At the gym My work got less crazy about a month ago and now I can actually go to the gym again.

I go to the gym next to my work. So there's always the risk of being naked around all the people I work with. On the one hand, I really don't care, and I certainly don't want to be all weird about it. But then I can't be sure if they're all weird about it, and I don't want to make them feel weird, especially the people who report to me. So I avoid getting dressed anywhere near them, and if I avoid it then there's definitely weirdness being generated.

There are some people who are totally not self-conscious at all, and around them I'm not bothered because there's no feedback loop of weirdness.

Whenever I can, I go to step class. Until recently I was completely in awe of the steppers. They're stringy, they're face-lifted, they all have 2 or 3 steps stacked up, and they do the most amazing combos without any trouble whatsoever. I'm like, WTF is wrong with me that I'm 30 years old, I've been stepping for years and still can't pick up the combos like these crazy oldsters? I'm not the only one, either -- no one from my work EVER goes to step class. One time my boss went and the instructor actually kicked her out for being a beginner.

Then one day I got there and everyone was totally clumsy. They didn't know what the hell they were doing and for once my pitiful, out-of-shape efforts made me the big prodigy. That was when I figured it out. There are only 3 or 4 different routines, and all the regulars have them memorized. They're complicated, hourlong routines, and they take weeks or months to learn. So on this day, the instructor was trying to teach everyone a new routine. Take that, oldsters!

UPDATE: I just looked at Blogger to see if my blog would be one of the scrolling blogs they featured. It wasn't -- that thing is totally fixed! -- but I did come upon this entertaining find: http://monchiii.blogspot.com/ 

¶ 9:46 PM