weight loss

Atkins, Take Two

I forgot to mention: Aaron and I went back on Induction last week.

We had both been gaining a little weight back (partially due to our repeated visits to the Happy Rose Buffet). I had gained back 12 pounds total from my lowest weight, but had gained it back slowly between January and May of this year, and stayed pretty steady after that. Aaron, however, finally hit a point last month where he decided he had to go back on Induction, and I gladly joined in. (I’m not good at doing Induction by myself. I’m too easily lured to the dark side.)

The first week, I lost 4.5 pounds. I was stoked. Then we went to visit Amy in Dayton, and I somehow managed to gain back two pounds over the weekend. I’m back to losing about a half a pound a day, though, so I’m going to lay off the daily weight check and go back to weighing weekly again.

I’ve been rediscovering old recipes this week, like the Mock Cream Cheese Danish, and finding new ones, like Hamburger Pie. OMG, so yummy. burger baked in the oven with a filling of cream cheese, mustard, and horseradish. It may sound weird, but it’s really, REALLY good. (Props to the Atkins All The Way podcast for that one.)

You know, Induction isn’t so bad. 🙂

writing

Give It Away Now

So, it’s prewriting time.

The NaNo rules clearly state: “Outlines and plot notes are very much encouraged, and can be started months ahead of the actual novel-writing adventure.” Therefore, my prewriting exercises are completely legal.

Now I have to decide whether to keep my plot ideas to myself, or to share them with my readership for comments and suggestions. Or whether to just share them with my Aaron and Amy (my husband and my old roomie).

I’ll share the basic premise, anyway, I suppose: A vampire living in a modern-day college town falls in love with a mortal woman, while in the midst of attempting to avenge himself upon his father.

That’s the almost-run-on one-sentence version, anyway. I’m kind of proud of how the major plotline finished writing itself while I was reading the alt.vampyres FAQ yesterday.

I don’t know. I tend to be just as secretive with my prose as with my poetry and my music, so maybe making my NaNo public would do me good. Still, though, it’s a big leap. NaNo attempts are inherently *bad*, being Very Rough Drafts. (Really — when you’re cranking out 2,000 words a night, who has time to proofread?)

I don’t know. We’ll see.

writing 2 Comments

Writing

Despite my laundry list of things to do (various websites, mainly, and fabricating my cosplay outfit), I’m still seriously considering participating in NaNoWriMo. I participated last year (although I cheated by working on my existing story), and I’m already signed up for this year.

The interesting thing about my writing is that… well, it arouses me. Yes, in that special way. Back when I was pubertizing, writing was my favorite way to get my ya-yas out, and I wrote some really cheesy (and utterly unrealistic) soft-core porn during the summer of ’88. (I wish my Mom hadn’t made me tear it out of the back of my journal after she found it, because that shit would be worth a giant laugh 15 years later.)

I can look back on that and chuckle… but as that was my longest and most intense stint of fiction writing, it did make an impression. Now, when I sit down to write, I have to fend off the urge to write erotic scenes between my characters, even if it really does makes sense for them to hook up. Once I write the Big Scene, I lose all of my momentum, and my story suddenly seems stupid and vapid.

All of my old stories were still living on my Power Mac up until this evening (which might tell you how long it’s been since I’ve written). In all, I have the beginnings of thirteen stories. Of those, sex scenes are a vital part of four and an incidental part of another three. In just the beginnings. Beginnings consisting of 1,000 to 19,000 words. (Most are between 2,000 and 7,000 words, FYI.) I feel like such a perv, admitting that I write smut a lot of the time… but admitting your problem is the first step to solving it, right?

According to the NaNoWriMo rules, you *are* allowed to do outlining and note-taking before November begins — but no actual writing. So this year, I think I’m going to flesh out a story idea I had years ago… and the few sex scenes, though integral to the story line, won’t be overly graphic. Neither will they be early in the story (I refuse to call it a book or novel).

This year’s NaNo will also not be related to my 19,000 word project that seems to be mortally stalled and in need of a major rewrite before it’s even a third of the way completed. (Incidentally, I only managed to add 2,000 words to this story during November 2004.)

I’m going to give it my best shot this time, and I’m going to try to make it PG-13. If I’m not embarrassed when November is over, maybe I’ll share my results.

drumcorps 4 Comments

Conundrum

Here’s the thing.

This past summer, I was waffling weekly about whether I wanted to march drum corps in 2006. I would be getting ready to drive the hour and a half up to a “camp” (aka six-hour-long rehearsal), or to a parade, or to a carpool site before a weekend trip, and I’d be absolutely positive that, no, I’m not doing this next year.

Then I’d arrive at said rehearsal or performance and wonder how I could possibly think to give this up. Not once would I contemplate what was going on at home, or the opportunity cost of marching drum corps. I was berating myself for not practicing more at home, and concentrating on my own personal performance at the moment. That’s what corps is all about: focusing on a common goal, working toward a vision, doing my best not to be the weakest link.

Now that I’ve had some time away from it, though, I’ve been thinking about my reasons for wanting to march next year, and I’m finding them weaker than I’d previously thought.

First, I wanted to be a part of the very first competitive Lakeshoremen season. Since our debut at DCA was unexpectedly upgraded from mini-corps to Class A corps, though, I *was* a part of the LSM competitive debut. And we did well. We didn’t come in last — in fact, we were quite near the middle of the pack. I even had my very own little mellophone solo (not actually a solo, per se, but a good measure or so where you can hear my very own countermelody line over the rest of the corps).

Second, I was under the impression that I’d be very interested in playing whatever music we ended up playing in 2006. Several ideas were bandied about at the end of the 2005 season, but I was particularly underwhelmed with the near-final song selection that was played at the banquet earlier this month. I could really care less about playing that music. No disrespect to the show design team, of course. It just was a total turnaround from the ideas that had been shared late in the 2005 season. So, the musical selection isn’t such a pull factor anymore.

Third, and most importantly, I had wanted to march one more season of drum corps before Aaron and I decide to start a family. One more summer of selfish indulgence in what *I* want to do. Because, after we decide to pop out our progeny, the selfish days are over. Now that I think about it, though… wouldn’t I rather spend my possibly-final childless summer with my husband? Not in a car driving to Michigan every other weekend? Or more? I think I’d rather go to anime conventions and on vacation and hit garage sales and go thrifting and do all the things that my drum corps activity curtailed last summer.

I might turn in my mellophone at the Open House next month.

I’m still an at-large member of the Board of Directors, and I’m still webmaster. I’d also like to take some photos for the corps, for PR and for the website. I want to stay involved. But not at the expense of my family, or my relationship with my husband.

I think I’ve convinced myself. But what do you think?