So.
Relieved of my pending health issues and inspired by having to look at my ass picture again, I decided not to wait until Friday to start shopping WW meetings. One of the locations near my office had a noon meeting today, so I used my lunch hour to head that way.
At first, it was all right. I talked to the scale lady about Monthly Pass and how it might work with my existing Online membership. I filled out the startup forms, paid my $40, and weighed in at just about what I expected at that time of day and in these clothes--203. (Eeep.) Then I sat down in the meeting room, wrote down the recipe on the whiteboard, and daydreamed until the meeting started.
And that was when I started to wish I had one of those "I'm blogging this" t-shirts, so the leader would have at least gotten fair warning.
The subject of the meeting was distractions and follow-through. A particularly good subject, since this is a huge issue for me. However, she started out with a "guess the historical figure" thing, and that's when things went weird. Here are her clues, as I remember them:
This man was not only a famous painter, but he was also a noted anatomist, inventor, sculptor...he had many unfinished projects because he would get frustrated and stop in the middle because he couldn't realize the vision he had pictured in his head. Blah, blah, blah, [more historical facts about him that I can't remember--I had it at "inventor" and "anatomist". I mean, it's obvious, right?].
Then she asked the group who she was talking about. Immediately, someone called out Michaelangelo. I wasn't entirely surprised by this--they're both renaissance artists, and the woman may have been living in a CAVE during the whole Da Vinci Code book/movie/scandal/fad thing and not seen any sort of news item or description of da Vinci since high school or whatever. But then, I was completely blown away when the leader nodded and said she was correct! And flipped her easel to a printout of the Mona Lisa. You know, Michaelangelo's Mona Lisa. The one that's been on every news blurb, every book cover of every copy of the Michaelangelo Code for the past few years. Oh, wait. :)
Now, I'm no art history major, and I'll be the first to admit that the primary reason I know that da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper is because of that stupid book and the umpteen documentaries about it. But GOD.
Being new to the group, I didn't want to be That Guy and point out in front of all the regulars that the leader was wrong. So I kept my mouth shut and waited for someone else to point it out as the leader prattled on and on about how she had been to Italy and seen several of Michaelangelo's unfinished works, paint techniques, studying of hands, and how he used to hire jesters and entertainers to perform for his models to get them to smile..."and yet this was the best he could do?", all the while gesturing at the Mona Lisa. At which point, I couldn't help muttering, "well, maybe because da Vinci painted that one."
I bolted from the room as soon as the meeting was over, and I'm pretty sure I won't be back to the Wednesday noon meeting anytime soon. I'm still trying to figure out whether she knew she was talking about da Vinci and didn't want to embarrass the person who guessed wrong, or if she had combined facts about the two artists, or if she really thought that she had the right guy. Or maybe that they were interchangeable? It just seems to me that if you're going to base an entire meeting on a Renaissance man, you may want to know for sure which one you're talking about. Especially when he's been the subject of a controversial book/movie lately.
I'm just saying.
Moving on to the last subject in the title...Tour de Pink. :) As I mentioned before, I'm riding it again this year. I debated asking for donations here, because I hate asking for money in general. However, if you're so inclined, click here and throw a couple bucks my way. All the donations go to the Pink Ribbons Project, which sponsors free mammograms and breast cancer awareness classes, among other good things.
I surely do appreciate any donations, and if you have any causes that you support, send me a link and I'll return the favor.
Posted by Joy at August 30, 2006 01:50 PM