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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 (1)
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)