Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Aunt Cathie starts career in show-biz

I received a letter from my Aunt Cathie a couple weeks ago thanking me for the card I sent her for her 87 th birthday. She told me in the letter she had joined a singing group called Alive & Kickin' which sings at different events around the Twin City area. The group was going to be performing at the Renaissance Festival August 28th.

Harry and I headed out to the Festival last Saturday, not letting her know we were coming. Just outside the gate as we arrived the group was congregating ready to head in. I snuck up behind her and gave her a big hug. She was shocked and surprised that I had come. I told her I would not have missed it! I had her pose for a picture with the director of the group, Michael Farrell.

Alive & Kicking did their rendition of the Broadway musical Spamalot at the King's Arbor Stage on the Festival grounds. Their big number was the song "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" and the audience was encouraged to sing along. I got a little teary eyed singing along because the song was the perfect song for Aunt Cathie to be singing. She has been through some very very tough times in her life but can always be counted on for her glass half full philosophy. The show was adorable and I am not surprised at all that she is out in the world in her late 80's spreading good cheer and happiness. If I get to be 87, I'd like to be doing the same thing, Pollyanna to the end. (was Pollyanna a musical too?)

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

In search of a waistline.....

This is Betty, my Pilates instructor at LA Fitness. I started taking Pilates classes from Betty after my friend Renee suggested we try it together. Renee was not keen on going back, not her thing, but I really liked it. Pilates is not something I knew much about. I thought it was a new-fangled sort of exercise developed over the past couple decades for the Hollywood celebrity types, like Jennifer Aniston. I have learned it actually goes back 100 years or so. Joseph Pilates developed a system of exercises which he used to rehabilitate soldiers returning home from WW1.

Pilates is certainly helping me rehabilitate after many years of neglecting my physical well being. It works on your core strength, toning your muscles, and improving your sense of balance, and seems to be a nice compliment to the workouts we have with Joe and to the aerobic conditioning I do in the Spin class or on the elliptical machine. (Yes, you are right, exercise has become my full time job.) God help me if I decide to go back to work. I won't have time for all this rehabilitation!

Betty is the consummate professional. In every class she teaches I learn something new from her vast reservoir of knowledge about Pilates. She is amazing to watch, so strong and graceful. Pilates is not something you get good at easily or quickly, but in Betty's class I never feel embarrassed by my incompetence. I just keep trying and as she keeps the encouragement flowing. The movements in Pilates are small and precise, but strenuous. Focus on breathing properly and concentration on form are key elements. I find something about Pilates appeals to me. I had tried a yoga class and did not feel the same sort of connection.

I found myself walking out half-way through a Pilates class last week. The class was at the Uptown LAFitness, not my regular club. The instructor was extremely nice, age 23 and she told us she has been doing Pilates since she was 16. HELP!!!! This teacher geared her class for the clientele at the Uptown club: the young fit and trims, as I like to call them. I felt completely overwhelmed and certainly not young, fit or trim. I quietly rolled up my mat after a few minutes of complete humiliation and headed for the door.

The clientele in Betty's Pilate classes at the St. Louis Park LAFITNESS, my neighborhood, is more of a mixed bag. (Sometimes I feel like an old bag as I try to do the routines.) There certainly are the young fit and trims in Betty's classes, but there are also women my age who struggle to do the Pilate sit up or push up. There are also women my age in the class who successfully do those excruciatingly painful sit ups and push ups without a wince. As I said, a mixed bag.

Betty is somehow able to make her class challenging and appropriate for everyone. Not easily done, but she does it. I think this is because she is so knowledgeable and skilled and, though young, not twenty-three type young. She has the experience and expertise to ensure everyone feels challenged but not overwhelmed.

I went on line and ordered a couple of books on Pilates for the "older set" and I bought a beginner Pilate video at Target to use at home. (And Harry calls me compulsive!) Betty says that after 30 Pilates sessions you will have a whole new body. I am nearing the 10-session mark now and my body is not dramatically different, although I probably could now buy large exercise pants and not extra large. So, I remain an exercise junkie, still in search of a waistline.

PS. Harry is overreacting. He claims to be in fear for his life since Joe now has me doing the same weights as him most of the time and I did more reps in Monday's upper-body work!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

A new computer

Our friend Brian, Renaissance-jack-of-all-trades man that he is, recently stumbled upon a 2006 IBM ThinkPad mini computer. A company had bought it and never even taken it out of the box. I had asked Brian to give me a second opinion on the demise of my baby computer and he told me about the availability of this small IBM ThinkPad that was going for a song.

Brian knew that my love of small computers had not served me well the last few years and he said if I wanted a superior mini computer at an amazing price, I would have to move fast. Years ago I bought a larger used ThinkPad from Brian that he had had for many years. It was a work-horse computer and I liked it, it was just too large and too heavy for my taste. I retired the big old IBM and began my journey of buying mini computers that lasted a mini amount of time.

After we had talked with Brian, Harry and I immediately jumped in the car and went to a technology store in the northern suburbs to check out this computer. Once I saw it I thought my dream of a reliable mini computer might be coming true. I told Brian this machine was like going from driving a Ford Aspire to a BMW. On the web I found the same computer selling for around $2000. This machine was priced at $400. I took out my credit card and off we drove.

I had wanted to buy the IPad, but when I went to the Apple Store in Uptown a couple weeks ago, I learned that word processing is not what the IPad is all about and I need to process words. Someday, I will buy an IPAD, they are amazing. For now, however, I am grateful for this sturdy little IBM and I will continue to read books and newspapers on my Kindle. ( Kindles, FYI, have come way down in price lately, probably due to competition with the IPad.)

My fantasy consumer dream is that this little computer will be as long lasting as my VW Beetle, Fiona. Fiona is still going strong after 12 years. Maybe if I just remember to change the oil on the ThinkPad she will go strong for years to come as well. I probably also need to come up with an endearing name for her, "baby computer" will just not cut it. This is a classy gal who needs a real name. Harry suggests "IBaMa" ??? A rather Democratic choice this election year.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Experiencing technical difficulties

Phoebejeanne is experiencing technical difficulties this week; her computer is in intensive care. Phoebeinherworld will resume as soon as Phoebe decides whether to let her computer die a natural death and buy a new computer or put her beloved little computer on life support awaiting a costly, probably short lived, transplant.

Phoebe has clearly made known she wants an I Pad, but has said buying one is not something she could justify. She may now have found the rationalization she has been praying for. The truth is this that this blogger has burned her way through 4 "baby size computers" over the past two years. (She has a real "thing" for small computers.) That "thing" has cost her dearly.

It may be time for this blah blah blogger to purchase a computer that will last her longer than a year, the lifespan of her last purchase. May she get it right this time please!!!