Muscles

Marty and I went to the gym again today. We went to the little Inner Richmond YMCA now that it's been renovated, although I didn't really notice a difference and Marty, who goes there all the time, didn't really either.

The Richmond YMCA doesn't have the little TV thingies over the machines but they have several Antelopers so I got on one of the newer ones but it was too "steppy" and I couldn't figure out to get the strides to lengthen and the more up and down hurt my knees. So I switched to another that seemed to be like the usual Anteloper I was used to, popped on my iPod and went at it. It was a little harder without the TV thingie but eventually I managed to sink into the music in order to ignore wanting to stop.

The Star Wars Overture by John Williams is an amazingly inspiring piece of music. I used it to "launch" Marty and I on to our Burning Man road trip and as I was Anteloping, it came up on my iPod and as, usual, every time I hear the piece, I get goosebumps. I almost launched myself off the Anteloper, I was so excited. You all know it. And REALLY listen to it. It's a damn good piece of music. 2:09 marks the beginning of my absolute favorite part of the whole thing. Here's, as I gather, John Williams conducting the piece. It's not the best sound quality, say as on my iPod, but it does the trick. My favorite part is a little muffled as well.



So, after I almost killed myself on the Anteloper to John Williams' fabulous work, I finished up and got off. Marty wasn't done yet so I just watched him. He was working on the weight machines. Marty's gotten into this muscle boy kick recently, where he wants to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Well, not that muscled, as he points out but "like the Body For Life dude". Who is still very defined, in that sort of carved kind of way. I could only find the front of the book photo of the guy but you might get the idea. I told Marty I'd divorce him if he started looking like Ah-nold or anything close. I think that extreme bodybuilder look is gross and inhuman. I'm not fond of the bulging muscles with veins popping all over on even the moderate body enthusiasts either. I think my husband looks absolutely fabulously sexy as he is and I'm not just saying that because he reads this blog either. Since starting this endeavor, he definitely has gotten muscles and I understand two parts of the reason that he is wanting the more "manly" look. One, he wants to be healthy and strong, which is definitely understandable; I certainly could use it myself. The other is more psychological and stems from childhood to young adult and I shan't go into it here. In any case, he works out several times a week, often on these machines, sometimes with the free weights.

I sat on one of the machines near him, moving when he moved to a different one. I tried not to chatter while he was working out because he was counting and concentrating. But sitting quietly is not one of my fortés either. So I watched the muscles in his arms moving. I'm always fascinated watching Nooby, the house cat at work, get up and stretch or even just walking around. Especially when he stretches, you can see the muscles under his fur clearly outlined, lengthening, contracting, general movement. It's just neat to watch. So I was watching Marty's arms in the same way. Bicep bunching, forearms delineated. Marty says I have a puerile fascination with body "stuff", such as watching with keen fascination as the doctor pokes a stick almost an inch into Marty's foot wound when they had to drain it. I'm sorry, but it's very interesting.

And it kept me mostly busy and quiet although I think I still annoyed him a little bit with questions while he worked out.