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Friday Fun! (Netflix)
Hello my lovely readers! Sorry for the slow week on the blog. Normally if I’m caught up in a few longer books at a time, I’d grace your presence with movie reviews, but *shocker* I haven’t really been watching anything lately. In fact, I’m watching tv and movies so infrequently that I’m having this mental debate about whether or not to suspend my Netflix subscription. There once was a time when I only very rarely watched a movie, and generally I would do so in the theater or borrow a dvd from a friend. I think I’m shifting back to that persona. There’s just so much else to do! Even playing a videogame is preferable, because, let’s be honest, with my xbox I can either play an active kinect game or play on live with friends.
I’ve become so much more active now that I’m getting back to who I really am that honestly by the time I get home, I would rather spend a couple of hours making myself an amazing dinner or make something quick then snuggle up in bed with a book and my cat. I know that might sound pathetic, but I don’t even get home until late most nights due to plans with friends or going to the gym or heck, just wanting to be outside. I like it that I get home and am exhausted. I like feeling at the end of the day like I’ve done something with myself. I like that it doesn’t take me hours and hours to fall asleep.
So what’s the point of having Netflix? I like watching instantly, but honestly, most of the time I watch things on hulu or mtv. I’ve had the same disc from Netflix since the beginning of February. The more I think about it, the more it seems like an unnecessary expense. Yet whenever I go to suspend it I think *wait*, but what if there’s a movie or a documentary or a tv show I really want to see and Netflix is my only choice? What then?!
I think I’m at a stand-still of indecision for the moment. :-P
Friday Fun! (Spring!)
Hello my lovely readers! Spring has finally started to show up in New England! Spring is always a conflicted time for me. I love the warm weather and appearance of new life, don’t get me wrong. I also, however, am seriously allergic to spring. Even with meds, I still have to limit my time outside. So even while I want to go out and run along the Charles River path and be completely ridiculous, I can’t really. Well, unless I want to spend the entire next day in bed wheezing for air. So my days in the spring pretty much consist of, “Yay! It’s 60 out! I could go for a nice long walk……wait. No. No I can’t.” So spring is a bit of a Catch-22 for me.
On the plus side, now I get to plan my container garden! Last year was my first year, and I learned a lot. “Learned a lot” means that I only successfully grew one plant. However! Here’s hoping that this year I will be able to apply what I learned and get at least two successful plants. Maybe even four. Mhm. I’m thinking of trying a pepper, a tomato, a zucchini, and some sort of bean. I want to see climbing things in my kitchen! So pretty! Hopefully the cat will leave the plants alone. She’s periodically good and periodically bad. Just like a person. ;-)
Other than that, life continues on as usual. I have some of the most awesome friends in the world who I see as much as possible. I’m getting in my gym time and ever improving the quality of what I eat. I feel healthier every day and every week is a new adventure. Of course, I’m also consistently reading. My first passion in life. Happy weekends all!
Friday Fun! (Post Grad School)
Hello my lovely readers! I hope your weeks have been lovely with lots of time for reading crammed in. My week has been decidedly uneventful, which I am totally ok with after the insane eventfulness of the last 6 months or so. I’m settled into a post-grad school routine of work, friends, gym, cooking, professional job hunting, etc… It’s great to actually have the time to see my friends more often now than when I was in school. We’re managing to find fun ways to occupy our time in spite of the bitter cold, whether that’s Asian fusion food or hockey games. (Go BC kick UNH’s ASS). In fact, I’m so busy doing fun things that by the time I get home at night, I generally grab a quick snack or dinner then climb into bed to read and fall asleep doing so. I woke up with my glasses still on this morning. Luckily I was reading on my ipod so it turned itself off at some point in the night so no electricity was wasted. This does mean that I’m watching far fewer movies, except for when I have friends over to get drunk and watch trashy old horror movies together. ;-) Of course there are the normal post-grad school money worries and the stress of trying to fit everything in to your work week, not to mention actually making the time to wash your laundry so you have clean clothes to wear, but overall, life is good. *looks around* *knocks on wood*
Oh! I also got an xbox 360 and played a Kinect game for the first time and dudes. It is so fucking cool. The future of gaming if I do say so myself. Playing a game with your body and no controls? It’s like something out of a fucking scifi movie. The only annoying part is having to move my furniture every time I play.
There’s really not too much else to say right now. I’m striving for various goals, but I plan on only updating ya’ll on them once I’ve achieved them. I prefer not to jinx myself. ;-) In the meantime, I hope to keep encouraging everyone’s love of reading and story-telling. Happy weekends!
Friday Fun! (Soup Season)
Hello my lovely readers! It’s alternating between a pleasant 40-something degrees and so fucking damn cold that you just want to curl up under your pile of blankets and stay there forever. This clearly means that it is soup making season.
The great thing about soups is not only do they warm you up, but they also actually taste better when reheated than the first time around. Plus when you make a huge pot, there’s enough for dinner, lunch the next day, and some leftover to freeze for a busy evening later in the month. As such, I’ve been making soups non-stop yo.
I have a plethora of options for actual soup recipes, as opposed to what I did in previous winters which was dump boullion, veggies, and pasta or rice in water and call it good enough. No, no. Now I’m making such things as Thai Butternut Squash and Lime Soup or Kale Potato Soup or Root Veggies Red Lentil Dal. It’s divine. It’s awesome. It’s healthy. It’s one of the pluses to cold weather. I mean, seriously, I can’t imagine downing that dal in 90 degree heat. Just would not work.
Of course, when the soup doesn’t cut it to warm you up, gin always also helps. (Yes, I know technically it thins your blood so you get colder, but you still *feel* warmer, and that’s the point, isn’t it?)
Happy weekends all!
Friday Fun! (Amanda Joins the Gym)
Hello my lovely readers! February is upon us, which in this part of the world means the battle with the winter blues. It’s cold. It’s icy. It’s snowy. It takes extra effort to go anywhere or do anything. It’s dark a lot of the day. And of course there’s Valentine’s Day, which if you’re unattached is basically the haha sucks to be you of holidays. However! I am determined not to let the winter blues get me down. In light of that, as well as recent changes in my life including being single and finishing grad school, I decided to join a gym.
A couple of years ago, I was in great shape. I miss being in that great shape, not because I’m obsessed with looks (swear), but because I like feeling like I can depend on my body, particularly in the event of a zombie apocalypse. What can I say. I was raised Baptist. They like talking about apocalypses, and I’m always slightly paranoid about them. You know how one of the Zombieland rules is cardio? I’d fail that rule right now. So I went into a local women only gym and informed them that I want to regain that inner strength I used to have. Originally the plan was to just take care of getting back in shape myself, but I got two free sessions with a personal trainer for registering with the gym. You guys. Personal trainers are officially amazing.
The woman I was randomly assigned is incredibly cool and supportive. I talked to her about my specific issues (asthma, heart disease running incredibly strong in my family), and she reassured me that I’m still young enough I can fight back and regain that body confidence I miss. She’s mad cool, you guys. Her body image ideas are very similar to mine. She talked about “skinny fat” girls who just burn calories but actually have a high body fat percentage aka no muscle. Also, she teaches Irish stick fighting and invited me to join her next group, which I SO am. I mean, what better way to prep for the zombie apocalypse, eh?
I’m really excited to get back to being the strong, healthy woman I know I am inside. My mood has already drastically improved, and I’ve only been a member of the gym for one week! Plus, it has a steam room, and nothing sounds nicer to a freezing Bostonian than a room full of steam.
Happy weekends!
Friday Fun! (Creepy Sprouts Guy Update)
Hello my lovely readers! It’s been a long week for me what with being sick and all. I’m afraid I’ve been rather dull this week, so I thought why not update you all on Creepy Sprouts Guy?
I got on the bus a morning about a week or so ago and was floored to see Creepy Sprouts Guy sitting in one of the two-person seats and not eating sprouts. I know. Shocker, right? He was instead eating pine nuts. At least, they looked like pine nuts. Personally, I think that’s kind of an expensive breakfast, but whatever.
I carefully situated myself in one of the sideways-facing seats for optimal viewing. Would someone sit next to Creepy Sprouts Guy now that he was eating pine nuts? What’s creeping people out about him? Him or the sprouts? Well, sure enough, two stops later a 20-something, most likely grad student, woman plopped in the seat next to him. Creepy Sprouts Guy responded by giving her a look of shock and horror that I’ve only seen replicated in zombie movies when a non-zombie sees a zombie flailing itself at the window.
How DARE someone sit next to Creepy Sprouts Guy?!
Jesus, it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud.
The next day, Creepy Sprouts Guy was back to eating sprouts and being left alone.
People, the mystery has been solved! Creepy Sprouts Guy eats sprouts to get a seat alone on the bus.
Friday Fun! (Reflections and Looking Forward)
Hello my lovely readers! Today is the last day of 2010, and it feels to me like it just flew by, in spite of everything that happened during it.
As far as this blog goes, 2010 was my first full year of blogging. I really think I’ve solidified what I want my blog to be and look like this year. My layout and sidebars really reflect who I am, and I think I’ve finally got a solid style going for my reviews as well as weekly schedules. I hope you guys think so too! In 2011, I’m hosting my first reading challenge (sign up here!) and now that I’m out of grad school, I expect my non-review posts to be slightly less librarianship focused. But you never know.
On a personal note, 2010 was the first year I lived entirely in one place since I was 15 years old. It’s been kind of amazing, and I’m loving having the feeling of having roots somewhere. As my first full year living in Boston, I’ve been able to fully experience all the thrills of living in such a historic, academic city. I enjoy every aspect of it–even the ones I complain about. I love it that I can eat any variety of foods pretty much anytime I want. I can’t get over the fact that I can get a veggie burger at pretty much every single pub. I learned how to ride my bike in city traffic and experienced the joy of riding to the park to spend the day on the grass reading while others read, toss a football around, or play volleyball, and cap the day off with a walk to get some bubble tea. I discovered local independent bookstores and their fabulous used book basements that have killed my tbr pile. I went to a free Dharma and meditation session for the first time and found out how awesome it is to be quiet in a roomful of people. I’ve had the bonding experience of struggling with public transit on rainy days and in blizzards. A recent immigrant who barely spoke English once shared her umbrella with me when waiting for the bus, and it was the highlight of my day. I tried container gardening for the first time and encountered the community of urban environmentalists. So many new experiences in so little time.
This year also saw the end of my first real relationship. It’s been sad and a struggle for me, but I view the entire relationship from beginning to end to now as a wonderful experience, and I wouldn’t undo it for anything in the world. My only regrets are some of the mistakes I made, but how else can we grow and learn? Now that I know what a relationship *can* be, I’m working on being ok being alone until the next one comes along.
This year also saw me complete my Masters of Library and Information Science! The last two weeks have been the first time since I was….what? Four years old? That I haven’t been a student. I’m thoroughly enjoying having time to myself to do more of what I’d like to do. I’m nervous about the next step of my career–hunting for a higher paying job with the blessings of my current employer–, but I’m also thrilled to see where I end up. Part of me still can’t believe that I’m a white collar, highly educated, young professional living in a city. Someone pinch me!
I also hope in 2011 to really get down to business with my writing. I want to finish at least one novel, hopefully two, and start shopping them around to publishers. I have faith in my writing, and it’s time to start acting on it.
Don’t worry; this blog won’t suffer. It’s so closely tied to my favorite hobby of reading that I have a hard time imagining ever not blogging again. I’m looking forward to 2011. I’m eager. I will strive for my goals and take everything life throws at me. Anytime I start to struggle or feel down, I just remember how shocked and proud 14 year old me would be of 24 year old me, and I smile. I can’t wait to see what 2011 brings. Everything is a learning experience, and I truly feel that I am beating down more and more demons as I get older. Bring it on, 2011. I’m ready, and I’m not afraid.
Friday Fun! (Graduation and Strategizing Season)
This week I finally finished all of my graduate work not only for the semester, but ever! My MLIS will be officially awarded in January, but as of this week, I don’t ever have to do homework or go to class again! I am so excited, not only to finally be done, but to officially be a professional librarian. :-) Not to mention that I’ll have more time for reading and writing for fun, hehe.
In other news, the winter cold has finally hit Boston. I am so glad I managed to find a nice, cheap pair of warm boots just in time. My pair from last winter fell completely apart by the end of the season. I blame salt and all the walking I do all the time. Thus we have entered what I refer to as the strategizing season. Bostonians start walking that line between looking cute/fashionable and actually being warm. There of course is a whole urban dweller look to being warm though. The multiple layers. The knee-high boots for the ladies. The various versions of gloves that still let you use your smartphones and iPods. My personal favorites are the commuter gloves that you let fold back the fingertip of the glove to use your smartphone, but glomits (fingerless gloves with a mitten flap you can fold back) seem to be the most popular on the bus. Personally, I currently have two pairs of fingerless gloves. I need to get the commuter gloves. My fingers can’t take it.
Then there’s the how to stay warm at the bus stop strategies. There’s the stationary dancers who hop from foot to foot. The leaners who attempt to block the wind by leaning against something. This strategy makes sense at bus stops with a shelter. At ones without a shelter though, they wind up leaning against a telephone pole, and I honestly think any warmth they feel is psychosomatic. Then there’s the stoic crowd that I’m generally a part of. We stand there firmly in one place either staring the direction the bus is supposed to come from glaring at it or employing the watched pot never boils concept and looking the opposite direction.
But it’s not just the commute that’s cold. If you have to pay for your own heat, your apartment tends to be not as warm as one would like either. The layering employed for the commute gets extended inside, only the coat is replaced with a sweatshirt in an attempt to trick yourself into thinking that your apartment is actually a bit warmer than outside. At least there’s no wind inside. Personally, I acquired an electric blanket to put at the bottom of my pile of blankets. This means that I’ve been winding up in bed earlier and earlier every night. Since the tv isn’t in there, this means a lot more reading is occurring. I’ve also heard of other strategies, such as running the oven, doing jumping jacks, drinking tea repeatedly, running the hot water in the shower, etc… Ah, winter. How we’ve missed you.
I actually don’t mind the cold that much. I’ve lived in New England my whole life, so I’m used to it. I do, however, think it’s a travesty when it occurs without snow. I love snow! You hear that, weather? If it’s this cold out, you may as well make it snow….
Friday Fun! (Happy Hanukkah!)
Hello my lovely readers! It’s certainly been a busy week here in Boston. The holidays are officially in full swing, so on top of finishing up my final semester of grad school, I’ve been balancing everything that goes along with the holidays.
I hit up the sales on Saturday after all the crowds were mostly gone and picked up a couple of things I’ve been needing, including a rectangular baking dish, a bread pan, and a coffee maker. The coffee maker was massively on sale, and I know it will save me a lot of money compared to buying coffee every day at Dunks. So far, I’ve only forgotten my traveling mug full of coffee once….. I already put the bread pan to good use by making banana bread. In lieu of regular plain yogurt, I used pineapple Greek yogurt, and you guys, it was to die for. The bread was incredibly moist. I think this may be the secret to nommy banana bread.
I also did about half my holiday shopping (entirely online. I’m a cyber maven). Most of what’s left includes baking massive amounts of baked goods for various people including the mailman, coworkers, etc…. I then decorated my apartment with the few holiday decorations I actually have. It didn’t take too long, particularly since my fake tree is pretty tiny.
Wednesday night was the first night of Hanukkah, which I celebrated with my cat. She seems to have forgotten the menorah between last year and this year. She loves sitting in the window with the menorah to the extent that I have to lock her in another room while the candles are burning. Last night, for the second night of Hanukkah, I went over to my friends’ Nina and E’s apartment. We celebrated with their downstairs neighbors/landlady. We made three different types of latkes and had them with sour cream, homemade apple sauce, and homemade grape juice. Then Nina and E gave me my Chrismukkah presents, and they know me so well! I was totally blown away at the wide assortment of baking accessories, craft projects, cat accessories, and naturally a book that they gave me. :-) I have the bestest friends. Next week, on the last night of Hanukkah, they’ll come to me and get their presents from me. I’m excited for them to see what I got them!
Happy holidays to all. I hope you’re already enjoying and celebrating this lovely month instead of letting the holidays stress you out.
Friday Fun! (Fondue and Seitan)
Hello my lovely readers! This has been a busy week for me, although I suspect not as busy as for those of you who actually traveled for the holiday. Last weekend I hosted my first ever fondue party. You guys, it was awesome. I think this is something from the 70s that we need to make have a come-back. Anyway, I made a beer cheese fondue in my crock pot. It was *so* delicious! We had crostini, broccoli, veggie sausage, pretzels, and more for dipping. Also, one of my guests brought a chocolate fondue, and it was *to die* for.
There were no classes this week because of Thanksgiving, so with the extra time I had I was able to go to a meditation lesson for the first time. I was kind of surprised at how much easier it is to meditate for an extended length of time when you’re in a room with other people meditating instead of doing it by yourself. It was a lot of fun and surprisingly relaxing. I think I’ll try out a few more centers before I decide on one to go to periodically, but I definitely think periodic group meditation is gonna be sticking around my schedule now. Albeit, not weekly. Maybe monthly.
Since I have to work today, I didn’t go anywhere for Thanksgiving yesterday. I spent the day hanging out at home, reading, watching tv, and cooking. I tried making seitan for the first time ever, and you guys. It came out so good! It was surprisingly simple, very filling, and gave me a lot of energy. One batch makes plenty for a week, so I suspect this is now going to be in my rotation of yummy veg foods.
My other big project this week is incorporating some dishes some friends gave me into my kitchen. I realized this is going to mean rearranging my tiny tiny kitchen to try to fit everything in. I think I may wind up using nails to hang various mugs and pots and pans from the walls. I have very little cabinet space.
I hope my American readers are enjoying their holiday weekends, and I hope the rest of you enjoy your regularly-sized ones. Cheers!
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This work by Amanda Nevius is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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