Long Time, No Blog

This past month has been spent re-evaluating a lot of things about my life that I haven't been happy about for quite some time. To paraphrase Tupac, I felt the need to change the way I eat, the way I live, and the way I treat others.

It's been a pretty intense, sweaty process of introspection and reflection and I haven't even scratched the surface yet. The hard work has only just begun, but I feel motivated and compelled to keep going.

Yesterday, I went to my first acupuncture appointment. It's always been something I've wanted to try, and being from Japan, I'm very familiar with the treatment and process, but time constraints and lack of motivation have prevented me from giving it a shot in the past.

When I got there, I was suffering from a bit of lower back pain brought on by a particularly strenuous workout the day before. That pain is now gone. I'm not qualified to attribute this sudden lack of discomfort to the acupuncture, but I will say that I am definitely going back for more regular treatments and will see where it takes me. So far, I'm quite impressed. It is ridiculously cheap to get acupuncture in Portland. I went to a wonderful place called Working Class Acupuncture in Lents, since it is close to work and I paid $15 for my visit. They have a huge room where you can recline in big comfy chairs and the staff are nice and attentive and very knowledgeable. You can stay and doze off for as long as you like. I took a short nap and just laid there and relaxed for about an hour - it was pure bliss. I highly recommend it.

I'm hoping to keep blogging about my process of living a more present, mindful and healthy life. I know things can get in the way - like work and other bullshit, but I still love to write and will do my best to document my experiences, even if no one else is reading.

Wisdom Teeth Are Dumb...

I recently had all my wisdom teeth removed. Mine were not as wise as they thought they were and grew in sideways, causing terrible pain and discomfort. Fortunately, I was unconscious during the entire dental procedure and am now snuggled up in bed, high on painkillers and watching all the documentaries on the English monarchy that Netflix Streaming has to offer. Hey, a girl's got to keep herself occupied before the new season of Game of Thrones somehow.

I've never looked forward to going to the dentist, but this experience has been the most positive one I've had so far. The staff was amazing and attentive and didn't blink an eye when I asked them if a lot of people fart while they're asleep in the chair. They said, "sometimes," and I apologized in advance, just in case. When I woke up, the dental hygienist and anesthesiologist were there to greet me and help me get ready for the ride home and my next memory is of being in bed with a bowl of green tea ice cream.

I will have a more complete post in the days to come, but right now, I am impaired and should probably stay away from posting things online in general.

What I'm consuming:

Gorgeous, scary, anatomical...

The anatomical aspect of Blake's drawings made me think of the Titans, which made me reach for this manga. The Japanese title is 'Shingeki no Kyojin.' I don't know if the manga are translated into English yet, but the anime series is called Attack! On Titan. It's a post-apocalyptic tale about man-eating giants who attack what's left of civilization.

Invading hordes, marauders, murderous monarchs, heraldry...It's basically A Song of Ice & Fire without the dragons and zombies - only this stuff actually happened.

Snow Days

It's been a cold and snowy few days here in Portland. The downpour began on Thursday and didn't stop until Saturday, and now I'm told the next few days will be full of slippery and dangerous ice - just in time for our Monday commute! I've been enjoying a quiet and warm indoor weekend, getting things done around the house and FINALLY giving my room a deep clean.

I also squeezed in some time to play (and drink) in the snow. After work on Thursday, a few co-workers and I made our way to North Bar where hot drinks were a dollar off, in honor of the inclement weather. I sipped on Hamm's while my cohorts warmed their tummies with hot toddies and mulled cider because my constitution - much like my upper body - is WEAK. Other than that, I'm just glad I had a fully stocked fridge and plenty of shows on Roku to watch.

                                                       The view from my bedroom:

                                   The view from Plaid Pantry, across the street from North Bar:

New Year, New Cold

Ugh. Where do I begin? How about the good news? The New Year started off on a high note, professionally. I received a promotion at work and have spent the last couple of weeks easing into my new position. While I've never considered myself much of a 'people person,' I must say I'm very happy with the team that I work with and am settling into life in middle management quite well. I said goodbye to my old desk (and the drawer full of paperclips) and hello to a shiny new one (which will feature a drawer full of paperclips).

The bad news is I've caught a terrible cold. I am calling it a cold because saying it is the flu would be too much like admitting a personal failure or acknowledging my immune system's shortcomings and that is something I simply cannot do. My roommate gave me some local honey, apparently it helps boost the immune system among other things. Other than that, it's been a steady diet of soup, decongestant cold meds, and cough drops. This dreary cocktail seems to be working, as I haven't had to miss any work and my strength is slowly but surely returning.

The Punk Singer

Friday night, I attended a screening of the new documentary, 'The Punk Singer', about riot grrl/feminist icon/musician/all around bad-ass Kathleen Hannah. First off, the Hollywood Theater(Theatre?) is gorgeous! They screen a lot of films that are outside of the mainstream and don't get many opportunities to be seen away from the film festival circuit. Everyone who loves films in Portland should make it a point to go to Hollywood Theater this holiday season - or any time of the year, really.

Now, getting back to The Punk Singer. It encompassed the life and music of the former Bikini Kill and Le Tigre front woman, even letting the audience into her private life with husband Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys.  I was in awe of their love and mutual respect for each other's work and I'm not gonna lie, it was nice to see two lauded musicians be so happy together (now that Thurston and Kim are no more). Thankfully, the filmmaker didn't dwell on the 'Courtney Love Incident' at Lollapallooza in which Ms. Love made a sloppy ass of herself for the first of many times to come, and really kept the focus on Kathleen's positive influence on modern feminism. The real twist came toward the end of the documentary, when it was revealed that Hannah had been struggling with illness, and the impact it had on her ability to continue making music.

There was a quick Q & A session with the filmmaker and Corin Tucker. The film plays all week at Hollywood Theater.

In other news, Portland has been C-to-the-OLD this past week with temps in the low teens! If it is going to be this chilly, I want some serious snow action to go with it. We got a feather-light dusting of the powdery white stuff - snow, that is - on Friday and in true Portland fashion, everyone flipped the fuck out.

Autumn Swag

Portland is a city of sweater people. We love our knitwear. We love it hard. Late Autumn is kind of our time of year. It's when (I think) Portland is prettiest. The air is crisp and smells of dried fallen leaves and a girl and hide her (early) holiday weight gain underneath some serious layers.
Speaking of which, I did some pre-Christmas shopping for myself to ensure I get through the winter in style. This particular swag was bought online weeks ago to avoid the shipping delays and general madness that comes with buying anything from Black Friday til the end of December.

Nothing makes me happier than cat sweaters (via Modcloth). Except maybe actual cats.

And finding out that Uniqlo now has an online shop...Seriously, check it out. Heattech will change your life.

And of course, shoes (via Modcloth).

And now I lay in the wreckage of another bygone Thanksgiving, picking wishbones out of my hair with a leftover sandwich in hand. Let the shopping commence.

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Work and Life and Chinese Food

Lately, I've been trying to find more of a work/life balance. So much of my time and energy get sucked out of me at work that when I get home, I am pretty much useless. I decided a few months ago that enough is enough and I'm now (slowly but surely) making it a priority to get out of the house and enjoy my free time more. It takes a lot of commitment and dedication for me because a) I am a homebody by nature, b) I am quite shy and introverted, and, most importantly, c) I am lazy as fuck. But there has been progress.

Part the plan is to ditch the office during my lunch breaks. Even if it's just to get out and get some fresh air. I did recently discover a pretty tasty Chinese food cart at Cartlandia. It's called Bamboo Cafe. They make KILLER shrimp and pork shiu mai dumplings and their chicken chow fun was enough to keep me fed for lunch and dinner. Alas, I ate all the dumplings before the thought of taking a picture even entered my mind. I did, however get an exterior shot of the cart itself: