7:00am... Yesterday I tripped over the giant exercise ball next to my bed and bounced off of it onto the floor. Today, same circumstance, but this time I didn't trip. Exercise ball- 1. Marguerite- 1.

10:22am.... I started a book club a few months ago, partly because I was part of a book club in Miami that I wanted to re-create for myself when I moved north, and partly to meet new people. It's going well. There are a few regular faces, and they are very sweet ladies. One woman's husband sold me my bike rack, so I'd say I'm starting to make some ties to my community. Anyways, this month we're reading a self-published book by this guy who works in real estate. The book is (ahem) about real estate... seen through the eyes of a stripper who's trying to break into sales. She actually uses her strip club clients for her sales clients. I'm trying to give the writer a break, because writing a book and then paying to publish it yourself is really hard. But I mean... is there any other way to see this book than being a daddy escapist fantasy? Honestly, the best and clearest writing in the book isn't the real estate stuff, even though that's what this guy does for a living. It's the strip club scenes. Haha, they are the most vivid pieces of writing, so much so that it's like I'm there watching the lap dances. I can't really comment on the guy's effort (or research) that he put into writing those scenes, but damn, he did a good job there. I'll give him this though... the book feels real, like it's all really happening like that for some poor chick out there. It's a very apropos commentary on the mindset of the people (aside from the retirees and the snowbirds). There are a lot of ambitious people here in south Florida. You kinda get the vibe that some people will do anything (anything) to get ahead. Land of weird opportunity, I say. I wouldn't put it past half of the attractive women down here to take their clothes off for money. People loooove wearing next to nothing here, so why not do it for money? But that's the mindset. I can't say that for other places where I've lived. Maybe it's the Latin community, maybe it's the heat, but whatever it is, the whole "sex for power" vibe is a part of the air around here. It is. It's crazy. Seriously, if you see a hot lady in SoFlo and you wonder if she strips, well... maybe she does.

12:39pm.... Last night I had this hankering to watch Top Gun. I think it is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, because it is one of the cheesiest, hokiest, stupidest movies I have ever seen. The best part of the movie is Goose, because he is the only character who wasn't ripped off a action show or comic book and is like a walking caricature. My favorite part (and the part when I laugh the hardest) is when Mav and Charlie are chasing one another down in the street,causing accidents before they make out in the middle of the intersection. Haha, what the heck? Mav is such a tool, thinks he's a flying ace when Snoopy did it better and never killed his buddy when they did simulations. Haha, and Ice Man? Can we get a ruling if that's one word or two? What does the girl (apparently, the only girl in existence in the Navy and Air Force) see in that guy? He'll always fly below the hard deck. I know why there wasn't a Top Gun 2. Charlie and Mav blew up when he tried to fly-by an active volcano, or some BS. Oh, and apparently Val Kilmer still thinks that Tom Cruise is "unsafe" in real life. Life imitating art, or vice versa?

9:13pm...So the country is obsessed with Michael Phelps. And why not? He's a swimmer god. Mmmm, swimmers. The magic truly is all in the upper body. Haha, I love how fit they are. The fact that they are bullets in the water is pretty amazing too. I love the water. I don't know if I ever want to live in a place where water isn't nearby. The idea of landlockedness is so scary to me. But back to MP....hahahahaha, my sister just fell off the bed. Oh my god, I am crying... ok, really, back to MP. There's a pretty fascinating article in the New York Times magazine about his bod and his actual physiology and how it contributes to making him a swimming machine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/sports/playmagazine/803PHELPS-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

As a person, he's a nice guy, but the interview with him is almost nonexistent because he cannot have a conversation, or maintain eye contact,or stop fidgeting for more than ten minutes. The guy is a fish, literally a fish. All he does is swim. Lives to swim. Does this kid have any friends? Real friends, I mean. Apparently facebook cut off his friend list at 5,000 because he was clogging the system. My sister tells me he has a dog, and I think that's a good move. You can only swim so much before you start drinking the water, you know?

A few Olympics notes...Did anyone catch the opening ceremonies? Stellar. I was mute for it. Once again, I recommend David Brooks' column today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/opinion/12brooks.html?ref=opinion

Excellent commentary on collective versus individual thought and how the result of the former results in amazing Chinese show displays. How were they so in sync? There were 2,000 people moving at once! They even dive in sync! Perfectly, like they are the same person! Gah!