Paying the piper

So as I shambled forth on my first early morning of 2009 I thought I'd weigh myself and see what the damage is.

Ouch.

Yeah... I ate way the hell too much over this break.

While I thought I got a fair amount of exercise, I think that didn't really cover the binge eating/drinking.

And now, five days into 2009, I'm depressed.

Right on schedule.

Crap.

Coyote Hills

My buddy Tim and I hiked around Coyote Hills today in Fremont.



Some nice views...



... though the hills were a bit steep at points.



Still, I handled them better than I expected.





The last two pics are of an archaeological site for some native tribe. It was fenced off (the pics are with my camera through the fence, we didn't actually step into the forbidden area).

All-in-all a pleasant, if slightly chilly, day. My feet hurt.

On the topic of Who...

I just saw the latest Xmas special for "Dr. Who", courtesy of a friend's zealous fan-power.

I agree with said friend's appraisal of it. It wasn't great. It wasn't bad.

There were neat parts, but I'm really, really tired of some of Russel Davies' trademark story elements.

I get what he's trying to do. Part of me approves. The rest of me doesn't like someone trying to "sanitize" history the way he does.

I get caught up in the details that way. That's probably why I hate most time-travel stories.

Still, it wasn't bad overall.

I have good friends.

Who?

io9 just posted an article claiming who the 11th Doctor will be.

I've never heard of this guy.

I got the faith in Moffat. This guy must have chops for the Moff to go with him.

Don't dash my hopes, Moffat.

I take my "Dr. Who" very, very seriously.

On a related note, I was talking with a one-removed friend at a party on the first. This guy (named Guy) doesn't like Dr. Who.

Now I can appreciate that "Dr. Who" isn't to everyone's tastes. His reason was that he hated Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and was unimpressed with the Eccleston season of "Who".

To be fair, I was not a huge fan of Rose Tyler, though my distaste for the character grew as she continued in the series. I agree with Guy that Rose's extended family was a giant yawn and/or a huge embarrassment to the series.

And Russell T. Davies did include farting aliens in the first season.

Farting. Aliens.

For that, he (Davies) should probably be beaten, but Eccleston was a rocking Doctor. I wish he'd had a second season to get more into the role before Tennant took over.

Tennant was/is awesome. Some fans think he's to frenzied and over-the top. Silly fans... he's a Doctor. Hello? Seen Tom Baker? Seen Colin Baker? Hell... check out Sylvester McCoy's umbrella.

Over the top? Puh-leeze.

Tennant owned that role. I'm sad to see him go.

I hope this new guy can fill the shoes of the impressive legacy before him.

And I hope Moffat's helm as producer is devoid of some of Davies' trademarks.

'Cause in some ways, I agree with Guy...

2009

I've been giving some thought as to how I want to approach this whole "new year" business.

Oh, I could make resolutions. Been there. Done that. Broke those.

Still, the cliche of New Year's being a time of new beginnings has some merit. It helps to have those landmarks when one wants to psychically and spiritually "clean house" (I tried physically cleaning house today, but I gave up and played on the Internet).

So now I ponder what changes I want in my life. What do I want to discard, what do I want to improve, what do I want to maintain as-is?

I'm thinking my collection of samurai movies needs improving, so I just added another to the mix (thank you Internet).

Perhaps I should think of deeper things in life, but I'm a shallow, petty creature.

I can live with that.

A difference of dollars

The damn running shoes finally got to the point where they were delivering pain unto me.

I put in those gel soles. Didn't help. Actually made things worse.

After standing in line at REI for fifteen eternally-long minutes, I returned said shoes for the hundred I paid for them and looked around for new ones.

REI failed me. I tried some walking store in Berkeley. Turns out they don't sell running shoes. No help there.

So I went north to El Cerrito. Sketchers Outlet, to be precise.

Forty dollars later, I got home with new running shoes.

I just got back from giving them a test run (jog... stagger... whatever).

Just what I needed.

Funny... the paracord bracelet one of my friends bought me just arrived. It's about a half-inch too loose. Nice little pin-securing mechanism they use, though.

Heh.

What the...? 2009???

Is that what I'm supposed to write on my checks now?

Yes, I still write checks.

Last night was fun. Fantastic food and great beer. Too much of both, truth be told. I went to bed on a more-than-full stomach.

Yeah. I slept as well as one might expect.

Shortly I head out to another party. More fun to be had.

It is 2009.

How, exactly, did that happen?

Huh.

Well, good times. It's well into the 21st century. I'm ready for my flying car and personal force field.

Okay, maybe not the flying car.

People who can't handle driving on the ground shouldn't fly. Seriously.