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This is precisely why I seldomly take pictures.   Taking one of yourself (or the kids or whoever) with a monument / view in the background feels like a tourist-y thing to do, and I don't really feel like I have to "prove" that I have been there, so what's the point? And taking a picture of just the monument / view is even sillier, because there's no way I can get close to the quality of what I can find online by actual photographers, so why bother? 😅   And there's something "old school" about actually looking at stuff with my own eyes, instead of through a lens... 😎  

At least the challenge doesn't start until Monday?  Hope you feel better soon.

Following!

On Tuesday I biked to work and back, and went for a walk during my lunch break. Did the DailyDare in the evening but not much else.   Went to the library with TimovieSon. TimovieDaughter didn't come, so that basically means I had free rein on which books to pick for her. So I saddled her up with a number of classics from when I was a young teen. A couple of books by Dutch author Jan Terlouw (who I will happily call my favourite children's book author), Otfried Preussler's "Krabat", and Thea Beckman's "Crusade in Jeans", and I added Tolkien's "The Hobbit" for good measure. Let's see how she fares with some of my favourite books from when I was her age... Or with "one of the best books of all time" in the case of "The Hobbit". 😇     Mrs. Movieman left for the airport in the early morning on Wednesday, so I got to sleep in a little. Had stayed up rather late, but nothing totally extravagant. I had the day off too, after all.   The plan was to go swimming with the kids in the afternoon, but a class mate asked if TimovieDaughter would go play at her house, so the swimming got scrapped. TimovieSon spent most of the afternoon playing with a few of the neighbour's kids. I went for an extended walk after I brought TimovieDaughter to her friend's house. TimovieDaughter wanted to go by bike (it's less than 1 km away), but since I wanted to go on a walk immediately after (and the house was halfway to the park where I wanted to go walking), I decided to run beside her instead of getting my own bike. Only managed half the route - I hate running and lack the stamina - but I did it, and I'm totally counting it as an exercise. Even did it twice, because I did it as well when I went to pick her up (again, only ran half the route).       The missus wanted me to mow the lawn yesterday. I got two thirds of the job done, and then our mower died. It was an old one that we had gotten from a friend (after she redid her yard with artificial grass). But that means I have to get a new one. Preferably as soon as possible, because there's an odd strip with long grass amid freshly-mown patches in our back yard. It looks silly. But... yay, unexpected costs! 😒     Watched a bunch of snooker as well. If anyone had put money on David Gilbert, Kyren Wilson, Jak Jones and Stuart Bingham being the World Championship semi-finalists, then that's now a rich man, I think. 😅 I think it's a testament to the fact that the level of play for the entire top-50 has gotten so good and so close that anyone can really beat anyone.   TimovieSon is a tad disappointed, though. One of his favourite football teams (the local Zulte-Waregem) relegated to the second division last year, and yesterday they lost in the promotion play-offs, so they'll be stuck in second division for at least another year. On the bright side: tickets to go see them will be cheaper next season. 🤣 (that last remark left TimovieSon unamused 😈)       Been doing my best on all fronts. Well, maybe not the workouts, but I've been doing something every day. And there's still time this week... 😇   Week 0   M T W T F S S Intermittent fasting               Calorie intake               Calories spent               Calories in/out deficit               Curfew               Sleep               Avg. sleep 6h20 Steps               Avg. steps 14.58K Distance 20.32 km Workouts 0.4 Days with (mini-)workouts 3       Here's another band that'll be at the Alcatraz festival: Clutch. My first reaction to them was "ooh, my dad would probably love these guys!". He's very much into blues-rock, so they seem right up his alley. I'm very much into the "ooh, they sound like fun!" camp and will check them out. The time table for Alcatraz hasn't been released yet, but based on what day and stage the bands are playing, how high they are featured on the poster, and last year's time table, it definitely looks like some decisions will have to be made on Sunday evening. Chances are there will be overlap between the Architects' gig, and either this one or Danko Jones'...   Clutch - Electric Worry

Exactly! Nothing pretentious, just fun and silly. Don't know if it's the same diner but I went to one that was amazing, it was so cliche American diner that I thought I was on a movie set. I had cherry pie and the waitress called me honey. I honestly didn't think those place were real. 😄    I see no problem with this whatsoever, unless you claim it's your own pic. I often find the same with landscape photos, a phone photo just can't convey the vibes or scale of a place. It just looks like generic trees/rocks/fog/whatever. Or maybe you could do it with a phone (they really have become amazing!) but you'd still have to get there when the light's the best, find the best location etc. But then the experience becomes something else entirely.

I have a challenge problem. I fail every one, but keep trying. Some might call it madness, some tenacity.   THIS time I have a new plan. I'm going to be all sneaky-like about it.       Instead of tackling things head on, I'm taking a three-pronged approach, a combo of managing my energy, my environment and my emotions. In theory, when these are aligned I won't need schedules or to do lists (except as reminders) and thus won't rebel against them.      Energy   #1 Sleep - Go to bed before midnight. Switch to glasses and brush my teeth as soon as I feel tired.     #2 Hydrate - I've been tracking my water intake and it's not great. And let's be real most of it consists of coffee. Aim is 2.5 liters of liquid.     #3 Don't wreck myself in the gym - I accidentally got a little handstand obsessed again and don't notice the time until my body can't take it and then I get sore for days and don't wanna do anything. The goal is to set a timer in case I get carried away.     Environment    #1 Use web blockers - I keep falling into YT rabbit holes and need a reset. Not too aggressive because then I start rebelling against them, just during the day when I really want to be doing other things.     #2 Use music to get moving and manipulate mood     #3 Go outside/change environment when I feel stale     Emotions   #1 Figure out why I'm procrastinating - Am I overwhelmed? Do I know how to do the thing? Am I bogged down by expectations? Can I break it down, or make it easier?     #2 Make it fun!     Let's go! What could possibly go wrong this time?    

Dragon Age 2: very good. Easier than Origins (but Origins was hard if you didn't play as a mage with lots of AoE / CC spells). Varric is an excellent character (but then, I have a thing for unreliable narrators). Dragon Age Inquisition: abandoned it after 30-40 hours. Not that it was bad, just that I didn't feel up for another 100 hours in the game, especially as a simple "goody two-shoes" decision had immediately locked me into one of the main paths without it being a concious choice on my part. There's just too much content... Torment: Tides of Numenera: excellent. Not as much of a spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment as I had hoped (and as was advertised), but the influence is definitely there. And it's not overly long, or better: it doesn't overstay its welcome. I think I kept it under 50 hours. 😋

Heidi   I'm glad you're doing things and enjoying yourself   BUT   what did we just say about having too much on your plate already?