I have a major project due at work, so obviously to distract myself from it, I need to make an LJ post. :P It's actually why I haven't posted any ASOIAF topics lately, even though a few are percolating in my brain. The ones I want to talk about next require some research, and it can be a bear sometimes to find supporting quotes and what not.
Some random updates on the State of Me:
* My eye doc wants me to ditch my hard contacts and get with the times, as they're becoming "obsolete." I've just never minded having them -- they don't feel like anything in my eyes, so soft contacts are not more comfortable for me -- and I've had them for years. The biggest pain about them is that finding contact solution is a lot tougher than for soft, and more costly as well. I wore some soft contacts as a trial run for two weeks... and ended up ordering new hard lenses. Apparently soft contacts have come a long way in terms of letting air through, but hard (gas permeable) lenses have always been better for that, so that your eyes feel less tired at the end of the day. I didn't much notice a difference in that regard. ( What I didn't like about the soft contacts: )
* I'm nearly done with a YA book called Thoughtless, by S.C. Stephens. It has amazing reviews on Amazon (4.3 stars with over 1,200 reviews), so I was really looking forward to reading it, even though it deals with a true love triangle, which I normally despise. I think it was self published, so didn't have a proper editor (at least, I hope not). It reads like fanfic, which obviously isn't necessarily bad, as there's really good fanfic out there, but it reads like mediocre fanfic. The protagonists are in their early 20s, so it's more mature than your typical YA lit, which I was actually looking forward to. Unfortunately, the heroine -- if she can be called such -- is TSTL, and has the emotional maturity of a pre-teen girl. I tried to get past the love triangle thing, wherein she's seriously torn between the two guys (since that was the premise of the story and I chose to read it knowing that full well), but she just seemed extremely fickle and selfish (which is partly why I hate true love triangles to begin with). She kept wavering back and forth, and it just made me hate her. I liked one of the guys, but his perfectness was just kind of over the top. Anyway, I can't rec it. If you see it and are interested in reading it, go in with your eyes open about what to expect.
* I went canoeing this weekend with J. Ohmygod at how much my arms hurt afterward. I didn't even do much, but I don't exercise, like, ever, so it was terrible. I mean, the canoeing at the time was awesome. We rented a canoe through the UW, the day was unbelievably perfect, and being on the water was fabulous. Every time I drive over the 90 or 520 and see people out on Lake Washington with their boats and kayaks and what not, I'm always like, how do you even do those things?? Now I know! But afterwards, when I was going to bed that night -- OMG. It wasn't a nice kind of ache in my muscles; it was REALLY, REALLY PAINFUL, to the point where I had trouble sleeping. :( (But we did go and get pedicures after, and that's always fun.)
* Had brunch with![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
corianderstem to celebrate her recent birthday! We went to Tilikum Place Café, which I'd never been to before, but really liked it. I had their special eggs benedict of the day (salmon), A. had the caprese sandwich, and we split a peach-with-sage-sugar Dutch baby. It was all very good. Best of all though were their condiments: a house-made ketchup, and a habanero hot sauce from Belize called Maria Sharp's. It was so good! I had to buy a bottle from them right then and there (our server said that they get theirs direct from Belize, because it's impossible to find locally), though now I'm investigating getting it in bulk. >.>
* I've been on a Parminder Nagra kick lately. I saw her in the latest season of Psych, which made me want to rewatch Bend It Like Beckham (which is a nearly perfect movie, except for Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who I don't find attractive at all, and also just looks way too evil for a tame hero role like that imho), which then led me to watching the short-lived Alcatraz series (which is OK).
* Speaking of JRM, I meant to talk about the City of Bones movie, which I saw with the DG gals a couple weekends ago, but it's now been so long I don't know if I remember all the details. Bottom line: The critics were right to pan it, and the fans are right to find it reasonably enjoyable. ( More in-depth commentary. )
Some random updates on the State of Me:
* My eye doc wants me to ditch my hard contacts and get with the times, as they're becoming "obsolete." I've just never minded having them -- they don't feel like anything in my eyes, so soft contacts are not more comfortable for me -- and I've had them for years. The biggest pain about them is that finding contact solution is a lot tougher than for soft, and more costly as well. I wore some soft contacts as a trial run for two weeks... and ended up ordering new hard lenses. Apparently soft contacts have come a long way in terms of letting air through, but hard (gas permeable) lenses have always been better for that, so that your eyes feel less tired at the end of the day. I didn't much notice a difference in that regard. ( What I didn't like about the soft contacts: )
* I'm nearly done with a YA book called Thoughtless, by S.C. Stephens. It has amazing reviews on Amazon (4.3 stars with over 1,200 reviews), so I was really looking forward to reading it, even though it deals with a true love triangle, which I normally despise. I think it was self published, so didn't have a proper editor (at least, I hope not). It reads like fanfic, which obviously isn't necessarily bad, as there's really good fanfic out there, but it reads like mediocre fanfic. The protagonists are in their early 20s, so it's more mature than your typical YA lit, which I was actually looking forward to. Unfortunately, the heroine -- if she can be called such -- is TSTL, and has the emotional maturity of a pre-teen girl. I tried to get past the love triangle thing, wherein she's seriously torn between the two guys (since that was the premise of the story and I chose to read it knowing that full well), but she just seemed extremely fickle and selfish (which is partly why I hate true love triangles to begin with). She kept wavering back and forth, and it just made me hate her. I liked one of the guys, but his perfectness was just kind of over the top. Anyway, I can't rec it. If you see it and are interested in reading it, go in with your eyes open about what to expect.
* I went canoeing this weekend with J. Ohmygod at how much my arms hurt afterward. I didn't even do much, but I don't exercise, like, ever, so it was terrible. I mean, the canoeing at the time was awesome. We rented a canoe through the UW, the day was unbelievably perfect, and being on the water was fabulous. Every time I drive over the 90 or 520 and see people out on Lake Washington with their boats and kayaks and what not, I'm always like, how do you even do those things?? Now I know! But afterwards, when I was going to bed that night -- OMG. It wasn't a nice kind of ache in my muscles; it was REALLY, REALLY PAINFUL, to the point where I had trouble sleeping. :( (But we did go and get pedicures after, and that's always fun.)
* Had brunch with
corianderstem to celebrate her recent birthday! We went to Tilikum Place Café, which I'd never been to before, but really liked it. I had their special eggs benedict of the day (salmon), A. had the caprese sandwich, and we split a peach-with-sage-sugar Dutch baby. It was all very good. Best of all though were their condiments: a house-made ketchup, and a habanero hot sauce from Belize called Maria Sharp's. It was so good! I had to buy a bottle from them right then and there (our server said that they get theirs direct from Belize, because it's impossible to find locally), though now I'm investigating getting it in bulk. >.>* I've been on a Parminder Nagra kick lately. I saw her in the latest season of Psych, which made me want to rewatch Bend It Like Beckham (which is a nearly perfect movie, except for Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, who I don't find attractive at all, and also just looks way too evil for a tame hero role like that imho), which then led me to watching the short-lived Alcatraz series (which is OK).
* Speaking of JRM, I meant to talk about the City of Bones movie, which I saw with the DG gals a couple weekends ago, but it's now been so long I don't know if I remember all the details. Bottom line: The critics were right to pan it, and the fans are right to find it reasonably enjoyable. ( More in-depth commentary. )
