Go Red!

Do laundry, and wash your red. Friday, Feburary 1 is National Wear Red Day.

But don't just stop there. Think about the cause--women's heart health. Take care of your own heart and be an example for the other women and girls in your life. The changes you make don't affect only you; you can inspire others to change, and you can set an example for others. You can also extend your own life to be around longer to share in others' lives.

• Eat healthy foods (whole grains, fresh fruits, etc.).
• Get some exercise (a short walk is better than sitting on the couch).
• Don't smoke (enough said).
• Know your numbers (blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rates, waist:hip ratio).

Do what you can to change the fact that heart disease is the number 1 killer of women in America. You have the power. :-)

The Regatta is On!

Motivation, for me, is often key in accomplishing fitness goals. Sure, there's the incredible health benefits of begin fit: you move more easily (from less weight and better oxygen use in your lungs); you hurt less (from less weight on your joints and stronger muscles); you're simply stronger; you sleep more soundly; you're motivated to eat in a more healthy manner; and, of course, you usually extend your life to do all of those things for even longer. After all, I want to be a "Great Aunt" one day! Shoot, maybe I can even make it to be a Great Grand Aunt. Now that's a good aunt! ;-)

And so, when my gym announced a new motivation for working out, of course I signed up! It's the 2008 Winter Rowing Regatta. To participate, we pay a small fee, and to qualify, you must row 50,000 meters over the course of four weeks. People, that's a lot of meters! But I'm going to aim for it.

Sure, there will be winners in this race. And sure, the prizes are nice (three-month membership, I-Pod, massages), but my focus is multifaceted--challenge myself in this regatta to just qualify for it while also maintaining my personal fitness goals. And thus, although I could row every day, I will continue to spin three days per week. Spinning, you see, gives you a lot more bang for your buck in the calorie-burning department.


You might ask, if spinning is so great, why row at all? Well, the better approach, from all I can tell, is to mix it up. Consider also that spinning is a fantastic lower-body workout. But rowing targets your back too and is a fabulous core-strengthening work-out. (no, it's not about the arms, actually.) You do work your legs in rowing too, but not nearly as much as in spinning. I've managed to find this picture of a water rower so you can see this contraption I'll be spending more time with over the next four weeks.

On top of these things, though, it's important to get in some weight-bearing things. Thus, I've joined Marda's box-aerobics classes on Monday nights, and for the last two Saturdays, I've been learning to Zumba! It's sorta Latin-dance-styled aerobics. And it's fun!

But as for rowing, I also may very well be getting certified to teach rowing classes. The owner of my gym and I have talked about it, and she really wants me to be certified. I've told her that I don't even know how long I'll be living here---could be only until July, could be until July '09. That's still up in the air. (Ah---another benefit of fitness: you tend to handle stress a lot better. :-) ) Pushing myself to row in this regatta will help me better my form and endurance so I can be a better teacher for future classes. (could I use this certification elsewhere? Sure, but unfortunately, water rowers are still relatively new, so the market for instructors is relatively small.)

One other exciting thing with rowing more and with becoming an instructor, the folks at the gym are trying to find out more information on how we could row on the river. Now that's be fabulous!


Anyway, I've figured that if I can row three times per week, I can hit the 50,000 meter mark. Sunday is now my day off from the gym, though, so I'll be getting started on that tomorrow. I"ll let you know when I hit the half-way mark!

Go Tigers!

If you're unfamiliar with college basketball, let me clue you in: the newest (as of this past week) number 1 team in the country: The Univeristy of Memphis Tigers. Yep, right here in Memphis.

Indeed, I grew up with football as the sport. But the football team here, well, it leaves a good bit to be desired. (we play teams such as Rice and SMU, and I remember those football programs from the days of the Southwest Conference---not a lot of umph, ya know?)

But basketball, well, wowee! Around here, it's the big deal. For example, Friday night, the Foo Fighters played a concert in Fed Ex Forum--the major arena in town. Saturday morning, the Tigers played Gonzaga at the same place. And Friday night, the Memphis Grizzlies, the NBA team here, played in there. The only event that sold the place out? That's right---the college basketball game at 11 am on a Saturday.

The Tigers have done pretty well in their past. They are even the team that knocked Texas A&M out of the big tourney last year. (so you can imagine my mixed feelings.) But they haven't secured the numero uno spot since some time in the early 80s. Until now. Apparently the win yesterday over Gonzaga was pretty big too, even though Gonzaga is no longer ranked. Our big game comes up next month when we play UT--that's the University of Tennessee around here.

I have several students who did their undergrad here, and it's the fever. So sure, I'll jump on that bandwagon: Go Tigers!

(that is, of course, until they play A&M in any March Madness game. :-) )

Bakasana

With my teacher's encouragement, I've started attending the Thursday night yoga class--the intermediate/advanced class--in addition to my weekly Tuesday night beginner class. True, I'm only on the intermediate side, and far from advanced, but the Thursday night class is bringing me fabulous new challenges.

It's also 90-minute class. With the extended time (Tuesday night is but one hour), we are able to really work on advanced poses. And for these last three weeks, we've been working on bakasana--an arm balance. It looks like this:

(and that's just the beginning of that pose--there's lots of advancements from there--such as straightening your arms.)

For me, I can get into the beginning of the pose, but it's as if my toes are glued to the mat. I just can't get my feet in the air. It's part fear; I am afraid of falling forward. (duh!) It's part strength; I've never had the greatest upper body strength. It's part flexibility; although I'm crazy-flexible in my hamstrings, I'm less so in my back. And, it might not be, but I have the current excuse that it's part my pants slipping off my shirt-sleeves; when it's warmer, and I'm not wearing long sleeves, that excuse will fly out the window. Of course, by then, I may have worked through those other things.

Still, it's been wonderful to challenge myself with this. My teacher knows I'm trying, and she's seen small steps forward. She's also amazing at showing us modifications to approach poses using props. So I'll keep trying--trying to open my heart just enough to lean forward, trying to have the faith in my own ability, and trying to find the yoga---the joining of my body, breath, mind, and spirit.

Wisdom

Spoken by a character on October Road this week:

Remember this: Life isn't then; life isn't when. Life is this . . . here . . . now.

I like that.

Happy Anniversary

. . . to Roe v. Wade.

That's right: today marks the 35th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision.

I realize that many people disagree on the issue. But to me, it still comes down to preserving life---with the best balance we've been able to come up with. And if you're at all confused about my meaning, I cannot recommend strongly enough that everyone watch the movie Cider House Rules.

I saw it for the first time while I was in law school, and like with so many other things, that's when I saw a bigger picture than I ever had before. The issues involved became broader, deeper, and much more meaningful.

My List is Set

Whew--two movies down, only three to go to be able to see all five nominees. Here's the list:

• Atonement
• Juno
• Michael Clayton
• No Country for Old Men
• There Will Be Blood

I'm excited about seeing There Will Be Blood; the trailer I saw for it on Sunday looked great. And Daniel Day Lewis looks like he delivers a wonderful performance (that got an Oscar nomination too).

Juno, although not the recipient of great reviews from my nephew and his girlfriend, looks good---fresh, I think. (I have a feeling Judd and Carrie had been looking for something else.)

Oh -- and one other note, the young Briony Tallus got a nomination for her role in Atonement. Indeed--a good nomination. Although, I'm not so sure about the guy nominated for No Country for Old Men--the one playing the sociopath. We'll see!

You Can Only Imagine the Truth

Still on the path to the Oscars, I saw Atonement late yesterday afternoon (the tagline of which is the title for this post).

What a superb movie! The scenery was breathtaking and shot just perfectly. The story was deep and moving. Of course, with an eye and ear toward things legal, the issues of wrongful accusations screamed silently off the screen.

Of course, the acting and music was wonderful as well--with them even incorporating a typewriter into the score. Well, almost all of the acting was great. The eighteen-year-old Briony left something to be desired. Perhaps it was because she was the only character who had a new actress for the scenes four or five years into the future, and the older Briony just missed too many facial features of the younger one? With that, if the younger Briony was intended to be thirteen, then they did nothing to change her appearance from the memory-sequence of when she was eleven. The appearance of this central a character pulled away slightly from the effect of the film--but only slightly.

And again, the ending was nothing what I expected, and it was quite uncharacteristic of movies. I've since read several reviews, and a few people complain about the manner in which that part of the story was handled, but I thought it made it all the more powerful--the depth at which Briony wished she could have changed things was communicated in such a manner to the viewer that my heart ached for her and her obvious struggle within the depths of her soul.

No, I haven't seen the other movies that were up for a Golden Globe, but I can say I can understand this flick having won for Best Drama. Indeed, it is a good movie--on so very many levels.

What's up next? Well, the Oscar nominees will be announced tomorrow, so I'll know what I want to hit next Sunday after that.

Oscar Quest I: No Country

Ahhhh . . . . January. This is typically the month we get all the Oscar buzz. (Okay, December, when all the movies that open in NY & LA, wanting to be in the run (aside from those rare ones released earlier in the year), starts the chatter, but the real talk gets going this month.) Of course, very often, it's the Golden Globe awards that really get the buzz going. But this year, with the writers' strike, we didn't have the big ta-doo for the Globes. Still, we had a winner for the categories, and that at least sets up a general idea of who's in the running.

For the last couple of years, I've made an effort to see the movies in contending for Best Picture. How else can I know what show I want to win if I haven't seen them all? And this year, I've started the quest. With my goals for the better me, though, I have to work hard to make sure everything can happen.

Friday afternoon at work, I was finishing up class prep for next week when a colleague who found himself without plans asked if I wanted to join him for a movie. Well, of course! Oooh---but I had a 5:30 spin class. He said that was no problem; the movie wasn't until 7:30.

Immediate mind calculations began: first, it was less than two hours until my spin class, so it was too late to cancel without incurring a $10 fee. Hmmmm. Do I blow off the class? NO! Do I decline the invitation. NO! But could I possibly go to a 5:30 spin class, shower, and make it to the movies by 7:20? (the actual time to meet) I decided I could---no, that I would do it. The race was on.

The spin class, I must say, was fabulous. By Friday, after working out all week, Friday's spin class these last two weeks has kicked my be-hind. But still, what a fabulous work out. We finished barely before 6:30, and I rushed home to shower. Rush, rush, ready, then I was off to downtown. All was great. And then I hit the parking garage. What I had not calculated was there being a basketball game downtown and that creating crazy parking.

One of my pet peeves is getting to the movies late. But my colleagues there were fine, I rushed to get a ticket, and got into the theater as the opening scene began.

What does this have to do with Oscar buzz and my quest to see the movies? Well, No Country for Old Men was the movie. It's a Coen Bros. film, but not their typical work. It's dark. It's violent. It was, though, pretty good.

And this was one of the movies up for best drama for the Golden Globes, so just maybe, it'll be up for an Oscar too.

Yes, it was good, but is it Oscar-worthy? Not having seen the other contenders, that's hard to say. I personally loved the nontraditional mode of story-telling that was used, even if one colleague felt cheated. See, what I enjoyed so much was seeing this type of movie with someone who wanted to talk about it--from an intellectual and movie-appreciation standpoint, afterwards. After the movie, we grabbed a beer at the nearby pub (me, sticking to light beer, of course), and dissected the flick. Our takes on the symbolism of the closing parts was interesting to share--especially right after seeing the movie.

(Spoiler Alert! (if you don't want insight into things about the movie, skip to next paragraph)) How did my friend feel cheated? Well, the movie has so much violence throughout, that at the end, we didn't have the traditional big confrontational scene. Instead, the big confrontation you expect occurs in a very different manner, and that's even mostly off screen. For me, though, the best confrontation comes with the leading character's wife, and it's purely intellectual; you must deduce what happened by the psychopath's behavior when he leaves her house (which one colleague missed) as he checked the bottom of his boots for blood.

It was certainly entertaining, in a dark sense. And in no way did I feel like I too freely gave away two hours of my time; they were well spent. Where it stacks up against other movies of the year, though, well, that remains to be seen. I'll keep you posted.

A Nice Choice

I sit here watching the MSNBC (I really do like Tim Russert; he's become part of my Sunday mornings) debate of the top three candidates of the democratic party. And I must say, that for the first time in perhaps my presidential-race voting experience, I am happy with all three whom I see on the screen. Maybe this is because I've finally become comfortable with who I am politically. Maybe this is because I finally understand more of who I am--politically and otherwise. Regardless, what I know this does mean is that almost certainly, come November, I will not be having to choose whom not to vote for. And that feels not only wonderful, but so wonderfully promising.

As I watch and listen to this debate, I see three people who all would lead this country in a better direction than any choices who are up for delegates tonight in Michigan. Economy. Environment. Foreign issues. Health care. All of these things are areas I feel hope for based on what I see.

Of course, naturally, yes, this is a debate and these are campaigns. But finally, I really do feel like I have hope that it is grounded in something.

It's 2008. Not only is this a new beginning for me; I have hope that I share that with our nation, and it's a new beginning for all of us.

Time & Goals

I haven't disappeared; it's just been a very busy week.

Returning from New York late Saturday night, then beginning the spring semester Monday morning . . . all this has left very little time for much else. Well, that's not totally true. I am making sure to take time (most days) to hit the gym. That goes along with one of those pesky new year resolutions.

Resolutions. I usually don't make them. After all, should we wait until a special day to declare our intent to better ourselves or get something done? And what good is a resolution if it's the same every year?

But that makes me think of Valerie's newest commercial for whatever diet system she's been on this past year. In the commercial, she gets almost choked up when she says that this is the first year in so long that she is NOT making a resolution about her weight; she finally had it under control.

First, I have to wonder if Hillary (or an advisor) saw that commercial and connected to the emotion displayed by Valerie. Could that be what helped her show her New Hampshire emotion? Hmmmmm. Actually, I think what happened there is that she was sitting down, and she wasn't "on" like she is when standing up. Seriously--I do believe the sitting had a lot to do with her speaking more from the heart. (when I sit in front of my students, I tend to be more informal.) I think Hillary felt more connected to the audience and was able to be more personal. I don't fear her showing emotion would be bad should she actually win. After all, when she's "on," she's still "on."

But I digress. Resolutions. This year, I decided to do things differently. It all sorta started coming together on New Year's Day in New York.

I arrived and met Lisa at the airport. We cabbed it to the hotel then walked around the corner for a fabulous sandwich at Stage Deli---HUGE sandwiches, I must say. We went back to the hotel and chatted over a glass of wine, waiting for Janet's late flight in from the West Coast.

Janet finally arrived, but the hotel lobby area was closing, so we all headed up to my room to catch up more. Looking over the room service menu, tyring to select a wine, I noticed the champagne--not a big price difference for basic bottles compared to the wine. I suggested it, and they agreed. It was, after all, New Years!

As we toasted the year, someone mentioned, "I cannot believe it's 2008." And that's when it hit me: It's 2008! egads, this IS the year I turn 40. Yep, I said it: 40. That's when I also remembered goals I had for me, not so much at a new year, but at a new decade, a new era of life, a new beginning.

Are my goals resolutions or just goals? Does it really matter what I call them? I don't think so. But this is the year, then, I plan to be in my best shape ever. We hear over an over how it's all downhill from here, ;-) so I figured if I start that hill at a really great spot, I won't hit bottom quite as soon---or with quite as much of a "thump" . . . or something like that.

Professionally, I need to get two articles submitted for publication. There's that goal.

And domestically, I need to clear out things I don't need. I have an attic full of things, and the last thing I need to do is pay to move those things again. I cleaned out a lot last spring; there's more to come this spring.

In the meantime, I'm teaching two classes I've never taught, and one of those---I've never even taken! ( :-) please don't tell my students) And so, the preparation time going into those classes is quite consuming. A colleague told me not to kill myself on this class prep, but whether I'm here or not next year, I still, ethically, owe a duty to my students to do the best I can at teaching their class. And so, I will put in an insane amount of time each week pouring over the material, studying it, learning it, knowing it---all enough to be able to explain it.

My time will likewise be taken up for the next six or seven weeks working on scholarship---that is, all time available each week after I've prepped for class. Then I'll hit that again in earnest the second week of May.

What's left? Well, time is already carved out for the gym. And that goes back to the "It's 2008!" issue. Otherwise, I hope to have some Sunday afternoons for me--an occasional movie, taking Howard to the park, and today, if all goes well, watching a football game. But other than that, it's going to be a very busy spring.

In the meantime, I must get back to prepping for next week's classes. But for future posts: perfume and materialism. Ick. Nope, actually, double-ick.

Sometimes You've Just Gotta Wing It!

I worked on my presentation late into the night Wednesday, and I was up early to go over it one more time. I had typed out my notes, and, at $1 a page, printed them Wednesday night. Sure, that's crazy expensive, but it turned out to be well worth it.

All of the presenaers met at 8:15 a.m., organizing the three sets of panels of presenters. This program was slated for three hours, and we had three groups of presenters. I was in the second group, being the third of three in that group to speak.

My friends and colleagues Janet and Lisa were there with me, and about two-thirds through the first group, I started getting more nervous. We were in one of the larger rooms, and it was near full--close to 150 people there. I took a couple of deep breaths, Janet gave me a nod of confidence, and I knew I was prepared. This would be fine.

Then it was our turn. I took my laptop up to the podium during the short break between panels, and it was then that I learned that my laptop's VGA port has no screw holes. What? Yes--no screw holes to keep the cable plugged in. Instead, when I plugged in the cable to connect my computer to the projector, the cable simply fell off. The tech guy came over, left the room, and returned with black electrical tape. He tried taping the cable to the computer, but half-way through the first speaker, it fell out again. He tried to fix it again, but a quick-fix was no good. So he waited until time for me to speak.

When I got up, he came over and started trying to fix things again. I, of course, had to go ahead and start--we were on a schedule, after all! And so I began, and for the first few minutes, he was right beside me, trying hard to fix things--even having to reboot my computer once. And me? Well, I did what I had to: went ahead anyway. And after a few minutes, we finally just told the man to leave. He was creating a distraction, and nothing was getting solved.

And so, I had to wing it--no power point, no graphs, no helpful cues for me o my screen as I spoke. But you know, it was just fine.

I had several people come up and speak to me afterwards, many saying how much they liked my idea and implementation of my solution to addressing two different groups of students who have competing needs. And others simply complemented my delivery of the presentation. One woman said I handled the technology problem in a flawless manner, and she loved that I even used it as an example of distractions.

So in all, it went very well. Sure, not having the power point was a problem, but I think I might be even a little more memorable because I didn't let the problem throw me off.

Oh, and the $11 notes, of course, sure did come in handy.

Brrrrrrrr . . . But I Heart NY

I'm here, but there's a word of the day: frigid. Yes, I tell you, it's darned COLD! --especially 86 stories in the air! (at the open observation deck of the Empire State Building!)

(Low tonight about 16, wind chill at 0 or -1. High tomorrow about 23. Lisa had to approve the new gloves I had to buy today; after all, her being from Wisconsin, and this feels like home. She also knows what things keep you warm (and even loaned me her gloves for the first half of the day today, with her wearing mine because she wasn't as affected by the cold as me. (And mine are good for driving, but not warmth. What a sweetie!)

So yes, I arrived safely in New York City late Tuesday night, after yes, yet another delayed flight. Sigh. (I'm actually missing American Airlines right now. And that's not totally fair. Northwest had many many timely flights for me this year. it just so happens that these last three in a row have all been delayed over an hour.)

Anyway, Lisa's flight had gotten in about thirty minutes earlier, so she had waited, then we were off to Midtown Manhattan--to the New York Hilton, just about five blocks south of Central Park and about the same north of Rockefeller Center.

Standing in line for a taxi took about twenty or thirty minutes, and when we finally got to a cab, there was a sea of them! An entire parking lot was filled with taxis just waiting to pick up the next fare. I think that's when the cab became my NY symbol, as that's now one of the two magnets I bought for my fridge. (I collect magnets from places I travel, and that way my 'fridge is always a happy memory wall..) I also I bought a small metal cab for my office. (I also get something small for my office when I travel for work.) And my friend Lisa surprised me with a taxi cab pen for good luck when I had to take a couple of hours today to work on tomorrow's presentation.

Anyway, it was a fabulous day, and I'll post details and pictures soon. But seriously--this is an amazing city. And except for one grumpy man in a wheelchair (which I would be grumpy too at that eye level on a very crowded sidewalk), everyone has been very friendly--even the cabbie who stopped and picked us up tonight although we were standing on the wrong side of the street. After all, he said, it was cold.

No, actually, it's FRIGID! Brrrr.....