UPDATE 10/24/10: The offending link was taken down several weeks ago after I threatened to complain to their ISP and site host. I just haven't had a chance to update the blog again until today. You may notice some of my earlier posts about my weight loss journey are missing. This is only temporary - I have inactivated them for the time being since Blogger does not have a feature for limiting the public nature of specific posts instead of the entire blog. This situation caused me to rethink whether or not I want to broadcast my challenges with losing weight so publicly and I've decided that, for the time being, I'd rather keep it just between us friends. Your comments have been preserved and will show up again if I determine I'm comfortable republishing the posts. Thanks again for your support and readership.
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I have changed the status of my blog to private. You hopefully will be able to sign in with your Google Account to view it. I had to do this temporarily because some jewelry website decided to feature my blog link on their site without my permission. As this is my personal blog, I really do not want it featured on business websites. Thanks to my readers/friends for your understanding. Once I have confirmed the link has been removed, I will open the blog back up to the public.
For future reference, my business blog and this blog are separate. If you wish to feature something from my business blog, you can find the instructions on the front page of that blog. If you wish to feature this blog, please contact me in advance at elles.beads[at]gmail.com.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
WTF! Get Out of My Gym!
Dear Apartment Complex Management,
Let me preface this by saying, I love you guys. You leave me alone and haven't gone up on my rent in 2 years. The facilities here are great and this really is a nice place to call home. My problem is with the other people you've let in here who have chosen to use the gym facilities. I think when people sign their lease they should also sign a form agreeing to practice good gym etiquette. Namely, people should be informed of the following:
1. The gym is not your home. Yes, there is a television set inside that has cable. But don't let that confuse you into thinking you're in your living room. That funky looking chair isn't actually a chair at all - it's an exercise machine! Crazy, right? So please, if you want to watch T.V., either go home or actually use the machine. It's really not cool for you to take up space on the machines napping and catching your favorite programs. (Make sure to explain this in their native language too. I would have asked the woman to move, but she acted like she only spoke/understood Korean.)
2. The gym is not a bar. At a bar, it may be normal for you to try and chat up the woman next to you. (Don't do this to me there either though. Thanks!) However, at the gym where people come in their grungy workout clothes preparing to sweat it to the 90s, it is not the place for you to strike up a long conversation about anything. At all. Say hello (or not) and get back to your own business. That person you're eying is not at the gym looking for lectures on how the fructose in their Gatorade will make them fatter or how large people and stocky dogs lost weight faster in the 1940s when there was less CO2 in the air. (Seriously, some guy just talked to me through HALF of my workout about that, turning on the elliptical machine sideways to stare at me and make sure I was still paying attention. I cut it short and didn't even stretch and booked it out of there after 20 minutes.) If you want to have a platform to spew your nonsense to people, go to a bar, join a discussion group, or do what I do and write a blog. Just don't do it at the gym. Headphones in a girl's ears and heavy breathing from the jogging she's doing are two very good indicators that she's really not looking for conversation right now.
3. The gym is NOT YOUR HOME. Is that sinking in yet? Clean up after yourself, because your mom/girlfriend/roommate isn't going to do it for you. It's disgusting to see your dried sweat on the machine I'm about to use. Management is kind enough to provide you with 409 and paper towels...and not because they make the place look pretty. Wipe off the machine when you're done. Thoroughly. Like you'd want the machine left for you. I'm going to clean it again before I touch it anyway, but seriously - clean up your bodily fluids so I don't have to.
I think making all gym users sign this agreement and posting it all around the gym as well will help to curb some of the annoying habits several residents seem to have. You're not going to get everyone to comply. However, this fat girl is going to have to use the gym several days a week over the next months and would greatly appreciate you trying. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Your Usually Non-Complaining, Happy-Go-Lucky Resident
Let me preface this by saying, I love you guys. You leave me alone and haven't gone up on my rent in 2 years. The facilities here are great and this really is a nice place to call home. My problem is with the other people you've let in here who have chosen to use the gym facilities. I think when people sign their lease they should also sign a form agreeing to practice good gym etiquette. Namely, people should be informed of the following:
1. The gym is not your home. Yes, there is a television set inside that has cable. But don't let that confuse you into thinking you're in your living room. That funky looking chair isn't actually a chair at all - it's an exercise machine! Crazy, right? So please, if you want to watch T.V., either go home or actually use the machine. It's really not cool for you to take up space on the machines napping and catching your favorite programs. (Make sure to explain this in their native language too. I would have asked the woman to move, but she acted like she only spoke/understood Korean.)
2. The gym is not a bar. At a bar, it may be normal for you to try and chat up the woman next to you. (Don't do this to me there either though. Thanks!) However, at the gym where people come in their grungy workout clothes preparing to sweat it to the 90s, it is not the place for you to strike up a long conversation about anything. At all. Say hello (or not) and get back to your own business. That person you're eying is not at the gym looking for lectures on how the fructose in their Gatorade will make them fatter or how large people and stocky dogs lost weight faster in the 1940s when there was less CO2 in the air. (Seriously, some guy just talked to me through HALF of my workout about that, turning on the elliptical machine sideways to stare at me and make sure I was still paying attention. I cut it short and didn't even stretch and booked it out of there after 20 minutes.) If you want to have a platform to spew your nonsense to people, go to a bar, join a discussion group, or do what I do and write a blog. Just don't do it at the gym. Headphones in a girl's ears and heavy breathing from the jogging she's doing are two very good indicators that she's really not looking for conversation right now.
3. The gym is NOT YOUR HOME. Is that sinking in yet? Clean up after yourself, because your mom/girlfriend/roommate isn't going to do it for you. It's disgusting to see your dried sweat on the machine I'm about to use. Management is kind enough to provide you with 409 and paper towels...and not because they make the place look pretty. Wipe off the machine when you're done. Thoroughly. Like you'd want the machine left for you. I'm going to clean it again before I touch it anyway, but seriously - clean up your bodily fluids so I don't have to.
I think making all gym users sign this agreement and posting it all around the gym as well will help to curb some of the annoying habits several residents seem to have. You're not going to get everyone to comply. However, this fat girl is going to have to use the gym several days a week over the next months and would greatly appreciate you trying. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Your Usually Non-Complaining, Happy-Go-Lucky Resident
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Sarah Palin's on my Nightstand??
I decided a couple of months ago that my brain was slowly rotting away by subjecting it to hours upon hours of copying, filing, and letter writing at work only to come home to hours and hours of television shows on Hulu. There's only so much Hell's Kitchen you can watch before you realize it's time to get some mental stimulation from somewhere. I was always an avid reader as a child so I looked and looked for a book club to join that wouldn't be a bunch of 30+ women reading romance novels like I feared but would have men and women my age reading nonfiction books that made me really think. I found that in the Hungry Intellectuals Book Club the last month they had a site on Meetup.com. I'm really glad I skirted in at the last minute.
So I haven't actually read a whole book through yet, but I'm working on it for March. Being in this club has encouraged me to start using the local library more and to really make time to turn off the television, step away from the laptop, and just kick back with a good read. Right now we're reading the Last Child in the Woods about how our relationship with nature has changed over the past couple of generations. I'll wait to pass judgement on it until I've finished it but so far it seems to resonate with my own experiences.
I also picked up a book that would give just about everyone I know pause, regardless of their political affiliation: Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. If you know me, you know I'm a huge pro-choice, tree hugging, gay loving progressive whose only regret so far about campaigning for President Obama in 2008 is that he's just not liberal enough. So why on earth am I attracted to Sarah Palin? She represents everything I stand against and yet I waited on a hold list behind about 600 other people to get this book so I could here what she had to say about how mavericky she is. (I've read 10 pages and I'm already sick of the phrase "politics as usual" again.) For me it's all about exposure. I'm fascinated by the fact that so many people are fascinated and captivated by this woman. And I can't criticize (think critically about) something I don't really know or understand. I am going to spend a few hours reading a book so I can understand what some of my acquaintances see in her and what the attraction to her brand of politics is. I'm hoping to tap into that Palin-fever just for the time I'm engaged in her book and really take away from it what motivates people to be attracted to a particular leader.
To be a successful advocate for your causes you must 1. Know what your beliefs are and 2. Know what opposing beliefs there are and where you agree and disagree. I also have considered going into politics either from the official direction or the journalistic direction, so it would be interesting to note where some of the fervor over her is coming from. I think it's going to be an interesting read and I'm hoping that I come out of it with great insight and more respect for former Gov. Palin than I currently have (which is about zero). Even if I come out still sick to my stomach over her Fox News-worthy ideologies, I'll at least have learned something. Exposure. I really hope the process is not to painful. If it becomes so, I'll at least have a good drinking game. (One sip every time the words "politics as usual" "maverick" "energy reform" "drill" etc. come up and I'll likely be high as a kite!)
So I haven't actually read a whole book through yet, but I'm working on it for March. Being in this club has encouraged me to start using the local library more and to really make time to turn off the television, step away from the laptop, and just kick back with a good read. Right now we're reading the Last Child in the Woods about how our relationship with nature has changed over the past couple of generations. I'll wait to pass judgement on it until I've finished it but so far it seems to resonate with my own experiences.
I also picked up a book that would give just about everyone I know pause, regardless of their political affiliation: Going Rogue by Sarah Palin. If you know me, you know I'm a huge pro-choice, tree hugging, gay loving progressive whose only regret so far about campaigning for President Obama in 2008 is that he's just not liberal enough. So why on earth am I attracted to Sarah Palin? She represents everything I stand against and yet I waited on a hold list behind about 600 other people to get this book so I could here what she had to say about how mavericky she is. (I've read 10 pages and I'm already sick of the phrase "politics as usual" again.) For me it's all about exposure. I'm fascinated by the fact that so many people are fascinated and captivated by this woman. And I can't criticize (think critically about) something I don't really know or understand. I am going to spend a few hours reading a book so I can understand what some of my acquaintances see in her and what the attraction to her brand of politics is. I'm hoping to tap into that Palin-fever just for the time I'm engaged in her book and really take away from it what motivates people to be attracted to a particular leader.
To be a successful advocate for your causes you must 1. Know what your beliefs are and 2. Know what opposing beliefs there are and where you agree and disagree. I also have considered going into politics either from the official direction or the journalistic direction, so it would be interesting to note where some of the fervor over her is coming from. I think it's going to be an interesting read and I'm hoping that I come out of it with great insight and more respect for former Gov. Palin than I currently have (which is about zero). Even if I come out still sick to my stomach over her Fox News-worthy ideologies, I'll at least have learned something. Exposure. I really hope the process is not to painful. If it becomes so, I'll at least have a good drinking game. (One sip every time the words "politics as usual" "maverick" "energy reform" "drill" etc. come up and I'll likely be high as a kite!)
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