From: tlode@nyx.cs.du.edu (trygve lode)
Subject: Re: Any Available Jewish Men Out There??
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix @ U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 04:57:10 GMT

 
in <ewright.726873545@convex.convex.com>
    ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:
 
] 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,
 
Well, if there isn't, there should be.  (Just imagining the sorts of
plaques and trophies the members might have on their living-room walls
could bring a tear to your eye--or something like that.)
 
] 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.
 
Yep, 'tis indeed.  This, of course, in no way suggests that you can't
improve your odds for finding people with common interests by spending
time with people who have interests in common with yours.
 
] >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.
 
Gosh; I'll admit I'm on crutches now, but my accident didn't involve
weightlifting at all.  I didn't start weightlifting until I was fifteen
or so; before then, I used to manage to sprain an ankle about once every
other week, but soon after I started weightlifting that stopped
completely and I haven't sprained an ankle since.  (Indeed, my
weightlifting probably made my current injury much less troublesome than
it could have been, since both bones in the lower leg broke rather than
tear loose the ligaments--and I'd much rather have a broken bone than a
bunch of torn ligaments.)  When I was eleven, I was in an accident that
crushed my right arm--there's still a distinctly visible dent in my
right forearm to remind me of the experience.  Until I started
weightlifting, any sort of torsional forces applied to that arm were
quite painful--but after a few months or so of weightlifting, that
problem went away and never returned.
 
In the short term, regular exercise does make me feel better; you may
disagree, but I've spent more time exercising this body than you have.
 
] At the very least, he is complaining about
] how sore he is from his last workout.
 
Funny, for some reason, I practically never seem to have this problem.
Perhaps this is something more common among irregular or weekend
athletes.
 
] If this is "feeling better,"
] well, all I can see is that you have a different definition of
] "feeling better" than I do.
 
Probably.  Especially when it comes to all the things you can do with
some strawberry topping and a few small paintbrushes.
 
] (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.)
 
Or at least they aren't talking about it much anymore, being dead.
(Er, excuse me, decompositionally enabled.)
 
] >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.
 
Good for you.  I almost never get stuck myself, but I find that I end up
helping other people who are stuck fairly often.
 
]  I rent an apartment, so I'm not responsible for repairs.
 
Fair enough; not, of course, that the times that strength is useful are
in any way limited to the ones I mentioned--I just mentioned the first
few that came to mind (well, the first few that could be mentioned in a
family-oriented newsgroup like this one).
 
] 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.
 
Actually, I've got a few soldering irons that aren't real light, but
those are designed more for stained glass use.  On the other hand, I do
have stacks of fairly heavy equipment with lots of interconnecting
cables and being able to lift the stack to get at the lowest unit comes
in awfully handy--which is more difficult than it sounds, because the
angle is often awkward.
 
]  Just because you never set foot inside
] a gym doesn't mean you can't lift a toothbrush or a soldering iron
 
True, true, but that's an interesting example, since there are certain
aspects of muscular control that come in quite handy when brushing teeth
that also have other uses.  (This has led to such interesting events as
the time someone accused me of being "the human vibrator.")
 
] or (Charlie Martin to the contrary) walk more than twelve yards
] without being winded.
 
I don't know about that--I think we should each try lifting Charlie
Martin and carrying him twelve yards to the contra dance and see who
gets 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.
 
Gosh; I'll keep that in mind if I ever go to a party where that happens.
I think you may be operating under the completely unwarranted assumption
that I'm extraordinarilly more organized in how I handle parties than in
any other aspect of my life--hard to believe as this might be, I usually
don't make an explicit ordered list of whom I wish to speak to and speak
only to those people and only in that order.  (In fact, given my current
condition, the last party I went to, I mostly just talked to whomever
came over and sat in my lap--and, hard to believe as this might be, I
didn't administer a test of physical fitness to each prospective
lap-sitter before allowing her to proceed.)
 
] >--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.
 
Ah, I assure you that there are plenty of ways to get my undivided
attention no matter how many other people happen to be around.  (Since I
have a particular fondness for aggressive women, this actually works out
quite nicely.)
 
] >Have you ever seen "Real Genius"?
]
] Um, was that the one about the teenage boys who created the "perfect
] woman" on their home computer?
 
Nope, you're thinking of "Weird Science" which is a different and muchly
inferior film.  In fact, the main love interest in "Real Genius" is
something of the nerdette type--and one whom I thought was very
appealing--rent it sometime, you'd probably like it.
 
Trygve
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