1000 followers.
Thank you tumblr world - ilu! ♥
Single Vision Continues (State of the YOO)
I get opinions and advice on everything that comes out of my mouth here. Thanks to sparkpeople, my life is no longer my own, but is a weekly/daily comic strip for people to criticize, laugh at, print out to keep, to write editorials on, to talk about at the water cooler, my life is all neatly summed up in a wee blog, literature in a hurry.
Its never the whole story, its always little bits and pieces that I feel comfortable sharing with the public. Tiny edited portions that can share how I’m feeling, reveal my reservations and neurosis, without hurting the feelings of people who don’t agree with my lifestyle, or offending the powers that be, or exposing my friends and their lives too much on the internet where they cannot defend their actions.
In other words, I have to keep this as positive and upbeat as possible to keep from getting in trouble with anyone. Which is why I can reveal my darker side and my fears and my phobias and temper tantrums, cause I cant get in trouble for being relateable on the ugly embarrassing side.
It does however, open me up to ALL KINDS of advice. All of it conflicting. Yes, all of it.
Just Be Yourself
Edit Yourself
Change yourself
don’t change yourself
don’t look for a man
Put yourself out there
Its easy if its “THE ONE”
Its not supposed to be easy, its supposed to be worth it
Its scary
If you’re scared, he’s not “THE ONE”
Get over yourself
Get over your parents
Just do you
Just do me
Suck it up
See a therapist
Close your account
Ignore the haters
Ignore the ass kissers
They’re just jealous
They’ve got a point
Set little tiny goals
You need something GIANT to work toward
DGAF about the scale
What’s your goal weight?
Only pay attention to non-scale victories
You cant weigh 14o-something, that’s too low of a number on the machine you aren’t supposed to care about.
Stop having issues with God
Stop giving into your demons
Stop trying to people please
You gotta understand you’re in the public eye and you have to give the public what they want
don’t be so perky, no one likes perky people
Cheer up OMG
Try drinking more water
Have you tried tracking your food?
Once you lose the first 10 pounds you’ll build momentum
Do you eat vegetables?
Have you ever tried going vegetarian?
Whatever you do, don’t give up meat!
don’t run at night!
don’t run in the morning!
don’t run and do ST on the same day!
Workout whatever way makes you happy!
Do something besides run.
Find something you love and stick to it.
Give up soda!
Please don’t think I’m all pissy and mad as I’m writing this, believe me, I’m not, I’m giggling remembering a lot of it. I love when people ask me if I’ve given up soda and started drinking water yet. 
You know how when you talk to dudes they try to take your conversation as a jumping off point for action? But you just wanna vent?
Sometimes I just wanna vent here. USUALLY i just wanna vent here. Sometimes I ask for feedback or advice, but usually I’m just organizing my thoughts and writing myself into being ready to handle, tackle or achieve something I’m finding hard to start. So if I get miffed at a piece of advice that you wrote on my wall, its just because I probably already heard it a million times today, or I feel as though my intelligence is insulted, or I can tell you didn’t read anything past the first line of my blog before you threw that gem in my face. 
I vent here cause nobody in my life wants to hear all this sht that’s rolling around in my head 24/7. Or I’ve got them so bogged down with helping me not spontaneously combust whilst dealing with the trials, tribulations, humiliation and self-hatred that comes along with dating again for the first time in a decade.
Also- for everyone out there telling me not to look for a man… LMAO I’m NOT!
I found one, by accident, when I wasn’t looking, didn’t expect him and my life is totally interrupted (in a beutiful way). So I’m extra vulnerable and exposed right now, and therefore my skin is all raw and sensitive and not as (sortof) thick as I’ve been doing my best to build it up to be. 
I’ve gotta keep my defenses down so he can get in. Unfortunately, other lil bastids are climbing over too and I’m spending a lot of time with a fly swatter.
So I need my own little world. Contrary to what I show everyone on here, I keep myself VERY locked up emotionally. I’m a lonely hiding girl. Have been for many many years. 
NOT socially. Socially I have a core group that I move with and it has dozens of little off-shoot groups that I can roam among safely and with protection and love. Always padded and baby-proofed. LOL in more ways than one. But romantically, let’s just say that any time there’s a newish guy in the music network that comes over and says how he’d like to take me out sometime, there is always someone right behind him that lets out a belly laugh and says ‘Good Luck homeboy’. So I don’t even have to reject people anymore, I just smile and walk away. Yeah, that’s how I handle sht. I smile and walk away.
Here though, you poke me and I don’t walk away, I usually lose my sht. Shrug, no one is perfect.
So I need a tiny little isolated world of my own to get lost in. 
Some of you know that I’ve been doing a little experiment in which I eat like crap and don’t work out so I can watch my mental well-being rapidly decline and I gotta say, its not very fun at all.
Without runs: (not diarrhea, just cardio routes) 
I stress over every little thing 
I can’t work out the sources of my bad feelings, only the symptoms 
the stress and the confusion of my state of mind combine to create an emotional hurricane leading to night filled with tissues Jack Daniels and my chemical romance.
I have to start running again. MANANA.
tomorrow
tomorrow
tomorrow
If I can JUST get myself to go for the first time, the second time is easier, I know that, I preach that, I’ve lived that, I’ve stopped that. Have to go again. I may be ready right now but tomorrow morning?
If I wake up crying and miserable and scared, then I will not go- BUT THAT’S WHEN I REALLY SHOULD GO THE MOST!
Maybe I need an opposites day.
I’m getting fat again lol no I’m not kidding, i gained like 8 pounds but i dgaf because i have more pressing issues in my head, such as RUNNING BEING MY THERAPY AND I’m NOT GOING LATELY. 
Motivations to run tomorrow. 
I have new running capris and a new hoodie with thumbholes that I got for my bday and haven’t worn yet. WTF The christmas lights have gone up on 5th avenue. Pretty soon the sun wont be up this early anymore and I wont be able to do this in the morning. This weekend, I may not be around to run, so I should get in at least one this week. All I ask is one run this week. Just one. That’s all. Gimme a half hour. No big expectations. Just one wee trot. I bet the Verrazano looks beautiful in this crisp clean air we’ve been having. I swear on my life you will feel better afterward. Please please please please believe me. Your jeans felt tight for the first time this morning. The big burlesque show is coming up in 3 and a half weeks. I gained a little, so I can lose a lot. I needed to see the scale move, so I gained some that would be easy to lose. Now go lose that PLUS 2 or 3 more. PLEASE. for peace of mind for peace of mind for peace of mind So I can get all my crazy out before the weekend So I can face everything don’t want to thinking about by the end of mile 3 and have all the rest of that time to daydream about… well to be honest, I know exactly what I will dream about. Being on top. Walking around naked. You do this ALL THE TIME. You make yourself do it. Once your clothes are off, your fearless. Running tomorrow will keep it that way baby. 
get your edge back because you haven’t done something you love, other than sleep, for a long time you have so much book stuff you’ve been pondering and running seems to be the only time you can go off into your imagination. It would be good for my self-esteem to be out running while NYC is asleep I am a happier person that is more fun and refreshing to be around when I deal with my own sht properly. I cant keep smiling and walking way, i have to run and cry it all out and just GET RAW with myself in order to feel better. Nothing fixes this lie running, not even ‘I missed you so much’ Hugs. 
Because its time to admit to myself that I’ve hit all the walls. ALL OF THEM. And its unacceptable for me to sit here indian style, sketching pictures of the all the pretty walls closing in on me instead of grabbing my grappling hook and heading out into the brave new world on the other side. I’m being a coward for too long of a span of time. because I don’t have any faith in myself. I think running helps that too. I’m not sure how, but it seems to. Don’t look a gift solution in the mouth. i want to be better than i am now. RUNNING. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. LEAVES. ME. SMILING. i WANT endorphins, not cortisol or whatever you’re ACTUALLY dating an ACTUAL superhero. Yoov, gotta keep up. don’t let the differences be what you dwell on, let them be what yoo keep trying to move past, close the gap don’t widen it. Imagine the cool air tomorrow morning, filling your lungs, giving you goosebumps, imagine it now because it HAS to happen tomorrow. 
ONE RUN
not telling you to embrace all of your free time all at once beore you have none left, not telling you its now or never, just telling you to please go, please, for me.
I’m actually begging my inner athlete to take me for a run. What is the world coming to? 
I know right
Thursday
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Last night for dinner I made homemade eggdrop soup. It was warm, it was yumy and it had 4 eggs worth of protein. Not the healthiest or most colorful, but that was mah deener.
This morning I woke up later than I wanted, so I ran the same 2.4 miles that I did yesterday, but finished a minute earlier and rewarded myself with a yumm breakfast.
On the way to work, I curled up in the carpool with the new issue of SELF and found a fun new butt workout! I also found out that having a 4 tiny low calorie dessert days each week helps you stay on track, as opposed to having one weekly splurge.
NOTED!
I found a new CrossFit routine that I really want to try in my bedroom, as dirty as that sounds… although… *turns head looking at positions required* …maybe heheheh
Speaking of heheheh, I have been thinking a lot about taking another retreat to get out of the city and run around in nature. I’ve gotten pretty good at finding beautiful, natural, green places to play in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but no ‘free’ feelings like I can get outside of the walls of Metropolis. I really enjoyed seeing wildlife and breathing in mountain air and jumping around on trails and getting my toes wet in an actual rushing river.
So Im looking around areas in the mainland states nearby my lil island, to see if I can make my way out there.
Of course, if I could go anywhere, ANYWHERE, to spend a healthy weekend in solitude and peace and serenity, it would be Montauk. Maybe I could make that a reward for reaching some goal of mine.
We’ll see
In the meantime, I love how stuff like this is totally acceptable on sparkpeople. It really warms my heart.
GPOY messy bedroom scream and shout and dance it all out edition
pimp is a dirty word! you are so out of line! diaf!
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
In response to a comment aimed at me that I found whilst googling my own challenge this morning:This person says that words are not “just words”. That, creating and participating in a challenge called “Pimp My Pride” shows little regard for the well-being of others and little awareness of the truly horrific conditions that trafficked sex workers experience around the world.
She said my challenge contributes to the normalization and acceptance of forced sexual labour. She compared it to encouraging people to bring back slavery. She said my challenge is equally inappropriate and disrespectful.That I glorify “pimping”, but refuse to educate myself about human trafficking and make a donation to the UN’s Global Initiativeto fight it.
The point! yes, missed it you have! Conclusions, yes, you have jumped to them. Yes, I found it on google, not spark, so I am not addressing a spark member, I am just responding to one of the many concerns elsewhere on the internet concerning my challenge
PIMP - originally an acronym for Put In My Pocket, or in other words, ‘I’ve decided to own this’
-Later used to define a person who sells women for sexual favors (cue uproar from the uneducated, the blinded conservative, everyone that really wants to be angry, and everyone who loves to be offended).
-***Most recently used to commend objects or people.***
Ex: Popular Television Show, “PIMP MY RIDE”, in which deserving members of the community, who regularly contribute to its betterment, that have fallen on hard times are rewarded by having their vehicle given a makeover, specifically one that is tailored to their efforts in their neighborhoods, ie teachers are given mobile offices to take their students outside for teaching, coaches given sporting equipment and storage room as well as the means to instruct outdoors, and the list goes on. Each episode consists of taking one car in poor condition and restoring it and customizing it.
My challenge is about taking one body in poor condition and restoring it and customizing it, because the owner of that body puts a lot of effort and love into their communities and they deserve to have a body strong enough to help them instead of hold them back.
So come yell in my face again about how this challenge is vulgar and condescending to women. And I will tell you that you have lost touch with pop culture and no longer understand that the word ‘pimp’ is no longer just a slang abbreviation for sex trafficking manager… just like ‘cool’ is not simply the temperature of your sugar and fat packed fridge.
Stop worrying so much about a word in a title and think, for one friggin second about the fact that people are mobilizing by the hundreds to exercise…and all you can do is whine, judge, complain, yell, hinder, discourage, HATE and point your little angry sausages at me.
I was an victim of assault slightly over 2 months ago (the length of this challenge) and this challenge is going to (hopefully) help me take back my power and confidence, help me heal from the hell of all of it, help me regain my sense of safety and the ablity to protect myself… and anyone that decides to throw sexual trafficking statistics in my face… well…. have I got a story to tell you. (that is, if you know how to listen in private as well as you can blast in public). AND next time im somewhere and need to beat someone up or climb or run away…. I will be able to handle business. And that dude will be injured. Although standing in an alley screaming I Dare You To Mug Me might not be the smartest minigoal to handle in a challenge.
Im sorry that my personal attempts at righting a wrong that was done to me this summer, is causing your underwear to wedge itself so uncomfortably in your derriere, that you find the need to blog about me and my unhealthy view of sexual abuse and my unconventional means of getting healthy, strong and fit… on sparkpeople, on wordpress, on tumblr, on blogspot, on blogger, on Facebook, on del.ic.io.us, etc… I know you think you are being cute, screaming my name where you think I cant hear you, tearing apart my character…
Can I ask you something? Like… a serious question.
The more people complain about me… the higher my chances grow of being permanently banned from sparkpeople. Now… we all know that not all people are motivated by the same things, God/Big Bang created/shaped us all as indivuduals and our experiences since then have guaranteed so.
So my question is, why is it so very important to you, that I be banned? Why is it so important to you that myself, and everyone similar enough to me to get results from the kind of motivation that Im pimping out… is wiped out?
Why?
Why is there an entire sect of humanity that you hate and that you want to see fail?
Really.. why are you so mean?
I welcome you to join this challenge and update the vehicle you ride around in all the time…your body.
Birthday Recap and Plan for the New Week
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Yeah this is my third blog today, sue me.If I dont take care of this blog now, I may never get to it and I only enjoy procrastination in moderation.
Saturday morning, woke up and spent an hour stretching, had a sexy breakfast and donned my workout clothes and headed out to St. Mark’s Place and the spinning cube to wait for Joshua and head to KMart to look for manly workout shorts that dont come down to his knees.
Ended up spending a bit of time in St. Marks Place so here are spinning cubey pictures
Then it was on to the bouldering wall, which was way tough considering there are no harnesses, no flourescent handy things to hold on to, a distinct outward slope, no handholds within 4 feet of the top (that anyone could find). Joshua almost made it to the top, whereas, I made it to the bottom several several times.
My knees are banged and bruised to hell, my elbows too. My upper body is so sore that I was having trouble getting my water to my mouth and other simple locomotor events like brushing my teeth, I exaggerate you not.
Every time we fell, we clambered back up. We did, at one point, stand between a punching bag and a crate of boxing gloves and seriously consider beating each other bloody… but that’s a blog for another time… BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Thing is, now we are addicted to this daggum wall.
We are checking out lessons, listing all the places that have these things in our area and pulling on all our connection strings, esp @ Chelsea Piers & NYHRC. This is simply our newest addiction. We want to get as good as we possibly can, and we want to feel like we are bursting with pride once our abilities start increasing.
Also, we are going to try to get a bunch of friends of ours into to… but not until we’ve gotten really good at so we can be a bit cocky :P
Next… Joshua surprised me with tickets to see Incubus at the Nikon Theatre on Jones Beach (15,000 people in front of a HUGE stage with the Atlantic Ocean behind it and the most amazing cool strong breeze off the coast - le sigh - perfection!)
Flash forward through random bouts of inebriation and DOMS and you will find Jen and I spending a couple of hours running the circumference of Ground Zero, which Ive been looking forward to doing for a very very long time!
^ almost halfway point
PLAN FOR 9/6 - 9/9 1. Get my starting line numbers, before pics and measurements for PMP on Tues/Thurs
2. Run at least one morning between now and Thursday morning (preferable 5 miles on Wed morning)
3. Purge clothing on Thursday night
4. Chores on Tuesday night
5. Battery Park with Tali on Wednesday
Motivation for this week? Yacht trip Friday.
Let’s Get Pimpin!
Friday, September 02, 2011
My loudest mouth noise for PMP is going to be this. Do NOT avoid free weights and strength training because you think it will give you big manly muscles. You cant have big manly man muscles unless you are a man or taking hormones or working towards getting those results by spending all day every day in the gym dead lifting 250 pounds, CAPICHE?
In case you are still worried, and all you can hear in your head is.. i want to be thin not bumpy!!! read this:
Spartan Warrior’s 10 Reasons Women CANNOT Bulk Up
www.thespartanwarrior.co
m/post/8645046892/top10rea
sonswomencantbulk
Get a set of 2, 3, 5, 8 or 10 pound free weights. Please? Look I even found you a cheap pair!
www.walmart.com/ip/Cap-B
arbell-Strength-Neoprene-D
umbbell/11099744
This challenge is not for people who have never exercised.
This challenge is not for binge eating or long walks.
This challenge isn’t about reading Cosmo while pedaling along on the stationary bike.
This challenge isn’t about eating more salads or organic food or how to avoid chocolate.
This challenge isn’t about finding time for a workout.
This challenge isn’t about organizing your bathroom or updating your kitchen.
This challenge isn’t about throwing away clothes that don’t fit.
This challenge isn’t about counting miles.
This challenge is about the best kind of pain.
It’s for those of us who know how to do pushups, and want to break our record.
It’s for people that know that the slow burn is the good burn, and then they go slower.
It’s for changing the landscape of your arms, the back of your legs, your belly… one rep at a time.
It’s for regular exercisers who have gotten comfortable and stopped progressing, and need to take it up a notch.
It’s for those that have been dedicating their life’s essence to cardio and have shed a ton of weight and now want to focus on details.
It’s for people like me, with a burning need to feel their body grow stronger and stronger and stronger.
It’s for the committed.
It’s for the determined.
It’s for little miss try and stop me!
It’s for 8 weeks of PAIN.
8 weeks of SWEAT.
8 weeks of JUST ONE MORE.
8 weeks of BREAKING LIMITS.
8 weeks of SURPRISING YOURSELF.
8 weeks of TRANSFORMATION.
not 2 weeks.
not 4 and a half.
not the last week only.
8 WEEKS OF ACTUALLY CHALLENGING YOUR MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT.
Your first template will be posted tonight when I get home and get all settled in and go over my plans. It won’t be all about weight- in fact the only reason to worry about the scale in this challenge would be to say at the end, LOLLERGASM, I GAINED 1 POUND AND LOST 8726589472365 INCHES. HAR!
Get yourself:
A towel just for your workouts, to wipe sweat from your face, etc - wash it verytime you wash your wrkout clothes (meaning every time) Optional* Some kind of Oxy pads, or astringent or something. DOing ST causes you to sweat profusely if you do it right, and you don’t want your skin going yumpy. A yoga mat / pilates mat / rug / carpeted area / special hi-tech socks / SOMETHING to create an area in your home made just for GETTING DOWN TO SRS BUSINESS. (where you wont slip, wont bruise your tailbone on the wood, and won’t tumble over and die on the corner of your coffeetable. dumbbells, free weights, resistance bands, Bowflex, SOMETHING TO LIFT. ~*~OR~*~ if you cannot afford to buy, find someone to borrow from, or have access to these things as a gym, then what I need from you is the PROMISE to USE YOUR OWN BODY WEIGHT and follow PROPER FORM. Just because you cant afford a cute set of lime green neoprene daisy shaped weights, doesn’t mean sht. If you can get down on your elbows and toes and hold a plank for longer than you did yesterday… YOU EFFING WIN. Optional but Recommended* A Mirror to work out in front of. It could be your bedroom vanity, the bathroom mirror, the sliding glass doors in your backyard, the full lengther on the back of your teenaged daughters bedroom door, your shiny metal fridge… I DONT CARE… but seeing your form in the mirror is a good way to get yourself to the end of a set. Seeing is believing. And believing is succeeding. 
MANDATORY* A calendar / date book / sexy Excel Spreadsheet / wall with crayons / construction paper glued to your wall… to track which days you work out which areas of your body, to make sure that you give each group a rest. A WAY TO TRACK WHICH DAYS YOU WORK OUT WHICH GROUPS THE PROMISE to yourself that you will allow yourself to to feel any pride or satisfaction that wells up in you, that you will embrace the healthy feelings that get stronger along with your muscles, that you will not punish yourself for feeling happy, force unnecessary humility on yourself because you are not used to achieving great things, or deny yourself the pleasure that comes with improving yourself. We do these things because we have a wire broken, not because its good manners or expected. Stop doing those things and decide NOW to revel in all your joy and power and strength. If you think you look hot doing lunges in the mirror, by all means girl, take a hottie pic of yourself. Why not, if it’ll motivate you tomorrow.
The realization that motivates serves this purpose: TO GET YOU TO START. Once you start, you are going to keep on going until your determination, drive, strength, time limit, legs give out- NOT your motivation. Be willing to USE ANY EXCUSE TO WORKOUT and no excuse to skip it. 
Before Pictures. Mandatory. Not a full frontal… but a picture of your arms (or just the left arm lol), legs, butt, belly… anything you plan on working hard enough to change. We’re all here for the same reason, no one is going to mock your before pics. And if they do, you tell me their username and I will rain down hellfire on their heartless soulless pathetic disbelieving couches. Those who say it cannot be done, need to STFU while the rest of us are making it happen.
Measuring tape. Mandatory. Take ALL your measurements. Neck
Titties
Upper Arm
Lower Arm
Waist
Belly
Ass
Hips
Lovehandles if you want to…
Thigh
Calf
This part is crucial.
Some new(ish) music/tv to workout to, if that’s your thing. Sometimes the only thing to get you on the mat is the fact that there is a new Jersey Shore on the DVR just waiting, or having a brand spanking new playlist on your iPod, or CD in your stereo, that you can’t wait to work with! A fitness magazine, like SELF, SHAPE, Fitness, WOMEN’S HEALTH, etc… because they always have 3 or 4 sections of ST moves that you can do at home. You can cut them out, tear them out, pull along the perforated edges of the cards neatly, or stick those suckers to your bedroom wall with gum and hairspray- but they WILL come in handy. Do a little research online for the same things, for home ST workouts that you can customize. The Workout Generator on Sparkpeople. Make friends with it. Each Other. Check out who else is doing the challenge with you and visit their page and encourage them. It encourages you when you encourage others. That’s just science. Accept the fact that you really are a SuperHero. DECIDE TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU CAN REALLY DO. 
Pimp My (P)Ride!
It’s how many slow reps, not how many minutes.
It’s sweat running down your spine while you grit your teeth and push harder.
It’s feeling that moment of muscle failure and knowing that, without a doubt, your body did as much as it could.
It’s seeing your limit, getting to it, and walking just beyond it, and then beyond that, and then beyond that…
It’s knowing that you are a deadly weapon.
It’s feeling your muscles tingle.
It’s feeling the blood pumping through your body, fueling your determination.
It’s knowing that this is one time when 10 minutes makes an actual difference.
You ready to make a difference?
You ready for some PRIDE?
The Bright Side / Come On Irene
Friday, August 26, 2011
Living on the edge of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, also Mississippi, Florida and Georgia…Im no stranger to hurricanes. I’ve been in the thick of many of them.Andrew
Katrina
Rita
Gustav
Opal
Charley
Frances
Ike
Lili, when I last worked at a hurricane shelter
Gilbert
Georges
the first Irene which was also a Cat 2
Allison
Isidore
Ivan
Jeanne
Dennis
Humberto and probably a couple more. And this doesnt include tropical storms.
And I was born during David, with no power in a dark maternity ward. I was made for this. Literally.
However, through all these storms which are a trial of your patience and your guts, there has been this one badass dude on the Weather Channel. This dude has unfailingly chosen a spot, to park his brave little booty to broadcast live for each Major Hurricane, that has turned out to be the spot where the monsters make landfall. Everytime he picks a spot, two or three days before landfall is expected, and 2 or 3 days later, Jim Cantore is on a beach or on a street in the middle of the night, in a signature black or blue plastic pancho, getting blown sideways while risking his life to holler the news to those who are next in its path. We call him the hurricane whisperer.
Wednesday, I jokingly tweeted that I wasn’t going to worry about this storm at all unless Jim Cantore showed up within two hours of Brooklyn.
Within 24 hours, Im watching the weather channel and who pops up broadcasting from the Bowling Green by the bull in the Financial District….
Yep.
They have started the mandatory evacuations of hospitals and nursing care facilities in Zone A already, which includes Battery Park in the Financial District, Coney Island, Brighton and Manhattan Beach (3.5 miles south of me) and much more of Brooklyn and Staten Island. They are shutting down transportation tomorrow.
Crossing the Verrazano this morning and seeing the skyline covered in a haze so thick you almost couldnt see all the ships, barges and cruiseliners leaving the harbor, I realised I was scared for my city.
They have gotten surprisingly specific now with their predictions, going so far as to say they expect landfall on the border of Queens and Nassau Counties. That’s pretty darn specific.
Anyway, because my flight is cancelled and Im stuck here, though everyone I work with is fleeing to PA, I’m going to grab my camera and document this monster.
With no transit and guaranteed loss of power and the possibility of losing water utilities as well, the flooded days after the storm are what worry my the most. But…
I can run a half marathon and walk 20 miles (with breaks), so I can walk from my house all the way to Central Park if need be.
Im extra smart about water, cause yall know I constantly berate everyone about getting enough.
I’ve worked hard on getting strong, so I will be able to help move fallen branches and debris without feeling as though I am in the way.
I can climb and crawl and pull myself up and push my way through and keep myself surefooted thanks to all the hard work I have put in over the last couple years.
Its like one of my imaginative runs from zombies/james bond/russian mobsters except more post-apocalyptic. Even if we just lose power, I will imagine myself in a disaster movie.
A lot of people believe this is just going to be a bad thunderstorm. They laugh and say hurricanes always pass by them.
I lived in New Orleans, once upon a time, and they used to sing the same tune. Irene is scheduled to hit the area ON the anniversary of Katrina.
I just know this time feels different, and although we may not have Cat 3 winds or a 40 ft storm surge… I know that the ground and trees have been staturated to the point of being swollen for two weeks now. I know we just had a flood in our basement about a week and a half ago. I know that of the one hundred and thirty something thousand water catch basins in the city, most have not even been serviced in up to three years. I know they are shutting down transit and sealing us up like its Raccoon City. I know its the WATER that’s gonna land here that is the real problem.
But Im ready! Ready for her to get here. Read for her to do her damage and ready for her to leave so I can put my body to use in the clean up and cross the city sans electricity with my camera and a gallon of water.
I was born for this.
I trained for this. ;)
and I had a sexy breakfast.
Countdown Begins!
http://the-next-big-challenge.tumblr.com
Monday, August 15, 2011
3 weeks until its time to sht or get off the pot.
This challenge is not about cardio.
Its not about losing pounds.
Its not about losing pounds.
It’s not about eating healthy.
Its not about controlling your emotions.
Its not about building self-esteem.
This challenge isnt about mini-goals or skinny jeans.
This challenge is about one thing and one thing only.
S T R E N G T H
It’s about sculpting and defining and sexifying the muscles you have.
It’s about getting comfortable with free weights.
It’s about using your body to make itself stronger.
If you’re close to goal weight, it’s time to make the tweaks and turn that flat tummy into a
six pack.
If you’re just starting to run, let’s get those legs and back strong.
If you’re injured and can’t do cardio, let’s up your metabolism.
Word?
Sept 6 - November 1.
The Endless August (and September)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
This is my freaking calendar so far. O_o
Pink is scheduled EXERCISE.
Blue is SOCIAL EVENTS.
Purple is PHOTO BIZ
Yellow is days I still have FREE.
Green is tentative DATES.
Aqua is my CHORES deadlines.
of course Yellow Stars are for the scheduled workouts that I nailed.
In August, I have many many events coming up that will both motivate me, and be major time suckage.
This weekend is the Goldskull Gathering, a party in the Fashion District in a building built by about 30 generations of true rockers. Music, band compilations, live tattooing, dancers/ing, you name it. Insanity. Very much looking forward to it. Sunday is a party at my place. Saturday an LDR and swimming/tanning. Friday I have a shoot. Probably.
The weekend after that is OUR ANNUAL YACHT TRIP (OMG MOTIVATION) a big surf tourney on Long Island, my friend Evan’s bday with a PigRoast and a firepit and a slip-n-slide O_o, more beach days, swim days and a break from running.
Then I’ve got another couple shooting gigs before I go off to Philly for the weekend to work on some photo homework and just take a greatly needed break from this city before two more shoots and thennnnnnn… DUNDUNDUN….
MY BIRTHDAY.
Labor Day Weekend. Yup. The summer always ends with a bang and that bang belongs to me. (And Jen, we share a bday).
If the possibility of riding a mechanical bull in daisy dukes and a shredded plaid shirt and cowboy hat dont make me want to run home and start doing squats, then I dont know what will…. but I have to figure out something. Cause the week after my birthday, that lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng purple line at the bottom?
Yeah, that’s Fashion Week. The WORLD EFFING CUP for us photographer types (esp if you remember what I was like for Spring Fashion Week- Fall FW will be doubled).
And after that is the QuickSilver Pro Surfing Tour in Long Beach….
and then and then and then………….
Im not getting a break for a very long time.
SO…
DAY BY DAY AMIRITE?
Today….
Now THAT is some delicious pizza. OMNOMNOMNOughHHH broccoli balls in my teeth.
Thankfully the Jersey Shore is back and is going to rescue me from my inability to commit to any ST sessions lately. Nothing in the world gets me to lay flat on my back and spread my legs for some dumbbell crunches than the GTL gang. A little bit of guilty indulgence with no calories, lots of laughs and a cast that is always either working out or reaping the benefits of working out? Sign me up for reruns as well. Im actually excited, I cant wait. I can do an hour of crunches and leg lifts and planks and it will feel like 15 minutes.
BRING IT ON!
Ive been seriously considering an ST-based challenge for myself from September 6 - November 1 (8 weeks) to see how much I can actually change the shape of my body now that I’ve lost (squeak!!) about 75% of the weight.
I want to see where my back, thighs, abs and hamstrings will be. I want to see what my obliques are shaped like. I want my butt to lift up a bit as well. I want to watch my muscles moving under my skin. I think I can reallllly sink my teeth into a STRENGTH based challenge just in time for Halloween!
The last few months (Since the end of April) have beaten me against the rocks along the coastline, both literally and metaphorically. I have scars on my legs and my brain and my ass and my heart. One major (at least in my world) heartbreak after challenge after disappointment after course correction after course correction after course correction after illness after bad judgment after another and again.
I think concentrating on getting stronger, more than going farther, will help me feel more stable in myself, especially now that Autumn is just around the corner.
And it wouldnt hurt to shave off a few inches before boots/leggings season, even if I cant lose a few pounds.
Yeah… I think I will do an ST challenge yet.
WORD!
I shall call it…
ASSMASTERS!lolololol just kidding, not really, it was just fun to say.
I think I’ll call it ….
what should I call it?
NEVERMIND CARLZIE85 WINS. naming it the PIMP MY RIDE challenge. Since my boday is mah ride, yo.
Thank you
Accidental PR, Castle Skyscrapers and PAIN
Friday, August 05, 2011
This morning I woke up at 5:45 in the basement with A Dance With Dragons drool-glued to my cheek and utter confusion all over my face.Quickly replaced by… OOH ITSEARLY ENOUGH TO GET A BIG RUN IN! Im going to do my 5 mile Park Slope run (the one where Im trying to build a reputation and have the residents start seeing me around on the regular)!
So I laced up, peed, weighed myself (ugh) turned my iheartradio app to the AT40 channel and took off.
I waved to the guy in the Halal lamb cart, who smiled and waved back.
I waved to the mermaid lady sweeping her storefront sidewalk.
I waved to the old men in the green market parking lot.
Doo be doo be doo
Ooh, I think I will hop over and run up 6th Ave instead of 5th (the distance between avenues is about 1/8 of a mile) and see what I see that is new!
What was new? Castle-lookin buildings ERRYWHERE. SO many that I finally had to do what I always do and bust out my camera. I wish I’d gotten them all, but here are a few that came up after I decided to start taking pictures…
So Im taking pics of all these skyscraping castles, having to zoom in all the way with my camera, and in my head im counting the street blocks (20 blocks = 1 mile) and its 2 and a half miles til I get to the streets that have names instead of numbers. So naturally, I would turn around and run the 2.5 miles back home and get my perfect 5.
lol
sommmmmehow…. I was calculating wrong somewhere and thought that it was 2.5 miles to the new Jay Z basketball stadium being built…
…which is AFTER you PASS all the streets that have names instead of numbers…
So Im running running running and I get to the stadium, turn left off 6th Avenue to run back down 5th Avenue to my house. About 1/3 of the way back home, my feet start KILLING me.
Now if my muscles want to give out or Im cramping, I can handle it. I can stop and stretch, rest, etc. But it was the bones in my feet that were really really hurting me. I thought a few of the ones in my ankles/arches were about to snap like twigs. I looked at the time and groaned. I hadnt stopped to take that many pics… so why Why WHYYYY was my pace at about 18-20 minutes per mile?? Am I really that terrible today? Am I that slow? Are my feet in much worse shape than I realise? Im doing terrible! This is awful! And IM about 2 miles from home still!
About 35 blocks from home, I had to stop running and just speedwalk. My feet were in so much pain and I was losing steam and sad. I still ran a few of those blocks but most of them were speedwalked.
91 minutes for 5 miles. Maybe 5.25 if I add in the extra avenue. FML.
Evenutally today I went on Daily Mile to plot my course and add my workout in.
I noticed as I was playing connect the dots on my track-map that I had passed 4 miles and then 5 miles and then 6 miles and then 7 and I was like WAIT WAIT WAI- LET ME TRACK THIS ISH ON SPARK.
Hop over to spark… apparently I’d run through an extra 1.2 miles or so of streets that werent numbered… AND BACK.
I hadnt had a TERRIBLE run… I’d SET A PERSONAL RECORD!!!!
7.51 MILES IN 91 MINUTES!
NO WONDER MY FEET HURT!!!
So tomorrow… rest day from running.. I have an hour of core ST planned and 4 hours of ocean swimming planned.
Unless I see a shark… then Im just going to tan.
Or die.
Surprise yourself this weekend.
Please?
Im doing this for VANITY reasons, but who cares if I end up healthy on the inside along the way.
