I should have been in bed an hour and a half ago, but cupidsbow's link to rageprufrock's Merlin story intervened.

I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, and imagining Anthony Stewart Head's face in part 8 just made it all the better.

Other news, before I pass out for an all-too-brief night before I try my hand at yoga:

RE: Surfing - After much internal debate, and a revelation from a fellow SHAG member, I'm going to Tofino in mid/late March for a weekend of learning to surf. Go Me!! These things are always so much better when you know someone on the trip.

RE: V-Ball - the little finger on my left hand looks like someone attacked it with a number of highlighters in various shades of blue - it's kind of cool.

RE: Swimming - got back into the pool today, Go Me!!

RE: Watchmen - must have the book done by tomorrow for class. Off to read another chapter before bed. Rorschach? Really is just that batshit.

Oh, um, and if I don't catch an important post on someone's LJ in the next few months, I apologize in advance. I'm going to be drastically cutting down my LJ time in general, because trying to just read an F-List on the weekends (or at least *my* F-List) is an exercise in futility. I'll still be posting, more often about school/sports than not, but outside of my own journal I'm probably going to be rather silent.

Wishing everyone all the best until I manage to crawl back onto the fannish map in May!!

I'm now officially a week into term, which means a return to the dreaded academic schedule-of-doom.

I realized (at the last minute) the last week was IM & Outdoor Rec registration week, so I went in and signed in blood for a number of activities (and I'm still debating whether or not I should go back and sign up for the weekend of surfing in Tofino if it's not filled yet).

What's On the Agenda:
( Academics )

( Athletics )

General Notes:
While work on my Valentines lagging, I'm officially segregating my schedule for the term as of tonight (I know! I'm pre-judging my various appointments/obligations! I'm such a horrible person!!).

Sunday 6PM-Friday 5PM is Academics & Athletics.
Friday 5PM-Sunday 6PM is Fandom.

There will, of course, be some blurring of the lines.

From the fandom end of things, I'll be (hopefully) posting my Valentines daily during the first two weeks of February. If completed works aren't finished, I'll be doing 2-4,000 word teasers for longer pieces. If I get all of my academic/athletic To-Do's done early during the course of a week, I might also try to squeak in some V-Day work, but I'm not committing, both b/c there very well may not be any spare time in there, and b/c if I get things done early, there's so much else that needs to be done that I really should be moving onto the next academic obligation on the list.

From the Athletics/Academics end of things, there are a few events which cross the hypothetical date-line, most specifically the snowshoeing trip I've got slated for January 31. Nothing major, but still worth noting.

As always, I welcome any/all advice, most especially when it comes to the Athletic portion of my life.

I'm going to be shooting for a daily caloric intake of somewhere between 1400-1600, which is higher than I really want to go since I'm technically stepping down my activity from my fall routine, but this is a much more long-term lifestyle level as opposed to a shorter-term high-intensity training level. Not that I've thrown out my original swimming time/distance goals, but I'm trying to balance things a bit more and do a wider range of activities. If it takes me an extra 6 months to get to NCAA times, then it does. I'll have fun doing it ^_~

I'm pretty sure that, without my knowledge, my life has shifted to existing on a Sunday->Thursday schedule. As in, I get up at "weekday" times on those days, hit the pool on those days, and go into campus on those days. Friday & Saturday are my "down" days, where I don't set an alarm/pre-set the coffee maker/make it to the pool/eat as strictly (i.e. they end up being closer to 1800 calorie days instead of my standard 1200, which is kind of hilarious since they're also my non-guaranteed-exercise days).

I'm also pretty sure that this is a combined result of my athletic & academic schedule - my classes run M-Th, and I have volleyball on Sundays & Mondays, thus there are external motivators. Given the hours at the aquatics centre, my training schedule for swimming is flexible enough that I can go on Friday afternoons if I feel like sleeping in. The gym is open until 2230 on Friday nights, so I've also got the option of actually doing my dryland on Fridays (I've been bad about dryland the last week or so, which, yeah, that needs to stop. I'm never going to make B-Min times if I don't get my ass in gear sooner rather than later. At least my daily distances are starting to get up to where I need them to be).

In other news, it's been 3 weeks since I'd been able to get enough breathing room in my schedule to do my share of the co-writing on "All That Remains" (this being the reason I'm officially bowing off the fic as co-author after the current part goes up. I'd originally stepped in as a beta and morphed into a co-author, but given the levels of insane that have cropped up in my life lately (and show no signs of going away anytime soon), I'm returning everything back over to kijikun to do with it as she will).

Over the course of said 3-4 weeks, I'd forgotten quite how long it can take to edit a section of fic. I started working on it last night, and decided to go to bed and finish this morning. Woke up at 5, in an effort to stick to a consistent schedule, but didn't drag my ass out of bed until closer to 6:30 because it was in the 30's last night and I refuse to turn on my heat in October.

I think I'm going to give in and take a break to make blueberry pancakes. I've been craving them with a passion ever since I picked up blueberries at the market yesterday (I'm a sucker for good fresh fruit, and the extras will freeze well). I think there's a fic to blame, but for the life of me all I can remember about it was that it involved Ian Crocker. There's also the possibility that the craving is just a result of a sudden and inexplicable bout of nostalgia for New England (Maine, specifically). Who knows.

Earlier today, I posted a general approximation of my To Do list for the next 24 hours or so.

Given where I currently stand on said list (I've still got the oral presentation & handouts, the museum assessment, the article reviews...), and how badly one of my quads was hurting merely walking down the stairs *to* the gym, I made an executive call and came straight home.

I *did* get in most of a swim workout, at least - I was running late, so I only did 2500M instead of my planned 3K, but as it was I had to just about sprint to my 2:30 class.

For shits & giggles, I timed a 1500M Free interval (at cruising speed, because hllangel - the lovely person who has been feeding my swimming suggestions given her own history in the sport - suggested that a lot of my leg pain yesterday and today might be a result of Lactic Acid build-up, and that working out at a lower level would help to dissipate it w/out generating more in the same quantities). Thus, I now have a baseline. Expect it to drop rather significantly the next time I clock a 1500, given my conscious effort at keeping my pace slow and even today.

Short Course 1500M Free
Today's Time - 33:26
Motivationals - 22:58.19->17:13.59

Technically, I'm under double the AAAA-times, which is cool. However, I realized as I was writing this up that my initial long-shot goals (originally 2x the 4A times, which morphed into 1.5x the 4A times around the time that I realized I was already clocking under double) are actually in the doable range. As a result, I think my long-shot goals for January first are going to be making the B-Min times (the times on the left of the Motivationals spectrum).

Wish me luck, yo. I'm going to need it.

I am home! I have gas in my truck! I have laundry currently attempting to reach escape velocity! I am comfy - curled up on the couch in oversized sweats - and debating dinner. It's been a long day. Thoughts on dinner?

My Day: I got up around 6:00 so that I could eat before hitting the pool. Ran slightly late actually getting out the door, but it all worked out. I swam 2.5 kilometers, Long Course (except for the last 25M, b/c they were adjusting the pool down to Short Course). Of that, 1500M was swum without interruption. Go me! Next Wednesday, it jumps to 3K. *Whimpers* Also, my swimsuit is starting to complain about the chlorine. If you are/were a swimmer, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't know what I'm talking about, be glad.

I then proceeded to spent 8 hours alternating between sitting and crouching on a carpet-covered cement floor while assembling a mass mailing for my employer. At a coffee table. I hurt, and it's not even from exercise. I could totally forgive the gym or the pool; I'm not so sure I can forgive the carpet-covered concrete floor.

On the up side, I got a free lunch b/c they were having some kind of celebratory BBQ relating to our achieving official "University Status" (we were technically a University-College before, which meant we granted BAs and MBAs and BSs, but weren't as prestigious. I think). Managed to wrangle a hamburger sans bun & some lettuce, as well as a handful of tortilla chips.

Hit the gym after work, and was a total slacker. I was going to try to keep my MWF bike distance at a minimum of 20 miles, but today I only did 15.75. My story is that I decided that discretion was the better part of valor (and, TBH, I was a little worried about over-stressing my quads after yesterday's 34 mile accident).

Showered, came home, and here I am. This weekend, I have to: Write (& email in a timestamped copy of) an essay on Plato & the Audience (preferably sending it in tomorrow). Finish my "Personal Statements" for my Grad School Apps. Edit the next part of "All That Remains". Visit a local museum and do a 3 page write-up for Public History. Write my overdue piece for the Susan/Caspian Ficathon. Sleep. There's probably something I'm forgetting. Like transcribing the pieces of "Bits of Bliss" that I've been writing in classes. But I'm sure it's something else...

ETA: Other fun incident - was glancing at the bulletin board outside the weight room today (they post random interesting nutritional recommendations and workout tips), and there's a new article. About the benefits of Chocolate Milk.

*Gives props to chimosa* It was so nice to be ahead of the curve on this one ^_~

ETA2: Oh, right. Working on the Intimacy/Sex swim!fic. *Makes inarticulate noises at krabbypatty*