Where I've been

Dear readers,

I apologize for falling off the map. My life has been pretty much turned on its head since I last wrote, but in a good way. See, I've left my freelance lifestyle behind for now in favor of a full-time writing job at one of Seattle's mega corporations. It's a temporary contract, so perhaps I'll be returning to the freelance life come January 2013, but for now... I'm a working girl!

After working as a freelance writer with the occasional seasonal or part-time non-writing job since 2002, working full time in an office of a major corporation is a MAJOR change.It reminds me a little of when I started college as a wide-eyed 18-year old. Learning where everything is, meeting new people, learning to use the in-house computer tools and systems--it really is just like when I was trying to figure out how to register for classes and how to use that crazy internet thing back in 1994.  But I'm three weeks in now, so I have a pretty good idea of where everything is now and what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm settling in.

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During all of this transition and my inability to find time to blog, I actually did uphold my Operation Consumption Liberation challenge to go gluten free for the month of April. And, since I haven't blogged since mid-March, I barely managed not to exceed my $102 frivolous spending budget (I spent $99.73, thus I had $2.27 left on April 1).

For May, I've rearranged my schedule a little, postponing Gasoline until June in favor of reducing Mindless Time-Suck Activities. I made this shift because I suddenly have much less control over how I spend my time, and free time is a valuable commodity. I'm trying to find time to read, write, do yoga, do editing homework, visit friends, exercise, sleep, bathe, cook, clean, grocery shop, and remember to do things like send Mother's Day cards, pay my cell bill, and take the recycling out. I really need to make smart use of my time.

Originally, I imagined this as the month where I would not watch TV or use Facebook or browse the web at all. But now I'm thinking more about sustainability. I am trying to examine and make smart choices about how I use my time, minimizing time-consuming, time-wasting activities rather than abolish them forever.

So I am checking Facebook, but I'm limiting myself to 10 minutes a day. I am checking my email. But I'm trying not to check my personal email more than once while at work, and then once in the morning and once in the evening.

I am also trying not to watch endless hours of television programming. This is challenging, because Mad Men and Game of Thrones are both on Sunday nights right now: I don't obsess about many shows, but MM and GOT are totally level 1 obsessions. I can't NOT watch these things. But I can try not to watch other crap, or if I do, I better be doing dishes and folding laundry and cleaning my apartment at the same time

Anyway, this may be no time-suck lite. I can deal with that.

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I'll blog later about my attempts to do new things and step outside my comfort zone. I will say that taking this job and the steps that led me to it have had me stepping outside my comfort zone and doing new things left and right, and my earlier steps outside the comfort zone were excellent preparation.

Until next time...

Stupid-scary new thing!

That's right. That's a bottle of 5-hour energy drink in my purse. I'm about to drink it. I have never  drunk one of these in my life, because I suspect I will feel cracked out and spazzy for hours. Which frightens me, and the company I keep, just a little. But I am TIRED, and maybe, just maybe I'm wrong about this one.

What the hell? Bottoms up!

Clam-digging, oyster-shucking, shellfish-cooking fun

Here's my DOUBLE Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the fourth week of February and first week of March. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new.  

 

Week 8: Digging for clams and oysters!

Week 9: Shucking oysters and steaming clams!

A posse of oysters

Why they're on my list: I'm big on eating local food, and when you live on the Puget Sound, local food includes clams and oysters.  I like clams!  I like oysters! I like cooking! It also seems un-Pacific NW of me to have lived here for over 10 years without ever digging clams or cooking clams or shucking an oyster, and going on a clam dig has always sounded like a super fun weekend adventure.

March Spending Diet!

Well, it is Leap Day, which means that my Operation Consumption Liberation (OCL) month of Snack Control is coming to an end.  If you read my last OCL post, you'll know that I was struggling a bit with the "No Eating after 8:30 p.m." part of my February challenge. Despite my resolve to get back on the wagon and stay on the wagon, I've been falling off this particular wagon left and right. 

Why can I go a month without meat or sugar without caving into my cravings, but can't make it through a shorter 29-day month without a 10 p.m. Snack Attack every few days?  I think it boils down to this: I can handle staying clear of certain kinds of foods, but I have very little willpower when it comes to not eating when I want to eat. This is probably linked to how much I dislike the feeling of denying myself that comes hand in hand with dieting. Not eating when I want to eat feels ten times more like dieting than not eating what I want to eat.  I snack pretty healthy, after all; I eat rice crackers, fruit, and low-fat string cheese, not French fries, chocolate bars, and milkshakes. 

On this note, it is clearly time for me to take a break from food-related challenges, but not from diets in the broader sense.  That's because my March monthly challenge is Curb Your Frivolous Spending Redux--a.k.a. the Spending Diet. Last year, May was my month of being a tight wad, during which I gave myself a budget of $132 to spend on unnecessary things like dining out, lattes, mascara, iTunes, haircuts, movie fares, and so on. And that was a good challenge.  This year, I'm trimming that amount by $30, for a monthly budget of $102 dollars. (That extra $2 makes all the difference.)

My homemade pizza beats Pizza Hut's any day.

I Fear Zombies!

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the third week of February. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new.  

Week #7: Play a first-person shooter video game on an XBOX 360.

Why it’s on my list: First off, as far as I know, I have never played anything on an XBOX or an XBOX 360. So it is an official new thing. 

 Scary XBOX! (Photo by Wikicommons user Javier Donoso [CC-BY-SA-3.0])

You say Bag-ull, I say Bay-gull

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the second week of February. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new. 

Week #6: Make homemade bagels!

Why it’s on my list: About six months or so back, a friend of mine posted a link to a bagel recipe on Facebook. Now this friend is one half of a culinary-inclined duo, who often post about their edible masterpieces in the kitchen. I don’t even think about making most of the stuff they make, because I know that I am no Nigella Lawson. That said, I am often inspired by my culinary amigos, and I actually do cook and bake from time to time. And I also really like bagels; I went through a bit of an obsession with Eltana’s wood-fired bagels last spring. So I thought, “I should totally learn to make bagels!”

An Eltana bagel that I once loved. And ate.

Snacky Crazy!

Overdue, overdue!

This is my long-delayed Operation Consumption Liberation (OCL) update about how my month without sugar (January) went and what February's OCL challenge is all about. But it is February 16th.  I can hardly remember January, I think it might have snowed a bunch.   But the rest of it...big fat blur.

Snowy in Seattle: Ravenna Park

But I did survive No Added Sugar January redux.  Like before, it was challenging at times.  Let's reflect on what I wrote at the end of No Added Sugar January last year:

I Survived Zumba: OFL Week 5

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the first week of February. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new. 

 

Week 5: Go to a Zumba class 

Why it’s on my list: So Zumba is a Latin dance-inspired fitness program with a choreography that incorporates hip-hop, soca, samba, salsa, merengue, mambo, martial arts, and some Bollywood and belly dance moves. I’ve been hearing from everyone and their dog about how fun Zumba is for at least a year, maybe two now. When I’ve peeked through the window of my gym’s group fitness room and seen a Zumba class in progress, the participants really do look like they are having fun. And I hear it really is a great workout for your hips and core. I’ve been meaning to try it. 

Hang Ups: I’m terrified of looking stupid, of course; why else would a person hem and haw about going to a dance class when she wants to dance? This fear is exacerbated by the fact that I am severely dance challenged.  Maybe not to the degree of the Seinfeld character, Elaine Benes, but let’s consider the evidence through the years.

The 2012 All-Consuming Agenda

I've been meaning to post my 2012 Operation Consumption Liberation schedule for a few days, in addition to a post about how I'm doing during my second-annual January without added sugar. And now here we are, January 31.  How does this happen?  

Time, why do I lose track of you so?

Anyway, I promise a post about my sugar-free month later, as well as my weekly post for my other Operation this year (Fear Liberation--OFL, yo!).  But for now, without further ado, here are the habits, things, and tendencies that I'll be trying to consume less or none of--or trying to let consume less of me--for the remaining eleven months of 2012:

• FEBRUARY: Snacking
• MARCH: Frivolous Spending
• APRIL: Gluten 
• MAY: Gasoline
• JUNE: Mindless Time Suck Activities (Facebook, web browsing, TV, etc.)
• JULY: Caffeine
• AUGUST: Needless Beauty Products
• SEPTEMBER: Dairy and Meat
• OCTOBER: Smartphone and texting
• NOVEMBER: Alcohol
• DECEMBER: Anxiety

As you can see, there are a few challenges from 2011 that I'm revisiting (Alcohol, Gasoline, and Caffeine--plus this month's Sugar challenge), and there are also a few old challenges that I've merged with another to make it a little more interesting and challenging: Superfluous Web-Browsing and TV/Netflix/Hulu are lumped together in "Mindless Time Suck Activities" in June; I'll be going without meat AND dairy for a Vegan September; and I've combined my two months dedicated to curbing my Frivolous Spending into one.  

And I'm taking up a few new challenges this year (Snacking, Gluten, Needless Beauty Products, Smartphone & texting, and Anxiety). The last is a little different, in that I will be working with my own behavior to try to prevent anxiety from becoming all-consuming in a very anxiety-provoking time (the holidays).  Also, I am not sure if my October challenge is possible.  This is 2012, not 2007.  A lot has changed...  But I'm willing to aim high, for now anyway.

 So there you have it.  And now I need to go cook some substantial meals, so that, come February 1 tomorrow, I might be less inclined to snack late at night due to eating a popcorn dinner (or a chocolate cake, given the cessation of my sugar fast...)


Cakey! The Cake from Outer Space: "Birthday" from Dyna Moe on Vimeo.

Confronting My Inner Ageist: OFL Week 4

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the fourth week of January. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new. 

Week 4: Visit a life-care retirement community to attend a talk/conversation on ageism.

Why it’s on my list: My 70-year-old friend CD, who I met through a friendship-match program for isolated elders and people with disabilities called Elder Friends, asked me if I would like to go with her to this conversation café. Led by author Wendy Lustbader, the planned conversation topic for the evening was "Changing the Culture of Aging in the 21st Century."  C was clearly eager to attend this event, and since C has had several TBIs and is unable to drive, I knew she wouldn’t be able to do so without my help. Friends help each other out.

Since I’m in my mid-30s, I haven’t had many invites or reasons to attend a talk directed at a senior community. However, both of my parents qualified for full Social Security benefits last year and are by America’s standards officially senior citizens. When I consider of how very capable, active, and healthy my parents still are (in my view, anyway), this topic holds more intrigue for me than before. 

And I also have witnessed ageism in action on several occasions when I've been out on the town with C, or my 94-year-old grandmother, or my 80-something landlady, GK.  All three ladies are still more than sharp in the brains department, yet the moment salespeople see C's cane, Grandma's walker, or GK's white hair, there is a notable shift in their demeanor; they assume an ignorance on the part of my elder companion, a comprehension level on par with a kindergartener.  Often, while their speech becomes louder and slower (which, honestly, is helpful for both Grandma and GK), the salespeople's faces and gestures subtly convey increasing impatience and irritation.  C has made no secret of how much this condescension bothers her, and I can tell it frustrates my grandmother and GK too.  I don't like seeing any of my friends or family members have their feelings hurt, so I totally support changing the way this culture perceives our elders.

Plus, I am sure that I have unwittingly committed acts of ageism many, many times.  I don't want to be an ageist, so I thought this talk might enlighten me as to ways that I can avoid such ageist behavior in the future.

"Pop! Pop!" - OFL Week 3

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the third week of January. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new.  This one was edible.

Week 3: DIY microwave popcorn in a brown paper bag

Why it’s on my list: I love freshly popped popcorn with tons of sea salt and butter.  I often pop it in a pot on the stove top, but I worry that I’m damaging the bottom of my pot when I jostle it on my stovetop’s coil burner. True, I could pick up the pot to shake it, but that takes so much effort.  Plus, I still have to clean the pot afterwards. 

 

And I’m not really that mad about packaged microwave popcorn.  It just doesn’t taste as good.  This may be related to the fact that I burn packaged microwave popcorn 70% of the time, but I still find something lacking in the flavor department during the 30% of the time when my packaged microwave popcorn emerges without char. Plus, there’s the whole safety thing: a FDA report suggested that the chemical coating in the bags breaks down when heated into perfluorooctanoic (PFOA)—a likely carcinogen, according to the EPA.  And then there’s the debate about diacetyl, an FDA-approved chemical often used in microwave popcorn’s artificial butter flavoring. The extended inhalation of fumes from this chemical cause the debilitating respiratory disease commonly known as “popcorn workers lung” due to the number of microwave popcorn factory workers afflicted. 

Considering all of that, I’ve seen this simple recipe for DIY microwave popcorn in a brown paper lunch bag at least a dozen times over the years in cooking and DIY magazines and online.  No chemical coating, no artificial butter fumes, no processed flavor, no pot to clean, no strenuous jostling.  Plus, it’s loads cheaper than buying boxes of Orville Redenbacher Microwave Popcorn. 

Let's Get Physical - OFL Week 2

Here's my Operation Fear Liberation (OFL) snapshot for the second week of January. Once again, I've forced myself to do something new (and let me tell you, this one took a whole lot of forcing). 

Week 2: Go to the gym before 8 AM. 

Why it’s on my list: I suspect that checking my workout off my daily to-do list before John in the Morning signs off would help me start my workday earlier and allow me to settle into freelance projects uninterrupted for longer stretches of time.  Plus, it might help wake me up. 

Hang Ups: motivation, requires advance planning (laying out exercise clothes and enough time to ingest and partially digest water, coffee, and a light breakfast), physical discomfort (prefer afternoon workouts), mental grogginess (and grumpiness). 

New Thing Done Numero One

Welcome to the first "snapshot" post for my new 2012 quest, Operation Fear Liberation (OFL).  Each week, as I force myself to do something new (and, for some stupid reason, intimidating to me), I will post one of these snapshots to look at: why I put this new activity on my list; my previously-held reservations and hang ups about said activity; the "when, where, and how?" I did the activity; a summary of my experience; and my final takeaway post-activity.  Here we go!

Week 1: Go to a Burlesque show.

Peakaboo Pinups by Michael Albov [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Why it’s on my list: Every time I open the Stranger or Seattle Weekly, I see advertisements for burlesque shows and think, “That looks fun.”  God, how many times have I seen someone brag or gush about attending a burlesque show on my Facebook feed?  Frequently.

Hang Ups: Requires advance planning and finding someone to come with me, cost of admission, getting over a tired internal debate left over from my time as a Gender Studies minor about whether or not burlesque performances objectify or empower the female performers, mental resistance from that tiny part of me that is a total prude.

My 2012 BAGs

I like big ass goals (BAGs).

For the last two years, I have challenged myself with quite a few BAGs.  These BAGs were clearly defined, with timelines and other parameters in place to give the BAGs structure and to hold me accountable.  In 2010, I committed to do, and did, at least 30 minutes of yoga for 360 straightdays.  In 2011, I challenged myself monthly to reduce my consumption of a different practice or item that I believe is unhealthy when over-consumed.  By and large, I succeeded at those challenges too. 

Challenges of years past: on my way to 360 days via half moon pose...

There was a time not so very long ago when achieving any of my BAGs felt unlikely.  I’d set a bunch of BAGs at once and feel pumped up about them for a few weeks, but then I would inevitably get overwhelmed by the first sign of difficulty or derailed by one of life’s endless distractions.  So I would cut myself a little slack.  As time passed, I’d push my BAGs further and further back on the shelf until I had all but forgotten them.  I had achieved nothing.

Deep down, I knew that dropping my BAGs every time the going got rough was no way to live.  If Eminem is right about how “you only get one shot,” then I was squandering my shot.  Instead of living my life to the fullest, I was loitering in a place of fear, self-doubt, and passivity.  I was particularly wary of change; I went to great lengths to avoid it at all costs.  But change is unstoppable; it has its way with all of us sooner or later.  In 2009, change caught up with me and knocked me on my ass.  When I managed to get back up, I decided it was long past time for me to start accomplishing some of those things I’d always wanted to do. 

New Year! Challenges and Changes Galore!

Hello, 2012!  I am so pleased to meet you.  Don't get me wrong, 2011 was amicable enough, but man, that year could be a real pain in the neck - literally and figuratively.  It was definitely time to move on, to reset, to start anew. 

Before I jump into what we've got going on here in 2012, I suppose a brief Operation Consumption Liberation wrap-up would be good.  First, my gifts wrapped in old calendar pages were a huge success with my family, which is good because I have more where those came from.  And my darling mother jumped on board and wrapped all of my gifts in old newspaper.  The paper and packaging challenge is definitely one that I intend to keep practicing every single day, though I might cut myself a tiny bit more slack in the toilet paper department!

I've been reflecting on the twelve monthly challenges I took on last year.  Which one wins the titles of easiest and hardest challenges, which one had the most and least lasting impact, et cetera. Here are the results: