I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in about a month.  I really didn't want to go but I did it anyway and it felt really good.  I woke up today not hating the alarm and I feel more energized and less depressed.  I have been pretty sedentary since I started working full time.  Sitting around all  day has been bad for my back, eyes and morale.  I was only at the gym for about half an hour but it was a good first step for getting back in the habit.  A few months ago I had a month free at sweat gym and I was addicted to it.  I wanted to go everyday for hours.  I normally only went for about an hour but all I could think about was what I wanted to do next.  With so much other stuff going on I haven't had the same kind of intensity for the gym.  But it still makes me feel good to go on a regular basis.  Hopefully I can keep it up through the rest of the summer.  The gym I go to is called Planet Fitness.  I go there because it is cheap and some friends from theWooden Shoe also signed up to go.  We call it the gym of the people because it was signs that say "no judgement zone" everywhere and they have pizza day and bagel day once a month.  I haven't been there yet for the food days but I bet it is fun.  I pay $20/month and I get to always bring a friend (usually ryan comes with me) and free tanning and half price drinks for the cooler.  I haven't bought any drinks and I don't think I'll be tanning any time soon but I like being able to bring a friend. 

Tuesday was Rebecca's birthday.  We normally go to the movies on her birthday.  This year we went to see Thor and ate so much popcorn and drank soda!  The movie was fun but a little convoluted.  I wish it had been a Thor/ Adventures in Babysitting crossover.  Adventures in Babysitting is my only reference to Thor before this movie.  It is frustrating when movies are made just to make sequels or as a set up for other movies (like the avengers).  It isn't that hard to give a movie substance and all I mean by substance is a good backstory and chemistry between the characters.  It was entertaining enough though.  After the movie I gave Rebeccas some birthday presents including the Lady Gaga cd, the first 2 seasons of the Jersey Shore and a bottle opener with Madonna on it.  I think she liked all her presents.  I didn't have any wrapping paper, so I was very "green" and wrapped her presents in plastic bags and shoe boxes. 

I finished the Girls to the Front book yesterday.  After I finished it I spent a lot of time at work reading reviews of it and most of them were pretty spot on.  It was a really fun read.  There is a lot of gritty details about how things went down.  I think Marcus's perception of the times and how riot grrrl resulted from everything else going on during that time period was really apt.  I read Allison Wolfe's review of the book and I really enjoyed it. 
http://www.nypress.com/article-21671-reconsidering-riot-grrrl.html
Marcus does always describe Wolfe as being goofy and does downplay the legitimacy of bratmobile as a band.  I also really enjoyed Mike Mckee's review of the book in the Philadelphia Weekly
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/music/A-Misunderstood-Movement-Riot-Grrrl.html
Marcus melded together a lot of research and many interviews to craft an enthralling narrative of the times.  When I started reading it I immediately got hooked.  I really tried to stretch it out so I didn't finish it right away.  The last chapter was a total downer.  I would love to hear what other people thought of the book.  I feel like I need some time to process some on the described moments of oppression olympics style cutting each other down for being privileged.  That stuff is really tricky to deconstruct.  It was interesting to read some of the women's perspective now on some of the extreme stuff that they did when they were younger.   Like purposefully making yourself the victim to win an argument and things like that. I definitely would recommend this to anyone interested in the 90s, punk, feminism, etc.  I always disconnect grunge like Nirvana from more underground punk bands and this book was a good reminder of how connected everything was before Nirvana signed to DGC and "punk broke."
The lastest issue of Bitch magazine has a good article on Courtney Love, Frances, her mother Linda Carroll, and her biological grandmother Paula Fox.  I recommend it if you like that kind of stuff.