My willpower is stronger than my bad habits.
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Originally uploaded by QruxPix.
This is one of the amazing photos that my coworkers took yesterday in preparation for our Dazzling and Dangerous exhibition set to open this summer. Here you can check out the rest of the amazing frog images, insects and arachnids, and reptiles and more insects. Andrew has gotten some amazing photos!
On a more somber note, the wildfires here are still going on, but at least there has been no personal or property damage. The Anaheim Hills brushfire started at around 4am on Monday, and that whole day I could smell the burning despite that fact that I am like 30 miles away. Then this morning another fire started up in the Malibu area, but that one was controlled very quickly and only burnt around 20 acres. The Anaheim one, on the other hand, has already burnt 7,000 acres and is only about a quarter contained.
It sucks that the Sierra Peak (Anaheim Hills) fire was started by the US Forest Service. I don’t know how many people may understand that Southern California is in an area known as a chaparral. We have dry low brush, and part of this ecosystem is to burn itself out and regenerate, much like a phoenix. It’s not the greatest place to set up shop, let’s put it that way. So for the longest time, people have stopped the fires from happening at all costs, only to have some super massive fires with a stockpile of energy to burn. So what the US Forest Service was doing that morning was a “controlled burn”. Except it got out of control. The details are kinda shady as to what exactly happened, but the bottom line is that it got out of hand. Fortunately, they have been doing an excellent job of steering the fire away from structures, and the weather hasn’t been too terrible. We’re still under a red flag warning though, which means that there are high winds and dry conditions expected, optimal conditions for a fire.
So the air quality is pretty bad, and it is almost 90 degrees today, and our car is covered in ash. At least no one is hurt, because it’s been pretty bad before.
Last night, Juan and I were going to go to the store to buy ourselves some sporting equipment, but instead took a detour to 24 Hour Fitness which is right around the corner from where I work. I think we will be joining. Yep. Never belonged to a fitness club before, but this should kick us into shape, because the fitness center at our apt complex is not doing it. It’s also nice that two of my lovely coworkers go there right after work a few times a week, so it is even more motivation to get into it.
I have these cards that I bought while I was the RA at the all-girls hall in my dorm. They are “gifts of the goddess”. Basically, it is a deck of cards with an message affirmation for your mind, spirit, or body. They have positive messages with elaborations in the back, and when I am feeling like I need some more motivation, or when I see my coworkers in need of some, I pull them out. It is a nice reminder, something that puts words to those feelings that you set aside and ignore when things begin to look dark. And having those words right in front of you to remind you is a great thing. So that is where today’s subject line came from. It’s funny because I pulled it out just after I opened one of the little chocolates from the swap, and it made me laugh. It was a good reminder to keep myself in check.