This morning while spinning away my 30 minutes on the stationary cycle (I hate this form of exercise ) I was cruising the TED talk forum again, and came across this talk. This guy (Jared Ficklin) is a serious geek. I mean really. But, he's also fascinating enough to while away 10 minutes of my stupid peddling. This is the real gauge of any of the TED talks I watch. If the one I'm watching is fascinating enough to make me forget I'm sitting on a cross between an elliptical trainer and a stationary bicycle, it's a five-star in my estimation. (I'm not sure how others rate the videos, but I suspect they use a slightly different measuring stick.)

The comments after each video are interesting as well. There's always someone who criticizes, someone who wonders what the point of this talk is, and someone who believes that the speaker needs personal defending. Sometimes the comments will keep me peddling mindlessly for a few extra minutes after the video is finished. When the TED email comes out each week, sometimes it's a total bust. Everybody is boring or a horrible public speaker, or the subject is so mundane or esoteric I can't get into it. In that case, I go to TED.com and choose "Inspire Me" and ask for videos about the length of the time I need to cycle. So far, this random picking has worked out pretty well.

So while I'm exercising, I'm getting smarter - I can feel it. Just hearing all these talks by geeky, brilliant, quirky, famous, or creative people adds brain cells and grows my brain. (Did you know there's a great Ted talk by Thandie Newton?) So the whole process has been part of changing my lifestyle. I need to exercise... no, I choose to exercise, but I have to do something that will increase the likelihood that this is a sustainable behaviour change. I'm not going to run out and buy a treadmill (my preference over the wretched peddling) until I know the habit of exercise is a part of my new life. So I am making do. And I do that by watching TED talks.

Who knows? Maybe my IQ will go up as my weight goes down. Wouldn't that be something?