Watching - Westworld

I'm addicted to this show. I've been spoiled with Netflix binge watching to the point that waiting a week for each new episode feels like a personal injustice. Luckily my husband and father in law are equally interested and everything stops at 6pm on Sundays. Unless the Seahawks are still playing, then we wait. Well, unless they're losing really badly, then we'd all rather watch bloody cowboys.

Similar to another HBO hit, Game of Thrones, I'm obsessed with fan theories and predictions. As soon as I've finished an episode I'll check A.V. Club and The Verge, and even Vanity Fair for all the latest ideas and breadcrumbs I may have missed. (SO many spoilers btw)

My favorite theories as of episode 6 (More spoilers obviously)

- The show is actually three timelines. The first 34 years ago when "Bernard" talks to Dolores, the second 30 years ago when Dolores, Logan, and William explore the park, and the third is present day when the Man In Black and Teddy follow the path towards the maze.

- William is The Man In Black 30 years ago. Something happens in the park that changes him. But doesn't make him as evil as he appears. Point, we're not sure exactly what happened between him and Dolores in the barn. My favorite sub theory on this is that the park programmed Dolores into pretending to gain sentience, and fall in love with William. Making it more seductive because he thought she made the choice on her own. Then later he found out it was all part of the game and felt cheated. So his current goal as the Man In Black is to try and help all the hosts gain their free will, and see if Dolores ever truly cared for him.

- Bernard is actually Arnold, either as a clone or much more likely as a host programmed with his personality and memories.

There's TONS of evidence to support these theories online, The show runners have even dropped clues on their twitter. And recently HBO programming president Casey Bloys said fan theories are "getting close"

I'm writing this on a Monday and I have to wait an extra few days to watch next Sunday's episode because we'll be in Texas visiting my dad. Wait no I won't, I have HBO GO on my phone! Ha!

Trouble

I have a serious sweet tooth, and it's hard for me to let go of sugar, I am trying. But October though.... all the candy's on sale, some of my favorites come out of hiding, sometimes it takes too much energy to deny myself completely. So for a few days I'm going on a candy binge, guilt free, much as I want, but once it's gone, I'm getting right back on the No-Sugar train. Some people do well on strict "None At All" restrictions, but it makes me panic. So I'm giving myself a little leeway, with an understanding that it's not a failure, it doesn't call for starting over (which slides easily into "Might as well put off starting over for a while and eat like I want.")

So. Much. Candy....

Podcasts Are Free - My Favorite Murder

I recently discovered that my insurance covers dental work. It's been a few years since I'd been to the dentist, so I had quite a few cavities that needed attention. After my initial check-up visit, I realized I needed to bring some sunglasses, and something to listen to while they chipped around in my teeth. I'd heard about My Favorite Murder, hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, while listening to Cracked Podcast "Conspiracies About The Most Famous Murders In U.S. History". And I really enjoyed both their humor and their knowledge about famous cases. So I downloaded a few promising titles and brought them with me. 

It turns out listening to two women discussing gruesome details of murders and investigations is the perfect counterpoint to having holes drilled in my teeth. I did have to catch myself a few times to keep from laughing, but overall it's an easy (if you don't mind some gore) and interesting program.

I had fun taking pictures of myself after they'd injected me with Novacane... 

Trying to smile with my upper right lip completely numb

 Smiling much more symmetrically with my lower right mouth numbed 

Looking a little stoned with my bottom left mouth numbed

Netflix is... interesting

Apparently modern children's programming is a lot edgier than I realized

Spirited Away Spa Day - Part 2

Today we finished our "Spirited Away Spa Day" by going to the actual Korean spa and getting naked in front of strangers. For obvious reasons we couldn't take pictures inside the spa, so instead here's an 8-Bit version of Spirited Away.

Spirited Away Spa Day Part 1

In preperation for the wedding this month, I wanted to do a classic "spa day". I love themes, so I picked the Studio Ghibli film "Spirited Away" because it takes place at a spa.

 

For various reasons (including an epic heat wave) we postponed the actual trip to the local Korean spa. But we were able to find time to watch the movie, eat some sushi, and slather our faces with awesome incomprehensible mud masks from Korea.

Milky Piggy

Glitter Shoes - We're Not Melons

I'm terrible at taking step-by-step pictures during a project. But I basically followed this tutorial anyway.

This picture does not adequately demonstrate how BRIGHT these are in direct sunlight.

The shoes are my old gray Converse. Already fixed once with ShoeGoo. I used blue normal sized glitter, and tiny tiny white glitter to fill in the small gaps. Obviously our apartment is covered in glitter now. But it was worth it. 

Sprinkles!

A giant box of assorted sprinkles. It comes with a small wooden scoop. It makes me very happy.  

Sprinkles!

Officially I bought them for the wedding reception in July, to go on top of the doughnut holes... they might not last that long.  I might have eaten more than one scoopful dumped directly into my mouth.

Sprinkles cheer up sunflower-butter waffles. 

Wedding Deals - We're Not Melons

We've made out like bandits with all the deals we've found with our wedding. Thirty bucks a night for a room with attached private bathroom in Portland. 

(Picture from their airbnb listing)

Less than ten bucks each for our rings on Amazon. 

My dress was custom fitted from eshakti.com. After a first-timer coupon the total came to less than thirty bucks including shipping and custom fitting.

I scrounged Groupon for the last month looking for interesting places in Portland. I found an almost all night gyro food truck, a doughnut shop (because we'll totally need more doughnuts after the wedding at a completely different doughnut shop), and a cider tasting for two with eight 3oz glasses of cider each and an empty take home growler. I could easily have planned all the food we'd need for the four days we'll be in town, but there were specific places we want to try and are willing to pay full price for.

If you have the time to plan in advance, and are flexible about what you're looking for, there's a TON of ways to save money on the things you want for a wedding.

"I Go Up The Hill, And Come Back Down"

We have a big hill near our house that's perfect for exercise. It's almost exactly one mile from our front door to the top. Due to my health issues I can't always make it to the top, or anywhere near it.  Consistency is really important if I want to get anywhere. So sometimes just walking out the door, across the street, ten yards up, and then back down again is all I can muster. I don't feel badly about this, it's the best I can do,  and it's much better than doing nothing at all. But I can't help replaying this commercial for Planet Fitness every time I go. "I go up the hill and come back down..."

Victory Over Death

Hearthstone matches you randomly with another player at or near your level of expertise. This match was between me and a player named "Death" (You can see their name in the upper left corner.) I have now beaten Death, and so assume I am now immortal.

Wedding Reception Invites - We're Not Melons

I bought a ten pack of blank brown folded cards and practiced in window's paint with fonts until I found a layout I liked. Then I hand drew them out in pencil, and went over them with marker. I used a dry-erase marker because it didn't bleed through the paper.

I used a metallic sharpie on the back, for the shiney-ness and because they don't bleed through the paper either.

Wedding Zines - We're Not Melons

(I'm getting a lot of mileage out of the cantaloupe joke)

Our wedding and honeymoon are both in Portland next month. We researched the restaurants we want to try, and squeezed as many as we could into the three and a half days we'll be in town. In an attempt to keep everything organized and clear, I made wedding programs in a "zine" style for everyone to match Portland.

(Me as a Selkie riding Greg as a cow)

They also feature pictures from the advent calendar Greg made for me last Christmas.

(Selkie me, and Cow Greg)

Flare-ups, Episodes, and Crashes

Chronic fatigue tends to go in cycles. You get "better" for a while, try to live normally, maybe forget you're sick for a little while, push yourself too hard, maybe catch a cold, something stressful happens, annnnnd.... you're back to bed for months. It's different for everyone I'm sure.
  I tend to get worse when the weather changes, either too hot or too little sunshine and I hit the deck. When I'm sick I know what to do, drink lots of fluids, drastically cut my sugar intake, queue up new shows on netflix. But when I'm "better"? No idea. I know that if I push myself too far too fast I'll be right back in bed, but I'm so dang ansty. I want to go hiking. I want to rummage at the flee markets. I want to WORK. I'm done watching tv all day and playing video games when I have the mental energy to focus. I want to go OUT.

Right now I'm on my last few days of an extended medical leave. I haven't been able to work consistently since December. The hardest part for me is the guessing. "Am I better enough to go back to work?" "Should I stay home and rest?" It's always a gamble. If I guess wrong and try to push through I could end up making myself worse, and having to stay home for another week.

Random Moments On Medical Leave

Watching Fringe "Aw, they had Lincoln Prime in this episode but no Alternate Lincoln.  I wonder if Seth Gabel was too busy. Wait..." (Seth Gabel plays both roles >.< )

"I can't find the post I'm looking for on that blog, I'll google it. Wait, there's a whole site dedicated to snarking about people's blogs? People talking on the internet about people who talk about themselves on the internet... And there's pages upon pages dedicated to my favorites? Oh my." *hours later*
"I've gone too far."

"When was the last time I showered? I should ask Greg. No, he'll come over and smell me. That's a bad idea. I should just assume I need a shower. At some point. Tomorrow."

Gaming - Lego Minis

Greg and I host a Pathfinder game every other Saturday. We use Lego minis for our tabletop minis. They're fun, easy to customize, and the perfect size. Whenever someone makes a new character they get to dig through the bag of Lego body parts and accessories to put together their own little dude/dudette.

 Greg's - Formaggio Puzzolente "Stinky Cheese"

 His sister's barbarian 

We even have a few for the monsters.

 A banshee 

A cyclops

Other options for custom minis are usually expensive, and once they're made that's it. You can't take them apart and make them into something else. These guys can be turned into completely new monstrosities:

Cycshee + Banclops?

So, White Sunglasses Are A "Thing"

Today, while shopping for Greg's mom's easter basket goodies, I found some cute sunglasses. I tried them on while Greg was looking at something else, and I loved them. I asked him what he thought and he exclaimed "But honey! They're WHITE sunglasses."

I agreed with him, they were white sunglasses, and they looked great. "What's weird about white sunglasses?" I asked, confused. "If you like them you should get them." He said, avoiding my question. "I do like them, and I am going to get them, but seriously, what's the deal with white sunglasses?" Eventually he told me that white sunglasses "Are associated with 'douchebags' who think they're really cool." I rolled my eyes at this, I'd never heard it before. I thought it was just a "Greg thing"

Later I started watching "You're The Worst" and a few episodes in, this guy showed up

I had to pause it so Greg could come in and see it. "I love the glasses, and I'm not returning them, but I had to tell you that you were right, it IS a THING."

It even has it's own Urban Dictionary entry

"Sunglasses that tend to be worn by complete douchebags who think they possess what is called "swag"."

The show is great btw, good enough that I splurged on a month's worth of Hulu Plus. I really like Edgar. 

Macarons, however I can

Kitty-shaped macaron at Seattle Meowtropolitan

I love macarons. Of course by their very nature they're full of sugar. Even the comfort food cookbook we bought full of "Paleo Inspired" goodies has a normal, processed sugar recipe for macarons. Because as the author says "They're finicky and won't work without regular sugar. And I couldn't write a cookbook that didn't include them. Macarons are a part of me." Which made Greg quip "Then we're eating her every time we eat those cookies." We tried making them with Swerve, the sugar replacement blend, but it didn't work. At all.

So Greg tried making them according to the recipe, and they were delicious. Amazingly chewy and sweet. Because of the EPIC sugar content. Sigh. I can eat one or two before getting a migraine somedays, other days even half of one is enough to set them off.

Greg's vanilla macarons 

So in a compromise of sorts, I bought this little pill containers that look just like the real thing. They even have "feet", the ridges on the bottom of each half. I fill them all at once and keep them in my purse. Each one hold most of my daily pills. Leaving out three in the morning, and the super smelly valerian pills I take at night for sleep. (Omg, they are SO smelly. Like manure and dirt. The smell sticks to my hands, and oh god the burps. Poor Greg.) Anyway, this little guys are awesome.

Bandwagon! - Detailed Coloring Books

I love the process of filling in the fine details in these books. While I'm not a huge fan of the nature versions I see everywhere, these are more interesting to me.

http://amzn.com/1492977055

http://amzn.com/1517376912

http://amzn.com/039917527X

http://amzn.com/1452149577

I like the bright colors of markers better than colored pencils, but they bleed through the paper if you're not careful. Most of these books only print on one side of each page so you don't have to worry about ruining the next picture. Don't forget to put a piece of paper between the pages to keep the ink where it belongs.  In my opinion gel pens work the best for staying on their page, and fine point markers are best for super detailed pictures.

http://amzn.com/B000S161FO

http://amzn.com/B00ATBRJRC

Yahoo Mail Has Auto Valentines

I checked my e-mail and noticed a cute little heart next to "Compose" 

Clicking on it led me to their new (at least to me) "Autocompose a Valentine" section. There are different backgrounds to chose from, including non-valentine's day options for birthdays and such. You can also select the style of valentine you would like to send, "Friendly Love" "Crazy In Love" or by far my favorite, "Out Of Love." This adds the subject line "Happy Valentine's Day?" and a random combination of pre-written gems like...

(My new favorite phrase "You look like I need a hug."

There's also the option to add one of four depressing gifs they took right from tumblr 

This was a great, if random, treat from a company that's been doing a lot of downsizing lately. Thank you Yahoo.

Self Care Resources (Because taking care of yourself makes everything else easier)

Stuff To Spend A Little Money On

List of cool comforting stuff to buy 

Self Care Zine

Self Care Zine: Food

Headspace  (First 10 days are free, and you can repete them as often as you like)

FREE Stuff

People To Talk To, anonymously and For FREE

Fallen London (Free browser game/story) 

Other Free Stuff

Daily Journal PDF 
A flowchart with questions about how you're feeling and what might help 
Tublr blog of "Selfcarezine"

"Self Care Zine Playlists" 
Emergency Compliments
Fun Free Browser Games

Whole-ish 30 Day 5

So, we bailed on Whole 30. Kinda. We've both felt terrible for the last five days. Foggy, tired, cranky. None of it fun. We wanted to try the Whole 30 challenge as a way to improve our health, and while it may have in the long run, we don't have a month we can give up to feeling extra exhausted. We've decided instead to focus on whole, healthy foods, continuing to eliminate grains, sugar and dairy (with the exception of coconut sugar in Greg's coffee, Splenda in my tea, and heavy cream in both.)

We also went to the coffee shop and got a giant iced sugar-free white coffee. We both feel SO much better. I even had the energy to cook dinner, Beef gravy (made with tapioca starch.) Baked potatoes fried in the pan.  And a huge bunch of kale sauteed with olive oil, salt and lemon juice at the end.

We were SO HAPPY to get coffee.

This isn't "in the spirit" of Whole 30. They intend for you to follow their plan completely, no exceptions, no excuses. Maybe trying this in the middle of one of my Epstein Barr flare-ups was a bad decision. I think if we had the time to devote to the method, no matter how we were feeling, we would have pushed through. 

Whole 30 Day 4

What we ate

Fried pork + Potatoes
Baked Yams + Unsweetened Applesauce
Epic Apple Bacon Bar
Balti Beef (Whole 30 Version)
Fried Banana
Scrambled Eggs

We've definitely been too light on the veggies, and done more than a little psychological cheating, but we haven't eaten anything off the lists, despite severe sugar cravings from both of us.

We had friends over for dinner, and Greg made Balti Beef without yogurt, sugar, or chutney. It was really good still. We watched Mulan and Hoodwinked, while our friend's toddler helped us take the unbreakable ornaments off our mini tree. She was very sweet, taking them off one at a time and put them in their "box".