Just Own Up

People are intimidated by people who own up to their responsibilities, who can be very transparent, and who aren't afraid to be direct with people and don't have to bring others in to build allies. Own your actions! It's simple. We don't all think the same and we all have different experiences and backgrounds so we won't handle things the same. But just own your shite (intentional spelling)! It's as simple as that. I'm annoyed by people who place blame on anyone and anything else rather than just being brutally honest with themselves. I'm especially annoyed when people have a problem with me (or anyone) and don't have the professional courtesy or common decency, or social etiquette to talk to me (or someone) directly when they have concerns.

I hate unnecessary drama. I mean, I don't like any drama, but I especially hate it when it's avoidable and caused by people who just don't own up to their actions or take responsibility. And as much as I hate drama, I think people thrive on it and hate when I prefer to avoid it. I've really thought deeply about this because one thing I'm very good at is looking to myself first to consider there may be something I could've missed. I'm damn good at owning up to my own actions, people. How embarrassing when we don't take into account that we are the ones who messed up somewhere. People fear having to face a humbling moment. I've made efforts in my life to keep from making an ass out of myself... and have failed on occasion. But I do have the capacity to be mature and adult enough to talk directly with someone. When I'm not given the same respect or those efforts are completely disregarded, it becomes a problem for me. I'm not perfect and I still make mistakes. And I still am sure to own up to them.

I don't have a problem dealing with issues straight on. It's super uncomfortable and it's not fun. I get it. When people own up, being uncomfortable is only for a short time. It's prolonged when the issue is avoided, drawn out, or blame is shifted outside of where it belongs.

I'm also very good at reading situations, understanding perspectives and showing some compassion or empathy. Almost to a fault. What happens is I end up spending time defending myself because others have not taken the time to consider all the facts. When I'm direct and don't soften the blow to protect the egos of people who are challenged with dealing with issues head on, their defenses go up and all sense of rationale is lost in emotion. They go out of their way to bring other people in and paint an unfair picture... without me in the room. I'm the one you have a problem with. Please come to me. Period. I'm a big girl. I would go to you. Then, of course, the cycle continues. Then... DRAMA.

What I also learned in my experiences is to be your own champion you have to face the challenges of people who don't know how to. When others give in and cry to the proverbial "daddy", I will continue to fight for my integrity. I want people to know that they can trust me because I won't walk around them. I will confront them with both strength and vulnerability. It's been said a good leader isn't afraid to be uncomfortable.

I live by the Golden Rule and have learned to pick my battles. Thank God because I hate drama!

♠♥u

Folsom Prison Blues

We toured old Folsom Prison today. We were told not to bring cell phones so I could only capture this (very recognizable) photo of the prison entrance. I was in awe of the structure and appreciated the history. We walked across the floors of cell blocks where prisoners were writing, watching cable, sleeping, listening to whatever was piping through their headphones, looking out at the crowd, and I even heard a toilet flush in one of the upper cells. This is their every day... crammed in small spaces, many doubled up. While it makes me appreciate my personal freedom and my living space, I make efforts to live by the Golden Rule and keep from ending up in such a confined, controlled condition. Moving on. We walked through the oldest of the cell blocks, still active since it opened up in 1880. At one point I looked over at our tour guide, a former CO and currently manages the plant on prison grounds, and see these eyes peering through one of the small openings of the almost solid metal door of a dark cell. It was disconcerting and a bit creepy to say the least. Alexander had a hat on and he kept his eyes under the brim to avoid any eye contact. 

One of the highlights of our time at the prison was standing in the cafeteria where Johnny Cash performed, among other tunes, "Folsom Prison Blues"! We walked down the same road next to the prison walls Mr. Cash was leaning on in the images starting at 1:16 in this video. Man, I wish I had my camera on this tour... just for the opp to snap a photo of my son leaning on that same wall in his Johnny Cash shirt!

The tour ended with a guided walk through the metal fabrication building where all of California's license plates are created by the inmates themselves. That was kind of a neat experience, albeit sharing an environment of heavy machinery and sharp metal plates with inmates. All my life I've been told license plates are made by criminals (and I thought it was sort of a joke until I became an adult) so it was interesting to actually see this happening. At one point our tour guide had one of the inmates explain part of the process to us. He was wearing his blues with "CDCR Prisoner" printed down the leg of his sweatpants. He was a nice enough guy but I couldn't help but be distracted by my curiosity of why he was there in the first place. And by the way, manufacturing license plates is quite involved and these inmates had their jobs down to the letter... literally! It's loud, it's fast, and it can be tedious! I even witnessed one of the inmates fixing an error by hand-painting parts of the lettering with the dark blue paint you see on our license plates before having to re-bake the plate.

Our guide pointed out one of the inmates who, after 30 years of imprisonment, was about to get out in 6 weeks. His comment was, "can you imagine what he's feeling?" I gave an artificial response because really, I don't know what he's feeling. I would imagine after 30 years this is all he knows and is conditioned to. I don't know if he's excited to finally be free or has anxieties wondering what the hell he's going to do with his life outside of prison. I've heard stories of prisoners having such a tough time out on their own they find a way to get back into their Folsom Prison "Blues". 

Not Quite An Idiot Abroad

I caught all 3 seasons of An Idiot Abroad presented by (starring) Karl Pilkington and created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Even though I caught all of it on Netflix, I like it enough to own it on DVD. Just saying. So the whole show is about Ricky and Stephen sending their friend, whom they consider to be a moron or some sort of twonk, abroad on different adventures around the world. We get to go along with Karl and get his perspective on these diverse cultures and environments. 

In the beginning I thought he was just this really negative bloke (yeah, I said it... hard not to after saturating my brain with Karlisms all weekend long) who had nothing but shite to share about these amazing experiences! As the episodes go on I'm realizing more and more that Karl is actually more of a realist (not to say I agree with all of his thoughts, but he's not completely off on many things) who calls it like it is. He says out loud what many people are already thinking. He just doesn't have a brain-mouth filter. 

Watching the way he interacts with people (of all cultures), he treats them all the same. He doesn't speak louder or slower and, in fact, never changes his tone or expressions. He's very social. I often thought Ricky and Stephen told Karl to really play up his antics for sake of viewership. I wouldn't put it past them as savvy entertainers and producers, but Karl is so consistent that it can't NOT be who he really is (that was a double negative in case you missed it). He's a bit closed-minded, but ultimately I find him funny and when you watch his eyes while he's listening to someone, he means take it all in. He tends to over-analyze everything. And I mean everything! 

During this quite daft and very funny interview between Ricky, Karl, and Warwick Davis (Willow, among many of the characters in his film career), he mentions that Ricky makes things seem worse so whenever he says something Ricky makes it seem more harsh. One night while watching the show I thought the same thing. I was fully entertained by this video.

I should be clear that I'm a fan of Ricky Gervais and I'm sure he's intentional in his exploitation of Karl's thoughts. In the video below is a better example of Ricky taking something Karl says and making it seem idiotic. It's linked to exactly where this transpires in the clip so just click to watch. Granted, Karl's said some pretty idiotic things during his adventures but let's be fair... we all have in our lifetimes. And there's always some bloke who'll use it to their advantage for a laugh. People were accusing Ricky of bullying Karl but even Karl himself dismissed that as bollocks. 

Karl on how he gets opportunities

♠♥u

Not-So Sharp Image

I'm bummed I spent money on this product. The first part of its name is FOG-FREE. You can see from Day 1 images that it was not the case. This is only after heating up the shower water for just enough time to see if it actually worked. Nnnnope. It fogged up quite quickly. Here's the full list of reasons I didn't care for this...

1. The light is actually on in the first photo. The halo lighting around the mirror isn't bright enough to see very well. I even turned the lights out to see what it'd look like. Lots of blue hue and had to really be close to the mirror to even see decent enough.
2. The radio audio was okay (as shower mirrors go) but seemed to suck up battery juice.
3. One suction cup didn't seem to like to hold too long. Kept having to re-adhere.
4. Just too many features for a shower mirror. Although nice to have, didn't really use.
5. You can see in the bottom right how it ultimately ended up. It fell off for the last time leaving the suction piece on the wall completely unattached from the mirror arm.
6. The piece that pulls out for the razors sticks out even further than the mirror so I'd keep knocking into it with my arm or hand. Maybe would've been best for larger showers.

 The Sharper Image Fog-Free Shower Mirror with Radio

I tried to look it up on sharperimage.com but it's no longer available. Good thing. #landfillfodder

♠♥u

Resdad more here: http://www.findnsave.com/offer/The-Sharper-Image-Fog-Free-Shower-Mirror-with-Radio/26620766/#storylink=cpy

Exer-Cleaning!

If you have to skip the gym or exercise class to clean house, don't worry...

There's power and fitness benefits in house chores!

 

I have days (like today, which inspired me to blog about it) where I'd turn my music on, turn it UP (way up!), and work my way around the house wiping floors, doing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, doing laundry... blah, blah, blah. Not the most exciting (or sexy) things to do, sure, but using up all that energy means lots of calories burned! You burn calories whether or not you move (just breathing burns calories!) so more physical exertion means more cals burned! (IKR...Doy!) You don't need to go all Rocky in your cleaning activities, but definitely move with purpose. I even switch arms when scrubbing or vacuuming for equal effort. (Yes. Yes, I really do.) I've felt sore the next day after having spent 5 hours the day before doing house chores like a boss!

(Click the image to view source)

So you see? You're still getting a workout in when you have to miss the gym. When your moving around the house, move with purpose. Don't just drag yourself from one area to the other... move your derriere! Move at a quick pace (but safely) and you'll burn even more calories! If you're a FIT GEEK you can even run up the stairs (if you have 'em), throw in some squats while sweeping, flex those arms when dusting, or while you're on the floor grabbin' at dust bunnies do a few pushups! Even chase the kids around the house in between tasks! You can even assign them little things to do! Kids love being involved!

Make that TADA list and get it done one by one. Before you know it you'll be done! (Hey, that rhymed!) What's a TADA list, you ask? It's a celebration of what's done instead of the drudge of what's to come.
I'll let Candy explain!

It may sound oddball, but it really is like a workout so as you would before working out, I recommend stretching so you don't pull something. Also, here's one of several online calculators I found to give you an idea about how many cals are burned while cleaning (and other activities). http://calorielab.com/burned/

HAPPY EXER-CLEANING!

Different decade, same work!

Oh, and since I shared the Candy video, thought I'd show you the shirt!

My TADA shirt! Click the pic (or here) for more!

♠♥u

Celebrating a Personal Win

 This is me celebrating a personal win!

Went for a 5-mile run this morning and there's a pretty sloped hill on the route I could never make, especially since I was already running up to it! I'd be just about out of breath not even halfway up. I told that hill I was going to beat it one day. Today was that day. I wanted to stop halfway up, I was crazy hot, and struggling to keep my pace. Yes, I was out of breath at the top, but dammit I got there. I'd love to say I run the full 5 miles but I'm not there yet. I end up basically running intervals but I continue to challenge myself. When I'm not running I'm power walking. If I feel like stopping I pick up the pace. I know I would've done so much better still if I wore my Camelbak for hydration. I thought I could make the run easier without the distraction of my dogs, but that heat is no joke these days. So my energy was being sucked right out with every step. 

I reached Starbucks and decided to hydrate! I walked in a drippy, sweaty, hot mess. No makeup, red in the face, and a bit swollen from the heat and exertion. I always clean up and use body spray and deodorant before running so I can stink pretty, but I'm quite sure by the time I made it to Starbucks that just wasn't the case.

So I ordered an ice cold and a very clean Cool Lime Refresher. Oh it truly was refreshing!! Just look at it! Aaahhh! I walked while I finished it and actually felt my insides cooling off. After being in a cool building and finishing a cold drink I had new found pep in my step so after tossing the cup in a convenient trash bin along the trail I finished my run strong!

But wait! There's more win! Before stepping in the shower I stepped on that unforgiving scale and discovered I'm now down 5lbs. For the last 3 weeks, despite my clean eating and all the running and working out, my scale read the same numbers time and time again. I felt stronger, had more stamina, and even slept better. So I knew I was definitely making strides (pun intended) with my fitness, but I wasn't seeing it in the numbers. I hit one of those "out of the clear blue" moments. You know those moments... where you're kickin' your own butt, not seeing any results then BAM! Out of the clear blue your pants are loose or the scale's showing lower numbers! I do prefer to rely more on the tape measure than the scale, but it's hard not to step on that thing when it's glaring up at me on a daily basis!

I keep a fitness journal as well. It's on my nightstand and every night I write down what I did for exercise that day and how the meals went. I don't write anything if I've not exercised. Hm. Wish I could copy and paste this blog into my personal journal!

Taken in an air-conditioned car a

few hours after the 5-mile run!

This is my friend, Lisa Lavie singing The Climb by Miley Cyrus. Lisa's powerful vocals do this song justice and it's the perfect outro to my blog. I beat that hill... but there's always gonna be another mountain. I'm always gonna wanna make it move. There's always gonna be an uphill battle. Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose. It ain't about how fast I get there. It ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb...

♠♥u

Lacuna Coil

I'm a fan. They're an Italian Goth Metal band from Milan. The name apparently means empty spiral (thanks, Wikipedia). Cristina Scabbia's vocals mixed with Andrea Ferro's and that metal vibe could quite possibly be the definition of cool. Haha! Okay, we all have our perception of cool. This is one of them for me. I first heard Our Truth in the movie Underworld: Evolution. When I heard that song I searched for it and ultimately purchased the whole album. Instant fan.

 

I was very happy to discover Dark Adrenaline was released January of this year. I started listening to samples from this album on Amazon a few days ago and thought, "Really? You're gonna waste your time listening to samples knowing you're just gonna get them all anyway." Yep. Done. And yep. I talk to myself. Here's a little gem from their new album.

They were touring for "Gigantour" (2012) with Megadeth, Motörhead, and Volbeat. So if you're a full-on metal head, that was the tour for you! I've been verrrry selective which concerts, if any, I want to attend since having to sit in the nosebleed section catching only the reverb of New Edition bouncing off the arena's ceiling. Um, no thank you. Near the stage with real-time audio, please. And yes. I said New Edition. Not exactly (or even close to) Gothic Metal, but they were the definition of cool at the time.

While I'm really only familiar with Lacuna Coil's "Karmacode" and "Dark Adrenaline", I submit to the allure of both of these albums in their entirety.

 One of my dreams would be to perform with a band like Lacuna Coil. Or No Doubt. #Segue

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