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Resolution Tracker! WEEK ONE
I read Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.
I wish I could go back in time and tell myself a few years ago that it isn't just a Harry Potter knockoff and I would like it. I really enjoy a lot of elements of the premise -- like, how cute is it that the whole premise is that the Greek gods screw around so much that there's an entire camp for their demigod kids, and you room in a cabin with your half-brothers and half-sisters?? -- and I love that it's a modern fantasy where we don't pretend that the fantasy and the modern are completely different. It's weird for Harry Potter wizards to be mystified by Muggle cars; in Percy Jackson, Charon wears nice Italian suits and accepts payment across the River Styx in the form of American Express, or he'll add the fee to your last cable bill.
Percy Jackson discovers that he's a demigod after everything starts trying to kill him, and he goes to a camp for other kids who are demigods! It turns out that he's not supposed to exist -- that his father broke an agreement by getting a human woman pregnant -- but someone has stolen Zeus's thunderbolt and is orchestrating a war between the gods. Percy can try to earn the right to exist by going on a quest to correct what's gone wrong.
I have to say that I enjoy Percy a lot, as a troublemaker, a creative liar, and kind of a punk. Of course it's skewed a little young: all the characters are 12, and some elements are pretty predictable or too heavily foreshadowed. I wish the characters weren't so stereotyped (e.g. "All Aphrodite's children are pretty and vain and shallow!" "All Hephaestus's children are ugly but good with machinery!" "Poseidon and Athena don't get along, so Poseidon's children and Athena's children don't get along!") but, again, it's the first of like ten books, everyone in it is 12, etc. It's not a perfect story by any means, but it's fun and interesting. It's made me laugh more than once and it has a bit of a sardonic wit to it, and I enjoyed all of that. I'll read the others.
As a thought exercise, I also want to try to keep these things in mind as I read things in the future for what I consume--
Bechdel: Passes, although not by leaps and bounds.
POC: I don't recall any, though I originally thought Luke was black.
LGBT: Nope.
I'll add on exercise and writing in the future.
Tuesday, 1/1:
For breakfast - a hard-boiled egg and a tomato. 120 calories.
For lunch - ordered Chinese. Got steamed broccoli and mushrooms, no sauce at all. Maybe 3 cups worth. Also egg drop soup. Not a lot of calories!
For dinner - Omaha Steaks gourmet hot dog on a Martin's potato roll, plus green beans. 415 calories. Ginger ale, 140 calories.
Snacking - two servings of Rold Gold pretzel sticks. 200 calories.
I had to take a guess about the lunch, but it can't be worth too much, given as it's all steamed veggies, and egg drop soup is light on calories. This probably all amounts to 1200 calories.
Wednesday, 1/2:
For breakfast - a bowl of milk and Honey Bunches of Oats. 350 calories.
For lunch - 3 slices of plain pizza, some misc salad. Let's say 750 calories sob.
For dinner - Hot dog again, and ginger ale. 510 calories.
Snacking - 2 Munchkins. 140 calories.
Exercise - 10 minutes.
I forgot that the first day back was a teacher development day without kids, and they provided breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I struggled bravely and refrained from eating a bagel even though I'd already had breakfast, but I succumbed to the delicious lure of the pizza. Then after work I had intense frustration and some tears, and I succumbed still further to the lure of soda, and had to force myself to do any exercise at all. Today was bad, I'll do better, the end.
Thursday, 1/3:
For breakfast - Tomato and Rice Krispies treat. 120 calories.
For lunch - Healthy Choice Italian-style penne lunch. 280 calories.
For dinner - Hot dog again. 370 calories. Cookies. Shut up.
Snacking - Chocolate-covered fruit snacks. 200 calories.
Friday, 1/4:
For breakfast - Lean Pockets, egg/sausage cheese. 270 calories.
For lunch - Chef Boyardee Beefaroni lunch. 220 calories.
For dinner - Three slices of pizza with olive topping. 750 calories, probably??? Also ginger ale, 140 calories.
Snacking - Rice Krispies treat. 90 calories.
Exercise - 20 minutes.
Within calorie count again, even assuming the pizza was terrible!
I wish I could go back in time and tell myself a few years ago that it isn't just a Harry Potter knockoff and I would like it. I really enjoy a lot of elements of the premise -- like, how cute is it that the whole premise is that the Greek gods screw around so much that there's an entire camp for their demigod kids, and you room in a cabin with your half-brothers and half-sisters?? -- and I love that it's a modern fantasy where we don't pretend that the fantasy and the modern are completely different. It's weird for Harry Potter wizards to be mystified by Muggle cars; in Percy Jackson, Charon wears nice Italian suits and accepts payment across the River Styx in the form of American Express, or he'll add the fee to your last cable bill.
Percy Jackson discovers that he's a demigod after everything starts trying to kill him, and he goes to a camp for other kids who are demigods! It turns out that he's not supposed to exist -- that his father broke an agreement by getting a human woman pregnant -- but someone has stolen Zeus's thunderbolt and is orchestrating a war between the gods. Percy can try to earn the right to exist by going on a quest to correct what's gone wrong.
I have to say that I enjoy Percy a lot, as a troublemaker, a creative liar, and kind of a punk. Of course it's skewed a little young: all the characters are 12, and some elements are pretty predictable or too heavily foreshadowed. I wish the characters weren't so stereotyped (e.g. "All Aphrodite's children are pretty and vain and shallow!" "All Hephaestus's children are ugly but good with machinery!" "Poseidon and Athena don't get along, so Poseidon's children and Athena's children don't get along!") but, again, it's the first of like ten books, everyone in it is 12, etc. It's not a perfect story by any means, but it's fun and interesting. It's made me laugh more than once and it has a bit of a sardonic wit to it, and I enjoyed all of that. I'll read the others.
As a thought exercise, I also want to try to keep these things in mind as I read things in the future for what I consume--
Bechdel: Passes, although not by leaps and bounds.
POC: I don't recall any, though I originally thought Luke was black.
LGBT: Nope.
Calorie Counting Adventures, Take Two!
I'll add on exercise and writing in the future.
Tuesday, 1/1:
For breakfast - a hard-boiled egg and a tomato. 120 calories.
For lunch - ordered Chinese. Got steamed broccoli and mushrooms, no sauce at all. Maybe 3 cups worth. Also egg drop soup. Not a lot of calories!
For dinner - Omaha Steaks gourmet hot dog on a Martin's potato roll, plus green beans. 415 calories. Ginger ale, 140 calories.
Snacking - two servings of Rold Gold pretzel sticks. 200 calories.
I had to take a guess about the lunch, but it can't be worth too much, given as it's all steamed veggies, and egg drop soup is light on calories. This probably all amounts to 1200 calories.
Wednesday, 1/2:
For breakfast - a bowl of milk and Honey Bunches of Oats. 350 calories.
For lunch - 3 slices of plain pizza, some misc salad. Let's say 750 calories sob.
For dinner - Hot dog again, and ginger ale. 510 calories.
Snacking - 2 Munchkins. 140 calories.
Exercise - 10 minutes.
I forgot that the first day back was a teacher development day without kids, and they provided breakfast, lunch, and snacks. I struggled bravely and refrained from eating a bagel even though I'd already had breakfast, but I succumbed to the delicious lure of the pizza. Then after work I had intense frustration and some tears, and I succumbed still further to the lure of soda, and had to force myself to do any exercise at all. Today was bad, I'll do better, the end.
Thursday, 1/3:
For breakfast - Tomato and Rice Krispies treat. 120 calories.
For lunch - Healthy Choice Italian-style penne lunch. 280 calories.
For dinner - Hot dog again. 370 calories. Cookies. Shut up.
Snacking - Chocolate-covered fruit snacks. 200 calories.
Friday, 1/4:
For breakfast - Lean Pockets, egg/sausage cheese. 270 calories.
For lunch - Chef Boyardee Beefaroni lunch. 220 calories.
For dinner - Three slices of pizza with olive topping. 750 calories, probably??? Also ginger ale, 140 calories.
Snacking - Rice Krispies treat. 90 calories.
Exercise - 20 minutes.
Within calorie count again, even assuming the pizza was terrible!
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Also tomorrow is Wednesday, exercise y/n? Or are you planning on starting next week? I should probably haul my butt up early and exercise tomorrow, either way.
AND GOOD JOB WITH CALORIES.
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yyyy, tomorrow there will be exercise. ♥ I WILL BE WITH YOU IN SPIRIT! AND YOU WILL BE WITH ME!
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AND YES, GO US!
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(And there are more POC characters as the series goes on-- 4/7 main characters in the Heroes of Olympus sequel are POC. No LGBT characters, though, I think.)
Good luck with your calorie counting! It looks like you're off to a good start.
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SHAKIER WITH TODAY'S UPDATE, but I had a super stressful day, so TOMORROW I will be back on the bicycle, orz.