All right, I lied. Today was the best biking day in November. Seriously, no jacket, no hoodie? Just a t-shirt, freaky denim pedal-pushers, striped knee socks and high sport maryjanes. And helmet, of course the helmet. My outfit got a stoplight thumb-up from some dude in the passenger side of an SUV. As I told the Brit, I normally treat a scrub trying to get my attention from inside a vehicle with my best Ice Grill, but this one just made me laugh, especially since I am certain I looked like a clown. It was a Facebook-style thumb-up.
Are you in need of some more TV to watch instantly on Netflix? I have been enjoying Party Down, which I found out about only through someone's passing mention on the Facebook feed. It wasn't even addressed to me, this mention, and yet here I am, halfway through the season. The show's about a crew of various Hollywood hopefuls and has-beens who work for a catering company, with the embarrassingly earnest Ken Marino as their team leader. TV nerds--and I would not count myself among them, but I was a fan of Veronica Mars--will remember lots of the guest stars, a few leads, and one of the show's creators from VM. Also, Paul Rudd is on the creative team. Also also, Fred Savage directed a lot of the eps. So far the show fails the Bechdel test, but almost everything does--and it's frequently damn funny, so I give it a pass.
Early bed. It's another two rehearsal day tomorrow.
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
I've been staring so long at these pictures of food that I almost believe that they're real.
Breakfast (ate this morning):
That's Gimme Lean (best worst fake meat product name), spinach, and tomatoes from my garden. I swear they've been in the window trying to ripen for a month.
Lunch (eating now):
That's the green tomato curry I posted earlier, plus green beans with sri racha and walnuts, mashed butternut squash, and cashews (post-bike commute snack). Not pictured: a honeycrisp apple. Sometimes I cut them up to fit in the bento, and sometimes I carry as-is. Why mess with so-called "hand fruit" (insert dirty joke here)?
And what the hell, a dinner I ate last week:
Sauteed brussels sprouts and cheddar polenta.
Today is the most awesome bike weather, 50s and sunny. I didn't even wear a jacket. It would only be better if the trees still looked like this:
But shoot, I'll take what I can get.
That's Gimme Lean (best worst fake meat product name), spinach, and tomatoes from my garden. I swear they've been in the window trying to ripen for a month.
Lunch (eating now):
That's the green tomato curry I posted earlier, plus green beans with sri racha and walnuts, mashed butternut squash, and cashews (post-bike commute snack). Not pictured: a honeycrisp apple. Sometimes I cut them up to fit in the bento, and sometimes I carry as-is. Why mess with so-called "hand fruit" (insert dirty joke here)?
And what the hell, a dinner I ate last week:
Sauteed brussels sprouts and cheddar polenta.
Today is the most awesome bike weather, 50s and sunny. I didn't even wear a jacket. It would only be better if the trees still looked like this:
But shoot, I'll take what I can get.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Signing off.
Unfortunately, the no-count niblet I posted earlier is about it for today. I'm leaving this computer at work, damn it. I started this day with a rehearsal and am going to end it with same, and there's really no time for dicking around on the interwebs this evening. Tell me something good in the comments. Here's my contribution: the city of San Francisco has banned the declawing of kitties. A small counterbalance to the rest of the crap going down today.
Nibbles.
I know this doesn't really count, nablopomo-wise, but I'm just pointing you to my new post on my food blog. I grew tomatoes for the first time this year, and they were sort of crappy, but one of the plants went haywire and produced loads of greenies. So I made a green tomato curry. And it was good, and I'm going to eat some for lunch right now.
As you were.
As you were.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
You know what they say about what killed the cat.
This is about as close as I get to blabbing about my professional life (such as it is) here.
I occasionally work with someone who encourages performers to "replace judgment with curiosity." Which is a really, really nice idea that I could certainly incorporate into, say, political discussions with people I don't agree with, but in the context of performance, "replace judgment with curiosity" can take on the tang of a Theater Shop platitude that inspires only eye-rolling. And let's face it, sometimes you're presented with such a load of boo-shat dressed up as Art that there's no way to withhold judgment.
But there are ways to get around the platitude. As I learned last night, one colleague suggested dealing with it this way:
JUDGMENT = "who wrote this piece of shit?"
CURIOSITY = "I'm curious, who wrote this piece of shit?"
I love this. It absolves you, right?
I occasionally work with someone who encourages performers to "replace judgment with curiosity." Which is a really, really nice idea that I could certainly incorporate into, say, political discussions with people I don't agree with, but in the context of performance, "replace judgment with curiosity" can take on the tang of a Theater Shop platitude that inspires only eye-rolling. And let's face it, sometimes you're presented with such a load of boo-shat dressed up as Art that there's no way to withhold judgment.
But there are ways to get around the platitude. As I learned last night, one colleague suggested dealing with it this way:
JUDGMENT = "who wrote this piece of shit?"
CURIOSITY = "I'm curious, who wrote this piece of shit?"
I love this. It absolves you, right?
Didn't I blow your mind this time?
I was yoga-ing along with a yoga podcast yesterday (n.b. I am not virtuous; this was my first time doing such a thing) and wanted to share something with you, a physiological reality that is counter to every piece of yogic talk about breathing that I've ever heard:
Your spine actually gathers when you inhale and lengthens when you exhale.
This might not be mind-blowing to you, but it's kind of revolutionary when you think about how many mat-based exercises ask you to elongate as you inhale, when your body is doing exactly the opposite. I only learned this little fact last year in reading about body mapping and singing, and it rocked me. Unsurprisingly, an accurate understanding of the mechanisms of breathing is fundamental to healthy, free singing, and most of us poor voice teachers perpetuate a lot of well-meaning misinformation about how breathing works. For example, when we tell people to feel taller on the inhale, it usually results in muscular tension somewhere--I would guess in the mid-back for most people.
Here's a helpful blurb about what your spine's doing when you breathe:
I'm just saying.
Your spine actually gathers when you inhale and lengthens when you exhale.
This might not be mind-blowing to you, but it's kind of revolutionary when you think about how many mat-based exercises ask you to elongate as you inhale, when your body is doing exactly the opposite. I only learned this little fact last year in reading about body mapping and singing, and it rocked me. Unsurprisingly, an accurate understanding of the mechanisms of breathing is fundamental to healthy, free singing, and most of us poor voice teachers perpetuate a lot of well-meaning misinformation about how breathing works. For example, when we tell people to feel taller on the inhale, it usually results in muscular tension somewhere--I would guess in the mid-back for most people.
Here's a helpful blurb about what your spine's doing when you breathe:
One of the most profound sources of buoyancy in our bodies is the gathering and lengthening of the spine that happens during breathing. The gathering occurs all along the spine as we inhale. It is partially due to rib movement. As the ribs move closer together when we inhale, they bring the thoracic vertebrae closer together. Another source of the gathering is the general deepening of the curves of the spine as the body deepens on inhalation.If you bring your awareness to this gathering and lengthening and allow--rather than force--it to happen, the net effect is one of freedom of motion and elongation, which it would seem is what the yogis are after anyway. And the sense of release on the exhale that allows you to twist more deeply into whatever posture you're working owes much to the natural lengthening of your spine.
When the vertebrae gather together, the springy discs of cartilage between them are slightly compressed. As soon as the work of inhalation is released, the discs of cartilage spring back to their full height. In other words, the spine lengthens as we exhale.
What Every Singer Needs to Know About the Body (Malde, Allen, Zeller)
I'm just saying.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
This is going to be another mavenish post because I want other people to buy eyeglasses online with me. EyeBuyDirect.com is having a buy one, get one free sale for another 5 days or so. I've never done this before, but it's pretty dang cheap, especially if you have a minor correction and can use the lenses that are included in the price of the frames (seriously! this means glasses for like $25). I, alas, cannot, for my eyesight is very very bad, and I must pay extra for thin lenses.
The glasses I have now are a few prescriptions old, so I only wear them for pottering around the house--but historically, even with an up to date prescription, I haven't worn glasses because they don't correct my vision as well as contacts do. (If I crashed on a desert island wearing my contacts, I'd be completely screwed.) But I'm generally a good contact lens wearer, all day every day, so I don't mess with glasses.
I'll tell you what, though--the onset of the heating season is really kicking the ass of my eyes this year. I've never had to use eyedrops before, and now--at work, at least--I'm gloobing rewetting solution in my eyes a few times a day. So I think my eyes need a break. I have idly shopped for frames at various points this year and haven't found a thing that I like in stores. That might not seem like a great reason to buy glasses online, but if I'm getting 2 pairs for $150, it doesn't seem like such a ridiculous risk to buy glasses I've never seen before.
Plus! There is technology involved! You can upload a little photo of yourself and try glasses on it on the website, which is hilarious, because your photo will inevitably be a little off kilter and you can't adjust the positioning of the glasses. See:
You need your prescription and pupillary distance to use this site. Have at it. I'll let you know how it goes over here.
The glasses I have now are a few prescriptions old, so I only wear them for pottering around the house--but historically, even with an up to date prescription, I haven't worn glasses because they don't correct my vision as well as contacts do. (If I crashed on a desert island wearing my contacts, I'd be completely screwed.) But I'm generally a good contact lens wearer, all day every day, so I don't mess with glasses.
I'll tell you what, though--the onset of the heating season is really kicking the ass of my eyes this year. I've never had to use eyedrops before, and now--at work, at least--I'm gloobing rewetting solution in my eyes a few times a day. So I think my eyes need a break. I have idly shopped for frames at various points this year and haven't found a thing that I like in stores. That might not seem like a great reason to buy glasses online, but if I'm getting 2 pairs for $150, it doesn't seem like such a ridiculous risk to buy glasses I've never seen before.
Plus! There is technology involved! You can upload a little photo of yourself and try glasses on it on the website, which is hilarious, because your photo will inevitably be a little off kilter and you can't adjust the positioning of the glasses. See:
You need your prescription and pupillary distance to use this site. Have at it. I'll let you know how it goes over here.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Highly informative earphone post.
As you may remember, I had some ear troubles earlier this year that resulted in getting some sweet custom made earplugs. These have been a boon in numerous situations (e.g. vacuuming, mowing the lawn), though I can't say I've used them for anything involving music (they are "musician's earplugs").
The earplugs are especially good on an airplane. The ambient noise on a plane is not messing around. Have you ever noticed how high you have to turn up your headphones in order to surmount the plane noise? Yeah, that's bad for your ears. Mark my words, there is going to be an epidemic of hearing loss in like 20 years thanks to crappy earbuds and the explosion of personal music/multimedia devices.
So what is the paranoid ear freak to do when there are in-flight movies to be watched? Acquire some sound-canceling headphones OR in-ear earphones and outfit them with Comply foam tips! I bought these Altec Lansing UHP336 earphones for cheap at Amazon before our summer Eurotrip. I'm not an audiophile--I mean, I like sound but I'm not a nerd about it--and didn't do much research, but these were a good deal and had tons of helpful reviews. As recommended by the nerdy, helpful reviews, I replaced the included earphone tips with the ones by Comply--they're memory foam. They conform to your ear canal and isolate the sounds you want to hear while blocking out the sounds you don't. Pros: the volume setting on your pod/whatever will be minimal and you'll be amazed. Even Ira Glass's mumbling at infuriatingly inconsistent sound levels will be clear and intelligible. Cons: the foam tips need to be replaced regularly, because your ear canal ain't pristine. Also, you won't want to wear these when it's important that you be able to hear what's going on around you, e.g. when you're walking alone down a dark alley.
Every time I take the phones out, I'm amazed by how much outside noise I've not been hearing. Really! Riding the bus is a much more pleasant experience this way.
Now if I can just find some non-nerdy safety gear to wear while biking in the dark, I'll be all set. There's totally a market for this, right? I keep thinking that would be a good Etsy shop idea, if only I could sew properly.
The earplugs are especially good on an airplane. The ambient noise on a plane is not messing around. Have you ever noticed how high you have to turn up your headphones in order to surmount the plane noise? Yeah, that's bad for your ears. Mark my words, there is going to be an epidemic of hearing loss in like 20 years thanks to crappy earbuds and the explosion of personal music/multimedia devices.
So what is the paranoid ear freak to do when there are in-flight movies to be watched? Acquire some sound-canceling headphones OR in-ear earphones and outfit them with Comply foam tips! I bought these Altec Lansing UHP336 earphones for cheap at Amazon before our summer Eurotrip. I'm not an audiophile--I mean, I like sound but I'm not a nerd about it--and didn't do much research, but these were a good deal and had tons of helpful reviews. As recommended by the nerdy, helpful reviews, I replaced the included earphone tips with the ones by Comply--they're memory foam. They conform to your ear canal and isolate the sounds you want to hear while blocking out the sounds you don't. Pros: the volume setting on your pod/whatever will be minimal and you'll be amazed. Even Ira Glass's mumbling at infuriatingly inconsistent sound levels will be clear and intelligible. Cons: the foam tips need to be replaced regularly, because your ear canal ain't pristine. Also, you won't want to wear these when it's important that you be able to hear what's going on around you, e.g. when you're walking alone down a dark alley.
Every time I take the phones out, I'm amazed by how much outside noise I've not been hearing. Really! Riding the bus is a much more pleasant experience this way.
Now if I can just find some non-nerdy safety gear to wear while biking in the dark, I'll be all set. There's totally a market for this, right? I keep thinking that would be a good Etsy shop idea, if only I could sew properly.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
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