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May 17th, 2012
tammy212
 | 02:22 pm - Beyond Harry Potter book list
Did I mention I updated the Beyond Harry Potter list for the first time in three years?
cross-posted from my fan lj
Current Location: desk (somewhere under here)
Current Mood:  confused
Current Music: "Creole Love Call," Duke Ellington
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tammypierce
 | 02:19 pm - Beyond Harry Potter book list
Did I mention I updated the Beyond Harry Potter list for the first time in three years?
Current Location: desk (somewhere under here)
Current Mood:  confused
Current Music: "Creole Love Call," Duke Ellington
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tammypierce
| 02:05 pm - Favorite Adult Books of 2011
It don't rain but what it pours, am I right?
nth read = the whichever number of times I’ve read it
collection = all stories by one author
anthology = stories/articles by different authors
c = set in our current time
ed(s). = editor(s)
gn = graphic novel/comics
h = horror
hi = historical
alt hi = alternate history
nf = nonfiction
f = fantasy
sf = science fiction
Mainstream—Adult
Aravind Adiga, BETWEEN THE ASSASSINATIONS; THE WHITE TIGER (c India)
Martin Booth, HIROSHIMA JOE (hi)
Kathleen Cambor, IN SUNLIGHT, IN A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN (hi)
Barbara Cleverly: 4 hi mysteries, India, early 1920s: THE LAST KASHMIRI ROSE, RAGTIME IN SIMLA, THE DAMASCENED BLADE, & THE PALACE TIGER
Anita Diamant, DAY AFTER NIGHT (hi)
Barbara Hambly, RAN AWAY (Benjamin January hi mystery, 1830s New Orleans)
Barbara Hamilton (a pen name for Barbara Hambly), two Abigail Adams mysteries: A MARKED MAN and SUP WITH THE DEVIL
Charlaine Harris, SWEET AND DEADLY (mys)
Karen Maitland, COMPANY OF LIARS (hi)
Sharyn McCrumb, THE DEVIL AMONG THE LAWYERS (hi mys in the Appalachians)
Robin Oliveira, MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER (hi)
Robert Parker, SCHOOL DAYS (c)
Jodi Picoult, 19 MINUTES (xth read)
Marge Piercy, SEX WARS (hi, 1890s)
Erich Maria Remarque, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (hi)
Kathryn Stockett, THE HELP (hi, 1960s)
Indu Sundaresan, THE TWENTIETH WIFE (hi, India)
Sarah Waters, AFFINITY (hi, 1880s)
Farad Zama, THE MARRIAGE BUREAU FOR RICH PEOPLE (c, India)
Thrillers—adult
James Lee Burke, IN THE ELECTRIC MIST WITH CONFEDERATE DEAD
William Diehl, PRIMAL FEAR (3rd read)
Lisa Gardner, LIVE TO TELL, THE NEIGHBOR
John Grisham, RUNAWAY JURY (xth read)
John Hart, THE LAST CHILD
Susan Hill, THE WOMAN IN BLACK (hi, ghost story to star Daniel Radcliffe)
Tami Hoag, NIGHT SINS
Elmore Leonard, PRONTO, RIDING THE RAP, WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE (collection)—these star Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, the main character of TV’s “Justified,” though this Raylan isn’t as handsome!
Chuck Logan, AFTER THE RAIN (xth read), HOME FRONT (xth read)
Robert McCammon, GOING SOUTH (c)
SF&F—Adult
Joe Abercrombie, BEST SERVED COLD (h)
Daniel Abraham, THE DRAGON’S PATH (f)
Sarah Addison Allen, GARDEN SPELLS, THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON (c, f)
Ilona Andrews, BAYOU MOON (f)
Galen Beckett, THE MAGICIANS AND MRS. QUENT (f)
Beth Bernobich, PASSION PLAY (f)
Holly Black & Ellen Kushner, eds., WELCOME TO BORDERTOWN (anthology)
Edgar Rice Burroughs, A PRINCESS OF MARS (sf/f)
Mike Carey, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (2nd read, f)
John Connolly (I re-read all of his Charlie Parker books one week this year): BAD MEN; THE BURNING SOUL; EVERY DEAD THING; NOCTURNES; THE DARK ANGEL; THE DARK HOLLOW; THE KILLING KIND; THE UNQUIET; THE WHITE ROAD
Rowena Cory Daniells, THE KING’S BASTARD, THE UNCROWNED KING, THE USURPER (f)
Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds., THE COYOTE ROAD (anthology)
Kate Elliot, COLD MAGIC (f)
Pamela Freeman, BLOOD TIES, DEEP WATER, FULL CIRCLE (f)
Neil Gaiman, AMERICAN GODS (xth reading)
Barbara Hambly, BLOOD MAIDENS (h, vampire)
John Horner Jacobs, SOUTHERN GODS (h)
N. K. Jemisin, THE BROKEN KINGDOMS, THE ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS (f)
Diana Wynne Jones, DEEP SECRETS (F, 2nd read)
Alma Katsu, THE TAKER (f)
Stephen King, 11/22/63 (time travel), THE RUNNING MAN (sf, xth reading)
Michael Koryta, THE CYPRESS HOUSE (h)
Mercedes Lackey, FIRE ROSE (f)
George R. R. Martin, A Song of Fire and Ice: A CLASH OF KINGS, A FEAST OF CROWS, A GAME OF THRONES, A STORM OF SWORDS (2nd read, f)
Robert McCammon, BOY’S LIFE, MR. SLAUGHTER, MYSTERY WALK, THE QUEEN OF BEDLAM, SINGS THE NIGHTBIRD (f)
Elizabeth Moon, KINGS OF THE NORTH (f)
Rachel Neumeier, LAND OF THE BURNING SANDS, LAW OF THE BROKEN EARTH, LORD OF THE CHANGING WINDS (f)
Daniel Polansky, LOW TOWN (f)
Michael Stackpole, TALION REVENANT (f)
Mary Stanton, ANGEL’S ADVOCATE, DEFENDING ANGELS (c, ghost, f)
Michelle West, THE HIDDEN CITY (f)
Nonfiction, graphic novels/comics, poetry
Karen Abbott, SIN IN THE SECOND CITY: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul
John M. Barry, RISING TIDE: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America
Holly Black, Bill Willingham, Alisa Kwitney, Louise Hawes, Todd Mitchell; ill. By Rebecca Guay
A FLIGHT OF ANGELS (graphic novel)
Martin Booth, GOLDEN BOY (autobiography)
Frank Cammuso, KNIGHTS OF THE LUNCH TABLE: The Battling Bands (graphic novel)
Robert Graves, GOODBYE TO ALL THAT (autobiography)
Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones, eds., DEAR BULLY: 70 Authors and Their Stories
Eric Larson, IN THE GARDEN OF THE BEASTS: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin
Deborah Lipstadt, THE EICHMANN TRIAL
Lyn Macdonald, ed., ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH: Poets of the Great War
Daniel P. Mannix, MEMOIRS OF A SWORD SWALLOWER (autobiography)
Cameron McWhirter, RED SUMMER: the Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America
Daniel Okrent, LAST CALL: the Rise and Fall of Prohibition
Current Location: desk, still no Sahara
Current Mood:  calm
Current Music: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, J.S. Bach
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tammy212
| 02:01 pm - Favorite Adult Books of 2011
It don't rain but what it pours, am I right?
nth read = the whichever number of times I’ve read it
collection = all stories by one author
anthology = stories/articles by different authors
c = set in our current time
ed(s). = editor(s)
gn = graphic novel/comics
h = horror
hi = historical
alt hi = alternate history
nf = nonfiction
f = fantasy
sf = science fiction
Mainstream—Adult
Aravind Adiga, BETWEEN THE ASSASSINATIONS; THE WHITE TIGER (c India)
Martin Booth, HIROSHIMA JOE (hi)
Kathleen Cambor, IN SUNLIGHT, IN A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN (hi)
Barbara Cleverly: 4 hi mysteries, India, early 1920s: THE LAST KASHMIRI ROSE, RAGTIME IN SIMLA, THE DAMASCENED BLADE, & THE PALACE TIGER
Anita Diamant, DAY AFTER NIGHT (hi)
Barbara Hambly, RAN AWAY (Benjamin January hi mystery, 1830s New Orleans)
Barbara Hamilton (a pen name for Barbara Hambly), two Abigail Adams mysteries: A MARKED MAN and SUP WITH THE DEVIL
Charlaine Harris, SWEET AND DEADLY (mys)
Karen Maitland, COMPANY OF LIARS (hi)
Sharyn McCrumb, THE DEVIL AMONG THE LAWYERS (hi mys in the Appalachians)
Robin Oliveira, MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER (hi)
Robert Parker, SCHOOL DAYS (c)
Jodi Picoult, 19 MINUTES (xth read)
Marge Piercy, SEX WARS (hi, 1890s)
Erich Maria Remarque, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (hi)
Kathryn Stockett, THE HELP (hi, 1960s)
Indu Sundaresan, THE TWENTIETH WIFE (hi, India)
Sarah Waters, AFFINITY (hi, 1880s)
Farad Zama, THE MARRIAGE BUREAU FOR RICH PEOPLE (c, India)
Thrillers—adult
James Lee Burke, IN THE ELECTRIC MIST WITH CONFEDERATE DEAD
William Diehl, PRIMAL FEAR (3rd read)
Lisa Gardner, LIVE TO TELL, THE NEIGHBOR
John Grisham, RUNAWAY JURY (xth read)
John Hart, THE LAST CHILD
Susan Hill, THE WOMAN IN BLACK (hi, ghost story to star Daniel Radcliffe)
Tami Hoag, NIGHT SINS
Elmore Leonard, PRONTO, RIDING THE RAP, WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE (collection)—these star Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, the main character of TV’s “Justified,” though this Raylan isn’t as handsome!
Chuck Logan, AFTER THE RAIN (xth read), HOME FRONT (xth read)
Robert McCammon, GOING SOUTH (c)
SF&F—Adult
Joe Abercrombie, BEST SERVED COLD (h)
Daniel Abraham, THE DRAGON’S PATH (f)
Sarah Addison Allen, GARDEN SPELLS, THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON (c, f)
Ilona Andrews, BAYOU MOON (f)
Galen Beckett, THE MAGICIANS AND MRS. QUENT (f)
Beth Bernobich, PASSION PLAY (f)
Holly Black & Ellen Kushner, eds., WELCOME TO BORDERTOWN (anthology)
Edgar Rice Burroughs, A PRINCESS OF MARS (sf/f)
Mike Carey, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW (2nd read, f)
John Connolly (I re-read all of his Charlie Parker books one week this year): BAD MEN; THE BURNING SOUL; EVERY DEAD THING; NOCTURNES; THE DARK ANGEL; THE DARK HOLLOW; THE KILLING KIND; THE UNQUIET; THE WHITE ROAD
Rowena Cory Daniells, THE KING’S BASTARD, THE UNCROWNED KING, THE USURPER (f)
Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, eds., THE COYOTE ROAD (anthology)
Kate Elliot, COLD MAGIC (f)
Pamela Freeman, BLOOD TIES, DEEP WATER, FULL CIRCLE (f)
Neil Gaiman, AMERICAN GODS (xth reading)
Barbara Hambly, BLOOD MAIDENS (h, vampire)
John Horner Jacobs, SOUTHERN GODS (h)
N. K. Jemisin, THE BROKEN KINGDOMS, THE ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS (f)
Diana Wynne Jones, DEEP SECRETS (F, 2nd read)
Alma Katsu, THE TAKER (f)
Stephen King, 11/22/63 (time travel), THE RUNNING MAN (sf, xth reading)
Michael Koryta, THE CYPRESS HOUSE (h)
Mercedes Lackey, FIRE ROSE (f)
George R. R. Martin, A Song of Fire and Ice: A CLASH OF KINGS, A FEAST OF CROWS, A GAME OF THRONES, A STORM OF SWORDS (2nd read, f)
Robert McCammon, BOY’S LIFE, MR. SLAUGHTER, MYSTERY WALK, THE QUEEN OF BEDLAM, SINGS THE NIGHTBIRD (f)
Elizabeth Moon, KINGS OF THE NORTH (f)
Rachel Neumeier, LAND OF THE BURNING SANDS, LAW OF THE BROKEN EARTH, LORD OF THE CHANGING WINDS (f)
Daniel Polansky, LOW TOWN (f)
Michael Stackpole, TALION REVENANT (f)
Mary Stanton, ANGEL’S ADVOCATE, DEFENDING ANGELS (c, ghost, f)
Michelle West, THE HIDDEN CITY (f)
Nonfiction, graphic novels/comics, poetry
Karen Abbott, SIN IN THE SECOND CITY: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul
John M. Barry, RISING TIDE: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America
Holly Black, Bill Willingham, Alisa Kwitney, Louise Hawes, Todd Mitchell; ill. By Rebecca Guay
A FLIGHT OF ANGELS (graphic novel)
Martin Booth, GOLDEN BOY (autobiography)
Frank Cammuso, KNIGHTS OF THE LUNCH TABLE: The Battling Bands (graphic novel)
Robert Graves, GOODBYE TO ALL THAT (autobiography)
Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones, eds., DEAR BULLY: 70 Authors and Their Stories
Eric Larson, IN THE GARDEN OF THE BEASTS: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin
Deborah Lipstadt, THE EICHMANN TRIAL
Lyn Macdonald, ed., ANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTH: Poets of the Great War
Daniel P. Mannix, MEMOIRS OF A SWORD SWALLOWER (autobiography)
Cameron McWhirter, RED SUMMER: the Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America
Daniel Okrent, LAST CALL: the Rise and Fall of Prohibition
cross-posted to my fan lj
Current Location: desk, still no Sahara
Current Mood:  calm
Current Music: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, J.S. Bach
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tammy212
| 01:53 pm - Favorite Teen/Middle Grade Books 2011
cross-posted from fan LJ
Better late than never? Yeah, that's what I thought. The adult list follows.
Books are Young Adult/Teen unless marked otherwise
Series books are in alphabetical, not publication, order
YR = Young Reader/Intermediate/Tween
nth read = the whichever number of times I’ve read it
collection = all stories by one author
anthology = stories/articles by different authors
b = male lead character/theme
c = set in our current time
ed(s). = editor(s)
gn = graphic novel/comics
h = horror
hi = historical
alt hi = alternate history
nf = nonfiction
p = paranormal
f = fantasy
sf = science fiction
v = novel in verse
Mainstream YA
Tara Altobrando, DREAMLAND SOCIAL CLUB (c)
Laurie Halse Anderson, FORGE (hi, b)
Olivia Bennett, THE ALLEGRA BISCOTTI COLLECTION (c) & WHO WHAT WEAR (c)—YR (so what if they’re silly?! They’re fun and they’re about fashion!)
Esther Friesner, THREADS AND FLAMES (hi)
Nancy Garden, ENDGAME (3rd read, c, b)
Gail Giles, DARK SONG (c)
Mary Downing Hahn, STEPPING ON THE CRACKS (hi)
Eva Ibbotsen, A COUNTESS BELOW STAIRS (2nd read, hi)
John Klassen (writer & illustrator), I WANT MY HAT BACK (picture book)
Kimberly Marcus, EXPOSED (v)
Kathy Ostlere, KARMA (v, c)
Cheryl Rainfield, SCARS (c)
Trent Reedy, WORDS IN THE DUST (c, set in Afghanistan)
Todd Strasser, GIVE A BOY A GUN (3rd read, b)
Mo Willems, DON’T LET THE PIGEON STAY UP LATE! (picture book)
Fantasy/SF—ya
Pam Bachorz, DROUGHT (sf)
Paolo Bacigalupi, SHIP BREAKER (sf, b)
Beth Bernobich, FOX AND PHOENIX (f)
Kendare Blake, ANNE DRESSED IN BLOOD (h, ghost story!)
Eric Buchanan, SMALL MAGICS (f)
Meg Cabot, CODE NAME CASSANDRA & WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES (first of the 1-800-WHERE-R-U series; 2nd read)
Sarah Beth Durst, DRINK, SLAY, LOVE (para); ENCHANTED IVY (f)
Alison Goodman, EONA (f)
James Gurney, DINOTOPIA (b) (a new release)
Mary Downing Hahn, LOOK FOR ME BY MOONLIGHT (f)
Jackie Morse Kessler, HUNGER and RAGE (f)
Caitlin Kittredge, THE IRON THORN (f, a female engineer)
Sophie Littlefield, BANISHED (thriller)
Melissa Marr, THE GRAVEMINDER (c, ghost story)
Melinda Metz, GIFTED TOUCH & HAUNTED (1st of the Fingertips series, 2nd reading)
Mike Mullin, ASHFALL (sf, b)
Sharyn November, ed., FIREBIRDS RISING (2nd read, anthology)
Delia Sherman, THE FREEDOM MAZE (time travel, f)
Sarah Smith, THE OTHER SIDE OF DARK (ghost)
Maggie Stiefvater, THE SCORPIO RACES (f, b)
Patricia Wrede, ACROSS THE GREAT BARRIER (alt hi)
Moira Young, BLOOD RED ROAD (sf)
Current Location: desk, Sahara around somewhere
Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Passacaglia & Fugue in C Minor, J.S. Bach
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tammypierce
| 01:51 pm - Favorite Teen/Middle Grade Books 2011
Better late than never? Yeah, that's what I thought. The adult list follows.
Books are Young Adult/Teen unless marked otherwise
Series books are in alphabetical, not publication, order
YR = Young Reader/Intermediate/Tween
nth read = the whichever number of times I’ve read it
collection = all stories by one author
anthology = stories/articles by different authors
b = male lead character/theme
c = set in our current time
ed(s). = editor(s)
gn = graphic novel/comics
h = horror
hi = historical
alt hi = alternate history
nf = nonfiction
p = paranormal
f = fantasy
sf = science fiction
v = novel in verse
Mainstream YA
Tara Altobrando, DREAMLAND SOCIAL CLUB (c)
Laurie Halse Anderson, FORGE (hi, b)
Olivia Bennett, THE ALLEGRA BISCOTTI COLLECTION (c) & WHO WHAT WEAR (c)—YR (so what if they’re silly?! They’re fun and they’re about fashion!)
Esther Friesner, THREADS AND FLAMES (hi)
Nancy Garden, ENDGAME (3rd read, c, b)
Gail Giles, DARK SONG (c)
Mary Downing Hahn, STEPPING ON THE CRACKS (hi)
Eva Ibbotsen, A COUNTESS BELOW STAIRS (2nd read, hi)
John Klassen (writer & illustrator), I WANT MY HAT BACK (picture book)
Kimberly Marcus, EXPOSED (v)
Kathy Ostlere, KARMA (v, c)
Cheryl Rainfield, SCARS (c)
Trent Reedy, WORDS IN THE DUST (c, set in Afghanistan)
Todd Strasser, GIVE A BOY A GUN (3rd read, b)
Mo Willems, DON’T LET THE PIGEON STAY UP LATE! (picture book)
Fantasy/SF—ya
Pam Bachorz, DROUGHT (sf)
Paolo Bacigalupi, SHIP BREAKER (sf, b)
Beth Bernobich, FOX AND PHOENIX (f)
Kendare Blake, ANNE DRESSED IN BLOOD (h, ghost story!)
Eric Buchanan, SMALL MAGICS (f)
Meg Cabot, CODE NAME CASSANDRA & WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES (first of the 1-800-WHERE-R-U series; 2nd read)
Sarah Beth Durst, DRINK, SLAY, LOVE (para); ENCHANTED IVY (f)
Alison Goodman, EONA (f)
James Gurney, DINOTOPIA (b) (a new release)
Mary Downing Hahn, LOOK FOR ME BY MOONLIGHT (f)
Jackie Morse Kessler, HUNGER and RAGE (f)
Caitlin Kittredge, THE IRON THORN (f, a female engineer)
Sophie Littlefield, BANISHED (thriller)
Melissa Marr, THE GRAVEMINDER (c, ghost story)
Melinda Metz, GIFTED TOUCH & HAUNTED (1st of the Fingertips series, 2nd reading)
Mike Mullin, ASHFALL (sf, b)
Sharyn November, ed., FIREBIRDS RISING (2nd read, anthology)
Delia Sherman, THE FREEDOM MAZE (time travel, f)
Sarah Smith, THE OTHER SIDE OF DARK (ghost)
Maggie Stiefvater, THE SCORPIO RACES (f, b)
Patricia Wrede, ACROSS THE GREAT BARRIER (alt hi)
Moira Young, BLOOD RED ROAD (sf)
Current Location: desk, Sahara around somewhere
Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Passacaglia & Fugue in C Minor, J.S. Bach
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matociquala
 | 01:14 pm - your brain works a lot faster than mine.
Anything else I had to say about the Criminal Minds season finale is subsumed in ZOMG Reid knitted it himself!
He makes a pretty good Four.
Also, I'm glad they did the Emily thing the way they did the Emily thing; it's good to see Will but he should have known better; I'm pretty sure that UNSUB plan fails on usual the Evil Mastermind overclever subroutine of relying on a coincidence they could not have known about in advance; I bet that's Kevin's cousin; Penelope needs a Stern Talking To of the variety she just gave Morgan a few weeks back; I'm still the only person in this fandom who likes Strauss, but dammit I still like Strauss; and FASTER JJ KILL KILL!
Discussion in comments of parallels between JJ in Hit/Run and Hotch in 100 is open for business.
Current Mood:  mostly quite pleased, really
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matociquala
 | 12:20 pm - don't you wish there were another picture of che guevara?
The following contains discussion of fitness, health, and weight issues. If that is triggery for you, please page down now!
Ob. Disclaimer: I absolutely support anyone's right to live in their body as they choose, at any size they find comfortable. This is entirely about me, and my efforts to reclaim my health and strength after half a decade of abusing and neglecting my poor body.
Well, I'm wearing a pair of jeans that, based on the brand and cut, must date back to 1987 or so.
They're Chic, size 14 tall, and in high school they would have been baggy on me. Now, they fit loosely except for the waist, which is a bit snug--but then, that happened when I was sixteen, too, though the jeans were size 11 then. This is because eighties jeans were cut to fit absolutely nobody except a young Brooke Shields. They do, however, still make my ass look fantastic, a characteristic generally not shared by modern lower-rise jeans, which make nobody's ass look good. Not mine, not yours. Possibly Jessica Simpson's.
But they do let one bend at the middle without pinching one's ribcage on the waistband, which I suppose is a win.
I guess that means I am officially back in my high school clothes, generously speaking. As I also have a black bat-winged sheath dress from Chico's that I loved in high school, and have been hanging on to for sentimental reasons. I might dust it off for an eighties party later this year. If only I had some slouchy elf boots.
I suspect I will save the jeans for eighties nights at goth clubs. I think I still have one pair of slouchy socks hoarded away somewhere... ;-)
This is all prelude to saying that I'm hovering somewhere around 187, and have been for about a month now with the usual ups and downs--but I'm obviously building muscle, because I seem to be shrinking. At one point a month or so ago I noticed I had obliques, there under the slack middle-aged tummy. This week, I noticed the top set of ab muscles. Also, my thighs are no longer getting in my way during most of yoga--that stopped after ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.7) scott_lynch and I walked somewhere around 40 miles in three days of NYC. I can do Hero's Pose and Lightning Pose without cheating now, and my body doesn't actually interfere with my ability to do a lunge anymore.
It's still getting in the way of twists, and my biceps interfere with Eagle Pose, but that's not new. I'm a solid girl.
I can also wear most of my beloved old corp-goth work clothes again, justifying my hoarding tendencies. Two suits are a bit tight, but they were always on the skinny end of the rack. I had to move the buttons back on a green suit I love, that I had expanded a bit when I was gaining weight. It's a size 12.
I am facing the surprising possibility of shrinking out of my wardrobe again. In any case, look for a much better-dressed Bear at conventions this summer, since I love these clothes and don't have a dayjob to wear them to anymore.
Curiously, I'm about 17 pounds heavier than the last time I fit in these clothes, which tells us about the power of rock-climbing. Muscle is heavy!
My current weight goal is somewhere in the neighborhood of 160 pounds. Which should make the same size, roughly, as when I was in high school and weighed 150-ish. I was on track and field then, and at my most muscular before now, but I'm pretty sure my upper body now dwarfs what I had then. (Shoulders! They're awesome!) Also, um. Boobs. Some cup sizes have come to roost since then. Ahem.
So I'm less than thirty pounds from my goal, which is very pleasant. My body is behaving as it should; everything physical is so much easier than it was in 2004, when I couldn't walk a half-mile without agonizing pain (now I can run five 12-minute miles back to back); and I'm enjoying the reduction in back and joint pain and the ability to sleep comfortably on my side or back again without feeling like my own belly is crushing me.
I seem to be part of a coterie of SFF writers and fans on the "get healthy the old-fashioned way; move more and eat less crap" bandwagon, which pleases me. (personally, I have been following the efforts of Scalzi, Doctorow, Lynch, Sykes, Downum, Silverstein, Connolly, Buckell, and I'm sure a few others whose names are eluding me because it's time for lunch.) It pleases me because I'd like to see a lot of these people around for a damned long time.
I'm also noticing changes in appetite, which tell me my body is adapting to its new lower caloric demands. Two whole pieces of fruit is too much to eat with lunch now; I am contented with half of each (plus some protein and vegetables and brown carbs, of course). (I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, about ten servings most days; I've finally figured out how to reach my RDA minimum of potassium, and it goes like this: a cup of fortified cereal in the morning (Special K protein plus, since I can't find Total Protein around here anymore), half an orange, a small banana, eight ounces of green coconut water, and half a sweet potato. Some strawberries or mango don't hurt either, or some beans.))
For those who are curious about how I did it (my doctor was, and she laughed out loud when I said, "Counting calories, restricting sweets and saturated fat, and getting off my ass!" She then replied, "So doing all the boring shit we tell people to do, huh?"), here's my plan, fondly called The Discipline:
It's a refined version of the Hacker Diet, which relies on good old thermodynamics to make things happen. I'm keeping my caloric intake around 1700-1900 calories a day, exercising for about an hour a day on average, drinking lots of water and not too much caffeine, avoiding refined carbs (mostly: I get 100-200 calories of "treat" a day, which could be a glass of wine or a beer, or a brownie, or... PRO TIP: Guinness is lower in calories than most "lite" beers, and tastes a fuckload better. Now you know.), eating roughly twice as many vegetables as the FDA suggests, and trying to keep my protein intake around 20% and my fat intake around 25%--and also trying to keep my protein intake above 100g a day without too much reliance on red meat, or meat at all. (I do use protein supplements--whey and soy, mostly.) I eat a lot of high-protein dairy (skyr!) and I try to limit myself to 100-200 calories a day from refined sugar, which is roughly 20-40 grams. Or, well, half a can of non-diet Coke.
Managing sodium intake is a killer. But I'm working on it.
Sleeping eight hours a night also pisses me off, but it seems to be necessary. I got six last night, and noticed the difference on my run this morning--I kept having to walk up hills I normally cruise up in second or third gear.
I also exercise six days a week--usually two days of climbing (with a little yoga); three days of running; one day of yoga. I also try to get in some vigorous outdoor time when possible--kayaking, hiking, walking the dog. Walking to the store. Picking up my jump rope for five minutes on an otherwise sedentary day.
As I said, one of the most successful weeks of the Discipline recently was when Scott and I were on Manhattan, eating every goddamned thing in sight. But we also made a point of walking two-thirds the length of the island at least once (Riverside to Chinatown, with side trips), and we walked as much as time permitted, otherwise. I know it sounds like my fitness routine is crushing, and seven or eight years ago, it would have crushed me. (Hell, I had the pleasant experience recently of putting in a Rodney Yee video that, in 2006, I could do maybe fifteen minutes of, and having the full hour workout be only just pleasantly challenging.)
But remember, when I started out, I weighed 285-290 pounds and could not walk a half mile. One good habit builds on another, it turns out--and I find myself drinking more green and herbal tea because black tea doesn't taste good after the first mug, and I find myself not hungry for seconds unless the food is exceptionally good, and even then not always. There's not actually a lot of privation; I just want more of what's healthy for me.
It's okay if I have a measured ounce of cheese on my beans and rice, instead of as much as I can fit in the bowl. It still tastes just as good! Better, since it's as easy to afford small quantities of really delicious food as it is large quantities of sort of icky food. And far more satisfying.
Who knew?
Which is so different from all my old pathological ways of dealing with food and drink that it's a little croggling.
Most of this, of course, is just basic health maintenance stuff, and not too hard once you get the hang of it. And it's not like I don't give myself days off: I will in fact have two or three drinks on a night out, for example. I'm fully planning on onion rings after archery tonight when I get dinner with the Thursday Night Shooters.
Just... not too damned often. And budget for it.
It's not the extremes that set one's level of health; it's the baseline.
Current Mood:  relaxed
Current Music: the sound of the sound of lawnmowers must never stop!
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tobias_buckell
 | 12:02 pm - SpaceX plans launch this Saturday
A big day for the possible future of space travel, and the return of US capability to launch people into orbit after the retirement of the shuttle, comes with SpaceX’s text flight of the Dragon capsule. It’s been delayed due to checking the software for the docking test over and over, and now looks to be locked in for this Saturday.
Mirrored from Tobias Buckell Online.
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