Laughing at the gym and why you should avoid it

I'm just back from the gym and sitting down for a quick second because the steam in the shower I'm about to take would make me pass out if I were to get in now. I've been on a good track lately. I go to the gym and watch CNN as I run. That way, I'm catching up on current events and getting in shape at the same time. Flawless plan, no?

No, not at all, apparently. There are quite a few TVs at the gym, most of them visible from the treadmill I use. While I may get distracted, I'm pretty good at sticking to CNN. Even when Saved By The Bell comes on, I only watch it on commercial breaks from the news. Go me. But today, today I lost control. 

Fresh Prince of Bel Air was on the screen right next to CNN. I'm as much of a Fresh Prince fan as the next guy, but it has never been a show where I get excited to see that it's on air. Until today. I could not look away. I even moved from just reading the closed captioning while still listening to the news, to just changing the channel completely and occasionally glancing over to make sure our country isn't going to complete and total rot. 

Will Smith and Carlton (I really don't care enough about him as an actor to look up his name for he is and will always be Carlton) sufficiently distracted me from the steep incline I was running, but also made me chuckle a bit under my breath. That's always the awkward thing about watching TV while working out. I'll smile and laugh because I can't hear myself with my headphones. Oh, but I'm sure you can, girl doing crunches right in front of me. And you, guy working at the FitRec help desk. Yes, you heard that laugh. But me? I'm going to pretend it never happened. 

Because laughing at the gym is not normal laughing. You're running fast on a treadmill with an incline, sweating and thirsty. So what escapes as a laugh is more just a groan. A confusing noise, I'm sure, to those who don't understand it was meant to be a laugh. I guess the next time I go to the gym, I'll wear a sign that says, "Yes, that was a laugh. No, I'm not dying or contagious."

Or maybe I'll just stick to CNN. 

A productive pause

Since I arrived in Boston at the end of August, I have been strangely motivated and productive. I'm proud of the fact that I wake up early six days a week and head to the gym or the track for at least a half hour of exercise. I take Sundays off and reserve them for sleeping in, feasting on breakfast and doing homework. I'm all signed up for a 5K this November and it really has me excited about getting back into shape. 

I'm also really excited about becoming the arts and entertainment section editor for BU's first lifestyle magazine, The Buzz. The idea came to fruition last semester when two girls in my class came up with the idea to make a magazine that would be distributed on campus and let students know about events, culture, nightlife, fashion, news and all things college related going on throughout Boston and the BU campus. We worked last semester on putting out a mock up issue to shop around to advertisers and this semester, we're working on our first official issue to be put out sometime in December. I was on the writing staff last semester, but I've moved up to section editor this fall. It's been an exciting endeavor to take on and I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses.

However, my productivity is a distant memory tonight as I've immersed myself in a CSI:Miami marathon on A&E. While this is my least favorite of the CSI's, I'm in such a lazy mood. It feels good to relax for the first time since I've been back. But, even laying in my bed, watching TV, I feel the need to do something useful.

So here I am, blogging the mundane. Another wild and crazy Saturday night. 

Hello from Boston!

It feels like it has been absolutely forever since I posted something, so this one will be good and have pictures, I promise. 

So what have I been doing the past few weeks? Well I moved into my gorgeous dorm, which the Boston Globe seems to love almost as much as the residents themselves. You can read the praises here, but try to ignore the snarky comments from jealous readers. Yes, we realize how lucky we are and no, we don't expect to live like this ever again in our lives.

Here's a picture of my room, which has (surprisingly) been this clean every single day since I moved in. I even take out the trash and clean the bathroom. I guess I'm finally trying maturity on for size.

I live in an eight-person suite with a common area and two bathrooms. I went in only knowing my good friend Eileen, but I've come to find that all of my suitemates are really, dare I say it, suite. Gah, I'm such a dork!

Anyways, here is a shot of my decorations. 

I've got an Alice in Wonderland picture of Alice doing a fierce walk down the runway, rabbits looking on, as well as two mugs and, of course, a drinking glass with the original illustration of the unbirthday party. I've got a few other odds and ends including my framed four leaf clover and my Beanie Baby "Dublin," who was a gift from my Nana and Grampa. I'm hoping he's my good luck charm to get into the Dublin Internship Program for this spring semester. The application is submitted, so now all I can do is cross my fingers!

And because it's my favorite part of the room, my IKEA bookcase full of books and complete with a magazine holder made out of recycled magazines sitting on top.

So, today was a special day. My good friend, Sydney, finally returned to Boston after transferring back to a school in her home of Washington state after our freshman year. I haven't seen her in over a year, but it seems like time has barely passed.

I went with Alicia to pick up Sydney at the airport, where we really had no clue what we were doing or where we were supposed to go, but Alicia made a beautiful sign for the arrival, so that pretty much makes up for the fact that we can't read maps.

At long last, Sydney and Dactyl are reunited!

We reminisced about our freshman year for the rest of the night, spending some time at Alicia's apartment to cook pasta and collectively inhale every last bit of it. It was so delicious and we were so hungry! 

Oh, and Alicia has a really beautiful, yet Tower of Terror-esque elevator in her apartment building. This is more just a funny picture of Alicia than actually relevant.

It feels so good to have gotten my first blog post up since I've been back. I've been really productive in other aspects of my day-to-day so far, so I'm really going to try to update regularly. 

And it really puts me in a great mood, so I'd be utterly silly to flake.