Bashing The Myth About Exercise

Last month, Time magazine came out with an article that still has me steaming. It tries to convince the reader that exercise won't help people lose weight, and that it's awful and meaningless. It misrepresents a study done by Dr. Timothy Church from LSU, who actually found in his study that exercise results in weight loss. Dr. Church was interviewed on one of my favorite podcasts, Fitness Rocks, where he explained the study and the importance of exercise.

I have been trying to get over this article and I can't. The information in this article is wrong (So wrong!), and it could affect the health of so many people. The average American is looking for an excuse to not exercise, and John Cloud is giving it to him. I don't know how he can sleep at night.

Feet on the Ceiling

This morning, while "snugging" under the covers with Thing 3 (AKA Genius The Monkey), he informed me that, "I love you, but not as much as I love dad because he can put my feet on the ceiling!" I can't compete with that.

Wobbly Bits

What is up with the middle-aged-to-old women and locker rooms? Someone needs to teach them how to get dressed without scaring the children. Yesterday, my friends and I took our kids to the pool, and while my friend and her daughter and I were in the women's locker room, there was... an incident. Look, I get that it's a locker room, and people are changing, and everyone is going to see some things. But this lady was not getting dressed. She was just walking around, butt-naked, taking her time, bending over repeatedly as she stuffed things into her bag. Not pretty! In my mind, I was pleading with her to stop stalling and get dressed already. I wanted to run to all the children and cover their eyes. To quote Bridget Jones, we don't want to be seeing your wobbly bits, lady.

I move that anyone who violates the Fireball Locker Room Changing Standards (not giving little children nightmares) should have to be paired up with a surfer for changing lessons. Have you seen these guys getting dressed in beach parking lots? They are masters! And half the time they're dealing with wet suits. All they need is a water jug and a towel, and in two minutes they've had a shower, they're dressed and ready for work, and no flashing. No wobbly bits.

Our House

Here is a conversation that took place in our car yesterday:

Thing 3: "Mom, does our house have a name?"
Me: "No..."
Thing 3: "Hmmm. How about Mr. Fred? Or Whitey!"

I was glad we were in the car so he couldn't see me shaking from held-back laughter.

Moosebutter

My kids won't stop singing this song. It's by an a cappella group called Moosebutter. I'm embarrassed that I laughed when I saw it, and that I got all the little jokes throughout. Dangit - that's two posts in a row that expose the nerdy side of me. Here's hoping that posting this will get this out of my head or at least get it in yours. Misery loves company, right?

The 80's List

This post is going to expose my nerdiness. I'm sorry, I can't hide it from you any longer. Last week, my brother and cousin were in town, and we finally finished a project we've been talking about for years: the 80's list. It all started when we were trying to decide what the best song from the 80's was, and it ended with each of us compiling a list of the 100 best songs of the 80's. Actually, it didn't end there, it got nerdier. We then combined the three lists and used a point system to figure out our combined top 100 list. I know, your respect for me just dropped a notch.

So here's my list. Disclaimer: This is not a list of my favorite songs of the 80's, but what I think are the best songs of the 80's. There's a difference. At the end of the list, I grudgingly stuck on a few songs that I don't love, but I figured they probably deserved a nod for one reason or another.

1	Simple Minds Don't You Forget About Me
2	A-ha Take On Me
3	U2 Where the Streets Have No Name
4	New Order Bizarre Love Triangle
5	Duran Duran The Reflex
6	Peter Gabriel In Your Eyes
7	Cure Just Like Heaven
8	OMD If You Leave
9	Michael Jackson Thriller
10	Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse of the Heart
11	Foreigner I Want To Know What Love Is
12	Madness Our House
13	Oingo Boingo Dead Man's Party
14	Information Society What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)
15	Madonna Like a Prayer
16	Modern English I Melt With You
17	Naked Eyes Always Something There to Remind Me
18	Billy Idol White Wedding
19	Police Every Breath You Take
20	R.E.M. Stand
21	U2 With or Without You
22	Depeche Mode People Are People
23	B-52s Love Shack
24	The Smiths How Soon Is Now?
25	When in Rome The Promise
26	Bon Jovi Livin' On a Prayer
27	David Bowie and Queen Under Pressure
28	General Public Tenderness
29	Crowded House Don't Dream It's Over
30	Journey Don't Stop Believin'
31	Frankie Goes to Hollywood Relax
32	U2 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
33	Thompson Twins Hold Me Now
34	Romantics What I Like About You
35	Erasure A Little Respect
36	Tears for Fears Everybody Wants to Rule the World
37	Spandau Ballet True
38	Elvis Costello Veronica
39	George Michael Faith
40	Cars Drive
41	Bananarama Cruel Summer
42	Men At Work Down Under
43	Clash Rock the Casbah
44	Soft Cell Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go
45	Prince 1999
46	Toto Africa
47	Police Don't Stand So Close To Me
48	Cure Close to me
49	Flock of Seagulls I Ran (So Far Away)
50	Genesis In Too Deep
51	Mr. Mister Broken Wings
52	Stray Cats Rock This Town
53	R.E.M. Orange Crush
54	Level 42 Something About You
55	REO Speedwagon Can't Fight This Feeling
56	Police Wrapped Around Your Finger
57	Chicago Hard to Say I'm Sorry
58	EMF Unbelievable
59	Duran Duran View to a Kill
60	Billy Joel We Didn't Start the Fire
61	Heart Alone
62	Huey Lewis & the News Power of Love
63	Cyndi Lauper Time After Time
64	Talking Heads Burning Down the House
65	U2 New Years Day
66	Eurythmics Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
67	The Smiths Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
68	Yes Owner of a Lonely Heart
69	Erasure Oh Lamour
70	Bangles Walk Like an Egyptian
71	INXS Need You Tonight
72	Survivor The Search Is Over
73	Queen Another One Bites the Dust
74	R.E.M. It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
75	Midnight Oil Beds Are Burning
76	Clash Should I Stay or Should I Go?
77	Men At Work Overkill
78	Oingo Boingo Weird Science
79	Hall and Oates Private Eyes
80	Echo and the Bunnymen Lips Like Sugar
81	Howard Jones No One is to Blame
82	Kenny Loggins Footloose
83	Police Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
84	Cure Lovesong
85	Survivor Eye of the Tiger
86	Rick Astley Never Gonna Give You Up
87	Harold Faltermeyer Axel F
88	Dexys Midnight Runners Come on Eileen
89	Thomas Dolby She Blinded Me With Science
90	Tommy Tutone 867-5309/Jenny
91	Pet Shop Boys West End Girls
92	Wham! Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
93	Beastie Boys Fight For Your Right
94	Alphaville Forever Young
95	Richard Marx Right Here Waiting
96	Chris DeBurgh The Lady in Red
97	Belinda Carlisle Heaven is a Place on Earth
98	Human League Don't You Want Me
99	Billy Joel The Longest Time
100	Cheap Trick The Flame

So there it is. I'm sure you're thinking, "I can't believe she put that song on there." Believe me, I already feel like making changes. But if you're really bent out of shape about it, make your own list. It's harder than it looks. Oh, and don't bother telling me that EMF's Unbelievable came out at the beginning of 1990. We figured that out just after we made the lists, and I'm too lazy to change mine.

Next up: we're making a playlist. We've figured out that between the three of us, we have just about all of the songs. So if anyone feels like OD-ing on nostalgia, you know where to go.

Watching the Mariners (and Thing 3) is a Treat!

Tuesday night we went to the Mariners-Blue Jays game. My brother and my cousin were here visiting, and my cousin had never been to a MLB game before, so off we went. And let me tell you, the M's did not disappoint. Bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, tie ball game, Ichiro base hit to center for the win. My oh my! Here's a picture my cousin took of that hit:



Thing 3, our star performer, did not disappoint, either. There were some really obnoxious Blue Jays fans sitting in front of us (I knew we were in trouble when I saw their sign - "We're Drunk!!!"), and every time they finished their chants of "Let's go Blue Jays!" Thing 3 would squeak out "Let's go Mariners!" in his very loudest voice. I've never seen a four year old cheer so hard. Usually it's painful to take little kids to the ball park, but he was so much fun. The crowd loved him, and one of the Blue Jay guys even grudgingly admitted, "Now that's a true fan." But the best was when he danced to the music in between innings. My cousin caught one such moment on camera. You can hear the rest of us laughing in the background, and watch for me grabbing him before he topples into the next row.