“They tried to make me go to rehab, I said no, no, no…”

Actually, I said, “yes, yes, yes,” but it sounds much more soulful and rebellious the way Amy Winehouse sings it.

I’ve been lax in my blogging again lately, so you’re gonna get a long one. You don’t need to admit that you only read thru the 5th sentence : .)


I Hope the Magic Doesn't Wear Off Anytime Soon

Today I did my 2nd aqua jogging session. “Aqua jogging” you say? More therapy/rehabilitation as prescribed by the hot Dr. Steve. I recruited a coach in the form of MadRetz, who after witnessing the clipping on of the dorky-looking aqua jogger belt (yes, I had to buy more equipment), directed me thru correct form, body angle, arm & leg action for aqua jogging. Leg action described as “stomping on grapes.” I think I like that analogy, I can fantasize about drinking wine instead of the pain in my butt and the fact that I still can’t run.

Aqua jogging aka grape stomping, supposedly burns 3.5 more calories per minute (for a total of 11) than running on land, because of the flailing, um, I mean water resistance. And its non-impact too. The perfect exercise. Terrell Owens used aqua jogging therapy to maintain his fitness and heal his broken ankle and he was ready to run to the end zone in SuperBowl XLI in 6 weeks. (I’m a sucker for a good story, obviously.)

Coach Mad cracked the whip, uh, encouraged me thru my first 25 minute session. She’s a great coach! In my never ending quest to find a physical activity that Mad & I can share, I kept mentioning how great this exercise was, how easy, and suggested she get an aqua jogging belt and join me in the pool. (I promise to never tease you for looking like a dork while wearing the belt!) At least this didn’t get me "that look"

Weekend Art

Go to Nudge-Nudge to see Skully Love and my Ode to Starbucks collage. I also worked on an acrylic paint collage, but I made that into cards and they’ve all been sent, so you can’t see that. Skully Love was inspired by the set design in Avril Lavigne’s song/video Girlfriend on YouTube. If you wanna, you can see it here. Warning: Explicit lyrics!

A Bug Only a Mother Can Love

My work related trip to Chicago went well. Can you believe that I actually volunteered to manage someone else’s meeting, especially since I hate to fly and since I have to go back there in September? Crazy-ness. Fringe benefit of the trip was the cicada experience. The local cicadas (Magicicada septendecim, Magicicada cassini, and Magicicada septendecula) are on a 17 year cycle and they were emerging from hibernation while I was there. They make this insane noise, 'cause there's like 5 million of them alive at once. There was a park across from my hotel and I went over there to photograph the bugs and all the hairs on my body were standing on end from the sound they make. I had the heebie jeebies soooo bad, but it was a totally cool experience. They come out of the ground as nymphs and shed their exoskeletons, so there are all these adult cicadas and the exoskeletons are attached where ever they emerged, like on a tree trunk or a plant. The exoskeletons don't fall off. It was really creepy/eerie.


The End - Finally

Last of all, leaving you with a picture of Alex, Sis’s older bro, in his first San Jose Junior Taiko performance. He’s so serious : .) I got the best grin when I complimented him on his form and told him how cool he was because he pounds on drums, even if he's sportin' that funky headband, but I think that's a taiko thang.