Saturday, September 12, 2009

Why hello, dear readers. I’m on the couch, a little before noon, watching “Extreme Megastructures” with T. At the moment they’re focusing on the tunnels under Montreal. Fun.

So where have I been this week? Busy. I guess not in a bad way, and if there were any “bad” elements, I brought them on myself (e.g. staying up too late on GR and no sleeping). But today I feel pretty good. Should I go to bullet points? No, not yet.

Let’s address yesterday and today, first. Yesterday morning I hit the YMCA at the usual time and knocked an hour out the elliptical. The workout was very much needed because I slept a little later on Thursday before working for twelve hours, missing the gym in the process. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t work out on a weekday. Anyway, Friday was better. After the gym I hit work, taught, and cut out early to work at home. The dogs and I hung out, I cleaned the first floor, and I caught up on email/paperwork. After the boys arrived home…what did I do? I can’t even remember. Oh, that’s right, I hit Costco and the gas station. After dinner I watched some of the Jordan coverage while drinking Rolling Rock. Then I took a bath with Coulter (heh) and fell asleep pretty early.

This morning was cool. I woke near 4 but fell asleep until closer to five. The dogs and I hung out while I drank coffee and watched the first half-hour of Vampire Diaries. Then I hit the gym for a more varied workout, elliptical/stairmaster/treadmill. After arriving home M left for Zoomba so I took a quick shower and ragged at the boys to clean their rooms. S and I left for McDonalds (hash browns, S’s addiction), the coffee shop (Italian soda and disappointing peach iced tea), and the Port farmers market, where we picked green and habanero peppers, along with some weird soap that’s supposed to be good for sore muscles. The Port farmers market has improved. It’s still nowhere near as varied as the West Bend market but at least they have food now instead of bracelets and trinkets and whatever. M watched Vampire Diaries while I read the paper. And here I am.

The sun is out and the wind blowing through the screens. I suppose I’ll miss summer in a couple months but I’m ready for the warm weather to go away. I hear rain and cooler temps reign out east. I wish. Next weekend, from what I understand, should bring the sixties. Can’t wait.

Ok, I’m going to water the plants and read a little before T’s first football game of the season. Have a great day.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

So what did you think of the Vampire Diaries? I found my attention lagging. I amused myself by enumerating all the ways it differed from the book.

random anthony said...

I hadn't read the books, Jacks...I got "Vampire Diaries" mixed up with "Vampire Academy" and got the wrong one. Are they a lot different? This one seemed Gossip Girls with vampires. I will withhold judgment for at least one more episode.

I used "True Blood" and "Twilight" as part of a compare/contrast Bloom's Taxonomy exercise last week in class. Maybe I'll add Vampire Diaries, too.

Unknown said...

RA, they are COMPLETELY different! "The Vampire Diaries" is about a popular girl, queen bee at her school, who appears to be the reincarnated love interest of two vampire brothers. There's one good brother who never drinks human blood, and one evil-ish brother who does, and so is more powerful. The series was written in the early 90's and has just been re-issued in two two-volume sets.

Now, "Vampire Academy" is about a VAMPIRE girl going to a special vampire school. She's dealing with all the usual teen issues of boyfriends and rivalries, and she also has to deal with blood lust and someone stalking vampires. It's a much newer series, still being written.

I agree that the TV version of "Vampire Diaries" feels Gossip Girly, with the top girl and her rival vying for the cute new boy (who just happens to be a vampire). I thought the good vampire was pretty boringly wholesome, but his brother was hawt!

random anthony said...

Ah, I didn't make myself clear there. That's my bad. How are the Vampires Diaries book/television show the same/different?

Hm. Vampire Academy actually sounds kinda good.

Unknown said...

Oh, the difference between the book "Vampire Diaries" and the TV SHOW. Okay, let's see...
First off, Elena is supposed to be icy blonde, a real ice queen. She's the most popular girl in school, and so in the book, she's shocked when the vampire guy, Stefan, ignores her. He does NOT show up at her door with her diary. He gives her the cold shoulder at school.

He's freaked out because she resembles his old love so much, and he's trying to resist his attraction to her. Elena sees him as a challenge, and so she makes it her GOAL to get him. But first, she still has to break up officially from her football star boyfriend. In the tv show, she already did that.

Plus, Stefan the vampire is not from town, like the tv show has it. He's much older, and he's from Italy, from Renaissance times. And he has ALWAYS avoided drinking from humans, not just lately.

His brother, Damon, doesn't control the crow in the book. He IS the crow.

What else. Oh, Elena's best friend is a pale redhead in the book, not black. And there's another best friend, too, a smart level-headed girl who appears to be entirely missing from the tv show.

Those are the main points, but really, they reworked just about everything. I don't mind, really. The books weren't that great.