writing

Random catching up

Mission: Lower Cholesterol

I’ve finished up week two of Mission: Lower Cholesterol, aka Fuck My Doctor and His Threats of Lipitor. This week was both a bit easier and a bit harder. Healthy choices have already become a habit, but I’m still tempted by bad snacks and desserts. Well of course: I always will be. For instance, yesterday at work, I saw an empty Frito bag in my garbage can, and thought, Fuck, I could really go for some Fritos.

I was sort of lax about my green tea habit, opting instead for another cup of coffee one day and just skipping a second round of caffeine altogether another day. I’m also getting sick of almonds as a snack. Need to get some mixed nuts.

I’m one day short of hitting my workout goal, unless I go to the gym later today. This morning I opted for an at-home workout of weight training and Pilates. My post-yoga recovery this week was much quicker. I wasn’t nearly as sore the next day, and by the following day was all better.

I also finally brought my yoga mat instead of just using the mats the gym provides. While the yoga mat is definitely better in that it’s not slippery and much longer, it doesn’t provide as much cushion and so the base of my hands started to get sore. However, they didn’t hurt afterward so maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

Writing News

I had another piece published in The Frisky last week, I’m Sick of Hearing About Motherhood. I felt like I had written several “nice” pieces and wanted to write something more controversial. The comments range from, “Amen, sister!” to “Oh my God, how can you say such things? We mothers have to put up with SOOO much, and now we have to put up with bitchy attitudes like yours, Miss Angela Tung! We’re MOTHERS! Cut us a break!!!”

I rest my case.

Funny too are comments that say, “Wait till she has a kid!” while in the piece I basically say who knows, I may act the same way when I have kids. Shows that people didn’t take the time to read to the very end.

On the Nervous Breakdown last week, I published I Hate Reading About Music, which has been my most popular piece so far. There has been a lot of music posts lately so I think the subject is on people’s minds. I don’t know if those who don’t read the TNB regularly would be as into it.

This morning I had fun giving a video interview to one of my Nervous Breakdown friends. I’m always self-conscious about how I look on Skype. My hair was all wet so I kind of look like a seal in a pink shirt. Oh well.

At work I’ve been given a big month-long project. It will involve lots of writing, including on days that I’m not in the office. Yay! Getting paid to write!

What I’m Reading Now

I just finished The Book of Lost Things by John Connelly. It was a very interesting book, an interesting style. On the surface it seems to be a book for children or Young Adults because of the fairy tale aspect, but it’s quite gruesome at times and very sad overall. Now I’ve started Corelli’s Mandolin.

I wanted to pick up a copy of Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi, which I’ve never read before, but it was checked out at the library. I’ve always wanted to read it but just never got around to it. Then I started watching a documentary on Mark Twain last week and became interested again.

I didn’t realize Mark Twain could be kind of a jerk to his family, and had a lot of darkness about him, blaming himself for his brother’s and son’s deaths. I think a lot of “comedians” are like that, not a laugh a minute but actually quite depressed.

I also didn’t know that his first lecture was given here in San Francisco at the Maguire’s Academy of Music. I wonder if that theater is still around. I’m curious to go see.

body / what i'm reading now / writing — 3 Comments
24
Jul 10

Write, eat, read

First up, my Frisky piece from last month, “I’m Competitive,” is now on CNN Living. Thanks to my pals for telling me!

The range of comments is interesting. I can’t help but wonder how people would feel if I were a man.

In other news, I’ve just closed in on week one of Vanquishing My High LDL. All I have to say is thank God for dark chocolate and its cholesterol-lowering abilities. It saved me twice when I was craving something sweet. Also, I’ve been drinking tons of tea – green, chai, ginger, rooibus. No milk or sugar of course, which isn’t hard for me since I’ve always had plain tea.

If I go to the gym today, then I’ve met my workout goals for the week – hard cardio four times a week, at least a 20 minute walk the balance of the days, and some kind of weight training twice a week. I did yoga for the first time in a month earlier this week, and it KILLED me. My shoulders and upper back so sore I could barely dress myself. By yesterday though, I was fine.

I finally finished Gone with the Wind. Wow, that took me almost a month to read. While I’m not sure it was a great book – some parts are great, but the last third is sort of all over the place – I will say it was fascinating.

I knew that it was racist, but I didn’t know how racist. It’s one thing to portray the perceptions of the time in a knowing way, but it’s another for the author to believe those perceptions. For instance, that blacks were actually happy to be slaves, and that those who liked their freedom were “uppity” and “trashy.” That blacks were like animals and children, and needed white people to take care of them. I kept waiting for the other side of it, the human description to balance out all the descriptions comparing blacks to dogs, horses, apes, and elephants. But it never came.

Margaret Mitchell’s portrayal of women, on the other hand, is very well-rounded and fair. There are all types of women in the book, and not one is better than the other. There’s fierce and independent Scarlett, who pays a price for her independence. There’s seemingly timid and quiet Melanie, who shows surprising strength. No one is perfect (except maybe Melanie) and no one is a pure villain, not even the Yankees.

The book is also surprisingly anti-war. “A rich man’s war fought by poor men.” Sounds familiar.

Needing a break from romance, I’m now reading John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things. Eerie and sad so far.

body / weekends / writing — 1 Comment
06
Jul 10

Done with bloodwork!

Finally stopped at the lab and gave the blood needed for the testing my doctor wants to do (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.). The lab is walk-in so I was dreading a long-ass wait, during which I’d get hungrier and crankier by the moment. But I was the first one there and they got me done lickety-split. The nurse was so great, I barely felt a thing.

“Ready?” she said. “Onetwothree!”

Some nurses take forever finding a vein, but she was awesome.

Had a very nice super-long weekend. Monday was a holiday, and I could have worked today but decided the blood work was more pressing. MB and I mostly worked on our stuff, but I still feel like I have a ton of work to do on this essay. It doesn’t help when I think it’s about one thing, and as I’m writing, I realize it’s about something else. Now I’m rewriting the intro and trying to cut the word count way down.

I got in a couple of workouts. Now that I’m working, I’ve been terrible about going to the gym. I went on Tuesday, then not again till Sunday (ran two miles, 20 minutes on the elliptical). I ran four miles yesterday, yay! Probably won’t do anything today because I gave blood, just in case.

In between working and work outs – and way too many games of Epic Mahjong Solitaire – we took walks: to Union Square, where he played guitar and I tried to write; and out to Haight-Ashbury, where we had crepes and browsed around Amoeba Records. On our way back, we stopped in Japantown and had shabu shabu, a perfect meal for a chilly, gray day.

I guess it’s quite hot out on the east coast. Not to rub anyone’s face in it, but I’m so glad not be in that weather right now. I HATE hot and humid, the worst thing about New York. Here it’s cloudy, windy, and a bit chilly. I’m wearing sweat pants, a T-shirt, and another shirt on top of that. We sleep at night with two blankets. I LOVE IT.

Now if only some NYC restaurants (Le French Diner! Pala! LES Noodle Bar!) would come out here. We’ll be glad to send several hobos and crackheads in exchange.

Today, aside from finishing that damned essay, I have to drop off stuff at the cleaners’, return a library book, and possibly get some bedding from Macy’s.

Some bad news I almost forgot: my favorite working cafe, Bittersweet, closed down, at least the one on Fillmore Street. My SF pal said she heard it was because the landlord wanted to double their rent. I’m so bummed about it. I really loved that place. The drinks were delicious, and the atmosphere so inviting to work in. I loved the big comfy tables where you could spread all your crap out, the free wifi, and how the barristas didn’t mind if you stayed there all afternoon, nursing a cup of tea.

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01
Jul 10

Writing, the Valley, allergies

In case you missed them, here are the pieces I published this month:

I’m Competitive

The Frisky

Ghosts

The Nervous Breakdown

I Want to Be Like My Dad

The Frisky

Right now I’m working on a long essay for a contest that’s due today. Hopefully I can turn it in before my SF pal picks me up for our monthly Thursday Museum Excursion. Today’s it’s the Legion of Honor. Apparently they have an Impressionist exhibit that’s companion to the de Young’s.

Earlier this week I went to my first Silicon Valley dinner. It was out in Palo Alto – or maybe Menlo Park? – and was pretty relaxed. Downtown Palo Alto seems very nice, at least from what I saw, but in a weird way. Like everything is a bit too nice, everyone is a bit too pretty and fit, but not LA-pretty where it’s obvious. It’s hard to explain. I’ll have to spend more time there to know.

Near the restaurant was a giant mall headed by Neiman-Marcus. I was really curious to go in and see what it was like.

In vertigo news, yesterday and the day before I was starting to feel light-headed again. Last night I took an allergy med, and I felt much better quickly. I wonder if that’s the key, treating my allergies, which are the culprit for my sinus/throat problem, which lead to my inner ear imbalance. I know that for those Meniere’s disease patients with food allergies, sometimes treating those allergies helps alleviate their vertigo.

I never even realized I had allergies. I don’t do much sneezing, but my throat gets easily irritated. I always thought I was just almost coming down with a cold.

I can’t believe it’s nearly Fourth of July. It feels like early spring here. I don’t even know if I have a day off.

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23
Jun 10

Feeling much better

I don’t want to speak too soon, but the vertigo seems to be going away.

Yesterday I felt pretty crummy: light-headed, groggy (though that may have been the motion sickness meds), and a little nauseous. But then I did my therapy, which usually brings on several bouts of vertigo (necessary in order to be rid of it) but I didn’t experience any. Maybe just the tiniest bit of nystagmus. I slept semi-inclined, just in case, and this morning, while still groggier than usual, I felt much better.

My plan is to keep doing my therapy for at least a week, sleep semi-inclined for one or two more nights, and see the doctor on Friday. He may or may not know anything about BPPV, but at least I should just get myself checked out. I’m not taking any meds though, that’s for sure.

I was surprisingly productive yesterday, despite not feeling well.

I wrote a draft for my next Frisky article. It’s too long and meanders, but at least I have something on paper.
I bought groceries and much-needed TP.
I did a load of laundry.
I wrote a draft for my next Nervous Breakdown post. Suddenly inspired while I was, of all things, folding laundry, I jammed out the piece in under a couple of hours. When you’re inspired, you’re inspired.

tcob / travel / writing — 1 Comment
07
Jun 10

A quick post before work

I don’t have anything too intelligent to say, except that I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed with our upcoming LA trip and my parents’ visiting next week.

I mean, it’s not like I have that much to do, but now that I’m working, even just those few days a week, I feel like I have a lot less time.

But I’ve accomplished just about everything:

dresses bought
shoes, already have ’em
accessories, already have ’em
hair cut
library books renewed

Of course we already have our plane tickets and hotel reservation.

So why the overwhelmed feeling? I guess I’m used to having a lot more time to myself. Plus over the weekend I figured out what I want to write this month, and it’s kind of a lot.

A long essay for a contest that’s due July 1. It’s mostly excerpted from my memoir, so it’s a matter of putting those excerpts in the right order, with the right transitions, which I think is sometimes harder than writing an essay from scratch.

At least one post for The Nervous Breakdown. Originally I was going to post the excerpts that are now going into the long essay. So I’ll have to write something new, which is better anyway. I wrote a draft of something this past week. It’s sort of all over the place right now, but I think I can cull one or two essays from it.

An essay I owe to a magazine I’ve written for before. They’re not strict about deadlines, but I want to turn it in this month.

An submission for another literary journal. Reading period ends August 31 so I have plenty of time for that, but I’d like to get started this month, if possible.

A bunch of dinky how to articles. Part of me says I should stop doing these, but I actually kind of enjoy them, if the topic isn’t too nonsensical and if someone else hasn’t already written about the topic. Plus it’s a guaranteed payment.

Whew! Obviously I’m bringing my computer to LA. Friday night there’s a rehearsal dinner, but the wedding the next day doesn’t start till four, so we have the whole day. We’ll just be at the hotel, but MB and I are very good at occupying ourselves.

writing — 2 Comments
29
May 10

Ah, the weekend is here!

This morning I woke up and wondered if I had to go to work. Then I decided to get up although it was only 7:30. I knew if I let myself fall back asleep, I’d feel all groggy.

We don’t have any huge plans and that’s fine by me. Today MB is meeting a friend so I’ll take that opportunity to go to the gym, which I haven’t done since Thursday, and get a dress for my cousin’s wedding in a couple of weeks. I brought two dresses with me, but guess what – they’re too small! I mean, I can fit into them, but they’re not the most comfortable and don’t look so great. Le sigh.

Thursday my SF pal and I saw the Musee D’Orsay Impressionist exhibit at the de Young. It was very nice though quite crowded. As at the last exhibit we went to, every retired person in the Bay area seemed to be there. For some reason, I especially love the still lifes of fish, birds, and other animals – I don’t mean live fish, birds, and other animals. Sounds weird written out like that.

Starting in September is a Post-Impressionist exhibit: Van Gogh, Gaugin, Cezanne, and Beyond. I’m so there!

Friday I had a shortened day at work, but by the time I got back home, it was almost five so I didn’t bother going to the gym. Plus I had a ginormous headache.

Last night we stayed in and watched Up on Netflix. I cried SO MUCH. I knew that beginning section would be sad, but I didn’t expect to cry buckets. It was a really good movie.

In writing news, drumroll please. . . .I won a writing contest!

I knew I was a finalist, and on Thursday I got an email saying that I had actually won. I was really, really surprised. I thought, Maybe I’ll be a runner-up or get an honorable mention. I really didn’t expect to win first place.

I’ll put up details once the contest’s website is updated, to make it all official.

what i'm reading now / work / writing — 1 Comment
23
May 10

Commuting, reading, writing

Can you believe I’ve been so busy I didn’t have the chance to post since last Wednesday? It’s a good feeling.

I’ve quickly gotten used to commuting to my new job. The bus seems to come at eight on the dot every morning, which gets me in ten or fifteen minutes before my 8:44 train. Because the train is going away from the city, it’s usually pretty empty. I can get a seat by myself and write or read peacefully before the very quick 30 minutes passes and I’m at my destination.

I’m definitely glad it’s not every day though.

Yesterday morning I was able to get myself to the gym (with MB’s prodding), which felt great after not working out Thursday or Friday. I worked on my writing somewhat but not enough. I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which made me cry. Just one more in the series! Today I started The Woman in White

In writing news, I have two new pieces:

Wrinkles in Time

I’m Not Beautiful, and That’s Okay at The Frisky about how while I was once hot, I’ve accepted that I’m now not, and that maybe beauty isn’t worth fretting over after all.

Today I need to work on my novel like crazy and get a couple of pitches ready.

rant and/or rave / work / writing — 2 Comments
17
May 10

What’s new

I have a new piece up at Matador Life. It’s about how a Buddhist monk and a trip to Prague helped me leave my cheating husband.

I got the job! It’s part-time technical writing/admin work at this start-up right outside SF. This week I work Thursday and Friday, but my regular schedule will be Monday, Wednesday, and half a day on Friday. Yay for moola and getting out of the house!

Part-time is so perfect for me. On my “free” days I can write, and the way my schedule is now, I don’t even have to miss my yoga classes.

I have renewed energy for my corporate murder mystery. I got some very helpful feedback recently. I was dissatisfied with my NaNoWriMo draft, but I hadn’t even looked at it.

So this weekend I actually took the time, and so far it’s not as bad as I thought. It definitely needs work, but – so far – it seems to be doable work. In fact right now I like this version better than the rewrite I had been working on.

I have renewed respect for good customer service, because I got some shitty service over the weekend. Normally, Elite Cafe is awesome, both in terms of waitstaff and food. But yesterday there was a new bartender who was a bit of a dick.

We were sitting at the bar. He asked us if we wanted anything to drink, but I couldn’t hear shit because the place is noisy and he was mumbling. So I just gave my order. He looked sort of taken aback, but whatever.

He got our drinks and repeated our order to MB only. So I really didn’t hear that time.

Inevitably I got the wrong order.

I was nice about it. I said, “Oh, I actually asked for the corned beef hash.” To me good customer service would be, “So sorry! We’ll get that straightened out right away.” But he had to say:

“That’s why we ask you twice. To make sure we got it right.”

So it’s my fault huh? Even though obviously I couldn’t hear anything you said, and you asked my boyfriend and not me what my right dish was?

I think the waitress behind the bar realized the new guy’s faux pas because she apologized to me and tried to be friendly.

Sure, it was totally partly my fault for getting the order wrong, but let’s pretend it wasn’t. That’s part of the whole experience of going to a good restaurant.

body / san francisco / writing — 2 Comments
07
May 10

Busy like a hummingbird

I was pretty busy this week for a change. I had four dinky articles to research and write, plus two personal essays (one of which is up now). I finished everything yesterday so today actually does feel like Friday to me, instead of just a random day.

Yesterday one of my SF pals and I went to the Botanical Gardens. Beautiful of course! There weren’t as many flowers as weird plants and trees, which in a way was more interesting. Also, I kept spotting cool birds, like these two that were like pheasants dart across a walkway behind a bush, and this teeny tiny bright red and orange hummingbird sitting on top of a tall cactus.

“Look at that tiny bird,” I said. Then it went shooting off, hovering so high above us. Suddenly it did a dive bomb into a grassy area, so fast we actually heard its wings whirring. Then back up, hover, and ZOOOOM! back down. It was pretty fucking cool.

I was telling MB that the animals in NJ/NY are far less interesting. Pigeons, gross (though of course there are plenty of pigeons here as well). While weird and interesting birds frequent Central Park sometimes, they’re not easy to spot. Except for cardinals and blue jays, all the animals in NJ are brown and gray – deer, rabbits, gophers, squirrels, chipmunks – as woodland creatures tend to be.

Afterward my friend and I headed over to the Japanese Tea Garden, like we did last time, and like last time, I totally got a spam musubi. Yum!

In other writing news, I got a notice yesterday that I’m a finalist in this nonfiction contest I entered a few months ago. Yippee! I’ll find out the results early next month.

Today I need to work on my next post for The Nervous Breakdown, which I’ve been neglecting for this past couple of weeks.

Yesterday I was looking for pictures of myself for an upcoming article. Damn was I skinny a few years ago! I mean, I knew I was thin, but compared to now: totally skinny.

I know I’ve gained some weight over the past couple of years. Last week I got on the scale for the first time in a while: ten pounds. I suspected as such.

While I was heartened by a recent WSJ article that said being 10 to 15 pounds overweight isn’t bad, and in fact may help stave off osteoporosis and make you look younger, I still miss skinny me. I want to lose if not all ten extra pounds, then five. It’s so tough nowadays, between getting older and eating more to catch up with MB. When I was single, I ate much less. Plus I was doing more long runs.

Angela Tung Oversharing on the internet since 2005.