Watch “Your Muscles Do Remember… But Not The Way You Think” on YouTube

Hens, Chicks or Aliens?

I planted this succulent bed during the summer. It only cost me about 100 dollars since the planter is recycled. I really enjoyed growing and tending to succulents for the first time. I will surely buy more. These are Hens and Chicks, but they look more like aliens as they grow lol. Missing the summer sun.

Sacrilege

Somehow it seems like sacrilege to drink icy, cucumber mint infused spa water in my new Sepultura mug… love this frosted mammoth of a mug tho.

Biometric Brain Boggle

This is an interesting article that was published in Harvard Business Review this month by Anthony Rjeily and Charlie Jacco.

“Passwords Are Terrible, but Will Biometrics Be Any Better”

Cray Cray

The Bug Life Chose Me

ANT-MAN LIKES IRON

Well… it’s official now. I have two new friends and I’m quasi-famous in my domain!! Today Paul Rudd and his trainer, Brendan Johnston were hitting it at Mandrill’s again. These boys seem to be serious. I guess movie stars need to stay in shape ha?

The moment I walked in, they were both waving away at me and told me hi. I was like…. Whaaaaa? Today they got to see me bench too. They bailed before my heaviest sets, but they made sure to go out of their way to tell me bye. Who woulda thought ha?

For anyone interested, I’ll be signing autographs in blood, sweat and tears in the gym this week. Hahahaaaa… the bug life chose me.

Read this to catch up: My Accidental Meeting with Ant-Man

So Cute

It’s so cute how some girls go to the gym just to spot boys. Why are you wearing a belt and moving absolutely no weight? Commmmme on!! Woman up. Go for you and lift sum shit so I don’t have to slap the hell outta you.

Rise of the Women: Mad Max

••Imperator Furiosa and The Wives••

I saw Mad Max: Fury Road today and it was awesome! You have to love the twisted minds of the writers. George Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris created an interesting, post-apocalyptic world. The world was filled with all sorts of mind-blowing things. I love writers who can surprise me. This movie was action packed!

I don’t love Tom Hardy (who played Mad Max), but I absolutely adore Charlize Theron (who played Imperator Furiosa). Charlize is such a versatile actress. She isn’t scared to play non-glamorous roles even though she is smoking hot! I love that about her. I remember being so impressed by her role in Monster. She kicked some serious ass in Fury Road.

There are many themes which permeate the film. There were at least five that I clearly saw. I felt that the three most powerful themes which drove the storyline were love/sacrifice and the empowerment of women. Other themes which I observed were home, retaliation and redemption.

The story was about love of self, love of others and the transformative power of that love. This was yet another tragic love story. A woman and a man die for love in the midst of gang wars. It is a tragic story because in the end, Max and Furiosa fall in love, yet they part ways. For these characters, it was enough to know each would be ok following a battle.

These three male writers are awesome for focusing this story on the empowerment of women. From a one armed female warrior who can drive a big rig while kicking ass in a fight to release women from sex slavery, to denouncing the objectification of women, to a gang of all female bikers who fight to reclaim the Citadel… Miller, McCarthy and Lathouris covered it all. Symbolically, the women were the holders of the the seeds of life (child bearing and actual heirloom seeds).

The movie is worth a watch. Aside from all the trippy characters, crazy costumes, cool weapons, tricked out rides, and desolate landscapes, there is much more to this movie on a symbolic level. I had one favorite quote in this movie coming from Mad Max himself. He told Furiosa… “You know hope is a mistake. If you can’t fix what’s broken, you’ll go insane.” I agree Mr. Mad. I totally agree.

Refuge: The Intricate Art of Valerie Rangel

On March 6, I went to the opening reception of “Refuge.” The exhibition was artistically engineered by my friend, the papercut artist, Valarie Rangel. Her most recent papercuts are featured in the Fogelson Library on the campus of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD), where Val also teaches. Her work is more than amazing and I would encourage people to explore the work of a talented woman. To read more about this fascinating papercut artists, you can visit her search feed on my web site.

“The viewer is invited to explore different realms of retreat by viewing the interwoven places of refuge within nature, while simultaneously exploring the inner sanctum of the mind and spirit through positive and negative cut imagery. Just as birds in nature retreat to places of shelter and protection when threatened or endangered, man flees into the haven of music, imagination, delusion, and love.

The intent of this installation is to give an experience of looking out from the inner refuge of the animal kingdom as well as explore the dominion of human emotions in a discourse of private asylum, introspection, visiting static and dynamic, illuminated, and shadowy places of retreat.”

~~~~Valerie Rangel

Visit Val’s Facebook page to see more of her amazing creations!!

Ladies Getting 2 Strong!?

Now this was a funny find in the gym today. “Foot too heavy?” What the?? Who flushes the toilet with their feet? Also…these are toilets that flush automatically. I was confused to say the least! I don’t know about other ladies in Mandrills getting 2 strong. I haven’t seen many who make power moves LoL. A while back someone was smearing makeup all over the wall in the bathroom. Now this? No respect. I told Martin if I ever catch the culprit she will be sorry. He put a sign on the toilet that reads…

“Please do not use
Handle broken
Ladys getting too
strong or foot
too heavy!”

One Egg?

***The lonely brown egg in Mandrills Gym.***

On Monday I took this photo of a lonely brown egg in the gym. I had to laugh. I know regular peeps might eat one boiled egg, but not weightlifters!! One egg in the gym? It seemed outta place!? If I would have seen a carton…ok, makes sense, but one boiled egg? HaHa!! I have been eating at least 30 eggs a week (5 every workout day). One egg?! Hopefully this magical person can make gainz on that. If they are eating the yellow, that’s maybe 4gz of protein. Not enough! Maybe they were just hungry and have a small appetite! 😉