When I'm at the gym, acting like a gerbil on a wheel, except in my case it's a mom on the elliptical, I try to forget about my surroundings by listening to my ipod shuffle and reading, my multi-tasking distractions. I've read a lot of books on the elliptical, which I feel is sacrilegious in a way, but at the same time I think, well they really must be good books if I even exercise while reading them. Anyhow, to cut to the point, I haven't had a book worth reading on the elliptical lately and when that happens I turn to the spinner rack full of magazines that people donate, I bring most of mine once I'm done with them. I used to read all the women's and celebrity oriented rags until I got inundated with all the 'How I survived my ...' the ellipsis being either sex scandal, nude pics, time in rehab, stint in jail, breast implants or fill in the blank with something equally unsavory. How it makes me long for the days when I read about Robert Downey Jr. crawling into some child's bed like Goldilocks. I don't mean to kid about addiction but when Robert Downey Jr. was chasing his demons it was sad because the man has talent. These vapid, reality stars that will do anything to get noticed, would it really be a loss if one of them overdosed? It made me feel squeamish seeing all that exploitive crap on the covers of Health magazine or Self? I expect that from Star but the women's health oriented magazines? Although those magazines aren't really even health oriented anymore, filled with ads for Botox, Juvederm, Alli weight loss and artificial sweeteners. America is really at a cultural nadir.
So then I switched to not so recent issues of Time and Scientific American. Where else, but in a leading story on the chemistry of love, could I find out that scientists use the technical term nonverbal leakage for body language. I'm just dying for an opportunity to use that one. And now, most recently, I've been reading Toby's copies of The Economist because I want to keep my brain from turning to mush, getting older and being a stay at home mom seem to have caused a precipitous drop in my IQ. The Economist is an amazing magazine. I love reading articles like this on the science of religion, and feel that my time is much better spent reading stuff like last week's special report on mobility (how mobile communications affects us in such amazingly diverse ways) than the latest about Britney Spears. But the whole magazine is a bit denser than Time and now I'm starting to notice that I tend to get nauseous if I read too much on the elliptical. Ughhh, getting older sucks. Does this mean there are glasses in my future? Eight months until I'm forty and everything is starting to break down on me, not very encouraging.
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1 comment:
nonverbal leakings.. what a great discription.
also cant wait to use it!
if you enjoyed that article , you would also enjoy a book called "the god gene" by dean hamer
"the god dilusion" by richard dorkins.
"god is not great" by somebody hitchens.
as a born again atheist i did not read them, because it would be like preaching to the converted.
but my in-laws love reading about stuff like that,and they highly recomend it(always trying to get me to read it,but as i said preaching to the converted..)
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