It's Shark Week....

... on Discovery Channel I don't watch Discovery that much except for Mythbusters. Sunday night's ep was fun, though I could not believe that Tory and Grant got in the water with a swarm of sharks, even if they were wearing that chainmail and the sharks were like 6-10 ft. I tried to watch Survivorman last night but the guy was so annoying, and they pad the episodes even more than Mythbusters. And they way overused that editing technique I think I first saw on a car commercial, where they pan around the subject in slow motion, then speed it way up, then slow again. It's annoying to the point of being nauseating.

Tonight is a special including Survivor hottie Yul Kwon!

Exercise Rush

I made it to the gym again this morning! I left the house at 6:20, got in 35 mins of cardio (460 calories on the machine) and was at work by 7:45. I always feel so good after a workout and shower. Of course after a 7 minute walk in the humid DC morning, I was perspiring again. Yuck.

At least at 6:30 in the morning the Metro was practically deserted.

DC in the Summer

I just hate these steamy summer days. And WTF? The Metro was full of annoying tourists at 7:45 AM! TOurists should not be allowed on the Metro during rush our. They are slow, easily confused, and they block the escalators. Though some of the blame goes to Metro for not having very clear instructions, and often unfriendly staff.

I also was rifling through my place for 15 mins this morning looking for my watch. Yes I still wear a watch--it is a nice, elegant black SWATCH that my friend Andreas from Switzerland gave me like 8 years ago. It's not your typical SWATCH; it winds itself with hand movements, so no battery needed. I'll be sad on the day when it finally dies.

So here I am at work, the sweat slowly drying out of my shirt. Bleah!

Google street view

Google Street View is so cool. I saw my childhood home, the old Marc Plaza Hotel in Milwaukee where we used to stay when we went to GenCon, and here:

Run Away!

I really need to get out of DC. I'd love to do a cheesy weekend getaway to Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens, or even a B&B in Charlottesville, just to get away from this toxic city for a few days.

Of course I'd much rather be in SF, or Zurich...

Box of Rocks

Wow the checkout people at Safeway can be pretty dense. I don't blame the bagger tho first did this because I think he might have been 'differently abled,' but the checker woman yesterday was just dumb.

I have two recycled, reusable green Whole Foods grocery bags that I have now brought with me to Safeway twice to at least save a few plastic bags. The first time, when I gave them to the bagger, he looked confused. IT's not like Safeway doesn't have their own reusable bags you can buy, and I have seen others there with Whole Foods bags, so I wondered what his deal was. Then when he filled them he asked what he should do now. I said use plastic for the rest, duh.

Then yesterday, I handed by bags to the checker woman and she set them aside down at the end of the stand. Then she started to fill plastic bags with my stuff. I was like, 'Could we use those bags I brought first?" She looked confused and was like, "Oh, okay." She was just going to leave them sitting there. Then when the bags were full she asked me the same thing: "What should I do with the rest?" Like I was going to pull more bags out of my ass or something. Grrr.

Coincidence or subconscious?

I saw in the Washington Post this morning that Justin Timberlake was hosting the ESPY Awards tomorrow night on ESPN (a channel I actually have deactivated from my TiVo lineup) and that he is impersonating Jessica Simpson. That would almost make it worthwhile to watch a sports-awards show, I thought.

Then about halfway through spin class today, I realized that I had--totally without thinking--picked the one mix out of about forty that included both Jessica Simpson (singing "These Boots" no less) and Justin Timberlake.

Weird, huh?

I'm Fat

Yes I know, that's nothing new. I complain periodically that I'm fat. But you'd think someone who walks 2 miles a day, does 30 minutes of cardio every day, and teaches four 45-minute spin classes a week would be as lean and mean as some of the cyclists I see whipping by on the bike path every morning. But I have a little gut, and these annoying love handles. And I think I'm starting to get the dreaded man-boobs. Gah!

I could probably stand to lose ten pounds, and since I can't seem to rein in my bad eating habits, I'm going to try exercising even more as my main attack, and try to cut back on the junk a little. Wednesday night I went to crazy Carlos' hour spin class, and this morning I got up a little earlier and went to WSC near work that I normally go to in the afternoon for 30 mins more of cardio. That club (K. Street) was just as dead as it is at 2:00 pm, which kind of surprised me; I figured it would be packed. This afternoon I hope to do weights. I'd like to try this double-workout at least one other day, and add an afternoon workout on Saturday or Sunday. Whew.

Oh and I've seen Doug-Doug the cycle stud (remember him?) twice this week at the gym after not seeing him for probably a year. He looks the same, except maybe he's been out in the sun a little too much. Still seems kind of arrogant.

Sounds kinda like me...

Thanks to Cho!

Your Thinking is Concrete and Random

You are naturally inquisitive and curious. You're excited by new ideas, and you are a true independent thinker. You are interested in what is possible. You like the process of discovery. You are often experimenting, challenging old ideas, and inventing new concepts. Rules, restrictions, and limit don't really work for you. You have to do things your own way, and you can't be bothered to explain yourself.

What Kind of Thinker Are You?

I *heart* Al Gore

Gore Calls for Carbon-Free Electric Power by 2018

Meanwhile, our 'president' indulges in this childish behavior:

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter."

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

From the Telegraph (Thanks to Gene): Bush makes a fool of himself (again).

Gnashing of Teeth

Sometimes I think I should just live in blissful ignorance, rather than listening to Morning Edition on NPR every morning, and just getting more and more angry at how the politicians are screwing us over every day, and how the world is going to hell.

This whole housing mess was triggered by the greedy banks making these risky loans... loans that in many cases they must have known that the borrowers could not keep up with. But did they care? No. And now the Bush administration wants congress to hand them a blank check to bail out Fannie and Freddie. I don't pretend to fully understand the whole situation, but I agree with 'many economists' they mentioned, who think that bailing out these institutions (who are apparently very powerful lobbies on Capitol Hill) would just make the banks think that they can continue with their risky behavior (sounds like sex, doesn't it?) because the government (aka taxpayers) will always bail them out. They think that Fannie and Freddie need to 'suffer' more before being saved. I agree. I think the executives and board should pay, and pay dearly, even if it continues to have a negative effect on the economy. Someone should take responsibility for this.

And I am so sick of Bush demanding that the oil companies be allowed to drill in the Alaska reserve and offshore. This is a stopgap cure, and won't solve anything in the short term. Major changes need to be made, and the oil companies need to spend less on marketing their 'green-ness' and a whole lot more on alternative energy. A few million just doesn't cut it.

Finally, this story on Navi Mumbai made me thing of the world of Neuromancer

Abortion Proposal Sets Condition on Aid

(I read this courtesy of Mac)

Oh come on! What new, sleazy low will the Bush administration stoop to?

The Bush administration wants to require all recipients of aid under federal health programs to certify that they will not refuse to hire nurses and other providers who object to abortion and even certain types of birth control.

Under the draft of a proposed rule, hospitals, clinics, researchers and medical schools would have to sign “written certifications” as a prerequisite to getting money under any program run by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Oh, and like those abstinence programs in schools are working so well too.

After the Spin

Before every class, even after four years, I get a little tiny bit nervous, mixed in with a strange kind of feeling of dread. And every time I go the the Clarendon club, as I approach I am hoping in the back of my mind that it will be closed (as it has been several times due to flooding). Nothing like I did early on, but just a bit of a twinge these days.

The club wasn't closed, I had more people than ever for this new Monday night class. And as usual, I feel better after the class and glad I got the exercise. Though, the scenery in the weights area (which I can see through a wall of glass at the back of the spin room) wasn't as good as usual.

And yes, I did get some sushi. And a Sapporo. Yum.

Spinning

Almost time to go teach another Spin class. Will I be able to resist stopping at Whole Foods on the way home for sushI?

V'ger

Those two Voyager Probes launched in the 70's are still sending back data. And the Bush administration wanted to cut their funding.

Wall•e

I saw Wall•e with V. yesterday at the 11:30 am show. Of course there were kids but it wasn't too bad. And the movie was GREAT! It was so cute, and very clever.