In both my zumba and jazz funk classes, we have been dancing to this song. It's really catchy! Maybe a little too catchy..... (Now if I could only get a big knife to remove belly fat so I could stand watching myself dance in the mirror. I swear, mirrors are pure evil! My teachers are all "Look at the audience!" and I'm all "There is no audience only Fatty Me! Close the curtains and I'll look up!" Blargh.)
Halloween
Halloween is quickly approaching. Originally, my daughter wanted to be Hit Girl from the movie, Kick Ass. That would have been fine. However, no one makes a child-sized Hit Girl costume. (Not that I blame them. I understand the reason.) I would have sewn one for her...but my material handling skills are a bit lacking. Especially in the pleather area. So she has switched to a cute (and girly!) Mad Hatter costume. I'm debating wearing a costume to match hers. Either Alice or the Red Queen. Though the March Hare did pop into my head too. What do you think? Alice, Red Queen or March Hare?
My non-diet diet
I don't really have a lot to talk about. So I'm going to talk about the "diet" I am trying out. It's not some fad diet or anything weird. I'm simply not eating foods containing high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). That means no soda (I could drink things like Pepsi Throwback but I'm choosing to eliminate all soda), no Stove Top stuffing, no Heinz ketchup, and many many other foods. I have to read the ingredients on everything because HFCS shows up in unexpected places, like bread. My family switched to a honey wheat bread with no HFCS. It is still delicious. This is my second week on the 'program.' There have been some rough patches but, overall, it has not been a difficult task. I have found that I don't have the munchies nearly as often. I'm not sure if it is a result of all of the water I have been drinking or the higher nutritional value of the foods I have been eating. For example, even though Crunchy Cheetos do not contain HFCS, I have been snacking on raw green beans instead.
I have also signed up for a zumba class on Thursday nights for the next 6 weeks. In addition, I have a jazz funk class on Wednesday nights. With any luck, I'll be able to drop a couple of pounds by the time the zumba class ends. I'll try to remember to let everyone know my results.
Until then, here is a video of a lecture given by Robert Lustig about HFCS:
Darn Weather
There have been some major storms rolling through the Northeast, which is why I haven't been posting anything lately. We had some power problems on Friday and that sucked a lot. I hope everything is back to normal now, even though it's still raining off and on. In homage to water falling from the sky, here is Madonna's Rain.
Healthy Living
Today starts the exercise portion of the healthy living lifestyle I started. For the next 7 weeks, there will be no soda and no foods containing high fructose corn syrup. Breakfast will mostly consist of bagels or fruit. Lunch will be salads or soups. I hope my husband will keep dinners on the healthy side as well. (He does the cooking in our family.) Then, on Wednesday nights I have my jazz funk class and on Thursday nights I will have zumba. I don't think I'll drop tons of weight but it would be nice to lose something like five pounds. At least it would be a start! And once I get thin, it'll be time to get young! Wrinkle creams review, here I come! (Kidding!)
Jdorama review: Rookies
One more day
Sadly, I was not able to finish Rookies over the weekend. (I'm sorry! Put away the box cutter!!) I have a half hour left of the finale to finish, which I will do tonight. So tomorrow you will have your jdorama review. Then, with any luck, I'll be able to kick out the special quickly and that will be posted before the end of the week. Time to get back on the jdorama track!
Favorite Friday
After I got home yesterday, I figured out that it was not exhaustion that had me. It was a migraine. Sometimes my migraines start out feeling like I haven't slept enough. Then something triggers the release and *bam* full blown migraine. It sucks a lot. But I am better now. Time to get back to my jobs. I guess that means I need to figure out a Favorite Friday, huh? What the heck. I wasn't going to post this but...well...I changed my mind. Here is Katy Perry's non-appearance on Sesame Street. It was recorded and released on YouTube. Parents were upset over Perry's clothing and the clip was pulled from the show and the YouTube channel. I think it's cute. I haven't heard of any of the Sesame Street staff complaining about her clothes. It's not like it was just her and Elmo on-set. I just don't understand people sometimes.
Play: The Addams Family
The play advances the lives of the family slightly. Wednesday has grown from the delightfully morbid little girl we knew into a young woman in love. Unfortunately, she has fallen in love with Lucas Beineke, a "normal" young man. In an attempt to break the news of their impending wedding to their families, Wednesday decides to invite the Beinekes to dinner at the Addams mansion. Both teenagers beg their parents for one "normal" night, but can anything ever be normal in the Addams house?
I went into the play not knowing the storyline. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised that the characters had been aged a few years. Luckily, everything came together amazingly to produce this fantastic production. Not only is the story well-written, but both the acting and the stage effects gives it even more oomph. (Yes, they even have Uncle Fester lighting a bulb in his mouth onstage.)
Krysta Rodriguez plays Wednesday. I was absolutely floored every time she opened her mouth to sing. If Kristin Chenoweth is a modern example of a Broadway actress 'making it big,' I predict that Krysta will be closely following in her footsteps. I am definitely looking forward to seeing bigger things for her in the future.
As I said earlier, I am a fan of both Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. Unfortunately, Nathan Lane was not in the production we saw. (Which is probably why the tickets were half price.) However, we were lucky enough to have Merwin Foard in the role of Gomez. Once again, an amazingly talented actor was cast in a difficult role. Everyone in my group agreed that he was the perfect actor for the role. None of us can even imagine Nathan Lane doing as good a job. As for Bebe Neuwirth, I was a little hesitant to like her as Morticia at first. With a bit of time though, she grew on me. I enjoyed her performance, even if she doesn't seem to be a perfect fit.
I definitely fell in love with this show. As a matter of fact, I'm trying to figure out a way to get my husband to New York so he can see it as well. If you have the chance to see it, even if you need to buy the half price tickets, GO. You will not be sorry!
Coming Soon
Coming up on The Geek Within: I still have one more play from my New York trip to talk about. I just need to do a little more research on the cast members' names since it was slightly different than usual. This should be up by the end of the week. (Maybe today, if we're lucky!)
Back to j-dorama! I'm currently watching ROOKIES. Though I've only finished the first two episodes. I probably won't be able to watch much more until this weekend. I'll have to figure out my schedule for this week.
Until then, I shall be doing research on Christmas party invitations for my work holiday party. Yes, it's September and I already need to be thinking about these sorts of things. It sucks but it must be done.