Ninja Warrior Video

Cool Flair and Skills I do well

        To those who do not know, yet, I submitted a video for the American Ninja Warrior show.  It was a blast!  I didn't have much time to shoot it, so it is not my best skills, but it is effective and to the point.  I really enjoyed shooting it!  I will try to upload parts of the video on this blog for your enjoyment!  I entered for the fun of it and to watch my friends compete.  I doubt I will do well; however they are looking for women, in particular; so that may work in my favor, grrrr.  Eh, well, I love more reasons and motivation to train.  Parkour!  Parkour!!

Beam

o       Walk balance

o       Cartwheel on beam?

o       QM on beam

o       Backwards

o       With partner, like a dance

Traverse

o       Wall

o       Small with finger grips

o       Rail

Flair

o       Cartwheel

o       Kicks

o       Safety vault

o       Precisions

o       Fight?

o       Climb a tree

o       Hoola hoop jump

o       Shoot an apple with a bow and arrow

Warmup

o       Strides

o       Fit through something small

o       Dance pushups

o       Flexibility and stretches that impress

o       Canoe

o       Flip out of, to water

o       Trampoline tricks

o       Do anywhere workout: swings, etc

Video of Yamakasi, PK Gen and Metro Dash

Create all videos to meet specifications of the competition!

o       Ex) personality, and talking, not just tricks

o       Look at other submissions, now, and previous years, etc

o       What “impresses us”

How To Cartwheel

Edited by Bella

Coached by Daniel Bronnenberg

I learned to cartwheel about 3 weeks ago and have fallen in love with it!  I have even done 4 cartwheels in a row!  My goals are to do a cartwheel on a rail and learn an aerial.  I am so proud that I can already do multiple in a row!

This is how I was taught to do a cartwheel.  They are really fun!  I want to mention that I was taught and supervised by a gymnastics coach and first learned on mats.  Practice safely!

1.     Stand with one foot in front of the other

2.     Arms extend above your head, fingers spread out

3.     Think “arms protect head at all times, and are next to it”

4.     Push off the ground with both legs, sequentially

5.     Kick hard

6.     Legs go over head

7.     Hands on the ground

8.     Before you land on your feet, in the air, snap your hips in line

9.     When you land on your feet again, you are pointed in the opposite direction of how you started

10. That’s it!

The Problem With Nude

Below is an article not written by me.  It was originally published on the blog of etsy.com.  It makes a point I agree with and intend to do something about.  Nude lingerie: nude should include yellow, brown, and black.  For band-aids, bras, and stockings.  To visit the original article, see http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/the-problem-with-nude/

"The Problem With Nude

by chaps676

Feb 11, 2012 

Buying undergarments is hardly a pleasant shopping experience. The choices are overwhelming; questions of material, structure and shape often slow down shopping to tortoise-like speeds. (You’re also forced to contemplate the wobbly bits and problem areas that you’d prefer to banish from your mind.) But for Tara Raines and her recently-formed campaign, “What’s Your Nude,” it all comes down to a question of color. As one of the most popular colors of bras and intimates, “nude” is an ultimately subjective hue. After discovering that her family dyed their underwear to match their skin tone, Raines was shocked. “Now I understand why my mother was so good at dyeing my tights when I was growing up: because there were no brown tights,” Raines said.

Raines and her campaign bring up a greater question: why do companies insist on producing colors labeled “nude,” when varieties of skin tone are infinite in every culture? “For me, nude would be if I wore brown,” said Dodai Stewart, deputy editor of Jezebel. “I do think that it really is exclusionary not to realize that this is not nude for everyone.”

While it may be cheap to create one average, flesh-like color to be marketed to the general public, such a color is so specific that only a small percent of the population could ever claim it as their own skin color. Last year, first lady Michelle Obama wore a gown designed by Naaem Khan, who described the frock as a “sterling-silver sequin, abstract floral, nude strapless gown.” The controversy was thrown into high gear when the Associated Press described the gown as “flesh-colored,” causing several media outlets to criticize the AP; one editor wrote, “Whose flesh? Not hers.” The offending adjective was changed to “champagne.” Since then, fashion writers have asserted that describing colors as “nude” or “flesh” is inherently racist.

The nude debate extends past the fashion world into the market of health, where Band-Aid has long been derided for the limited colors of their adhesive bandage. In response to such an exclusive product, alternatives have popped up on store shelves. Ebon-Aide, a product described as “ethnically correct Band-Aids,” is one of the first health products to recognize the reality of unique skin types. Similarly, a company called Urban Armour offers bandages in a range of flesh tones.

Tara Raines’s Facebook campaign shows that we still have a long way to go when it comes to accommodating physical differences. Over the coming year, her campaign will urge companies to realize that it’s unacceptable not to offer variations in flesh tones when it comes to affordable bras. “Women of color have tremendous spending power in the U.S., and it’s absurd to think that in 2012 we are essentially disenfranchised when we shop for lingerie. It’s my hope that this campaign will drive not only awareness, but swift action by bra makers,”Raines told WWD. For now, Tara Raines’s only option is to buy black bras, hoping that as her Facebook group grows, so will the conversation. There is perhaps no skin type in the world quite like your own; so, what’s your nude?

Parasite in My Eye

To the Parasite in My Eye,
This is my body.  Only good things live in it.  I only support good intentions.  I do Not support you.  You will Not survive.  This is my eye you are invading; the key to heart and soul.  You cannot look into it.  But I can see you.  I provide your food, and I am taking it away.  I am taking away your sustenance.  I am taking away your life.  You cannot live here.  You cannot grow here.  And you definitely cannot mate here.  You will not travel from me, either.  You will die here.
I will eat you.  I need all the nutrition you have taken from my precious eyes.  I need it to repair the damage you have done.  I need it to heal.  My body is stronger than you.  I can order my army of white blood cells against you.  They are many and dominate in their backyard, you are one.  They have been called to arms.  You will Loose.
I do Not support those who take from me.  I do Not support those who do Not ask first.  I do not support bad memories or mistakes.  I do Not support the place you came from.  I will Not take you back North.  I want you to experience Texas, the heat and the humidity and all the wonderful blessings we have.
You will leave me.  You have to.  I deserve clear vision.  I deserve good sight.  I deserve healthy eyes.  I need my eyes.  I use and abuse them everyday.  I read too often to stop.  I control my eyesight and you are Not welcome.  So go.
Be gone.  Do Not trouble me any longer.  You may die here.  I may hold a funeral in your honor.  For it is with honor that you concede your life and recognize that This Is My Body.  You do Not belong here.  You are Not welcome.  And I can change that you are here!  I just did.

Thank You!
Bella

Teen Pregnancy Alternatives

This came out of a conversation with a few friends.  They don't think any of these will help, and yet it could Not hurt!
These are activities that provide teens activities that do Not involve sex and Do involve lots of other people, especially adults:
The city, especially small towns or areas with lots of Hispanics or under-educated should offer FREE

• movies
• education and lots of "how to"
• sports events
• money management
• cheaper birth control: or easier access and insurance for teens age 11-18.  If they had control (of any sort), they would not be getting pregnant period.
• girls scouts events really often
• historical sites
• libraries
• take home a baby classes - baby doll that cries
• college campuses
• teach morals, character, leadership, responsibility, self confidence, independence, freedom of thought
• teach how to raise a child
• how to take care of child for the first year and all the work that entails, and all the sacrifices you Must make

Consider why it happens

• uneducated
• lack of birth control
• not know consequences
• not know how to stop it from happening
• everyone is having sex
• I won't get pregnant

Who gets pregnant?

• Increases with poverty.  Have you ever met a rich girl who had a baby as a teen?  If so, did she have any problems raising the kid?
• depends on ethnicity
• depends on education and level of
• decreases with adult support
• decreases if busy
• increases if you do it once
• if mom was a teen mom, increases likelihood you will be too
• increases depending on the environment
• does religion affect it?

Not abstinence

• Not scare you out of it; horror movies
• Not boring education
• Sex is Not scary or Boring; all people inherently know it is interesting and we are programmed knowing how to do it.  We were put on this earth, as animals, needing to reproduce in order to have a future generation, and keep my important genes going!

I grew up with some frisky friends, why didn't I get pregnant as a teen; or even have sex?  I was Never told don't have sex.  I thought for myself.  I was busy with school extra curricular activities until 7 pm every night!  I had lots of plans and lots of homework.  I had a sense of self-confidence, and responsibility.  But most of all, I had plans for the future!  And when I did start having sex, I used protection and I was knowledgeable and I had plenty of resources to ask questions (that's called college, babe, they hand you condoms when you go to eat in the cafeteria).

Why should we do this?  Why does it matter?

Because teen pregnancy is costing tax payers money of Everyone!  It is also costing us our workforce and bringing more mouths to feed and fewer resources to feed them with.

It costs our:

• welfare  Because more people to support.
• medicare
• health insurance because of their age and lack of a financial future.
• decreases the money in our economy because it is harder to get an education or a job if you are pregnant or a teen.
• food stamps

Why do teens get pregnant?

• for real!
• they need something to do
• it's cool
• they are Not preventing it
• their parents do Not know where they are (we cannot change this, and it will not change itself)
• they do not have the money for consistent birth control, abortion, or the baby
• they do Not know what they are getting themselves into

How many of these Women are left by the boy who knocked them up?

They are Women once they start bringing up a child into this society.  They are forced out of their childhood in order to take care of a new child.  They can no longer have fun, do things for themselves; they must take care of this child, get a job, etc.  That is a huge change to go through in a mere 9 months.

Where would you be if you had gotten pregnant as a teen?  Or gotten someone else pregnant?

Why didn't you?

They need to know the benefits of marriage first,

• of falling in love,
• of being with one guy.

We cannot teach them that with a textbook.  We can lead by example and try to explain.  They have to learn on their own.  But we can lead them there.  We can support them every step of the way.  We can support them in our legislature.  We should not be paying for their mistakes, we should be lifting them up and showing them other options, other ways.  If these other options cost money, well we are already paying.  And if they have results, well then we will stop paying for the pregnant teens and start paying for well educated, knowledgeable teens who are willing and Ready to have kids and Willing to Wait.

Healthy Ways to Reduce or Get Rid of Insomnia

• Vitamin B during the day (reduces stress and increases energy)
• Melatonin @ night 1 hr before want to fall asleep; helps you fall asleep   Note: It is habit forming, thus let it form the habit of falling asleep at a certain time (bedtime), and then get off of it asap, as you Will become dependent on it.  Melatonin is naturally produced in your body throughout the day and puts you to sleep at night.  You may not have enough of it and thus have trouble falling asleep.
• do lots of exercise or activity during the day and do Not do it within 2 hours of bedtime
• go to sleep and get up at the same time every day for 1 - 3 weeks (as long as possible)
• do all the work you need to relax (lots of work) before you go to bed
• sleep is to digest the day and solve problems; it is harder to sleep deeply if you are stressed.  Thus creating more stress and less sleep.  It is a mad cycle.  Use any of these steps to stop the cycle early!
• determine why are you not sleeping?  If you are not tired, then maybe you need to exercise more during the day (be active in any way you can!)  If you are feeling overworked or you have too much o your mind, then you need to relax more.
• vitamin C energy, fights sickness and clears the mind
• antioxidants: acai, berries of all sorts have lots of happy stuff in them and more vitamin B
• vitamin D: sunshine, go outside and absorb some
• smile it releases more happy hormones than eating dark chocolate or wine
• no naps
• eat regular meals 3/day
• do what you do to relax and decrease stress: parkour
• massages, baths, lotions, candles, read, walk before bed, enjoy some sun, etc
• do Not stay up late often
• may like to stay up late one night and then sleep lots and easily next night
• why can you not sleep?  ask yourself each time it happens!
• do Not pull all-nighters or sleep all day; both put your rhythms off