If Webster's New Dictionary can still have a crew haircut, a pipe and sport a yellow slicker, I can make an attempt to entertain myself and the casual reader. No one is captive as we all have the option to ignore anything in black and white and green and red that comes into plain sight... So, I can't say much about this blog...just that its about me and the every day occurrences of "moi." Cheers!
Me: I am an illustrator, I am a cantor. I am one more citizen of the world. I was once a political refugee. I live in a city where the sun shines year round (except when it rains.) I cannot complain. Life is good and definitely interesting.
Nancily's Cupcake Shack/ Sister Blog
Follow me on another blog to my cousin Nancilys decadent sweetness...
Once again a 27 year old tradition fulfills its' purpose - according to the Herald, 'the Corporate Run Series is to promote running and walking as a means to a fit, healthy lifestyle for people from all walks of corporate life' and the largest office party celebrated on the streets of downtown Miami. And, my first way marker to my walk in July.
Getting back into the swing of things has not been a walk in the park, three surgery's and large doses of lethargy have been prevalent for months, but last night's walk/run gave me some perspective as to how I would like to change things up in the next few months.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, the following is a pictorial essay of the corporate run as scene from my iPhone.
The morning before the race, I photographed the corporate party tents from my window on the 47th floor of the Southeast Financial Center overlooking Bayfront Park. The streets appeared void of the 22,000 participants that would blanket downtown a day later but the excitement was building.
Tent Locations - aerial view from the 47th floor
One we arrived to our White & Case tent
we took our customary picture prior to
the blast of the cannon - clean and perfumed.
Mary, Tony, Raul, moi and Janellis
Yours truly arriving...
Janellis and Mary
Janellis and Mary before line up.
In the line up....wuzza.
Mary, Tony, Raul and moi
the walk to the line up was by the sea
The Wave - a must!
Racing is hard/ Relaxing is Easy
Hialeah Miami Lakes Cheerleaders (my alma mater) Go!
Ra Ra Girls!
No se!
Not sure what this was, but they were animated.
The overall line up: 22,000 plus
The cannon goes off and the confetti flies!
The race has begun.
This is when Janellis and I took off.
Expect delays!
Headed to Brickell over the 1st bridge.
Top of the Brickell Bridge.
I am a running!
We are on the move finish line bound.
The Fire Department opens the water hoses for runners to hydrate
and then my iPhone battery died.
Dear Corporate run, This year, I embraced the following theory: Do not run or walk behind: children walkers,
walkers with strollers, slow walkers, texting walkers,
jay walkers, sluggish walkers, talker walkers,drinker walkers, party walkers, eater walkers,
crazy runners, and
under no circumstances walk or run behind a three legged runner/ walker.
A good time was had by all.
Final score...not great, but not awful under the
circumstances.
For the last few days the burning topic around the dinner table, no more and no less has been: when do we cut our losses and allow our self a treat of a fun meal e.g.: pizza, bread, chicken wings, cheese and even lasagna!? It only seems fair that when a diet is married to a solid exercise routine you can make some yummy junky exceptions to the rule, says my son.This discussion always escalates as the weekend approaches and food rewards are more approachable and almost palatable.
The truth is, divorce is tough: to separate; to cut off. And, reconstructing healthy eating habits fall into a type of food divorce court depending on what foods were formerly most desirable as compared to the now healthy food choices.
Transitioning from junk to good juju foods is tough as well. The worst part is that once you know the truth it doesn't quite set you free. You will need to address food one meal at time and know with certainty that you will likely arrive at a fork in the Drive-thru of life that reads, "place your order here and can very well later state regret your order there."
The reward remains in the journey to fitness and not the fun food along the way. The future wire will always bring a planned play date to your table and what seemed like a divorce becomes more like a separation. Separations are good in that thoughtful decision is made as to when you will have custody on weekends and holidays.
The answer is always the same: A workout doesn't merit a post-gym pig-out. My son made me see the light.
This year the Mercedes-Benz Corporate Run will celebrate the 27th
year! I confess I have not participated in the last few years, but I have professed to begin to walk the way of improved wellness in 2012; and I have devised an exaggerated wellness plan just for this occasion. Ablations are over and a 187 km hike in Portugal is waiting for me in July. So, as Mercedes-Benz and Footworks introduce, once again, being the leaders in “first step toward fitness,” I am accepting the challenge to step back into my size six blue jeans.
D-day arrived some time in January at our house. Not a 'diet day', but a 'deadline day' instead. It was all about re-conditioning my 14 year old son's lifestyle and shaping him into a lean fat burning machine. The deadline arrived and we about-faced to a new life of passion for health and physical fitness. ( I say 'we' because I am his wing man.Ok...wing Mom) The map was charted and we committed to Dr. G's WeightLoss and Wellness plan.
I happily report today that my son has successfully and magnificently taken off forty plus pounds under animated and cautious supervision while practicing a sensible eating routine. My fast shrinking Mando, has now met his established goal and is now shape-shifting to a new phase whereby he will be toning up by way of daily repetitious and non-weight bearing exercises.
Get the cymbals out because it's time to clash the tambourine! About six o'clock yesterday a newly constituted challenge emerged: the push up challenge. Challenges and more challenges are always lurking around the bend, but this one exploded as a result of a quippy and vaporous conversation between J.C., my son and I -- a cloudy concept morphed into a $100 push-up defiance. And, if you can relate to 14 year old boys, $100 is motivational mad money.
Thirty push-ups, correctly executed, in thirty days. (30 push-ups that meet with J.C's approval)
Since, I am that guy offering the $100, I am willing to add flexibility to the time frame and work pass the thirty days.
Note and declaration (with emphasis): I am going to own this challenge as well!
Why?
First, because I have never been able to push up or down or side to side for that matter. In my defense, there is a likely clause in my birth certificate that declares me as an anomaly and triceps, deltoids, serratus anteriors or coracobrachialis' were not included as part of my birth kit. Also in defense of my anatomically weak arms, these guys have never been asked to report to active duty.
And, lastly, although these push and pull muscles have never been employed by me, it doesn't mean they can't show up to work one day. I remain optimistic and therefore submit, the words 'I can't' is not in this palaverous-multifarious-vocabularious! The reality is the 'I can't' of today can be the 'I can' of tomorrow.
Ahhh..., but wait! There is more! Here comes the boom, boom, pow! I am going to throw another element into this gluten-free batter. I too have my very own challenge ahead: the hike for 'The Way' this summer. It has become eminent that I need to join this fitness trail fast. July is creeping up and I have not even begun to get ready to trek up and down some high ground.
A word of caution to self:Self, the prospect of having to send up a flair in order to have someone pluck me up off a mountain side that can only be found by a way marker in the shape of a shell is highly probable should I leave the hike to chance. Hence: push-up challenge 2: One hundred push ups in six weeks. I will be reading up on some online strategy for this bump and grind. Ouch!
According to Wikipedia, a push-up (USA English), or a press-up (UK English), is "a common strength training exercise performed in a prone position, lying horizontal and face down, raising and lowering the body using the arms."
Push ups are a basic exercise used in civilian athletic training or physical education and, especially, in military physical training and will develop the pectoral muscles and triceps, with ancillary benefits to the deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis and the midsection as a whole.
The multifarious plan:
Dr. G, get ready!!!
I'm-a-comin...gonna get me some ole fashioned life altering coaching and nutrition advice.
This Saturday: Its all about a bridge to Key Biscayne
Today, I boycotted all things train. Self interest was at the heart of my decision, I confessed. I certainly did not need any additional Miami metro stress before tomorrow's big event. I decided to open the windows to the Jetta (not quite the Aston Martin DB5, ahumm...) and breathe in the morning drive. I took all the backstreets (good ones and bad ones) and pulled into downtown by way of the Wynwood Art District where I am always captured by the musings of our local artists. If you ever plan to take this route, you are advised to rubber neck due to ballistic visual stimuli, from the sartorially clueless characters, flirty and spicy eateries, planned street art and unplanned graffiti to the gallery fronts - lots of them with eclectic names like OHWOW, Fusion and Locusts.
Disclaimer: regarding the above-mentionedgallery names -- these are not intended to be placed into a sentence together and in the order listed as we do not want to make our tourists uncomfortable.
Oh Wow! Fusion! Locusts!
Kidding aside, if you are here celebrating spring and shaking off some snow, fear not, these infestations are more common to any hotel room you could secure and not indigenous to this vertical state.
As I was planning my arrival to the Wachovia, SE Financial or whatever name our building is calling itself these days, I kept thinking, today is a big day and what a day it will be. The goal was and is to glean the common records areas and leave all things records sporting a solid Sunday best; like the Macy's store window dressed up and ready for the Thanksgiving day parade, if you will.
Then, while mindlessly drifting and driving, Landslide came on the radio and it made me happy. Landslide was written two years after my father passed away and I sang that melody to attenuation. The words rang true, for me, because I had just learned that everything that mattered could tumble in an instant and the landslide would bring you down. Stevie Nicks wrote this song for her father the night before he had surgery. It was birthed much like Lennon's, Imagine, written in all of five minutes -- a magnum opus for both. Thanks to Nick's moment of heightened musical acumen and creation of this song -- I saw myself for what seem to be the first time and discovered a strong and good me. I was twelve.
"I realized then that everything could tumble, and when you're in Colorado, and
you're surrounded by these incredible mountains, you think avalanche. It
meant the whole world could tumble around us and the landslide would bring you
down. And a landslide in the snow is like, deadly. And when you're in that kind
of a snow-covered, surrounding place, you don't just go out and yell, because
the whole mountain could come down on you.'"SNicks
Dad and I - Landslide was written two
years after my father passed away
'It's about a father-daughter relationship. ~Stevie Nicks
on how Landslide was written the night before her dad was operated on at
the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota in 1974, The Arizona Republic, June 7,
1998'
Landslide
I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a
mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered
hills
Well the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What
is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the
changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
Well, I've
been afraid of changing 'cause I built my life around you
But time makes you
bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too
Well...
Well,
I've been afraid of changing 'cause I built my life around you
But time makes
you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older, too
Well I'm getting
older too
So, take this love and take it down
Year and if you climb a
mountain and ya turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered
hills
Well the landslide brought me down
And if you see my reflection in
the snow-covered hills
Well maybe
Well maybe
Well maybe the landslide
will bring you down
Well maybe...Well maybe...Well maybe the landslide will bring you down...and maybe not.
By the by, I was indulging in a private 'matutino' pity party (can't imagine why?) and I managed to find the perfect excuse to do some shopping. I found a new wine glass (NOT)! My new cup anthropomorphically screams of Ana:
Slow and fractured tales from Madame Dragonfly's nest - a pocket compass while fluttering along on the Road...to The Way of St. James; Le chemin de St. Jacques; Jakobsweb; Il cammino di Santiago; O caminho de Santiago; Ruta Xacobea; El Camino Frances; The pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and Life.
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