redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
([personal profile] redbird Feb. 12th, 2004 12:13 pm)
I spent yesterday morning doing a nice, thorough workout, and the afternoon hanging out with [livejournal.com profile] feorag.

Between the two, I missed Feorag's call (because I was on the subway), and couldn't understand the phone message she left, because of the background noise. And I'd forgotten to copy her mobile number into my Palm. So I grabbed a quick lunch at my usual place in Chinatown, bought clementines, and took them home via the drugstore.

Once home, I put the kettle up and was in the process of extracting Feorag's number from my saved email when she called me. So I was home just long enough to put down the fruit, make tea, decant it into an insulated carry-cup and grab a chocolate-ginger cakeling, then went back out.

We agreed to meet at a goth clothing store in the East Village. We got there at about the same time, and discovered that the store's website, while happy to state that they have large-size clothing, hadn't bothered to mention that they were closed for renovations. So we wandered, looking into assorted shops that had what Feorag thought might be interesting tat: East Village, then down to Chinatown.

We kept going into shops, and either we bought nothing, or she bought nothing and I got something I can't actually claim I need. But Dinosaur Hill (306 East Ninth) has actual working wind-up sushi, which I hadn't seen in years, so I had to buy a piece. And I couldn't resist some more New Year's tangerines, when walking down Grand Street (yes, I know; as of last night there were 32 tangerines in our refrigerator). Then we went into a place on Mott Street that had bags in the butterfly-on-black style I'd admired when I saw [livejournal.com profile] eleanor's. I took it down, looked at it, and put it back, saying something about "you'll still be here Friday, and so will I" (mostly because I didn't feel like carrying it just then). The shopkeeper said it was "normally $15, but today, for you, ten." I said I'd have to ask my friend, and headed further back, to talk to Feorag. By the time we returned to the front of the store, the price had dropped to $8. Feorag said that it seemed to be competently made, and that I could always hang it on the wall, so I bought it. I hadn't intended to haggle, but sometimes my genuine uncertainty--which can translate into "I will go home and think about this"--brings out haggling in shopkeepers.

Along the way, Feorag asked if there was somewhere we could stop for a quick drink and to use the bathroom. Geography was in our favor at that point, so I took her to dba. Middle of a weekday afternoon, the place was almost empty, and the bartender was happy to pour us samples: Feorag tried two beers before deciding, and I tried a perfectly decent American cider because they were out of the Welsh cider that Feorag saw on the board and assured me I would like; I ordered a half, knowing my capacity and how slowly I drink. A pleasant interlude; I tipped the bartender $2 on a $7 bill (for both our drinks), because she'd been friendly and helpful.

While we were doing this, Feorag was keeping in touch with her partner [livejournal.com profile] autopope by phone and text messaging. Somewhere in there, the plan of the three of us going to dinner somewhere, for which we'd been looking at lists and checking menus when we passed plausibly vegetarian restaurants, was thrown for a loop because he wound up going to Tor yesterday afternoon instead of (or, as it later transpired, in addition to) today, and then they decided they wanted to take him to dinner. Feorag and I went up to the Flatiron Building, where we then decided that it made more sense for her and me to go off by ourselves than for her to join Autopope et al. for "a boring business meeting." I explained to a couple of people that, despite appearances, I was not attending the NYRSF meeting that week, and then Feorag and I headed over to the Indian restaurant strip in the upper 20s. The place we headed for first turned out not to exist anymore, so we aimed for a second choice. On Lex, we had several choices, and picked one. Despite having said "I can eat here happily" after seeing lemon rice on the menu, I instead got a thali that didn't include it. But did include more than I could eat, including a fine mostly-cauliflower curry, two fried appetizers, another vegetable dish, both papadam and poori, raita, lots of rice, a hot pickle, and a fine yogurt-based dessert. Being indecisive, I chose among the four thalis based on which dessert each included.

We finished the evening by walking down to a bar/restaurant on Union Square, and meeting Autopope and Tom Doherty (WINOLJ, as far as I know) for a drink. We talked about science fiction, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other cheerful subjects. Tom stayed just long enough to pay for the round and drink his pint down quickly. By the time Charlie and Feorag had finished their drinks, I was halfway through my cider-with-Chambord, and they needed to go to their hotel and go to bed, so we went our respective ways, them by cab and me by bus and subway.

I'd estimate that, in addition to the workout, I walked about six miles. I was somewhat stiff by the time I got home (mixing long walks with sitting in restaurants or trains for significant periods will do that), and slept about 11 hours last night. A quote from the gym: "Oh, you're doing fine, you're shaking": a trainer, commenting to me on the position and weight I was using on the seated leg press.

Exercise numbers:

Cardio, 33 minutes, top heart rate 161. My heart rate seems to go up faster and more reliably when I'm thinking only about the exercising, rather than also reading, and then drops a bit when I read.

Hip adduction, 115 pounds, 2 sets of 13
Hip abduction, 95 pounds, 12
Assisted chin-up, 5
Calf machine, 65 pounds, 15, 14; 60 pounds, 15. One calf muscle cramped at the end of the second set (hence 14 instead of 15), the other at the end of the third.
Bench press, 60 pounds, 12, 12, 10+2 (short pause)
Seated leg curl, 95 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 90 pounds, 12
Adjustable row, 100 pounds, 3 sets of 15

Tricep pulldown, 50 pounds, 15; 45 pounds, 12
Seated leg press, 240 pounds, 13, 13, 10--on the third set, I moved my feet higher, which is probably where they should have been all along.
Bicep curl, 40-pound bar. 2 sets of 13; 35-pound bar, 17
Lateral raise, 5 pounds each hand, 2 sets of 15; 7.5 pounds each hand, 8

Crunches, 4 sets of 20
Back arches, 3 sets of 16
Yoga tree, 4 sets of 2 on each leg

Wrist curls, 30 pounds, 3 sets of 15
Tricep pulldown (again), 45 pounds, 15
Lat pulldown, 72 pounds, 12, 12, 9

Stretches

Overall, the weights or number of reps are down a little from the last couple of workouts, but this is the longest, most thorough workout I've done so far this month. Also, even a four-day layoff seems to be enough for me to notice.

From: [identity profile] womzilla.livejournal.com


I'm amused that I was at Tor both before and after you were, yesterday. Sounds like a very pleasant day.
snippy: Lego me holding book (Default)

From: [personal profile] snippy


I have a tray of hard candy shaped and decorated like sushi which I would be happy to send you if you are interested; just provide me an address. (If you think someone else would be interested, feel free to take them and give them on.)
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redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
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