Laura Occasionally Blogs

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