Books and Sarcasm

I need to stop being a baby and do the yoga stuff again. I know what it is. I got this yoga mat two weeks ago thinking hey, since I'm going to be doing it all the time I could use the extra padding because my knees have needs. And I got it and it's extra thick and has nice positive words on it, even though I don't need one and was kinda feeling a little ambivalent about the purchase... and then I got the damn stomach bug that knocked me on my ass for two days and kept me from going to the sakura festival. And I'm subconsciously blaming the mat even though it was clearly the soymilk thing that did me in. (I must have developed a sensitivity or something or it was a bad bottle because I'd had that stuff before and was fine.. ugh.)

And once I was finally feeling better and thinking of starting, shark week arrived.. and I know it's also an excuse because dammit last month I started when my period started, but can't quite shake it.

I think I might do an exorcism before I use the mat for real. Maybe make some wash or something for it and clean it so that the bad vibes go away. I don't care if it's psychological, I don't feel like fighting my brain over something dumb when it means I can also have mat cleaner. (Also thinking about burning my sandalwood candle when I practice because fire and also because we really need to start burning some of these candle we have jfc.)

It needs to hurry up and be summer already. I think my work level going down would be helpful.

I will have to do picture later.. I just ended up taking pictures of the lions outside the BMA since we had run around the Walters before I actually read the photography policy and realized you could photograph the collection.. and the BMA stuff couldn't be photographed. All in all we had a fun museum day, would do again. We might go back to the BMA when the renovations are done. It was basically modern art only as the rest of the museum is being renovated, and for some reason the modern art made me nauseous. (People have strange reactions to art, but I think I prefer the kind of modern art that's outdoor sculpture to other stuff. I also find 19th century Western European boring, but that's probably because of overexposure.)

Had paella at the place on the harbor. It was a nice day so we were outside. So good... might be worth getting the stuff and making it myself, even if it would involve having to get saffron.

Also went to the candy and sarcasm store. They have some of the best dorky things.. got an Adventure Time juice glass and a Wonder Woman lunchbox since I ended up not liking anything in either of the museum stores. Still have a bunch of cash left too, so that's cool.

Tomorrow we split up since the wife has one of the three times she goes to mass and I'm going up to my parents' since I got suckered into making mac and cheese for Easter dinner. I'm taking the dog. He can run around the giant back yard like a nut and freak out mom and dad's dog. (And hopefully not get too all over their cat because their cat is old and crabby.. and Miso is not very mean at all.) Then tomorrow is groceries and vegging out because I'm off and the wife isn't, and because I like vegging.

Didn't die. Still rather dragged out, but I seem to be functioning normally now.

Next week is going to suck in terms of getting grades done, but meh I'm lucky I have most higher brain function working right now.

Totoro-car is doing great, had an oil change. It was actually free, my only cost was sitting around for about two hours. And they washed it. I like this place. I think I shall get cars from them in the distant future as well. (Hey I have a six year car loan and I intend to keep the car for a few years more before having to start this cycle over again. And Toyota so it shouldn't give me huge problems when I endeavor to do this. And extended warranty, so repairs are covered after the first hundred bucks for the life of the loan. Tires aren't covered.. but honestly glancing at the tire ads they're a wee bit cheaper than the tire place Dad dragged me to!)

Did groceries, got a second pair of jeans (Changing pants sizes means I was kinda out of jeans... all my old pairs were falling off and finally got around to donating them last weekend. Thankful I still have shorts and capris that fit since I had to run and get those mid-summer last year.) and a yoga strap for helping with some of the poses, particularly the ones where I have to try and wrap my arms around my thighs. Need to get back on doing that. Been running around so solidly the last several days and wearing bad shoes that I haven't been bothering. I saw a sequence in Yoga Journal I might be able to pull off for real this time (less bendy/contracty stuff, more balancing in standing poses which I can do better). Otherwise will probably run my app. My book will get here by Wednesday according to tracking, and then I'll have some more options.

Saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Yes, I can definitely confirm that the April 8 Agents of Shield will have major spoilers for the big plot twist in the movie. (Perhaps not so much the more movie-specific details, but the villain is.. awesome.) It's one that's been foreshadowed a bit, particularly picking up something briefly looked at and dropped in Avengers, but it's still a bit of a gotcha. Otherwise it was a lovely enjoyable Steve, Nat, and Sam do things and snark movie, and a lot less grimdark than you'd think just looking at trailers. There's even some social commentary on current events up in there, and I love that Marvel had Captain America doing what he did in response. Too bad the allegory is likely to go right above some people's heads. (Also I bet Tony would be super pissed about what his tech was used for... I can't wait to see the obligatory checking-in first act of Avengers: Age of Ultron at this rate.) It was an interesting choice for how they're going to shovel Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch into the Avengers without being allowed to say mutant. I'm also thinking Falcon will be on the team in the second movie.. and did they foreshadow having Captain Marvel on the line up sometime? Because that one lady sorta looked a lot like Carol Danvers even if her name is supposed to be Sharon. Dr. Strange also got namedropped, so there's another possibility for another movie. I was left wondering what the hell Hawkeye was doing, though. I hope we find out, I like that guy.

Avengers 3 when it happens will probably be the most awesome thing since ever. They're actually building a decent second act with these movies, raising the stakes and having all the characters actually making major developments, as well as deepening and exploring more with the characters who weren't as developed the first go round. The stakes are getting higher and that's even before we start seeing the more straight foreshadowing of what's going to happen in Avengers 2. I can actually see it making sense now that they seem to be holding Thanos in the wings. He's probably going to be the third-act villain. Might not even show that much in Guardians of the Galaxy-- I have no idea since I haven't seen a new trailer yet, but my bet is that it's going to play as a more straight game of treasure hunt/keep away and we won't see Thanos in action yet. Maybe give them an excuse to get one or more infinity gems on Earth as things get more intense for the heroes there, then drop Thanos on them. That I can kind of see.

And just FYI I make no promises about spoilers in comments if you are worried about Cap 2 spoilers.

Friday is tomorrow yay! Have vague plans to see Captain America this weekend, possibly on Sunday depending on how long I'm out because oil change.

I have a theory that I may actually be a 9.5 with dress shoes since my cute black ballet flats ended with me in foot cramps.. and my cute red ones that are 9.5s did not give me this problem. However, the movie theater that we like is near a shoe place, so I may drop in and look for replacement cute black ballet flats. (The crocs shouldn't be a problem, they run large.)

Counting down the days until graduation when I will start getting paid to sit around in the peace and quiet and putter. It'll be prep-for-next-year puttering but damn sometimes I wish I had a normal office job that didn't involve dealing with so many people all the time. Surprisingly this year I'm not having the large pains of I wanna quit that I normally do.. but I think part of that is looking at the testing crap coming down the pike and part of that is being the one carrying the bennies. I'll probably stay exactly where I am until forced out-- I like my coworkers and the environment and switching places would be a crapshoot, plus this frees the wife up to look for something that will pay her what she's worth. OTOH, testing crap means that the state might have to start looking real hard at some of their testing goals or else fire all the teachers ever, so there is that. (Seriously, one of the provisions of the current testing model is "continuous improvement" which is what it sounds like. Somehow scores have to rise every year or you're boned. Yes, this is a statistical impossibility due to regression toward the mean, but tell the political guys that... and I think it's going to get dumber with the new round coming down, since they want to test literary interp and yet somehow do it multiple choice.)

My makeup is awesome. The foundation/primer is working out great, and I'm not experiencing anything worse than the normal post-period breakout session.. and in fact I think this one's been a bit lighter than normal since I'm having to scrub my face so assiduously and also putting on lotion and crap for the day. Been using a matte lipstick that's pretty cool.. thinking of trying to find a similar shade in that lovely 24-hour colorstay stuff because I hate reapplying lipstick all day.