Things I’ve learned in the past week

I can live without sugar, but I absolutely cannot live without my mac.

Frozen grapes are a poor substitute for ice cream, no matter what my nutritionist says.

Despite the fact that it’s only the end of April, it’s apparently ‘too late’ to buy a summer trenchcoat.

These past (almost) two weeks without sugar have been trying, to say the least. I was hoping that by this point I wouldn’t want it anymore, but since I was weak on Saturday and had some frozen yogurt, I guess my sugar craving clock has been reset.  Needless to say, I’ve wanted a brownie sundae for 13 days now.

Finally

I’m sitting on my bed, reading Eat, Pray, Love (still) and I hear opera music wafting through the open window with the breeze. It is one of those transcendent moments with the planets align  and every molecule on the earth collects itself into perfection. I didn’t realize I had been waiting to overhear someone else’s opera, but I was. When I heard it, I exhaled, finally. Finally one of those images that plays in my head has occurred. I am reading in the quiet with the cool breeze, no sirens, and I am listening to opera. Of all the music I’ve overheard since moving to New York, this is the only time I’m not annoyed. And no one else seems to be either. There is no banging on walls, no cursing out the window to shut off ‘that damn racket’. Everyone seems to be happy on this particularly warm Saturday, to listen to someone else’s music. It is straight out of a movie. And I didn’t even know I’d been waiting. 

Often, it is more about the destination than the journey.

At least for me. 

I realized it on the way to the gym today. I ran into my roommate on the street, and reminded her that The Biggest Loser finale is on tonight. I haven’t watched it all season, but that’s OK because, for me,  the best part is seeing all the contestants skinny and happy. And realization hit me: I don’t care about the journey, I just want the end result. I don’t want to deal with working for something, I just want to know how it ends, I want it to be done. I run into this problem constantly. I’m a Libra, and we tend to start things without finishing them. And maybe it’s inherent in my astrological sign, or maybe it’s a symptom of the ‘instant gratification’ mentality so prevalent in ’society’. But either way, I often find myself unwilling to do the work needed to see the result I want. 

This brings me to the gym. (I was only a block away when I started on this train of thought.) For possibly the first time, I am following through. I am committed. I go three times a week and get my butt kicked. And in the spirit of commitment (and because I am genuinely afraid of my nutritionist) I’m going off sugar tomorrow. Who knows how long I’ll last. Hopefully at least a day. It will be, if nothing else, an interesting experiment, and topical, as well. Every week brings another study on diabetes and obesity and how we (Americans) are slowly killing ourselves. Count me out. 

I also started Eat, Pray, Love last night, which could have something to do with the zen I’m currently feeling. Even though I’ve not finished yet, I already love it. And having had the pleasure of meeting the author last year, I’m happy to recommend it to anyone and everyone. It truly is one book that lives up to all the hype. 

 

Dying of cuteness

via Jezebel:
Duckling Rescue

Oh Netflix, how could you?

Clearly, I spoke too soon:

In case you can’t see, that’s Once and Again up there, recommended for my viewing pleasure. Or in case I want to be so bored I poke my eyes out.

Netflix knows me too well.

I recently had some Safari related issues, resulting in my having to restore it to all it’s default settings, deactivate fonts, etc (very high tech, no?). As a result, I now have to sign into all the websites that before remembered who I was. Chiefly, Netflix.

So after about a week’s absence from the net of flix, what do I see? A new welcome screen, which I’d heard about but hadn’t seen myself. According to Netflix, this is what I’m interested in:

1. TV Teen Dramas (Life Goes On, 21 Jumpstreet, After School Specials 1981-1982): based on my interest in Dawson’s Creek and Popular (seasons 1 and 2)
2. Kyle MacLachlan: because I recently added Twin Peaks to my queue
3. TV Family Dramas (Wildfire, the Black Donnellys, Kyle XY (sidenote: why doesn’t this fall under Teen?)): based on my interest in Joan of Arcadia and The Tudors
4. Pre 20th Century Period Pieces (Stage Beauty, Elizabeth): based on my interest in Becoming Jane and Pride and Prejudice (the BBC series, not the Keira Knightly version)
5. Teen Dramas (Secondhand Lions, Some Kind of Wonderful): based on my willingness to watch anything with Mandy Moore in it.

Apparently I love the drama. I think it’s important to note, however, that Netflix clearly thinks I’m 14, since even under TV Family Drama it did not suggest anything like Judging Amy or Once and Again. I’m really grateful for that. Thanks, Netflix, for not judging me by my horrible taste in entertainment, but rather, encouraging it.