Two, Two, Two Posts in One

Here's Bob's write-up on Michael Pollan.

As it turns out we're going to another lecture tonight. Dr. Terence Love. Bob got these tickets at school so the content will be a big surprise for me. Here's a quick quote:

Holistic Design: A Philosophical Framework

Holistic design of products, services, systems, and organizations depends on the objective material opportunities but even more on our inner subjective, emotional life. We are both the creative designers and aesthetic participants in those designs.

I don't even understand what that means. Usually when I have low expectations I end up enjoying the lecture. We shall see.

It's nice to get out and do stuff but all this getting home late coupled with an intensive work project all week has me feeling a bit fried.

The newsletter is 10 minutes away from being finished. I just need to proofread and check some links and I can cross that off my list. I want to make tomorrow a computer free day because I really need it. So unless I'm feeling spunky when I get home tonight: Saturday the dang newsletter will be finished.

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Equal Opportunity for Humiliation

In the past several years I've talked to a number of women my age who participate in adult women soccer leagues. It's come up twice in the past month. They all insist it's super fun and since I'm such a soccer fan I should try it.

When I protest that I'm not athletic they say no one is, it doesn't matter. When I suggest my overachiever will kick in and I will want to train. They say, no you won't, no one does. It's a good workout. It's fun.

I have never enjoyed playing team sports. I'm not good at kicking, hitting, aiming or catching. I prefer to beat people by being smart, mean and better organized, not by knocking them out of the way.

I never liked P.E. I remember starting sixth grade middle school a few years after that Title IX Equal Education whatever passed and we had to do P.E. with boys. Thanks a lot Patsy Mink. I dreaded that hour. Let's take someone timid and uncoordinated and make them play with boys. It seems like we did sports with just girls, too, which I also didn't like. I've lost a lot of brain cells since then. It's hard to remember.

I did like gymnastics. And I have this memory of spending week after week in the gym during the Saturday Night Fever era and doing The Hustle (my new favorite wikipedia entry. I hurt my chin when I fell on the floor laughing). Could that be possible?

Back to team sports. It's hard for me to get past those memories and think that all this time later I could try playing soccer and I'd have fun doing it. I have to admit I'm curious in a "doing something outside my comfort zone" way and I could use the exercise but I don't need to add any more activities to my roster at the moment.