New Apps, New Me

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I am a bit of a latecomer to the smartphone game. Even as everyone around me actively tried to convince me to get one, I stuck by my slider phone to the bitter end. All I needed was phone calls and text messages, with the occasional blurry photo. I really did not want to be connected to the world 24/7, and plus, those smartphones were not going to fit in the sad excuses for pockets that clothing companies sew into women’s pants.

But alas, even my trusty slider phone couldn’t hold out forever. Around the time that I had my wisdom teeth removed, my phone stopped working and our provider offered to give me a new smartphone for free because I had not upgraded my phone in so long. When I tried to replace my phone with another not-smart phone, I was asked to fork over money. 😦

Photo by Gilles Lambert

So, fast forward 2 years to the present day. I am still using the same phone but my phone habits have changed a lot. I use Twitter enough to have downloaded the app. I have several photo-taking and -editing apps. Some apps have been with me since the beginning, but yesterday, I decided I needed a change.

Previously, I was using WeatherBug for my weather, Any.DO for to do lists, and Cal (by the makers of Any.DO) for my calendar needs. I still like them, but I found myself wanting something different (and – dare I say – just a bit better?) by means of UI (user interface). WeatherBug had a great widget and notifications bar status, but the app was starting to feel cluttered to me even though it had a lot of information. I had recently switched to Any.DO and Cal about a year ago because I liked the design, but I was tired of it and getting frustrated with some of the features or lack thereof.

So, a few months ago, I decided it was time for a change. Here are the apps I’m using and loving right now that replaced the above 3 (which I would still recommend, by the way):Read More »

The Tsar of Love and Techno (2015)

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After reading Christine’s glowing review for Anthony Marra‘s latest, The Tsar of Love and Techno, I immediately requested my own copy to read.

tl;dr Anthony Marra has written some of the most gorgeous prose I’ve ever read, and he has used it to craft a stunningly beautiful story. 

Book cover: The Tsar of Love and Techno | Anthony Marra | New York Times Bestselling Author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
Henceforth also to be referred to as TLT for brevity.

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Bit of a Slump

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Hello friends 🙂

I just wanted to check in to say hi, because it’s Friday and I told myself I post on all Fridays now! (But I didn’t have the foresight to have something planned in case I wasn’t able to get something good up for you all.)

Unfortunately, I am in a bit of an emotional slump. It sometimes feels like I’m going through the motions of how I usually behave, and that feels very forced and unnatural. When I see my friends, I tell myself I’m happy to see them and I laugh real hard at their jokes because my friends are funny!

But I’ve been feeling a bit off. I thought this feeling would stop by the beginning of the week and it’s still here. I have to not only accommodate this but I need to actively work to push myself out of this mental ditch I’ve fallen into so I can do the things I would like to do.

In the meantime, if you have anything that helps get you out of little slumps like this, I’d really appreciate if you could share them! Last week, I was feeling very… nothing, but I watched a bunch of cute animal videos and that really did help get my emotions flowing again.

Thanks and I hope you all have a lovely weekend! I’m off to see Darren Criss and Betsy Wolfe tonight at the Kennedy Center!

Look Back/Look Forward (February 2016)

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Hello folks! Trying very hard to get back on schedule with blogging so here’s a quick little recap of February as far as what I’ve been up to and what I’m looking forward to doing over this last week!

Feruary 2016

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Color Run DC 2015

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Color Run DC 2015 occurred on May 17, 2015. This post has been done but I was waiting on the official photos and they turned out terribly.

SO, in honor of me restarting a fitness regimen soon, here’s my belated recap, most of which has been done since about May 18, 2015… oops!

People love running. You can get that runner’s high, you feel better about yourself and the world you live in as you feel the wind on your face.

I was never one of those people.

However, I still make an effort to run every now and then. I know that it’s a great way for me to build up stamina (something of which I currently have very little). Additionally, I have this intense fear of being chased so I figure being able to outrun kidnappers/my brother/mean dogs will, no doubt, come in handy. In fact, sometimes I am motivated to run solely by the fear that I will get chased by some scary monster and get eaten because I’m out of breath and wheezing with my hands on my thighs saying, “Hold on, can we walk a little bit, I have a stitch in my side.”

I guess I’m not too worried about that, though, because I barely trained for this 5K. I started out all right with my training, using RunKeeper’s beginner’s 5K training plan. (RunKeeper is my preferred running app. Although, to be fair, I haven’t tried any other ones. But it’s available for Android and gives me a lot of great data to work with.) I was running about every other day, and I even pushed myself to train on consecutive days when I knew I was going to have trouble finding time to run, like when Karen and Christine visited or when I went to Florida (recap posts coming soon for that, by the way; going through photos still).

So you totally crushed this 5K then and are now a runner? You’ve seen the light?
No, friends. I did not and I have not.Read More »