One Step Forward on a Treadmill

May 08, 2008

My Battle With Bigorexia: The Illusion of a Real Athlete

Here's a newsflash: I've been hitting the gym recently. And by recently I mean almost everyday for the past 2 years.
It all started when I started working at 3M. Having a gym within walking distance and a less than stressful job have really allowed me to have an active gym life. Recently it was commented that I was looking really good and I should keep up what I'm doing at the gym to get bigger.

Okay, the truth is, I don't really have bigorexia. And here's why: I don't freak out if I don't get enough protein, I don't stress out if I don't make it to the gym when I want to, and I don't sacrifice other relationships for the sake of going to the gym, and I have no desire to spend money on steroids.

That being said, I do examine myself in the mirror on a frequent basis, I take protein supplements, I get upset if I miss a workout to do nothing at home, and (here's the issue I wish to discuss) I never seem to be satisfied with my body's appearance. I should point out a few things: I am not unhealthy by any accounts, I have around 10% body fat, I have a healthy heart, I can run a six-minute mile at any given moment, I'm 6'3" and weigh 190 pounds.

This is what I do not want to become. What a nutcase. Absolutely not gonna happen. What went wrong with this one? I don't knw. Did anyone see him practice boxing? He's not athletic at all. Why does he get attention then? Why is he even a character on The Real World? Almost every season there is one character on The Real World that takes working out to the extreme. Seattle: David. New Orleans: David (woo woo). Chicago: Chris. Hollywood: Joey. (I know I'm skipping a few, I'm not a huge fan of the show since I got to college.)

Okay, I might not have been entirely clear from the start of this essay. My battle with bigorexia is not the internal one that you might have been thinking of. It has nothing to with being insecure, even though I might be from time to time. I just wanted to get it on the table that I was not a total fatass.

The real battle was prompted by this exaltation of the bigorexic man. What images are evoked when the topic of heroes is brought up? More often than not, a herculean image will eclipse anything jasonian in our mind. (Jason of Jason and the Argonauts was a weak little prick who only is a hero because he was helped by women, only to leave them.)

The problem I am getting at is this: these neo-herculean actors are rarely truly athletic. Big muscles might suggest strength, but speed or agility do not necessarily figure into the picture. And yet, extremely muscular men are idolized in bars, in movies, and other public venues. For why? They spend hours at the gym and consume copious amounts of protein and, if that is not enough, resort to anabolic steroids. Very admirable, unless they are listening to books on tape while pumping iron. I know I love liseting to War and Peace while doing the bench press.

Point of the story: I applaud serious bodybuilders for their efforts and dedication. It's not easy to get to the gym everyday. What I do not applaud is deifying serious bodybuilders into sex gods or superheroes. I'd rather have a decathlete, in my opinion.

Posted by piep0058 at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2008

I Feel Like Arianna Huffington

Or at least, I feel like the portrayal of Arianna Huffington on the Tracy Ullman Show.

I am lounging in my bed at my villa in Minneapolis clutching to my laptop. And I am feeling very opinionated right now.

It all boils down to the gas tax and gas tax holiday. I need to say this here because if I do not, I will literally burst in frustration. Gas tax holiday. Gas tax holiday. I hear a lot of people saying we should suspend the tax. Currently, the federal tax on a gallon of gasoline is 18.4 cents.

Let's do the numbers:
I have approximately a 20-gallon tank, and I estimate that if I were to burn through a full tank I would last about 2 weeks, give or take a few days. In a month that would amount to 40 gallons (I will make it an even 50 gallons spent a month).

At today's price of $3.50, that's $175 spent on gasoline, $9.20 goes to the federal tax, and approximately the same amount goes to the Minnesota state gasoline tax.

So I get an extra $9.20 every month that the gas tax is suspended. Who wants to go to the movies!? Wait, I can't get there because I busted my tire on one of the many potholes.

I do not have a problem with the gasoline tax, and neither should you. All the money raised in this tax should be going to funding transit projects, correct? This builds our roads, bridges, other mass transit solutions. Sounds simple enough. Take away this flow of cash, and either our infrastructure will deteriorate or we will divert money away from other government projects.

I don't think anyone is willing to allow another bridge disaster like the 35W Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis happen again. This is still an event very fresh in the memory of Minnesotans. No one is suggesting allowing our transit infrastructure to fail again. Although, I should note apparently John McCain isn't expecting to get Minnesota's electoral votes this November. He needs to reword what he said, he's out of line on that one.

This is what really needs to be said, and no one is saying it: we need a gas holiday. The price of gasoline will never come down. Chopping a few cents off the price of gasoline is not going to help us. Reducing our demand for gasoline, however, will help us. The problem is, gasoline is seen as a necessity. We need it to get to work in the morning. We need it to get home. We have to buy it.

No one wants to be told that he/she fucked up by buying a house 50 miles away from their job. A lot of times, people don't have a choice. We often take whatever job we can get. I know that was my case. However, choices need to be made that will reduce our demand on gasoline. Not just for our own economic benefit, but for the creation of a sustainable economy.

While we might not be able to employ all of these suggestions, it is a place to start:

1) Live closer to work.
2) Work closer to home.
3) Work from home.
4) Alternative Fuels.
5) More sophisticated mass transit.
6) Get a fucking hybrid.

Some of these are next to impossible for the average person. It simply does not make sense for a person to take their spouse and children out of the suburban town they grew up in and move into the city. I myself am not going to ride a bus for two hours to get to work in the morning when it takes me fifteen minutes by car.

Now, if I did not have to transfer more than once, and the ride was under 30 minutes, I would have been riding it a long time ago. However, I only see a short commute via public transportation ever becoming a reality if there were something more sophisticated than bussing, such as extensions of the light rail system. Unfortunately, that's just a dream. Speaking of dreams... I dream of a day when I will never see another Bush/Cheney bumper sticker. I hope today was my last encounter, but I know another one will cross my path at some point.

Posted by piep0058 at 01:36 AM | Comments (2) | Society

April 09, 2008

JEOPARDY!

Guess What Y'all!?!

I qualified to make it onto Jeopardy!
I never really thought of myself as that smart, just full of random knowledge whose use is only to interject awkward esoteric comments to make an otherwise dull party a little more on the edgy side.

But apparently they'll even let me on. Which is probably good news to the reader of this blog. Unless you can't read, in which case you have no chance of getting on the show.

Moving on, my acceptance into Jeopardy! is proof that you can go out and drink the night before, and still pull enough random knowledge out of your head to make it on the show. I was severely hungover too. It was just a mess. But somehow, I still was able to beat out all the other nerds.

How exactly does one train for Jeopardy? A good memory is a start, but is that enough? A desire to read is also probably a good asset. But what else? Access to knowledge is a given (by the way, all the other finalists in my heat were librarians or had some relation to books).

A desire to compile and mentally sort information and a talent at doing so is probably the key fundamental ability that enables one to be a good competitor. From then on, it's just about how much material you can get your hands on.

Maps, books, news sources, television and movies are just the start. Wikipedia will do the rest. Honestly a single person cannot view every single classic movie that is out there. Well, at least I can't. Sitting through all those crappy movies just does not sound like a good time. I'll take the cliff notes on Wikipedia, please.

That reminds me.

CITIZEN KANE WAS WAY TOO LONG. AND NOT WORTHY OF BEST MOVIE STATUS ON ANYONE'S LIST, UNLESS YOU WERE BORN BEFORE 1930.

I'll admit that it wasn't total crap. I just think it could have been shortened up a bit. The story is a good one though.

Posted by piep0058 at 07:20 PM | Comments (1) | Home

March 10, 2008

Hillary Wears Polyester-blend Fabrics

Obama? Clinton? It's starting to bother me.
Experience means very little. If experience really is such a great asset Cheney and Rumsfeld's experience would have meant successful war in Iraq... and what's the death toll today? Nevermind.
I (and most of the people out there) care about judgement. Listen, folks, that's what it's about: JUDGEMENT. I want someone who will hold my basic values first when making decisions. Like the absurdity of war, equality for everyone, basic human rights -- these must come first.

Moving on, let's take a look at the bigger picture. Why do I really prefer Obama to Hillary?

First thing: Obama is more likely to win Missouri, and I'm using Missouri's bellwether status to judge the entire election. Still though, one state isn't enough, one might argue. What makes Missouri so precious? His win there was just a few thousand votes, if that.

Second thing: Think about the long term goals of the Democratic Party. Ideally we want to shift a greater chunk of the population around our goals, thereby winning subsequent elections. Highlighting Hillary's stark ability for polarization, here's why Obama could very well do for Democrats what Reagan did for Republicans in the 1980's: Unite and conquer the opposing party.

How, you ask? It all goes back to the libertarians. How the hell do ruby red Montana and Wyoming and Kansas elect very popular Democratic governors? How are the inner-ring affluent traditionally Republican suburbs electing Democratic representatives? Democrats might be able to use the current anti-war sentiment to ride this election to victory, but they need to pull in this vital group, which, I will say, will be quite tricky. Personal liberty needs to be stressed, and right now Republicans are doing a really bad job at it with all this evangelical bullshit. (Which, by the way, is a big reason I no longer vote Republican.) Many libertarians cite taxes and laizzes-fair economics as the only thing they vote on, which Republicans "seem" to dominate. The trick is to convince them that helping the poor, gay marriage (or whatever), and getting out of Iraq ASAP is really what is going to ensure them their personal freedom. Hillary might ride the tide of this anti-war surge into office with a defeat of pro-war McCain, but the young people and libertarians definitely will not identify with her. People want a government that shows them how they can get ahead. They need to realize that helping the poor, creating a sustainable economy with sound environmental choices, and eliminating discrimination will help them get ahead. (Don't ask me how, I'm not running for government just yet.)

Hillary, I feel, still represents the same core Democratic Party platforms as Obama -- there isn't much difference, really. But who can bring a sustaining Democratic victories to the party? The answer is quite clear, in my mind: Barack Obama. The fragmentation and destruction of the evangelical republican movement is the key decisive defeat that is needed, and Obama is better to bring that than Hillary. Hillary will only galvanize them back to the Republicans.

PS I think Obama+Sebelius is the dream ticket. Adding Sebelius to the ticket definitely would help win the heartland votes of Missouri, Iowa, and Ohio. I'll concede Florida is headed for a Republican victory, so just give that up. Adding Sebelius would also gain back the female vote for anyone left upset that Hillary will lose the nomination. It would also strengthen the idea that a president needs to be a good deal breakers, something Sebelius has done in the VERY Republican Kansas legislature. This is what gets things done in the long haul. A bitch might get things done in the short run, but it will leave an embitterment.

The bottom line: give up on the South. Texas-South Carolina, as far as I'm concerned will forever be stuck in the past and backward thinking. The West Coast and New England are also lost to the Republicans. Get the Midwest and a few western states in the Democratic camp (specifically Kansas, North Dakota, Missouri, Ohio, Arizona and Colorado), and the victories will keep on coming for years to come.

Posted by piep0058 at 04:55 PM | Comments (1) | Society

May 12, 2007

A little less apathy, a little more opinion

Despite the next federal election being 19 months away, the media insists on covering the candidates that are positioning themselves for their prospective nomination for president. I guess there isn't a person out there that wants to get rid of Bush asap. Don't blame me! I voted for Kerry.

So what do you do if you want to be president nowadays. It's has nothing to do with political experience it seems. It's just another Hollywood story, when you get down to it. People don't care about what a person has achieved previously in office. But how can a candidate excite the public, about anything, no matter how trivial it is.

I'm not going to bash the Iraq war here... I think it's time for our soldiers to get all the support we can give them, so that they can just finish up and come home. It was a mistake to go there. Enough said.

But now that we are there, what now? Taking our troops out while leaving the Iraqis to deal with these insurgents is not an answer. It will only harbor hostility towards the United States; the Americans came into our country, and now they leave it like this? The rhetoric isn't hard to find that could convince anyone growing up in that mess that this is all the United States' fault.

But back to the president. I have finally found one that I like. It took a while, ever since Evan Bayh dropped out, but I found one: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. To be honest I was never crazy about Barack's inexperience, Hillary's record or background, and anyone else in the field. Richardson truly has the best experience of any candidate in the field, Democratic or Republican. Any president that we elect, if anything, needs to be respected in the world. Bush, like no other president in modern history, is the butt of so many jokes all over the world. He really does appear like an idiot, to everyone, and that's a fact.

I guess we can only go up from here. Anyone has got to be better than our illiterate cowboy of a president. But why not find the best:

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico.

Tommy Thompson seems to think that he is a good candidate for president because he has experience in health care and that is the most important thing for Americans. Not exactly true.

What excites Americans more is something more everyday. Health care is health care, and it's fine for me. Paying $4/gallon for gasoline is something to which I am much more sensitive. And, if there's anything that gets me riled up, it's talking about modernizing our energy system, something Gov. Richardson has experience in as Sec. of the Dept of Energy. He's dealt with the Middle East in a much more diplomatic way than Bush will ever be remembered for. He's also respected at the United Nations with his experience there. And he's not from the Northeast. Democrats will get California for sure, but this will give them some attractiveness in Ohio, Arizona, Montana and Missouri.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Any Democratic candidate from the Northeast is unelectable in 2008. Gov. Richardson has a much more continental appeal, something that any Democratic candidate must have to win an election these times. Hillary doesn't have it. Barack doesn't have the experience. What he lacks in popularity he more than makes up for in the best resumé in the field. The media should give him more air time.

Posted by piep0058 at 01:29 PM | Comments (2) | Society

May 05, 2007

Spring Jam 2007: Just Tragic

Okay, I'm not actually enrolled in any classes at the University of Minnesota anymore. In case you don't recall, I officially graduated May 5, 2006. That just so happens to be exactly one year ago today.

That doesn't mean I don't participate in University of Minnesota activities, i.e. Spring Jam and Homecoming. I really only live a few blocks away from the U still. Thus, I still feel like I live on campus.

Long story short, most of my friends are still enrolled at the University, and since they are still juniors, seniors, super seniors, they still feel it's their duty to start drinking round 10 a.m. on Saturday morning for these festivals.

Saturday was no exception. I'll admit I'm somewhat hesitant to crack open a beer before noon, but somehow the coordinated t-shirts everyone had on somehow made it seem okay to do so. Peer pressure, gotta love it.

Consequently, this was my status at 2 p.m. Erik J is to my left.

Apparently the whole theme for Spring Jam was "Big Lights, Big Cities." Some people chose London, others chose New York... get the picture? We chose Tijuana. I like to think it was good to mock the people who actually put effort into making a real big city theme. This one was much more appropriate for a Dinkytown duplex.

And nothing says Mexican fun more than a piñata! This is me trying to put the rope over a branch.

Good Fun.

I have not worked at abercrombie in a really really long time! They asked me work at the Southdale adult store the other day. I might as well take it... Honestly Beyoncé doesn't even know the half of all the bills I have to pay. She's all caught up with her armpits anyhow, she wouldn't know the difference.

Okay listen. The bills have finally started to come in like an avalanche. The car, taxes, insurance, rent, down payments, credit cards, eating out... just when I thought I was going to be able to save up some money for a down payment here, the money starts to roll out again. Oh well, maybe next month. From now on I'm bringing my lunch to work. Although the temptation of going to Noodles & Co. for lunch is just too much sometimes. I'll just have to excel at making gourmet sandwiches for a while.

Posted by piep0058 at 02:58 PM | Comments (0) | School

May 03, 2007

At the Onion...Again

It's another nice day in Minneapolis again, and I decided to skip an actual workout in lieu of it. It's sunny and 72º and it doesn't get much better than this. So I walked from my house to the Purple Onion and it's patio overlooking University Avenue and downtown Minneapolis.

The last time I was here I started doing some "fuzzy math" for estimates for the total eligible gay male population in the Twin Cities area... and this is my result:

5,000,000 people in minnesota * 50% that live in the metro area * 50% male percentage * 5% gay percentage * 20% (within the acceptable age range 20-30) * 20% (the ones that are actually datable) * 50% (the ones that are single) = 1,250 eligible gay male bachelors.

That 5% was being very generous. Same with the second 20%. However, if we're going with the percentage of men on the patio that are gay right now... we're looking at 6/7.

Okay, whatever, critique my estimates, I don't care. So I was reviewing this math with Peter B one Saturday morning, and we, understandably, became depressed. Considering we know, or know of, almost 1,000 gay men in the city. That leaves 250 datable gay men left.

We were ready for a break.

My solution to our worries was to take a road trip somewhere. Chicago was too far for a Saturday afternoon. On top of that, if we went anywhere we would need a place to stay. Duluth? no... LaCrosse? no... EAU CLAIRE!!! For anyone that doesn't believe me, I will testify that Eau Claire does indeed have a gay bar. So do Duluth and LaCrosse, for that matter... but where would I have stayed there? I've never actually stayed in a random hotel ever. I was not about to call the Eau Claire Marriott and ask them for a room. No... Trying my options, I finally came across crazy Ben. He's a freshman at UW-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin. Yes, he lives in the dorms. We've hot tubbed together after the Saloon one night.

Around eightish Peter and I departed and headed east on I-94. Part of the deal for putting up with us over the weekend, I offered Ben that we buy him dinner. So, we arrived in Menomonie around 9, saw UW-Stout, picked up Ben, had dinner, dropped him off, and continued the extra half hour to Eau Claire.

It was around 11 oclock when we finally walked into Scooter's. Perfect bar time, right? Indeed. I'd estimate the place probably had about 100 people in it. It was definitely not disappointing; at least not at first. I'm not going to lie, it felt good to have everybody stop what they were doing to look up at us. I am somewhat narcissistic like that. We both had to pee, so that was priority #1. Peter went first, while I worked on priority #2: getting drinks. I ordered two beers and handed him a ten, hoping it would be enough.

He gave me back seven fifty. Excuse me? Two beers? Two Fifty? Beers in Minneapolis cost anywhere from four to five dollars, even six. This was ridiculous. It was my turn to pee.

I was waiting in line when I noticed a stack of Lavender magazines on a stand by the back door. Even 100 miles away, we could not escape the reach of Sven Sundgaard. It's uncanny. I did dine out for life, by the way. They better find a cure for AIDS now. [P.S. Sven needs to not be so orange.]

The rest of the night was a broken record for the most part. I found the 10 cute (or close enough to cute) guys at the bar went up to them with my beer and started talking out of nowhere.

Me: "Hey dude, what's up?"
Dude: "Hi there."
Me: "So... are you from Eau Claire?"
Dude: "Yup, I live right over there..."
Me: "What do you do here?"
---Peter jumps into the conversation---
---Five More minutes elapse---
Dude: "Well, my boyfriend does this and this..."
Me: "Oh that's cool."
---Five more minutes of chit chat---
Me: "Oh! I need another beer! See ya later dude!"

Repeat previous sequence five times.

I'm not joking about the boyfriend line. Literally everyone that was cute at Scooter's had boyfriends. Peter and I had to give it some thought. How does this happen? I can't find a boyfriend with a dating pool 50 times bigger. Yet, in Eau Claire, everyone seemed to be dating someone. Not that I'm really that desperate by the way. I guess it's different in Eau Claire. The guys there try a lot harder to make relationships work out because, well, nothing better is ever going to come around. So what, they'll put up with dating a republican, an complete idiot, or someone who insists on having much too much facial hair, simply because there isn't anyone else moving there. Boyfriends by default. Cheating can't happen, there aren't enough men.

I did meet one decent guy, he was cute, nice, athletic, and very down to earth. If I lived in Eau Claire I would date him, despite being ten years his junior. It's not what I look for in Minneapolis though.

By 1:30 a.m. I was ready to go. Peter and I were both sick of this boyfriend bullshit, and we headed back to the Volvo and went straight to Menomonie. Arriving at UW Stout proved to be a greater challenge than we had anticipated. Finding a parking space was a challenge, and then trying to find Ben's residence hall was even trickier. It was warm enough. I just wanted to crash in the sand of the volleyball court.

Ten minutes later, we found Ben's building and he let us in. I nearly hit my head on the ceiling of gopher holes I was winding through. The air had that musky dorm smell of 50 boys compacted into a few cubic meters. Ben's roommate was out, which meant it was only going to be the three of us that night. I immediately stripped down to my boxer-briefs and crashed on the futon, only to find my myself double handcuffed a few minutes later to the futon, while Ben tortured my nipples.

It stopped, I was released, and I passed out.

Taco Bell the next morning perhaps wasn't the best thing to be eating. But I didn't care.

Posted by piep0058 at 06:47 PM | Comments (2) | Nightlife

April 19, 2007

Mid-week Update...

Amazingly I ran almost 8 miles yesterday, bringing the week's total (Sunday-Wednesday) up to 14 miles. Eight miles was a bit out of the ordinary for me... I made a huge loop through the city around the convention center then back home. Does anyone else feel self-conscious about running through downtown? I mean, I want to run to Loring Park, and I want to run through a pedestrian-friendly area, but I don't want to run through crowds.

I'm not keen on the idea of driving to go running, but I mean, that's simply what one has to do if a non-uptown resident wants to run at, say, Lake Calhoun or Lake of the Isles. I like running by the river, but I need to switch up scenery from time to time. Going up or down the river can only last so long.

Right now I'm in the new location of the Purple Onion Cafe, inside the 1301 University Building. The cafe is great, nice view of downtown, nice patio overlooking University Avenue, nice decor. I guess my beef is with the building itself. 1301 University describes itself as "an upscale student living experience" -- and this is what I have a problem with. I mean, I like to live the life of luxury just as much as anyone else. After all, I did just buy a new Volvo. And I lived in a brand-new pre-fab 6-bedroom house my senior year, which was pretty nice compared to most of the Dinkytown slums.

But isn't living in a slum part of the college experience? Or am I wrong to think this? I thought it was an experience everyone goes through at some point in their college career. Don't get me wrong, I think 1301 University is super sweet, and I would have loved to have lived there; it's so close to campus and no bugs come out of the floors. Unfortunately anything above $500/month would have broke the bank. I guess my main concern is the character-building experience that many students are going to miss by not living in a slum. This sounds rediculous, but they need to know what it feels like to have bugs crawl over you and to have a shower's plumbing fail and to find 3-year-old pot in a removable floorboard. This is the University of Minnesota, not the University of St. Thomas.

Speaking of the Volvo... Chris Farrar noted that the only reason I got the car was because of this:

Well, it is true that I am a fan of the logo--how virile. But in all honesty, I liked the whole perceived image of Volvo. Yes, it has the power that I need. But, it isn't in a pretentious way (i.e. BMW) or in a hip-hop video way (i.e. Mercedez-Benz). I don't think I've ever seen a hip-hop/rap/soul (read: black) music video that has the artist driving a Volvo. With Volvo class and power is tacit. However, I do like the logo better than Saab's logo.

Posted by piep0058 at 07:38 PM | Comments (1) | Home

April 16, 2007

Sven Sundgaard Eat My Dust

Most people in the Twin Cities are familiar with Kare11's weekend meteorologist Sven Sundgaard and his blog where he frequently posts topless pictures of himself and talks about how much he loves to run and blah blah blah. The shirtless pictures are fine, I guess, he's not bad to look at. However he does like to talk about running, and I intend to show him up on that. And to top it off, posting topless sweaty pictures of myself might attract (more likely deter) some visitors to my site (not that I'm counting).

So here's the deal, I have no ambition to run a full fledged 26 mile marathon (the norwegian munchkin has me there). However, I do aim to do a half marathon. I think 13 miles sounds appropriate to me. Check out the course:

The Minneapolis Chain of Lakes. I intend to circumnavigate the whole damn mess on foot in a decent time (TBD). Deadline? October 1st, 2007 (or before the first snow). Is this an easy goal for myself? Yes. I'm already running 5 miles easy some days. However, I have yet to actually ever push myself anywhere beyond that. That's always seemed to be the limit for me; I want to see how far I can go (without becoming a crazy marathon runner, those people are weird).

Say Joe, didn't you buy a new car? Why yes, yes I did.

New Car (check)
New Music (check) (Currently 120 Days, Young Love, and Peter, Björn, and John)
New Loft? That's on the horizon (In other words... "I don't having a fucking clue what I'm doing")

Posted by piep0058 at 08:52 PM | Comments (5) | Home

April 03, 2007

On a Roll!

So I've been writing a lot lately. I'm not entirely sure why. There seems to be a lot of time on my hands, I guess, but then again, there always is a lot of time for me these days.

I would most likely be walking outside right now; however, it's snowing. While I know it's Minnesota, I think snow in April is a bit excessive. I would be generally okay with the idea if a) it hadn't reached 80 degrees here last week and b) the snow hadn't froze on my windshield causing me to have to scrape it.

Missouri better have some better weather when I'm down there this weekend. Speaking of traveling... I might just stop in Davenport, Iowa.

And then I can stop at Coral Ridge Mall in Iowa City! Yes? I think so! Oh what a poor representation of Americana. I really don't think one can find any less sophisticated shopping conditions in the United States. The sad part is, they really tried hard to make it a nice mall. It's big, yeah, it has all the stores anyone expects (but no abercrombie kids!!!). The Sioux Empire in Sioux Falls also does not have an abercrombie kids, but I think it's done a lot nicer (for just being one floor!). Not that it's really saying much, but if I had to choose which small town to drive through, Sioux Falls beats Iowa City. Or maybe I'm basing my opinion upon the amount of gays I saw at the respective malls... hmmm who knows. Bottom line? I better have some 70 degree weather in St. Louis or I'll be pissed.

Posted by piep0058 at 09:05 PM | Comments (0) | My Mind