how do you live so happily while i am sad and broken down?

So I had a lovely weekend.

Yes, I'm only just now getting around to telling you about my weekend.

Saturday I went with my friend S to see Amanda Palmer. It was a good show, and she sounded exactly as good in person as she does on her recordings. She did this really cool thing: she asked concert-goers to send in 7 pictures, each with a theme, to her website by each city. Then she used those as the background art projected onstage.

Here is some video footage I took of it:


Note the guy in the cowboy hat. In every single picture I took. Thanks for that dude.

Here's another one, of her doing a cover:

It was really fairly awesome.

On Sunday, I'd planned to hang out around the house and recover from being on my feet on a concrete floor for four hours. Instead I got a call at 10:30 because one of my tennis teammates had gotten stranded in Tennessee and couldn't make it back in time for our match that afternoon. I played line 3 doubles (out of five lines) and not only did we win but it was the first competitive match I've played where afterward my injured foot did not hurt at all. Now the rest of me, that's a different story.

So that was my weekend. It was a good one. I'm feeling a little under the weather now, possibly because I went for a walk with a friend last night and got caught in the rain. Oh! And I've signed up to do the One Direction Big Bang, so now I have to get back to writing that AU I started this summer.

• I played tennis yesterday and today for the first time in a month. I took the month of November off from it entirely, to try to give the plantar fasciitis in my right foot a chance to heal. It hasn't. :( But I was so happy to play again. Playing two days back to back was probably not the best plan. Drills (community co-ed open play*) are on Fridays, my team play time is on Saturdays, and practice is on Mondays. I hate to give up any of them, but I think I will have to pick two of the three going forward. Friday or Saturday, and then Mondays.



• I have also joined the YMCA. I have been meaning to do more core strength training for a while now, and they also offer pilates, yoga, Zumba, and water aerobics classes. The Zumba is out for now, but the others - particularly pilates and water aerobics - let me exercise without putting strain on my foot. They also offer something they call Coach Approach, where you talk to a fitness person about your goals and they help you build a program to meet them. I had my first meeting today. I wasn't crazy about the woman I saw, but I am happy about the weight training program I will be starting.



• I am going gang-busters on the craft project I started today. It's a cross-stitch wall hanging of this picture I found on the internet. I will post a picture of the finished product.



• M is home, so hopefully no more crazy cat stuff.

*There was no way to type that to not sound a little dirty.

I used to write a lot. All the time, every (or nearly every) day. I don't really do that now. I'd like that to change.

At Dragon*Con, I went to several of the writer's track panels, as I do every year. I whinged a lot to zillah975 about how I wish I was writing, like I do every year. Tonight, I went through all the notes I'd jotted in my iPod (yay technology) and I bookmarked all the sites they'd talked about and...

I didn't write anything.

I could have. I totally didn't need to watch those episodes of Criminal Minds (which I'd already seen), Monk (which I don't even like), & Without a Trace (what the hell am I still doing up at this hour?) I could have spent that time being far more productive. Except for the tennis I went and played, and then the drama tennis email waiting for me at home (LSS: we are probably kicking someone off the team for attitude issues.) Those were productive.

I have given this a lot of thought, and I have come to the conclusion that I don't know how to write at home. I did most of my writing in airplanes, airports, hotel rooms, etc. I was alone by circumstance and I had a large block of unfilled time with few other options for distraction. I also had a laptop with a lot longer battery life than I do now - at 45 minutes, I don't even bother to turn it on during the few trips I take these days.

When I was thinking about this entry (which I should have written hours ago instead of now, when it's closing on 3 am and I should be ASLEEP,) I thought the latest thing I'd written was earlier this year. I looked it up, and turns out it was last November. BTW, I never posted a link here; it's AI8 Kris/Adam fluffiness over on DW if you want to check it out. It's only 3500 words.

Anyway, I have decided that I need to work on finding a way to write at home. So I am going to try some writing exercises, to get myself back in the habit and to train myself to write at home. I have found a website with several prompts, and a podcast that is led by one of the panelists from Dragon*Con. So expect to read some weird things from me in the coming months!

OH, and zillah975 - remember when we were drunk and I told you that I once wrote cloud slash? here. And here.

*I've decided that when I can't think of a title, I'm just going to use whatever random lyrics are playing on my ipod at the moment. Prepare yourselves accordingly. Feel free to play 'Name that Tune' in the comments.

Friday:
I went to tennis drills, where we warmed up for ten minutes before the skies opened up. Then I spent an hour hanging out at the tennis center chatting with my team captain who works there in the summer when she's off from teaching school. Then I went out to dinner with friends, for our usual Friday night tacos.

Saturday:
I drove up to Vinings Buckhead to get my second laser hair removal. I liked the attendant better this time, I think I will request her next time. She was kinda trashy, but you could also tell she actually did something so that's a win. After running the rest of my errands, I went to see Super 8 with a friend.

OMG.

OMG, y'all. Whoever did the marketing for this movie should be fired! I was sort of on the fence about seeing it; we were originally going to go see Green Lantern but the timings didn't work out. So how this movie should have been marketed: someone drops the Goonies into the middle of a monster movie. Go. Go now! I laughed, I cried, I gasped, then I laughed some more because my friend screamed out loud in a crowded movie theater and I am a bad friend like that.

Sunday:
My partner & I kicked ASS in tennis! We won 6-0, 6-0. We were a well-oiled machine. We rock. :) And our opponents were nice, and fun, which trust me is NOT the norm. A lot of people take amateur tennis far too seriously. After I got cleaned up, I got my grocery shopping done and picked up Mexican takeout for dinner (I totes deserved guacamole!) Then I worked on my photo album from 2006 - I got through April, where I got to document my first ever face-to-face meeting with krazycat! ILU! Can't wait til November when we can hang out again. Why is November so far away?

Today:
TODAY WORK DID NOT SUCK. I nearly finished my installation in one day, which should give me plenty of time this week to finish up the training from last week. I know the idea of getting to do more work in the week isn't normally a positive, but I would really like to have everything wrapped up by Friday so that I can have the next two weeks (one vacation, one work conference) without old stuff hanging over my head. And then I went to tennis practice, and that also did not suck - although to be fair, it doesn't usually. It was soooooo muggy though. I was literally dripping by the end of it. Good workout though!


Today's Random Thought: My face looks thin again in the mirror. I like.

So I just realized twittinesis is down and not posting tweets. I'm trying to switch back to LoudTwitter, but it's not working so far. I'm still alive though :) You haven't missed much:

• I've been painting the office again and again - it's finally done.


• I went to see some local musicians do covers of The Kinks' Lola vs Powerman album on Sunday.


• My tennis tournament is done; our last opponents canceled on us at the last minute. We came in third in our division with a record of 5-1, but I think we'll still make the playoffs because of the small number of teams in the league.


• I mowed the lawn today and weed-ate my leg a little.


• I am starving. Starving! But I'm trying to eat less :( Food, why so good?

And that's about it.

Ok, so looking at my journal, it's been ages since I really posted here. On the bright side, my twitter to facebook connection is working again, so I am tweeting more which lets you know things like I went to the ER last weekend. That was fun.

So let's see. Last weekend - Friday night, tennis. Saturday, tennis. Sunday, walked a 5K in 53 minutes. This was my first 5K and I was happy that it was pretty easy for me. Of course, it's not like we walked super fast or anything but hey. It was fun. Actual fun, not the sarcastic fun from the previous paragraph. Then there was my little DIY accident. Lesson learned: never set power tools above you, they might fall. The major thing I have to say about that is that I was really disappointed with the ER at Emory. Since I moved here, people have always told me that if I need to go to the hospital, I should go to Emory. I think they must mean the one downtown, because the one at the campus hospital was tiny and dingy. And I had to wait for 3 hours to get an x-ray.

But anyway, thankfully it turned out to be nothing. It didn't even hurt really, just a lot of swelling which is now turning into a lovely large bruise with still just a tiny bit of swelling. Luckily the organizers of the 5K had included a sample of Arctic Ease so I tried it out. It feels weird because it's all clammy, but it was much more convenient than the bag of ice. Also, unlike the bag of ice, my cat didn't try to attack it and eat it.

I had to take a few days off from tennis on the doctor's recommendation, so I missed practice on Monday and had to postpone the match I had planned for Tuesday. I did finish the shelves though, and over Thursday and Friday I managed to deep clean the bathroom and get everything back in the closet. It's so nice to have a place for everything instead of having stuff piled up in a jumble. Other than that, I didn't accomplish much this week though.

Thursday night, I played a THREE HOUR TENNIS MATCH. Long match was long. I won though, so that's something. Then last night, it was the usual - tennis drills and tacos after with friends. Then I had the make up match from Tuesday today. Sadly, my legs went "Bitch, do you think you're an athlete or something???" and then replied "Um, no." I totally lost the will to live in the second set. I'd planned to come home and mow the lawn, but as tomorrow is our Spring ALTA season opener, I felt I owed it to my partner to rest up tonight and try to be fresher for tomorrow. We shall see.

So all of that is to say that if you were to ask me what I've been up to, I would say: playing tennis.

Tonight I have:

• Sat on my couch.


• Eaten candy.


• Watched the movie Brothers and cried.


• Worked on my iPod playlists.


• Took pictures of the Super Moon.


• Packed for my work trip to (near) Chicago tomorrow.


• Written you a long, fairly boring LJ post.

Day 27: This month, in great detail

Today was all about the tennis. Well, and the hangover, but hey.

*Woke up at 7 am. Had aspirin and water. Tried not to drown in my own mucus - am super over being ill. Went back to bed.
*Drug myself out of bed at 11. Got ready for tennis match. Got into car. Realized food for tennis match was sitting on kitchen counter. Got back out of car.
*Made it to the match with my portion of the food. Had super excellent chili cookout with my team - we are the hostesses with the mostesses.
*Cheered team on.
*Played my match - beat opponents 6-0, 6-1, total Beth Squared victory! (My partner's name is also Beth)
*Cheered on our last line. We won the match 3 lines to 2.
*Went over to a friend's house for match post-mortem and to help her with her new scanner.
*Came home with the best intentions of getting stuff done, sat on couch and watched "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" instead.

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

So you know how you think to yourself, "Starting on X day, I'm going to do this thing." and then you realize that X day was in fact YESTERDAY?

Oops.

Ok, so I never finished that 30 day meme. You've forgotten about it, everyone has, except for me because things like that actually bother me. One of the many, many ways in which I am special.

Day 27: This month, in great detail

I stalled out on this one, because it's hard to go through your entire month in great detail. So instead I'm going to post every day this month. Except how I forgot yesterday!

So, ladies and gents, here is my December 1st:

• Got up at the crack of dawn, dressed in my finest business casual, got breakfast at Sonic, and drove downtown to present myself for jury duty.


• Sat in the jury room for four hours, entertained Law & Order fantasies. Got dismissed. Some day I'm going to make it to the part where they ask you questions. Atlanta has a lot of crime, and they are going to need me at some point. This is the 3rd time I've been summoned in 8 years; it's going to happen.


• Went grocery shopping, got lunch.


• Came home and sort of worked for a couple of hours.


• Set out for my K-Swiss Sweet Sixteen tournament match. Had complete GPS fail - it wouldn't let me enter any info! Called a friend to help me out with directions. Halfway there (an hour away :( ) it started working again. I think it was too cold.


• Which should tell you something about my tennis match. Jeez, it was COLD. I really didn't want to play, but it was the last day to meet the deadline. We were really well matched, but I have to say I entirely beat myself: 6-4, 3-6, 7-1 tiebreaker game. It was my first game in the cold weather and my lungs were not ready for it.


• Came home, watched tv, and went to bed. Read until stupid late, then went to sleep.

Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

Hope those of you who celebrated had fun, and that everyone had a good weekend!

I am worn out! But it was a fun weekend. On Friday, I went to the Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse ( http://www.atlantazombie.com/ ) with some friends. They play it like you're a small group of survivors being led out of a hot zone by a military guide and zombies jump out at you from all over, then the military guys shoot them, and you run. It was good times. Then afterward they had zombie paintball, where you get to shoot at real people dressed as zombies. I was excited, as about five zombies into the first tour, I was all "I want a gun too!"

I did feel bad about shooting one guy because he was about five feet away, but the girl at the booth said I had to do it. I guess he knew what he signed up for!

Then on Saturday, I slept in (yay!) then did some shopping before I went for a walk with a friend. Then I got cleaned up and went out to a Day of the Dead gallery exhibit opening that a friend had an entry in, and then they invited me to go to the bar that one of them bartends at, and then before I knew it, I was crawling into bed at 4 am.

The next morning, I drug myself out of bed at 10 am to go play a tennis match. I was hurting! I really didn't have that much to drink, but I forgot to eat dinner! Oops! I lost the match, but I'm pretty proud of it - I took it to three sets (6-3, 3-6, 6-7), and the last one went to a tiebreak. Not bad considering my state, and the last time I played this girl she beat me 6-4, 6-4.

I was going to spend the evening recovering quietly and handing out candy, but J&S invited me down to theirs for dinner and a scary movie. Way more fun, but I'm sure I wasn't the best company ever.

Today, I really, really wanted to call into work. Every muscle in my arms and legs are aching, even though I don't think that the match was that challenging. I'm guessing I was super dehydrated. Ugh.

I know, I ask that every Sunday night.

So this week... this week I let myself mope. That's done now. So this weekend I got up on Saturday and mowed the lawn, despite the ever-threatening rain which luckily never materialized (sorry Nashville, it's all yours.) I even learned how to change the oil in my lawnmower, go me! Now I just have to figure out how to sharpen the blade. Or at least what tool to buy to do so. However, that's a battle for another day.

I also started working on February for my 'scrap-as-you-go-2010' photo album. I'm a bit behind, obviously, but I hope to catch up this month, it's my new May goal. Goals are good. :) February is a big month for photos, since that's when K & I went to Charleston. Looking at the photos is surprisingly NOT sad-making; we had fun. Between yesterday and today, I got about halfway done mounting the photos, and got the labels written up but not printed. To catch up, I need to finish the page layouts for the rest of the photos, attach all labels, review March calendar, print labels for work and movies, gather and have printed all photos from March, and then do the layouts, mounting and labelling for March. And I really ought to go ahead and go through the Coachella photos and figure out what I want to print so I don't waste money on prints I won't use. Time-consuming hobby is time-consuming.

In other hobby-related news, my tennis team won our division this season, and today we played in the playoffs for the first time! We lost miserably, but I am hanging on to the positive: we've never gone so far, and the team that beat us has been playing for five years to our 1.5 years.

I am also thinking/planning on taking a yoga class this week. I haven't in ages.