You know how people create New Year's resolutions, ones that usually involve some sort of exercise, but then ditch them after about 30 days? I got one of those, and yes, it involves exercise. If you couldn't tell by the title of this post, exercise is something I haven't done in awhile. Since my junior year in high school, in fact, when I was forced to participate in physical activities such as running, jump-roping, weight-lifting, and being pummeled into the floor by a teammate while playing touch football. "I got it, I got it!" BAM! UGH! THUMP! CRACK! <---(the sound of my skull hitting the concrete). -thumbs up- Fun!
Okay, so you can see through my sarcasm at the end there, that I don't like physically demanding activities. And yet, there I was, creeping through the Rec Center at my college, searching for the group that a friend told me was participating in some sort of workout that included boxing--the one sport I enjoy, because you get to punch people in the face, and nobody yells at you for it.
Last week, a little blonde birdie, who is in most of my classes, told me the people I was looking for were in one of the racquetball courts. So there I was, sneaking past the first two courts until I got to the last one, where I proceeded to slowly peek around the corner, trying to remain invisible. Fail. I was immediately seen by one of the guys inside, who stared at me like I was a creeper. So, also like a creeper, after he saw me, I immediately jerked back and hid behind the wall again.
All this time, there were many, many people--mostly track people--swarming around me, looking at me like I could possibly have a bomb strapped to my chest, or I was just some. . . well, creeper, I guess.
Suddenly, one of the guys came out of the court and sat down to stretch. So, I took my chance and asked what was going on in the racquetball room/court thingy. The conversation was very short and ended with him dragging me inside to meet everyone else. By everyone else, I mean the four other people who were in there. All guys. Awkward, eh?
Turns out, they were all pretty cool. Most of them were experienced in some sort of MMA fighting, and there I was with my wimpy boxing skills, but they didn't look at me like I was stupid, so I worked out with them. Mostly, they just wrestled each other, and I did random shadow boxing, and some sit-ups. My workout didn't make a whole lot of sense. Plus, the floor was super hard and I bruised my tailbone. But everybody was cool, and invited me to work out with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Why not, right?
Now, I know what you're thinking: one girl + five or six guys (usually just three, sometimes four; the other ones don't come every time) = a rather unnerving situation if they happened to be creepers. Believe me, that ran through my mind the entire time when I first met them. (No offense, guys. You know who you are). But, I quickly learned that majority of them either had girlfriends, or had a crush on some other girls, which diminished the negative chances by 55%. Let me tell you, that alone was a huge relief. But still, they could be creepy, right? But the chances of that were lessened by another 30% after just hanging out and simply talking to them. So, guys, that means there is still a 15% you guys are all creepers, but those are odds I can live with. You are, after all, teaching me moves that I could use against you if the situation arose. -insert Tabari and Barrels' evil laughter here- <---(The names of two of my new friends who enjoy producing sound effects, especially those that sound of alienistic origins...or pterodactyls)
Alright, back to you, all the rest of my fans. This recently passed Thursday, I participated in a workout in which you spent three minutes doing some sort of exercise, such as wall-sits, jump-roping, etc. When the three minutes were up, you'd go do another three-minute exercise, and so on and so forth, until you completed the list of exercises which numbered somewhere in the teens, courtesy of Grant, one of the more insane ones in the group. It's okay, he already admitted it was true.
Now, while the workout was a pain my butt (and my back, my thighs, my calves, my stomach, even my ankles) it was still somewhat fun. Probably because in the minute rest in between stations, somebody would make some crack comments, or do something silly to lighten the atmosphere.
I say that with some nostalgia, for at the moment, it is not fun at all. Why? My thighs and calves hurt so bad that I look like a penguinated zombie when I try to walk down stairs of any type. You even poke me, and it hurts.
But what's really nice is that they often ask me to hang out with them outside of working out, whether it be to play video games (which it usually is) or watching a movie. It makes me happy, but also wary. Happy because it seems that my company is actually enjoyable; wary because, most of the time, these friendships quickly end with people getting annoyed with me.
So I'm trying to balance myself out. This involves me staying fairly quiet when I hang out with them, because, well, for one, I don't have a loud voice, and they do. So even if I did talk a lot, you couldn't really hear me. Curses of being a tiny female. Second, they are all very funny guys. I, myself, am not a very funny person. I'm one of those people that comes up with the witty things to say after the conversation has ended, four hours ago.
But, this doesn't mean I don't talk around them; I do. I just don't talk as much as I normally do. My goal is to not become annoying.
Grant has told me on more than one occasion that none of them really like judging people, which is a huge relief. And truthfully, sometimes it's kind of nice to not have to say anything, you know? Sometimes, the people you're with expect you to talk, and it's nice knowing I don't have to all the time.
They are all really fun people to be around. I won't lie and say they aren't drama queens; they're as dramatic as girls, only they're dramatic about different things than girls are. Like video games. And food. And video games. And movies. And video games. But they're goofy, and happy-go-lucky, and it's easy to relax around them. They're some of the coolest guys I've met in quite awhile.
Alright, I'm done with the mushy stuff. Let's see, what else do I have to explain or complain about to you guys?
1. Hmm, I have more homework in my painting class than in all of my other classes combined.
2. Um, I have laundry that I have to that is piled up as high as my stomach.
3. My psychology professor looks and talks like Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory.
4. My history professor is from Louisiana, watches a lot of Eddie Izzard, and is actually making world history interesting. Fun fact: Did you know that the Romans used little ceramic or rock scoops as a form of toilet paper? Gross, right? But here's the funny part: before they would use them, they would carve the names of people they didn't like into the scoops. It's like a Roman's version of a voodoo doll---'Eat my feces, Octavius!'
Okay, moving on:
5. While I was going to go get food in the college's lower cafeteria, a girl stopped me and asked if I had participated in the town's Fiction Slam (it's like a poetry reading, only with short fiction pieces). I said yes, and she proceeded to tell me how much she loved my piece about one of my characters named Lark (I couldn't believed she had remembered his name!) and how it was her favourite one. I was so amazed, I just kept saying 'thank you' over and over again, like a robot. It was so cool!
6. I watched the new Spiderman movie, and I got one word for it: HOLYCRAPTHATWASSOAMAZINGITWASWAYBETTERTHANTHEFIRSTONE!
7. Pinterest ruins homework days.
8. I need to take my trash out.
9. Okay, I'm running out of stuff to talk about, and I have to get back to my homework, so until next time!
This is Maximum Sunshine, signing off. Αντίο και ο Θεός ταχύτητας.
