The Vine: February 27, 2007
Hiya! Some of the Firm folks have started a new DVD set (my sis is one of them). They can be found at http://www.tracielongtraining.com/. Hope this helps!
JC
Dear JC,
Excellent — and Tracie Long is actually my favorite instructor from that series, very soothing and doesn’t act like it’s easy. Other suggestions appear below; if I got it more than once, it’s asterisked.
The Biggest Loser workouts
Bryan Kest Power Yoga
Carmen Electra Aerobic Striptease *
Cathe Friedrich *
Christi Taylor *
Claudia Schiffer
Core Rhythms
Core Secrets
Crunch Fitness series *
Dance Dance Revolution
Denise Austin
Dynaband, with accompanying DVD
The 8-Minute series *
The Firm *
Gaiam *
Gilad Ultimate Body Sculpt series
Jack LaLanne
jarilove.com
Jillian Michaels
Karen Voight *
Lotte Berk Method
New York City Ballet Workout *
Pilates For Dummies
Shape Magazine series
shop.mtv.com
sparkpeople.com
stumptuous.com
10-Minute Solutions *
T-Tapp System *
Turbo Jam by BeachBody *
Walk Away the Pounds *
Winsor Pilates *
www.collagevideo.com — search by difficulty level *
Go to the library (or join Netflix) and sample a bunch of different programs *
Buy the DVDs/equipment you like used on Amazon or eBay *
belly-dancing DVDs
Dear Sars,
How skeezy is it to ask someone out when they’re working, and you’re their customer?
I’ve developed a crush big enough to destroy Tokyo on a guy who works in the comic shop, and I’d love to ask him for a beer, but I worry that hitting on someone who is…you know…paid to serve you might be basically inappropriate. We chat a lot when I pick up my comics, and we’re in email contact too — he drops me a line when he comes across a new title he thinks I’d like — so I could ask him in an email, to cut down on awkwardness. But I can’t work out whether hitting on someone to whom you regularly hand over money is just an irredeemable faux pas.
Thanks for your help,
Kitty I-Have-No-Pryde
Dear Kit,
In some serviceperson/customer relationships, no, it isn’t appropriate. I wouldn’t ask out my doctor or lawyer, probably. But he works in a comic shop; it’s not a legally protected kind of relationship, he doesn’t have access to private information about you…don’t overthink it.
If he says no, and you think it would be too awkward to continue going back to a store that’s really useful to you, maybe you shouldn’t do it, but it isn’t “inappropriate.”
Hi Sars,
I loved your article on the iChing as I am also hopelessly
superstitious (for example, I KNEW we were going to win the championship
when I heard a bird sing something like [if you “slurred” your ears] “Go
Otago!” the week before the finals, and although we were down on paper I
knew the birdsong would pull us through, and it did).
I’ve got a bit of a problem right now — whether to stay in the country
I’ve been living in happily for the past seven years, or to move back to
New Zealand. Of course there’s a lot of talking and thinking and
planning to be done (can we get decent jobs; can we get a similar type
of house in a similar area; what about his family; will the cat hate
travelling) but I thought I’d jump the gun and go the iChing route today.
And it was freaky: I have 1200 songs on my iPod; 60 of them are New
Zealand songs. For today’s test, the first five songs that came up were
from New Zealand! And the fifth song was a song by the Netherworld
Dancing Toys, “New Zealand Love Song.” I’m sorry, but how auspicious is
that?! Also slightly suspect, I feel. Perhaps my iPod is biased.
So if you could run that question through your non-Antipodean iPod I’d
be extremely grateful.
Love your work,
Kiwis can’t fly (so we pay more for business class)
Dear Kiwi,
My iPod is an iYorker through and through; it might not read your mind the same way it does mine (read: often uncanny, occasionally nonsensical), I think we may safely rely on its objectivity.
1. “Here We Go Again,” Ray Charles. Would seem to be in favor of a return to NZ. “Here we go again / she’s back in town again / I’ll take her back again / one more time.” Maybe talking about you, maybe talking about your hometown, who knows. This is a great song, by the way, off Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, really hot organ track. (hee, “organ”)
2. “Theme for Young Lovers,” Percy Faith. The track is off the Ocean’s 11 soundtrack, so there’s dialogue over the music break of Bernie Mac negotiating with “Billy Tim Denim, like the jean” for the vans. Not sure what it means in context — that you should pack up a van and make the move? That whatever you decide, your relationship won’t suffer? Your call.
3. “Never Do That Again,” Ivy. “It gets so complicated, till I can’t pretend / I thought I could / do something good / but I’ll never do that again.” Pretty clear “nay” vote there. Nice song, though, reminiscent of early Everything But The Girl.
4. “Pavlov’s Bell,” Aimee Mann. You know, I’ve never known if I’m reading this song correctly; it sounds, to me, like a story about a road trip during which a detox is taking place. Which would seem to constitute a “nay” also.
5. “The Road’s My Middle Name,” Bonnie Raitt. …Well, that would seem to be that. Heh.
Sometimes a five-pack just confuses matters; let’s try a one-shot and see what that tells us…
“Goodbye To You,” Michelle Branch. In addition to shaming me with its ersatz-Lavigne chickiness, the song is completely unhelpful. To what does iTunes suggest you say goodbye — to where you live now, or to the idea of moving back to New Zealand? “You were the one I loved / the one thing I tried to hold onto.” Probably depends on what you want it to say to you.
Good luck! Let us know what you decide.
Tags: Ask The Readers boys (and girls) etiquette health and beauty
