Adena

My li'l buddy, Murray, getting comfy on the couch:

Istanbul is my favorite place so far! Pretty much everyone seemed fluent in English which I was apprehensive about before I went, I managed to find pretty decent grain & bean salad type things at every restaurant we went to, and the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque were breathtaking. There didn't seem to be any weird scam artists and/or thieves about and I felt very, very safe there. Plus, Turkish delights rule.

I can't remember what it was called, but I watched a documentary about farming and the farmers who worked for Monsanto tried to save seeds, which is a time honored skill in farming/gardening, and were pressured not to so they had to spend far more money buying new seeds every planting season. I don't remember if they were actually sued or not.

Oh no, we pronounce things weird here!

The title of this thread made me laugh. I've been vegan for almost ten years, and that's still how my mom pronounces vegan. I gave up correcting her long ago.

A helpful attitude for me has been to only talk about veganism/animal rights to a receptive audience. If they're not receptive, then they're most likely just going to have the attitude that vegans are preachy and judgmental. And they won't change their ways anyway. I heard about this from one of Vegan Outreach's emails and they use this philosophy when handing out leaflets. People will either ignore them and walk away, or be curious. If they're curious, then you have an open door. Otherwise, it's best to leave them alone.

At the gym, the only other thing I do besides my normal routine is shoot the breeze with the people in my powerlifting club and try to pick their brains so I can better. It's a really positive environment and I'm grateful that I have finally made friends with them. Outside of the gym, I love riding my bike, but it's usually not very intense cardio-wise, I kind of just dilly dally around the bike trails and enjoy being in the forest and by the river. I also play with my dogs and garden. My husband does most of the gardening and it's pretty intense for city-dwellers. Our friends call it our "farm."

Awesome!

In that case, 30 reps is not enough!

I never voluntarily do the prowler, but strangely enough, I never mind doing a bunch of burpees.

30 reps?! Holy Mother F'er! The only thing I do 30 or more of is steps on the trail when I go hiking or running! Baby Herc 30 reps of anything sounds like the most boring time you could possibly have!

Good to know!

Robert, have you seen the commercials for Planet Fitness? They're borderline offensive to anyone who is trying to improve themselves or progress in any way. But yeah, they probably appeal to people who would like to stay out of shape.

How have I always missed this thread? Could be that I've been neglecting this forum for about a year... Just saw Born of Pain, Naysayer, and First Blood this week. I kind of forgot how much I enjoy First Blood.

Running outside is definitely way more interesting, but I bet you're going to feel so great the first time you get on that elliptical!