Monday, September 12, 2011

Why Listening to Audio Books on Roadtrips is Awesome

The only audiobook I've owned up until a few weeks ago was Harry Potter Book 7, Deathly Hallows. I've listened to it 3-4 times already. My hometown is 3.5 hours from where I live now and instead of spending most of my drive time trying to find new radio stations to listen to (I lost my iPod, or it was stolen, a while back and I refuse to buy a new one), I like to spend my time with Harry & Co.

A friend of mine recently gifted me Book 6, Half Blood Prince on CD. I went home this weekend and brought it with me. 7 hours of Harry Potter = awesome.

Now, I've read each book in this series more times than I can count. But there's something about having it read to me that helps me to pick up on certain things that I may not have noticed just reading through.

Like when Slughorn tells Harry that he has his mother's aptitude for Potions and I realized one of two possible/likely things:

1) Snape tutored Lily in Potions (I mean, we knew that already, right - from the flashbacks in 7?)
2) Snape's notes in his book were written with Lily in mind (since he was older) and she also used the HBP's text in Potions class.

I travel to Long Island again this weekend for my cousin's 13th birthday and I plan on having Harry accompany me again. I hope to have many more awesome revelations.

Purchase Now from Amazon: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)

Thursday, September 8, 2011

How To Really Lose Weight Without Dieting - Week Three

Weight: 153
Down: stayed the same
Waist Size: 32 3/14
Difference: 1 1/4 inch

How have I done with each of the goals?

1) Portion Control: I've stuck true to cutting down my original serving to my Weeks 1-2 goal. Doing this has helped me pay more attention to my body's hunger signs. There's been times when I've realized I'm full BEFORE even finishing my new portion! That spells success to me. And the one day this week (Fantasy Football Draft Day) that I went overboard because we had a bit of a chili and beer party - I felt so gross after overdoing it (mind you - the NEW overdoing it, not the old, during which I probably would have scoffed down A LOT more) that I became more mindful of what I was eating for the remainder of the week. However, I've not yet eaten outside of the way I'd normally eat. I'm making/ingesting the same foods, perhaps bulking them up with veggies a bit - just controlling the portion size. At no point during this program did I ever feel like I was depriving myself of anything I wanted. Even icecream. You know, instead of eating the entire pint in one go, I made it last over 4-5 servings.

2) Light Exercise: I've been every [sunny] day with my friend at work. It's about a mile and it really gets our hearts pumping in the middle of the day. I've also been trying to get up off my butt more frequently, talking to people in person rather than calling or e-mailing. I also moved my car further out in the lot so that I have a longer walk in the mornings/afternoons.

3) Fruit: I've been trying to find ways to sneak it in and so far, so good - with fruit juices, pears eaten for breakfast, and dried fruits when I'm snacking. I would like to include smoothies, but they seem to be so calorie rich, no matter where you go to get them.

4) Water: I've always been a heavy water drinker, so no problem there. Chapter 4 involves methods for tricking your body into thinking it's already slightly full before you begin your meal. I've been doing that by drinking a couple full glasses of water to give my stomach that heavy feeling. Chapter 4 has other really awesome suggestions as well.

So, now. What does Chapter 5 and the kick off to Week 3 entail?

Not sure, really. This chapter got a little vague. It's really a pump it up chapter, don't get down on yourself for indulging. Don't decide to eat an entire package of cookies just because you slipped an had a couple. Indulging isn't failing. That sort of thing.

I'm also supposed to start my new, new portion size. Except the book doesn't go into detail on how exactly I find my new portion size. So I'm going to go ahead and make my own assumptions as to what it should be.

Goals:

1) More water/tea.
2) Pump up the exercise a bit. I had started a pushup, curlup challenge a little while back that I sort of abandoned once a physical trainer gave me a routine to do to help my back pain. Guess what? I abandoned that too! So I think I'll just get going on all of that again. Requires 3 days a week.
3) Small portion size
4) Keep up with more fruits and veggies

I don't start Chapter 6 until Week 5, which is when the second part of the program begins. I honestly thought I'd have lost more weight by now, but I was really happy to see that my stomach changed an inch and a 1/4.

Purchase Now from Amazon:  How To Really Lose Weight Without Dieting

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Book Sleuth - Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition



Found via my boss, during our Labor Day reading discussion
Published by Scribner

My boss thought it was great, that he'd learned alot that he didn't know about that time period and thought I might like it a lot. Any other opinions out there?

Purchase Now from Amazon: Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition

Saturday, September 3, 2011

What I'm Reading Weekly Roundup

Thought it was time to bring this ol' gem back.

In Blogs

An Awesome Quote on Writing by Nabokov
Game of Thrones House Posters my favorites are House Stark, obviously. But I really like House Baratheon as well. There's something about that image and the words - ours is the fury - that gets me.
This is Major Tom to Ground Control having my kids grow up on Bowie is a must.
A Selection of Great Books to Read when you're BROKE which I am.

In Books

Drowned Sorrow Vanessa Morgan
Feast for Crows George R.R. Martin

In The Pile
Under the Tuscan Sun Frances Mayes
The Three Weissmanns of Westport Cathleen Schine

Friday, September 2, 2011

Book Sleuth - Legend of a Suicide



Found via The Millions
Published by Harper Perennial

Anyone who follows me via Google Reader may have caught the post I deleted sometime last June, regarding the five year anniversary of my good friend's suicide. I was pretty hammered when I wrote it, which is why I deleted it almost immediately after. We'd just all been out together sharing our memories of him and I got home and decided it might be a good idea to watch this videotape I'd made our last summer before college, in which he features prominently. It wasn't poorly written or anything, it was just... incredibly raw and heartfelt.

Luckily, the post still showed up on my feed and I was able to save it and turn it into a short story I'll be sharing with my writing class in a few weeks. Once I do, and once it's been critiqued and edited, I'll share it with you.

But anyway, I have thought a lot about writing a memoir of sorts, containing a series of short stories about my most vivid memories with this group of friends. It would just be snapshot after snapshot of our years together, all coming together to describe our different relationships with this passed friend and how we all handled the hurt and the anger. I don't know.

That's why this book caught my eye.

Purchase Now from Amazon: Legend of a Suicide: Stories (P.S.)

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Book Sleuth - Ten Thousand Saints


Found via Baby Got Books
Published by Ecco

I'm anxiously awaiting the review on BGB - but has anyone else read it?

Purchase Now from Amazon: Ten Thousand Saints
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...