Let me qualify that title by saying I’ve only been to one spin class…ever. My conclusion after that one experience was that it may not be the right activity for me. For the few of you who aren’t familiar with the term, spinning is a form of indoor cycling, on a specially designed stationary bike, typically in a group class with an instructor who faces the class and offers encouragement (badgering?), often accompanied by loud, pulsating music, and sometimes visuals projected on a screen. The term “spinning” is actually a trademarked term, the rights to which are owned by a company called Mad Dogg Athletics that tried to enforce its…

Admit it, you knew this blog was coming after last week’s love letter to coffee. I think it is only fair that tea be considered as a part of a Senior Ripper’s day. I, for one, treasure my morning cup of Joe but after that I am a tea girl, through and through. The varieties of tea seem endless and my tea drawer is full of many of them, but I never really knew what kind of tea was best for me and how to brew it properly. It was time to find out. Coincidently, my favorite NPR interviewer, Terry Gross, conducted an interview just this week with Michael Pollan…

Given my injury situation (see Senior Ripper…Ripped): My physical activities are taking much less of my time; I have more time for work (is that a good thing?); I have more time to write blog posts; and I have more time for my non-active passions, including, among other things… COFFEE!!! As many of you know, I’m a bit of a coffee snob. I look at roast dates before I buy a bag of beans, I’m very particular about brewing techniques, and I will never reheat coffee! I’ve even been known to roast my own. But, as it turns out, we live in a coffee mecca. There are fully four local…

Let’s be honest, everyone loves French Fries but most of us try not to eat them too often for health reasons. A casual conversation on a chair lift about the best fries in the Wasatch Mountains gave me license to explore these delectable treats to find out if they should be in a Senior Ripper’s diet. A bit of history first: the French claim the first “pommes frites” were served beside the Pont Neuf Bridge in 1789. Americans were introduced to them in 1802 when Thomas Jefferson served them in the White House. The Belgians lay claim to eating the most “frites” per capita. Now back to the heart of…