Spinning kicked me hard

So I don't regularly discuss my workouts anymore because I find them boring to talk about, but last night is worth a mention. I decided I needed an injection of something into my dull, somewhat erratic routine. I tagged along with a friend to attend her spinning class. Wow. New respect for this friend. This class kicked me hard.

20 minutes in, I'm standing up, cranking my pedals, wanting to die, cursing this imaginary hill and Gwen Stafani for the very real song I was supposed to be on beat with. After the song, I seriously could have been done. I would have felt great about my nice 20 minute spin, but no, I had 40 minutes left!!! I thought I wouldn't make it. Unfortunately, I lived. And I'm going back on Wednesday.

So over the writer's strike

On Wednesday, I sent an e-mail out that started:

Are you feeling a serious lack of well-written television is diminishing your brain cells? Is there is nothing to discuss at the “water cooler” on Monday morning? Do you find yourselves watching more and more shows similar to the likes of “America’s Top Beautiful, Skinny, Gift-to-Men,” “Surviving a Set-Up Desert Island Scenario,” “The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Fakeness” or “The Biggest Losers Because We Had Trainers and Hours Upon Hours to Exercise Our Rears Off” ?

I was thinking of starting a book club to counteract all the bad television that I am currently consuming and (mainly) to get together with the girls once a month and drink wine. I would like to propose the Writer’s Strike Book Club to you all....

Well, it turns out, I'm not the only one who shares this sentiment.

Two great movies. Two horrible movie watching experiences.

I love going to the movies. I love the theater experience. It's the popcorn and the velvet seats and the previews. It's just fun. What makes it even better? Going to see movies you WANT to see. Good movies. Movies that make you think. What makes it awful?

Well, let's start with movie #1. Great movie (although a tad violent for my personal tastes.) But great movie. And while I like supporting local businesses, there is a theater near my house that I will not be returning to. I think our home t.v. is larger than the screen in our theater. And the curtain didn't open all the way, so the edges of the movie were playing on the curtain. This movie is hard to watch, and it's deep. It doesn't need a peanut gallery talking throughout the film. Let's just say the audience clearly had no idea what they were walking into when they saw that matinée. They should have gone to see this movie instead.

Movie #2.
Another fantastic film. We decided to see it at 11 a.m. on a Sunday. In the past, this has been a great time for us to see movies. It's not crowded, you still have your day ahead of you when you are done and it's cheaper. Apparently others have caught onto this because it was packed. Matt and I picked the top row because I like to sit so that I'm centered with the screen. (OCD much?) We scootched on to the middle of the row and I was happily enjoying my child-size popcorn snack pack. T-minus 2 minutes prior to showtime this lady sits next to me and whispers to me, "I'm going to ask you guys a favor. I have about six friends coming and we need these seats. Can you please scoot down two seats.?" Ok, she said please, but I was ticked. I picked my center of the row with care. There were still seats left down front and it's not my fault that her late friends weren't going to have primo seating. We scooted down, shooting death looks to her. Then her friends march in 5 minutes into the movie and she proceeds to dramatically wave both arms to catch their attention. Then she proceeded to laugh loudly at the parts that weren't even that funny. SO annoying. I probably wouldn't have minded if I weren't already ticked off.

I'm willing to bet neither she nor her loud, late friends knew a thing about this movie before they came. I bet they know nothing about the screenwriter or her book.