I've had to think a lot about what I'm eating lately, and it's consumed a huge amount of my brain. I'll put all the blahblah beneath a cut so you only have to read it if you care.

( Lessons from Quitting Sugar )

This is a crosspost to the Torquere Author Social list.

Suppose Don’t Ask were set in the world of Glee where everyone is always
breaking into a thematically appropriate pop song in the middle of the
school hallway, and nobody seems to notice unless it’s convenient to the
plot. I’ve made a playlist of the songs I’d include. Feel free to
contribute! My notes are below. I tried to keep them brief enough to
tantalize rather than spoil, but read each chapter first if you’re a purist.
(Starred songs are not presently available on Spotify.)



* The Donnas - New Kid in School (2007) Chapter 1: I picture Cat and a
chorus of girls doing the singing as they lead Windy around the school, with
Mike sort of bouncing around smiling and giving Windy “what are you gonna
do? girls!” reaction shots.

Jill Sobule - I Kissed A Girl (1995) Chapter 2: Spoiler alert in the title
of this song! Cat, of course. I’ve always preferred Jill Sobule’s “Kissed a
Girl” to Katy Perry’s -- it’s just so much gayer.

Ludwig von Beethoven - Piano Sonata no. 14 (1802) Chapter 3: Mike on piano.
The first and third movements are mentioned, but I’m including the third in
the mix because it’s speedy and mixes better with pop music.

Christina Aguilera - Glam (2010) Chapter 4: Cat, playing fashion show.
You’ll notice a lot of these songs are from 2010, since the story is set
between September and December of 2010. It’s a historical novel!

David Bowie - Boys Keep Swinging (1979) Chapter 5: For the inevitable
military montage which will try its darnedest not to be campy, and fail.

The Smiths - Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want (1984) Chapter
6: Cat’s prayer. Okay, Cat is probably not into The Smiths, but I do;
they’re absolutely the best at melodramatic, melancholy teen emotional
turmoil.

Madonna - Ray of Light (1998) Chapter 6: Cat, with Rainbow Alliance for
Youth. (Get it? Get it??) Okay, basically any gay anthem would work here.

Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams (2004) Chapter 7: Mike in the Color
War. You’d think it would blow his cover to be singing.

Robyn - Dancing On My Own (2010) Chapter 8: Cat at the party.

Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire (1963) Chapter 9: Windy plays this song on the
guitar, but I imagine it’s Mike who gets the vocal solo in a sequence that
Windy will neither acknowledge nor remember.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (2009) Chapter 9: Mike’s feverishly imagined
piratical interlude. I am challenging casting to come up with a singer who
can do both Johnny Cash and Lady Gaga.

Lily Allen – F*** You (Very Much) (2009) Chapter 10: Cat, out in school.

Bruno Mars - Grenade (2010) Chapter 10: Cat to Calliope at the coffee shop.
Substitute Bon Jovi’s “Shot Through the Heart” if you want to keep this mix
ALL UP.

Seether - Fake It (2007) Chapter 11: Mike, to himself, somehow unheard by
the Brotherhood.

The Association - Windy (1967) Chapter 12: Cat’s Thanksgiving thank-you to
Windy. If you hate this song as much as everyone else does, feel free to
substitute “Thank You For Being A Friend (Golden Girls Theme).”

* Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog - My Eyes (2008) Chapter 13: Cat is the
light; Mike is the darkness.

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now (1979) Chapter 13: Mike and the hot rod boys!

System of a Down - Chop Suey! (2001) Chapter 13: Fightin’ Mike, with Van as
back-up (“you wanted to!”). Or you could just say eff it and go with
“Rumble” from West Side Story.

Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You (2009) Chapter 14: Cat,
finding Mike standing at her door. (Guess that means he’s sorry.)

* Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Machismo (1991) Chapter 15: Mike,
reflecting on manhood.

Green Day - 21 Guns (2009) Chapter 15: Mike, giving up the fight. I know
this is the second Green Day song, but, well, I love them. Blame my 90s
upbringing. Anyway, they’re not the only repeated artist in this mix; I’ll
have another Bowie in a second.

John Butler Trio - Zebra (2003) Chapter 15: Mike, embracing contradictions.
Windy could do some sweet rhythm guitar on this.

Katy Perry - Firework (2010) Chapter 16: Cat and Mike dance.

Pink - Raise Your Glass (2010) Chapter 16: Ensemble dance.

Florence + the Machine - Dog Days Are Over (2008) Chapter 16: Cat, Mike,
ensemble. The big news. I know this song is heavily associated with the Eat
Pray Love trailer, but doesn’t that make it a true Sound of 2010?

David Bowie - Heroes (1977) Mike. Epilogue.

The cold weather is easing up. Today it is merely cool. For today's farm task, I planted bare-root strawberries in a multi-tiered strawberry urn.



I had some left over, so I also planted some in my bed, even though I have no idea where I planted pak choi seeds. We'll find out! If too many things come up, I can always make decisions later! (So not organized enough to be a farmer.) You'll also notice that I put up the trellis. Now all that's left is for the peas to sprout.



In fitness news, my roommates and I did day 1 of couch to 5k on Thursday, and we hope to do day 2 at some point today. I've signed up for two (2) 5k runs this summer, so I am required to keep on schedule this time, and not just do day 1 four or five times and then forget about it, like last time.

This past weekend, after coming back from a two-day trip to find my cilantro all wilted, I decided it was time to move the seedlings out of the jiffy pots. I repotted the tomatoes in 4" pots and made a little forest for the herbs. In the process, I gave some seedlings away and cruelly discarded weaklings.





Aren't they getting such big, nice leaves? It's hard to believe I planted them only three weeks ago. You don't actually have to be that patient to grow things! These guys have now logged about 3 hours of outdoor sun time as it's been beautiful the last couple of days. We're getting some lower temperatures later in the week, but we're rapidly approaching the average last frost date, so it's time to kick the farm into high gear.

Okay, lots of things to tell you.

I. The Sprouts
Are doing well!



Most of the pods sprouted, and the tomatoes were getting real tall and spindly, so I moved them to the window. I've been keeping them under my daylight-spectrum drawing lamp, which hopefully will work as a grow light. They seem to be doing well. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to transplant them to new homes. I'll give it some time, since I can't put them outside yet anyway.

II. New Pieces of Metal for Springtime

I got a bike!



Still working on not falling off, but having the equipment means I can practice.

I also got some new/old piercings: third lobe and helix on the right. (The left side is the same, 2 lobes.) I've gotten my helix redone like three times now. Third time's the charm!!



III. My New Games

1. The Fitness Game

I've never been one to count calories. I don't have a big problem with my weight and it changes so slowly that it doesn't seem to have anything really to do with what I eat or don't. (I know it does, but it doesn't FEEL that way.) Little did I know that I was MISSING OUT on a GREAT GAME!

I started using the My Fitness Pal app to track what I eat and any exercise I do. It was just out of curiosity, sort of to see where I am instead of to change anything, but it has influenced me to make different choices in order to meet my daily calorie goal. If I only have 50 calories left, I have a square of dark chocolate instead of a scoop of ice cream for dessert. When I go over, I'm like, "Okay, time to exercise." I still don't super care about weight, but I'm making better general fitness choices, doing things I agree I should do.

I have always tuned out when people started talking about calories, but I get it now. Without the numbers, I wasn't motivated to make these choices in the moment. Now, I not only KNOW INTELLECTUALLY that the most efficient way to improve my general diet is to replace my morning bagel and cream cheese with a lowfat yogurt and sugar-free granola; I FEEL it. With my HEART.

And maybe someday I will do it.

2. The Radio Game

My trivia team always gets crushed on the music round, where we're played a short clip of a song and must guess the title and artist. I decided it's time to get serious about practicing.

Most of the music is from the 80s through today, so I auto-shuffled Pandora's pre-made pop stations for the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and "today's hits." Each time a new song comes on (unless I'm absorbed in something else), I write down what I think the title and artist is. I get one point for each one I get right. (I don't get the title point if I only get the title because they repeated it in the chorus, which wouldn't be played at the bar.)

It's amazing how many of them are very familiar to me, I can totally sing along, and yet have no idea of the title or artist. This is actually what makes the game fun. If it was just a bunch of music I'd never heard before, it would be too hard. For someone less remedial than me, it would be too easy.

Here's a sample of the first "round" of 8 songs I played. How many of the songs do you think you would have been able to identify before the chorus played (or ever, if they never say the name of the song)? I got 3 points out of 16.

Don Henley - The Boys of Summer
Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
Rihanna - Stay
Counting Crows - Mr. Jones
JoJo - Too Little, Too Late
Icona Pop - I Love It
Shakira - Hips Don't Lie
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Teeny weeny sprouts! Man, that heating pad works it magic fast.



The largest is in a weird, off-to-the-side place, making me think it was an accidentally dropped seed, but whatever. I'll take it.

Within the last six months (all of them winter), I've gone from 0 to "hobbyist gardener." Probably this is because I moved from a basement studio apartment into a first-floor condo with windows and a patio. Also, I moved to the crunchy granola-est neighborhood around, so I inevitably became obsessed with my carbon footprint. This spring, for the first time in my LIFE, I will attempt to grow some edible food.

My assets:

* An approximately 3 foot by 3 foot partially shaded raised garden bed in my yard

* Reading comprehension skills

* The proven ability to keep alive house plants rated "easiest house plant to grow" "no really you can just ignore it" "it doesn't care" over upwards of 3 months

My liabilities:

* Reading comprehension skills

* Easily distra

My friend Anna gave me an herb garden starter kit, so I'm starting with that! The first directions are to soak the seeds overnight in clear water. I don't know if that means tap water is insufficient. Luckily, someone in my household accidentally bought or stole a bottle of water months ago, so I'm using that. It turns out that seeds are really tiny! I am soaking them in these shot glasses, most of which were left behind by the previous owners of the house.



From left: parsley (misspelled), thyme, cilantro, oregano, garlic chives, basil. I don't know what garlic chives are but they sounded good. In the background, you can see four of the aforementioned house plants: an angel-wing begonia rescued from abandonment in an arboretum by a friend (I didn't quite follow the story, it may be "hot"), a wilted haworthia from Ikea, a keeps-on-truckin' problem-free jade plant from the flower stand at the subway station, a baby snake plant from Amazon.com.

I am open to suggestions for what to plant in my tiny raised bed, or in indoor/outdoor containers (indoor in winter). Here is the short list at the moment, based largely on what produce I enjoy.

* The herbs, obvs. (in pots)
* Strawberries (in a tiered planter)
* Assorted stir fry vegetables given to me in the same gift, including spinach, bok choi, and snow peas (need a trellis)
* Cherry tomatoes (probably in pots?)
* Onions (in bed or planter)
* Garlic (in bed or planter)
* Hot peppers (not sure)
* Lemons (in pot, need a dwarf lemon tree)

Notes: I'm signed up for a CSA this summer, so I don't want to repeat a lot of vegetables I'll already be swimming in. I don't think there will be a lot of fruits, though. I love raspberries, blueberries, peaches, and cherries, but I think those need more space.

I'm expanding my DVDs on offer because I really only watch Netflix now. You may say it's foolish to rely on an Internet service, but it seems silly to keep around DVDs when I PREFERENTIALLY watch them on Netflix.

( The list is now )

Claim any you like! I also have various geeky action figures on offer! State your fandom!

I appear to have gotten on another one of my minimizing/decluttering kicks (see Stuff Giveaway, previous post). Here is tried and true advice on simplifying that I know is sound because I routinely ignore it and suffer the consequences.

( Minimizing Tips from Me to Me )

I finally saw Les Miserables. Considering how obsessively I listened the International Recording in the days of my youth (approx. daily from the ages of 12 to 16, inclusive), how I went to Portland, OR to catch the touring company (not precisely true, but we did plan the timing of that trip to coincide), and how I loved it so much at age 7 that I drew the cast as horses, and how much I talked about the movie from the first time I saw the preview before Rock of Ages, you'd think I would not have waited a month to see the movie, but the other thing to know about me is that I lose track of time easily.

( spoilers )