I started to blog some amusing conflicting tidbits found in the news the last three days about smoking. As I hit this page, though, of listings of articles about cigarettes and smoking, I changed my angle.

(Depending on when you get this, the emphasis of the page will likely change. I'm too lazy to take a screen shot).

Here's a sampling of headlines.

• target="_new">Study: High School Students Smoking Less
• Do cigarettes cause cancer? I'm not sure, says boss of sued tobacco firm (Probably not if you glue them together and use them as bookends)
• Tobacco chemical brain drug hope
• German smokers laugh off health warnings (The "warnings" are hilariously strange from an American perspective - worth a click)
• Smokers: Beware Bad Air
• Tobacco firms try back-door protest
• Smoking opponents generate new heat (Registration required - about a smoking ban in the works in Illinois)
• Restaurant employees seen as major risk group for cancer (Out of Finland)

Posted by: hln at 05:56 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Crazy!

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - The Brazilian (news - web sites) woman with the most body piercings in the world -- 1,903 -- fears returning to her crime-ridden home country as she would attract so much attention she could be robbed.

The last time I went to Brazil, I had to wear a face mask because since I have a lot of jewelry (pierced to the skin), I fear being robbed or attacked," Elaine Davidson told Reuters from Edinburgh in Britain where she lives.

Brazil has one of the highest crime rates in the world.

Davidson, who has been outside her home country for 10 years, won an entry in this year's Guinness World Records book after starting to pierce herself four years ago. In Edinburgh she runs a Brazilian restaurant.

She considers feeling pain a motivating factor in her life and says she also walks on beds of nails, fire and bits of glass.

"I like pain, I love pain," she said, explaining that she now wants to surpass exceed 2,000 body piercings.

Her genitalia is the body part where she has the largest number of piercings -- 500 in all, externally and internally.

"It hurts in the chest as well," she said. "I had to take some out because of the silicone, the doctor asked."

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Attach and Attack are only one letter different. Discuss.

hln

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There are lots of fitness/nutrition/protein bars on the market today. One, Luna, made by Clif Bar, markets its product especially to women. Packed with soy protein (wahoo!), Luna bars also offer a large amount of folic acid, and, depending on the flavor/type, calcium and other important nutrients. They range from 170 to 180 calories, and they're great snacks.

Since I've tried them all except Chai Tea, Chocolate Peppermint Stick, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and Orange Bliss, I thought I'd give a review.

The Flavors.

I'll start with the negative. I just recently tried the two new flavors, Caramel Apple and Dulce de Leche. Uh, yuck! They taste imposed...too sweet with a bit of an aftertaste. If I'm hungry and it's the only healthy choice, yeah, I'd eat one. Both have some sort of strange icing on the bar. It's just too much.

Now - two bars "weigh in" at 170 calories; the rest are 180. The two at 170 are Sesame Raisin Crunch and Toasted Nuts and Cranberry. Both are great, and I often use these as cycling snacks (3/4 of one or so at each refueling stop). The reason? Nothing meltable, and that matters in extreme heat. Endorsed.

Of the remaining bars, 180 calories each, the top choices for me all include a bit of chocolate. It's the perfect amount of chocolate. You see it; you taste it, but it's really negligible. Those are Chocolate Pecan Pie, S'Mores, and Nutz Over Chocolate. These are not, because of the chocolate, bike friendly in temperatures nearing and above 80, but they make great afternoon or mid-morning snacks and can even serve as the occasional late breakfast.

So-so flavors? The Lemon Zest is too...zesty. Tropical Crisp was okay, but I wouldn't buy it if I had other choices. I've eaten so many of the Cherry Covered Chocolate ones that I'm tired of them, and Sweet Dreams left me craving more water to get rid of the cloying aftertaste (but otherwise good).

Now, the nutrition info. I'll use Nutz over Chocolate. Sorry you low carbers - you're likely going to rule these out at 24 grams of carbs for a 180 calorie serving. But check it out - all of the folate a woman needs, and 35% of the calcium. This is great for a person like me who doesn't eat much dairy.

Where can you get 'em? Well, many grocery stores will sell them, as will stores like GNC. I get them in bulk online from All Star Health, as this is the best I've found with pricing. I'd recommend the grocery store sampling method before ordering, as most people's taste buds are far less whacked than mine.

My personal favorites are Genisoy Extreme bars, though. That's a review for another day.

hln

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And in entertainment news:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The creators of the video game series "Grand Theft Auto" want a federal judge to dismiss a $246 million lawsuit filed by the families of two people shot by teenagers.

Rockstar Games and its New York City-based parent, Take-Two Interactive Software, said the victims' families were trying to hold them liable "based on the expressive content of the video game."

Retailer Wal-Mart and marketer Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., are also named in the lawsuit.

Aaron Hamel, 45, was killed and Kimberly Bede, 19, was seriously wounded when their cars were hit June 25 by .22-caliber bullets while driving along Interstate 40.

Stepbrothers William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, 14, were sentenced in August to an indefinite term after pleading guilty in juvenile court to reckless homicide, endangerment and assault.

The boys told investigators they got the rifles from a locked room in their home and decided to randomly shoot at tractor-trailer rigs, just like in the video game "Grand Theft Auto III."

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Yes, a survey. According to CNN's Money section, 8 out of 10 of us want new jobs.

More than eight in 10 workers plan to look for a new job when the economy heats up, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Professionals. While there's a difference between looking for a new gig and actually jumping ship, that kind of number is "very, very high," says SHRP spokesman Frank Scanlon.

How did things get so bad?

To be sure, the economy hasn't helped. Cash-strapped employers have been cutting back on benefits like health care, paid vacations and retirement benefits.

Belt tightening is one thing; greed is another. In an era of Enron, mutual fund scandals and ludicrous CEO pay packages, employees know the difference, says Jeff Taylor, founder and CEO of Monster.com.

"Companies behaving badly" have been all too common during the downturn, according to Taylor.

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I should split this category into Health, Fitness, and Nutrition categories. Look for those, uh, someday.

In the building where I work, there's a nutrition company, the name of which escapes me. The point I want to make, though, is that I was in there one day talking with one of the dieticians, and she showed me two models that they use to visually educate clients about the differences between fat and muscle. The models are made of plastic, each representing a pound of its respective material.

The muscle is very dense, of course - we all know that - muscle "weighs more than fat." The fat, aptly colored a sickly yellow, appears 1.5 times larger.

I'm going to state the obvious for a moment, so bear with me. Weight/resistance training builds muscle. If you "convert" (which is really a bad term because that's NOT what's occurring - in a pure sense, you're losing the fat and gaining the muscle) 10 pounds of fat to muscle, is your body composition going to change? Oh, you betcha it is.

Focus if you will on the next celebrity whose picture you see. Look at his/her arms, legs. Those arms and legs are built with the help of personal trainers. They're built with weight-bearing exercise. Weight training will not make you fat, ladies. And gentlemen, it will not bulk you up significantly unless you tailor your program to do that...and have the genetics to make it happen.

Why am I harping on this? Probably just because I can. I'm irritated with a lot of things diet and exercise these days - others' "gospels." Perhaps this should be a RANT. You decide. It's just disjointed ravings.

more...

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1 It's very helpful. I get so tempted by those "diets" and their promises. Even Weight Watchers makes me twitch in ways I can't quite define. My idiot fiance is following some ridiculous "soup diet" but only until he loses 10 pounds, and he's close - after a month. He'll probably gain it all back. Me? Only 4 pounds, total, in as many months. I'm trying to learn to eat better, not diet, and my stubborn head isn't helping. I know, exercise would help. I'm fighting that battle too. But yes, thanks for talking about these things. They keep me sane.

Posted by: Jennifer at November 12, 2003 05:50 AM (kjOoJ)

2 You might be doing your best Don Quixote impression for most people. I, on the other hand, appreciate someone posting this stuff. Lots of people tend to get surly when I bring it up. In this age of instant gratification, everyone wants results now. The other day I was speaking to someone about the importance of changing their eating habits in lieu of, or in addition to, their diet. I mentioned how even a tiny change in caloric intake can affect their weight with the following example: Say you're eating dinner and you decide to have an extra dinner roll. That's 100 extra calories, on average, so no big deal, right? Wrong. Imagine ingesting 100 extra calories every day for a year. You will be celebrating the New Year accompanied by 10 more pounds. Probably had no affect on the other person. Oh, and some feedback on the Weight Watchers thing: my wife uses the program(she stopped while pregnant) and it looks like a decent combination of limiting intake while simultaneously changing behavior. Participants are forced to account for each and every food item that they consume, and are gently persuaded to eat less caloricly dense foods. You are also required to eat a minimum number of servings from fruits, vegetables and dairy products. The dietary mix achieved is fairly healthy. Oh, and people are encouraged to exercise daily, if for no other reason than bonus points are accrued allowing them to add the occassional snack. My only beef with Weight Watchers is their blind support of the height/weight tables. All through high school, I was classified as overweight, even when I had a 28" waistline and 6% body fat. Consequently, I pretty much ignore the tables. If I tried to get down to the weight suggested by WW, I'd have to lose about 25 pounds of lean muscle mass en route. Not a chance. I do have my own handy dandy fat calipers, though, which I find much more useful in keeping track of my weight. The upshot of this long-winded comment is that I, at least, appreciate your health related-posts. Thanks.

Posted by: physics geek at November 12, 2003 01:03 PM (Xvrs7)

3 I'm a tentative Atkins believer -- and the diet is much different than parodied. The "jump start" is not a psychological thing, it's designed to clear your liver of stored gylcogen so that your body will switch over to a fat-burning metabolism. There's also very little of totally eliminating foods. The "diet" is most strict during the first two weeks, but gradually becomes much more balanced as fruits and more carbohydrates are reintroduced. In some ways, Atkins is not truly a diet, but is designed to be a permanent change in the way you eat. Not for nothing is his second book entitled "Atkins For Life." And no, your "Kashi" isn't quite as bad as soda. Fiber is good (and is encouraged on Atkins). After that, your Kashi looks like it has about 30 grams of carbs, including 11 grams of sugar. Sugar, of course, will make your body rapidly react by producing insulin. The other carbs (except the fiber) will do that to a greater or lesser extent, depending on their composition. If you are a lucky person whose body reacts properly by producing the right amount of insulin, that's great. For many of us, though, that amount of carbohydrates will produce a rush and then a crash (just like when you were a kid and had too much sugar). That, in turn, leads to all sorts of symptoms, including headaches, irritability, difficulty sleeping, and increased hunger. Switching to a way of eating that avoids that rush/crash cycle can be tremendously helpful to a huge number of people. It may not be for everybody. I'd urge anyone considering a change in the way they eat to read up on Atkins and other diets before they start anything. Most of the information in the Atkins book is available free on www.atkins.com. And no, I don't work for them, but I've been on Atkins for about 3 weeks. I'm losing weight slowly but steadily, but more importantly, I feel 1000% better. My headaches are gone, I'm less irritable, less hungry, and I sleep better. It may not be for everyone, but I'm a believer.

Posted by: Spoons at November 12, 2003 04:59 PM (F3d90)

4 Clear glycogen! I have to cough; you're talking to an athlete. Clearing glycogen is a BAD thing. Fat burning! You mean ketosis. You know - the stuff that taxes your liver, makes your breath bad (potentially), and burns muscle BEFORE it burns fat. That being said, I do use Splenda any time I would "add" sugar (like, teaspoons). If I sent you a list of what I eat each day, it wouldn't qualify, but I hit all the food groups (light on dairy, actually - taste, not restriction), and I'm medium carb, medium fat. I have to be because I'm burning the carbs. I've not seen Atkins work for anyone in more than the short term. So, color me a skeptic. And the lack of harsh restriction on saturated fat really turns my face red. Simple carbs probably do produce the rush and crash. I simply wouldn't know - I avoid them in most cases - maybe a bit of bread with dinner, but I never do "pure refined carbs" unless I'm on the bike and planning to ride for more than an hour and a half. Good luck with Atkins. Watch your kidneys. Watch your liver. Get plenty of salt and water...but you probably know that. And if you're not exercising, get your ass away from the computer and MOVE. Thanks - well-written and intelligent response, even though we disagree. hln P.S. I don't think I am "lucky" - I think I'm careful and eat really well, and I definitely advocate eating often, eating consistently. I eat five times a day, sometimes six to seven (depending on amount and timing of exercise...I'm likely to hit 7 times today, but two of those times will be only 60 calories - graham cracker or some dates to RESTORE glycogen. I use that stuff). I should slap a full day's diet up on here to show what I mean. hln

Posted by: hln at November 12, 2003 06:18 PM (CWwGn)

5 I've lost over forty pounds (and kept 'em off for the most part, tho the weight does go up a bit 'round the holidays...) in just under three years, basically by using a Weight Watcher's diet: balanced meals, watch the excess fats and empty calories, more veggies, portion control, and breakfast. The gf and I have attended one-evening lectures at the local hospital, taught by nutritionists: Vegetarian eating, and meals-on-the-go. Vegetarian because of my cholesterol (we're not vegetarian, though we have cut back on the meat and we have several vegetarian dinners each week); on the go because of the same reasons anyone else might. If you can take similar lectures, I highly recommend them. Two points I'd like to make: The sugar/carb crash can be minimized by eating protein with your carbs--for instance, a tablespoon of peanut butter works wonders. I don't recall the mechanism exactly, but it made sense when it was explained to me, and I try to keep protein and carbs balanced (Heather, you might also talk about why protein helps one recover after exercise in the future). Breakfast works wonders. Eating within three hours of waking 'counts' as breakfast; waking up at 6 am and eating at your desk at 10 am doesn't count. Skipping breakfast puts your body in 'starvation mode' because it doesn't know when you'll eat next, and your metabolism goes down to preserve energy. And I love Kashi, too! Though I'm eating it with soy milk, mostly. Next thing for me: Gotta get to the gym and exercise more. In the meantime, I'll stick to less meat, more veggies, and fewer sugars--just like doctors have been telling you to do for years. --Victor P.S. Did you delete a comment? Your 'clear glycogen' comment seems to have come from nowhere. . .

Posted by: Victor at November 12, 2003 07:59 PM (16A49)

6 I've lost over forty pounds (and kept 'em off for the most part, tho the weight does go up a bit 'round the holidays...) in just under three years, basically by using a Weight Watcher's diet: balanced meals, watch the excess fats and empty calories, more veggies, portion control, and breakfast. The gf and I have attended one-evening lectures at the local hospital, taught by nutritionists: Vegetarian eating, and meals-on-the-go. Vegetarian because of my cholesterol (we're not vegetarian, though we have cut back on the meat and we have several vegetarian dinners each week); on the go because of the same reasons anyone else might. If you can take similar lectures, I highly recommend them. Two points I'd like to make: The sugar/carb crash can be minimized by eating protein with your carbs--for instance, a tablespoon of peanut butter works wonders. I don't recall the mechanism exactly, but it made sense when it was explained to me, and I try to keep protein and carbs balanced (Heather, you might also talk about why protein helps one recover after exercise in the future). Breakfast works wonders. Eating within three hours of waking 'counts' as breakfast; waking up at 6 am and eating at your desk at 10 am doesn't count. Skipping breakfast puts your body in 'starvation mode' because it doesn't know when you'll eat next, and your metabolism goes down to preserve energy. And I love Kashi, too! Though I'm eating it with soy milk, mostly. Next thing for me: Gotta get to the gym and exercise more. In the meantime, I'll stick to less meat, more veggies, and fewer sugars--just like doctors have been telling you to do for years. --Victor P.S. Did you delete a comment? Your 'clear glycogen' comment seems to have come from nowhere. . .

Posted by: Victor at November 12, 2003 08:00 PM (16A49)

7 AWESOME - couldn't have said it better myself. I have always watched what I eat and tried various diets - including Atkins. I didn't lose true, steady weight and found it EASY to maintain until I met with a personal trainer and got advice on nutrition and exercise. I just started to count calories every day - no matter what way shape or form and only eat so many. Of course, within those calories, you have to choose for yourself what you want to eat to feel the best. If you want to drink alcohol for all your calories a day, you would probably lose weight, but probably wouldn't feel that great or be that healthy. A skinny person is not necessarily 'healthy'. Just like some larger people are fairly 'healthy' even if they don't look it. With my personal trainer, I also found although I did do weights every week, I had to change up my routine and add some cardio with it. Now my base exercise routine just amounts to about 5 hours a week and I count calories. No problem. I lost 25 pounds and 10% body fat and GAINED muscle. It was over approximately 6 months of time and have maintained for over 3 months. I feel so in control of my body - it's wonderful.

Posted by: Lorena at November 15, 2003 10:13 AM (ubhj8)

8 Oh yeah - and Weight Watchers is good, too. All it is is WW counting your calories for you. If you read the packaging, the serving sizes, and actually measure out all your food, you can easily do that on your own. The only thing missing is the "group" support and atmosphere.

Posted by: Lorena at November 15, 2003 10:17 AM (ubhj8)

9 I think that there are a lot of things that Atkins was right about, and have since seriously curbed my carb intake. Since I did that, my tastes and cravings have seriously changed. The main thing that I did was drasticly cut back on the sugar I ate. The main part of that was simply giving up soda pop. I still eat my share of carbs, but it isn't the bulk of my calories anymore. The other thing that I did was start weight training. I have twice the strength I had a year ago, and my weight has changed exactly three pounds. On the other hand, I've gone from about 26% body fat to about 19%.

Posted by: Phelps at November 15, 2003 03:46 PM (HlHi7)

10 Nice, Phelps! I never drank soda, so I wouldn't know how that would impact someone. (I'm an odd duck, no?) I haven't done anything to "curb" carbs per se with nutrition, but I have tried to drop empty calories of all sorts from my day-to-day intake. So that means the switch to whole wheat pasta, full fiber cereals, etc. And LOTS of fruit. I'm proud to say that with the very few processed foods we eat here in Noggle manor, I don't get much "added sugar." Ladies - check out the Luna bar post! hln

Posted by: hln at November 15, 2003 04:45 PM (yJyUC)

11 Phelps, I'm curious: What kind of carbs *do* you eat? I'm assuming you're cutting out the simple carbs (sugar, basically) but if you are weight training, you need carbohydrate so your muscles will have something to use as fuel. (I realize we don't know each other, so let me assure you there's no 'hidden agenda' in my question--I truly am curious.)

Posted by: Victor at November 16, 2003 08:55 AM (16A49)

12 Very well-stated! I came across your blog through Live Journal somehow. I enjoyed this entry a lot. Thanks!

Posted by: Hollie at January 13, 2004 07:57 AM (56Trs)

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you the United Nations Motto, as spoken by Kofi himself:

"We're United." [pause] "We're Nations."

"Four legs good, two legs bad?" [pause] "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others?"

[Looks bewildered - turns until he spots a League of Liberals member. Prepares to read from the teleprompter. Coughs.]

"We're not the United Way."

[Microphone Screeches. Tear forms in Kofi's eye.]

"We're the United Nations. Yeah, that's the motto. 'We're the United Nations.'"

[Music Swells. Lights fade.]

hln

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Why, it's the Bonfire!

hln

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I was a week behind on noting moves in the Blogroll. I'm pleased to report that I have fixed two typos (Suburban Blight and Electric Venom). I think I just subconsciously wanted to be in Hawaii. Makes sense.

Robert Prather has moved his site to InsultsUnpunished.com, which means he probably won't be switching the blog name again.

And, Matthew Stinson put up a beautiful blog at MatthewStinson.com, so goodbye to Fearful Symmetry for now.

Now I just have to spiff up the sidebar - Amazon.com Wish list (when I display the link, it gives me a Wish list all right, but it ain't mine...), Corner of the Bar Babes logo, Front Line Voices, etc. I hope to accomplish that this week. Oh, and I promised Victor that I'd put up the Blues' logo, so that, too. I'm just so afraid I'll jinx 'em; they're playing so well.

hln

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1 Heather, if you feel putting up the logo will jinx your team, than DON'T DO IT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY TO YOU FOR PETE'S SAKE! I'm a guy; I know about jinxes. All you had to do was say...keeping me happy is not worth risking it, if the gamble is your team will suddenly start to play like my team. Unless they meet in the playoffs, of course.

Posted by: Victor at November 11, 2003 07:45 PM (16A49)

2 Don't mind me but... I like to look at blog designs (although you wouldn't know it by mine)and layouts. I think you should put a border of 2px or 3px in a darker purple around the "content" portion of the blog. It will set it aff a little more and give it a mire distinction visual definition. Look at a pic in the newspaper... they all have a very small border to give the edge of the picture definition against the lighter colored background. Just an idea... sorry if I'm out of line.

Posted by: The Bartender at November 12, 2003 12:39 AM (1//av)

3 I don't think it would look good next to the white (the line that differentites the left-hand nav), but that doesn't mean I have to keep the white hln

Posted by: hln at November 12, 2003 05:13 AM (g+waq)

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Everyone's run some prose through the Gender Genie by now, no?

I've probably put 15 pieces through it of varying lengths and only ONCE has it ever categorized me as female. Bad Gender Genie.

Virginia Postrel has the best quote ever about this quirky little piece of code. I thought I'd share.

And I'm a heterosexual woman with raging hormones and an evolutionary-psychology-approved waist-hip ratio of 0.70. I'm not masculine; I just like definite articles. I'm not saying gender is socially constructed, but I wouldn't recommend that anyone look for dates based on Gender Genie scores. It's not just me and not just opinion journalists, D Magazine's restaurant critic, Nancy Nichols, reports scoring 100% male, while executive editor Tim Rogers says, "Turns out, I'm a chick."

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I hadn't visited Scrappleface in about a week. Some great stuff this last week.

Wal-Mart Vendors Protest Chip-Tracking Illegal Workers

Al Gore Arrested, Detained at Guantanamo

Dean Ditches Democrats, Joins GOP

Democrats Blame Bush for Lunar Eclipse

Judge Terminates Unwanted Law in First Trimester

So there's some morning reading.

hln

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Nic at Ships, Shoes, and Sealing Wax has a lovely post about the storied sunken ship.

hln

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James Joyner is linking to many of my body parts.

Elbow shot, anyone?

hln

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A sign in Stephen Lanzalotta's bakery reads, "Senza il pane tutto diventa orfano." In Italian, that means, "Without bread everyone's an orphan."

But fewer customers are buying his European-style breads and pastries these days — thanks to the Atkins diet, many regulars are cutting back on carbohydrates. Lanzalotta says the low-carb diet has contributed to an estimated 40 percent drop in business at his shop, Sophia's.

Some customers have even stopped by to apologize.

The National Bread Leadership Council, which says 40 percent of Americans are eating less bread than a year ago, has scheduled what it calls a summit this month in Rhode Island focusing in part on low-carb diets and how to educate the public that breaking bread is still part of a healthy lifestyle.

"It's too bad that we just can't eat all foods in moderation. But no, we have to do something dramatic all the time," said Judi Adams, president of the Wheat Foods Council and a registered dietician, referring to the Atkins diet. "We have to look for this magic bullet."

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The headline is "Pam wants to talk chicken but KFC wonÂ’t bite"

Good for KFC. Pamela Anderson as a chicken expert? Please!

“Pam Anderson has been trying to meet with Novak because she cares passionately about the well-being of chickens,” says a source. “Pam objects to things like how KFC scalds live chickens to de-feather them, but Novak won’t even take her calls.” Now, Anderson, an active member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, will call for a boycott of KFC on her weekly radio show.

Because of the stalemate, says the source, PETA is stepping up its war with KFC. “If they won’t meet with us, we’re taking our case to the children.” The source says that PETA will start handing out what they’re calling “Buckets of Blood” in front KFC outlets across the country. “They’ll look like KFC’s buckets of chicken, and will contain things like mutilated, gory chickens,” says the source. “We gave kids ‘Unhappy Meals’ at McDonald’s and Burger King crowns with animals impaled on the points when they wouldn’t meet with us. After those kids started screaming, both McDonald’s and Burger King got reasonable.”

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Steve Hall of adrants finds some strange things. Today's evidence is the "no smoking" bra.

Triumph International, a Swiss-based underwear maker, has developed a bra which it claims helps women quit smoking with embedded perfume capsules that react with cigarette smoke making it unpleasant smelling. The capsules contain lavender which has a sedative property as well as jasmine which alters the taste of cigarettes. The bra is also treated with liquid titanium to break down cigarette smoke.

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Voting again in the New Blog Showcase, as I do every week.

I have three this week.

1. I Pray Daily. Am I an Extremist? Likely no.
2. Project Trinity 101 - Whoa, dude.
3. A Halloween Story - It'll cook your goose.

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Yes, I received SPAM with my Hotmail account. Shocking, no?

I actually opened this one, and it makes good blog fodder. Sit on the porch step (preferably in a virtual warm climate), and read along with me.

I bring you the 911 Review.

Here's what I "learned":

• Osama is a Patsy!
• Charges brought down the Twin Towers!
• There's an Ongoing Coverup!
• Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel!

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Whenever I'm in a different city, I find a gym for the day. Today, it was Ozark Fitness, which is about a mile from my mother's house.

Which can most adequately be called a Meat/Meet Market. While working my chest in the free weights area today, I saw this woman who was in her 40s, perfect bod, matching outfit, lifting small weights, and flirting with men of different shapes, ages, and sizes. Her top half was highly surgically altered (as women that thin are not endowed naturally with canteloupes). It was amusing. The "gentlemen" were just eating this up.

I got my share of onlookers, too, which I'm not used to. Most obviously was my work on the leg press. I dress for utility at the gym - no little "outfits," and I was badly in need of a shower for aesthetic purposes (hair!). Still, they stare. Not used to that. Gawkers! Turn away, and get back to your lifting.

People of all shapes and sizes in this gym, and that's good. There's even a separate "ladies'" gym, which I think is funny. The machines are all calibrated so that they max out with pretty low weights. I guess this makes women feel stronger because they use more plates (5 pounders)? I coulda maxed out the thigh machine but, naaaa.

Exercising in different gyms keeps everything more interesting, and, like most things, you're glad to be back home working in your own gym. I don't see any gawkers there (gawking at me or others, really) - most people in the free weights, Hammer machines area are pretty intent on their exercises, which I prefer.

hln

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