“They all come here… how do they find me?”

The Movie: The Producers, 1968 (Mel Brooks, director and screenwriter)
Who says it: Zero Mostel as corrupt producer Max Bialystock
The context: Bialystock mutters this to himself as he realizes how easy it will be to take advantage of his accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder)
How to use it: When marveling – for better or worse -- over the kind of people you attract.

How is it possible that this is the first line I've used from The Producers? My choice today was a toss-up between this line and Leo's fit about his blue blankie, but I never had a blankie, and I do seem to attract more than my share of - er - interesting people. (I know -- when you go out looking for eccentrics, what can you expect?)

Like most women in Maine over the age of 30, I belong to Curves. Even the smallest Maine towns have Curves franchises. It's a genuine phenomenon. I like the program a lot; it's 30 minutes of interval training, three times a week. If you can't put in 30 minutes three times a week, you have more serious problems than Curves can help you with.

But the other day when I went, I realized that it was time for a new pair of aerobics shoes, and that's more annoying than it might otherwise be. I love my old pair; I've worn this same model of shoe for more than five years, and ordinarily, I'd just buy a new pair of the same type of shoes.

The problem is that these shoes are Nikes, and I'm not buying Nike products anymore. This is my own boycott, and the first time I've ever done anything like this -- but Nike has started using Kobe Bryant as its public face again, and as long as they do that, they won't get my business.

I don't care that he wasn't convicted of anything. Where did we get the idea that just because something's not a crime, it's okay? The behavior he admitted to is so vile, so self-absorbed and so profoundly contemptuous of women that no public company should seek his endorsement for anything. Kobe Bryant's contract with Nike, as far as I'm concerned, overrides everything Nike has done to support women and girls in sports. Shame on them.

Fortunately, my Curves was giving out coupons for the Reebok outlet in Freeport.