The Pursuit of Hotness and Comic Art

My weight: 257 lbs. I was doing ok until yesterday, when I went to a friend’s birthday party. In a bowling alley. It is not possible to find healthy food in a bowling alley. Everything was either fried, or had sausage on it, or both. I only had one portion, no seconds, but I guess that was still too much. And it’s not like bowling is the most vigorous activity in the world. My arm hurt, but let’s face it, taking 3 steps before bowling is not really a cardio workout.

My goal for this week is to exercise for 30 minutes every day. No excuses. I find time to feed my face, so I can find time to move my backside. And I get to use my new sneakers.




Aren’t they pretty? (And yes, I know I need to vacuum the carpet)

In other news, I accomplished goal # 17 Visit the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. They had exhibits of Harvey Comics (Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich) and a really lovely series of paintings about totoro as part of the Totoro Forest Project. (and if you haven’t seen “My Neighbor Totoro”, rent it! It will be worth your time, I promise. )


The real treat was an exhibit of cartoons that I hadn't heard of before, "The K Chronicles". Funny and smart. If you are in the area, take a look.

The Pursuit of Hotness: 1st Post

In spite of all the successes I’ve posted, this has not been a successful project, because I have not only not achieved any progress on this goal, but have in fact gone backward. I refer to:

Goal number 64. lose 100 lbs.

I didn’t list it as goal number 1, even though it was the first thing I thought of when I started this, because I truly do think there are more important and interesting things in this world than my size.

But it seems to be the one thing that a lot of the others depend on. How successful a marathoner can I be if I’m carry 100 plus pounds extra weight? How successful will I be at dating and falling in love (not very, I know this from experience.) Sexy underwear, bathing suits, etc. Not very likely. I'm reluctant to try kayaking because I'm afraid I'll get stuck in the boat.

So I am going to redirect this blog a little. I’m not changing the name, and I will keep posting about festivals, art, cooking, and places to visit, because they are the things that make up “A More Interesting Life”. But I will be making weight loss (aka The Pursuit of Hotness) a regular feature.

So in the interests of full disclosure, the following stats:

Height: 5 feet, 6 inches.
Weight: 256 lbs

Goal weight: 145 lbs
Pounds to go: 111

I’ll post a picture later, when I take one. Wish me luck.

Tomatoes! and an update

I went to the farmer’s market in El Cerrito last week, and nearly hurt myself trying not to buy everything in sight. Such beautiful produce! I just wanted to fill my car and then cook all day.
Instead I contented myself with buying a bag of cherry tomatoes.

I still bought way too much (eyes bigger than stomach), so I made 'Oven-dried Tomatoes'. Very simple, next to no labor, just slice’em in half, moisten with oil and put in the oven on very low temperature until chewy. They make great sandwiches, are nice stirred into a risotto, or tossed with pasta, and they last longer than fresh. And did I mention it makes the house smell terrific?

So, how’s the project going?

#49 See Shakespeare in the park. I say Pericles on Labor Day Weekend in San Francisco. It was a really unique version, They set the play in Appalachia (a fictional Appalachia, one with oceans), and the music was very traditional, ending with “I Am Weary, Let Me Rest”.

#98. Put together a car maintenance folder. Done! I got together all the bills I’d saved and logged them all in a book, which I am keeping in the car. Now when I take the car in and they ask me “when was the rotator gasket last aligned?” and "did you pin tuck the carbeurator flange?" I’ll be able to tell them.

#59. Buy a decent pair of ballroom shoes. I did this in July, when I went to watch Laura compete. They actually fit! (not easy when you have wide feet) I was so inspired that I asked my instructor to include me in the year-end showcase, and we are putting together a foxtrot.

As you can see, progress is being made, slowly. I haven't been paying as much attention as I should. But I am back to updating the blog, and other entries are being planned, even as I type.

Welcome Autumn!

I know it’s a cliché, but I think Autumn is my favorite season. The angle of the light, the way the leaves change, the crispness of the air. It’s all so lovely.

And there are few things better than going to the farmer’s market in fall. I love pumpkins. They are so bright and cheerful.

And don’t these cherry tomatoes look like candy? I couldn’t help myself, I bought 3 pounds. There will be lots of tomato recipes this week.

Yesterday I hiked Land’s End in San Francisco. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and clear. Unusually for San Francisco, there was no fog. It wasn’t a very difficult hike, though by the end of the 3 hours, my feet definitely hurt. But what a lovely day.

I'm Back!

I was in Houston last week. Did you miss me?

Technically, I was in Sugar Land, but it's so close, it might as well be Houston. Sugar Land is the former site of the Imperial Sugar Company. Once it was cane fields as far as the eye could see. Now it's filled with high tech /oil companies and the place is booming.

I stayed at the Marriott Town Square, which is quite nice. They have strange, split-level desks in their rooms, but still nice. I ate at a restaurant called Japaneiros (Brazilian-Japanese cuisine) which was made even better by my not having to pay for it.

I got a chance to see friends I haven't seen in almost a year, I met other people working in my field, and I got to see my parents. All in all a good trip.

Now, back to real life. Yee ha!!

Alameda Antiques Fair

Diana is the only friend I have that’s willing to get up before noon on a Sunday. She is also quite happy to spend half a day looking through a lot of old stuff. Thank goodness there are other morning people in the world. Who else would I go shopping with?

Antiques Fair is a bit of a misnomer. There were some antiques, but most of what I saw was barely 50 years old, some of it even younger. Fortunately, there was very little out-and-out junk. I really liked these drawer pulls. So much so I wished I was refinishing a bureau, so I would have an excuse to buy them, but no. I had to pass them by. They also glow in the dark, but it was far too sunny to test it.

The variety was impressive. Clothes, china, bakelite bangles, furniture (there was a wonderful Danish modern dining room set I loved, if only I had somewhere to put it) antlers, silverware, even a booth devoted to letters.

We’d been browsing for about an hour when Diana and I noticed a green glass refrigerator jar (Diana likes green). At the same booth we saw some red glass dishes, and on a shelf in the back a set of red, blown glass, water glasses. (6 for $20) They were beautiful. A deep ruby with bubbles and striations throughout. But we took a deep breath and walked on.

We found an adorable cookie jar, mirrors, sunglasses (Diana bought a pair, with green frames, of course) floral frogs, and after about an hour I turned to Diana and said

“I’m buying those glasses.”

She new exactly what I meant and when we got to the booth, the glasses were still there! So now I have red glasses and Diana has green glasses. It was just a glasses kind of day.

This may just be the cutest cookie jar I've ever seen.

Power Tool Drag Races!

Now I can't have a blog called "A more interesting life" and have it all be about fun things like cleaning out my closet and resumes. Sometimes you just have to deal with the boring stuff too.

I am in week three of The Artist’s Way (Goal #61). One of the things you are supposed to do is take yourself on “artist dates” to fill the well and replenish your spirit. In other (less new-agey) words, all work and no play makes Shaw a really bored and frustrated girl.

I found out about the races online and it sounded too unusual to miss. It also seemed like a good opportunity to take some interesting photos. I was right. Enjoy!

The race track. You can't see it from this angle, but there is a huge pile of old mattresses at the end to stop the machines.

Scary clown head, not sure what it had to do with anything, but it made a good picture.



This one was called "War Criminal" the playing cards in the spokes have President Bush, Dick Cheney, etc. Unfortunately, this one just sat there and resurfaced the track when they turned it on.



I'm not sure what this one was made of, but they did tell me that angle grinders were one of the most popular tools to modify.

29 mph was a good speed for these things/tools/mechanisms? I'm not sure what they're called, but they were fun to watch. Even when they didn't go, and just sanded the track.

Now you can't have drag races without a flag girl, can you?

The man in the sombrero is the fire crew. No kidding.