Yoda Yoga

With an estimated  20 million people in the U.S. alone yoga can hardly be called a fad. Yoga has been practiced globally for over 5000 years with more and more of  it mental and physical benefits being discovered each year.  

Probably the most common misconception many people have when first beginning yoga is that in order to practice it you have to be as flexible as an olympic gymnast. NOT TRUE! During yoga many of the poses performed help to relieve the body of its lactic acids, making you feel less tense, stiff and may even help to reduce pain. According to Web M.D. From your muscles to your soft tissues recent studies show that after an 8-week yoga regiment overall flexibility increased in participants by 35%. 

Yoga also has great benefits when it comes to improving your overall strength.  As stated at life.gaiam.com, instead of using weights to help build and tone the muscles, yoga uses your own body weight as the resistance which can help to improve overall muscle strength and endurance.

Breathing exercises are also a vital part of yoga and with each deep breathing exercise you help to increase your lung capacity which can lead to an  endurance boost for your body.  Also with the long lingering breathing techniques yoga can help to relax the body, reducing the amount of stress.

Yoga's popularity continues to increase as well as the health benefits known to it's practicers. As it is still being researched by medical professionals nationwide, yoga is an excellent way not only to improve your body, but you mind and soul as well. 

The Toonseum will be hosting Yoda Yoga Nov 1^st at 7:30pm. Get destressed by Yoda-inspired poses as you zen out in the Toonseum's first ever Yoga class.  This class is suitable for both beginners and intermediate. If you do not own a yoga mat, please bring a beach towel for comfort.  For more information please go to http://geeks-rule.eventbrite.com.  

Namaste 

(blog I wrote for the Toonseum)

Busy Busy

I am actually getting a lot to do this week with my internship.  Tuesday I got to decorate the front window for halloween, which meant putting out all the zombie and scary graphic novels we have out on display.  From the Walking Dead to Monster Machine (the current exhibit we have in one of the galleries).   Today I got the surprise when Mandi announced that the other interns along with myself would completely plan the Christmas Party for this season.  The initial feeling was OH YAY then came the OH NO immediately after.  I am glad to have this experience, one of the main reasons i wanted to do this internship at this museum was because of all the events they had. To get a taste of how to plan and coordinate an event for future reference.  But now that this opportunity has come its very scary. I want to do so well and make this event a big hit for everyone involved.
The rest of this week is Halloween galore with 2 parties back to back, one for the adults and one for the kiddies.   I have my crown and bracers  for wonder women and i hope to have some fun and maybe make a few new friends.

10 things that are now 10 min away

So living in a very small town means we really don't have many major chain stores close to us. Now being in a city I have to say it is very exciting have many of these stores close to me so I thought I would make a quick list.
(Everything I am going to list is at least an hour and a half if not farther from my home town.)

1. Walmart
2. Best Buy
3. Zoo
4. Game Stop
5. Barnes & Noble
6. Art Museum
7. Ballet/Opera House
8. Mall/Clothing Stores
9. Public Transportation (Subway)
10. Sports Stadium

An Evening of Terror with Doug Bradley

On my second day working at the Toonseum I was fortunate enough for it to fall on today Oct 17 for their current event soon to take place An Evening of Terror with Doug Bradley.

Doug Bradley is a British actor best known as Pinhead in "Hellraisers", with his haunting voice and experience with all things terrifying  I am sure to be looking over my shoulder tonight as I walk home tonight. Heres hoping I make it with dry pants.
http://eveningofterror.eventbrite.com/

Update:
The night was a great success, at least it was from my point of view. Being the photographer for the night it was interesting see the amount of people poring in to meet Mr. Bradley, waiting in long lines for a chance to get an autograph and picture.  After the VIP reception the guests headed to the Theater next door to hear Doug Bradley read from a number of classic horror stories from his CD Spine Chillers, including Poe, H.P. Lovecraft  and William Harvey.  With each reading Doug's voice filled the theater with these haunting stories leaving the viewers on the edge of their seats.  Not being a fan of horror i found the evening very entertaining, accept for having to walk up a very dark hill at 11pm I was very happy to make it into my apartment.

Finally Here

Finally made it to Pittsburgh, when I first saw those huge buildings towering over me as I crossed one of the 5 bridges I could see around me I got very excited, didn't last for long though.  Got to my new apartment around 1 and moved in, kept myself busy unpacking but my first night here was not a good one.  I hadn't eaten since 7am that morning and because my stomach was so empty it didn't want me eating anything, a little ironic if you ask me, so I had to deal with my insides hollering at me left and right.  Then as my dad went to bed, he drove me down, I had my first break down. All I could do was cry on the phone to my mom as i fought off the growing nausea, which won later that night.  But after a good nights sleep I felt better.

The Toonseum!

The next morning I decided to brave the trolly. I had never been on one before so it was a new and exciting experience. As I waited for the train I sparked up a very nice conversation with a older women sitting next to me, I wish I would have gotten her name she was so nice and talked about al the good things to do with Pittsburgh and made me feel a lot better about being here. On the trolly I made my first mistake accidentally pressing the emergency button instead of the stop one, good thing I was at my stop and I quickly got off, my facing im guessing beat red. I walk to where my internship was and met the director Joe and program director Mandi. They were so nice and it was funny watching them joke around with each other. I start monday and I am very excited and nervous, who wouldn't be, I want to do so well and get the most out of this experience and also prove to myself that it was all worth it.   So that is the quick summary of the first few days in Pittsburgh with more to come. Cant wait to have internet at my apartment tuesday so I don't have to walk to the McDonalds down the street any more.
"People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives."
J. Michael Straczynski 

Journey Begins

Leaving tomorrow, scared out of my mind, time to grow up.

What i will miss the most. My baby OB1

Hitting Hard

It finally hit me today as I bought my transit monthly pass that i was leaving.  I am trying to calm my self in and keep myself for going into a huge panic attack.   Did I make the right choice? Should I even go? Im so scared! I miss home and I haven't even left yet, my cat, money!?, all these things are going through my head.   3 months, living off of money I have saved over the summer....and I thought being a poor college student was hard.    GAH!!!!!!

Packing

I love packing. I am the kind of person who will unpack just to repack 100 times. But packing for my first apartment is sooo hard, especially since i can only pack what i can fit in the car. I have so many cute decorations mom and me have be collecting over the years and of course i cant bring them.  Being a pack rat its going to drive me off the wall not to cram every nook and cranny with something >.<.    

Iron R mom got me from My Habit, too big to bring with me so it must stay home.