Crowd Teasers at the Arnold

While at the Arnold Classic, I met Hayley McNeff. I had only seen photos of her online, but she is a stick of dynamite in person! We had fun at the Hyatt Bar, teasing local fans, where I proceeded to school Hayley in the fine art of reverse head scissors and headlocks on grown men. Kristal, aka "Buffbunny" was there to make sure I was properly fueled with tequila with camera in hand. Gene Hwang of www.Genex.com was there to capture the festivities on film until his camera ran out of battery juice. That deserved a serious ass kicking in an of itself, but I let him slide this time.

Hayley, in her early 20's, just began competing in bodybuilding a few years ago. Let's just say she has an extremely bright future in whatever she chooses to do in the physique industry, as she has amazing lines and a beautiful face.

I just decided to post these photos, as teasing the crowd and interacting with them is perhaps one of the most rewarding aspects of being in this industry.

I am back in Albuquerque!

I finally made it home to Albuquerque. Amsterdam was great, got to finally meet Xander and Lethal Veronica and did a bit of videowork. Xander makes it to the USA a few times a year. He has a great eye for vidwork, and I will most certainly be shooting with him again. Then it was off to Den Haag to visit Sas and my old friends at Kneets. I will make a more comprehensive post, but I am on a weird schedule again, recovering from my jet lag and being in five different time zones in the past few days tends to make me just want to sleep like a cat. All day, and whenever I want...LOL! I had a great visit everywhere I went. NYC turned out to be quite busy as well, as I did some video shoots with a couple of great guys. Also, I performed my first overhead lift and carry; something I have been wanting to do for quite some time, but never really practiced it. The liftee was 150 pounds, but once I nailed it, I lifted him several times, and I captured it all on video! So, my mid to lower back is a bit tight, and a little sore, but not in pain. It's an "okay" kind of sore, and not "bad", if you know what I mean. I will post more later, but I am going back to sleep.

Leaving London for Amsterdam

London is one of my favorite cities in the world. It reminds me of NYC, only with older buildings and an entirely different judicial system and culture. Until you really spend a lot of time in London, an American will always feel like an outsider. They have a different language and jargon, euphemisms, and humour, and if you are not keen, you will miss it entirely.

Amsterdam, on the other hand, is much more earthy, and the people are a true melting pot. Perhaps it has to do with people riding around on bikes, public transportation and mini cars that humbles humanity. It is such a beautiful thing that the Dutch could give a fuck less about what kind of transporation they have! I have to get up very early for my fight, and I must ensure I do not get to the airport too late. So, I will post more later when I am well rested.

Cheerio!

Arnold Classic Expo 2010

I made it to the Arnold Classic bodybuilding event this year. The last time I was there was in 2008. I appeared at Quincy Taylor's booth for www.Probodybuilding.com and had a lot of fun. Brandy Mae on left. Isn't she a cutie pie? I will write more later, but I have to catch the Russian Turkish Bath house here in NYC to sweat out the toxins and tequila (and vodka!) that has built up on my body for the past few weeks. I bought a punch pass a year and half ago and I only have one visit used out of seven.

Arnold Classic Weekend

Quincy Taylor at the www.Probodybuilding.com booth and yours truly. I worked the booth for a few hours on Saturday, and had a great time chatting with friends and fans. It has been two years since I attended the Arnold Classic Expo, and it was great to see people I have not seen in a while. Quincy's girlfriend, Brandy, was also at the booth

Kneet's Gym, Opendag, Den Haag, Netherlands, February 2008

Peter Kneetman, owner of Kneet's gym in Den Haag, Netherlands, held an opendag, or an open house for the community to visit with all of the resident bodybuilders. It was a great turn out.

Since Sas, Peter, and I were all training partners, people were used to seeing us at the gym, but in a non social manner, because we were too busy trying to lift heavy weights and pack on muscle---all serious business. A lot of former bodybuilders turned up and it turned into one big party, everyone posing for the community and it was a lot of fun. It was at this juncture when I was over there, that I learned that the Dutch take their work and play very seriously, and they never discount holidays and the good life and times with family and friends. I will never forget how the community in Den Haag treated me, and accepted me as one of thier own, and I will be glad to return in just another week to say hello to my old friends.

Long Hiatus!

I generally apologize for not posting in the blog for so long. In one way, I am very sorry to my dear friends who have been following my blog and have noticed that there has been a bit of a lag in my posts. Well, after the European tour in October, I decided to take a brief hiatus from my work, as it becomes quite exhausting and takes a lot of energy. A big part of my business is getting stronger, and focusing on my own training regime. So, I decided to throw myself into my training, and relaxing around the holidays, at the expense of the blog and other business related things. There is a time and place for everything, and all things in life have a natural cycle, and I have learned to not defy my body's own natural cycles, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I allow my heart to guide the direction of my life, and when this happens, I am always happy and I grow.

As a woman ages, I think she gets better with time, physically and emotionally. It is her duty to listen to what her mind, body and spirit is telling her at all times. This goes for men as well. But, I can only speak from my own experience. I feel stronger, and healthier than ever now that I have taken some rest from travel and business pursuits and tune into my body.

I have written in my earlier post that I am going to pursue my Russian Kettlebell Certification. I am confident that I will make the certification requirement with the 16kg of 100 snatches in the five minute test. Around November, I did the 5 minute test with a 20kg and made 100 snatches. Although, I did it "Hardstyle", and there is a big difference between the way one holds the RKB and hand positioning. So, I bought several instructional DVDs from Mike Mahler, and have been studying his form on the basic lifts. I met him for a one on one instructional lesson, and he fine tuned my hand positioning for the snatches, that will ultimately save my hands. I think with the hardstyle form, it will be all too easy to get blisters on the hand, and also, it precludes form high level snatching with anything over 20-24kg. So, I am going to begin focusing on this movement. Also, heavy swings always do the trick for conditioning as well.

I am currently at the Arnold Classic, and I have not been to this show in two years. The last time I was her was when I was with Saskia in 2007. So, it will be great to meet and greet fans again. After that, I am off to London and Amsterdam to meet Saskia! She is going open a nutritional store in her home town, Den Haag, and I am so happy for her. I just began taking an amazing product, and I am pleased to show her so she and her clients can reap the benefits. I have never felt so vibrant and energetic, not to mention, calm and balanced. If you would like more information on the product, you may contact me via email personally at gladiatorgirl@aol.com . I am so excited to visit Sas and Peter at Kneet's Gym in Den Haag! I haven't seen them all in over two years now.

This Spring, aside from the RKB certification in April in Minneapolis, I am going to focus on much more artistic work for the website. I am also in the process of revamping it, and this is quite a big project. So, it has been in the works as well. When I take time off from the blog or creative writing, it's all for good reason and self improvement! I am also working with a Turkish illustrator/artist, and we are going to begin work on a fantasy book. He does some amazing fantasy sketches. Mostly erotic images of demons, creatures, and me doing what I do. I get turned on looking at these images! I will ask him for permission to post one here. Just to give you a little teaser. I will write the fantasy stories and he will do the illustrations. I am hoping we can pitch it to a big publishing company like Taschen. I think it will be very unique and I am anxious to begin writing the stories.

I will also be making another guest appearance in San Diego March 28-31 for the American Indian Institute, Oklahoma University Native Wellness Conference at the Town Center Hotel. I was a keynote speaker in 2003 for this organization. You may email me for more information.

So, as you can see, it has been a very busy and productive first quarter of the year. I am looking forward to sharing more exciting news with you soon, so please stay tuned!