Asrai Devin's Blog, page 21

He's not impressed, but I am.

My husband loves Mixed Martial Arts, UFC, and the rest of it. I could care less. Until Georges St. Pierre came along.

I think it's the accent. He just sounds like this cute little boy.

Though it might also be the way he looks. His leg muscles. His tight shorts. And his work ethic. The man doesn't quit. When he's not preparing for a fight, he still trains. He loves training and he's a professional.

Also he's always wearing a suit when he's walking to his fights etc. Other guys wear track suits. He suits up! Barney Stinson style. Or professional hockey players.

Do you find there are side benefits to being engaged in your partner's hobbies?

bonus video. GSP being fitted for a suit. Is he better with it off or on?

Tagged: Asrai Devin, BarneyStinson, Georges St-Pierre, Martial Arts, Mixed martial arts, sexy, sexy accent, sexy man, sexy men, Sports, UFC, UFC for women, Ultimate Fighting Championship

Back to your regularly scheduled ROW80.

I won NaNoWrimo last night. The story has a maybe 10K left in it, so I'll wrap that up in December.

- Write 5 days a week.

I took one day off, when we went to my dad's for the day and I was wiped when we got back and got the kids in bed.

- Blog 3 times a week. I only have a few scheduled posts left so I better stock back up now that NaNo is over.

- Working social media. Doing it less everyday. I dunno why. I try to post links every few days and congratulate or encourage people. I am not on daily.

- Routines to keep the house under control.

By Saturday I was done cleaning the house and Sunday DH and I got in a huge fight about it. The house was a disaster, and I admit it. But I spent all week picking up after everyone. I'm trying really hard to apply the Work on this one, but damn it I want to be right on this one.

- Play Dragon ages II a lot and dream about Anders.

No wait that wasn't a goal. But I am obsessed you guys. I need an intervention. Okay my husband has played through once and is at the same point I am on my first play through. IT"S NOT FAIR.

I'm now dying to write a romance with mages in it. Not fan fiction, I want to have magical characters of my own. With nightclubs. I just don't know if I can write a mystery the way it's shaping in my head.

Tagged: dragon ages, dragon ages 2, dragonages, Fan fiction, Fiction, goal checkin, goal setting, goals, NaNoWriMo, Online Writing, row80, Sunday, Writer Resources

The Work or Believing your Thoughts

I'm reading Byron Katie this week. In her book  she writes about the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching.  And some of the information is so spiritual that it makes me think "she's insane" because no one could live in a sustained world of that much peace.

The book is not just about the Tao, it's about how The Work and the Tao intertwine.

If you don't know The Work. It's pretty easy, when you are experiencing anything, any emotion, any thought you ask yourself five easy questions.

The questions are on her website. I won't list them here. Katie's idea is that we suffer when we believe our thoughts. We suffer when we argue reality, that things should be different then they are. We believe that we know a better way if only we could change everything but ourselves, when the only thing we can change is ourselves.

A Thousand Names for Joy is a difficult read. But the idea of letting go of  your stories, the shoulds we all tell ourselves to create less suffering, might just be the way to go. I know I could use a little less suffering.

Tagged: Asrai Devin, Byron Katie, New Age, philosophy, Religion and Spirituality, spirituality, Tao, Tao Te Ching, Taoism, the Work, work

Row 80 11-27 Check In

Write 5 days a week.

I read this awesome post via the Passive Guy about how to write more. And I've been putting number 1 and 3 into action, can't do much about number 2 right now but so far in few days of test runs, it has been helping. I haven't been writing out on paper what I'm going to write about, but I spend time outside of my writing time thinking about the upcoming scenes.

- Blog 3 times a week

going very well.

Personal goals:

- Working social media during nap times 

I am saving good posts for my link mashup and Tweeting them as I find them. As I get more comfortable with blogging I find myself on Twitter less. But I find myself on the computer less in general in the past few months.

- Flylady-type routines in the house to keep the house under control

It always amazes me how little time the things I put off (stacking the dishwasher, wiping up the countertops) actually takes me. Jobs that I dread doing only take 15-20 minutes. If I just did them in the first place they wouldnt' weigh on my mind so bloody much.

I am amazed I am getting any writing done. Susan Bischoff got me hooked on Dragon Ages. Now her post talks about Dragon Ages Origins. We got Dragon Ages II. I didn't pay that much attention until I found out how AWESOME these games are. So much better than Final Fantasy (sorry FF I love you, but your story lines are too linear and you do not have the hilarious dialogue).

"Could we perhaps do battle with a pack of pretty flowers and soft bunnies next time? I'd do much better." – Merrill

What I love most about DA2, is the romance option. My poor mage girl flirts with everyone she can, but I ended up in a relationship with Anders, moved in with him and then I lost a battle. So I had to do the whole relationship again. Second time, I went to a main quest by accident and I had to reload.

So Anders says "I love you, I've waited so long to tell you" and instead of the nice option I ask him if he wants a sandwich.

Romance at it's best. Doing the Anders romance thing three times however ruined Carly Rae Jepsen's new song "Call me Maybe". My daughter was listening to it on repeat and now I cannot hear the song without thinking of Anders.

Okay I'm a sucker for a good love story.

Here's one more quote for you.

Varric: Blondie, I don't mean to sound critical, but have you considered a new line of work?
Anders: Such as?
Varric: Pretty much anything? I don't think "renegade mage" has a bright future. Or any retirement plan.

 

Tagged: Anders, Dragon Ages Origins, Final Fantasy, Flylady, goal checkin, goal setting, goals, Linky Tools, row80, Social media, Twitter

Interspiration this week

Emma Burcart reminds everyone that moderation can be found in many ways http://bit.ly/tX131g

Caring for your Introvert via . Still one of the least understood character traits. Drives me crazy when introversion is equaled with shy. I'm a loudmouth but I still prefer to stay at home alone.

Janelle Madigan is feeling rebellious. http://bit.ly/v16j7Z

I feel like a martian and I've been "blogging" since before blogging was cool. Lynette M. Burrows says I'm not alone. http://bit.ly/vshra9 Also who doesn't love the muppet Martians from Sesame Street?

Unicorns for Socialism gives us an appreciation cheat sheet and a list of suggestions on who to thank. http://bit.ly/vXTYmF

Scott Nicholson gives us a taste of  his meme addiction. My head hurts a bit after the Keanu meme, but disaster girl is kinda cute. http://bit.ly/swtlPo



Tagged: balance, Blog, blog links, blog sharing, Bob Mayer, Extroversion and introversion, extrovert, Interspire, introversion, introvert, introverts, life balance, mashup, parenting, positive, positive parenting, rebellion, Sesame Street, Twitter, yoga

He'll make a man out of her, and then turn her back into a woman

Mulan is my favorite Disney heroine. She is a doer. She grabs her father's armour and pretends to be a man to protect him. She kicks everyone's ass in training camp. She saves everyone on the mountain and then when they find out, she is kicked out. But instead of licking her wounds, she follows everyone to tell them the bad guys are coming. And no one believes her. So she kicks the bad's guys ass.

And then the hero chases her down and says "uh hey, I was an idiot. I'm really sorry, can I spend the rest of my life making it up to you?"

At least, that's what I assume he says. Because if he doesn't grovel at Mulan's feet, she should have kicked his ass out of her garden. Forget being a good girl, she is a GREAT girl. Breaking every unfair rule there is. Feminism at it's best.

Do you love a heroine who kicks ass, takes numbers and still gets the guy? Or do you prefer a heroine who is a little more sedate? More like Cinderella who still tries her best but in the end needs rescuing. I don't mind the occasional passive girl to a strong hero.

Tagged: alpha heroines, Animation, Asrai Devin, Cinderella, Disney, Disney Princess, Feminism, heroines, Mulan, proactive heroines, strong heroines, The Walt Disney Company