From: ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright)
Newsgroups: soc.singles
Subject: Re: Any Available Jewish Men Out There??
Date: 12 Jan 93 21:19:05 GMT
Organization: Engineering, CONVEX Computer Corp., Richardson, Tx., USA
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

In <1993Jan11.234313.27468@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> tlode@nyx.cs.du.edu (trygve lode) writes:

>Not particularly; nobody suggested that everyone shares all their
>interests with all their friends.  However, if you'd gone to a meeting
>of a group with a name like "Roadkill Collectors of Texas" the odds are
>that you might have met several people who shared that interest.  

I wasn't aware there was a Roadkill Collectors of Texas, but
you've still missed the point.  It is possible to have an active
interest in a hobby without knowing anyone else who shares that
hobby.


>Perhaps it is a shortcoming of mine that I feel better and
>sleep better when I exercise regularly, but that's something I've
>learned to live with

I don't believe it's a shortcoming; I believe it's a delusion.
When someone tells me, "exercise makes me feel better," it's 
almost always someone with his arm in a sling or hobbling about 
on crutches because of stress fractures or twisted ankles or damaged 
knees from working out.  At the very least, he is complaining about
how sore he is from his last workout.  If this is "feeling better,"
well, all I can see is that you have a different definition of
"feeling better" than I do.

(Of course, the fitness movement seems to delight in Newspeak.
Running marathons in 90-degree weather, lifting 500-pound weights,
bicycling 100 miles in a single day, etc. are now called "relaxation,"
while sitting in a comfortable, air-conditioned office, reading a
textbook is called "hard work" -- a definition that no one who split
fence posts or ploughed fields in the 19th Century would agree with.)
 


>Further, I find that physical strength is a useful and valuable thing to
>have-- Of course you may never do any of these things, so none of this 
>may apply to you, 

I drive a 4WD, so I don't think I'm in danger of getting stuck
in snow.  Especially in Dallas.  I rent an apartment, so I'm not
responsible for repairs.  And I stopped trying to repair electronic 
equipment when I accidentally set my desk on fire.  Although, I don't
recall a soldering iron being especially heavy.  Dangerous, perhaps,
in my hands, but not heavy.  Just because you never set foot inside
a gym doesn't mean you can't lift a toothbrush or a soldering iron
or (Charlie Martin to the contrary) walk more than twelve yards
without being winded.



>Well, I can't help what some other people might do at a cocktail party,
>but, hard to believe as this is, I'm interested in qualities besides
>just athletic tendencies

Yes but, in a room of 50 people, it's pretty hard to pick out the 
one person with a PhD in physics. It's much easier to figure out
that the guy with biceps the size of a house is probably a weightlifter, 
the woman in the Boston-Marathon T-shirt is probably a runner, and 
the one in the New York Yankees baseball cap is probably into baseball.
And since you believe there's a positive correlation between exercise 
and physics, you'd probably start with those people, whether you wanted 
to talk physics or sports.  If the party was large enough, you'd probably
never get to the nerds, who you believe are less likely to be interesting.
Afterwards, you'd recall that everyone you spoke about physics was also
into athletics, confirming what you "knew all along."  Self-fulfilling
prophecy.


>--and, for that matter, I don't go to parties exclusively 

That hardly helps our hypothetical nerdette, who met you at
a party but can't get your attention because you're too
busy talking to people who think look like they're more likely 
to interested in physics. 


>] And the fitness movement, whose motto is "exercise is for everybody,"
>] reinforces this prejudice.  When was the last time you saw a postitive
>] image of a "nerd" in the movies, television, or other media?
 
>Hey, I'm still looking for positive images of strong, independent women
>who aren't "punished" or "reformed" by the end of the movie.   

What about Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2?  (Or, if you meant "mentally
strong," Belle in Beauty and the Beast.


>Have you ever seen "Real Genius"?

Um, was that the one about the teenage boys who created the "perfect
woman" on their home computer?
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