What I've learned today

• Anyone can join the USF alumni association for $40/year, even if they've never gone to USF. That plus a $10 ID card makes you eligible to join the USF Recreation Center (which has great equipment, canoe rentals, racquetball courts, an indoor pool, etc.) for $21.40 a month. What a bargain! (And as a family member of a current student, I pay slightly less for the gym membership.)


• I can save $400/year by transfering my balance from a department store credit card to my credit union card. The department store refused to lower my interest rate even after I informed them of this fact. Bye-bye, you silly people...


• Making bulleted lists is fun.

(no subject)

The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice.
The language is not Narn, or Human, or Centauri, or Gaim or Minbari.
It speaks in the language of hope,
It speaks in the language of trust,
It speaks in the language of strength,
and the language of compassion.
It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul.

But always it is the same voice.
It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us,
And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born.
It is the small, still voice that says: We are one.

No matter the blood,
No matter the skin,
No matter the world,
No matter the star -- We are one.

No matter the pain,
No matter the darkness,
No matter the loss,
No matter the fear -- We are one.

Here, gathered together in common cause, we agree to recognise this singular truth, and this singular rule: That we must be kind to one another, because each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future.

We are one.

-- G'Kar (Andreas Katsulas), Babylon 5 Declaration of Principles

We are diminished by the loss of Andreas Katsulas, who died at the age of 59 on Monday. I hope he's having a beer with his co-star Richard Biggs.

First day at the USF gym

I went to the USF gym tonight and got acquainted with the rules. No denim, only closed-toe shoes, use the towels (they provide 'em), and if you want a treadmill or arc trainer downstairs, you sign up for timeslots.

I spent 25 minutes on the arc trainer, which really gave my legs a workout. It's sort of like an elliptical trainer, only it's approximately the bottom half of the ellipse, back and forth.

Then I went to the locker room and had a shower. This was the first time I've ever actually showered nude in a public shower with no curtains. (The sole concession to modesty was a wall with a fairly narrow doorway separating the benches and hooks from the wet zone.)

Serious replies only, since I lack context to identify humor: was I within social norms? I can't judge by reactions since I didn't see anyone while I was nude. I'm going to get a lock for the temporary use of a locker for my gear, so in what order do most people stash, undress, and shower? Are people going to think I'm rude if I disrobe entirely at the locker, wrap a towel around my waist, leave it hanging on a hook, and shower nude, then reverse the process? I'm much more concerned with not offending people than with the idea that someone might look at my body and like it a lot or dislike it a lot.

I'm happy that for the first time in my life I feel comfortable enough in my skin to take off my clothes and not care very much if any strangers were looking. I don't think any guys at my high school actually used the showers during the normal phys ed period. (mattyo3000, you went to the same school -- what do you remember? cardinalximinez, you went to high school at the same time in the same county -- what do you remember?)

Hmm. Now I need some smaller workout shorts -- the ones I've been using are about to stop staying up with an iPod on the waistband. And I need a padlock, too...