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Steppercize

February 8, 2010

It’s not quite as retro as jazzercise, but I’ve started taking step classes again. I’m cheating just a little, because I’m not getting up early to work out, but rather, going to a 9 a.m. exercise class and not getting to work until 10:15-10:30. We’ll see if this makes any difference to anyone.

I took 7 a.m. step aerobics in the fall of 1997 and loved rolling out of bed in Studio City, throwing on workout clothes and steppercizing before acting class. I even socialized a bit outside of the gym with the teacher and another woman in the class. Step choreography requires coordination, but not actual dance skills, just rhythm. I found that I could get the hang of the moves in most exercise classes after about three sessions.

That Thanksgiving, the health club offered back-to-back classes all morning, so you could burn off tons of calories before the big meal. I cannot even imagine doing something like that now.

I was pleased Friday, at my first step class in at least 10 years, that I picked it up pretty well. I was pleased too at how many nice women were taking this 9 a.m. step class. I didn’t think anybody was into step anymore. Thought it was all boot camp and power yoga now.

The hot hot exercise class these days is Zumba. I started this a few months ago, but didn’t find the moves that challenging or the classes that much fun. My new gym (around the corner from my office) has Zumba on Wednesdays, so I’ll be trying that.

I’m also probably going to join another gym, closer to my home, because I went to a Zumba class there on Saturday and it. was. awesome. The instructor’s name is Isis and people shout out “Zumba” at random moments during the routines.

Yeah, I own a 2,100-square-foot personal exercise room, with pretty much any exercise equipment you could want. I have videos for a wide variety of exercise routines. But I need to join two different gyms, so I can go to classes where there are other people.

In my search for the best classes, I started to pine for a big city that might have a Crunch or a Swerve, with classes in hip-hop or Yoga Booty Ballet. But for now, Zumba and step will have to do.

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Roses and thorns

February 3, 2010

It was suggested to me that I would feel more energized and motivated throughout the day if I woke up early and exercised. And if I spent less time on the couch, watching TV (gasp).

This is true, I noticed it when I worked out in my pajamas to a 6 a.m. German exercise show in Prague before an early shift. Better than working out to my TV, or in my 2,100-square-foot personal backyard exercise room, or even walking the dog, would be to leave the house and go to an exercise class where there are other people.

The lack of meaningful, face-to-face interaction with other people is the main problem with my job. Yesterday I was alone for most of the day in the office. I heard Michelle Obama this morning talking about her dinner table practice of asking everyone what their Roses and Thorns were from the day.

Almost worse than having one single thorn, the most unpleasant part of my day was sitting listless at my desk for six hours, not really getting anything done largely because I didn’t have anything that needed to get done. It doesn’t stick out like, “Man, this is the thorn of my day,” just a general malaise.

The rose? Teaching class with Rob last night made me happy. But the best, best part of my day? Watching the Lost season premiere.

So yes, while I am going to make an effort to get out of bed early to go to an exercise class, there is no way I’m giving up any TV shows.

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Going without

January 29, 2010

I’ve mostly had to give up chocolate, because it made me break out. Pretty much every time I ate it. I have found that powdered hot cocoa does not have the same effect, so I’ve been drinking that nearly every day.

Unfortunately, I continued to break out even when I wasn’t eating chocolate, so I sought the help of two dermatologists who said nothing about the possible cause, just gave me creams that irritated my skin, but may have been effective, who knows.

Then I remembered that one of the culprits that made me break out in my 20s was soy. This whole time I was eating no chocolate, I was eating tofu and sushi and teriyaki and other soy based foods. So I gave up those too.

This past week, I started to break out again, and d’oh, wouldn’t you know it, but I’d been eating a bunch of soy-based veggie burgers. So now I have to write those off too.

Sigh.

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Machines fail me

January 14, 2010

I dropped my motorola phone one time too many yesterday and it stopped working. This is a year-and-a-half old cell phone, not my precious iPod John Henry, but the loss is quite upsetting nevertheless. The cellphone has been my primary phone for several years, even if this model only has been with me a short while. I am due to upgrade in March, and AT&T makes it difficult (expensive) to do it any sooner.

The problem is, I didn’t want to upgrade. For the first time, I haven’t been counting the days to upgrade time, obsessively reading reviews and researching what my next phone will be. This mahogany-colored Motorola V9 has met all my needs, which are few:

  • Make calls
  • Receive calls
  • Make and receive small numbers of text messages
  • Wake me up
  • Play ringtones
  • Take photos in a pinch
  • Display pictures of my dog
  • Has speaker phone

I have used it to check email, but only in emergencies. I want my phone to feel like a phone, not an iPod. No sliding keypad, just a flip phone. I liked that it had a bit of weight because it was easy to find in my bag. I don’t need any fancy data-using features.

I went to four AT&T stores, Walmart (I know) and Best Buy yesterday. I also searched Amazon and AT&T’s sites. Apparently no one wants Motorola flip phones anymore. You can’t get them new anywhere. You can get an international “unlocked” version, but those are very poorly rated on Amazon.

I seem to have found someone on Freecycle who is going to give me one for free. (All hail Freecycle.) Plan B is to spend $100 at eBay on a used one. Aside from free, this is probably the least expensive, since AT&T will charge me a $75 early upgrade fee…and based on the available phones at the moment, I don’t even want to upgrade with them in March.

I was in a pretty good mood yesterday before I destroyed this link to the outside world. I was set to drive to Olympia for two nights, to attend work meetings. I had my new iPod, my new laptop and my trusty Motorola. Without a functioning phone, I felt isolated and alone as I drove in the rain, getting used to the company car’s windshield wiper settings and trying to find the perfect intermittent speed.

The best thing I did yesterday was shop for handbags at the outlet mall. I’m not totally into labels or anything, but Kate Spade bags were the rage when I was first out of college, and they are quality. I went to the outlet mall specifically to go to the Kate Spade store, and was faced with yet another disappointment when the store wasn’t listed on the directory. I went into Coach and almost bought an $89 bag before deciding to shop around a little more and stumbling upon the Kate Spade store. I picked out a $99 bag, which rang up at an additional 40 percent off, so I went back to Coach and got that one too!

I got a green tea latte from Starbucks, which was for some reason spiked with espresso. It tasted sort of interesting, so I drank it anyway, not feeling like turning the car around to complain. The upside was that I didn’t fall asleep on the drive and I was able to get work done until 11 and watch Conan at 11:30 (Is NBC really putting Leno back on at 11:35? Quelle horreur.) The bad news is that I slept two hours, woke up with the hotel TV still on, and tossed and turned for another three hours before finally falling asleep, only to wake up an hour early having dreamed about worrying that I would oversleep.

Meeting with my department was productive and fun, but the day was soured with the discovery that I may have lost practically every photo I have taken for work in the past two years. My external hard drive had been failing, but I thought we’d be able to retrieve the data before it spontaneously combusted. Not so, it seems. Many of my best photos exist elsewhere, because they have been used in publications and someone else has a copy of the file. But it’s an organizational disaster and very depressing. Note to self: It’s not a backup if you don’t have the files saved somewhere else.

My old work computer was overtaxed, and I thought it would die before the external drive. Now, I can get files off of it, but not the external. Unfortunately, I stopped saving the raw photo files on the computer all together.

Sigh. New year, new start, right?

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Reading in the dark

January 11, 2010

I’m using John Henry (my iPod touch) as a Kindle. It might even be better than a Kindle.

I read the Wonderful Wizard of Oz first, because it was free, to see if I could actually read an entire book on the device. Even though the “pages” are small, the “page turning” via a swipe of the finger is so fast, I don’t consider that a negative.

I bought Dead until Dark, the first Sookie Stackhouse novel, for about $6 and have been enjoying it very much. I find I read more often, because I tend to always have my iPod within arm’s reach, so when there’s a pause in my day, a wait for my takeout order or a lull between television shows, I read a bit.

The screen is illuminated, but I set the reading app – Stanza – to have a gray screen, so the glare doesn’t hurt my eyes. I can read in the dark. If I can’t sleep, I don’t have to worry about the noise from page turning. I don’t have to prop my head up, but in fact can lie on my side with my head on the pillow.

Posted in literature, pop culture, technology | 2 Comments »

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Happiness is a warm puppy

January 8, 2010

If anyone ever asks, the way to my heart is with a dog. You know how some people are baby crazy? I’m dog crazy.

My best friend just had a baby and he is beautiful. I met him at a week and a half and I wanted to hold him. His aunt said, “You can pick him up,” and I said, “I don’t know how.” I said that if there were a puppy, I’d be all up in its face. Which I proved earlier this week, when my coworker brought in her 2-month-old dachshund. I snatched that puppy right out of her lap, and am now closer to that coworker than I have been in the three years we’ve worked together.

When I see a dog on the street, even if it’s an ugly or uncharismatic creature, I shriek, “Doggie!” either out loud or in my head.

I brought Isis to work on New Year’s Eve, when I was the only one in the office. She was mostly good and we went on a great walk on top of the river dike across the street from my office. She did, however, bark like the vicious protector against evil that she is at a couple of guys in parkas outside my window and later at an older guy getting out of his truck.

There’s one other person here today, but it’s been almost as slow as it was on the last day of the year. I wish Isis were here. Or that I could at least see her on the petcam. I’m not sure there’s even been a single person outside my window that Isis would have barked at were she here, but it doesn’t really matter. I think I have to come to terms with the fact that she’s not a great office dog.

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Rise of the Machines

January 5, 2010

I’ve never been one to name faceless objects, like cars. But I call my TomTom a name because I selected for her a voice that was prenamed Mandy. She talks to me, gives me directions, so when I consult her, I call her by name. Mandy.

My new iPod touch doesn’t talk to me, but I’ve grown very close to him in the week and a half since we’ve been together. I consult him for a great many things, so he deserved a name too. I need to be able to say, “What time does the movie start? I better ask So-and-so.” Or, “So-and-so told me it would rain today.” Or, “I need to record my caloric intake with So-and-so.”

I decided on John Henry. Not based on the folkloric hero John Henry, but rather the character from The Sarah Connor Chronicles that was named after the folkloric hero. He’s a cyborg.

Rob and I are really into the Terminator mythology and are quite sad that The Sarah Connor Chronicles wasn’t allowed to have a third season. We’ve just started watching Battlestar Galactica, and I think we were smart to wait until the entire series concluded, so we know we have a definitive series finale to look forward to.

And who knew, it deals with the same human vs. robot dynamic we so enjoy.

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Baby brother on the way

December 31, 2009

We’re getting a baby brother for Isis in 2010. I’ve thought for a long time that we’d get another dog. The sick side of me needs a backup, because Isis won’t be around forever, and I don’t think I could stand coming home to this house without her. Also, she needs a playmate for her last remaining years. (She’s 3).

For a while, though, it seemed like another dog would be a problem, because Isis is so reactive. However, our dog trainer thinks it would be therapeutic for her. She’s still quite puppylike in her behavior (despite her advanced age of 3), and since she’s a girl, maternal instincts will kick in. If we get a boy and Isis can always be the Head Bitch in Charge (I have never used that expression before), she won’t have to compete with the new arrival.

I’m still a little worried about how she will respond initially. Will she bark at him when she first meets him? Will they ever fight?

This morning, Isis and I practiced jumping and weaving with the new agility equipment we got for Christmas. The increased mental stimulation gave her a major case of the zoomies. As she raced around the yard, I pictured what it would be like to have another dog to race alongside her, chase and be chased. I’m really excited to add to our family. We have a great yard for two dogs, and Isis will love having a playmate. Especially since I haven’t taken her to a dog park for the last year.

Our yard is fenced now, with a gate. It’s more closed off than it was when we first got Isis. We also have some flat terrace levels perfect for the agility equipment. Some grass has grown in since we threw some seeds around a few months ago. Isis has made dirt tracks in it, but I don’t mind, even if the city stormwater department might.

Rob has his heart set on getting another dog spawned from Isis’ father, which is doable with a little road trip to California. I’m torn, because I’d like to be able to rescue a shelter dog. However, I’ve been looking on Petfinder and haven’t seen any dogs that speak to me the way Isis did when I first spotted her in the kennel with all her siblings.

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The Eyes Have It

December 18, 2009

I’m reading a really long book. I’m enjoying it, but worried I wouldn’t be able to finish it by the book group meeting at the end of January, which I am supposed to lead, so I also got the 40-hour audio book from the library.

Since I’m in the car an hour a day to and from work, I’m making progress even on days I can’t manage to sit down and read without falling asleep. (This isn’t a reflection of the quality of the book, just of how much I enjoy napping.) It feels a little like cheating, but it’s not the same as watching the movie instead of reading the book — the words are the same. But someone else is performing it, instead of the voices in my head.

I have enjoyed many audio books, but this is the first one I have been able to compare directly to the experience of reading. I’m finding that I would much rather be reading with my eyes. I’m actually getting a little bored with parts, especially when I am driving home from work. I am less bored driving to work. My mind wanders more than it usually does when I’m listening to a book. I don’t think I would keep listening to it, if I weren’t already enjoying the printed book.

The speaker is British and he performs the characters in varying British accents. The voices in my head aren’t British, and it surprises me that I don’t prefer having the accents supplied to me. One of the first audio books I listened to in this manner was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and the skilled performance of distinct voices was one of my favorite parts.

The only other book I have both listened to and read is Atlas Shrugged. I read the book several years ago and adored it. To me it’s a perfect book, because although it is so long, every sentence has meaning and reason for being there. The ending is satisfying, and on top of everything else, there is a real point of view behind the whole novel. I started listening to it a few years ago and got irritated with it. Maybe because I am at a different time in my life, or maybe I was just uncomfortable with the comparison to some real-life events at the time, such as discussion of a Windfall Profits Tax, which sounded straight out of Ayn Rand’s head.

I’m not worried that I won’t have time to finish Pillars of the Earth, because I have enough time to listen to it, but I am looking forward to upcoming plane rides that will carve out some time for me to read with my eyes.

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Click it and trick it

December 5, 2009

I’m reading a book on clicker training called Reaching the Animal Mind. I’m ambivalent and have skipped entire sections dealing with the training of dolphins at Sea World-type establishments. I don’t doubt that dolphins can be trained to do marvelous tricks, but I’m uncomfortable with it because I am opposed to marine theme parks.

A section about using a clicker on an autistic child intrigued and sort of horrified me. Why does a child with a disability need to be trained like a dog? Later, however, I was fascinated by a chapter about TAGteaching, which essentially is clicker training for humans. It’s used by gymnastics coaches and golf instructors.

Isis and I have been working with a clicker for almost a year with a good amount of success in correcting some behavior problems. I have failed, however, to teach her any tricks. Not one. It never seemed particularly important that my dog be able to “shake” or “roll over.” These are not useful skills to her, merely a means of entertaining me. I can see how it’s very rewarding for a dog to learn a trick that brings great joy to its owners. Witness the enthusiasm on Isis’ face when she wears a reindeer costume. You could call it abuse — dogs don’t like to wear outfits. But she clearly is overjoyed to be making me happy.

Frequently when someone meets Isis for the first time, they ask if she can shake. Like this is as fundamental a skill as sit or stay. And I feel sort of dimwitted because I haven’t bothered to teach her this. After reading the chapter on “shaping” I tried to shape lifting her paw, the first step toward shaking. She would sit and look at me happily, waiting. When I did nothing, she lifted a foot as though she were about to lie down. I’d click at that moment and she’d stop what she was doing, and take the treat. I don’t know that she “got” that I was rewarding her for lifting her paw. Eventually she’d just lie down anyway.

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