two months, no excuses

You can't say, I won't write today because that excuse will extend into several days, then several months, then… you are not a writer anymore, just someone who dreams about being a writer.
- Dorothy C. Fontana

Prior to opening up the new lululemon store at Roosevelt Field, all the new educators have been doing goal setting workshops and examining what each of our goals are for the future - personal, professional, and health. I've always been a goal setter, to a dorky extent, so I'm always surprised to learn that a lot of people never think to set or reach goals, and that's exactly the point these workshops have been getting across. I don't think it was anything that was ever directly taught to me, just indirectly understood to be something you do and continue to do often. So the goal setting concept is nothing new to me, but it was an important refresher nonetheless. It's always good to have things emphasized and rearticulated, to get you back on track.

With that said, it's dawned on me that my writing pursuits have been dragging the past few months, smothered by a horrible case of writer's block/procrastination/fear/perfectionism. So it's time to get back on track. Here are my goals for the next two months -

1) Finish my book, from beginning to end. Begin and continue the revision process as the story moves along. Revision can continue beyond deadline, but I must keep reviewing while I work on a book deal. Keep up the momentum. Don't make excuses.
By when => 8-31-08

2) Launch VM. Organize. Delegate. Reach out. Publicize. Recruit. Write. Inspire.
By when => 8-31-08 (but earlier would be ideal) and beyond

So there you go. Now you know. If I ask to go to the movies, say no. If I want to hang out, say next time. If I want to relax, say get up. If I'm organizing my sock drawer, say you're onto me.

Then remind me to go write.

You know, that thing I do.

when in texas...

All good ideas arrive by chance.
- Max Ernst

Texas, you say? Indeed. I arrived in Texas this past Saturday with my cousin and her husband (or as I like to say, my cousin-in-law), and we've been having a great time. Some relaxing, some exercising, some sightseeing, some more relaxing, and a lot of spending time with family. It's been a nice breather from my usual hectic schedule, but even here I find I've been preoccupied with ideas and things I have to write and do and say and train for and work on and write about yet again. But whatever, I'm a writer, I do a lot of thinking and a lot of writing, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So to summarize, since Switzerland, June has been really busy.

Alex and I participated in our first Genesis Adventures Racing Camp on Saturday, June 7 to prepare for the actual race in August. We went to Wawayanda State Park in NJ, and it was quite the experience. I ended up with a very strange tan - the kind you get when you're out on a lake and in a forest for an entire day. You know, the band where your socks stopped and around your shoulders to clearly demarcate your sleeveless shirt. We kayaked, mountain biked, hiked, and tried desperately to learn how to use a compass. I think Alex did a better job of it than I did, as I was left glaring at my compass and turning in circles while standing in place.

Then there was Soraya's graduation and the many festivities surrounding it. Of course, no surprise there, she left with more awards than I can count, including the coveted gold cords that honor the top graduating students. Was I proud? You bet. Am I left asking how it is that my little sister is suddenly on her way to high school, the very same one that I went to, when it feels like just yesterday she was a little kid waiting for me to come home from school so we could play? Oh yeah. Ah well, such is life. We'll both still always be kids at heart =)

Moving on to the massive amounts of pictures and video I have taken in the past month alone, plus Switzerland, I have a lot - and I mean a lot - to comb through and finally present to everyone. I have, though, managed to do a good deal of printing out of pictures and have showed a lot to the family already. For Father's Day, I gave my dad a small album of only a sampling of the thousands of pictures we took in Switzerland. That same day, we all gave Soraya a scrapbook commemorating her graduation and years in school.

Still, though, a lot more pictures are yet to be printed out, properly sorted, and displayed for all, not to mention the new ones from Texas.

Then there was the Don Quixote course I finished. My paper was entitled "Donkeys, Madmen, and Literature: The Art of Transformation in The Golden Ass and Don Quixote" - which got me a nice A in the class. Or as Yaya would say - I beasted on it.

I've been reading Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star. By my count, I should have been done with it weeks ago, but due to Spanish knights and sheer exhaustion, I'm still plodding along. My critique so far - still an amazing series. Truly awesome. Excellent isn't even the word. It's so good, it still makes me angry =P

So far in Texas, we've been swimming, gone hiking, been mountain biking, visited the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, participated in our first Bikram Yoga class at Bikram Yoga Grapevine (also where some Dallas Cowboys are known to go in the off season, as well as where I walked by a very large NY Jet player) went to the Fort Worth Stockyards where we spent an afternoon with Texas longhorn cattle (where I was so tempted to do my John Wayne impression), visited The Sixth Floor/JFK Museum in Dallas (where outside we saw many intelligent people dodging traffic to get a picture of the X that marks the spot of the shooting), went to Hurricane Harbor, cheered at two baseball games (the Fort Worth Cats and the Texas Rangers), and even bought a house...well, kind of. It was this huge house on sale for about a $1 million, but when we saw the dimensions and realized that on Long Island a house that size could be about $6 million, if not more, we knew it was nothing short of a steal. So in a way, we bought it, and as soon as we get close to one million, we'll move right in.

And that's it really. If you've been wondering where I've been, the answer is pretty much everywhere, always doing something. As for writing, that, too, like my reading has been plodding along, but I am officially dubbing July the month to get most of my book written and completed. It's a major goal, I know, especially considering that I'm also dubbing July the month in which to launch VM.

A lot to do, but we'll get it done.

We always do =)

dance, sing, floss and travel

It only takes one person to change your life – you.
- Ruth Casey

So remember that busy schedule I always talk about? Well, it looks like I've managed to add yet another task to the very long list...and I couldn't be happier =)

I am now a part-time educator at lululemon athletica, at it's brand spankin' new store in Roosevelt Field, Garden City, NY. We open Friday, June 27.

Lululemon is a luxury fitness apparel company that makes truly functional, performance-ready clothing for yoga, running, cycling, dancing, triathlons, gym training, and every other sport that makes you sweat.

It's purpose is simple - to create components for people to live longer, healthier, more fun lives. And it does so by making awesome clothing. I was skeptical at first, that their clothes could be so much better than anything else I've tried, but they are indeed. The clothes are intuitive and stylish, with more wicking potential, ventilating mesh, secret pockets for keys, money, iPods, etc., and choices than I've ever seen.

The reason the clothes are so custom-designed to fit every athlete's needs? Because they're designed by people who are athletes. In fact, everyone who works for lululemon are athletes in one way or another. And so we come to the "educator" part.

Everyone who works on the floor of lululemon's stores are also athletes who are passionate about staying fit and healthy and passing on their knowledge to others. Right now, I am working alongside personal trainers, nutritionists, yoga instructors, writers, therapists, to name just a few of the many occupations and talents involved. In fact, lululemon embraces the fact that its educators are all experts and movers and shakers in their own fields, and its that kind of knowledge that the company needs to grow even more. Not only do we have to know everything about the clothes on the floor - what they're made for, what features they have, what sports they're best for - but we're also expected to impart our personal experience with the clothes from being out on the track, in the studio, on the court, in the mountains, or wherever in them.

So yeah, you could say I'm just a little excited to be working for the company =P

They also have the coolest manifesto I've ever read. See below (click to enlarge). And they're very big on goal setting, too, and seeing their educators set goals within and beyond the company, which has always been a big deal for me, but I've never seen it so widely and positively practiced on a corporate level. The overall philosophy is quite brilliant, and the fact that their sales continue to skyrocket is only a testament to that fact. What's that? You've never seen any advertisements for lululemon? Yeah, well, that's the other thing. They don't advertise the traditional way. For the most part it's a completely organic, grassroots process that happens through word of mouth via educators and people who wear the clothes to fellow athletes and friends.

Quite a novel idea that's really taken off...good stuff to learn from for an aspiring entrepreneur.