Category Archive

hobbies

Sucking at ballet class makes me love my body

I suck at ballet. Though I have been dancing for a few years, the style of the class I’m taking is extremely foreign to me. But even so, in the month since I’ve been in class, I have witnessed my own metamorphosis.

Quick guide to getting started in roller derby

So you want to play roller derby? First of all, congrats on officially making one of your better life choices! Aside from being a fun and challenging way to get exercise and explore your athletic side, roller derby has some astoundingly fantastic side-effects including increased confidence, immediate and massive expansion of your social circle, and the opportunity to exert physical violence in legal and, in fact, highly encouraged capacity. So with all that said, is it really possible to go from zero skating experience to roller derby bad-ass? Speaking from my own extensive experience as well as from years of teaching others, my answer is an unequivocal HELLS YEAH! Here are a few key things you can do to get prepped and ready to embark on your new and exciting life as a roller derby kicker of the ass.

How do you get into LARPing?

I know there are tons of Live Action Role Players (LARPers) out there. How do you find a good group? What should first-timers expect when they go along? Is it cool for us to turn up as a couple? What else should we know about testing the waters here?

The 8 awesome advantages of having a tandem bike

My husband is the kind of person who, when faced with an escalator and a set of steps that both stretch as far as the eye can see, will ALWAYS choose to run up the stairs. I have been known to get out of breath walking up the few flights of steps to our flat. I wanted to get more active with him, but when it came to ways of spending time together that satisfied my husband’s love of endorphins, we were a little bit stymied. A few years ago we found the solution — a tandem bike that we’ve name Daisy.

The risks and rewards of playing competitive softball while pregnant

If I had to pick a religion, it’d be sports. And if I had to pick a method of worship? It’d be aggressive softball playing. It fills my spiritual cup in a very serious way. It’s no accident I met the love of my life on the softball field. And it’s no accident that I’m still playing in my second trimester, side by side with that same man. If my heart were a puppy, this would be her dog park.

Meditation doesn’t work for me, and that’s okay!

I am thoughtful, open-minded person who believes in the values of calm and stillness, who understands the neuroscientific studies on the way meditation massages our grey-matter, and who really wanted to be a Jedi when I grew up. But mediation doesn’t work for me…

How to live with a passionate [read: obsessive, driven, fanatical, and somewhat egotistical] partner

When I say the word “passionate,” I’m not talking about the down on your knees, overly-romantic type fanfare. I am referring to how I describe a person who is passionate about whatever specific interest they hold dear to their heart. Other words such as obsessive, driven, fanatical, and somewhat egotistical also come to mind. What if these tend to describe your partner?

Distance? Need? Ability? What makes a person a runner?

I started running reluctantly. I’m a doctor, and everyday I tell people to exercise. After giving people this advice for a month or two, and completely neglecting to engage in any physical activity myself, I started to feel guilty and hypocritical. I made the decision to start running. Both before and after I starting running, people would ask me if I’m a runner. I would smile uncertainly and ponder how to respond. Were they asking because of my body type? Was there something they recognized in my energy that identified me as a runner? Did my two mile runs make me a runner? To me, this barely counted for anything, although I knew that I felt better about myself and my life when I ran.