Holly Holm: A Burqueñia Who Knows How to Get It

The established champ went down like a little rag doll (I felt kinda sorry for her) during UFC 193 and crowds all over the world went wild!

~Photo of the cover of one of my local newspapers the day of the fight.~

Holly Holm was focused with the intent of taking the women’s Bantamweight title from Ronda Rousey last night. I’ve been a Rousey fan since way back (see all my posts), but I was for the underdog from my home state this time. I had a feeling about the New Mexico native since I saw how much muscle she put on for this fight (check out her thread on my site to see why).

In March of 2014, Holm made the “ABQ’s Fittest People” list in Albuquerque the Magazine. I remember being rather disappointed when I saw her physique in that issue. But after seeing her in interview footage about a month and a half ago, it became clear to me that she was intent on taking that belt. She had really put on muscle!

I’ve been following Holly for a few years now, and have posted about her a good handful of times. I felt so inspired by her in 2012 when I posted video footage of Holly’s training program, which includes her running in the Sandia Mountains. I could feel her heart and drive through that footage. I felt so proud of her last night and got teary eyed when she took that win.

All of Holly’s training paid off. Take that… to all the haters and doubters who saw no chance for her. Her secret weapons in that fight were not only her deadly fists, but her monstrous quads! Much of her super power came from those stems. That woman put in WORK since I saw her spread in Albuquerque Magazine in the first quarter of 2014. It so paid off.

`Watching the fight! Living Room on fyYah!~

We had a big fight party last night. The party was complete with gloves by the TV, beer, good food, and the candles and fire ablaze. Our living room was seriously on straight fire with ravenous cheering as we watched the beat down of a champ in amazement. I don’t think I’ve ever stomped my feet so hard in my life!! Every single second of that fight was awesome.

Holly Holm broke the mold by setting a new standard for women and men in the UFC, champions, and for everyone else. She made international history last night. Most importantly, Holly Holm made New Mexico history. This notable New Mexican made the fight to become champ seem effortless.

(P.S. Now go hit those legs if you want to be as tough as a soon to be 35 year old Burqueña with killer quads! Rousey is 28.)

(P.P.S. Holly’s shoulders, abs, and biceps looked hella tight too. Really doe.)

(P.P.P.S. What did I hit today? LEGS!)

Artificial Intelligence, Deep Neural Networks and Deep Learning: Oh My!!

♥In Love with Technology♥

I can’t explain how much I love learning about technological breakthroughs. I’m not scared in the least bit by much when it comes to the forefront of intellectualism. I recently read a hard copy article in the May 2015 issue of The Economist titled Artificial intelligence:
Rise of the machines. The byline says… “artificial intelligence scares people—excessively so?” Really? What a bunch of wimps!! People continue to fight enlightenment, progression and change to stay in boxes they have built. Not me.

At a speech in October 2014 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a scholar said that artificial intelligence (AI) was “summoning the demon.” People are paranoid that machines will take over in employment’s race for productivity. With industry powerhouses like Google and Amazon buying AI start-up companies, maybe human worries are justified? We will just find other jobs right? It’s called perseverance.

•Photo I snapped while reading the article in the library.•

Will computers continue to replace some of the things that people normally do? Probably. I loved this quote. “The torrent of data thrown off by the world’s internet-connected computers, tablets and smartphones, and the huge amounts of computing power now available for processing that torrent, means that their algorithms are more and more capable of understanding languages, recognizing images and the like.” Why didn’t I visit the San Diego Supercomputer Center many years ago when I had the chance? I also could have ditched my conference last October to go there! Now that would have been a real memory to cherish!

The article in The Economist said “signs of the AI boom are everywhere.” Google recently paid $400 million for DeepMind. Have you ever heard of DeepMind? If not, you should so check it out!! Pure awesomeness if you like video games. Just Google it and see. There is also a great article in The New Yorker which discusses how deep neural networks operate. Deep neural networks are used by companies like DeepMind. These artificial networks are much like the neural networks in the human brain. It is amazing to read about.

The newest form of AI tied to deep neural networks is now capable of “deep learning!” Computers can learn through the analysis of large amounts of data using algorithms. Freak out on the algorithm Facebook recently deployed. Did you think you were anonymous in that untagged photo? Think again… DeepFace “can recognise specific human faces in images around 97% of the time, even when those faces are partly hidden or poorly lit.” I want to be that smart and write programs like this. It’s not fair!! Male engineers created DeepFace and I give them tons of respect, but why are intelligent women often seen as  domineering? That’s not fair either.

•Smart Woman Army•

Another thing I found interesting in the article was that since most data is labeled by humans, and algorithms need that data to learn better, another race is on. It is a race to develop “unsupervised-learning” algorithms. This way, the need for human labeling is basically eliminated. How accurate will it be? I guess we will see. Artificial neural networks were invented in the 1950s by people with big brains who wanted bigger, faster, more accurate brains! I lovvvvve brains!! I am so not turned off by them!! Haha… These smart people were simulating the neurons and electrochemicals in a human brain to create artificial intelligence. It worked!!

♦"Just watch! Imma make my perfect woman!" (Dr.J before the chemical waste accident that birthed The Joker and this is not Harley Quinn)♦

If you are a brave fellow intellectual and enjoy all things mind blowing, you should read the article in The Economist. It so so worth the read. You can also learn about the interesting problem with AI. Do you know the one thing people can immediately identify that a computer simply can’t define? Porn… Yes… pornography. I guess machines provide plenty of access to porn, but don’t ask a damn machine to intelligently recognize porn lol. We can leave that type of analysis to the humans!

The Fittest in Albuquerque?

Last week I picked up a copy of the March 2014 issue of Albuquerque: The Magazine. How could I not buy it? There was an article titled ABQ’S Fittest People: How to Steal Their Workouts by Adam R. Baca. After reading the article, I decided my workouts are good. I got absolutely nothing from there that I wanted to “steal.” I was also rather disappointed in the whole piece.

Before I talk about what I didn’t like about the article Baca wrote, I’ll talk about what I did like. You know…open with some positivity ~n~ such. I loved the two women on the cover. It was a cool pic. Sadly, they were not officially included on the top fittest list. I liked that the author is a Hispanic man who worked a great idea for a feature piece. I couldn’t help but wonder if his legs were bigger than those he featured?

I like that Baca said we can trust “Albuquerqueans” who are fit. Maybe you can? If you make gainz after stealing these workouts right?! It was also cool that he featured two Albuquerque based fighters (boxing and UFC). I do have pride for my beautiful state. Which leads me to my next positive comment. The two page photo of a lat spread rocked with a couple of fake tats of the article’s title. That I liked!

I bought this heavy ass magazine because of this one article. Usually a full gloss mag of this size costs ten dollars! Luckily I was only set back $3.95, which makes me feel better about all the reasons I didn’t like the article. Ok…so feature one…was a woman from Belen. I started to second guess my speculation about the size of the author’s quads on that first page. I mean, I have never competed, but I have been in the gym for close to two decades. I do know fit.

So what did I hate you ask? Well I hated that Baca only choose 8 people to feature. Of those 8, I was most impressed with the Emily, the female firefighter. That was strictly based on her career choice. She was questionably the last person featured. While I read on, I was thinking… “these are the fittest people in Albuquerque? Really?” I know I’ve seen fitter. Even years ago when working out in Abq on the weekend was something I looked forward to. Shoot…I see fitter people who should have been featured in that article everyday. Hummm?

There were a handful of impressive resumes, but fitness isn’t just on paper right? It’s more than titles. I was disappointed with Becky, the fitness trainer from Belen. NPC qualifier Ken Harleyken looked a’ight. He was rather vascular. The Granzow sisters? Really? What the? Ommm. No! Benavidez-Marks? No! Where are the real competitors? I was not impressed in the least bit with most of Albuquerque’s fittest. In my opinion, the fit people got gypped on that one!

I was sad to see both Carlos Condit and Holly Holm looking rather soft and out of shape in their portraits. Condit needs to hit that chest! I do love Holly Holm, but Baca….if you’re doing a feature piece on the fittest in Albuquerque, maybe the close up portraits should have been action shots? You know?? Showing muscle or strength or something? Like Holly slamming a tire with that golden sledge hammer eh? Holly has an awesome training video on YouTube. I do know that! Fitness is more than paper and titles or being muscular. I know, but you have to show me something Baca!

If these are Albuquerque’s fittest people, Santa is surely rocking the metro right out the gate! I’m just saying.
………..
Maybe
#santafe
has
#thebest
#muscle
in New Mexico?

Santa Fe Snob?

I am back in good ole Santa Fe. It is amazing how different things are in my own state, just a few hours away from me. I do miss my town when I’m gone. It’s great getting back to healthy eating and the regularly scheduled program.

After being away, I started wondering if I’m a Santa Fe snob? Hum? I may very well be!? I’m ok with that if it’s true. Maybe I’ve been busted by CNN and a snobby magazine? On July 3, CNN Staff ran an article which received a lot of attention. The article was titled Which are the snobbiest cities in the U.S.A.?

A few days ago, I actually found it kind of hard to believe that my city made the top 5 of 35. “At least that’s the consensus of Travel + Leisure magazine’s readers, who were asked to rank 35 major U.S. metropolitan areas on their snobbishness.” According to the ranking, Santa Fe and Seattle “were tied for fifth” on the list of cities with “good-looking locals” and “tech-savviness.”

I do love me some haters and I do love Santa Fe! What’s wrong with looks and brains? If that makes me a snob~ so be it! 🙂

Paleo Magazine

•~ My new Paleo Magazine ~•

Yesterday I was so excited to see that my natural grocer picked up a new magazine. I locked down my first copy of Paleo Magazine! I didn’t even know there was a magazine all about the Paleo lifestyle!? Awesome! I have been telling people all about Paleo.

Since I completely cut dairy about three weeks ago, I have noticed three things: I have dropped a size; my usually tight spandex workout pants are getting a bit baggy; and my shoulder muscles are returning! I still have a few more things I am eating that are not “Paleo friendly,” but we will see.

This mag is all about “modern day primal living.” There is info about: Paleo on the go; stress relief for your skin; recipes and meal plans; GMO education; and digestive health. There are also interesting articles on adrenal fatigue and kettlebell training. I am excited and motivated about my new educational find.

I was left thinking about an awesome quote in an article titled “My Sport is Living Well” by Adam Farrah. It is an anonymous quote which says “if you want something you’ve never had, then you’re going to have to do something you’ve never done.” Wow! That’s a powerful thought. Indeed it is!

Published: When the Moon is So Aligned

In 2011, I was seemingly inspired and my creativity started to perk in those ways which had been missing for many years. Inspiration convinced me to research the contents of several magazines and submit some original poetry to the ones I thought I would like my writing featured in. I assumed that I would be informed if my work was selected by any of the publishers.

I was never contacted by anyone, so naturally I figured my work was not selected. A little over a month ago, I became curious and decided to go online. Yes~ almost two years later! Ah~ better late than never right? I wanted to see if I could access the poems that did get selected for the magazines. I read several good poems and combed the digital pages of three magazines. That night I learned a lesson.

When submitting your work to publishers, never assume anything. I was so happy to see that my work had indeed been selected by Voices de la Luna~ A Quarterly Poetry & Arts Magazine. The magazine published one of five poems I submitted (October 2011~ page 20). There was my name in the Table of Contents on page 3. I read “Select Poems—Part III, Mary Anne Morefield, Tatjana Debeljacki, Ian James, Felicia Lujan, Alex Millard.”

~The Monarch~
Original Poem by Felicia Lujan
Voices de la Luna~ A Quarterly Poetry & Arts Magazine
October 2011 (Page 20)

It may take me another year to track down a hard copy of the magazine, but nevertheless, at least I know I made the cut. It is a popular magazine with the artistically inclined! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that “The Monarch” made it into a magazine which has a title bearing one of my favorite symbols~ the moon (luna means moon).