What are the changes that prompted the new schedule? Kim is stepping away from a regular blog commitment but will post as/when inspired. Bettina is back from parental leave but is re-joining gradually with one post a month. Mina, Susan, and Nat are also posting once a month. Some of the blog regulars are moving to have a consistent day–I’m Mondays, Cate is Thursdays, and Catherine is Sundays. Others are keeping a regular day but writing every other week. That’s Martha, Christine, Marjorie, and Nicole.
Thing were getting messy and it was starting to be harder than usual to keep track of who was supposed to be posting and when. We’re hoping this makes it easier.
See the guest spots? That’s where you can come and join us if you like. Read about how to do that here.
The end of August is birthday season around here. Tomorrow, August 31, I’m turning 56 and today, August 30, the blog turns 8.
It’s no surprise, of course, that the blog and I have our birthdays so close together. I started the blog with Tracy as part of our fittest by fifty challenge, two years in advance of our 50th birthday. You can read the whole story here.
Have a magical birthday!
Eight years ago to the day I posted A bit about Samantha and Tracy posted A bit about Tracy. Our first real posts were a few days later but that was the day the blog was born.
Since then we’ve grown and changed. 4285 posts under the bridge. This is my 2180th post! Tracy has left the group of blog regulars and others have joined. We’re now a group of a dozen bloggers sharing our voices as they connect to themes of feminism and fitness.
We’ve also hosted more than 200 guests and if you’ve ever thought about joining us and guest posting you can read about how that works here.
Occasionally I start to wonder if we’re needed. And then I see things like this!
Everyone is looking for at home workouts. This barely pre-pandemic post on the NYT 6 minute workout is often in our top 10 during these pandemic months. It’s appreciated, Catherine! I think you knew something was coming. This month it was number 8.
“As mechanical engineers who consult on heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, we’ve been closely following the evolving body of knowledge about how the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus (the virus which causes COVID-19) spreads through the air. We thought some folks might be interested to know some of what we’ve learned, and how that’s affecting our thoughts on returning to the gym.”
Cara and Sarah are guest bloggers, fit feminists, and mechanical engineers thinking about when it’s safe to go back to the gym. This was the most read post of the month by a long shot.
Cate interviews Dr. Michael Gardam, an infectious disease specialist and Chief of Staff at Humber River Hospital in Toronto, and a frequent voice on CBC and Global TV to make sense of some of the tangled messaging about COVID-19 and outdoor exercise.
Cate puts on her social scientist hat and listens to the bloggers talk about going back to the gym.
“In most of Canada, gyms aren’t open yet, but clearly, they have their feet in the blocks waiting for the starter pistol. It’s understandable — fitness studios depend on class and member revenue to survive, and most have hefty investments in space and equipment. We had an animated conversation about this among the bloggers about our own comfort, and realized that most gym managers/ owners are not likely to err on the side of caution — they want to open, and as soon as they are permitted, they will be looking to their members to tell them what will work for them. So what DO we feel safe doing? I captured the key themes from a few of our bloggers.”
Susan reminds us that it’s okay not to be okay with all of this.
“You weren’t built for this and you don’t have to say it’s okay, or good enough, or the same, or tolerable. Day after day, your nervous system seeks and searches and wonders when it can dare to be soothed, when it is allowed to declare a need to just be with, without being accused of. . .something. . .bad. It doesn’t understand and that’s okay, you weren’t built for this.”
Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna biked to work in a dress, posted a pic on Twitter for Bike to Work Day, lots of people hated it, but feminists and cyclists of Twitter came to the rescue. Sam chimed in and also blogged about it.
This #BikeToWorkDay, let's continue to promote cycling and other forms of active transportation for smarter, and cleaner communities. 🚴🏻♀️🚴🏿♂️🚴
Cate is on a roll this month. Sadly it’s still so very timely.
“I’m a white woman, and I’m a feminist. This story breaks my heart, and it makes me so angry. I’m an ally, and #justiceforahmaud has to be my fight too.
Memes are sometimes funny but they can also flatten our experiences. Sam says that she’s both the person baking and eating desserts in quarantine and the person exercising lots.
Okay, it’s no shock, but almost all of the top posts for April 2020 are pandemic related. If you’re wanting to escape covid-19 related material, look away.
We’re full of questions around here and sometimes there just aren’t clear answers. Catherine’s post asking if Covid-19 cared what you weigh was our fifth most read post.
But number two is when the Covid-19 posts begin, with Cate wondering about a feminist response to the pandemic. (Was it even a pandemic then? I don’t remember. It’s all a blur.) Is there a feminist response to Covid19?
The third most read post of the month was about stress eating in the time of Covid-19. Thanks to guest blogger Megan Dean for Stress eating in the time of Covid-19.
Cate had more excellent advice, this time about working from home, something she’s a pro at. See I’ve worked at home for 25 years: my (unorthodox) insights. That was the fifth most read post of the month. I can say I’ve reread it a few times!
8 Lessons for Living with Uncertainty by Marjorie Rose was the post that taught me the most this month. Thanks! It was the 10th most read post this month.
And then someone suggested I write about it for The Conversation. Thanks Sandy!
What’s The Conversation? Their tagline is, Academic rigour, journalistic flair. Which I like. I started as a journalist and then went back to school and completed a PhD.
Here’s what they say about themselves: “The Conversation Canada launched in June 2017. The Conversation is an independent source of news and views, from the academic and research community, delivered direct to the public. Our team of professional editors work with experts to unlock their knowledge for use by the wider public. Access to independent, high-quality, authenticated, explanatory journalism underpins a functioning democracy. Our aim is to allow for better understanding of current affairs and complex issues. And hopefully allow for a better quality of public discourse and conversations.”
Here’s what I wrote for The Conversation, written in English and they translated it into French:
I love our blog community and our Facebook page and our growing group of Twitter friends, but sometimes it’s nice to reach out and meet some new people and connect with them about feminist fitness themes. Thanks to The Conversation!
I watched Brittany Runs a marathon, regretted it, wrote about it, and then Yoni Feedhoff shared it. Nearly 3000 views later, it’s the most read post of January.
“When you take up rock climbing, you don’t have that “luxury.” You have entered a subculture where adolescent male sexual humour has had free play. By convention, the “first ascensionist” of a climbing route gets to name the route, and they name it for whatever is on their mind. Sometimes the results are delightful and witty. Names emerge from days of hanging out at the cliff, working hard, shooting the breeze with friends. There’s a rich kind of free association and play that works its alchemy.”
