after bikram, i stopped at petsmart and ran into these two. six year old anna is trying to raise awareness about the dolphin slaughter in japan. i din’t get all the specifics, but i thought it was cool that she made the signs and wanted to stand outside of petsmart with them.

this weekend was another two days off from bikram. i wrote earlier that two days off wasn’t showing a dramatic difference in my body, but now i’m really feeling it inside my body.

the other day, my teacher said you “build strength through flexibility.” no lie, i’m feeling way stronger than i ever have. class today was exhausting, an early class, i was still waking up. i din’t know where i was gonna find the strength for the third part of locust, but i din’t even struggle, my core felt so strong. that was the effect of two days off, feeling and being stronger than when i was in the room on friday. okay heartbreakers, see you tomorrow ~m

from the polynesian festival on the wharf.

how was your saturday friends? not only did i bike to the beach and enjoy the sun, i went to the park for the first ever “bobby’s backyard barbeque festival.” two things you may or may not know about me: i hang out in san lorenzo park almost everyday and i love barbeque. the fact that bobby brought one to the other makes him a genius in my blog, i mean, book. this was good eating, mom and dad, you would have enjoyed it. not everyone had fun, some woman named @CaelesP tweeted, “went to rib cookoff today. it was pathetic. 6-8 contestants and a taqueria. not many people there santa cruz is more about vegan than bbq.” hmmmmm, it’s all in your point of view, 6-8 booths to choose from was enough for me. there weren’t a lot of people, but there was a way steady crowd all day. enough squares were around to take over drunk hill and enjoy the bands that played. *plus* the cook-off kept the homeless tweekers out of the park all day. this was my tweet from the actual park: “baking in the park at the barbeque cook-off, r&b jazzy band playing at the duck pond”. you say pathetic, i say awesome, it’s all how you look at it.
just like being in the hot room. your totally hot class is another person’s 90 minutes of bliss. it’s all in your mind, always. see you tomorrow ~m

p.s. check out the pig that din’t enjoy bobby’s backyard bbq festival

part 5 of my “interiors” series, denny’s and another table for one. i’d rather eat at santa cruz diner, but i won’t turn down a free meal. i woke up early for this denny’s breakfast and then i rocked the noon, later that day. i thought the pancakes might be a little heavy, but i had a great class. musta been the maple syrup!

i always eat before class. today, seconds before the noon, i was trying to cram almonds in my mouth. i’d already had some almonds and an apple, so i told myself that was enough. if the buddha could survive on one grain of rice a day, then i can rock a sweltering bikram class with only some almonds and an apple. it’s all in your attitude, in your mind. the second you start doubting yourself, you lose. okay, end of sermon, see you tomorrow, heartbreakers! ~m

nat taylor, steamer lane, santa cruz. at least i *think* that’s nat taylor. how many surfers in santa cruz are sponsored by nike, red bull and target? click on the picture to enjoy the larger version and really see the corporate sponsorship. i think it’s cool. someday i will be a corporate sponsor. can you imagine? i can and from now on, i’m going to start totally expressing these ideas out loud, that way they will come to fruition. if you can see it in your mind, you can make it a reality.

woke up this morning with my back screaming for bikram yoga. oh my god, my spinal column was not happy with me. after sleeping on the floor for the last 4 days, i thought it would be nice to be back in my own futon, but i still woke up in pain. it wasn’t the futon or the floor, it was the lack of bikram for a day. my abs really liked the day off though, so it balances out. it sounds crazy, but i really can see a physical difference in my body with only one day off.

so much for the weekend warrior classes, we got pushed hard today and by triangle, i was feeling hungry and weak. started to get dizzy, but i asked myself, “how do i look in triangle?” visualizing myself strong and confident in triangle, i lost the dizzies and found my strength. see it in your mind and make it a reality. xo,m

p.s. stay tuned for my first photozine, “water: photographs from santa cruz” ~ i will make a living off of my own creativity. artwork on tank tops. photographs. the world is my oyster. and yours.

this is the woman who signed all the lyrics for loverboy. she wasn’t as dramatic as the gregg rolie signer, but she put some emotion into it. despite all the sand, the beach is a pretty fun place to see a band. have a good saturday friends, i’m gonna leave you with some words from vince lombardi:

“the harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”

xo,m

“oh my gawwwd, he’s taking a picture!” santa cruz tweens camped out for the latest twilight movie.

i din’t see the sun once today, what kind of july is this? i swear it was never this gloomy in july. 20 years ago it was may grey and then summer would come around. may gray slowly changed to june gloom but now it seems like it doesn’t start until july.

for being so gloomy out, it was a wonderful day. bikram was awesome, it was another teacher with a good opening breathing exercise. that makes all the difference in the world. the blind guy was in class again today. honestly, i’ve seen a lot of great benders, but the blind guy is prolly one of the most inspiring people i’ve seen in the room. i don’t know if i’m sensitive to sight issues because i’m almost blind myself, but to see him working so hard makes me want to work even harder. like, he is really giving it his all and sometimes he’s facing the wrong direction or he got the directions wrong and is doing something completely different, but still, he’s working so hard, it’s rad. oh my gawwwd, what a run-on sentence.

after class, i roamed around downtown with my favorite teacher. i know i can’t date a teacher, but it felt nice to walk down the street, sharing food with her, introducing her to my hoodlum friends, ha ha. oh, and when she introduced me to her co-workers, i felt like someone else. i know there is nothing there, but today felt like a daydream. see you tomorrow ~m

this was the line at the movie theater last week for the new twilight movie. gotta be honest, i had to look at the girl’s hoodie to remember the name.

well, how was your fourth? do you have all your fingers? i rode my bike around town and said to people “happy fifth of july!” why not? i had such a good day today. i finally got the bikram experience, i’d been wanting since last week. i’d had the same teacher for the last 3 classes and the breathing just wasn’t long enough in any of them. i guess i have stronger lungs than most, but it seems like some teachers short-change you on the opening breathing exercise. after bikram, i rode my bike out to my storage space. i totally killed the hill that used to wipe me out. the last few times i’d gone up this huge incline of a road, i’d pedaled up without too much struggle. make it look easy on a single speed, that’s my style. today, i din’t even notice the hill. i got to the part where i’m almost always winded and i kept pedaling with ease. i surprise myself with how strong i am when it comes to riding my bike, because after that, i went all the way across town to west cliff and rode up *that* hill without struggle too!

don’t be afraid to push yourself further than you think you can go, you’ll be surprised at the results. my friend told me that she’d been getting dizzy during bikram and taking lots of breaks. i told her she was being a wimp. i’m not a teacher, so i can get away with giving bad advice! hey, i get dizzy, light-headed too, but i tell myself to keep going, breathe and i always make it through okay. the hot room has shown me how strong i can be. don’t be afraid to go farther than you think you can, you’re a lot stronger than you think. see you tomorrow ~m