So I broke up with my old gym. We'd been happy together for two years or more but things had gotten stale. Boring. Expensive. It wasn't any one thing but sometimes you grow apart, you know? It's not you, it's me. These things happen. Maybe we should take a break.I decided to have a look around, see if there was an option that fit my life a bit better. As it happens, there was. The Community Center.
The Community Center has a pool. My old gym did, too, but this pool is a zero-depth-entry, chock-full-of-slides-and-toys, warmer-than-bathwater type pool. Much better for my skinny children whose lips turn blue when they so much as stroll past the beach.The Community Center also has an indoor playground, access to which comes free with membership. A nice bennie when you live in The Land That Summer Forgot. Snow'll be flying up here pretty soon--an indoor playground will be nice to have.
The Community Center is also next door to the library (this family's idea of nirvana), has a preschool (which my youngest attends), and costs less than half what my old gym did.
Sold.
However, the CC (as it will henceforth be known because I am a lazy typist) lacks one thing. TVs on the cardio equipment. Our old gym had TVs on all the treadmills & elliptical machines. You just plugged in your headphones, picked a station & off you went for your sweaty twenty minutes or whatever.At the CC, there's a bank of TVs hung on the wall & you have to tune your personal radio (who the heck has a RADIO anymore??) to the FM band indicated on the wall under each TV. That's the only way you can listen to the audio. Otherwise, you have to read the closed captioning they've conveniently turned on.
Now this isn't a problem for me. I'm happy to read the screen. My husband feels this is a crime against fitness but that's a different blog. No, what I want to talk about today is the joy of being forced out of my usual TV watching rut.
See, running isn't fun. When I run indoors, I need to be diverted. I need to be absorbed or I spend too much time thinking about how very unpleasant running is & wondering if it's over yet. (It's not.)
So I need some gripping TV, & I'm not interested in taking a chance on an unknown quantity. I like shows I *know* I like: reality shows where talented people work under time & material pressure--Top Chef or Project Runway. I like a good soapy drama--Dawson's Creek is a big favorite. Or something clever and quick--That 70's Show still kills me. (I have a friend Kitty Foreman only wishes she were.) The West Wing is a good one, too.But at the CC now I have a whole smorgasbord of shows on at once & none of them are what I usually watch. It's talk shows (Ellen Degeneres), trashy talk shows (Maury Povich, I think), and soap operas.
I went with the soap. Now I haven't followed a soap opera since I used to watch the Bold & the Beautiful in college and I have to say, it's nice to see they're still burying people alive. (And putting them in comas and having secret babies, all of which happened in the time it took me to log four miles.)My favorite was the buried alive story line. They'd sealed this woman (an exquisitely groomed sixty-something) into a crypt with a cell phone & a security camera. This allowed her to both see and rail against the idiotic young things who wandered by for some crypt-side musing, and have vitriolic chats with the villain who'd buried her.
Watching a grande dame shriek, "I'M IN THE CRYPT, YOU STUPID COW!" at a clueless mourner remarking on the unlikeliness of her sudden death was awesome, too. We don't get enough scenery chewing from Women Of A Certain Age. I'm all for more of that. I wish they'd bring back the turban as a hairstyle, too, now that I'm thinking of it. Liz Taylor rocked the turban. More turbans!I think I'm going to like my new gym.
So how about you? Do you follow any soaps--now or ever? What's your favorite storyline? Secret babies? Long lost lovers? Premature burial? Back-from-the-dead lovers? Evil twins? Do you watch TV while you work out? What do you watch? And if they brought turbans back, would you wear one?
67 comments:
I remember watching All My Children with my mum when I was a kid but nowadays, our place is a soap-free zone.
What is this "workout" you speak of? Heh heh!
Does wrapping ones towel around wet hair count as a turban? Aside from that, I don't think I could pull off a turban. :)
I used to watch Guiding light and as the world turns with my momma now since both shows r offthe air or almost off the air seems to me my fav plot ha dto be the dead husband comingback s someone else or the clone riva in guiding light was pretty interesting the son neve rknew she had also pretty interesting i think soaps r that way because theyhave to be more screwed up then ur own life and sure id wear a turban why not be um different
Hey, Pissenlit, it's a while since you've had the rooster, isn't it? Congratulations!
Susan, love the sound of the community centre! Especially the bit about being near the library.
Actually I can't stand soap operas. I can't stand that nothing ever comes to an end. I'm into resolution, you know. A story starts and it ends - so if the couple are in love and get married, they stay that way! Laughed at the crypt plot, though!
I used to watch Dark Shadows a long time ago. A soap opera with vampires - shame it didn't last. I never could get hooked into the contemporary ones with all the beautifully made up people.
I'm more of an aerobics or zumba person than a treadmill person - so TV is out for the period of the class. Elizabeth Taylor sure did rock that turban, but then I think she'd look good in just about anything. Me - not so much.
LOL! I don't really watch soaps now, although I did get sucked into watching with my college roommate one summer... Sad to say, I can't even remember which soap it was!
And LOL with Pissenlit! Yes, my only turban experience is the towel-wrapped wet hair thing... ;)
Enjoy the GR, Pissenlit! Do you think he'll model a turban for you?
I used to watch "Another World," "All My Children," and "General Hospital." I love the storylines that involve a favorite character coming back from the dead. I loved it when Greenlee from AMC came back. She was one of my favorite soap characters.
We have a gym area in the community center (sponsored by the privatized housing on base). I generally use the gym when TMZ is broadcast. It is total trash (guilty pleasure) but enjoyable as I sweat off the Tim Tams (another guilty pleasure) on the exercise bike.
I also read manuscripts for chapter contests on the exercise bike. Both TMZ and the manscripts make the time go by faster.
Hilarious!!! As usual, Susan, you can make me snort the beverage of my choice through my nose any time I read you.
B&B was the only soap I've ever watched with regularity in high school. The funniest thing is so many of the cast are still there and they look no older than they did when I last saw it. Plastic surgery really does work miracles! Or maybe they've been buried alive too and it's the mummification process that's at work, I don't know.
I'm not much of a TV watcher but when I was nursing my first baby, he was really fussy and I couldn't do anything but watch television while I fed him, so I found (among the Maury Povich, etc) Buffy re-runs, which I missed the first time. I finally understood what everyone was talking about!
Yay, Pissenlit! Nice to see you here. Congrats on the rooster snatch!
Hi Susan!
I was thinking about turbaned women the other day and trying to remember if Rosalind Russell wore a turban in "Mame". I think you need to be tall and thin to carry it off. If you're short like me, you'd look like Jabba the Hut.
I remember Dark Shadows as a kid, but I don't watch soaps. There's something about the lighting in soap operas that make me crazy. I can't watch them because of that.
congrats on the GR, Pissenlit!
Congrats on grabbing the GR Pissenlit.
Susan - your community center sounds inviting. Nice to have all that so close. I feel the same way on the treadmill - trying to do anything that will take my mind off the mileage counter. I never watched soaps growing up, but i've caught a show here and there in the nail shop. I think the never ending story line would make me crazy, but the woman in the crypt is funny.
Well done Pissenlit have fun with him
Susan
Great post I used to watch Days Of Our Lives when I first left work to have my first child way back in 1980 and they bought back so many people from the dead and secret babies it used to make me laugh as for now I don't watch TV really at all and I don't work out LOL. If I am not at work or running around with the grandkids I am sitting and reading a great book. As for the turban I think they look great on some people but I don't think they would look good on me.
Enjoy the new gym
Have Fun
Helen
Pissenlit wrote: Does wrapping ones towel around wet hair count as a turban?
Not unless you wear it to the grocery store. (On purpose.) :-)
Congrats on the GR! Maybe if you explain the turban thing to him, he'll make a fashion statement today.
SiNn wrote: my fav plot ha dto be the dead husband comingback
Oh, yes, I love the back-from-the-dead plots. Life gets so complicated when books you've closed re-open themselves. I have to hatch a storyline for book three in a trilogy proposal--maybe I'll use that. I do like it when unexpected people--especially the troublesome sorts--reappear out of the blue...
Anna Campbell wrote: Actually I can't stand soap operas. I can't stand that nothing ever comes to an end.
That *is* a problem, isn't it? They've mastered the cliff-hanger but not the HEA. I don't care for the fluidity of true love on soaps myself. I like the one-and-only concept when it comes to choosing a mate. I have little sympathy for a heroine who's been married eighteen times, even if fifteen of them are to the same guy, you know?
Donna wrote: I'm more of an aerobics or zumba person than a treadmill person - so TV is out for the period of the class. Elizabeth Taylor sure did rock that turban, but then I think she'd look good in just about anything. Me - not so much.
Oh, now don't sell yourself short, Donna! I think you'd look awesome in a turban. I'm thinking of trying it out today myself. I think I'd enjoy feeling so...imperious. That & I'd be TALLER! Come on, ladies, let's bring back the turban!
Oh, & I've been dying to try Zumba--is it fun?
flchen1 wrote: I don't really watch soaps now, although I did get sucked into watching with my college roommate one summer... Sad to say, I can't even remember which soap it was!
I remember the one I watched in college (briefly, as I think my schedule only allowed it for a semester or two) was the Bold & the Beautiful, & it was refreshing because the family headlining it ran a fashion design company. so they weren't captains of industry (rich & powerful of course but not related to dirty things like oil and manufacturing) & it gave them a reason to be so pretty all the time.
I liked it. But Anna C is right--the lack of closure is frustrating.
My sister used to be a General Hospital freak, back when Luke & Laura were all the crack. (Now that's taking me back...I had to have been in jr. high...)
Jane wrote: I love the storylines that involve a favorite character coming back from the dead.
Ooooh, me, too! I love that whole rejiggering of reality that happens in those first bizarre moments of, "but wait, you're *dead*. And I'm *remarried*." Yum. :-)
Kim in Hawaii wrote: I generally use the gym when TMZ is broadcast. It is total trash (guilty pleasure) but enjoyable as I sweat off the Tim Tams (another guilty pleasure) on the exercise bike.
You're my kind of girl, Kim. First with the Tim Tams, then with only exercising because you ate them. I have a terrible ice cream habit & I only keep up my jogging habit because they balance so nicely.
Plus I love TMZ. I'm a Perez Hilton junkie, too, while we making true confessions. I love my celebrity gossip.
Christine wrote: 'm not much of a TV watcher but when I was nursing my first baby, he was really fussy and I couldn't do anything but watch television while I fed him, so I found (among the Maury Povich, etc) Buffy re-runs, which I missed the first time. I finally understood what everyone was talking about!
Oh, that's exactly how I got hooked on Dawson's Creek! My mother in law got deathly ill when my eldest was 3 months old--I spent hours and hours and hours nursing her in front of my in-laws big screen TV while my husband & father in law sat in the hospital with my MIL.
She's absolutely fine, btw, my MIL. Pulled through with flying colors but I ended up with a long-standing crush on Pacey. (Joshua Jackson, who is now on Fringe and dating Diane Krueger and still quite adorable.)
Pink Peony wrote: I remember Dark Shadows as a kid, but I don't watch soaps. There's something about the lighting in soap operas that make me crazy. I can't watch them because of that.
You don't like the dramatic lighting? What about the extreme closeups? :-)
I sometimes have what I refer to as Soap Opera Moments. It's when I gaze at the object of my affection (or desire) with narrowed eyes and burning lust & declare, "You will be mine. Oh yes, you *will* be mine." It doesn't actually work but I enjoy the declaration. Sometimes I throw in a bwahahahaha just for effect.
But you're right--a steady diet of that lighting (while dramatic) would get annoying.
Diana Love wrote: I never watched soaps growing up, but i've caught a show here and there in the nail shop. I think the never ending story line would make me crazy, but the woman in the crypt is funny.
The lack-of-wrap-up is annoying. But I adore the over-the-top enthusiasm for drama. That writers' room must be a hoot. I wonder why I never considered writing for a soap. I'll bet that's fun.
And complicated! Imagine keeping track of 50 years worth of tangled story lines! I get sweaty thinking about writing a trilogy. I can't imagine tackling a soap.
Helen wrote: I used to watch Days Of Our Lives when I first left work to have my first child way back in 1980 and they bought back so many people from the dead and secret babies it used to make me laugh
I know! It's a classic soap story line! I wonder why we don't see it in romance more, because so many of the others are well-used in our genre--the secret baby, rediscovering first love, bad girl/boy come back to town, etc.
I think maybe it's the infidelity thing. We don't like to see the woman or man who's clearly meant for person X married to/in love with/ living life with person Y. It's tough to recover from that in a novel, I think.
I used to watch the Young and the Restless and Guiding Light in high school and college. Working full-time pretty much stopped my soap habits. Even when I was home with my then 3 yr old, I didn't turn them on. He wasn't a napper and I certainly didn't want them on with him around.
I always thought the return from the dead scenario was one of the funniest. There was always some bizarre reason for their death and return.
Now, on to the turban...no way! I just can't see myself in one.
The only time I watched a soap was when it showed up on the TV after "Galloping Gourmet" or some other show I liked to watch while nursing our son. He wasn't finished, and I couldn't get up to switch channels (tells you how old I am, right?) Same thing happened about 3 weeks later, and the character who had begun to pass out in the first sighted was still only halfway to the couch. Never could get into them, although my grandmother lived for them
Terry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
Christie Kelley wrote: Working full-time pretty much stopped my soap habits. Even when I was home with my then 3 yr old, I didn't turn them on. He wasn't a napper and I certainly didn't want them on with him around.
The kids are a problem, I know. I'm debating how to handle all the romance novels in my house now that my oldest is 7 & a very precocious reader. Plus, some of the covers are definitely PG-13.
Terry Odell wrote: Same thing happened about 3 weeks later, and the character who had begun to pass out in the first sighted was still only halfway to the couch.
LOL, Terry! That's it exactly! The pacing is just a killer on those things! On the other hand, if you miss an episode, it's no big deal. You'll pick it riiiiiight back up. :-)
I watched As The World Turns faithfully the summer before my junior year of high school. They had a teen romance plot that hooked me. But then they killed off the hero, and I swore off soaps. My addiction to HEAs was much more powerful than my fondness for the soap.
My mother loved soaps though, so I would see bits of various ones through the years. I thought the King Kong story line on Ryan's Hope was a hoot.
Hilarious, post, Susan! I'm wiping the Pepsi off my monitor even as I type (a nice little trick, huh?).
Congrats, Pissenlit, perhaps the rooster will inform you about "workouts." On second thought, he's a lazy bird. I doubt he even knows the word.
I thought the post was going to be about workouts, and since I don't watch soaps -- the only vice I've avoided in life LOL -- I'll mention workouts.
Don't hate me, but I do like my workout. Well, actually, I'm pretty passive-aggressive about it. I HATE it, but I LOVE the feeling I get after about 10 minutes on the treadmill, so I keep doing it, addicted to that high.
I've shared this before, but it bears repeating. I watch my favorite shows ONLY while I'm exercising. This is the only discipline I have in my life, so it's not much of a burden. The trick is getting my four TV's synchronized so that I can get all the shows taped (I haven't sprung for that DVD recorder yet).
Lest you think I'm self righeous and too disciplined, I often eat ice cream on the treadmill. It may negate the benefits of weight loss, but it's a double high.
I've been doing something new and interesting workout-wise. I do a mini workout every time I go to the bathroom at work.
I do about 20-30 good form pushups, and about 20 oblique situps.
I drink a lot of coffee. A lot. So, I get to do a lot of these mini-workouts during the day. And this is in addition to whatever workout I do at home in the evenings.
I don't care if my cow-orkers look at me funny for doing situps or pushups in front of my desk.
Janga wrote: I thought the King Kong story line on Ryan's Hope was a hoot.
Holy crap, there was a KING KONG story line on a soap opera?? How the heck did I miss THAT? When was this fabulousness? And did anybody wear a turban?
Jo wrote: I watch my favorite shows ONLY while I'm exercising. This is the only discipline I have in my life, so it's not much of a burden.
I do this, too, Jo! I'll watch movies with my husband on a Friday or Saturday night but when it comes to actual TV, I only watch when I'm on the treadmill. My kids see that TV is linked with activity, my system is sort of Pavlovian about it at this point, & it works.
Jo wrote: Lest you think I'm self righeous and too disciplined, I often eat ice cream on the treadmill. It may negate the benefits of weight loss, but it's a double high.
Jo, I adore you. I want to BE you. I've never eaten ice cream on the treadmill, though I only have a treadmill because of my ice cream habit. It had never occurred to me to do both at once. Now I aspire to it. I already read books in the shower--now I want to eat ice cream on the tread mill.
I will do all this, and I will wear a turban too! See if I don't!
P226 wrote: I don't care if my cow-orkers look at me funny for doing situps or pushups in front of my desk.
This is a FANTASTIC idea! And since I'm a terrible Diet Coke addict, I spent a lot of quality time in the bathroom, too.
Although, I have to admit, upon first reading this, I thought perhaps you were doing pushups & situps IN THE ACTUAL BATHROOM. It took a few minutes for the genius of the idea to break through the EW in my head.
But I'm totally there now. And it's genius. I'm going to try that.
Only I can only do about ten good form push ups in a row. I'll have to aspire to 20. Enough Diet Coke though & I'll be doing 'em Charleton Heston style. (Wasn't he the guy who dropped to the stage to go a couple one armed push ups at the Oscars?
No, it was Jack Palance.
Okay, I'll be jack Palance.
A girl can dream.
If the GR wants to wear a turban today, he should do it soon 'cause later on, he's going to be tagging along to the last Jays home game of the season with me and a Toronto Blue Jays cap is the only approved headgear for the evening. :D
Hi Susan!
OMG. Coffee Spewing Moment about burying people alive.
I used to watch soaps when I was a kid. The whole Luke and Laura drama? Yeah. I was there for that IN THE VERY BEGINNING. Laura accusing Luke of raping her, the rape trial, her trying to hold onto that other guy (Bobby was it?) who wasn't half as sexy as Luke...and the subsequent revelation that it had been consensual and she'd lied...and THEN....before they could actually ever get anything done....she was kidnapped.....And THEN......
And so it went.
Luke had hair then.
I actually sat in a doctor's office or somewhere maybe 8 years after I'd stopped watching the show, and there was Laura, sneaking up to gaze in a window at Luke and some other people--apparently it took them 8 years to get her back. And every now and then I STILL see them on a magazine cover. Still having trouble, I reckon.
Then there was Bo and Hope. A whole nuther story, but strangely similar....
Those were the two couples I ached for. Alas, I don't think either of them ever got their Happily Ever After. :0(
I hate the gym. I hate the smell of the sweat and the sanitizer, I hate the noise and the flourescent-lighted, stale-air fake environment. Hate It. And I was once a hard-core bodybuilder (free weights only, thank you)I could tolerate it then, but I never liked it.
I also hate to run, and I hate treadmills even more. So hating the gym and hating running pretty much ensures that I will not be watching tv in a gym any time soon. I like tennis or hiking or some other fun where my mind must be engaged.
That said, I have done the search for the perfect gym, so I feel your pain and relate to the joy which you found in scoring a better place.
The only gym I would be interested in now is the one with four indoor tennis courts, but alas, we can't afford that one. :0(
No amount of tv will lure me onto a treadmill in a gym.
Blech.
Did I mention that I hate the gym?
I grew up on Soap Operas. Everyday it was Days of our Lives, Another World, and Guiding Light. But I haven't watched any of them in probably 20 years. There was that brief affair with General Hospital while on maternity leave, but it ended pretty quick once I went back to work.
The never-ending story lines along with the melodrama are too much for me. Though I loved the part during Friends when Joey was a soap actor. He had that "look" down pat. LOL!
I need to find a gym. There's a fitness room in my apartment complex, but I haven't used it in forever. And boy do I need to. Guess I'll hunt around the new house and see if there's anything reasonable I can join next summer.
No turbins unless I can rock bangs along with it. :)
Terry Odell said:
Same thing happened about 3 weeks later, and the character who had begun to pass out in the first sighted was still only halfway to the couch.
SNORK!!
Yes, yes. THIS is so classic soap opera material.
It would take a whole two shows for a couple to actually get across the room to kiss.
Pissenlit, congrats on the bird!
I think wrapping a wet towel around your hair counts as a turban. I count it when I do it.
Susan, before I can answer the question, I have to get over the whole logging four miles on the treadmill thing. Wow!
Deep breath.
Okay . . . I don't watch TV when I work out, which I've done only theoretically of late. It's hard to punch or kick a bag squarely if you aren't looking at it.
I've done treadmill at the gym a couple of times. It's either boring or, with a steep incline, incredibly, annoyingly laborious. At least annoyance burns some calories. Or so I like to think.
My gym is cheap, though. It's a martial arts school, and I pay for the classes. The downside is you go only when there's class, not just anytime it's convenient.
I did watch soaps for a period in my life. I remember Richard Hatch at Phillip Brent on All My Children, Kate Mulgrew as Mary Ryan on now-defunct Ryan's Hope, and the original Luke and Laura thing on General Hospital. Yeah, I know, that was back at the dawn of time.
When I had back surgery and had a month in bed, I resolutely refused to watch them because I knew what would happen. I would get sucked in and start caring about these nonexistent people. Sort of like Montag's wife in Fahrenheit 451.
And no, I do not wear the towel turban to the grocery store, nor will I ever. :-)
I'm a soaper from way back in the
day! I remember listening to radio
soaps with Mom as a child: Helen
Trent, Stella Dallas, and more of
that ilk. Then a drought as I had
to go to school for some years.
After marrying and birthing my 1st
child, it was back to the soaps
with my MIL: Guiding Light, As The
World Turns. I was "there" for day
1 of NBC's The Doctors/1963, Another World/1964, Days of Our Lives/1965, Somerset/1970, ABC's Ryan's Hope/1975 & Texas/1980. As you can see, I've outlasted many soaps. As an equal opportunity soap viewer, some years back I added on CBS's Young & Restless
and Bold & Beautiful!
Pat Cochran
I loved soaps growing up - All my Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital. Robert Scorpio anyone?!
I've watched UK soaps too - Coronation Street, East Enders and Emmerdale and in the early days, Brookside. But UK soaps are a tad more gritty than the US ones.
I like to watch TV series while working out on our home elliptical. My 4 mile workout is perfect for a US TV show like Leverage - I finish just as the credits roll. I tend to catch up on all the US shows that way.
At the gym, I'm too busy on the punchbag or doing boxing or aerobics type stuff to watch anything. Even when I'm doing free weights, I tend to listen to music.
Turbans? Uh no!
Good grief, Susan, don't aspire to be me. I'm the dimmest light in the chandelier most of the time. But reading in the shower???? However do you manage that???
Eating on the treadmill is a piece of cake LOL.
Cassondra wrote: I hate the gym. I hate the smell of the sweat and the sanitizer, I hate the noise and the flourescent-lighted, stale-air fake environment. Hate It. And I was once a hard-core bodybuilder (free weights only, thank you)I could tolerate it then, but I never liked it.
OMG, how did I not know you used to be a hard-core body builder?? Is there ANYTHING you haven't done? You astonish me every single time I talk to you.
I'll bet you can rock a turban, too. :-)
Pissenlit wrote: If the GR wants to wear a turban today, he should do it soon 'cause later on, he's going to be tagging along to the last Jays home game of the season with me and a Toronto Blue Jays cap is the only approved headgear for the evening. :D
Maybe it'll be part of his pre-game toilette this evening. Have fun!
TerriOsburn wrote: Though I loved the part during Friends when Joey was a soap actor. He had that "look" down pat. LOL!
Oh, man, I missed this! There are whole chunks of pop culture I missed because I was living TV-free in the woods during those years, & it was still relatively rare to have your own computer. We all shared a computer at work, if you can believe such a concept.
I can totally imagine Joey doing "the look" from a soap. You will be MINE! Oh yes, you WILL be mine!...
Nancy wrote: And no, I do not wear the towel turban to the grocery store, nor will I ever. :-)
I don't either. Not, ahem, on purpose anyway...
Kidding. I've never accidentally worn my towel turban out. I have found myself grocery shopping in my pjs, though.
Your work outs sound a whole lot more interesting than mine, Nancy. I'd love to have the focus for martial arts but I'm such a seagull. I have to mark out a time frame (on the treadmill) or a route (outside) so I can just point myself toward the goal & day dream until I get there.
I don't think that's how martial arts work. I'm in awe of people who are good at them.
Pat Cochran wrote: As an equal opportunity soap viewer, some years back I added on CBS's Young & Restless
and Bold & Beautiful!
Wow, Pat, you know your soaps! I was a B & B fan back in college, but I have no idea what I watched at the gym the other day. It hardly matters--I enjoyed it tremendously. I can totally see getting hooked.
Anna S wrote: I've watched UK soaps too - Coronation Street, East Enders and Emmerdale and in the early days, Brookside. But UK soaps are a tad more gritty than the US ones.
I've caught the UK soaps a time or two. I grew up near Detroit, so we often got Canadian TV which meant we got the British soaps. (Convoluted I know but there you have it.)
What I liked about the UK soaps is, yes, they're a tad grittier than our US ones but they also have actors who look like real people. A little rounder, shorter, goofier looking. Less hair, more normal clothes. I loved that about them. They felt more authentic while at the same time providing that soapy goodness.
Your work outs sounds a great deal more focused than mine. I'm starting to think I should start hitting things more when I exercise...
Jo wrote: I'm the dimmest light in the chandelier most of the time. But reading in the shower???? However do you manage that???
Jo! You are NOT dim bulb material! Goodness sakes! Anybody who combines TVs, treadmills & ice cream is veritable goddess walking among mortals! Own that stuff--put on your turban & work it, sister!
As for reading in the shower, well. I hold the book up really high & aim the water as low as it'll go. Then I tell the kiddoes mommy's in the shower & needs some privacy. It works for about twenty minutes. I've ruined many books. But that two square feet of space is all I can call my own some days. So I figure it's worth a book or two.
Don't tell any of our book nazis, though, 'kay? I might get kicked out of the lair.
I am so not a soap opera fan--at least of the daytime variety. In fact, if I'm home during the day, I spend a lot of time grumbling at the tv, going, WHAT IS THIS CRAP? I cannot get into it.
But you get me the right Lifetime movie or an episode of Grey's Anatomy and I'm glued to the screen like adhered with gorilla glue.
When I'm at the gym--and they have the TV variety--I try to watch as much That 70s Show as I can find. I've noticed they've been showing Dukes of Hazzard, which I could also do. However, my gym has a theater room and they usually play a newer movie in a darkened room and you can work out on the elliptical. (I cannot run. Screw it, the bear is eating me.) So if I stay 30 minutes, I can get 2 miles in; if I stay 45, I can get the 3rd mile in. I haven't been going enough lately to stay for an hour and get 4 miles. Nice try though.
No to the turban. And hats in general. My co-worker told me I should never become Amish for real because the bonnet look was not attractive on me--nor did she encourage converting to a religion that required scarves worn over my head for the same reason. I have to agree. Not my most flattering look.
Just as an aside, I did tour the NBC studios in Burbank once, and that meant we got to see the Days of Our Lives set, which was cool. And we saw a couple of the actors floating around, who were a lot shorter in person than they look on TV.
Our guide was talking about how careful they had to be not to state where the city of Salem was actually located. Because something about Salem is supposed to be close where YOU lived or something. And once, the writers forgot that and made some sort of slipup of this nature. A faithful viewer wrote them a distraught letter about the mistake--and the guide made the viewer out to be so flipped out, they had to reassure her it was fine and they'd fix it, et al.
Anyway, it just goes to show, no matter what industry you're in, there is always going to be some "client" who wigs out about some minor detail, usually about something that they forgot isn't real to begin with. Historical romance writers worry a lot about getting those letters--but even soap operas (who I couldn't believe anyone would take those seriously!) has those types of complainers.
I started watching soaps when I was nursing my two kids. I stopped watching at somepoint after the first and started again with my second (3 yrs. between them) and I swear I could still understand the story lines. Young and the Restless was one of them and I think I watched 3. The funny thing was a lot of the same people had moved around and were in different ones lol.
Susan, I'm a soap fan from way back *g* Used to watch Search For Tomorrow (Jennifer Aniston's dad starred in it) with my mom when I was little then Guilding Light as a teen. When my kids were younger (before I started writing) I'd watch As The World Turns.
Now, however, I don't watch any, but I have to say soap writers know what they're doing when it comes to hooking viewers and writing conflicts :-)
My favorite storylines were always the love triangles and star-crossed lovers. Hmm...wonder why? *g*
Mshellion wrote, in reference to running as exercise: (I cannot run. Screw it, the bear is eating me.)
This made me laugh out loud. My mother used to make us jog with her when I was a kid because we lived in the country & there were a lot of leash-free dogs in the area. I once said, "Mom, do you seriously expect me (about 5 ft tall & 80 lbs at the time) to protect you from a dog that wants to eat us?"
She said, "No, dear. One of us will still get eaten. But you improve my chances of survival to 50/50."
I think she meant it sincerely.
Mshellion wrote: Our guide was talking about how careful they had to be not to state where the city of Salem was actually located. Because something about Salem is supposed to be close where YOU lived or something. And once, the writers forgot that and made some sort of slipup of this nature. A faithful viewer wrote them a distraught letter about the mistake--and the guide made the viewer out to be so flipped out, they had to reassure her it was fine and they'd fix it, et al.
On one hand this astonishes me, but on the other, I'm like, "Yup. Of course." That's the whole idea of romance novels, soap operas, any kind of emotional story. You want to get not just swept away for an hour, you want to get your heart involved.
This particular woman may have taken it a bit far, however. Though I do hope they fixed it for her, whatever it was. Fans like that are born, not made.
Catslady wrote: The funny thing was a lot of the same people had moved around and were in different ones lol.
Oh, that's so disorienting, isn't it? Just as bad is when they bring back a character but have a different actor playing him/her! I'm always like, "Yeah, that's a second-rate knock off Kent (or whoever.)" Because I'm both loyal & unforgiving. Back-from-the-dead plotlines confuse my heart. I can't tell whether to root for the good guy who consoled the window so tenderly, or the guy who died & broke her heart.
It's a tough call.
Beth said: My favorite storylines were always the love triangles and star-crossed lovers. Hmm...wonder why? *g*
I know, right? I stand firm that romance novelists & soap opera writers have a lot in common, we just have different goals.
We have to keep the pacing snappy & deliver resolution. They have to keep the pacing glacial & deliver continued conflict.
In all other respects, though--hooking the viewers emotionally, getting buyin/investment, developing fan loyalty? It's all the very same deal. Different medium, that's all.
I never watched any soaps except maybe some of the prime time ones, once upon a time. My mother worked so she never watched and I didn't get home early enough to watch either (plus, there was that pesky "no TV until you've finished your homework" rule which we kids obeyed even though there weren't grownups around).
As for my workouts, I go for brisk walks, so no TV for sure and I don't listen to anything either (safer that way).
No turban for me, thank you, even if I get to be that age. :)
Hey, I've read in the shower, too, while the water is heating up or when I'm conditioning my hair (I turn the water off). That way, the water doesn't spray on the book.
Although I don't want to wear a turban, I look good in most hats (unfortunately, I have a big head so the hat must be sized large).
Hey Susan!
Sorry to be late to the party...errands and repairmen running today.
I've solved the problem of watching TV at the gym...by canceling my membership :) I know, I know...maybe I'll rejoin during the annual January stampede. For now, it's nice walks in the neighborhood.
As to soaps, I grew up on Days of Our Lives...love me some Bo Brady. I remember too, as a teenager being completely distraught when the Salem Strangler offed Marlena...who wasn't Marlena at all but her twin sister! (Who had probably been held captive by Stefano on a desert island with Julie and Doug)
Anyway, when I was off an extended time after spine surgery I was thrilled! I could watch Days EVERY day! It soon became apparent that you could watch it on Monday and Friday and NEVER miss a thing in between.
Sherree wrote: As for my workouts, I go for brisk walks, so no TV for sure and I don't listen to anything either (safer that way).
When I run outside, I don't listen to anything, either. On the treadmill, I feel safe enough being distracted but outdoors? When I might get smashed by a truck any minute? I totally pay attention. :-)
Sheree said: Hey, I've read in the shower, too, while the water is heating up or when I'm conditioning my hair (I turn the water off). That way, the water doesn't spray on the book.
Sounds like you're better at it than I am. :-) I'll have to look into your method.
Joan wrote: As to soaps, I grew up on Days of Our Lives...love me some Bo Brady. I remember too, as a teenager being completely distraught when the Salem Strangler offed Marlena...who wasn't Marlena at all but her twin sister! (Who had probably been held captive by Stefano on a desert island with Julie and Doug)
I love that you can still pull these names out of your hat, Joanie! I think this might be the one I saw--I think it was Vivian somebody who'd been interred by...Bad Bo? Bad Brady? What the heck do I know. It was engrossing. :-)
Your long walks sound lovely!
OMG, Susan, my arms would last all of two seconds and my bifocals would fog over. But I know what you mean. Sometimes vomiting is the only real respite a young mom gets -- no one wants to be around that!
Jo wrote: Sometimes vomiting is the only real respite a young mom gets -- no one wants to be around that!
So true, Jo. So sad and true. :-)
Hey, Sheree, did you see you won Miranda Neville's prize this week? Congratulations!
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