At the gym yesterday, while working out on one of the new arc trainers, a woman asked me how I'm able to read and use this machine. "Desperation," was my answer. There is absolutely no way I can huff and puff on this device of modern torture without a high-quality distraction. The gym book must be compelling (so I don't feel the pain), entertaining, and moderately intellectually stimulating without requiring too much concentration. (Remember, the brain is being taxed by oxygen deprivation!) Yes, I told her, the lines of text do jump and move about, and I do get slightly dizzy, but it's better than being bored out of my skull!

Educating Alice:Adventures of a Curious Woman by Alice Steinbach was yesterday's gym read. A Pulitzer-prize winning former journalist, Steinbach now travels the world on her own, writing unusual travel pieces. I skipped over her adventure in French cooking classes at the Ritz in Paris and traditional dance classes in Kyoto to settle on her pursuit of Jane Austen in Winchester, England, where she eventually caught up with a British Jane Austen convention. I'm also eager to find out how her border collie herding classes in Scotland turned out. Good fun. Not heavy. Oh if I only had more money in pocket so I could traipse off in search of Icelandic ponies!