S-Factor afternoon

Oprah featured it, so that has to make it safe to write about, doesn't it? I mean, otherwise, why would I want to confess that I'd taken an exercise class based on the arts of pole-dancing and lap-dancing? Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

A few years ago, Jules saw the S-Factor book somewhere and gave it and the accompanying exercise video to me for Christmas. I admit that I'm not very motivated by videos, but I did give it a few tries at home, but no more.

Then last year, Jules treated me and JC to a one-off intro to the S-Factor class at a studio in Chicago. It was lots of fun. An hour of yoga-like exercises, followed by an hour of bruising our legs trying to swing around a pole, and then learning a routine to take home with us.

This year, she treated us to another one-off class, this one called Santa's lap-dance. Again, an hour of yoga-like exercises, followed by an hour of learning how to crawl all over a big armchair.

Lots of fun, but talk about awkward. I mean, it's so totally hard to get into the moment when you're there with friends, because the key seems to be forgetting your fears and letting yourself go.

Now, this seems like the place where I should break into some internal dialog (or real dialog) that was occurring during the class. But I'm not going to go there. I think it's sufficient at this point to admit that I took the class at all.

Perhaps if Jules treats us to a class again next year...