You Spin Me Right Round

So one of my other New Year's Resolutions is to get back into shape and gain a bit of weight. And I have fallen in love with the Spin RPM class at my gym.

Me and my friend, Byrnesy, went a couple weeks ago and HATED it! We got there late and had to jump on and quickly adjust the seats of our bikes while the disco/black lights were already bouncing crazy patterns around the room. I walked out with a sore butt and a bruised knee as I had my seat too far forward and banged my knee on the brake lever everytime I sat back down from 'riding high'.

The following week though, we decided to give it another shot. Byrnesy had her very hot biker shorts on ( which I think made all the difference) and we got there with enough time to get some guidance from the instructor. And then, we were off, right round baby right round like a record baby right round round round. It was amazing! There was one point when I was peddling to the beat, as hard and as fast as my little legs could go and I found it...that place where your mind is drowned out by the beating of every cell in your body. You aren't thinking 'Move your legs...push harder,' you just ARE.

I will be honest and say that I didn't up the resistance everytime she said 'Give me more!' in that Australian accent of hers...or maybe it is South African, but anyways, I was sweating by the end of it and felt so awesome. I LOVE it! Eat your heart out Pete Burns!!

Lynn: For your New Year's Resolution

Dave's Mozzarella Tomato Basil Pasta Salad

Fresh mozzarella

Fresh basil

Sun-dried tomatoes (I like the ones that are already in a olive oil marinade)

Fresh tomatoes

Olive oil

Penne pasta

( I like to add roasted pine nuts to it too)

1. Boil and then drain pasta.
2. Cut up mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.
3. Drizzle pasta with olive oil and then toss in all other ingredients.
4. Season with salt and little pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy with a nice red wine...Chianti perhaps?

nihon ga natsukashii

I went to see Memoirs of a Geisha last weekend and although I heard that if you had ever been to Japan you wouldn't like it...and yes, I did know the three main actresses were Chinese, I still enjoyed it. The cinematography was beautiful and because I had read the book so long ago there were only bits and parts that I remembered about the story. My favorite scene is after she first meets the Chairman, when she is running through the red toriis and offers up her prayer to make her a geisha so she could meet him again. I have been to Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto and have offered up my own prayers there as well. I also love the scene where she is under the cherry blossom tree with the Chairman. I never got a chance to experience Hanami while I was there. I would love to go back and get drunk off sake and clouds of pink sakura.

I enjoyed Memoirs mostly because it made me miss Japan very much. It took me back to a place that part of me will always call home. I miss all my wonderful friends that embraced me into their lives while I tumbled through nihon no seekatsu. I miss the way beauty in everything is appreciated, from the luminous neon lights of Tokyo to the frothy bubbles of a bowl of tea. Being in London where the greyness permeates every part of living, I miss the bold strokes and soft flow of color that constanly inspired me to paint and ponder the brillance of a simple life.

A brand new notebook

I realized that I have been very hesitant to create any new entries. It's like writing in a new notebook for the first time. Fresh blank pages. Only my very best handwriting. No mistakes. Everything perfect. Isn't it time to get a bit messy?

2006 Res-EYE-lutions

It's a new year and I love being able to start anew. A blank canvas. It is probably the one time in the year that everything seems exceptionally dreamable and achieveable. I am so focused on what's in front of me rather than what is behind me...and let me tell you the view is beautifully terrifiying.

James took me to the London Eye at the start of the year so that we could share our New Year's Resolutions with each other at the very top. He has been wanting to take me since we first came to visit London. And four years later, thirty minutes confined in a capsule 135 metres above the London skyline...still didn't sound like my idea of fun. I refused to move from my seat in the middle of the capsule, as I was too afraid I was going to faint or go crazy with an anxiety attack. But I continued to breathe and survived.

One of my resolutions was to be better at keeping in touch with the people I love...and so I started this blog. I am still a bit of a novice at the whole html thing and if I waited until I actually had time to teach myself html so that I could create my own website, it would never happen. So, going to start slow and use this for a bit until I can move on to creating my own website.

We'll see where it takes me.