June 10, 2007

Accidental Death, Evil Empire, and Other Pleasant Sunday Subjects

Some blogs go sensibly dark on the weekends; others just keep plugging away as though their authors and readers had no actual lives. Welcome to Cranky Fitness!

At some point Crabby may well have to explore the "dark" side herself, and think about taking weekends off. She seems to be blogging all the time now. Yet she has a novel to finish, a Crabby McSlacker self-help book to consider, and a Crabby McSlacker Health and Fitness Empire to build. (She will, at some point, fill readers in on her Sinister Scheme for World Domination).

For now, however, Crabby is mostly just blogging and there will usually be something here for loyal readers to peek at, even on weekends. Maybe not both days, but at least one of the two.

A warning, however: weekend posts may be short and random and disorganized.

Well, okay, sometimes weekday posts will be like that too.

So lacking an elegant transition (it being a weekend) Crabby will just present you with some random research and news that she didn't fit in during the week.

Accidental deaths have been rising, and are up twelve percent, worrying those who track such things. In particular, there are more drug overdoses, more old people falling in their homes, and, wait for it, more Baby Boomers wiping out on motorcycles. Crabby isn't kidding about that last one--feel free to write your own punchline.

Speaking of weird causes of accidental death, a teenage athlete died from over-use of "muscle cream" (think Bengay, Icy Hot, etc). Apparently she was a cross-country runner who used "topical medication to excess" and absorbed too much methyl salicylate, an anti-inflammatory. Yet another (strange) reminder: everything in moderation!

And to continue our cheerful theme, Crabby was just passing a newsstand and spied a headline on a newspaper rack that's become all too common these days: "Five-year-old finds gun, kills himself." Should Crabby venture her opinions on guns, gun ownership, and the general idiocy of the American legal, cultural, and political systems when it comes to this issue?

Perhaps not, at least not on this sunny Sunday. Another day.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend, folks!

21 comments:

  1. Hi Crabby.
    I love this topic because as a Boomer, I kow where I'm headed so I'd best beware of Accidents. I just bought a motercycle birthday card for a 65th birthday of a friend who is a bike buff. Should I send her the article about the biker accidents in the over 45 crowd? Yes, I think the article would make a great birthday present. Thanks, Crabby.

    BTW, several of my friends from the low carb board stopped by cranky fitness and enjoyed. (One called you a "hoot.") A few bookmarked your site so I'm sure your fame is spreading! Enjoy the sun (vitamin D you know.) Terrie

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  2. I need my Cranky Fitness fix every day. Thank you for posting on the weekends.
    And I'm now experiencing anticipation anxiety whilst I await your Crabby McSlacker Self-Help book.

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  3. Hey there,

    I was just thinking...rain or shine…Crabby's there!

    Hope you are having a nice weekend.

    A girl was recently abducted here in my city, and it has forced me to be a little crabbier in public to show my ferocity.

    It's sad, but true.

    Sylvia C.

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  4. I saw the muscle cream article too -- very odd and scary. I love your whole weekend posting take. I'm right there with you (2 new posts today). But yes a weekend off might be nice. Are you really writing a crabby self help book? It's not a bad idea. People love you -- you're like the quickest queen of new blogs I've ever seen.

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  5. As long as the motorcycle riders wear a helmet they stand a reasonable chance of surviving til I can repair them! If they are too hard-headed to wear a helmet, please remember, you are not HARD-HEADED enough!
    Dr.J

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  6. I saw that story about the muscle cream too, and thought, "Wow, who knew?" One wonders just how much the girl was using!

    Remember a few years ago that boy who died from using too much deodorant?

    The mind boggles.

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  7. Accidental deaths are a bit of a sore spot for me. It shakes me to my parenting core to know that at the end of the day I really don't have %100 control over the kidlets safety.

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  8. Terrie,
    Thank you so much for telling your low carb friends about the site, and sorry again for the Cupcakes header! I really appreciate your helping me out, and always enjoy your comments. (Stay off the back of your friend's motorcycle though, okay?)

    Hi leah!
    I too need my frequent Goat fixes and had a tough time when you were at your retreat. And I'm sure there's nothing a Crabby McSlacker self-help book could tell you that you don't already know--but perhaps you can be a contributor!

    Hi Syliva!
    Oh man, I hate to hear stuff like that. Good for you for responding not just with fear, but with ferocity. Grrr.

    Jennifer,
    I'm way impressed with your ability to write posts on two blogs--both very different but totally entertaining. I've got to figure out this multi-tasking thing better.

    (And re: humorous self-help book--it's more in the "thinking about" and "planning" stages rather than anything that actually exists. The thing that's appealing to me about nonfiction, being a lazy person, is the notion that one can put together a proposal & sample chapters first, then if no one is the least bit interested, you don't have to write the whole damn thing. (Spoken like a Crab with a previous unsold and slaved-over novel gathering dust on a closet shelf...)

    Dr J, welcome back!
    That's actually very encouraging. I'm glad to hear that motorcyclists who are smart enough to wear helmets are not necessarily going to get creamed out there! (I always worry about them, what with all the idiot careless drivers on the roads).

    BunnyGirl,
    No way, a guy died from deodorant? I missed that one somehow. You're right; the mind boggles!

    Katieo,
    I don't know how you parents stand the anxiety about stuff like that. Back when we were kids, with all the things we did when parents weren't watching, it was a miracle we didn't get killed five times over. But somehow, most kids seem to survive childhood, even with Slacker parents, let alone great parents which I'm sure you are.

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  9. Crabby, you are the best!! I love your blog and I am always amazed at how personal you are with all of your readers. Also, I don't know if there is a setting you use or something, but I love that your whole blog shows and I don't have to click "more" to see the whole thing. It's a little thing, but there...I said it!!

    Also, about your weekend random topic blogs, I am glad to have information about something going on that doesn't involve a rich, blond heiress ending up in the pokey for 40+ days!!

    You rock!!

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  10. Holly,

    That's so sweet of you! I think I'm really lucky to have people come here and comment who are more interesting and entertaining than I am. So it makes it fun to come down here and chat.

    I have to confess that one of the main reasons I don't have a "more" button is I couldn't figure out how to do it. I tend to ramble on so much that the posts look really long and boring compared to other blogs that just have a quick witty paragraph or two showing. So it's only because I'm clueless, but I'm really glad you actually like it the way it comes out, all in one long snoozy stream.

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  11. Here are my "dark" and random contributions, in honor of Crabby not going dark over the weekend:

    Murder is up 10 percent in major American cities since George W. Bush took office.

    Alzheimer's cases are predicted to quadruple by 2050. Turn off the boob tube, folks. Read a book, learn a language, keep your mind sharp.
    The Paris Hilton going-to-jail story was teased at the top of page 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle last week -- with a photo. I called the paper and immediately canceled my subscription and told them why.

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  12. I really enjoyed your post, this is my first visit here and you had me smirking at the funny comments, nice to meet you!

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  13. Hi Appleton!
    Good observations. I think we have the basis here for a nice headline grabbing pronouncement: Exposure to Paris Hilton causes rising murder rates and stunning increase in Alzheimer's!

    And hi Rebecca,
    So glad you stopped by, it's nice to meet you too!

    The best thing about this blog is the people who comment--thanks for joining us!

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  14. A little bleach in the gene pool never hurt anyone.

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  15. We're following the ins and outs of Paris Hilton's life over here too! (sigh)

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  16. I tried posting every single day when I started my blog, I even tried to post multiple times a day. Eventually (as in one week later), I got burnt out. It's actually a lot of work to do these posts, even about a topic we both happen to love such as fitness. For me, that Saturday break is great. Gives me time off to think about what I want to post about next week.

    Have you thought about changing format a bit on the weekend? Perhaps instead of going completely dark you can do a link round up style post on the weekend. Those are usually easier but still very useful to readers.

    Gal

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  17. anonymous,
    heh heh...

    Dawn,
    Even in New Zealand? Wow. Though I guess if everyone is going to go crazy over a spoiled celebrity story, I at least appreciate that it's of the "come-uppance" variety.

    Hi Gal,
    Yeah, shorter weekends posts seem to be the compromise I'm drifting towards. I may at some point go dark on weekends, but I'm still a bit too blog-obsessed to stay away just yet!

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  18. How about this odd story..
    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284020,00.html

    "

    LOYSVILLE, Pa. — A 13-foot totem pole fell and struck a boy on the first day of Boy Scout camp, killing the 9-year-old, police said Monday.

    Tyler O. Shope, of Shermans Dale, died of head and chest injuries Sunday afternoon, Perry County Coroner Michael Shalonis said.

    The boy's parents were nearby when the pole fell, and his father helped lift it off him, Shalonis said. No one else was injured.

    Campers were arriving at the Hidden Valley Boy Scout Camp near Loysville, about 25 miles northwest of Harrisburg, for a week of camping, police said.

    The boy was waiting outside the camp's health lodge to have his health records reviewed at the time of the accident, officials said."


    Isn't that just really sad?

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  19. Hi Jessica,
    Very very sad. And also pretty creepy... the whole totem pole angle. Thanks for sharing that, I hadn't seen it before.

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  20. You're very welcome! And, can I just say... I found your blog just yesterday and I'm addicted already. I've never been addicted to a blog before! *happy dance* :)

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  21. Thanks Jessica!
    Well, just a warning--some days I can't think of much to say & pretty much just flail around. (But at least disappointment is the only possible side effect of a Cranky Fitness addiction. No oily discharge at all!)

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