Deadz, Hike, Fight

*Kasha-Katuwe*

*Sistaz*

It’s a little over half past midnight. Just got home from a fight party at my brother’s house. This day literally took it out of me. I deadlifted and hit back super hard. The gym was packed wall to wall. Nervous system tapped, I dared to go on my first hike of 2016, then sadly watched Holly Holm get choked out in UFC196. I didn’t think she’d be a short lived champ. Damn you Tate!!

*Brotha*

*Oh No*

It’s time for bed! I’m super drained now. I easily rep’ed a plate on deadz today for a strong 12. That was a great part of my day. My grip strength is going up. The hike was awesome. What a beautiful day to be outside. I love that summer is almost here. That climb was tiring, but it felt really good. The best part of the day was seeing McGregor, the shit talker, covered in Diaz’s blood when he tapped out. Good times!

*Oh Yes*

Random Thoughts & the Labor Day Weekend Motorcycle Ride

~Valles Caldera National Preserve~

~Cheryl and Felicia~

Yesterday we went on a Labor Day Weekend motorcycle ride with Bobby, Cheryl, Joe and Kim. We rode up to Pojoaque, Los Alamos, through the Valles Caldera National Preserve, up to the Jemez Springs and then down through Bandalier National Monument and White Rock. The waterfall up in Jemez is beautiful.

~Battleship Rock, the river and am I really this short?~

When you are on a motorcycle, you literally have hours to look around and think. There is no music, just wind. These were some of the really random thoughts which popped into my head on the trip. They are sort of in the order I remember.

• It’s hard to suck a blow pop in the wind.

• Where the fuck did my gum go?

• I need to buy the new 300 movie.

• I should have a helmet on.

• I love clouds.

• My home town is changing (Pojo).

• I miss being a little girl.

• I wonder if D is doing ok?

• The road to LA is kinda creepy.

• A “place where discoveries are made!”

• I want to buy 300 on the way back.

• Aspen trees are lovely.

• So many straight trees and then the random anomaly. Hey! That’s like me! I am a crooked tree. Beautifully twisted.

• The forest…much different than the ocean.

• Why are the technical areas of the laboratory so spread out?

• What if I had stayed working at LANL? I wouldn’t know the people I know today.

• Maybe I should work here again?

• I wonder what top secret projects are in the works here now?

• Themistocles♥

• I can’t wait to deadlift tomorrow!

• New Mexico is so beautiful.

• I’m proud to be a New Mexican.

• My ass hurts.

• My ass really hurts.

• Time to meet my mom for coffee!

Random thoughts indeed. Maybe I’m strange, but that is an inside look at my strange mind if so. It was a nice day. My hair got really  trashed out and I am sun burned to the max! Looked like hell in these pics!

~Valle Grande Historic Marker and Mike~

~Valle Grande elk viewing, a view through the wheel, and the waterfall in Jemez~

Stone Within: My New Site Design

Loving me some stone metaphors these days. One day…with any luck, I’ll be completely hard. Maybe even a stone heart….all heavy n rigid eh? The photos were taken at Tent Rocks National Monument. Dante couldn’t have said it better. Love that quote.

Breathtaking White Cliffs

Today marked the official start of hiking season…sun’s out, guns out. Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument offers an easier hike than needed, but you can’t beat the beauty of these chalky cliffs. The geology of the park is breathtaking.

There were at least 20 geologists hiking, sitting and taking scientific notes together. How fun! They were noting and sketching striations, faults and distinct deposits in the ancient volcanic rock and ash. The Tent Rocks were created by the erosion and weathering of volcanic, pyroclastic flow deposits in the Jemez Volcanic Field.

The volcanic explosion is said to have happened between six and seven million years ago. Kasha-Katuwe is very close to Santa Fe via Cochiti Pueblo and sits on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is a great place to warm up your hiking muscles, as the climb to the very top is steady and not very technical.

Watch an old video on my YouTube channel: “View From the Top” (2012)

Algorithm for a Hero: The Cap and His Sniper

Today was strictly reserved for Captain America. The Winter Soldier was super awesome. It would be cool to see it again. God you really gotta love these movies! How can you not?? Can’t wait for No.3 with “the Twins!” There was a sneak peek and I can tell I’m gonna love those characters. An algorithm played a major role in the storyline which was way beyond exciting to a lover of 1z & 0z (see Death of the Algorithm).

It was great to see Washington, DC on the big screen following my visit there for the Best Practices Exchange (see State of the Digital Union). One of my top scenes of the whole movie featured Captain America running near the Washington Monument. I actually saw a lot of people running while I was out there (see Crab Cakes and Cardio). The Cap is working out wearing a gray, fitted Under Armour tee (awesome). He pauses for a resting pose right in front of the US Capitol with his bi veins lookin’ all 3D ~n~ such (awesome).

No.2 was basically a story about friendship. How imperfect is that?! There were multiple friendships at play in the storyline, but the best, most heartbreaking was the “friendship” between Black Widow and Captain America. There is already an underlying spark between the mysterious spy and the clear cut hero, but when Steve’s lips meet Natasha’s for show they realize there is something more. This only happens in the movies though. Right? Or maybe just between men with really vascular arms and women in really tight catsuits? Who knows? Never the less, the Captain isn’t having it.

Captain America enjoyed the kiss, but insists on friendship. During a heart-to-heart, the Black Widow asks “is that your first kiss since 1945?” The Cap responds with…”it’s kinda hard to trust someone when you don’t know who they are.” Hummm…interesting eh? She’s a poisonous, heart wrenching, sniper silly?! Maybe that’s what he thinks anyway? The Widow says, “Yeah. Who do you want me to be?” She’ll be what he wants. Of course he says “how ’bout a friend?” What a guy! She tells him “there’s a chance you could be in the wrong business Rogers!” Naw…his business is straight!

I want the money I spent on this movie back! Serious! It was awesome, but I got gypped hard!! I thought that in the movies, super hot, good guy heroes and super sexy, mysterious spy chicks end up together? It’s the movies right?? But…naww…friends it is! Guess this time I can’t say…”only in the movies” ha? There was one good aspect of this faux friendship. Captain America saved the Black Widow’s life not long before their kiss. After they had the heart-to-heart, she asked him if he at least trusted her to save his life if needed and he said yes. I guess that’s something!?

Winter Soldier was indeed awesome. Maybe the screenwriters can rewrite the script? I could always ask them to write in the Punisher? Maybe Robert Redford…I mean Alexander Pierce will hook a sista up? He should let his fellow stars know that in Hollywood, the sexy spy always gets her hero! Maybe Kang Zhao at the University of Iowa can help the screenwriters develop an algorithm for that ha?? Maybe?

~~★★★★NAW….only in the movies!!★★★★~~

Stone: New Site Theme

I have a new site theme and gravatar since I’ve been feeling kinda stoneish lately…so why not feature some strong, cold rock art? This photo of my son and I was taken on a hike during a visit to Petroglyph National Monument. Still love and religiously wear my “Live Strong” Nike tank~ strong like stone! I included an awesome Carl Jung quote in my new header about the endurance of stone. It is also moving to see these records people left on stone. I decided to embed the “mission” of my site in a text widget. Over the last few years I have designed at least 30 themes. This is something I love to do, as creativity is my necessary evil.

Language as a Weapon

…………………………………………
•Navajo Code Talkers of WWII•
(Photo courtesy of http://www.archives.gov)

Today was special for the Navajo saviors of World War II. The Navajo Code Talkers were rightfully honored by the Daughters of the American Revolution with a new monument here in the Santa Fe National Cemetery.

During World War II the Diné language was used as a weapon. A secret code was created to confuse the Japanese by using over 200 words. Without the language of 400+ awesome Navajo Marines, the war may have been lost.

Arrows to the Sky: A Visit to Tent Rocks

In October of 2012 we went on our last hike before the winter. Here are some of the breathtaking photographs I snapped as well as a couple of short video clips I put up on my YouTube channel. One of the highlights was a hairy tarantula. None of us had ever seen a tarantula that was not in captivity. It was a bit unnerving but exciting! If you have never been to Tent Rocks National Monument~ it is a must see. I live in such a beautiful state.

“The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument is a remarkable outdoor laboratory, offering an opportunity to observe, study, and experience the geologic processes that shape natural landscapes. The national monument, on the Pajarito Plateau in north-central New Mexico, includes a national recreation trail  and ranges from 5,570 feet to 6,760 feet above sea level.

The cone-shaped tent rock formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago and left pumice, ash and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick. Tremendous explosions from the Jemez volcanic field spewed pyroclasts (rock fragments), while searing hot gases blasted down slopes in an incandescent avalanche called a “pyroclastic flow.” In close inspections of the arroyos, visitors will discover small, rounded, translucent obsidian (volcanic glass) fragments created by rapid cooling. Please leave these fragments for others to enjoy.”

Information from the BLM web site~

~Amazing Clouds~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Arrows to the Sky1~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Arrows to the Sky2~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Arrows to the Sky3~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Felicia~ Tent Rocks National Monument

~Daryn and Mike~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Big Rock~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Cochiti Lake Recreation Area~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Daryn~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Daryn Hides~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Hairy Tarantula~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Daryn and Felicia~ Photograph by Mike Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~In the Valley~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Layered Beauty ~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Little Cave~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~New Mexico Wild Flowers ~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~On Point ~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Phallus in Stone~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Rolling Clouds~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Where I Hide~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~Through the Crack~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

~A Tree from Stone~ Photograph by Felicia Lujan Tent Rocks National Monument

Spewing History

All I can say for tonight is that I seriously feel like throwing up! I have a severe case of information overload and I was overwhelmed by the vast amount of history in Washington, DC. I am now back in Annapolis and it is 11:55pm here, 9:55pm~ New Mexico time. My feet hurt, my brain is aching, and my stomach is sick. There is just so much history. It was so much to take in. I didn’t get to see many things I really wanted to see because I only had one day. I spent like 14 hours in DC and I am now ready for bed. In one day I went on a White House Tour, kicked it with my cousin Melanie and her son Luke, visited the Natural History Museum, went on a Capitol Tour, and then visited the Library of Congress, Air and Space Museum, National Archives, Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. I have so much to share and write about, but for tonight I will leave you with one quote taken from the National Archives Building and two interesting JFK images. I captured his painting pondering fresh roses (the spiral being my symbol) in the White House. I was also shocked to see his initials prominently cloaking the National Archives (of course). I didn’t know about a new exhibit there highlighting records associated with the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s. The exhibit draws from the collections of the Kennedy Library and the National Archives. Now it is time to take a bath, eat a pumpkin cheesecake, then go to bed with a full stomach and a full head.

~Quote of the Day from the National Archives Building~

The heritage of the past is the seed that
brings forth the harvest of the future.

~JFK Exhibit Banner on the National Archives Building~

~JFK Pondering the Roses at the White House~

Big Tubes Area of the El Malpais

A Stunning photograph of the Land of Frozen Fires
(El Malpais National Monument)
by Alazanto, Kevin Davis.

fourwindowspress

a photograph by Alazanto, Kevin Davis, our son

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