Running through my head

My musical taste has been described by others as "sad", and by other people I mostly mean the boy.  His taste tends to be on the harder louder side, while I tend to enjoy softer, melodic and lyrical tunes.  So recently I have been obsessing over a new ditty.  So I thought I would share it with all of you.

We are Young by Fun

After the beginning part, I have to say I really the "we are young" part as it goes down.

It has been a while

Hey there folks.  Well somehow life got in the way of computer time, somehow I can't find it in me to be all that upset about it.  However Night Trees was feeling neglected and I just can't have its sadness on my conscious.  So I welcome myself back to your world...  lucky you.

Well since we last spoke I had the great privilege to go on vacation.  A much needed and highly anticipated vacation.  Off to Panama I went...  boy in tow. 

Cool things I learned about Panama
They speak Spanish, though lots of them know at least some English, which was lucky for me since my Spanish pretty much stops after what Dora taught us, so Ola. 
They have no army, which is cool to know they are peaceful.
They celebrate mardi gras, they shut down the streets and dance and drink and go crazy.
They paint their houses every December, and by paint I mean yellow, orange, pink, or turquoise.  very colourful.
It is freaky hot. 
They have mountains.
All the resorts are on the pacific side, not the Caribbean.
The panama canal is huge, and getting bigger.  They made it where forrest just used to be.
Their bartenders make good drinks :)
They have scented toilet paper, which is strange.
Cashews grow on top of fruit.
While there we went on a boat tour through the canal and saw lots of monkeys. 
While there we went zip lining through the jungle, which was not nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. 
They use American money.

I also learned travel makes me sleepy, and as fun as it is I miss home. 

Enjoy some panama photos.

that's how cashews grow

Beach time

The boy zip lining

At the movies

Last night we went to see The Woman in Black, but since it was bookworm Wednesday I left the review for today.

Mostly I wanted to see the movie because I love Daniel Radcliffe and I love scary movies.

Radcliffe was lovely, and I only momentarily thought of him as Harry Potter, mostly when he was on a train, and a little when there were portraits up the staircase.  However scary..  this movie was not.  It was rather slow, which could be fine for the creep factor, I don't always need blood and guts.  However it didn't build on anything.  One of the first things that happens when he gets to the house, is that he sees the woman in black.  I mean really, once you see people it is hard to believe that he would stay at the house.  He is alarmingly calm in the face of all that is going on.  It was just really hard to believe.  (and I understand that I am saying a ghost story is unbelievable, but it goes beyond the belief in any supernatural phenomenon.)

I wouldn't say don't go.  The lady behind me in the theatre seemed generally scared, though I guess I would suggest not being as jaded and desensitized as I am

Bookworm Wednesday

hey!!  It is bookworm Wednesday, on a Wednesday, at least it is going to be Wednesday for the next hour, so go me.  Anyway this week's review is

The year of the flood by Margaret Atwood.

The plot itself is rather difficult to describe, so for your benefit here is the amazon.com synopsis.

"The times and species have been changing at a rapid rate, and the social compact is wearing as thin as environmental stability. Adam One, the kindly leader of the God's Gardeners--a religion devoted to the melding of science and religion, as well as the preservation of all plant and animal life--has long predicted a natural disaster that will alter Earth as we know it. Now it has occurred, obliterating most human life. Two women have survived: Ren, a young trapeze dancer locked inside the high-end sex club Scales and Tails, and Toby, a God's Gardener barricaded inside a luxurious spa where many of the treatments are edible.
Have others survived? Ren's bioartist friend Amanda? Zeb, her eco-fighter stepfather? Her onetime lover, Jimmy? Or the murderous Painballers, survivors of the mutual-elimination Painball prison? Not to mention the shadowy, corrupt policing force of the ruling powers...
Meanwhile, gene-spliced life forms are proliferating: the lion/lamb blends, the Mo'hair sheep with human hair, the pigs with human brain tissue. As Adam One and his intrepid hemp-clad band make their way through this strange new world, Ren and Toby will have to decide on their next move. They can't stay locked away...
By turns dark, tender, violent, thoughtful, and uneasily hilarious, The Year of the Flood is Atwood at her most brilliant and inventive."

First off when i read this book I did not realize it was part of a series, and though it read like a stand alone, I am sure there was information in the first book that would have been helpful both in filling in details and flushing out characters.  

Second, I did not enjoy this novel all that much.  Though I do enjoy dystopian futures, I felt that this book was written in a manner that made me feel like I wasn't quite "in" on it.  Atwood's characters are compelling, and the storyline was interesting but I never felt immersed in the story.  I just couldn't find it in me to care all that much about what was going on,  and after four hundred pages of my commitment the ending left me going "huh?"  Not much of a payoff.  (of course learning this is a trilogy explains that at least in part).

Atwood is heralded as being a literary master and this novel on many other sites has nothing but glowing reviews.  To me however I found it a little confusing, and more than a little improbable.  The world is ending but all the characters live to run into each other at terrible times.  Atwood's end of world females are reduced to sexual fodder, and though that is nothing new in the end of times writings, it was somewhat surprising coming from this source.  

All in all it is not a recommendation on my part, unless you have a lot of time and perhaps if you had read the other book first.  

Bookworm Wednesday (on a Thursday)

Lately much of my time has been consumed painting, we have decide to repaint the living room.  So I forgot all about bookworm Wednesday, but fear not, a review is coming your way.

Today's review is

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

100 Cupboards is a children's book, and all the descriptions that I have read say it is for 9 to 12 year olds.  It is still a good book. It is simple but interesting.  The book stars Henry York, a young boy that moves to the country to live with an aunt and uncle after his parents go missing.  While sleeping in his new attic bedroom in his new farm house home, Henry discovers a cupboard behind in the wall that leads to another world.  Upon further exploration there appears to be 99 cupboards.  

The story revolves around discovering why there are these cupboards, and how Henry is somehow attached to them.  

The story is interesting in a way that all good adventures on.  It has intrigue and just a little suspense.  The characters are kooky ( though I admit not all that deep )  The only disappointment is the ending.  I really believe this should have been a stand alone endeavour,  However it is the first of a trilogy.  I found the second and third books take off in a completely different and confusing direction.  

I recommend the first book, and leave you to your own discretion as to whether you want to continue with the trilogy.

Dandelion Fire

The Chestnut King

In my head

Having a rather Can-con kind of day.  Today's head is full Walk off the earth.  A cute little band from Burlington who recently made it big on youtube.  Their cover of Gotye's "Somebody that I used to know" has over 40 million views.  That is crazy, First off I love the song, I have always been one of those people who really likes songs for their words.  I mean I like a good tune, but it is second to really good words for me.  I find that the bands who write the kind of lyrics that I like often have very simple stripped down songs, that can be quite haunting.  Second Walk off the Earth did a very cool little video where they were all playing the same guitar, which I find very impressive.

Lucky me I get to see Walk off the Earth in concert this weekend.  Hope you enjoy.

Or enjoy the original.  Song styling is quite similar and Gotye also has a cool little video.

Obsess much?

Sometimes I become obsessed with things.  Sometimes it is a book, like the hunger games, or hairy potter.  Sometimes it is food, like when I had small english muffin pizzas everyday for dinner for a week.  I just like to enjoy a lot of something for awhile.  I love book series because you get a chance to really know the characters, and live with them.  I miss them greatly when the series ends, or worse when I have to wait months for the next volume to come out. 

Lately my obsession has been Dr. Who.  Now I admit I am late to the Dr. Who game, since I believe they are currently on season 6 or 7 (of the reboot) but last year at Christmas we got the box set of season 1, and this year we got the David Tennant years, which is 2,3, and 4 plus all the specials.    So we started watching and now I am obsessed.

For those of you that aren't familiar with Dr. Who.  It is an amazing BBC programme that originally ran from 1963 until 1989.  It then rebooted in 2005.  We follow the adventures of The doctor, who is the last of the time lords.  He travels through time and not unlike the littlest hobo has many adventures and then moves on.  Now as a time lord one can regenerated, which is actually a nifty way of continue a show when one no longer wants to play the lead role, hence its very long run. 

The amazing thing about the show, is its characters their wit humour, and the precision with which they deal with time travel.  I myself am a huge science fiction lover, but I believe the doctor has a great general appeal for those who don't.

I have been watching so much lately that I sometimes talk a little affected.  The British really do have way better slang than us "other" English speakers.

So I suggest watching if you aren't already.

Bookworm Wednesday

Today's selection is

Genesis by Bernard Beckett

Interesting little book I picked up at the library on a whim, I liked the all black cover (yes I often judge books by their cover).  The story takes place far in the future after some sort of post apocalyptic world, one that has been rebuilt though.  We follow the life of a young theologist in her quest for academic achievement.  She is presenting a thesis to a board of academics, this thesis is actually based on the "end" of the world. 

The book is very short, and incredibly interesting.  It has a wonderful ending, which is often hard to come by in science fiction pieces.  The prose is tight and concise, and there isn't a lot of extraneous details or characters. 

A definite recommendation.

Admitting defeat

Well its been awhile since I wrote, and since honesty is the best policy, the reason is simple, I have not been doing the body rock workouts.  I could say I got to busy, I could say they were hard, but the truth is, I just didn't want to do it.  I found the short workouts complicated and slightly ineffective.  Now I am sure the ineffectiveness comes from my inability to do the exercises properly, but part of the reason I quit was because I felt like I was modifying every exercise to something simple enough to do, that then didn't really DO anything. 

I have been going on hikes and skating at the outdoor park (I have even almost learned to stop properly) so I haven't been a total lazy slob. 

Sadly the failure to continue has left me feeling guilty, but also without topics to write about.  Hopefully I will come up with something interesting. 

Hopefully any of you who tried to start out 2012 with some sort of exercise routine are still going strong, and for those of you who haven't well there's lots of room on the couch with me

Bookworm Wednesday (on a Thursday)

So for some reason I forgot that yesterday was Wednesday, however fear not the book review is here.

This week's review is

The Particular sadness of Lemon Cake

by Aimee Bender

The story follows Rose, who at a young age discovers that when she eats foods she can "feel" or "sense" the feelings and emotions of the people who made it.  Of course no one believes her, and as she ages it becomes a skill that is hard to deal with.  When eating her mother's cooking she learns secrets that she would rather not know.  Dealing with this affliction she turns to processed vending machine foods. 

I really liked this book, and it had you wondering about the people in your life and how sometimes you don't really know the people who are closest to you, and how hard it could be to love them if you really did "know" them.  

No grandiosity, just a simple sweet and interesting story.  Definitely a recommended read

Day 7 Fitness

One week in! 

So I have been a good girl and totally done each day's work out, but I can't say I have really made the effort with my food.  However in the name of science today I weighed and measured myself.  Happily I weigh the same as last week, though I had hoped for a miraculous loss in weight, it doesn't surprise me that this number has remained the same.  But my measurements brought much happier news, lost a bunch of inches, mostly in my chest and arms.  Probably all those stupid push ups and burpees.  Gonna have to work on harder on the lower half.

Today's workout was good. felt slightly less sweaty today.  Just did sit ups instead of dips

Looking ahead with more hope that the week two check in shows better results.

Day 6 Fitness

What day 6 you say?  well yesterday got away from me and I didn't get a chance to blog, but fret not I did do yesterday's workout.  Actually yesterday's was a simple one.  75 high knees, 25 sit ups, repeat four times, not that complicated to remember, but definitely got the sweat on.

Today's workout had a lot of burpees, and burpees are unpleasant, in the sense that they make me exhausted.  However I pressed on, and managed an average of three each round. 

I went to Walmart to find a dip station and they don't have one.  Not needed this time around but I thought one would be cool.  I also still don't have a sand bag so I just punched at the air. 

I also took the time to do Sean's workout, which was a lot of skip rope, (I just jumped in the air) 

I feel like I wasn't quite as out of breath as previous workouts, however I have some guilt cause the last couple of days have had a lot of "bad" foods, pizza, pasta, gosh there was even pumpkin pie.  But I will not dwell and weigh myself down with that negative energy, onward and upward people.

Day 4 Fitness

Hello all,

Today was a lazy kind of day, at least to start with, everyone loves a lazy Sunday.  But after trolling the internet watching some episodes of Dr. Who, I decided I should be slightly more productive.  So I cleaned up and then took some of my favourite kids skating at our local outdoor rink. 

When I came home I ate some homemade onion rings (Len's request) they were good, and surprisingly not too heavy, but probably not the best choice.

Especially before doing this

I guess a lot of people had been complaining about how difficult the exercise combos were because today's workout was much simpler, well much simpler to follow anyway.  Four different exercises repeated four times.  Now again I don't own a dip station, so I substituted pushups and situps for the second and fourth exercises.  All the jumping leaves you very sweaty and out of breath. 

Anyway back to the work week, hope you spend part of today sweating

Cheers

In my head

Well a friend this morning challenged people to find their favourite David Bowie song, which I found difficult, for many reasons.  One the dude has like forty albums so there is a lot of pick from but also there are a lot of his songs that I was unaware were his.  Plus I am hardly what one would call a music aficionado.  However I decided on

The man that sold the world

Which you may recognize from its Nirvana cover.

However this is not what is running through my head at the moment.  No, when I was searching on youtube for the Bowie video I found a collaboration he did with the Arcade Fire of their song "Funeral-Wake up"  and I love that song and have been humming it ever since.  I dance all over my house to it, especially to the part at the end, and I am a much better dancer than singer.  Still I pass it on to you.

Day 3 Fitness

Hello all. 

This morning I woke up with a very sore bottom.  I am not sure if this is the workouts or the hike, but either way it was hard to get out of bed.  Moving isn't so bad, just the getting up or getting down.

Today's workout had two parts.  The first part was a regular workout, again with rather complicated routines, and several pieces of equipment that I don't have.  I mean really, who owns a dip station (although they look kind of fun)

Part 1

First part left me feeling very uncoordinated, again.  but sweaty, so I guess I am doing something.  I got a little confused near the end and ended up doing two sets of sit up variations.  My abs could probably do with a few more sit ups so I wasn't too sad.  I also found a new sore muscle, under my arms along the side of my ribs as I tried to do some pushups

Part 2, we get a fella to look at. 

Fairly good to look at.  Now I don't have a sand bag so I used a 5 pound weight, this obviously is a lot easier since the challenge only took me six minutes, and the totally ripped guy took almost 15.  But I question, who owns their own sandbag.  Maybe I will google how to make my own.

Anyway, after the lovely workout I took Ozzie out and we hiked to the falls again.  On the way back I took a little spill down an icy slope.  I didn't hurt myself but I did end up a little muddy. 

I made the pumpkin mac and cheese for dinner tonight from the vegan challenge, but I used regular mustard instead of the dijon, It was much improved. 

All in all a good day.  Hope your January is healthy!

Day 2 Fitness

Today started off unpleasantly, a phone call woke me up to inform me that I was late for work.  Not sure what went down but I did not hear the alarm go off, or Len's alarm, or Len leaving, apparently I was very very tired.  Anyway I scrambled together and made it to work in a few minutes (luckily I live close)

I stayed late to be nice and then when I got home I tackled Day 2's workout. 

Today's work out was 12 minutes, and way more complicated than yesterdays fitness test.  There were combos and jumping and weird movements.  I was definitely out of breath, but I also felt a little confused and uncoordinated.  I feel like the routine was meant for much more advanced players.  I also don't have the sandbag but I am pretty sure I am not ready for that level anyway.

After the workout, which left me sweaty and a little sore, I went for a hike with my friend Mike and Ozzie.  It was a good hour and there were some hills so I felt all in all it was a good day on the exercise front. 

I also tried out my brand new Christmas Ninja blender and made a delicious and very smooth shake, Sushi for dinner and all in all a good day on the diet front. 

Happy Friday

Our next 30 day challenge

So after the previous 30 day Vegan challenge I felt a little lost as to how to precede with the blogging.  December was a good month for dallying around, but now that we have entered January it is time to get down to business.  So I researched some other 30 day challenges, some were silly, like "be nice to a stranger every day for 30 days" blah! some were interesting "30 day photo challenge" and some seemed impossible "travel somewhere you haven't been for 30 days" who has the time for that.   So while perusing pinterest I came across this 30 day fitness challenge. 

A fitness challenge seemed like a great fit, it is January and that is the time for getting into shape, and pretending to be serious about being fit.  I kid I kid, I would like nothing better than to be a healthy svelte chickarino. 

So the website I found is called bodyrock.tv  The girls on this site are built and I mean seriously ripped.  However the videos I have watched so far they have been really encouraging and friendly.  There are also some diet tips (though most are on the meaty side). 

So Day 1 was a simple fitness test.  It was only 7 minutes long, and you just had to write down how many of each exercise you could do in 50 seconds. 

See what I mean, look at that butt

So even though the test was only 7 minutes it definitely took my breath away.  But I guess this is just a starting point and at the end of the month I will compare results with the hopes that it gets a lot better.

In the name of science I again weighed myself (though I won't share the number, I am glad to say I only gained 1.5 pounds over the holidays... so pretty much what I lost during the vegan challenge).  But I will share my somewhat sad results.  

Squat Jump 33

Push up 15 (the sad girly kind)

burpee 13 (these are yucky)

high knees 85

switch lunges 26

tough jumps 20 (I think she called them something else, I couldn't catch it with her accent)

sit ups 26 

So give it a go and maybe come February we will all look like the body rock girls :)

Bookworm Wednesday

So now that Christmas and New Year's have ended and all my houseguests have gone home I had some time to read.  Therefore this week's review will actually be on Wednesday.

So this week I read

God, if you're not up there,  I'm F*cked  

by Darrell Hammond

(kudos for a nice cover photo)

So things were a little slow at work and I picked this book up that the secretary had read and pretty much read the whole thing in a day.  It is another foray into non-fiction which isn't usually my thing.  The story is an autobiographical look at Darrell Hammond's life.

Hammond was a Saturday night live cast, and I have to say one that I was never really that fond of.  Despite being known as a "funny man" Hammond had a terrible childhood and on-going troubles with both drugs and alcohol.  His mother was terribly abusive and certainly not loving.  It was the birth of his own daughter that brought about this realization.  This lack of love really manifested itself in his self-loathing and self-abuse.  Had it not been for his funny man career it would seem likely that he would be dead.

It is hard to review such an emotional book.  I appreciate his honesty and his struggle is heartbreaking, but the book itself seems a little cold.  It also lacks certain details, He had a sister, though she is barely mentioned, his wife and daughter aren't mentioned often either although it would seem obvious that they were there for all of this.  Now perhaps he felt they had their own stories to tell and it wasn't his place to speculate as to how they felt.  Perhaps I am just too curious or nosey for my own good.  

Overall the book was a very quick read and I learned some interesting things about SNL, but I would have liked more details.  It felt like something he wrote to help himself through therapy, which is amazing but not at all sensational.  I recommend the book, and I hope its writer find inner peace.

New Year

Well here we are.. its 2012, a new year.  This time of year, we believe that making resolutions and promises seems like a great idea.  Though most resolutions lose their steam part way through January, the act itself I believe says a lot about a person.  For example, lose weight...  does this mean getting healthy? or just looking cuter in a tight pair of jeans?  Does it mean you somehow hate yourself the way you are?  or the pressure to be "ideal" is somehow important to you?  I don't judge cause lord knows I make a resolution to lose weight not just every new year's but every month.  I just wonder why?

I think a resolution says a lot about a person, how they see themselves, whats important to them.  So I hope my resolutions make me a better person, even if they get lost sometime before February.

This year my resolutions are

To be healthy, to eat well not to lose weight but to feel strong and free. 
To be active, to exercise my body, and treat it with respect and love
To be involved, to find ways out of the rut of work, eat, sleep.
To be kind, to others, to animals, to friends, families and strangers
To be thoughtful, to make effort to care for others
To be brave, to try new things, and have adventures both big and small
To be creative, to write, and paint and dance no matter how terrible I may be at all of these things
To be loving, to show my feelings to those I have feelings for
To be curious, to read, to learn, to explore
To be selfless, to care for others and find ways to make the world better
To be selfish, to take the time for myself I need

I am sure there are a million more things I want to accomplish in the coming year,  I want to organize my house, I want to travel, I want to spend time with friends, I want to laugh until I cry, I want to take long walks with my dog, I want to spend an entire day in pajamas watching terrible tv, I want to find new books,  new music and watch interesting movies, I want to cook new foods and old favourites.  I want to be happy with what I have and I want to really strive for the things I want.  I wish all of you happiness, and a year filled with promise and delight.

Happy 2012.