Spin Me Right 'Round

So, I try to get in some cardio at the gym after work on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Typically, that means 45 minutes on an elliptical machine, since I wasn’t given the best knee genetics. Well, a friend of our family is often at the gym while I am, and he is an avid spin-classer. And, at the end of 2008, he basically went around to all the guys that are there in the afternoon and asked them to join the spin class, in order to even out the gender ratio. The poor guy is usually the only male in there.

Ok, so I had never been to a spin class before; my limited knowledge was that it was basically an aerobics class on stationary bikes. I figured that it would be interesting to at least try it once.

Alright, so 5:30pm, Tuesday afternoon, I get to the gym. The first thing I noticed was that the guy that roped me into this thing wasn’t there, but his daughter was. It turns out that he had had some sort of minor medical procedure done that day and was at home resting. Did I feel like a sucker? Maybe a bit. However, it actually worked out well, because the class was basically full, and I had to take what would’ve been his bike.

Anyway, I went over to my bike, and I immediately learned why guys don’t usually frequent spin classes. THE SEAT WAS NOT COMFORTABLE. And, I’m not gonna go into a lot of detail on this point, but feel free to connect the dots on your own...NOT COMFORTABLE.

Oh, but I would not be deterred. I hopped on board and strapped my feet into the pedals. That’s right—you have to strap yourself in. Moreover, you have to tuck your shoelaces into your shoes. I guess that probably is standard biking etiquette (fast moving spokes and all), but in the moment, all it meant to me was that I was about to get owned by this spin class.

The omens just kept coming...I started to warm-up on the pedals (since that’s what everyone else was doing), and I looked around. Every single person had a huge bottle of water at their station. ALL OF THEM. Did I think to bring water? Haha, not a chance. This was just a whim. A poorly planned whim.

So, the class finally started. Overhead lights off, black lights on, music up...apaprently this is a rave-inspired class. Next time I’ll bring some glowsticks. ;) Anyway, we get going on low resistance. Easy cheesy. Then, we cranked it up—tougher but still doable. Oh, then the fun began…the standing up and sitting down part. By the time you get to stand up, your quads are burning, so standing is actually a relief, in spite of the awkwardness associated with simultaneously standing and pedaling. I mean, you’re just not supposed to do that. The worse part of this section involved sitting down each time, because it’s amazing how you forget how uncomfortable the seat is...until you sit down again. Now, imagine getting that realization 50 times in rapid succession. Nice.

The last half of the class involved cranking up resistance in intervals...10 seconds, 20 seconds, etc. I was amazed at how long 30 seconds felt. How long and how PAINFUL. I make no excuses...I’m a total weakling, but still, wow. The last thing was a 2.5-minute climb at max resistance standing up. You know, by this point, it was tough, but I was kinda numb to the pain. Is that the goal? I can’t tell.

Anyway, we made it through and started to cool down. And, BAM, that’s when it hit me. As soon as the adrenaline started dying down, I knew that 1) not having water was a big mistake, and 2) not eating a snack mid-afternoon was also a big mistake. Now, keep your gasps to a minimum...I didn’t faint or anything. Although, for a second, I did think about how embarrassing it would be for the one guy in the class to collapse under the strain; it would’ve brought ridicule and shame upon the entire male population. Fortunately, I survived. After 5 minutes of cool down, I was good to go. I left breathing deeply and feeling like I really got the blood pumping, which totally is the goal.

So, am I gonna go again? Well, we have our new production at the theatre starting next week, and I am involved with that show, so most of my late afternoon-evening time will be spoken for. The result is that workout time is gonna suffer. :( But, I will say that I’m not totally opposed to spin classes...provided I eat a snack beforehand, I bring some water, and I get used to the seat. That last one is gonna be a killer.

Oil & Water

I’m glad this election cycle is coming to a close. In general, politics turns my stomach. It just does. But, in recent years, do you know what’s most unnerved me about politics? How faith has become so intertwined in it. For some reason, "evangelical Christians" are now known as a voting bloc, and if that’s what we’re known as, something’s really wrong.

I mean, faith and politics are basically oil and water. They don’t play well together. Faith should basically transcend everything on Earth, and when Christians put so much effort and time and resources in such a profoundly Earthly thing as politics, it diminishes who we are.

Let’s take an example...how about a really controversial example...abortion. Now, I believe that God values all life, but I don’t think that overturning Roe v. Wade is the way to show that to others. Why? 1) Prohibiting abortion will not stop abortions—-think Cider House Rules. 2) Taking such an important belief and reducing it to the stuff of lawbooks totally removes God from the equation. I mean, Christianity deals with the hearts of people; that’s how the issue should be handled—in one-on-one relationships. The point is that, if Christians were doing what we were called to do, it wouldn’t matter whether the government allowed abortions or not. The fact that we’ve had to take the battle to the political arena shows how ineffective we’ve been.

You see, Republicans don’t want you to know that. As long as Christians think that we NEED Republicans to do our work for us, then we’ll keep using our "Christian" organizations to send millions of dollars to them.

Oh, but the Democrats aren’t off the hook either. This election cycle has seen a notable chunk of Christians, particularly young Christians, move to the Democratic side of the coin. Well, the Democrats have hijacked Christian ideals as well. As an example, let’s use charity and benevolence...giving to those less fortunate. There are several Democratic tenets that match up nicely to that idea--after all, government assistance is also giving to those less fortunate. But yet again, all that does is remove God from the equation. When a Christian directly helps someone in need, he/she has the opportunity to share Love with them, in the exact same way Jesus did. If you outsource that act to the Government, that removes opportunities for us to do what we’re called to do.

And, Democrats don’t want you to know that, for the same reasons I noted above for the Republicans.

You see the risk here? If we try to mesh together politics and faith too much, we can lull ourselves into thinking that our vote--our support of one party or another--somehow covers our responsibilities. But, I’ve yet to find any scripture that tells us that God wants us to help get laws passed. And, I’ve not seen any verse that says we should look to our government to care for our fellow men and women. We’re just called to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the parties are so inferior that Christians shouldn’t vote at all. We each have preferences on how our Government should be run, and because this is America, we have the right to express those preferences. But, for those of you who are Christians, guard against letting your politics obscure your faith. It can happen more easily than you think.

A Tribute

This morning, my grandmother passed away--the only grandparent I got the chance to know. Her health had been on a steady decline for a number of months, so we all had time to prepare. I’m pleased to say that she was resting comfortably in recent days, and that at least made things better for me.

She really loved her family. I mean, as far as earthly things go, we were everything to her, and we knew that. What an honor.

As is so often the case here in the South, my grandmother’s food was so much more than just meats and vegetables and starches. Her food meant love and tradition and memory. Because of that, I wanted to talk a little about her food, as a memorial to her.

Let’s start with breakfast. I had many opportunities to spend the night at her house, and she always insisted on preparing breakfast. She knew I didn’t like eggs--a morning staple for so many people--so she had to compensate...with bacon. Sure, there was always some toast or biscuits, but when she cooked breakfast for me, it was all about the bacon. When I visited, she would fry up AN ENTIRE PACKAGE OF BACON for breakfast. And, lo and behold, I would eat the whole thing. Bacon is so good! Granted, most of the time my sister would be spending the night as well, so maybe I’d only get to eat half a package. It’s all about portion control. ;)

Virtually all of my grandmother’s food was made from scratch--no big surprise there. I mean, creamed potatoes...always from scratch. Beans, peas, and corn…never from a can. She loved cooking up fresh produce. Of course, we grandkids always loved her macaroni and cheese; it’s not the healthiest side dish, but it’s often times a winner. Imagine the shock and surprise we experienced when we found out that her mac & cheese was Stouffer’s. Seriously! Straight from the freezer case to the microwave to the serving bowl. It didn’t matter to us, of course. And my goodness, she deserved to take a shortcut somewhere.

Why did she deserve to take a shortcut? Because she was known to COOK WAY TOO MUCH! Let me paint a picture for ya; pick a holiday. How about Thanksgiving (even though it could be Christmas or Easter or any other day that brought our whole family together). Her entire 8-person dining table would be covered in food. Two or three meats. A dozen or more sides. (I’m NOT exaggerating on that.) Then, move over to her buffet. That’s where the cold stuff was. The relish tray, the coleslaw, the fresh tomatoes and green onions. And, the cornbread often found its way there too. Let me pause on the cornbread for a second. It was sooooo good! My mother has pretty much figured out how to replicate it, and that’s a really good thing. The cornbread was also always served upside-down--you know, a result of getting it out of the cast iron skillet. To this day, when I see cornbread served right side up, it looks wrong to me. ;) Anyway, we’re not done with her cooking spread. Move over to her breakfast table, where the grandchildren sat. There were always a couple of things that had to be put on that table, because it wouldn’t fit on the big one. It seemed that the sliced ham always was there, because I had some cousins that absolutely loved it. Granted, it was good, but I always thought it took up valuable plate space that was better suited for other things. ;) And, finally, desserts. She’d always conjure up about 3 desserts. Now, wrap your mind around all that food. She would somehow do all of this BY HERSELF. She refused to have her daughters-in-law bring any food. She at least would let the family help move the food to serving bowls when it was time to eat, but that’s all. I’m still pretty amazed by all that. The few times I’ve tried to cook a whole meal for people, it was crazy enough to try and cook 3 or 4 things at once.

There are many, many more tidbits I could share about my grandmother and her food, but I’m just gonna mention one more. It has to do with lima beans. I love lima beans; I really do, and I’m the only person in the family that loves lima beans that much. One time, I overheard my grandmother mention to someone that she was preparing lima beans for one of our family meals, because she knew I loved them so much. And, from then on, I realized that they were at every single meal. As you might expect, I felt special and loved. Every time I eat lima beans, I think of her. Of course, that also explains why she felt compelled to cook so much food for every family gathering...eleven family members equals eleven favorites. Eleven chances for her to show how much she cared, and she never missed that opportunity. :)

Outdated, Yet on the Money

I'm definitely enjoying New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton. If you aren't familiar with Merton, he was a Trappist monk right in the middle of the 20th century. He offers lots of fresh perspective that I don't get in my usual church circles.

Anyway, as I was reading, I came across the following statement. You can tell it was written during the Cold War, but it has uncanny applicability today as well.

"What is the use of postmarking our mail with exhortations to 'pray for peace' and then spending billions of dollars on atomic submarines, thermonuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles? This, I would think, would certainly be what the New Testament called 'mocking God'--and mocking Him far more effectively than the atheists do."

Some hard-hitting Truth.

Idols

This video impacts me every time I watch it. The bridge especially.

When Doves Cry - Olympic Style

So, Happy 08/08/08! Today also happens to be the day of the Opening Ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics!! Fun times!!

You know, the Olympics symbolize peace and harmony....and so do doves. As such, doves have been used throughout the modern Olympic era as a symbol of the Games.

However, there haven't been live doves used in the Opening Ceremonies since the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Wanna know why? Watch (gotta get to the end)...

Disco Disaster

I have a small confession for you: every once in a while, I wish I had experienced the disco era. Now, let me clarify, it's not that I have some sort of longing to break out in dance, but I'm intrigued by the notion that there was a time when pop culture revolved around dancing. At least that's how my parents describe it. Everyone--young and old--went out dancing. That had to be fun, right?

Ah, but for every silver lining, there's a dark cloud, it seems. I had never really thought about the consequences of a disco-centric society. And no, I'm not talking about foot pain. Apparently, as disco grew in popularity, it began infiltrating things it shouldn't infiltrate...such as television. Case in point--absolutely horrible t.v. variety shows. Now, some variety shows were apparently quite popular, but until to day I had never thought that there must've been some really, really unfortunate shows that didn't catch on.

Thanks to MentalFloss.com for opening my eyes. :) Read on...

"Featuring female singers Keiko 'Kei' Masuda and Mitsuyo 'Mie' Nemoto, the duo Pink Lady enjoyed huge success in Japan. Nine of their singles sold more than a million copies. Their first step towards a career in the US was a concert in Las Vegas, which led to an English-Language album with one minor hit. This impressed producers at NBC, who had created a variety show for Pink Lady with (then) up-and-coming comedian Jeff Altman.

As producers quickly discovered Mie and Kei knew little English, and had to learn their parts of the show phonetically—a draining process for all involved. Rather than perform their own hits, the girls were forced to sing disco numbers such as 'Knock on Wood' and, in this clip, 'Boogie Wonderland':



Amazing, right? ;) Maybe I was born in the right era after all. :)