Fresh off the Reading and TV Presses!

Well, as usual, the past week has just flown by!

EJ and I have been doing some major painting renos chez nous. I always forget how long painting takes. Between moving the furniture, taping, cutting in, painting, taking down the tape and putting everything back, 40 hours later our L-shaped living room/dining room is complete! Photos are to come – it only took 3 layers of paint to get the walls “eggshell” from it’s previous “chocolate brown”. Way to go painting team! A few days of rest, and then we’ll move onto the hallway.

In other news, I’ve just finished reading “Connected: How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think and Do by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler. A fantastic and illuminating read for sure – all about the power, structure and function of networks. Among other things, the authors present some interesting arguments and evidence that suggests that change (whether positive or negative) is best achieved through social networks and peer influence. Thanks for the great Christmas read EJ!

Also, I watched Season 8 of 24 in its entirety while painting. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is fantastic – quite possibly one of the best characters/roles in television history! EJ and I are also three quarters of the way through Joss Whedon’s Firefly, which has been very enjoyable. I keep flip-flopping on who my favourite character is – it’s between Mal, Jayne and Wash. The fact that it’s classified as a “space western” is just fantastic! I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to sit down and finally watch it…

Happy Tuesday!

– CG

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Hello 2012! (Hopefully there will be a 2013…)

Well, with the Mayan calendar nearly up I figured that it was time to climb out of procrastination mode and get back on the blogging boat (one day, in a land far, far away, some really smart extraterrestrial species will be combing through the records of mankind and I need to leave my mark dammit!).

With that comes the cliché NY Resolutions… Number 1: Blog more… Just kidding! Well, at least partially kidding. I had intended for this post to be about New Year’s Resolutions – there is something about writing down a NYR that just makes it more real, but then, before I actually sat down to write this post (procrastination!), I saw Sherlock Holmes: The Game of Shadows and Mission:Impossible Ghost Protocol. Both were entertaining, but it was really the previews that were featured that stayed with me…

The Dark Knight Rises – totally wicked! And The Avengers. Can’t wait!! Is it time to see them yet? (EJ also told me about Underworld: Awakening – super pumped! Big movie year.)

And with that out of the way… my biggest NYR this year is to train for and run a marathon (and do so while adding in proper strength and core training).

Stay tuned for more updates on marathon and other exciting 2012 posts!

– CG

Time for Post Number 34… Finally.

Well, as usual, it’s been way too long since my last post. A full two weeks!! The saying that “time flies when you’re having fun” is true. But I have learned that time also flies just for the sake of flying.

Recap since my last update. I think I mentioned that I finished Anita Blake (all 20 of them) and now have my life back! Yay! They’re great books, but they definitely monopolize my time. Chiro is still going well – I managed to get in a full 12.5 k run over the weekend. CG = 🙂 And am still prepping for my second half-marathon in November.

Apart from that, EJ, the Pheenz and I took a trip up to northern QC for the Thanksgiving long. The weekend was filled with good times, good company, lots of Settlers of Catan and some super cute photos of the Pheenz snoozing in the auto. These photos still need to be uploaded to the Intermeweb… It’s on my To-do list.

I also managed to read through Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. It was the second time that I read this book, but it had been at least 6 or 7 years since the last time. Nevertheless, my stomach still did flip flops during a couple of sections. Like in the chapter “Why the fries taste good” when Schlosser reveals that cochineal extract (also known as carmine or carminic acid) – which is used to add pink, purple, and red pigments in some foods like strawberry yogurt, frozen fruit bars, and candies – comes from drying out and grinding up the bodies of a small insect called the Dactlyopius coccus Costa. Yuck! And also sad. It takes 70,000 of these insects to make one pound of carmine. Or the chapter called “What’s in the meat” which talked about the bacteria found in ground beef and chicken. And the chapter on the conditions at slaughterhouses. The book was exceptionally well-written, but now that the trip to QC is complete, I’m definitely off fast food.  Anyone want to start a boycott?

I’ve also been playing catch up on the Fall TV line-up. I’m completed addicted to America’s Next Top Model All-Stars. Go Laura! As well as Survivor: Redemption Island (wherever they are this year). I was liking Ozzie for my pick until the preview for this week’s episode. Maybe going to go with Cochrane now. Oh, and Dragon’s Den is good. Even without Brett.

In terms of non-reality television programming, I’m all caught up on Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory (loved last week’s episode with Brent Spiner), How I Met Your Mother, Law & Order SVU (where’s Stabler?!?!) and Criminal Minds. I’m trying to follow a few others but have fallen behind on Ringer, Flashpoint, and Hawaii Five-O. I tried and gave up on 2 Broke Girls and Prime Suspect. And, finally, I would like to give Once Upon A Time a try. For someone with basic cable, I think I’m doing pretty well. (I actually squeeze all my TV time in the morning while getting ready for work. Straightening my hair in front of my laptop might add a couple of minutes onto my prep time, but it’s definitely worth it!).

Now, if only I could catch up on my magazine subscriptions…

Later Days! (Well, hopefully sooner than later)

– CG