This Sounds About Right

But minus the yoga mat. I'm too inflexible to do that stuff.

Today's Sheldon comic strip

GO AWAY, WHITE FLAKES OF DOOM!!

Does anyone know an anti-snow dance?

And if that groundhog  sees its shadow in 2 weeks I'm going over there and ringing its scrawny neck!

R.I.P. Jack LaLanne

(Above is supposed to be an embedded video of a Jack LaLanne episode. If the video doesn't appear, click here.)

I was a fat kid. Back in the 1950's, schools were hiring veterans of WWII as teachers, and our school had a few, including our gym teachers. Every day these former Marines would have us do a half hour of calesthenics in the schoolyard every morning, whether it was 15º or 85º, whether we girls were in our summery dresses or snowsuits (Pants were NEVER allowed, not even on gym days!). We went into school every morning a puddle of sweat.

We then did it again after lunch, for a total of an hour of calesthenics. We were tough!

But many of us were still fat. Because of that, my parents felt I needed even more regimented exercise every day, that the hour of calesthenics plus the hour of active playtime after school wasn't enough. I was forced to do the same exercises I did at school in the living room every morning. This is when I was conditioned to wake up at 5am every day. I got up early, fought my dad for the bathroom, got dressed and had my own breakfast, then turned the tv on and did my half hour of more calesthenics with Jack LaLanne every weekday while my brothers were getting ready for school - and mocking me.

Is it any wonder why I learned to HATE exercise as I got older?

But Jack, like my ex-Marine 

Mr. Slivoka

gym teacher, knew the importance of it, so each day it got done. All that exercise did nothing to reduce my weight, but at least it kept me stronger than my peers, and more importantly, my brothers. They soon learned to leave me alone when I did those at-home workouts. And for that, I thank Jack LaLanne.

For those of you who never experienced his workouts, beside the video above you can see a few weeks' worth of his show at his web site. I think this week I'll take a trip down memory lane and do a few in his memory. That's what Jack would have wanted.