The Bull in the plaza downtown got decked out for it.

I actually really love Mardi Gras.  I like big commotions and shiny things and excuses to dress up and have fun.  I’ve even been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans twice, I had a friend that went to Tulane and I made sure to take advantage.  HERE ARE SOME PICTURES:

Ah, youth! Okay, nostalgia trip over!

So like I said, Durham got really into Mardi Gras this year!  And I was all about it! After work Jon and I headed to the Fullsteam/Motorco area, where parties were starting and where a million food trucks were lined up.  And by a million I mean like seven but WHATEVER GUYS, Fat Tuesday means that the short rib quesadilla and duck fat tots from Ko Kyu food truck (I wrote about it in this post from last summer)  are 100% justified.  Jon and I hung at Fullsteam a bit, eating our food truck food and drinking some Fullsteam beer.  Well, I don’t like beer, so he drank the beer.

ALSO, Fullsteam had several King Cakes for the taking.  King Cakes, for those of you who don’t know, are these danish-tasting, sugary concoctions with icing in the shade of Mardi Gras colors and also some sprinkles.  Each King Cake has a little plastic baby in it, and if you get the baby you win luck and fortune and good things.  So Fullsteam had a bunch of King Cakes cut up and you could just take a piece. And guess what y’all, I GOT THE DAMN BABY:

I got the baby!

I mean I don’t even like King Cake, guys, I really just grabbed a slice at random to see if I could maybe get the baby (heh, that rhymes) and I totally got the baby.  Because I got the baby I won a pint of Fullsteam beer, which I naturally gave to Jon because I don’t drink beer.  Anyways, not a bad way to kick off the Mardi Gras evening!

We walked from Fullsteam over to the plaza in downtown Durham with the big awesome bull and its giant balls (I love this statue), where people were massing for a Mardi Gras parade that would be led by the Bulltown Strutters, a sort of paradey band with lots of brass and drums and like, good things.  I’m not entirely sure how to describe them but they were really, really, really good.  The parade was set to start at 7:00, and by quarter til the plaza was starting to fill up.

I wanted her wings.

I know, my camera sucks at night, but look!  People were in costume!  People had beads! In carts!  The Mardi Gras spirit is alive and well in Durham.  And then the Bulltown Strutters happened, and they were great guys they were.  They came to the plaza, they played some music, and they led us off on our jaunt down to the Motorco/Fullsteam area.  Parade, guys.  I love parades.

The Mardi Gras King, in a rickshaw

Since this was the first year the parade happened there wasn’t exactly a parade permit–we sort of sidewalked it and also went into the street a bit and yes, we stopped traffic (oops, sorry cars, at least we’re entertaining right?). This was very much an “anyone can play!” parade and Jon and I happily joined.  Tons of people in costume and tons of people with instruments and generally a feeling of profound happiness and also spontaneity.  I just loved it, it reminded me of the random, non-official Mardi Gras parades I caught in smaller neighborhoods in New Orleans and it also felt so perfectly Durham.

The parade ended at the Fullsteam/Motorco area on Rigsbee, and the Strutters filed into Fullsteam.  And more music and revelry happened:

I’d picked up some adorable, decorated drink umbrellas from a generous person on the parade route, and I saw this little girl in a Belle costume eyeing them.  I gave them to her–unfortunately I didn’t get a photograph of the umbrellas before giving them to her, but I promise you they were cute.  And I promise you that this girl’s reaction was totally worth it, she was so happy!  (Also, her mother gave me her card, she’s a baker, and her company is called Sweet Arielle Bakery, and it looks like she does macarons?! Want. Now).

Anyways this was SO. FUN.  We didn’t stay out too late because, you know, work night and work tomorrow and all that.  I really hope that Durham does this again next year, if so I plan on coming in costume and with masks and lots of beads! Here are a few final links to make you happy:

The write-up of the event from the Herald Sun (the only reporters faster than I am are actual reporters, I saw this guy at the site actually speedy dude).

WRAL photo coverage.

A video I took of the Bulltown Strutters.

And another video I took of the Bulltown Strutters.

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

I haven’t seen Jurassic Park on the big screen since it came out way back in the 90s, and though I have watched it a bazillion times since, it is always interesting to be in a movie theater and to hear the audience’s reactions.  I learned some things about Jurassic Park, on this night.

For instance, some people find this hilarious:

Oddly, Jeff Goldblum, tanned, open-shirted, reclining like some Roman senator at a feast, isn’t something that I ever found notable when watching the film alone, on my couch, every Saturday night on Spike/USA/TNT.  But when you watch it in a giant theater, people start laughing when this scene happens.  So yeah, it is totally hilarious.  I never noticed that before!

You learn something new every day.

(P.S. HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY GUYS!  Consider shirtless Jeff Goldblum my gift to you, I LOVE YOU ALL!)

(As a sidenote, Patton Oswalt has the best thoughts on the prequels, the best thoughts ever, you should listen to them).

So anyways, in 1997 I was totally obsessed with Star Wars.  I came to the Star Wars party a little late.  I didn’t actually watch them until I was ten, for some absurd reason, but then I got SUPER obsessed.  I more or less memorized the movies, and I read all the expanded universe stuff (Thrawn Trilogy guys Mara Jade guys!)  Since I was so Star Wars obsessed, and since my twelfth birthday overlapped the re-release of Return of the Jedi, it only made sense to take a bunch of my 12-year old girlfriends to see the movie for my birthday party.

Except it really didn’t make any sense at all guys.

As you can guess, most 12-year old girls prefer this:

over this:

Too bad I couldn’t provide this, everyone would have been happier:

Naturally, none of my friends had seen the Star Wars movies (I wasn’t hanging out with good people in middle school, clearly), so they were all pretty bored.  I wasn’t the coolest kid in middle school, and I was definitely all about ingratiating myself to my friends so that they wouldn’t be mean to me (remember when i said I wasn’t hanging out with good people?  No, really, they hazed me before I could eat with them at lunch.  I had to kiss the ground guys, no joke!  What can I say, I was lame), but I wasn’t mortified about their thinking my choice of a movie outing was weird.  I was mortified because the girls just didn’t get Star Wars.  AT ALL.

And to make matters worse, my girlfriends liked the lamest parts.  Like the damn Ewoks.

I mean, they cooed, loudly, and in unison, every time the Ewoks came onscreen.

OOOOOOOO SO CUTE SO CUTE.

Okay, so that last baby Ewok is totally cute, but still.  When you are trying to build your nerd identity, it doesn’t help when you take all your friends to see one of the BEST MOVIES EVARRR (remember I was twelve) and all they do is coo at the damn Ewoks.

Anyways, I learned after that.  I found my nerd crew.  I realized that Return of the Jedi wasn’t really the best movie evarrr (Empire Strikes Back forever guys!). And I never again took a bunch of my Lisa Frank loving girlfriends to see a science fiction film.

Except The Hunger Games.  My girlfriends and I are totally going to go see The Hunger Games.

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Allright, random things, random things…

1.  Despite my love of beauty and grooming I rarely get manicures, because I am extremely hard on my hands and they don’t last that long.  I need a specific reason to get a manicure, like going to a fancy event.  I got one yesterday (I was accompanying a friend, who has a job interview this week), and I decided to paint my nails this shade of blue.  And then, today, I decided to clean my house like a maniac.  And I pretty much messed up my manicure, so there you go.

2.  Speaking of grooming, I never wear my hair in its natural state.  I haven’t not blow-dried/flat ironed my hair in years. I’m not even sure, at this point, what it looks like when I let it dry natural.  My hair is sort of curly/wavy, but curly/wavy hair doesn’t fit my self-image, which is generally put together and polished.

3.  When I was younger I did a lot of oil painting.  My mother still has most of them hanging in my childhood home.  They weren’t all that good, and I tended to paint a lot of things involving fairies and dragons.

4.  I have a plush Mickey Mouse collection.  Said plushies are scattered between my childhood home in Florida and here, but they still exist.  Even though I donated most of my childhood stuffed animals, I refused to get rid of the Mickeys.

5.  I always take holiday decorations down the day after the holiday.  Sometimes they will stay up until the following weekend, if it is a particularly busy work week, but any longer than that and I feel lazy.  Parties are cleaned up the night of said party as well.  I’m all about anticipation, but once the event is over it is OVER and decorations are just a sad reminder that it is over.

6.  I watched Big Bird in China ten million times as a kid and, therefore, have always wanted to go to China.  When I watched this (in the 80s) and asked my parents if we could go to China they’d always respond by saying it was too dangerous.  I thought they meant that the Chinese dragons would come and get us as soon as we stepped off the plane.

7.  Despite owning a lot of high heels I rarely wear them.  They hurt my feet, and I tend to walk around a lot during the day.  I’d love to be one of those people who wore heels all the time, but I do a lot for beauty.  Like flat iron my hair every day.  And wear Spanx a lot.

8.  I took a tap class one summer when I was either in late high school or early college.  I took it with my Mom.  Neither of us were very good.

9.  I used to scrapbook.  I have a gorgeous scrapbook that I made after spending a summer in Italy.  I stopped, mostly because it is time consuming and expensive, but I’d love to get back into it.

10.  When I was 13, I wanted to be a Rabbi when I grew up.

11.  I’m still driving the same car I received as a birthday present when I was 17: a red, 2002 Honda Civic.  It will turn ten in about a month, and it has nearly 99,000 miles on it.  Said Civic is still going strong!

Okay, so those maybe weren’t super interesting, but they were certainly random right?  Here are Pensive’s questions:

8.  What is your favorite book?  I’m a big fan of A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving.  I used it for my speech and debate piece one year, also.

9.  You win one of those around the world plane tickets- where do you go first?  Japan, of course. 

10.  What is your biggest struggle?  I can be very judgmental and negative, I’m working on it. 

11.  What is your biggest goal in life? Find a work-life-love balance, having a postive impact on my community (clicheeeee, cheeeese), travel lots, stay in shape, not become a cat lady. 

Okay I diiiiid it!  Now here are some questions for other people:

1.  You are making first contact with an alien race, how do you feel?

2.  Cat person or dog person? Why?

3.  If you could only listen to opera OR country music for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

4.  Remember that Are You Afraid of the Dark episode where the girl got stuck in her own painting?  If you had to get stuck in a painting, which painting would you choose?

5.  Which fictional character (book, tv, movie etc.) do you wish was actually real?

6.  What was your favorite subject in school/college?

7.  Does the rug really tie the room together–what is your favorite piece of furniture/decoration in your house, and why?

8.  You can live anywhere in the world for a year.  Where would you live?

9.  How old were you when you learned how to swim?

10.  Guess what, you can re-do your career!  What would you choose to study/be/pursue this time around?

11.  A space ship is leaving for space, to colonize a new planet.  You have the opportunity to be on said space ship, but you will never again see Earth, your family, or your friends.  Will you go?

Okay so I tag…

1. Hundreds of Things.  Good luck on your job interview!

2.  http://bittetumirnichtsaberschenll.wordpress.com/

3.  A Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes.

4.  High Heeled Traveler.

5.  Beryl Lynn.

6.  Robot Attack.

7.  This Old Street.

And um, my friends don’t really blog, so that’s all I know.  Heh.  Lame right?  Anyways, I hope this was at least mildly entertaining for y’all!

Orthodox brides and grooms do not see each other for at least a week before the wedding.  Before the wedding ceremony, the bride (kallah) and groom (chattan) have separate receptions where they greet their guests.  The groom’s reception was men only (you will notice a lot of gender separation in my explanations), but the bride’s reception was mixed gender.  We had awhile to mingle before Rachel arrived–the reception was essentially an elaborate cocktail party with a live band, an open bar, a sushi station with sushi makers, a carving station, hummus, pasta, crudite, cut fruit, and salads.

Before heading into the reception--this is the only time all night my shoulders were uncovered, modesty was definitely in style this evening!

My sister and me, before heading into the reception.

The men of the family, enacting a pose often favored by some of our late patriarchs.

One of the food tables at the reception.

The bridal "throne," surrounded by seats for the female relatives of the bride and groom.

After about half an hour, Rachel was led into the reception by her mother (my dad’s sister) and Raffi’s mother.  She was followed by her sister (my cousin Sarah) and the grandmothers of the bride and groom.

Rachel, being led into the reception by her mother and the groom's mother.

The back of Rachel's beautiful dress.

Rachel, greeting guests.

My extended family, converging on Rachel.

Jon, my sister, and me with some of my cousins.

With my mother and sister.

Rachel greeted her guests for about forty-five minutes.  My dad popped into the men’s reception and basically said it was a bunch of Orthodox men, sitting around eating and drinking.  Makes sense.  Oh, by the way, the bride and groom do not eat or drink at these receptions, because it is customary for them to fast all day.

After about forty-five minutes a huge commotion erupted by the entrance to the men’s reception.  The Bedekken (veiling) ceremony had begun.  Raffi was led into the women’s reception by his friends, who were singing, dancing, clapping, and making a big ruckus.  The room parted and Raffi processed to where Rachel was sitting.  Rachel’s friends were now singing as well, and the noise and energy in the room was insane.  Raffi approached Rachel (remember, they haven’t seen each other in a week) and veiled her.  This is a combination of a reference of the biblical story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel and also another reminder of the modesty and the purity of the bride.  I’d never seen a Bedekken, and all the singing and dancing and spirit made it incredibly beautiful and moving.

Raffi, approaching Rachel for the Bedekken, surrounded by their singing and clapping friends.

After veiling Rachel, Raffi was led out for the Chuppah ceremony, the official wedding ceremony.  Rachel started preparing herself as well.

Rachel, taking off her jewelry before the Chuppah ceremony--a bride is supposed to go to her wedding as unadorned as possible.

Rachel headed off to the Chuppah ceremony and the guests all followed.  The Chuppah means “canopy,” and it refers to the canopy under which the wedding ceremony takes place.  The wedding ceremony was gender separate, women on one side of the aisle and men on the other side.

Unfortunately, I had a very negative Orthodox experience right before the ceremony.  I decided to use the ladies’ room right before the ceremony, and I was in a rush as to not miss anything.  I rounded a corner and almost ran into a black hat wearing, Hasidic man.  I said “excuse me,” as one does to be polite, and he shushed me.  He went “shhh.”  Because I was a woman.  And I had spoken to him.  I was pretty furious, as you can imagine.  Much of Orthodox Judaism has a bad reputation for being inflexible, outdated, and unequal regarding women’s rights and you know what?  People like the man I ran into in the hallway justify that reputation.

Buuuut this isn’t a post about my opinions about Orthodox Judaism and women’s rights, this is a post about my cousin’s beautiful wedding!  So, back to it.

The wedding ceremony started as would any wedding ceremony–Raffi was escorted down the aisle by his mother.  Raffi then donned a kittel, a white, pocketless robe sometimes worn by Jewish men at weddings and usually worn by Rabbis and Cantors during the High Holidays (it is worn during other occasions as well, and Jewish men are often buried in one).  The grandmothers of the bride and groom also walked down the aisle.  Rachel’s brother and sister then processed to the Chuppah, followed by Rachel who was escorted by her parents.

Under the Chuppah, waiting for Rachel.

Rachel and her mother.

The wedding ceremony starts with the bride circling the groom seven times, to symbolize the seven days of Creation and the building of a new life as a couple.  The ceremony includes the reading of the Ketubah (marriage contract), the reading of seven blessings by seven different people (usually honored guests or members of the family, although since this was an Orthodox service only men performed the blessings.  My father did the second one), and a giving of a ring to the bride (again, not gender equal, only the groom gives a ring to the bride–sort of an acquisition sort of thing).

Rachel, circling Raffi seven times to symbolize the building of their life together.

The wedding ceremony.

The ceremony ended with Raffi stomping on a glass (you’ve probably seen that in movies or on tv) and everyone yelling “mazal tov!” and all that good stuff.  However, the couple did not process orderly down the aisle.  Instead, once the glass was shattered, Rachel and Raffi were RUSHED like it was a rock concert and they were on a stage.  And then they were more or less carried out of the room by their friends, who were singing and dancing and all that good, energetic stuff.

Rachel and Raffi, being led/carried/pushed out of the room.

Oh just a side note–this is the first time Rachel and Raffi have touched in three or four years.  While they dated in high school they did all the normal making out and hand holding things that high schoolers do.  However, when they decided to become Orthodox, they chose to adopt the practice called shomer negiah.  This means that they only touch members of the opposite sex who are relations.  So Rachel could hug her dad and brother, but she and Raffi could not even hold hands until they were married.  Just a fun fact.

Anyways, since Rachel and Raffi had been fasting all day they were led to a room where they could eat a meal and spend some time alone together.  The rest of us headed to the reception.

At the reception.

At the reception.

With all my cousins at the reception.

Soon Rachel and Raffi’s friends started lining up to prepare for their arrival to the reception.

Waiting for Rachel and Raffi to arrive

As soon as Rachel and Raffi arrived, crazy dancing started guys.  Rachel and Raffi were each led off to their sides of the floor (the dancing was gender separate) as a mechitzah, a barrier separating men from women, was lowered from the ceiling (the mechitzah in this case was a curtain that could be raised and lowered as necessary depending on whether or not dancing was happening).  The dancing was really insane, and it went on for a good 45 minutes before people stopped to eat their dinners.  The band was a sixteen-piece, Jewish/Klezmer/Hebrew style ensemble.  The ballroom had a balcony from which I took a few pictures, but I also got down into the fray and danced some with Rachel myself.  But let me tell you, it was nuts in there.

Rachel, being led onto the dance floor.

The dance floor, seen from above.

The dance floor, as seen from above.

Dancing paused for dinner, but then resumed pretty quickly.  The second round of dancing included the “shtick,” which is when the friends of the bride and groom perform skits and talents for the bride and groom’s entertainment.

Some shtick.

This wedding really spared no expense guys.  I mean, there were even bowls of delicious French macarons for the taking at the open bar!  Genius!  Also, check out the cute R&R logo that was designed specifically for the wedding.

The R&R Logo, projected in light on the dance floor.

The rest of the night passed by with a combination of dancing, some dessert, some more dancing and socializing, and some family type pictures.

My family with Shirley, my late grandmother's closest friend.

My family and Jon.

More dancing--Rachel and her mother in the center of a parachute thing.

My incredibly attractive and well-dressed parents.

I headed upstairs around 11:00-11:30, because I had a 7:45am flight back to North Carolina to go to work the next day–did I mention that the wedding was on Sunday night (Jews don’t get married on Shabbat).  Monday was a pretty sleepy day–I had a lot of recovering to do from one of the most entertaining and eventful weddings I had ever attended!

My sister and me with the bride!

I hope that you enjoyed the wedding stories and the wedding pictures!  I learned a lot about Orthodox Jewish wedding traditions and was glad to have had the experience.  Below are a few links to videos of the dancing and the shtick, just to give you a better idea of what the reception was like.

The Dancing.

The Shtick.

Thanks for reading, and mazal tov to Raffi and Rachel!

]]> http://thedilettantista.com/2012/01/24/rachel-getting-married/feed/ 2 lhgordon DSC03929 DSC03931 DSC03935 DSC03941 DSC03939 DSC03944 DSC03945 DSC03947 DSC03953 DSC03958 DSC03955 DSC03963 DSC03971 DSC03979 DSC03983 DSC03987 DSC03992 DSC04002 DSC04006 DSC04012 DSC04015 DSC04020 DSC04025 DSC04038 DSC04040 DSC04078 DSC04093 DSC04097 DSC04098 DSC04106 DSC04109 DSC04101 http://thedilettantista.com/2012/01/18/things-i-will-miss-if-sopa-actually-happens/ http://thedilettantista.com/2012/01/18/things-i-will-miss-if-sopa-actually-happens/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 03:56:43 +0000 The Dilettantista http://thedilettantista.com/?p=3180 ]]> So I’m not good at understanding legal stuff, but I think I have a basic comprehension of this SOPA/PIPA grossness.  I’m sure you do too.  I hope you’ve taken some time today to contact your Congress people about it.  Wikipedia has a handy-dandy thing where you can put in your zip code and it will give you all the contact information for your area.  I used it earlier today, it was a good thing.

So, rather than tell you about SOPA, because everyone is probably telling you about SOPA, I’m going to show you some of the awesome things on the internet that I will TOTALLY MISS if SOPA actually happens.  I will miss these things because they will become illegal, and that would be terrible.

This amazing Mad Men image.

Downton Abbeyoncé.

Hey girl.  I like the library too.  Hey girl, art.  And any variation of Ryan Gosling meme.

So that’s just a small gathering of stuff that is awesome that would disappear if SOPA happened.  The internet is full of good, guys.  Let us not ruin it, am I right?

What would you miss, if SOPA actually (ungh, terror of terrors) came to pass?

(My sing-song would involve bringing me like, foie gras or an ice cream sundae or something, because ham has just never done it for me y’all, and it is not because I am Jewish.  Treif is delicious, just not ham).

So we all have our, you know, normal selves.  And then we have our performer/singer/writer selves.  And sometimes the writer self is all: “Bitch, write more blogs please.”  But then the normal self is all: “But my life is pretty dull right now.  My job is good, and I go to the gym five or six times a week, and I play with my cats and I read a lot of epic fantasy, and this is all well and good but it doesn’t really make for riveting blogging so I’ll just rewatch that Downton Abbey episode where the Turkish diplomat dies while having sex with Lady Mary,” and as you can imagine this conversation isn’t really useful in terms of me actually writing.  So I guess I just need to punch my normal self in the face and, you know, write like a motherfucker.

Anyways, this is what I’ve been doing with my quiet, uneventful life as of late.

I’m totally caught up on Downton Abbey, which is so awesome guys, although Season 2 thus far has a lot of World War I in it, and a lot of war hospitals, and that makes me a little squeamish.  But still, early-version curling irons, and elbow-length gloves, and Dowager Countess hats!

I’m eating a ton of lentils lately.  This is because I am poor and have to pay off some credit card debt from funemployment and lentils are cheap and also because lentils are good for you and easy to make!  Also, easy to take for lunch–I like easy lunches.  Even the non-lentil centric meal I made this Saturday (the Moroccan-Style Lentil and Chickpea Soup with Lamb and Roasted Tomatoes from Bon Appetit’s Food Lover’s Cleanse) was chock full of lentils guys.  I guess it is a thing.

So yes, my hair looks nice, my writer self will overcome my normal self (hopefully), and lentils are delicious.  I hope y’all are having a lovely Tuesday.

I won’t say much more about Downtown Abbey except that the lines “One swallow does not make a summer” and “What is a week end?” have been uttered, the latter by the AMAZING Maggie Smith.  Also, THIS RIDING COAT GUYS:

Wow guys, look at that riding coat.  Look at the skirt on that riding coat. I loathe horses (remind me to tell you about my one horseback riding experience one day, it basically encapsulates all that is problematic in my daily life), but I think equestrian fashion is amazing.  AND THAT COAT.  I want to wear it, I want to wear it and be an equestrian British Goth chick because that coat is amazing and beautiful and probably swings really nicely when you walk.  I would get on a horse again, just to wear that coat.

Okay, maybe not the horse part, but, you know, WANT.

I had a friend who went to a Florida game at LSU and they saw rednecks fans rednecks dragging around dead baby alligators.

Also Alabama is just terrible.

So basically I loathe both of these teams.

Anyways, read the article on BroNYCon, it will make your night better.  I mean people give testimonials on how the ponies saved their lives guys:

Steve Decker, a Maryland Brony who was selling from his stock of hundreds of My Little Pony toys, each of them carefully enclosed in a Ziploc baggie, said that “My Little Pony” saved his life when he discovered it in 2004. His work as a student loan collections officer was making him suicidal. “My job was literally to ruin peoples’ lives,” he said. “Every day, I’d hope to get into an accident and die on my way to work.” Looking for some small, simple happiness, he went to Toys “R” Us. The boy toys were all focused on killing and violence, while many of the girls’ dolls were slutty or stupid, he said. The 2-for-1 sale on My Little Ponies clinched it for him.

See guys, friendship is magic.

Look at how appropriate this image is guys!

They’ve realized that physical activity is not optional.

This is something I’ve come to realize in my past year of gym-going.  I’ve always been pretty regular about the gym;  I’m lucky, I have two parents who go to the gym 5-6 times a week despite often working until 7:00 or 8:00 at night.  They’ve been frequent gym-goers for as long as I can remember, and when I became old enough to use the gym at the JCC I joined them.  So from age 14 on I’ve been going to the gym.  Sure, I’ve dropped the ball for a few months here or there, and the year and a half I spent working retail was a bit sparse in gym-going, but I’ve always been able to pick it back up.  My period of funemployment caused (enabled?) me to be one of those people who schedule their days around their work-out, and I’m happy to say that after five weeks at the Durham Arts Council I am still sticking with my fitness routine of at least an hour a day, 5-6 days a week.  And this is because I know now that remaining physically active is just not an option in America today.

You don’t have to go to the gym and take classes like I do.  You can be a runner–I’m not a runner, that isn’t for me.  You can go rock climbing, or hiking, or swim laps–whatever, you just have to do something.  We sit around too much, and we eat too much, and it is way too easy to get overweight and unhealthy (as evidenced by much of America) for physical activity to be optional.

I’m not saying anything new here, so I apologize if this is boring.  But it is how I explain myself to people who react in shock and awe when I tell them that, yes, I do work all day, and then I put on my gym clothes at work and go straight to the gym.  It just isn’t optional.  I look at going to the gym the way I look at going to work: it is something I have to do, even if I don’t really want to.

I’m hoping that the resolutionists now clogging up my gym have this realization as well, I really do.  I won’t enjoy fighting for floor space in my classes, but I’ll be happier knowing that another group of people is adopting a healthier lifestyle with the realization that this just isn’t a choice anymore.  It is a necessity.