Coaching: San Diego
Santa Cruz Sports Central boys and girls competitive teams performed beautifully this weekend in not-so-sunny southern California. They competed in the 2012 San Diego Classic, hosted by Poway Gymnastics at the San Diego Town and Country Hotel and Conference Center.
The meet in San Diego marks both the the end of last year’s season (girls compulsory) the beginning of this year’s season (boys compulsory and optional and girls optional). For a complete list of San Diego Classic meet results, visit MeetScoresOnline.
Congratulations for the girls, most of whom improved their all around scores, showing that their gymnastics has improved tremendously since their last meet.
As for the Julie (our resident level 9 – optional) and the boys, it was a fantastic beginning of the year! New levels, new routines, tough competition. Julie showed her true colors, competing all around after a week of fighting the stomach flu. She had a number of new skills in her routines and a brand-spanking new floor routine. It was awesome! Congratulations, Julie!
In his first meet as an all around Level 5, Lukas did a great job in all his routines. He scored a 53.4 AA in the tough 9-year-old division.
Trevor, now a “seasoned veteran” level 5 (second year) improved last year’s all around score by a hand-full of points and earned himself a 5th Place All Around medal (and a couple others in individual events too). Way to bring home the hardware, bud!
Will and Zac both competed for the first time as optional gymnasts. This is a HUGE step in their careers and they are stepping up their games and facing the challenge with cool heads hard work. And it is paying off. Their gymnastics in San Diego was clean and elegant. Not only have they improved their own skills tremendously since last year, they also showed that Santa Cruz Sports Central is bringing tough competition to regional and national arena.
Cincinnati or bust!
(Men’s J.O. National Championships, Cincinnati, OH, May 7-13, 2012)
For a complete list of San Diego Classic meet results, visit MeetScoresOnline.
New Hobby?
This week I took on a new project. The act in itself is not out of the ordinary, but the fact that it is a completely new medium to me IS the novelty.
I bought the wood drawing kit at Palace Arts, Downtown Santa Cruz, on sale, of course (post-Christmas sale) and this is the first, and second projects I did with it.
Both pieces of wood came with the kit and I chose my brother’s (Alex) newly acquired home as the subject matter. The sketch of the house is a reproduction of a drawing Lilian (my sister in law) did on my sketchbook , with the ‘help’ of my niece, Isabella, as artistic director — note giant rendition of Don Corleone, the biggest squirrel in the history of urban wild animal encounters.
I’m happy with the results. I look forward to many more hours of burning pine slabs to come.
31 cycling miles
Yesterday was December 24th, 2011… My beloved’s birthday by the way.
Much of the morning was spent at Fins, typing letters to family and friends on my trusty Olympia typewriter. Good times, of course.
When I left, having just had a few too many cups of yummy coffee and a sugary pastry, I was in need of some physical exertion to burn off some of the stored up energy. So, I threw on my helmet, made sure I had my phone with headphones, my wallet and off I went.
First stop: Natural Bridges. That was actually the primary destination of the trip, but as I got closer and closer, the weather proved too good for such a short ride, so I decided to keep on biking all the way to Davenport – 11 miles from THAT point.
But, did I mention too many cups of coffee? So I was forced to make a quick stop at the Natural Bridges gift shop, where there is a public bathroom… Wow, that was perfect place/time to break up the ride.
And so I went on my merry way, pumping good tunes through my brand new Bose headphones; watching the waves and surfers on this beautiful high tide coast of ours; being watched by the red-tailed hawks; and feeling great about the fact that my post-trip-coughing-out-a-lung has been temporarily replaced by the fresh cool coastal breeze on my face and in my lungs. Every breath (albeit full of carbon monoxide from the speeding vehicles passing me by along the highway) brought new life into my body. No more jet-lag from the Brasil trip, no more sleep deprivation, no more chest cold… Well… LESS chest cold anyways!
Arriving… Slooowly
It’s bee WELL over a full day of travel (even if I had not crossed 5 time-zones!). Right now I’m at Galeão Airport (Rio, Brasil), sitting at a cafe in the nearly-empty terminal. I’m at a normal table cuz all the booths are taken by sleeping airport workers. Kinda cool, actually.
The photo is of Kenzo and I a few hours ago when he drove a few hours (that’s right) to hang out about 40 minutes with me. It was AWESOME to see my amazing friend again and to see videos on his phone of his baby boy was supah kool!!! Thank you, Kenzrock for making this LONG trip SOOOO much more enjoyable. You had me giddy for an hour while I waited for your arrival, then Jazzed for many more after our rendezvous.
Now, I have a few more hours before My next (and I hope last) leg of the trip to Floripa. Not sure if it is a correct flight… Probably not… But I’m almost there.
Added bonus… Being practically alone in the Second biggest airport in Brasil.
Grooving, on a Sunday afternoon
This is Fatboy. He’s… Well… Large.
As the weather in Santa Cruz continues to grace us with beautiful sunny mornings, the not-so-fabulous part is that the air insists on being über-chilly! SO, this beast shows up every morning at our doorstep to warm up on the porch.
Love it!!!
First Meet of the Year
I just wanted to record my excitement about the season starter meet we just had and to take a moment to express how proud I am of the boys for their performance this weekend.
The meet, Judges Cup, took place at San Mateo Gymnastics on Sunday Morning.
More details to come.
Happy Anniversary, my love and angel.
A picture is worth a thousand words… or in this case… one, ever-growing feeling: Love.
I just wanted to take a moment to share one of the most amazing visual representations of my relationship with the best partner in the world. (thank you Chunyi for capturing the moment)
That’s right! There is a plethora of tear-jerking metaphors within this image, and I would like to share some of my thoughts about it, here and now.
To begin with the source: Here After Here (Tandy Beal and Co) – The show about life, death and everything before, during and after. Thank you Tandy for allowing us to share the stage with so many wonderful artists; to be part of the production that most profoundly changed my life in the recent years. Thank you especially for having me do this WITH my beloved.
Saki, in THIS particular scene where we, so colorfully dressed, gaze into each other’s eyes; without words I ask you for more tea and you, with a smile that melted my heart EVERY TIME, consent. Then I get to watch you fill my cup, continually. . . I am simultaneously thirsty and content. . . Time: eternally standing still. . . oooohhh the metaphors give me the goose pimples!
Today, we celebrate 17 glorious years of being partners and sharing this amazing wide life; a long time getting to know one another, yet, each and every day I get to wake up next to you, in awe that today I love you more than yesterday. I am thrilled, giddy with excitement every time I realize that there is SO much we have yet to experience, learn, feel, do. Each time I said “I can die now” (and I meant it EVERY time), I was joyful, content, satisfied, and [truly] happy.
And each and EVERY time, WAS the best moment in my life! Each and every time I loved you MOST right there and then. And, each and every time, you filled my cup even fuller, with your beacon of eternal and endless compassion, peace and LOVE.
I love you more now.
Working Late
So, tonight I am working a bit late at the gym (Santa Cruz Sports Central) and snooping around in the photos folder to see if there are any good pictures of me… there are (of course) so here are a few from the last few years of gymnastics fun in (or with) the Santa Cruz folks.
Enjoy!
old school… no corrective ink
Educate. Do not hate!
BACKGROUND
This post is a response to a video my friend Mo posted on Facebook earlier today. I was horrified by the shocking images and think it’s important to share the information as an educative tool.
The video, uncovered by Swiss Animal Protection/EAST International and distributed by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), is an attack on the fur industry.
Please BEWARE OF GRAPHIC IMAGES SHOWING CRUELTY TOWARDS ANIMALS in the video.
Link to original (longer version) of the video: http://bit.ly/9sS4Nu
MY RESPONSE:
Mo and other responders to the video post,
Do not hate!
“People” make terrible choices everyday. Whether it’s in their struggle for survival in some countries, working for atrocious wages to feed their families in others, or even the more “civilized,” who claim to fight/kill/etc for whatever perceived righteous belief and/or principle.
I am horrified by these graphic images. To me they show that humanity has sunk deep into the hole it has dug — starting to look more and more like a grave, ain’t it? — I am saddened that WE have created this spiraling socio-economic behavior of supply AND demand!!!
Do not hate, for we are all part of the problem AND (here is when/where the paradigm MUST shift) we are ALL PART OF THE SOLUTION.
The actions shown in the video are horrific, but your reactions frighten me even more.
Thank you for sharing. Continue to educate… But I beg you, do not hate!
SUGGESTION:
P.E.T.A. has many marketing approaches. May I suggest one what is much more… how should I put it… UPLIFTING take on the subject:
