PCGuyIV has some delicious questions for us today…
Are you an adventurous eater, or do you prefer to play it safe when you’re feeling peckish?
Do you prefer dining in or dining out?
When you dine in, who does the cooking?
When you dine out, do you tend to stick to places you know, or do you look for new places to try?
1. I’m not super adventurous. The edgiest thing I tried was raw fish back in 1987. I really liked it, and sushi/sashimi became one of my favorite dishes until I began reading so many articles about parasites (that was the biggest reason I waited so long to try it in the first place, but then was persuaded it’s safe here). However, in 2016 a poke bowl made me sick for a month, so I haven’t had any raw fish since. Mostly, I eat the same things, or slight variations, day after day.
2. I like eating at home, though it’s nice to occasionally have dinner out with people (not so much during a plague). The issue with restaurant food is that it’s oversalted and otherwise unhealthful. The portions are gigantic, so even if I don’t finish something salty and unhealthful, I still end up eating too much of it. 🙁
3. Who cooks? This guy…
I wouldn’t call what I do “cooking” these days. I’ll make a salad or sandwich, maybe an omelet or a grilled cheese. I’ll nuke a veggie burger or some other frozen goodie. When I was still going to friend-events, sometimes I’d bake a cake or some cookies.
4. If it were up to me, I’d stick to places I know and like, but others sometimes want to try new restaurants. Generally, I will order something familiar even at a new place. I do want to try a new restaurant I saw the other day called Plant Power. It’s all veggie fast food, mostly burgers. Mmm.. 😋
Having been subjected to stay at home restrictions (to one degree or another) over the past six months, would you say that the quarantine has made you a better person? If so, in what ways? If not, why not?
Yes, I do think it has made me a better person regarding doing things for others. In the past, I viewed dangers as something only to worry about for myself (and immediate family), but now I think more about the wider implications of my actions. Let’s take mask wearing. I hate wearing a mask. Just gonna say it straight up. I find them super uncomfortable and annoying. In the past, I might have worn one to protect myself, but now I wear one for that reason and also because I don’t want to infect others, should I catch The Thing and not be symptomatic for a few days or so.
I’ve also learned that I’m not as much of a loner as I thought. While I have a higher tolerance for loneliness than most people I know, it’s not infinite. After a while, I really crave in-person conversation. And zooming is not a good substitute for me. It’s okay for playing games at times, but it doesn’t make me feel I’ve been with people. Kinda like cybersex back in the day…
Perhaps it’s made me a worse person too though, in that I have less tolerance for some beliefs. Or maybe that’s better! I used to be pretty accepting of quirky ideas, but now I’m not. But maybe it’s time I quit thinking that every lunatic notion is “interesting.” We’ll leave it at that.
As promised, my smile for this week is the day I spent at the beach with my family.
Look at my awesome sandcastle! It’s so great just to relax and play for a few hours without a thought of politics or other drama. The beach is perfect for this. 😍
My little granddaughter had a good time too, creating her own castle and adding to mine, or smushing it, as the case may be.
And to finish off Fandango’s Dog Days of August super fun prompt series (I didn’t miss any, yay!)… my plans for Septemberinclude spending a lot more time with my precious grands. I also want to work on my novel, take care of my mental and physical health (good food! exercise! sleep!), read more books, etc.
Thanks for a fabulous month of prompts, Fandango! And thank you too, Trent, for nudging us to focus on the positive. 🥰
More than a hundred? That’s a tough one. I guess there are thousands of cat crunchies in the cat food bags altogether. Likewise, I just bought a double pack of ibuprofen, which has a thousand total pills. I’m sure I must have over a hundred vitamin tablets if you add up all the different ones.
I don’t have over a hundred physical books today because I donated so many when I moved, but it’s likely I have a hundred plus DVDs. Same goes for CDs. I have thousands of photos all neatly filed away. I bet there are over a hundred pieces of pasta if you add my three boxes together. Mmm pasta! I bought it in the lockdown but never made any.
I must have a hundred fears and regrets, goals and dreams. A hundred ideas for blog posts, poems, and stories? Of course. Are there 100+ migraines lurking in my future? I would think so. That’s only about 4 years worth, enough to last me through the next presidential election, should there be one.
Clean, though I get envious of those who do even more. Because of neck/back issues, I don’t clean as obsessively as I might. I’m also neat & tidy. At work, it’s harder cuz of ongoing paperwork on my desk, but at home I’m super anti-clutter. I love to throw things away!
If I asked you to describe yourself in five words – what would they be?
Smart, funny, creative, obsessive, crabby.
Do you enjoy being out in nature?
No. Theoretically, it’s great… lovely beach, peaceful hike, majestic mountains… but the reality is that so many things trigger my migraines it’s not fun to be outside. Bright sun, wind, cold, etc. are all triggers. And now, with constant back pain, it’s hard to even enjoy a simple park walk.
Incidentally, this was a huge problem for me on dating sites, where every man seemed to crave being outdoors 24/7.
What could you spend all day talking about?
Relationships, writing, psychology, games, music. Not saying I know a lot about these things, but they’re interesting to me.
Please feel free to share some gratitude from your life! Thanks!
Super grateful I was able to see part of my family this past weekend, including my newborn grandson! 💗💗💗
Remember this? 😂 It’s been a while, huh? Welp, doing nothing takes up a lot of time!
For my final book of this challenge (a book of my choice), I picked our own Ashley Peterson’s Managing the Depression Puzzle. I wasn’t sure this book would have a lot of relevance to my life, since my episodes of depression haven’t been “that bad.”
I was wrong. I found tons of helpful info throughout Ashley’s book. That’s part of the reason it took me so long to finish ~ I didn’t rip through it like I do a romance novel. I wanted to stop and think about various sections. The other reason is because of games on my phone, which I’ve been playing a lot at night to destress from the news of the day.
But I learned from MTDP that I don’t have to feel guilty about these games. So what if I haven’t finished writing my novel? It’s better to practice self-care and keep myself out of the abyss. (I have made progress on Ghosted, don’t worry, just not as much as I meant to.)
I may post more thoughts about some parts of MTDP that resonated with me deeply, probably in a Pointless Meander. Yeah, yeah, I know I haven’t posted more ideas on Mark Manson’s book as I said I would. But I need to keep up with my daily goals in Spider Solitaire.
1. The clock will strike 13 and the sky will smell like television.
2. Our phones will get an update to absorb calories from our fingers, so we will lose weight via texting, facebooking, etc.
3. Cats will stop eating stupid things that make them yark. 🐱
4. Men will quit lying. No, just men. These are MY predictions ~ do your own. 😛
5. No cute shoes will ever hurt our feet.
If you’re saying, but Paula these sound more like fantasies than predictions… you’re absolutely correct. And so is imagining an end to this pandemic. 😢
Which pre-pandemic activities are you ready to resume (or have you already resumed)? Which, if any, pre-virus activities are you likely to continue to avoid?
I have been going into my office a couple times per week and am totally fine with resuming a full-time schedule. There are only a few of us in a large suite and we hardly get any visitors. I will likely bring my own lunch so as not to deal with the cafe.
I’ve already been to my dentist for a normal cleaning and X-rays. I felt perfectly safe. They took my temperature as I came in and everyone was masked. I would also be okay with going to a regular doctor, if necessary.
When I grocery shop or go into other crowded public places, I wear a mask, even if it’s not required. I plan to continue doing this indefinitely. It’s uncomfortable, but I think it’s worth it. 😷
As I mentioned, I’ve visited my family in LA and have had a socially distant BYO picnic with friends. I’d probably be okay with outdoor dining at a regular restaurant. But maybe not… can’t predict how crowded it might get.
I want to get my hair cut and colored, but my daughter talked me out of it. I guess I can wait or figure out some DIY alternative.
I want to visit my older daughter in NorCal, but I’m definitely not ready to deal with either airports or flying. I could drive, but that’s a huge PITA. We shall see… 😞
While I find it enjoyable to hear the sounds of people having fun at our community pool, I’m not ready to join them. Not that I was a pool person in the first place. We also have a great gym though, but I’m not eager to go back there either. I’ll be passing up all peopley events for the foreseeable future, such as fairs or festivals or concerts or movies or even (my favorite) game nights with a bunch of people touching stuff.
Starting my Tuesday with questions from Melanie! 🙂
1. What do you think of professional motivational speakers? Do you think they motivate?
I don’t like to listen to jabber, period. I don’t seek out speakers and in fact avoid audio like the… you know. Videos are for music. 🎶 That said, I don’t mind reading some motivational jibber, depending on my mood. I enjoy short, profound philosophy that can make me go ahhhh and leave me thoughtful and/or calm. And I enjoy humor mixed with inspiration, a la Mark Manson. I don’t find motivation in everything he writes because a lot of it is geared toward much younger folks beginning careers and relationships. But there is still some stuff applicable to me. I don’t know if these speakers motivate people in general, but I’ve gotten value from reading other ideas, especially MM’s.
2. Do you have a favorite flavor?
Yes, several… coconut, cinnamon, lemon, and vanilla.
3. While out walking, you hear a rustling in some bushes. What do you think of?
Kitty!
4. What’s your ideal temperature (nature-wise)? Hot, cold, temperate and mild, humid or bone dry?
I like it pretty warm, 80ish. But I prefer an overcast day, as bright sun is a migraine trigger. Rain is also a trigger, as are any big changes in weather or extremes generally. Hate wind!
Alrighty! Got a post done and now on with the day… 🎉
Nice that the block editor keeps the alt text of previous images unlike the classic editor. I’m always forgetting to add it and Ashley says we should. If we copypasta an entire post, of course, the alt text is kept, but (1) I haven’t found the copy button yet on Blocky, and (2) sometimes that’s annoying anyway because you have to delete so much. Ideally, my saved pieces will have All The Things.
This is my first post today (Friday, June 5)… though I realize for some of you it’s already Saturday and you’re onto the Stream of Con thingie. I’ll do that next if I don’t collapse here at the table as I do sometimes. Fan. Fan fan fan. Lots of ways to go there. Again, I failed to do the flashback… maybe that won’t be a regular feechur here any longer, idk. I’m pretty bored with it, plus I like to write new things. I did do a brief search yesterday, but only one year came up and I didn’t like anything. Remember that, even though this blog is a decade old, there were times I didn’t post much and other times I went through and hosed vast amounts of jabber off the sidewalk. That was because (1) I like getting rid of old, negative vibes, and (2) I kept restarting the dating stupidity and thought men might go back and read it and get the (correct) idea that I’m a big crab. I should have been searching for a lobster, or someone relatively crunchy.
I’ve been posting more from my laptop instead of my phone. That’s because my hand hurts. Idk if it’s arthritis or what. It seems like it probably is. In any case, normal typing on a keyboard is much more comfortable for my hand than poking at the phone buttons. That’s why, if anyone wondered, I’ve been using fewer emoticons… sometimes I save a post and then open it on my phone and “decorate” it before publishing, but not always. I told my doctor about my hand on our tele-visit and asked if it was okay to use ICYHOT. He said sure but it didn’t do anything except excite my nerves to distract me from the pain for a bit. Ever since then, the ICYHOT has lost its appeal, lol. Which is great because I have a multipack of the stuff from Amazon that I ordered to get a great bargain. [insert eyeroll]
I had trouble sleeping this week. All the chaos in the streets/media just got to me (again). Worry for myself, my work, my family, their work, health, safety, finances, all of it, circles and ripples and spirals of worry. I haven’t been able to fall asleep for real until way after midnight (sometimes I have a crash nap for a few minutes here & there)… sometimes not until 2AM. And I don’t sleep that much later to make up for it… I am usually awake by 6:30 at the latest, though I will try to doze off and on for another hour, if I can. I get up tired, which I hate, and muddle through the day, sometimes finding energy in the afternoon, depending on the day. It’s just an exhausting cycle. I’m hoping to get it under control this weekend with some good self-care.
Needless to say, I’ve had to focus what little mental sharpness I’ve had on work and there was nothing left for my writing projects. That’s just how it is and I refuse to beat myself up over it. I didn’t go outside and exercise, even though things are opening up, because of the protests and random weird stuff going on. I absolutely do not want to get involved in anything. That’s just how I am, and if anyone has a problem with it, please go rant on your own blog about the joys of activism. I’m in chronic pain and can’t fix the world, sorry. Marching/yelling/being in a glob of people would certainly give me migraines and back pain for days. I was glad to see that the protests in Orange County, California stayed peaceful and purposeful however. That didn’t interest the major news media, since they only want to show violence to get more shares and clicks.
Facebook is a drag. I was happy to return during the pandemic to reconnect with peeps… it was wonderful to be so warmly welcomed back. I totally dug that. It was easy enough to steer clear of most of the ranting politics and instead chat with peeps about their pets and recipes and what-all, but then along came this latest round of screaming. Peeps are diligently reposting links and memes and lecturing everyone else on the exact way to say things and do things and yada yada boo. I do feel proud that I received a “bless your heart” from a Texas conservative. I must be doing something right, eh? Mostly though I tiptoe around now because I don’t need someone to messily explode at me for not wording my feels in the prescribed manner. I hesitate to post anything myself in fear of starting a massive war of words in my comments, since I have friends from all over the political spectrum. Meh.
Twitter is nuts. I keep losing followers, though I don’t say a damn thing. How could I offend anyone? Maybe they die, idk. Yesterday I complained about my sinking stats and a few returned. Who even knows what is up with that place. I shouldn’t care about the numbers, and I wouldn’t except they’re right on the splash page of your profile. At least here on WP, I have to click somewhere to look at my pathetic stats. Yes, I know they are bad because I did look. Pffft. Don’t care. WHY don’t I care about my WP stats, when I’m writing here, but I care about my number of Twitter followers, when I barely tweet? There is a mystery…
Okay, this is long. I should go make some tea and write the fan thing now.
