Blog Intentions

Sorry I haven't written in a while, life has been a bit busy. I travel on occasion for my job, so some evenings I'm simply too tired to jump online. Next week I'll be out of town so there will not be any postings from me until I get back.

On to today's thoughts:

Lately I've allowed myself to become stressed-out, overwhelmed, frustrated in general, and dare I say it, negative. I've allowed it to affect my home life, my work life, my recreational life and my relationships with friends.

So, in order to prevent a fate like Artax's, in the Swamp of Sadness, I've come up with this blog. I'm exercising my happy muscles! I'm reminded of a quote from one of my favorite movies (Hmmm, sounds like another list in my future):

"...[T]here's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst...And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my...life...."

I have moments like that. I guess that's why I like that quote so much. I just don't want to forget that those moments are there, that they are all around me. I want to use this blog as a medium for recording those moments.

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More Shinzen

In the garden there is a koi pond. When I’m there I like to feed the fish- they get really excited and jump all over each other competing for the food. Not this time, it was too darn cold. These poor fishies were so cold that they huddled together under the deck and did not move. Normally, when people walk on the deck, the fish start splashing around maneuvering for position. When I stepped on the deck, nothing happened.


Can you see the fish in the water to the left of garbage can?

These pictures aren’t very good; I’m not a professional photographer or anything. I just thought it was weird that they were so still.

This last one is my favorite. The four (five?) fish look like cars in a parking lot.

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Visit to Shinzen Garden

Today I went to the Shinzen Japanese Garden. It's one of my favorite places on our planet. Although the day was gray and cold, the blossoms were well on their way.

I like going to the garden, it's my sanctuary, my church. The garden has sections that represent all four season. Obviously the spring is the best time to visit the Haru section, when the sakura (cherry blossoms) are dazzling.

Spring has come early to the Shinzen, blossoms have begun to make an appearance. I hope the next rain doesn't blow the blossoms off the trees. I want to be able to return to the garden and take some pictures of the blossoms under the sun. Until then, these will do for now. (^ ^)

A wonderful bonus, as well as a small fear, of visiting the garden are the beautiful non-human visitors. Peacocks. I love them but they scare me a bit. Once, when I was a young girl, I was chased across this park by one of these mean fellows. I have since become very apprehensive around them, and boy can they smell it. I try to keep a safe distance (and thank God for optical zoom) but when they catch a glimpse of me, they start walking straight for me. I slowly walk away, and they stay right with me. Today was a five peacock day. There were five peacocks inside the garden, just minding their own business. That was very good for me. Only one of them decided to pay me some attention, but lucky for me it was closing time and I was rescued by a security guard.

I have more pictures from today's visit, I'll have to post another entry on this visit tomorrow. At some point this week I'm going to work on my flickr account to get all of the usable pictures posted. I took over one hundred pictures today--koi fish, peacocks, the waterfall, and Japanese lanterns. I even have older pictures of the garden that I eventually want to post too, just for interest sake. I need to dig them up first.

http://www.shinzenjapanesegarden.org/

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List Time!!!

It's time for a list. This will be my very first list to post on my pretty little weblog. I plan on posting lots of lists as I am inspired. Maybe I'll keep a list of the times I post a list, and then post that list at the end of the year. Did you hear that? It kinda sounded like this strand of the multiverse collapsing in on itself. (^ ^)

Yvette Z.'s List of....

Actors I like:
(in alphabetical order)

001. Steve Bradley (Meatballs IV)
002. John Cusack
003. Willem Dafoe
004. Johnny Depp
005. Vin Diesel
006. Maggie Gyllenhaal
007. Kevin Kline
008. Hugh Laurie
009. Jet Li
010. David Marciano
011. Joaquin Phoenix
012. Jean Reno
013. Alan Rickman
014. Tony Shalhoub
015. Kevin Spacey
016. Tilda Swinton
017. Emma Thompson
018. Stanley Tucci
019. Ken Watanabe
020. Steve Zahn
021. ...more to come

Notice I titled this list "Actors I Like". Now this no way implies that I think all of these actors are good actors, or even know how to act. Some are on this list only for their hotness factor, some are on this list because I've liked certain characters they portrayed, or certain movies they appeared in.

Yvette Z.
The Actor Collector

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Addendum Report

I forgot to mention something with my last post.

I set my trainer up for New Year's because I wanted to ride in the new year.

I got a late start because I had some technical issues with my quick-release skewer, but by 12:30 AM I was on my bike and pedaling away while watching Breaking Away. I even cued the movie to where Dave is drafting the semi truck (in the small ring to the observant), so I could imagine doing something crazy like that myself. It was fun.

I only did a few miles because I didn't want to be up all night. I had to be at my aunt's house early for breakfast with the family, an annual tradition, involving large amounts of menudo. Afterwards we all went to the movies, an evolving tradition, to see King Kong. Okay they went to see King Kong, I saw Memoirs of a Geisha (for the third time).

I think it was a good way to usher in the new year. My hope is that my desire to ride that day will stay with me through December 31. I want it to remind me on days that I may not feel like riding, that it's always a good thing to ride, and that any day I ride is a good day.

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Me and My Trainer

At the end of December I went to Costco and I bought myself a trainer. For those of you in the multiverse that are not familiar with all things cycling, a trainer is a heavy, expensive gadget that allows you to take your "real" bike and turn it into a stationary bike. The purpose of doing this is so on cold, dark, rainy January evenings I can ride my bike while watching episodes of Alien Nation on DVD. In other words-- NO EXCUSES!!!

Sidebar: In posts related to cycling, I'm sure I'll be talking a lot about 3 cyclists in particular: Tony, Carlos, and James. I'll introduce them eventually, but I just wanted to give readers a heads up.

I have some heavy (for me) cycling goals this year, so I needed to get started early. That's why I bought the trainer.

One thing about trainers: They are boring!!! Ask any cyclist. That's why most of the world's trainers are parked in front of big TV's. I have spent 9+ hours out there, in God's beautiful country, in the name of a bike ride. How long do I last on my trainer? 30 minutes. Pathetic isn't it?

Tony recommended to me some items that would help me ride my bike in inclimate weather. Good advice, it really is, but I don't see myself going out there. I'm just not hardcore. Insane, yes, hardcore, no. I'll leave that to all the Lance-like cyclists out there like Tony and James. I'd rather spend 30 minutes spinning to nowhere brushing up on my Tenctonese.

There is a downside to all this trainer business, it really messes up the tires. My rear tire is developing a flat strip where it comes in contact to the roller. The trainer instructions should have warned me about it. I emailed Tony in a panic thinking I was doing something horribly wrong, but he was kind enough to set me straight on that. Thanks Tony!

I'm up to 30 minutes at a time, 4 days a week. There is room to improve, but I'm please with those numbers. For the beginning of my training season I use this formula: If X>0, then X= all good. (^ ^)

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The Good (Lists), The Bad (Lists), and The Ugly (Lists)

Thank goodness for 3-day weekends! Sometimes we just need that extra day.

On Friday evening I pulled out my phalaenopsis-printed list pad and made the mistake of making a list of everything I wanted to accomplish this weekend. It was a long list. I knew that I could not possibly accomplish everything that was on this list, but I wanted to make it a game and see exactly how much of it I could get accomplished.

I take great pleasure in crossing something off a list. If I perform a task that is not on the list, I'll put it on the list just for the satisfaction of crossing it off. I know I'm not the only person out there who does odd things like this either.

Well, if my list was a game, I lost. I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Which is usually the case when I make a list of things to do. I enjoy making lists, but I know that if I make a list of things to do, I will pretty much jinx myself and not get anything I write down accomplished.

On the topic of lists...

If you asked me what my hobbies were, I would give you a list, and making lists would be on that list. I'm just weird that way. I enjoy making lists: my likes, my dislikes, my desires, even simple things like imaginary grocery lists for state dinners. Reasons why to do things. Reasons why not to do things. I have absolutely no idea where this hobby comes from, but I just accept it. I consider it a unique trait, most others might consider this worrisome for early evolving Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

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One January Evening

It's a cold January evening in central California.

But inside my head, it's a warm sunny day. I'm sitting under the cherry blossoms in the Shinzen Garden. The koi aren't what they used to be, but they're young, and they'll grow.

Happy New Year!

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