Tuesday stuff

[annathepiper]

+0: It took a massive, and I mean MASSIVE, effort of willpower to haul myself onto the treadmill when I got home from work last night. But I did it, and once I was actually engaged in exercise, I was glad I pulled it off. I have been holding steady at 168 the last couple of days, but because I broke down and had cookies out of the vending machine yesterday afternoon, I figured it was extra special important to get on the treadmill.

I really need to figure out how to get the display working again, though. It'd be nice to measure the distance the treadmill thinks I cover and the calories burned, again. But it'll probably require taking the casing off the base and futzing with things and possibly a brush with the vacuum cleaner all over it. Just switching batteries underneath the console doesn't seem to help.

Also, after watching mizkit and rain_girl_ak posting their miles to Rivendell and Lothlorien, I'm feeling tempted to tally my miles too. But I need to be able to tally them!

I'm starting to feel a little lighter, though, and more compact. It's a good feeling. I'll just have to be careful with any snacks today; in theory, by my Plan, I am not required to treadmill tonight. But I'm sort of figuring, I have a snack, I damn well earn it by getting on the treadmill. It's all about calories in being less than calories out.

I'll be light on the eating today anyway (or at least I will try to be, because I'm having this mental argument with myself that goes something like 'SNACK!' 'NO SNACK FOR YOU!' 'SNACK NOW!' 'NO, GODDAMMIT!'), because...



+/-1: Had a dental appointment this morning. Since money is tight for solarbird and me right now, and because we currently have no dental coverage, I should probably have postponed the appointment... but I waited too long to call in and postpone it, so I went in anyway. Besides, I figure semi-annual teeth maintenance is a good thing. And there were no real surprises this time around, either; the dentist and the hygienist both thought things looked good. They took new x-rays. And the hygienist wanted to take a laser to a weird little bit of tissue she found between a couple of my teeth. She said it'd grow back all nice and healthy-like and that she wouldn't charge me for it, so I let her go ahead and do it. She had to numb up that side of my mouth, though, and I am to rinse with warm salt water tonight. It was weird feeling the impact of the laser against my gum, though it didn't quite hurt. The hygienist wound up giving me a couple of drops of local right on the area, though, on top of the numbing gel she'd applied before.

I suspect today will wind up being a one-soda day thanks to my mouth being all post-dentist-visit sensitive and stuff. Also, it was quite satisfying to have the hygienist ask me if I'd lost weight since the last time she saw me. ^_^ However, because I had that dental appointment, I had to...



+/-2: I still don't like driving very much. But since Dara and I are in Kenmore now, our dentist is in Capitol Hill, and my workplace is in Redmond, bussing wasn't really an option today. I would likely have added a couple of hours to my total transit time, not to mention having had to get up earlier. Bleah.

But at least on the good side, I didn't have to hunt very long for parking once I got to building 50, and the drive along 520 was quite swift since I was on it after rush hour. We'll have to see whether or not I wind up having any real reason to stay late tonight; Joel, the blue-badge full-time actual employee of Microsoft I work with, had started my daily server setups for me, so my tests will still get done in a timely fashion. It'd suck to lose a few hours off this week's paycheck, but we'll see whether I can keep myself occupied today long enough to make a bit of that time back.

Also, driving home in rush hour also sucks, and if I delay a little bit I can take the Secret Ninja Route through Kirkland home and avoid 520 and 405 entirely.



+3: Okay, that's two episodes in a row that weren't half-bad. I guess Dara and I have something new to watch now; I am, at least, interested enough in this show now that I'll keep checking in to see what's going on.

This episode was certainly OH THE ANGST OF IT ALL, especially in the scene where Starbuck is confessing her Deep Dark Secret to Adama, and while his expression doesn't overtly change, it does this nice subtle morph from fatherly concern straight into Stern Face of Doom. NICELY done. And I came out of this episode with a bolstered impression that the culture being depicted in this version of the story is just a step over from ours, really--the military funeral scenes, both in current time and in flashback, rather drove that home for me. In fact, they seemed 'like us' enough that I was actually a little jarred to hear the services referring to the Lords of Kobol. And I still jolt a little to hear the characters called by familiar, modern-sounding first names, too. I really like that the old names from the original series have turned either into surnames (e.g., Adama) or callsigns (e.g., Apollo, Starbuck, Boomer, etc.)--it's a great way to hearken back to that version of the story while making this version stand out some. And at the same time, it's still jarring because it's not what I'm used to thinking of 'Battlestar Galactica'. :)

I also noticed in the card game scene that the guy playing Baltar reminds me a LOT of the guy who played Wesley in Buffy and Angel.

Lastly, having heard that Richard Hatch has appeared in an episode of this series, mamishka expressed the same hope that framlingem has--that perhaps Dirk Benedict might make an appearance. That'd be FUNNY. Just to see what he had on his plate these days, I checked him out on imdb.com. He's been working, it seems, though nothing incredibly stellar or anything in fact that people would actually know about. Mimi reported much to her amusement that she does in fact still own a copy of a movie of his called Ruckus, which has Suck written all over it according to its imdb.com entry. ;)

Comments

[llachglin.livejournal.com]

I thought it was the weakest episode to date, but still good despite that. I suppose that's a good sign if even the bad episodes are engaging.

It's important to do some character development, but this episode did depart from the overall story arc a bit earlier than I would have liked. Still, I really liked the interactions in the scenes between Starbuck, Adama, and Apollo. They added some depth without being too melodramatic.

Some of the editing of flashbacks was more confusing than necessary, I think.

I also think that the bits on the Cylon-occupied planet don't really amount to much, and I'm not sure where they're going with that subplot.

[annathepiper]

I agree about the character interactions--I quite liked Apollo's "oh shit, what have I done?" look when he assumes that his father knows what he knows about Zach and Starbuck, and then finds out SURPRISE! HE DOESN'T! And then how he babbles out how his dad'll just have to ask Kara what she did. Apollo got himself a few more points of respect there by doing that; I'm glad he didn't divulge something it wasn't really his place to tell.

And yeah, those flashbacks were kind of oddly edited. It took me just a little bit to follow along as to what was a flashback and what wasn't, till I clued in that the flashbacks were all sort of washed out color-wise.

As for what's going on on Caprica... now, correct me if I'm wrong, but we've got a Boomer-Cylon-sleeper-agent on Caprica and we've got one on the Galactica, right? We've seen her in both places. The main direction I see this going will be ultimately leading up to who gets to find out Boomer's a sleeper agent first.

[kieri.livejournal.com]

I've seen the whole first season of the new BG, too, and I have to agree on the whole Apollo-Adama-Starbuck relationship set being the most interesting to me. Their actors just _work_ it, and Olmos is really really really wonderful. He brings everyone who's in a scene up with him a notch.

People who watched the first three and then saw 'Acts' were pretty glad at Starbuck's depth in this epi -- she'd been quite the go-to girl for the first few episodes. Need an ace pilot? Starbuck! Need someone to be temporary CAG and lighten up the troops? Starbuck! Need a sniper? Starbuck!

But they bust her up a bit, and I think you'll be pleased with the continuity that goes on in the story. There's a really strong arc, both for the individual characters and for the story. The 'before the themesong' teaser on episode 1x12 will literally knock your socks off, it's so character arcy good. Plus it's set to really nice cello music.

(Do you guys close your eyes for the drummy bit in the opening credits? I always do -- I hate for even one frame of picture to be spoiled for me. Such a loser, I.) :)

[annathepiper]

The credits have yet to make an impression on me; I'm still feeling my way around the show. I'll let you know if it starts to gel in my head. However, cello is certainly a good way to get my attention!

But please, minimize the "what's coming up" hints. ;) I'd prefer to be completely surprised! And besides, speculating about what's to come is half the fun of yakking about a show in the first place, for me. That said--any thoughts on any episode I get to see are welcome. :)

[annathepiper]

Glad to hear it, but please hon, minimize the hints about what's to come. I'd really prefer to be surprised! And besides, speculating about where they might be going with a given plot point is half the fun about me yakking with others on my LJ in the first place, for me. :)

Any reactions/thoughts you have to any episode I've already seen, though, are quite welcome!

[smeehrrr.livejournal.com]

DARTH VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER

[annathepiper]

Curse you, Phil! LA LA LA LA LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LA LA LA LA

[annathepiper]

*grin* Not to worry... just want to be totally surprised about what's coming. And like I said--any commentary on episodes I HAVE seen is welcome. :) (Even though to date that's only episodes 3 and 4.)

[kieri.livejournal.com]

Oh! BTW, Sci-Fi is re-running the first few episodes of BG on Tuesday February 8th if you want to catch them. :) '33' and 'Water' (1x01 and 1x02 respectively) are both quite good.

:)

[annathepiper]

Ah! Thanks for the pointer. :) Dara was already working on arrangements for us to see them, but it'll be nice to have this as a backup plan!

as far as snacks go....

[kitchengrrl.livejournal.com]

My policy is to eat when I'm hungry and not eat when I'm not. This sometimes requires figuring as to whether I'm just bored or obsessing or dehydrated, or whether I'm actually hungry.
It helps to drink some water first, not just because that's good for you, but because it eliminates one possibility. If I'm still hungry a few minutes later, then I start loking at my snack options. This is when it's good to have snacks on hand that will be good for you.
Try making up your own trail mix with a variety of nuts and fruit. You could even toss in some chocolate chips to get your fix without having to resort to nutrionally void cookies to do it. Veggies, meat and cheese are also good snakcing options if you're wanting something salty or savory and not sweet.
Lastly, many wonderful things can be accomplished through cottage cheese. Greg made up a really delicious combination a few years ago that I still love. Put about 1/2 c of low-fat large curd cottage cheese in a bowl. Top with pineapple chunks, dried cranberries and unsalted sunflower seeds, adding a little pineapple juice if you want. MMMMMMMmmmmmMMMMM!!! :D It is so tasty, and it transports well, even if it's not as pretty after it's been sitting for a few hours.
Many wonderful things can also be accomplished through cottage cheese and protein powder. I have been particularly impressed with the products from Biotest (Grow!) and Netrition (Micellar Matrix). Good flavor, good protein sources, and the Grow! has about the same vitamin mix as a multivitamin, IIRC. I am an absolute sucker for milkshakes, and blending up water, cottage cheese, protein powder and a little ice or frozen fruit is so close to the real thing it's unbelievable! The companies usually sell just chocolate and vanilla, but you can make your own amazing flavors by adding a little sugar free instant pudding, spices or flavored extracts to the vanilla. In the past week, I've made banana lassi, hazlenut latte, chocolate mint, and I'm drinking a mocha right now. :D
And congratulations on beating your monthly goal! I have not seen much progress myself lately, but my erratic exercise pattern and frequent slides off the nutrition wagon are clearly to blame.

Re: as far as snacks go....

[annathepiper]

I've been trying to uphold that same "eat only when I'm hungry" policy, yeah. It's challenging, since I have learned that oftentimes when I want food, it's an intellectual craving rather than an actual physical one. And I've been drinking more water at the same time.

Bringing complicated mixes and stuff to work isn't much of a good option for me, just because I'm trying to minimize the amount of stuff I have to carry with me... but a little closable container of trail mix, that might be a thought. :) Thanks for the tips!