I hear you about the books and travel, but I can’t bring myself to get into ebooks. The downside is the same as the upside: big fat books to lug around.

Buying books - big fat novels.

hey, great job!

What got on your nerves about yoga? I just wasn’t able to find a class/teacher that I liked; either everything was full of 20-year olds who have rubber bodies, or the teacher was a jerk, or the class was great but just too far from my house to be convenient. But the yoga itself I really grokked.

I screwed up my back lifting weights a few weeks ago (I was so stooopid), and was kind of wary of getting back to physical activity, but this past week I managed to swim a kilometre a day every day, and went out for a long and sweaty walk last night.

I took a few classes and loved it but the evening classes were inconvenient for me so I dropped it. I think this September I’m going to try and get back to it....

Wow, congratulations, that’s amazing!

You despise 19th century literature? Won’t someone please think of the children?

Thanks for the recommendations! I was thinking about reading Rousseau’s Confessions, but I have a gigantic too-be-read pile of massive books, plus I just ordered a buttload more from bookdepository (including the Count of Monte Cristo, which I’ve never read!).

Argh, I wrote a long response, but got kinja’ed.

I’m not even sure what trolling is anymore, and anyway, the content is so fluffy these days that there’s not so much to be confrontational about.

I feel too low-tech for twitter, but I’ll keep it in mind. Since Gawker’s closing, the influx to Jezebel has been really felt, but I think in a good way.

He has my approval, no doubts about it.

Same!

I think I read the Silmarillion when I had insomnia, and ended up reading the whole thing in a few nights. I remember it as “Blah blah Valar blah blah cast down blah blah Morgenpurgis” imagined as intoned by an old English dude with something up his butt.

Believe me, I know. My kids and a lot of my students and quite a few of my friends (I’m in my early 40s) are bonkers about HP, describe it is as their ‘life’ when they were younger, etc.

Ok, I was a little worried!

It’s not you

Real talk. I could never get past the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but my kid read all of them and swears that one of them (The Silver Chair?) is the best. I WOULD NOT KNOW.

I also stopped on the third or fourth book. I felt like I was reading the same book over and over again. I know, mildly unpopular opinion.