I must say, today was a very lovely day.
2.28.2009
2.27.2009
Uuuuuugh
I hate dieting. I really, really do. However...I'm still trying my hand at it.
Over the past couple of years, I've learned a few things. The most important?
Do what works for you.
I know it sounds simple, but it's really not. People like to tell you exactly how they think you should lose weight. I've dealt with some really cruel comments this past year from...doctors. So, I'm going to do it my way, and I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy.
I'm about to practice food avoidance and sleep.
Food avoidance sounds like a "no duh" sort of thing, huh? "Right Cat, eat less. That's how you lose weight." Either that or like I'm planning on going anorexic. I promise I'm not. I can't. I adore food.
What I mean is - I'm going to watch less TV (so I don't see those darn food commercials). I'm going to complain when my boyfriend or roommate want to order in pizza again. Or when they want to go to a burger joint. When we do eat out, I'm going to refuse to be the person that scours Yelp to find the perfect place. Yes, Yelp makes me hungry.
I haven't been eating breakfast. Or lunch. Well, maybe a piece of fruit for lunch. I've ditched diet redbulls/sodas in favor of regular coffee with real sugar. Dinner has been really basic, and not too awful.
Yesterday I ate: an orange, two cups of coffee with sugar, two pitas stuffed with romaine lettuce and low-cal dressing, and my version of nachos - a huge can of black beans with a little salt, plus a few chips and a light sprinkling of cheese. And a glass of skim milk.
It's not a lot. It's certainly not recommended by the health magazines/websites. I'm supposed to eat tiny meals 6,000 times a day. You know what happens then? I am hungry constantly. I think about my next mini-meal and want to cheat so it's bigger.
I'm supposed to eat a big breakfast. That would be fine...but it also makes me hungrier. If I think about food, I'm going to try and seek it out. So I avoid it until the evening, when I tend to like to eat anyway.
I've completely stopped snacking after dinner. Partially because I eat later and go to bed earlier.
Bed is part two. I used to barely sleep and now I'm forcing 7 + hours of continuous sleep on myself.
Hopefully this helps. I truly do not have time to workout on a regular basis. No, not even a half an hour. I wake up, get dressed and leave for work in the span of 15 minutes. Then I drive. Then I get to work and spend the next 8 hours (minus the orange and coffee) working and maybe spend a minute here and there surfing the wonderful web. Then I drive home, open the door, turn on my laptop and start doing freelance work. I cook dinner, eat it while working, then shower and get ready for bed. The end.
I do get out of the house here and there on the weekends. But I spend it with my boyfriend and friends. I don't want to hide away in a tiny, stinky gym not socializing. So...unhealthy diet it is.
Wish me luck.
P.S. I'm not a size 2 girl wanting to have her spine show through her clothes (for the record, EW, that's AWFUL!). I'm also not a 300 pound giant. I just want to feel better about myself. Because I really, really have a complex going. I got gussied up for a conference last year and my boss took a photo of me. I saw it and wanted to cry - this chubby faced girl looked back at me. My best friend promised me I don't normally look that way, but my boyfriend said. "Huh, you look Korean." So fat me looks Korean. Which is odd, seeing that I'm mostly Chinese & Greek. Oh well.
In anycase, I don't want to avoid mirrors or photos anymore. I'm really tired of it.
Over the past couple of years, I've learned a few things. The most important?
Do what works for you.
I know it sounds simple, but it's really not. People like to tell you exactly how they think you should lose weight. I've dealt with some really cruel comments this past year from...doctors. So, I'm going to do it my way, and I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy.
I'm about to practice food avoidance and sleep.
Food avoidance sounds like a "no duh" sort of thing, huh? "Right Cat, eat less. That's how you lose weight." Either that or like I'm planning on going anorexic. I promise I'm not. I can't. I adore food.
What I mean is - I'm going to watch less TV (so I don't see those darn food commercials). I'm going to complain when my boyfriend or roommate want to order in pizza again. Or when they want to go to a burger joint. When we do eat out, I'm going to refuse to be the person that scours Yelp to find the perfect place. Yes, Yelp makes me hungry.
I haven't been eating breakfast. Or lunch. Well, maybe a piece of fruit for lunch. I've ditched diet redbulls/sodas in favor of regular coffee with real sugar. Dinner has been really basic, and not too awful.
Yesterday I ate: an orange, two cups of coffee with sugar, two pitas stuffed with romaine lettuce and low-cal dressing, and my version of nachos - a huge can of black beans with a little salt, plus a few chips and a light sprinkling of cheese. And a glass of skim milk.
It's not a lot. It's certainly not recommended by the health magazines/websites. I'm supposed to eat tiny meals 6,000 times a day. You know what happens then? I am hungry constantly. I think about my next mini-meal and want to cheat so it's bigger.
I'm supposed to eat a big breakfast. That would be fine...but it also makes me hungrier. If I think about food, I'm going to try and seek it out. So I avoid it until the evening, when I tend to like to eat anyway.
I've completely stopped snacking after dinner. Partially because I eat later and go to bed earlier.
Bed is part two. I used to barely sleep and now I'm forcing 7 + hours of continuous sleep on myself.
Hopefully this helps. I truly do not have time to workout on a regular basis. No, not even a half an hour. I wake up, get dressed and leave for work in the span of 15 minutes. Then I drive. Then I get to work and spend the next 8 hours (minus the orange and coffee) working and maybe spend a minute here and there surfing the wonderful web. Then I drive home, open the door, turn on my laptop and start doing freelance work. I cook dinner, eat it while working, then shower and get ready for bed. The end.
I do get out of the house here and there on the weekends. But I spend it with my boyfriend and friends. I don't want to hide away in a tiny, stinky gym not socializing. So...unhealthy diet it is.
Wish me luck.
P.S. I'm not a size 2 girl wanting to have her spine show through her clothes (for the record, EW, that's AWFUL!). I'm also not a 300 pound giant. I just want to feel better about myself. Because I really, really have a complex going. I got gussied up for a conference last year and my boss took a photo of me. I saw it and wanted to cry - this chubby faced girl looked back at me. My best friend promised me I don't normally look that way, but my boyfriend said. "Huh, you look Korean." So fat me looks Korean. Which is odd, seeing that I'm mostly Chinese & Greek. Oh well.
In anycase, I don't want to avoid mirrors or photos anymore. I'm really tired of it.
2.22.2009
Catching up...#4? I think. Maybe.
My boyfriend, guinea pig, and I spent an extended winter break in Montana. I should warn you, the photos below highlight the sexy, fast-paced existence that is small-town Montana.
Enjoy...
Between Los Angeles and Vegas, we saw this:
Snow? Weird.
Later that day we were forced to stop in Utah, thanks to a major snowstorm. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the ginormous snowflakes. But, I DID pick up a gift for a friend...
It was a book written by a Mormon, published in Utah. It was called, "Understanding Women," and MAN was it sexist. I thought it would make a fantastic gag-gift.
When we escaped Utah and finally made it up to Montana, this guy greeted me at my parents' house:
Domo.
The temperature was in the negative degrees, so most of our activities occurred indoors. Luckily, the glow of my fam's nuclear Christmas tree was rather soothing, so I didn't mind staring at it for hours at a time.
After some chillin' with the fam, we went to see Benjamin Button. When my boyfriend and I went into the theater, the roads were clear. When we came out after the movie, everything was covered with a thick layer of snow.
When we got home, my parents' porch looked like this:
Here's the view from their front door:
Remember - I got home from the movie, walked through the house to photograph the porch, then came back outside to snap a shot of the front. This is the car I drove home in, minutes after driving it:
After that, I hung out with my family in the living room. Enjoy the photo of my dog making a face, and my little brother's foot.
Two things: 1) Pictures of feet totally gross me out, so I'm sorry for that. 2) I wanted to show off the fact that my dog matches the carpet, so feet photos were hard to avoid.
Seriously though, I love my dog. She's awesome. And, she loves the snow:
A few days into the trip some friends and I decided to pity heckle Screech - The Nerds of Comedy Tour hit my town, and really, there wasn't anything else to do.
I think "J" had fun, don't you?
"A" looked annoyed. As she should. We were forced to sit through a "My German Shepard totally doesn't understand me. He doesn't speak ENGLISH!" joke. We died a little bit then, on the inside. (I should note that the joke did not come from Screech. He deserves credit for that.)
Ladies and Gentleman...Screech:
Apparently all of the painful humor made "A" hungry:
In order to save myself, I suggested we get cheese fries. Here's "J"'s post-fry glow:
I spent a lot of time in bars on this trip. I didn't spend a lot of time drinking, there just weren't many places to go and it was freaking cold outside. Here's "A" at a bar that has mermaids. Yes, mermaids - they seriously have people dressed as mermaids in a tank of water. I think "A" is judging them:
A few days after that, "A"and I got makeovers at the Laura Mercier shop in one of the college towns. I think she looks lovely:
We had sushi in the college town. Luckily it was quite good, surprisingly.
"T" at the start of a post-sushi food coma:
Here I am greeting 2009. Either someone slipped uranium in my drink, or my phone's flash makes me look radioactive:
The trip itself was fantastic, but the drive home was utter hell. Let me introduce you to the sheet of ice we got to brave at 15 miles an hour:
See the shine? That stuff was *slick.* Any faster and we began to slide. It added several hours to the trip.
Thank goodness the scenery was gorgeous:
Not terribly exciting, but it was a good time. :) At least we got home safe, despite the hellish roads.
Enjoy...
Between Los Angeles and Vegas, we saw this:
Snow? Weird.Later that day we were forced to stop in Utah, thanks to a major snowstorm. Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the ginormous snowflakes. But, I DID pick up a gift for a friend...
It was a book written by a Mormon, published in Utah. It was called, "Understanding Women," and MAN was it sexist. I thought it would make a fantastic gag-gift.
When we escaped Utah and finally made it up to Montana, this guy greeted me at my parents' house:
Domo.The temperature was in the negative degrees, so most of our activities occurred indoors. Luckily, the glow of my fam's nuclear Christmas tree was rather soothing, so I didn't mind staring at it for hours at a time.
After some chillin' with the fam, we went to see Benjamin Button. When my boyfriend and I went into the theater, the roads were clear. When we came out after the movie, everything was covered with a thick layer of snow.
When we got home, my parents' porch looked like this:
Here's the view from their front door:
Remember - I got home from the movie, walked through the house to photograph the porch, then came back outside to snap a shot of the front. This is the car I drove home in, minutes after driving it:
After that, I hung out with my family in the living room. Enjoy the photo of my dog making a face, and my little brother's foot.
Two things: 1) Pictures of feet totally gross me out, so I'm sorry for that. 2) I wanted to show off the fact that my dog matches the carpet, so feet photos were hard to avoid.Seriously though, I love my dog. She's awesome. And, she loves the snow:
A few days into the trip some friends and I decided to pity heckle Screech - The Nerds of Comedy Tour hit my town, and really, there wasn't anything else to do.
I think "J" had fun, don't you?
"A" looked annoyed. As she should. We were forced to sit through a "My German Shepard totally doesn't understand me. He doesn't speak ENGLISH!" joke. We died a little bit then, on the inside. (I should note that the joke did not come from Screech. He deserves credit for that.)
Ladies and Gentleman...Screech:Apparently all of the painful humor made "A" hungry:
In order to save myself, I suggested we get cheese fries. Here's "J"'s post-fry glow:
I spent a lot of time in bars on this trip. I didn't spend a lot of time drinking, there just weren't many places to go and it was freaking cold outside. Here's "A" at a bar that has mermaids. Yes, mermaids - they seriously have people dressed as mermaids in a tank of water. I think "A" is judging them:
A few days after that, "A"and I got makeovers at the Laura Mercier shop in one of the college towns. I think she looks lovely:
We had sushi in the college town. Luckily it was quite good, surprisingly."T" at the start of a post-sushi food coma:
Here I am greeting 2009. Either someone slipped uranium in my drink, or my phone's flash makes me look radioactive:
The trip itself was fantastic, but the drive home was utter hell. Let me introduce you to the sheet of ice we got to brave at 15 miles an hour:
See the shine? That stuff was *slick.* Any faster and we began to slide. It added several hours to the trip.Thank goodness the scenery was gorgeous:
Not terribly exciting, but it was a good time. :) At least we got home safe, despite the hellish roads.
2.18.2009
Resolutions... Nay - GOALS for 2009
I'm not good at resolutions. Nor am I good with long term planning. This year, I'm going to try and have short-ER term goals than usual. Within the year, I aim to:
1) Ride this:
2) Go here:
3) Do a lot of this:
4) And this: 
5) Do more of this (rather, do more of it without feeling guilty): 
6) Open myself up for more of this:
7) Re-learn how to speak this:
8) Eat a lot of this:
9) See more of this: 
10) At 11:59pm on December 31st, feel like this:
1) Ride this:
2) Go here: 3) Do a lot of this: 4) And this: 5) Do more of this (rather, do more of it without feeling guilty): 6) Open myself up for more of this:7) Re-learn how to speak this:
8) Eat a lot of this: 9) See more of this: 10) At 11:59pm on December 31st, feel like this:
2.17.2009
Infinite Undiscovery should have remained undiscovered
Video game time.
I just played Infinite Undiscovery for the first time last night. Rather, I tried to play it. It starts off very intense, with relatively complicated control menus. (I'm not a fan of games requiring me to do much memorizing). I started out on the Intermediate setting, mainly because it said Easy was for people unfamiliar with RPGs. So uh...first I make my way out of some dungeon, which was tedious, but not impossible. The controls, as I mentioned, were overly complicated, and with a crappy unreadable font in the tutorial, I had no idea what I was doing. I often found myself stuck in a particular menu, so I would flail around, randomly and angrily mashing buttons until I found my way out of it. I forgot to mention that the controls are also very loose. There was a delay between the time I pushed a button and the actual response on-screen in the game. I find this immensely annoying.
About five minutes in, I decided it was virtually unplayable. Being forgiving, I figured I'd try and give it another chance.
I made my way out of the dungeon, crappy controls and all, and ventured out into a forest. I proceeded to get lost several times, as there is no way to gauge your progress, the map is utter crap, and the camera jerks around when enemies approach. The autotargeting system seems to be lacking, as I had a horrible time trying to kill a single bee. The camera then locked onto a different enemy, much farther away, so I got turned around AND I was being attacked by the close enemy without any way to retaliate.
So, about 45 minutes in, I find my way out of the winding, annoying forest. Then the scary dungeon boss that chased me out of the dungeon shows up and promptly...kills me. I died. I died 45 minutes in. Considering the fact I got lost, I was probably only officially about 20 minutes into gameplay. You should not die that quickly. It just shouldn't be possible unless you do something stupid.
Worse than dying, it took me back to the only available save spot...which was five minutes into gameplay.
At that point, I lost it, and threw down the controller. Seeing as less content is available in Easy mode, I think I'm done with this game. I don't understand how it got a 6.5 rating on gamespot. I'd give it a 2. Only because the graphics are pretty. The storyline, as far as I could tell, was rather trite.
It was a major letdown, Square Enix. MAJOR.
I just played Infinite Undiscovery for the first time last night. Rather, I tried to play it. It starts off very intense, with relatively complicated control menus. (I'm not a fan of games requiring me to do much memorizing). I started out on the Intermediate setting, mainly because it said Easy was for people unfamiliar with RPGs. So uh...first I make my way out of some dungeon, which was tedious, but not impossible. The controls, as I mentioned, were overly complicated, and with a crappy unreadable font in the tutorial, I had no idea what I was doing. I often found myself stuck in a particular menu, so I would flail around, randomly and angrily mashing buttons until I found my way out of it. I forgot to mention that the controls are also very loose. There was a delay between the time I pushed a button and the actual response on-screen in the game. I find this immensely annoying.
About five minutes in, I decided it was virtually unplayable. Being forgiving, I figured I'd try and give it another chance.
I made my way out of the dungeon, crappy controls and all, and ventured out into a forest. I proceeded to get lost several times, as there is no way to gauge your progress, the map is utter crap, and the camera jerks around when enemies approach. The autotargeting system seems to be lacking, as I had a horrible time trying to kill a single bee. The camera then locked onto a different enemy, much farther away, so I got turned around AND I was being attacked by the close enemy without any way to retaliate.
So, about 45 minutes in, I find my way out of the winding, annoying forest. Then the scary dungeon boss that chased me out of the dungeon shows up and promptly...kills me. I died. I died 45 minutes in. Considering the fact I got lost, I was probably only officially about 20 minutes into gameplay. You should not die that quickly. It just shouldn't be possible unless you do something stupid.
Worse than dying, it took me back to the only available save spot...which was five minutes into gameplay.
At that point, I lost it, and threw down the controller. Seeing as less content is available in Easy mode, I think I'm done with this game. I don't understand how it got a 6.5 rating on gamespot. I'd give it a 2. Only because the graphics are pretty. The storyline, as far as I could tell, was rather trite.
It was a major letdown, Square Enix. MAJOR.
2.06.2009
Guess what keeps falling on my head!
Raindrops! Hoorah!
I adore the rain. If I were forced to pick one kind of weather to endure day in and day out, rain would be it. Rainy days smell better. They turn things green, my favorite color. If it rains long enough, even the sidewalks start to grow moss.
Rain makes me work harder and think bigger. I become more adventurous. I also feel more hope.
Rain is a precious commodity now that I live in Los Angeles. Sunny day after sunny day? Blah. Sun isn't a good reason for getting up and dancing outside.
Speaking of which...
I adore the rain. If I were forced to pick one kind of weather to endure day in and day out, rain would be it. Rainy days smell better. They turn things green, my favorite color. If it rains long enough, even the sidewalks start to grow moss.
Rain makes me work harder and think bigger. I become more adventurous. I also feel more hope.
Rain is a precious commodity now that I live in Los Angeles. Sunny day after sunny day? Blah. Sun isn't a good reason for getting up and dancing outside.
Speaking of which...
Speaking of stupid...
I have a habit of emailing myself a link to something of interest that I want to remember to check out later, noticing a new message in my inbox, getting overly exited wondering about who in the world may have emailed me, then realizing the new message is from you know who. I transition from excitement to disappointment to shame.
EDIT: I checked my email after posting this. New message! Guess what it was. Me. The autonotification that I posted a new blog entry. Maybe I should reconsider a career as a writer. I'm not sure if I'm smart enough to avoid hurting myself while typing.
2nd EDIT: It's not that I don't get email from other people. I just get really excited about it.
3rd EDIT: Man, I'm lame.
EDIT: I checked my email after posting this. New message! Guess what it was. Me. The autonotification that I posted a new blog entry. Maybe I should reconsider a career as a writer. I'm not sure if I'm smart enough to avoid hurting myself while typing.
2nd EDIT: It's not that I don't get email from other people. I just get really excited about it.
3rd EDIT: Man, I'm lame.
FYI BTW
Dear Neo-con Republicans,
I have some news for you. Something I just think you ought to know.
You lost. You lost in a big way. Your policies failed. You failed.
Now stop whining about needing to cut taxes in this new stimulus bill. You already cut taxes. And you know what? It didn't help. The economy is tanking, thanks you to, and now you're trying to say that the same old bull is going to magically work this time. No. It's not. Get over it.
Now get moving. There's precious little time before we officially hit a depression. And if we do? I'm personally blaming you. Really, I am.
Work with the Democrats. The American public spoke. They want change. So, help give it to them. I'm not saying you need to become Democrats, I just want you to actually do what's right for the country. Be the patriots you claim to be. Move quickly.
If you keep dragging your feet, then blame Democrats for being do-nothings, so help me...
XOXO,
Cat
I have some news for you. Something I just think you ought to know.
You lost. You lost in a big way. Your policies failed. You failed.
Now stop whining about needing to cut taxes in this new stimulus bill. You already cut taxes. And you know what? It didn't help. The economy is tanking, thanks you to, and now you're trying to say that the same old bull is going to magically work this time. No. It's not. Get over it.
Now get moving. There's precious little time before we officially hit a depression. And if we do? I'm personally blaming you. Really, I am.
Work with the Democrats. The American public spoke. They want change. So, help give it to them. I'm not saying you need to become Democrats, I just want you to actually do what's right for the country. Be the patriots you claim to be. Move quickly.
If you keep dragging your feet, then blame Democrats for being do-nothings, so help me...
XOXO,
Cat
2.03.2009
Busy busy busy!
So many updates! So little time!
In the past few weeks I have researched, written and e-published an article for a fabulous website. There's another in the works. I have created Twitter, Zazzle, YouTube, Squidoo, and Blogger sites for my parents' various projects. I also designed the better part of a whole new site. I even took on a volunteer project of epic (for me) proportions. Methinks I need to get an e-portfolio going, finally.
Phew.
Despite all of this, I promise that more updates are coming soon.
Soon.
In the past few weeks I have researched, written and e-published an article for a fabulous website. There's another in the works. I have created Twitter, Zazzle, YouTube, Squidoo, and Blogger sites for my parents' various projects. I also designed the better part of a whole new site. I even took on a volunteer project of epic (for me) proportions. Methinks I need to get an e-portfolio going, finally.
Phew.
Despite all of this, I promise that more updates are coming soon.
Soon.
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