary trip at the end of the month, excited for a Canyon Creek caesar salad with Harmeet, planning on going to the CNE with my mom (haven’t done this in years), going to two weddings (!!) and I love weddings, being in a pool with Marla and a bunch of our kids, and taking advantage of a few more Restaurant Week specials. Excited for the last month of trash weather!

#Liz Heather #Nathan Macintosh #July Jiffs 2019 #monthly roundup #summer #NYC #best of NYC #best summer #Positive Anger

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superfitbabe · 7 years

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Thoughts the next morning: “Why HELLO, Buddha belly.”

Oh golly, I haven’t had ANY day of eating like this one! So many people have some sort of stance on cheat days. From what I’ve seen, most people do not recommend cheat days as a regular part of one’s regimen, but some people suggest that cheat days are most certainly okay or even beneficial for one’s progress. Personally, I do not follow a routine that involves cheat days on a regular basis, let alone, intentionally once in a while. Even though I do attend many vegan food-filled events where I don’t eat the best, I wouldn’t consider those a full-blown cheat day. I’d say that I eat at least 1,000 calories over my maintenance during those events, but otherwise, nothing too drastic.

However, I was really, really curious to see what a cheat day does feel like. People often comment on food challenges saying that those food feats are their regular days of eating. Intriguing, right? I wanted to know what it felt like to consume an entire day’s worth of not-so-healthy food, as well as see what I could maximally eat without feeling sick to my stomach. Hence, I scheduled a cheat day to eat all of my favorite foods that are filled with gluten, salt, oil, sugar, fat, carbs, and deliciousness that I wouldn’t eat often. They were all 100% vegan, of course! In general, I cook with little to no salts, seasonings, and almost no oils. But that cheat day was an exception. If it tasted good, it went in my mouth.

As a disclaimer, I would NEVER, EVER recommend that anybody consume this amount and this type of food daily. It’s not healthy, not reasonable, and most certainly not feasible (at least for me). I would rather spend a week where I consume enough nutrient-dense foods for the entire week with one cheat meal maybe 1-3 times in that whole week, versus restricting myself for 6 days a week and then offing all bets on the last day. To me, that’s yo-yo dieting, which is never a healthy lifestyle. If you do want to schedule a cheat day in your weekly or monthly routine, I suggest talking to a medical or dietetic professional, being smart, and listening to your body wholeheartedly.

Anyhow, going back to my intentions for this cheat day, I wanted to firstly celebrate my last full day in Los Angeles during Memorial Day weekend with a bang, gain some weight that I lost (in an unintentional and unhealthily fashion) the past weeks, enjoy some delicious vegan treats that I brought to the trip, and see how much I can possibly eat! Everything tasted absolutely fabulous, and I am stoked to be sharing these wonderful meals!

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MEAL 1: Vegan zucchini chocolate chip loaf (provided by my college’s dining and culinary staff) with a Purely Inspired Organic vegan French vanilla protein spread, mochi, a raspberry double chocolate brownie Fig bar, and Big Kettle cinnamon French toast apples. Tasted like the offspring if you were to cross-breed a brownie, a chocolate chip muffin, zucchini bread, a s’mores bar, and apple pie. Otherwise, AMAZINGNESS.

MEAL 2: a heaping bowl of Kashi GoLean Cinnamon Crisp cereal, The Organic Pantry Company raisin coconut granola bites, and Silk vanilla plant protein soymilk. The Kashi cereal tasted amazing, the granola tasted more like plain flax crackers with coconut and raisins than granola, but the soymilk was so creamy and perfect! I still loved it a lot!

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MEAL 3: random plate of broiled tempeh and a bag Gardein mandarin crispy orange “chick’n” in the orange sauce provided in the package. Hands down, THIS WAS CRAZY. The chick’n pieces tasted more like chicken nuggets in orange sauce rather than actual pieces of orange chicken, but I still loved them wholeheartedly! Not something I should eat everyday, but yep. Ate the whole bag. No bloody shame.

MEAL 4: (unpictured) CLIF chocolate peanut butter-filled bar. Did I eat it before taking a picture because it was so yummy? Maybe…

MEAL 5: Half a bag of Beanfields ranch chips. ADDICTIVE, but I got full pretty quickly from the meals earlier.

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MEAL 6: “I Am Open” maple miso glazed Brussel sprouts and the “I Am Resolved” soul food plate of red beans and dirty rice, collard greens, barbecue jackfruit, a gluten free cheddar jalapeño biscuit, coleslaw, jerk tempeh, and barbecue sauce at Cafe Gratitude! The Brussel sprouts were demolished easily, and so were most of the Resolved food except for the jalapeño biscuit and the collard greens, which didn’t really taste that special, in my humblest opinion.

MEAL 7 (unpictured): some Surf Sweets vegan fruity bears and vegan jelly beans that tasted like childhood, a granola truffle that tasted super fancy, a vegan fortune cookie that was like…well, any fortune cookie, and candied ginger that tasted DISGUSTING.

MEAL 8: two R bars–one of them being the Prickly Pear Pecan and the other being Peanut Butter and Jelly. Both tasted like condensed Larabars! I really adored both in their own ways; the pecan bar resembled a pear crumble and the peanut butter and jelly bar reminded me of the PB&J Larabar, which is my favorite flavor! Highly recommend them both!

MEAL 9: My mother surprised me with a vegan mango sorbet popsicle stick! I wasn’t expecting this at all and downed it with enthusiasm. It tasted so refreshing and perfect for the warm weather!

MEAL 10: The famous General Tso’s Brussel sprouts from Cruciferous, a new vegan restaurant in Los Angeles that debuted at the Vegan Street Fair! They tasted like General Tso’s chicken at any Chinese restaurant–a meat eater and vegan will adore them alike!

MEAL 11: Three fist-sized scoops of vegan s’mores ice cream, salted caramel ice cream, and sunbutter and jelly ice cream with rainbow sprinkles from Cocobella Creamery. Easily annihilated and hands down, my favorite vegan ice cream on the planet! The salted caramel is so silky smooth like a mix of nice cream and real ice cream, the s’mores was so rich, soft, fluffy, and decadent, and the sunbutter and jelly ice cream tasted a lot lighter yet perfectly nutty and sweet. Cocobella Creamery is a MUST if you’re ever in Los Angeles!

MEAL 12: Bento plate of white rice with sesame seeds, broccoli, fried Pokémon tofu with onions, and a cabbage salad at Gokoku Vegetarian Ramen! I used to be SUPER FEARFUL of white rice because I would usually wake up with some sort of skin malady the morning after. I always thought I had some sort of skin intolerance to it until today when I realized it was my own mind manipulating me into believing so! But I woke up the next morning with clear skin and lots of energy, even after eating more white rice in a day than I’ve eaten in the past four years. It tasted a lot softer than brown rice, but I still prefer the graininess and fibrous density of the whole grain brown, wild or black (my favorite kind) rice. But either way, it was such a refresher to revisit an old “forbidden” item on my list and discover that it’s not entirely bad!

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MEAL 13: A takeaway lemon blueberry coffee cake from Cafe Gratitude! I forgot what the name of it is, but it was super delicious! I ended up having it was 3-4 spoonfuls of creamy almond butter to cap off the night. PERFECTION on a plate.

New YouTube Video: What I Ate on My First Cheat Day (vegan) Thoughts the next morning: "Why HELLO, Buddha belly." Oh golly, I haven't had ANY day of eating like this one!

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spajonas · 6 years

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A Look Back At 2017

Hoo boy. Looking back at this year, I’m surprised I survived. The dumpster fire that is our country tried really hard to suck me in and distract me. There were many days when I spent hours on Facebook, scrolling and hoping for good news, and then the day was over and I had done nothing. John Scalzi wrote a great post about how hard it is to stay creative in desperate times (and here at the LA Times) and it really resonated with me this year. It was hard to stay focused, and oftentimes, I could not.

Still, it was a fun and fruitful year, and lots of my goals became clarified by September. I started out the year strong with lots of walking and writing. We went to Disneyworld as a family in the summer and had the best time. And I enjoyed the fall in my wonderful park. I made a lot of decisions about the course of my career to come and kept the boat afloat through some hard times. All in all, I think I did rather well!

Let’s take a look at what I managed to do…

2015 was “The Year I Say No,” 2016 was “The Year I Give No Fucks,” and 2017 was supposed to be “The Year I Have Fun.”

Did I have fun this year with my career? No. Not always. I struggled a lot with my path on this author journey. I listened to too many people who gave me the wrong advice. I let other people tell me that my advice was worthless because I wasn’t successful. I had doubts. A lot of them. It wasn’t fun at all. I remember walking home one day from dropping the kids at school and thinking, “This is not ‘having fun,’ is it, Stephanie?”

It was then that I decided to do something about it. I left the majority of the Facebook author groups I belonged to, places that didn’t add anything positive to my life. I actually started my own author group on FB and filled it with people I love, which helped me have more fun. It wasn’t much longer before many of the author groups on FB either imploded or folded, so I feel like I did the right thing there.

I decided to get rid of things that did me no good, like my traditional newsletter. Now, I blog and my subscribers get all my posts instead, which is a much happier place for me. I got rid of paying for newsletter subscribers or paying for constant advertising that wasn’t working. It was really freeing! And I finally feel like my money is going towards things that make a difference.

Looking back at 2016 and the “Year I Give No Fucks” I’m really glad I had that base to work on for 2017. I continued to not care about stuff like making a best seller list or getting involved in a high-stakes box set or doing newsletter swaps with everyone. I told my awesome crit partner, Tracy, at some point that “I just pretend like I’m the only person on the planet publishing. I’m the only one who matters.” No competing. No comparisons. It’s just me and my books and whatever *I* want to do. That mindset has done me a lot of good in 2017.

All in all, I did well this year. I think my net income did grow because, even though I did spend a lot of money on ads, my gross income is much more than it was the previous year. I’ll have to do the books and find out, but I’m pretty sure I made *some* money. Hey, it’s better than nothing!

Books and Writing Goals Accomplished?

(All last year’s goals are in bold, and my notes on what happened with each come after)

I WILL PUBLISH FOUR BOOKS THIS YEAR. This is a tricky one because I technically published only 3 novels this year but then I also published a few other things. Here’s what came out:

THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE OPENS A TEA SHOP Feb 27, 2017 CRASH LAND ON KURAI Jul 18, 2017 SUMMER HAIKUS Oct 1, 2017 (Re-release) CHAOS IN KADOMA WARD Nov 15, 2017 OZONI AND ONSENS: A DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE NOVELLA Dec 7, 2017 (Previously only for newsletter subscribers)

I WILL WRITE ALL YEAR LONG. Nope, I didn’t do this. I even took time off! Why? Because this was the year I had fun, and there’s nothing that kills fun like working every damned day. I did find myself always in the midst of a first draft or revisions on something though. It was nice not to have a dry spell.

I WILL START UP A PEN NAME BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR. Nope, and I’m not sure I want a pen name now. I’m pretty sure I can do everything I want to do in publishing under this name. I don’t feel like starting over. That’s no fun.

I WILL MAKE SOME BOX SETS THIS YEAR. I did make a boxed set of the Nogiku Series and put it everywhere it needs to be. I also have a pre-order up for the Kami No Sekai Short Story Series that publishes in February. I’m not ready to box up The Daydreamer books yet. Maybe next year.

Marketing, Promotions, Advertising, and Social Media Goals Accomplished?

I WILL SPEND MONEY THIS YEAR. I did spend money this year on advertising. I bought Mark Dawson’s Ads for Authors course and I used it to make effective FB ads which I will continue to do more of in 2018. I continually spend money on Amazon ads every day. I did spend some money on growing my mailing list, which I won’t be doing anymore.

I WILL INCREASE MY MAILING LIST TO 10,000 SUBSCRIBERS. If anything, I went backwards on this goal. I realized that growing my mailing list was only costing me money and not gaining me the fans I was hoping for. My open rates plummeted and only a few people bought books when I had new launches. So now I’m not even using MailChimp anymore and I’m just using my blog, something I wanted to do from the beginning but many people told me that was a mistake. I’m not listening to those people anymore.

MY SOCIAL MEDIA WILL NOT CHANGE. This is the one goal I stuck to like glue. I said, “My Facebook personal profile is a place for me to be personal. I will continue to talk to people via my Facebook Page. Twitter is where I put stuff I’m interested in. Other than that, I will share my work to Google Plus and LinkedIn. My Tumblr is still doing well, and I will continue to post to Instagram every day.” And yeah, I did all of that, and that’s what I plan on doing next year too. Next year, though, I will spend less time on Facebook, more time reading.

Personal Goals Accomplished?

I WILL WALK 1000 MILES THIS YEAR. Yay!! I accomplished my goal in early December and I loved having that goal to work towards all year round. It kept me sane and centered. I can’t wait to get back to it in January. I’ll be doing it again.

I WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE AUDIOBOOK CHALLENGE. I did this and posted about it to the blog yesterday. Check out the post here.

I WILL KNIT MORE. My yearly goal actually panned out this year! I finished off the shawl I had been working on for years and started a new shawl, which I’m almost done with!

I WILL USE MY INSTAPOT AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. This definitely happened and I’m still very happy with it.

What else happened in 2017?

We did a fair amount of traveling in 2017 including visiting my family in Charleston, we went to the indoor waterpark, Kalahari, in Eastern Pennsylvania, and then our big DisneyWorld trip in June, which was my favorite family vacation of all time.

I redesigned the blog this past summer. I was ready for a change and wanted something more flexible and easier to keep up to date. I also redesigned my header images and the images that share to FB for all posts going forward. I’m happy with the design and I plan to keep this design for three or more years.

We had that cool eclipse! The solar eclipse was so much fun. We made our viewing boxes and talked a lot about the science behind the eclipse. I really enjoyed it.

After kicking butt on my walking goal all year and then crossing the finish line, I got really sick in December. The head cold finally morphed to an upper respiratory infection and sinus infection and I needed antibiotics for the first time in over two years.

I saw lots of wildlife in the park! Deer, ducks, geese, herons, kingfishers, and a fox are at the top of the list for my favorite encounters.

I started doing monthly videos during the summer, and I love them. It was hard to remember to always take video every day, but after a month, it became habit. Some days I take extra videos so that I have some back-ups in case I forget one day. No big deal. I cheat a little. Lol. Haven’t seen my monthly videos? They’re on YouTube, and I post them every month in my goals posts.

I gave up going to the gym. At some point during the summer, I got so tired of waiting for the men in the gym to share the weight machines that I gave up and stopped going. There was one day when one asshole was using two machines at once, and he got mad at me when I sat at one of the machines. Of course, all of these guys are huge and intimidating, and I just didn’t want to go through the trouble of giving them a piece of my mind. I plan to do more weight lifting at home in 2018.

I stopped dyeing my hair. Yep. I decided to go gray and stop dyeing my hair. I may do some funky colors again like I did in 2012 and 2013, but otherwise I just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of it anymore.

I bought a PC. This is a true shocker. I basically bought a PC to be my dictation machine. So far, so good. I don’t hate it, but I only use it when I’m writing a first draft. Otherwise, I use my Mac all the time.

And finally, I switched over to Vellum for all of my ebooks and print books. I’m very happy with the convenience of Vellum and I love the design of all of my books now. This is one of my favorite purchases of 2017!

My Favorite Blog Posts

These are my favorite blog posts of 2017!

Patience Is A Virtue – Good things come to those who wait… Yes, it’s true.

On The Merits Of Author Dreams – An essay in which I talk about dreams, success, and keeping going.

Losing (And Finding) My Way – I changed how I wrote and lost my way. Now I’m back to where I started.

The Results Of My Reader Survey – Here are the results of my reader survey! (Video)

Neon Beast – I finished this knitting project I had been working on for almost three years! Meet Neon Beast!!

Happy 4th Anniversary In Publishing! – It’s my fourth anniversary of being a publishing author! Here are all my positive and negative takeaways from this year and what to expect in Year Five and beyond…

Why I’m No Longer Using A Mailing List – I’m making the transition to using my blog with a notification system to reach my readers and here’s why.

Let’s Make Salmon Hot Pot! – Recipe – This is my favorite thing about winter! Enjoy this hot pot treat and fill up your belly with salmon soup and lots of veggies. You’ll love it.

Japan Tea Shop Inspiration – Tea is an important part of Japan and my books! Let’s look at some inspirational photos for Mei’s tea shop from THE DAYDREAMER DETECTIVE OPENS A TEA SHOP.

And That’s It!

Come back on January 1st to hear about my goals and aspirations for 2018!

A Look Back At 2017 was originally published on S. J. Pajonas

#creativity #goals #life #Look Back #traditions #travel #vacation #writing

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colonialcolone · 7 years

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Lasting Impressions, Part One

My old friend Johnny Hamlin recently posed the challenge to list ten albums that made a lasting impression on you as a teenager. The challenge? Try not to think too hard about the task at hand and list only one album per band/artist. Without further ado, here is part one of my list, covering ten albums I heard between 1993-1996 (eighth through tenth grades).

THIRTEEN: ‘93-’94

Pearl Jam “VS.” (released October 19, 1993). Though I was already familiar with PJ, having received their debut Ten on cassette in 1991, Vs. set afire an unbridled passion for this band that continues to this day. This set the record for the most copies of an album in its first week and was a huge step forward -- both musically and lyrically. I had a promo poster for this release with a negative space photo of Eddie Vedder performing live with the band -- it graced my wall in high school and college until it would hang no more; the borders long since eroded from years of hanging and re-hanging from paint to concrete block to bulletin board.

Dr. Dre “The Chronic” (released December 15, 1992). I only had this record because of my older brothers, one of whom was an avid listener of “gangster rap.” Oh the genres we assigned... This was a smack in the face -- the stories, language, and rhymes were unlike anything I had ever heard. My brothers liked it, so it had to be good! The ferocity of the language throughout this record is more than a little influential (for better or worse) on the more colorful “adult” language in my repertoire to this day. That is a direct result of listening to this album on headphones over and over. Besides, I cannot imagine my mom’s reaction had I listened to this over the speakers!

Helmet “Meantime” (released June 23, 1992). I didn’t hear this record until 8th grade and looking back, it was quite a kick in the teeth. I guess you could classify these New York stalwarts as “alternative metal” but that does not seem to do this masterpiece any justice. It is noisy, chunky, “heavy” music with a backbone that sounded nothing like the hair metal that dominated the radio airwaves in the early 90′s. The riffage on ‘In the Meantime’ is crucial. Page Hamilton (the only original member still involved with current-day Helmet) sounded so angry! There was some serious Black Sabbath worship when Page yelled “ironhead!” near the end of that second song. Though I didn’t know it at the time, this could have been my gateway to hardcore music, though Sick of it All and -- much later -- Refused opened my ears to many more awesome bands...

Sepultura “Chaos A.D.” (released October 19, 1993). I purchased this record solely on the strength of its cover. “What the hell is going on in that drawing?” I thought, as I strolled the small aisles of the only record store I knew at the time -- Karma. “I bet this is something I should not be listening to...” ...so I bought it. Karma Records was about a 20 minute bike ride down Union Street to Westfield Boulevard, then through Cool Creek Park to the Village Park Shopping Center. I made the ride at least once every two weeks to buy new music, which explains where all of the money went that I made from delivering newspapers. These guys were from Brazil! They had long hair, but didn’t play butt metal! The photos and the artwork inside were insidious and controversial (for an 8th grader). Look, the heaviest record I’d heard to this point was probably Metallica’s Ride the Lightning or And Justice For All, so to hear this Brazilian thrash metal was a whole new experience. These guys became a staple on a radio show I ran for two years later on in high school.

Soundgarden “Superunknown” (released March 8, 1994). I am confident my early love for all things Seattle and grunge had everything to do with Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and this band. Badmotorfinger (1992) was not exactly accessible to a middle-schooler, but this album, released about five months before I started high school, was all the rage thanks to the strength of lead single “Black Hole Sun,” whose video graced MTV’s 120 Minutes (thank you Lewis Largent, and later, Matt Pinfield) and Alternative Nation, later exploded into the daytime rotation. The tracks that resonate with me are still ‘My Wave’ and ‘Head Down.’ This is mid-90′s grunge at its finest.

FOURTEEN: ‘94-’95

Slayer “Divine Intervention” (released September 27, 1994). I admit I am not as crucial as many of my metal-head friends who cut their teeth on Reign in Blood, South of Heaven or Seasons in the Abyss, but Divine Intervention was my introduction to thrash metal kings SLAYER. Look at that cover! The giant PARENTAL ADVISORY EXPLICIT CONTENT sticker probably stood out more so than did the weird skull and skeleton artwork. Rock Video Monthly featured the music video for the song ‘Dittohead’ and I bought the record shortly after burning up the rewind button on my VCR to watch the video over and over. This is not the best Slayer release, but it made the biggest impression at the time on a kid starting high school. I have yet to see Slayer perform live, still believing that even in my mid-30s I would die at one of their shows, this after hearing countless stories -- no doubt highly exaggerated -- about the brutality of the live crowds. If the crowds were anything like the video mentioned above, I should probably expect a lot of circle pits, chairs and hammers being thrown through panes of glass, and fists flying everywhere! Rest in Power, Jeff Hanneman.

Nine Inch Nails “The Downward Spiral” (released March 8, 1994). “Head Like a Hole” from the first NIN full length release had been burning up alternative radio airwaves for nearly five years, and even though I already had that record, The Downward Spiral stuck in my mind as more influential. This was definitely another “headphones only” release, especially after hearing Trent Reznor scream “God is dead...and no one cares!” on the song ‘Heresy.’ Yeah, this was not one to play around the parents. The video of their live performance of ‘Closer’ at Woodstock ‘94 is, to me, still the stuff of nightmares -- Reznor coated in mud, synthesizers being played to the point of destruction -- but for me the songs that packed the most punch were ‘March of the Pigs’ and ‘The Becoming.’ The whole album shifts and morphs from aggressive to haunting to beautiful, yet is buried under the foreboding weight of Reznor’s subconscious; it still holds up over twenty years later.

Sick Of It All “Scratch The Surface” (released 1994). For a city kid transplanted to the suburbs north of Indianapolis, getting access to underground music in the pre-”Internet in every home” era was a near impossible task. You had to hope for an older friend with a car or someone who knew of a cool record store or a show in a basement or garage where one could be exposed to new sounds, people, and experiences. It could have been worse -- I could have been born or raised in nowhere Kansas or upper North Dakota! Enter Rock Video Monthly. I have them to thank for a welcome introduction to many of the bands who eventually led to my introduction to punk and hardcore music. Sick of it All were -- at the time -- brutal, uncompromising, New York City hardcore. This release, while admittedly not their best, struck a chord with me. I finally got to see them in late 1999 when they headlined a show at the Emerson Theater in Indianapolis. Their set was incredible, it was my first time in a TRUE circle pit, and to date it remains one of my fondest live show memories.

FIFTEEN: ‘95-’96

Quicksand “Manic Compression” (released February 28, 1995). I did not pick this up until over a year after its release, well after the first single ‘Thorn in My Side’ received heavy airplay. I have no idea what the radio station plays now, but WRZX 103.3FM (X103) was THE alternative station for Indianapolis and surrounding areas. At least until they started playing Creed. Quicksand, a group of ex-hardcore stalwarts (Gorilla Biscuits, Bold, Beyond, Youth of Today) branched out from their previous bands with short, clipped songs held together by chunky bass and nearly torn apart by the abrupt, sharp guitar work. ‘Backward’ and ‘Delusional’ are personal favorites here. Quicksand were way ahead of their time on this dark, almost depressing, release and it is a shame they were not properly recognized during their heyday.

Deftones “Adrenaline” (released October 3, 1995). Don’t let me fool you; I listened to a lot of bad music in high school, too (read: nu-metal). Deftones were lumped into that genre -- which now seems unfair given their longevity and how their sound has evolved -- at the same time Korn was getting bigger. Adrenaline was raw and had little focus, even if you were patient to listen past the last track for the “hidden” song. I had this on CD and a dubbed cassette copy, which later became stuck in my car’s tape player. For three months (right before I upgraded to a CD changer) this played seemingly every time I got in the car. I can still remember Scott Bender exclaiming (jokingly) “Dude, can we listen to something OTHER than Deftones?!?!” I have stuck with this band for over twenty years. I can remember being genuinely disappointed I had to bail on a trip to Cleveland to see them at Warped Tour ‘98. Looking back, that was probably a good decision!

/End part one.

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midnightmilkbar · 7 years

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The Unthinkable Has Happened

In 2016, I got engaged, I completed my Master’s degree, and I started running. Out of these three, the third is the only one that gets a response of utter incredulity and shock. This is not because people aren’t excited about my engagement, or proud of my academic achievements. It is because the third thing is bizarre.

It is because I am the most unlikely runner, in the world. Ever.

In fact, people aren’t just shocked and incredulous: they are disbelieving. Frequently, they just burst out laughing. This morning, Callum was on the phone to a family member and when he was asked “How’s Jem,” he answered “She’s good, she has turned into a fanatic runner” and I could actually hear the person on the other end of the phone laughing from the other side of the room.

When I told my best friend in the UK over Skype that I had started running, she stopped speaking for so long that I thought the screen had frozen. She kindly apologised for being so surprised, but she pointed out that her overarching memories of any physical exertion on my part while we were at university are limited to my bending over double, completely out of breath, after climbing the (small) staircase to our Friday morning classes. I actually wrote a blog a while ago about my hilarious, failed attempts at running- (http://jemimamiddleton.tumblr.com/post/95464943339/writer) and it was absolutely accurate.

Callum’s reaction has shifted from utter bewilderment, to faint amusement, to acceptance- and, dare I say it- pride. After a month of this new ‘hobby’ had passed, and I was still doing it (usually I give up after about 10 days), I think he started to think it might actually be a thing. He has never actually seen me run- he has zero interest in joining me, and I’m fine with that (the fewer witnesses I have, the better), but he supports me in many other, more important ways.

So how did this happen, and why does it matter? Well it doesn’t, really, except that I can honestly say, if I can enjoy running, ANYONE CAN. Seriously, anyone. I have been saying “I can’t run” for 15 years, probably since the last time I was forced to run the 1500m at school, and I have proved that this is a myth.

Running isn’t fun. If anyone tells you that it is, they’re lying. It is especially unfun when you start. It’s awkward, it’s painful, it’s a mini kind of hell. During my first run, I was suddenly very acutely aware of all of my limbs, and how little control I had over them. I felt like my legs were made of lead, my feet two blocks of wood on the end, and my flailing arms were useless, giant sausages. I also didn’t get very far. By the end of my road, I thought I might throw up, I was seeing little stars that wouldn’t disappear despite frantic blinking, and my lungs were surely exploding out of my chest. I hobbled home.

The next time I ran, I was going slightly better- the nightmarish lead legs weren’t so noticeable, my arms seemed to be doing what they were supposed to, and I didn’t see stars for at least 10 minutes. However, when I turned around and ran back along the pier, the sun was behind me, and I was forced to look down at my shadow. Dear god, what WAS I DOING. I tried to ignore the grey, uncoordinated image of my body that was spread out on the concrete in front of me, but I was transfixed. Even my hair shadow looked awful. Once again that painful awareness of my own awkward, flailing body parts came back, and I longed for it to be over.

I didn’t run again for a while.

Then I got engaged. I also got a bit fat. Now don’t get me wrong- I’m not a lunatic, I have a healthy respect for my body and how it looks. But there was no doubt about it, I was getting squidgy, my regular clothes weren’t fitting nicely, and suddenly I was faced with trying on wedding dresses. After one particularly sweaty ordeal in a rather snooty bridal shop in London, with the poor (stick-thin) assistant trying to squeeze me unceremoniously into one of their bespoke gowns, and a truly horrid moment when I heard a distinct tear as she squashed my bottom into it, I realised I wasn’t happy and I needed to sort it out. There’s nothing like wedding dress incentive to get you off the sofa and outside.

I couldn’t afford to join a gym. I couldn’t even afford the monthly yoga membership that I had tried before, and I was getting quite tired of trying and failing to find that inner yogi peace whilst surrounded by silky, bronzed Capetonians with their slinky legs and rock-hard abs. I needed something with minimal logistical effort, that I could do fairly discreetly, that was ideally free.

Then someone suggested I try doing a Park Run. These are organised all over the world, every Saturday morning, and they are all 5km. There happens to be one that operates about 4 minutes away from my house. Very apprehensively, I signed up (it’s completely free) and the following Saturday I donned my only ‘exercise’ clothes (yoga leggings and a vest) and took Simbira with me for moral support. There were about 700 people there, some with their dogs, some pushing prams, running with their kids, their spouses, their grandchildren- you name it. Everyone was friendly, everyone was cheerful. I tried not to feel nervous- I could just walk it if i wanted, I reminded myself.

We set off, the first kilometre a hectic scramble of people jostling each other and trying to stay upright. I could only barely jog at this stage, and a woman actually fell behind me very early on. She was quickly scooped up, and I concentrated very hard on where I placed my feet, so as not to do the same thing.

I didn’t die. I didn’t even feel like I might be sick, or pass out. I did have to walk a few times, and I took Simbira to have a paddle in the river when she got too hot (and when I couldn’t breathe). But I kept going- the magical thing is, I am naturally competitive, despite being naturally un-sporty, so having 700 people running around me ensured that I finished that run, in a respectable time. I couldn’t quite believe it. I was exhausted, but definitely pleased with myself.

That was 2 months ago. I’m now running almost every day, and just signed up for my first Trail Series. The challenge, after I realised how much I enjoyed the Park Run, was how to keep going by myself. When I’m not motivated by 700 other people, I find it all too easy to walk, or even to call it a day and go home before I have really gotten into my stride.

I tried running whilst listening to music. I found this quite stressful- I kept changing my pace according to what song I was listening to, and I also hated the realisation of how loud and unseemly my breathing was whenever the song stopped. I read an article that suggested listening to audiobooks instead- so i downloaded Audible to my iPhone, and managed to get all the Harry Potter’s for free. Suddenly, listening to Stephen Fry narrate The Prisoner of Azkaban made running easier, somehow. Enjoyable, even. (Not always, but occasionally). I also started (gently) investing in some gear. I already had some very good shoes, thanks to my Dad insisting that I get them fitted properly a year ago. I really laugh now when I think about how I confidently stepped aboard the shop’s treadmill that day when instructed to, and started ‘running’ so that the man could analyse my gait. I was out of breath within 10 seconds, and had to pretend that I was totally fine, whilst other customers walked past the shop window.

There is so much other kit out there. You can go completely mad. I have become quite obsessed, and have to exercise serious restraint whenever I am in the vicinity of a sports shop. There are just so many amazing leggings, shorts, stretchy sports bras and vests that you can wear. My washing line now barely sees anything else- it’s the comfiest clothing ever! I hate wearing normal bras now. I have also found that THE MOST USEFUL THING YOU CAN BUY is, in fact, a moonbag. Or a bum bag. Or a fanny pack. Or WHATEVER it is you call it- I used all these names in the shops whilst trying to find one, and was laughed at a lot. In South Africa it’s a moonbag, and my god it’s the best thing I own. Fashionable? Er, no. Flattering? Absolutely not. But you can fit your keys, phone and even some sweets in there, which is all you need.

I have had some disasters, and I’m sure I will have more. One afternoon I tripped and fell over a tree root (the perils of trail running) and landed flat on my face, with a very sore ankle. I was somewhat dazed, and still had The Chamber of Secrets blaring into my ears, so I wasn’t really sure what was going on- but Simbira was there, licking my face, and I was not badly hurt- just rather embarrassed.

I learnt very early on that I had to be realistic about how much I could run. I started to get excruciating pain in my calves both during and after a run, and when I asked more experienced running friends why this was happening, they all responded in horror that I was mad to be attempting to run every day. Rest days are non-negotiable, it turns out. Especially if you’re an idiot novice, which I definitely am.

I have also learnt the very crucial lesson of going to the loo before you run. It’s MOST unpleasant if you forget. That goes for your dog companion too- running with a full poo bag that you might accidentally whack into another unsuspecting runner is not advised.

I fear there may be more updates about my running exploits. I apologise for this in advance. But, I reiterate- if you think you can’t do it, that’s rubbish. You just have to want to do it enough. The thought of a wedding dress did it for me, but the benefits have been so much greater than I imagined. A friend recently confessed that, for her, running is like Prozac. That ‘runner’s high’ thing might sound ludicrous, and cheesy, but I have to admit there’s a sliver of truth in it. I don’t think I have experienced it fully yet- but I can’t deny that something makes me get up and go and run again. And again.

#running #trailrunning #capetown #novice #uncoordinated #getoutside

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