While I was fixated on weight loss stuff (no, I don't have ADHD), I came across this hcg Austin website. It's an interesting concept. Instead of ramming pills down your throat, they do hormone shots. Of course, I wonder what the side effects are. You can't screw around with hormones and not expect some fairly drastic changes. This is stuff used in fertility treatments; it's not really meant for weight loss. So are more women getting pregnant from it? Are there more mood swings with the extra hormones? I wonder if it would really be worth a try. Well, not me. I don't want to shoot up hormones. But I'd like to talk to someone who has already made up their mind to try it.
Gotta get back on track
My diet has flown out the window this weekend. My husband's birthday was on Friday so I took the day off from work. I proceeded to spend the next three days eating as much junk food as possible. Though, to be honest, we did have some awesome spinach salads for lunch on Friday. But then we bought a dozen cream-filled donuts and we had BLTs for lunch on Sunday. That doesn't even count the rest of the awful food I ate. Now I have to get back on track. On one of our grocery store visits, I mistakenly wandered through the 'diet aisle' and wondered - does 7 day slimming cause side effects? I've had friends do the cleanse thing but I'm not sure how good it is for you. I know those diet pills tend to contain a ton of caffeine and, while I am a bit of a caffeine fiend, I don't want to do that to my body. I wish there was a faster way to shed some pounds.
Yoga
It's pretty amazing that I teach group fitness classes. I've never really been a sporty type of person. The only sport I ever excelled at was horseback riding. But here I am teaching Zumba® and Hip Hop Hustle™. I like both of them because they are a total blast. I've thought about trying yoga but it seems so boring. Though I think I want one of these yoga zafu pillows to snuggle with at home. My office manager has recently tried the hot yoga thing. While I enjoy heat and hot weather, I don't think that will work for me. When I have to do my classes in the heat, it's a killer. Trying to do yoga in even hotter temperatures sounds awful.
Have any of you done yoga? Is it as boring as it sounds?
The Thing
I wanted to talk about the remake of The Thing but I didn't really want to make it a full-on review. (Mostly because I was doing laundry as my husband watched it so I didn't really watch the whole thing.) My husband is a fan of the original movie. Of course, that means he had to check out the new one. While I'm not particularly fond of horror movies, I can appreciate certain aspects of them. And I have to say that this remake was a bit of a let-down. First off, the creatures are never really seen in the original. When they aren't in the host bodies, they are skulking around in shadows. This makes the whole movie scary as hell. You aren't sure what the crew is up against. In this remake? They are all over the damned place. Sure, they are scary looking but it's just not the same. It is a lot scarier when you leave it up to the audience's imagination.
Then they put Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the Kurt Russell role. However, as the "hero," she seems to ask an awful lot of stupid questions. I kinda wanted the monster to eat her. It annoys me when movie people (be it the producers or the director or the studio) won't give us the strong female lead. Ripley from the Alien movies is a good example of a strong woman. Kate here? The only reason she didn't die is because the guys decided to give her the flamethrower. Though, to be honest, I'm still not convinced that she didn't murder the guy at the end. (Some of you may claim that as a spoiler. I already said she's the hero. American movies don't kill their heroes.)
Since I didn't sit through the entire movie, I won't comment on the script or the acting. The pieces I did see were pretty terrible. My vote? Skip it altogether and watch the Kurt Russell movie.
The next jdrama
I start watching Kamisama Mou Sukoshi Dake today. It's from the late 90s so I'm not expecting a lot from it. Most likely it will be super sad and the graphics will be 'meh' at best. But it has Fukada Kyoko and I adore her. There are 12 episodes in the series, meaning it will take me quite awhile to finish it. I'll try to squeeze in a few episodes at home to make it go faster. Sorry!
March Madness
The first half of the month of March is always difficult for me. My daughter's birthday is today and my husband's birthday is on the 16th. Of course, I have to fit the kid's birthday party in there, as well as figuring out something nice to do for my husband. This year, however, my husband's best friend decided to have his wedding in March as well. As a result, the first half of this month will pretty much be a write-off. Currently, my first free weekend is the 17th but that is the weekend of my husband's birthday. It feels like I will never have free time again!
JMovie review: Paradise Kiss
I've never read the Paradise Kiss manga. Nor have I watched the anime. However, I heard good things about the series and, since I like Kitagawa Keiko, I decided to give it a try.
Hayasaka (nicknamed "Caroline") is an interesting character. She goes from a life where she is forced into doing things her mother wants to a life where she does the things she wants. Watching her grow as she is pushed into maturity by Koizumi (nicknamed "George") is a lot like watching a butterfly emerge from its cocoon. Of course, this isn't overlooked. There are butterflies everywhere.
Luckily, both Kitagawa and Mukai do an amazing job as the lead characters. My only peeve is that Yamamoto's character is listed as a main character, yet little is done with him. He is there in the beginning as Hayasaka's love interest but then it disappointingly goes nowhere. His character could have been cut from the film with no real consequence.
As a whole, I enjoyed the movie. It was a nice story and it does make me want to watch the anime. (Sorry, I don't read a lot of manga.) I just wish there was a little more meat to the story.