I love the diversity at the gym. There's the middle aged men I'm praying won't get on the machine next to me (as their BO is most likely to burn my eyes). The Chatty Kathys on tandem machines...how do they have SO much to say? Their lives must be very exciting...the scandals! (i'm just jealous they have a friend) Then there are the sweet old folks that work out in jean shorts and fanny packs, so cute you could just put 'em in your pocket.
But my absolute faves are the "My-ipod-Makes-Me-Invisible" ladies:
-We have the J-Lo-Stair-dancing-Mamacita: complete with side kicks, dips and twists (in her defense, she has the booty to pull it off)
-The Tammy-Faye-Motivational-Listener: tons of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane make up, a giant perma grin and makes an occasional shout out of "YES!" or, on a good day, an "I am capable!"
-And the newest to this club is the lady i recently saw lying on the ab rolling machine. Before she began, i watched in delight as she spread her arms out wide (as if conducting an orchestra) waved them around a bit and then drove it home with a few fist clenches (for added drama)...then casually went on to strengthen her core. I imagined she was listening to Celine Dion...so, the fist pumps made sense.
I'm sure you are expecting me to call them a bunch of nut jobs, and based on my first reactions to their public displays, you'd be right. But actually, i'll tell you why I cherish these ladies so much: I truly adore their lack of inhibition. You may or may not be surprised to know that i am actually pretty retarded on the spot. It makes for really awkward pictures, missed opportunities to make memories with my loved ones or meet new peeps. I have a family photo shoot coming up on friday with Steoffrey and i can already feel my elbows and knee caps fusing together...my face has prematurely started to contort into various drunkface positions (caught between a split decision to make a cute or silly expression)...
Like those at the gym, i wanna not care who is watching me and the judgements they may or may not be passing. Who cares right? I realize judgements are a way of life. It is one way we gauge how we will behave, the people we want to be, and the environment we want to experience. The tricky part is avoiding getting carried away with this. My goal is to (after i stop giggling) avoid assuming those ladies were crazies, and instead applaud their right to go with what they are feeling. And also avoid judging myself too harshly. The truth is I'm gonna look like an idiot sometimes, but if im gonna do it, i gotta do it all the way...or not at all. Otherwise all i'll be left with is a rigid sense of self (aka: a stick up my butt) and a couple of fugly pictures.
But...you'll probably still never catch me salsa dancing solo on a stair stepper in the middle of a gym, because seeeriously.
exhibit A:
But...you'll probably still never catch me salsa dancing solo on a stair stepper in the middle of a gym, because seeeriously.
;)
team Boo ♥'s you
p.s. I get so annoyed at blogs that are novels...when did i get so long winded and "thinky"?? If my blog were an outfit right now it would be Michael Scott in an unintentional woman's pants suit. I'm ready to be legwarmers again.
team Boo ♥'s you
p.s. I get so annoyed at blogs that are novels...when did i get so long winded and "thinky"?? If my blog were an outfit right now it would be Michael Scott in an unintentional woman's pants suit. I'm ready to be legwarmers again.
12 comments:
people watching at the gym is a favorite pastime of mine. I was right with you on every single description.
now that song will be in my head all day.
i don't go to the gym on campus at BYU-I because the guys trying to pick up girls and vice versa makes me want to laugh out loud and throw up in my mouth a little. Although, when i do go, it makes for really interesting conversation with my husband later :)
Haha I love the gym. I'm the one lip syncing to my iPod while running and stairclimbing. I think it's the endorphins. But I do know this, people stare at me and I don't care. I am free from worrying about what they think cuz I look good! I feel good, and I'm self confident! I on the other hand find the meat heads to be hilarious. They are my fav!
ooh! I'm excited to see how your pictures turn out! I love steoffrey.
yeahh at the gym I used to always in my head correct the people who were sadly misuing the rowing machine.
but we certainly didn't have the "people-watching" at your gym. Or maybe I was one of them and didn't know it?
thank you for making my workday tolerable. you are hilarious!
i'm just so with you on everything on this post. everything. you are darling! (i usually reserve that word for kids and babies but i mean it! darling and also amazeballs. even though you don't like that word anymore.)
Your late in the game reference to Michael Scott's lady suit was pure genius. I love your blog. I can't even say it enough.
I wished I lived in your neck of the woods and then we could be gym-goers together...because it is more fun with a friend and a little bit more "laugh-out-loud" too. I'm so glad I found your blog after my other computer crashed and I lost the link.
You are so lucky you get to take pictures with Steoffery!I don't know what your post was about because I saw that and went away to Steoffery land! You introduced me to them a year ago and i wanted them as my wedding photographer but we couldnt afford their prices. Then after having bad pictures from the wedding and being sad looking at them they were AMAZING and did a mini photo shoot! I may or may not have made my husband dress up 3 months after our wedding and may or may not have been 2 months prego and pretend to take braidals with them!!!! Lets just say their pictures are on the front of our album and everyone wonders why my husband has a beard in those and not the others and why my hair is lighter. =] again you. are. so. lucky!!!
The only reason I don't have a gym membership is because my disruptive upper-body-dancing while on the treadmill. I cant wait for the Dikes to come over! :)
There is just no way those pictures are going to come out bad. And even if you look like a chimp having a seizure, just think: Everyone is just going to be looking at Sonny anyway.
Good luck! (not that you need it)
(I just called you a monkey, and now I know for certain, we can never be real life friends.... going to go kick some dirt and look forlorn now)
(My blog comments are nov
first of all, hello monterey bay aquarium!
second, every time i'm in spin i want to sing aloud SO freakin' bad! but i don't. instead i keep it all inside and secretly wish they had sing-along spin class.
i am literally on the verge of becoming THAT person...
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