Status 5-09-15*

Yesterday

Wow, I really took steps toward my goals. I walked around the park in the AM and listened to a podcast with tips on the voiceover business. Followed through with something I’ve been considering for awhile. I Set up a phone appointment with a very well respected audio consultant to work on a space and equipment plan for my recording area. Wrote out all of my near term and long term goals to share with the consultant to better make use of his time. Tip: If you are EVER using a consultant, make sure they have the expert knowledge you need, then be CLEAR with what YOU want to achieve. I have BEEN the technical consultant where people waste a lot of money not knowing what they want. And I don’t mean, which brand of computer etc., but rather, what tasks were they trying to achieve by getting new computers, software etc. Because, just like we touched on with our eating issue priorities a few shows ago, what you WANT shapes your best fit method. Same here with my baby voice acting business. *I* need to know what I want so the audio consultant can suggest the best equipment and sound treatment for my goals. Same with my work with my voice acting coach. When I have a goal more specific than “getting better”, I make more progress. For example, lately, it’s been all about strengthening my diaphragm, increasing my breathe control and developing the supported range available to me in character voice. We still work on acting, but the focus is my breath as that has been a stumbling block.I think I might develop a blog post or show about this. I think we are scared to be specific sometimes, and shoot ourselves in the foot. Hmmmmm

Today

21 years ago today we ran OFF to Las Vegas and tied the knot. What energy we had! What fun! We may look different today, but we still have those adventure hearts.

xoxoxoxoxox

How about you?

Please feel free to comment on MY statuses or add YOUR OWN thoughts, feelings, challenges, rants and raves on these pages too. That was one of the original purposes of why I posted on FB. I thought BCs might like to share about THEIR days. So if you have thoughts and feelings you’d like to share with the group, go ahead and put them here with your comments.

*Daily statuses are not part of the blog’s email notification. When you enter your email under where it says SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS VIA EMAIL, you will be notified of regular blog posts and when podcast episodes are released. I didn’t want to clog your inbox with my daily statuses. However, the automatic publicize feature will inform you on my show FB page, my AdventureLaurie twitter account, google+ on its show page, and Tumblr.

The Bravery Coach

TheBraveryCoach daily tweet is a morning mediation on how I either did, or can incorporate an aspect of bravery into my day. It is cheerful. It is esteem building. Those who want to follow these on Twitter may, by searching for the hashtag #bravery or by seeing my profile:

Daily Bravery Tweets via TheBraveryCoach on Twitter

Status 5-03-15*

Yesterday

I’m proud of myself (and Mark), because yesterday was all about not giving up. Between sickness, jury, schedule adjustments, and catching up around the house, our bikes have lain dormant in the garage of late. This means the dreaded “back on the bike” trip was due. Now, if you’re NOT a bike rider, you may not understand the amount of discomfort you get on your tush, if you let your ‘bike butt’ get out of practice. Also you have your cardio, muscles, and basic bike rhythms that get out of sync when you “let your riding go” – from weather, or busyness or any other reason. Like much in life, bike even a little, but often, and you stay in bike shape. Let it “ride” and you restart from scratch, or near to it.

Hey, we’re BACK on the bike after weeks away. It wasn’t easy, but getting back on the bike is the hardest part. Then it comes back to you.

And to top OFF the unjoyfullness of our bike return, it has been HOT AS BLAZES. To help us, we went to the river (a few degrees less if we are lucky) and timed our trip for early morning, around 9:00 AM.

It is darn hot – this is early, around 9:00 AM, the water level is down on the river, not as many birds as usual. Still, it feels good to ride and to see the bits and pieces of nature surviving in our baking asphalt jungle.

Mark is all smiles. We did it! We got back on the bike! (On a dang hot day too)

We rest our bikes against some handy trees by Marsh Park, and Mark reads the sign that tells how the park helps the river.

Marsh Park on the LA River Bike Path. Clever how the engineers created this as part of the natural means to protect the water from polluted runoff from the streets nearby. It’s also a nice stop along the path for families to picnic and play.

I also practiced my diaphragm exercises – this is mentally HARD for me, because it means learning to let my tummy flop at will. After several decades of training myself to ‘suck it in!’ this idea is totally against the grain. BUT I will not give up. I’m getting to the place in both singing lessons and voice acting, where I need to get in touch with the subtle cues my body gives and learn some control of body parts I’ve never even noticed before. The muscles in your throat near the voice box for example, change when going up the scale between the different parts of your voice. I’m trying to learn that very difficult (for me anyway) skill of flipping between my chest voice and middle register without sounding like an adenoidal teenage boy.

In some ways my practice is now harder. More is expected. But I celebrate that my practice is harder, because it means I am getting more skilled.

My work with David is coming along very well. I can already see a HUGE difference in what better breath and tonal control does for my voice acting ability. And Viki, my singing teacher, is giving me some songs to learn that aren’t written for singing sissies, that’s for sure.

Sigh.

One thing is for very sure, my perfectionist self is taking a beating. My good enough self is emerging, because no way could I do any of what I’ve been learning, if I needed to be perfect.

Today

Didn’t sleep (hence your bonus rambling status today). I’m off for a quick walk in the park then Mark and I will go to see Motown at the Pantages. Despite my regular chair discomfort, I’m looking forward to the show. I loved the music of that era and will have fun hearing the pros do what I am learning. Have a great day BCs!

xoxoxoxoxox

How about you?

Please feel free to comment on MY statuses or add YOUR OWN thoughts, feelings, challenges, rants and raves on these pages too. That was one of the original purposes of why I posted on FB. I thought BCs might like to share about THEIR days. So if you have thoughts and feelings you’d like to share with the group, go ahead and put them here with your comments.

*Daily statuses are not part of the blog’s email notification. When you enter your email under where it says SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS VIA EMAIL, you will be notified of regular blog posts and when podcast episodes are released. I didn’t want to clog your inbox with my daily statuses. However, the automatic publicize feature will inform you on my show FB page, my AdventureLaurie twitter account, google+ on its show page, and Tumblr.

The Bravery Coach

TheBraveryCoach daily tweet is a morning mediation on how I either did, or can incorporate an aspect of bravery into my day. It is cheerful. It is esteem building. Those who want to follow these on Twitter may, by searching for the hashtag #bravery or by seeing my profile:

Daily Bravery Tweets via TheBraveryCoach on Twitter

Status 4-27-15*

Yesterday

I decided that I wanted to cook for myself a little more. I find that I eat better and pick much less when I am satisfied by my actual meals. Flu, jury, and other events have kind of been turning me to the “Frozen Dinner is Easy” dark side of convenience. Along with that, easy to grab cookies or ice-creams have been standing in for my usual apples, carrots, nuts and other snacks. Whoa! Nothing WRONG with cookies, right? True. When I truly WANT a cookie, and it isn’t just the easiest thing to cram down my gullet when hungry, nothing wrong with them. For me, dessert items go MUCH better after a balanced meal and I truly relish that bit of sweet and take the time to enjoy it. Cookies alone spike my blood sugar and lead to crashing. AND I’m not usually grabbing cookies or other sugary things by themselves unless I’ve let myself get overly hungry. This is what I’ve learned by listening to my body more. But EVEN WHEN I KNOW these things, I’ve been a bit lazy and a bit sorry for myself because my ‘schedule’ isn’t all in my control. I’ll show ME, I’ll just eat whatever I darn well choose. Well, this isn’t really what I choose, this is me reverting to fast comfort AND punishment both for not being in control. (Sometimes I HATE therapy).

Anyway, I made one of my favorite recipes from Cooking Light – Apricot Turkey burgers. Super good. Paired with Easy Tzatziki Sauce, fresh lettuce and a pretzel roll, THIS was so satisfying – it didn’t need chips, or any other sides for me.

I also walked down to the park – I found it more difficult than usual, probably because I had hiked the day before. I need to work up to my daily hill work again. Those muscles were SORE! But a nice soak in the tub sure felt good after. It was a bit of a lazy day — besides my cooking adventures. I didn’t practice my voice work or singing, basically pet the cats and watched Netflix. Still tired, I think.

BTW, here’s a cute video I took of Tiger sleeping last week. I think my opening shot sucks because only two people liked it on IG, and I think Tiger is cute enough to have gotten more. Too bad his cat-mama (moi) doesn’t have the skill to highlight his innate cute cat sleeping talent. But it goes with today’s theme, so if you haven’t seen it, here is Tiger’s at his cute sleeping best!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Laurie Weaver – Host COD (@lauriedreamweaver)

Today

Speaking of sleeping, insomnia reared its ugly head for me again last night. It goes to show how much better I’ve been doing in the sleep category as it’s been awhile since this ‘toss and turn no matter what, wide awake after four hours BS’ has struck. So I’m chilling this AM. I may go for a walk, or I may not. Depends how I feel once the sun is actually up.

Mark and I have plans to go to a nursery and pick out a few more items for Spring planting, and that’s always fun. Then singing lesson today. This time I’ll be winging it, because I have not been getting my practice in – and it will show. But that is where I am with singing today, and just like I have to accept where I am with eating, with house cleaning, and with various relationships, denial and regret does not help. When I clearly and objectively assess where I am and how it compares to where I want to be, it helps me choose better in the next moment. Have a great day BCs!

xoxoxoxoxox

How about you?

Please feel free to comment on MY statuses or add YOUR OWN thoughts, feelings, challenges, rants and raves on these pages too. That was one of the original purposes of why I posted on FB. I thought BCs might like to share about THEIR days. So if you have thoughts and feelings you’d like to share with the group, go ahead and put them here with your comments.

*Daily statuses are not part of the blog’s email notification. When you enter your email under where it says SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS VIA EMAIL, you will be notified of regular blog posts and when podcast episodes are released. I didn’t want to clog your inbox with my daily statuses. However, the automatic publicize feature will inform you on my show FB page, my AdventureLaurie twitter account, google+ on its show page, and Tumblr.

The Bravery Coach

TheBraveryCoach daily tweet is a morning mediation on how I either did, or can incorporate an aspect of bravery into my day. It is cheerful. It is esteem building. Those who want to follow these on Twitter may, by searching for the hashtag #bravery or by seeing my profile:

Daily Bravery Tweets via TheBraveryCoach on Twitter

Status 4-26-15*

Yesterday

Yesterday was the FIRST time in weeks and weeks I have felt like myself. The queasy tummy trouble FINALLY seems to have said ‘adios’ to me, and my body has regained about 80% of its strength and energy. Feeling frisky and wanting to get out to my happy place, I decided, LIKE A LOON, to go hiking and record Day 111 from the Next to Top Zen Place on the mountain on a day where Showers and Thunder Storms and High Wind was predicted by 2:00 PM! And mind you, I didn’t START my hike until 10:30 AM. And it usually takes me, in my best shape, 30-40 minutes to hike up, the show on average takes about an hour or more to record, depending on how the takes go, AND it takes me at least as long to return on the downhill as I have to be careful with knee placement on the the down. Do the math BCs, I was a thrill-seeking looney-tune to have done this!

Relaxing for a few before I mic up for yesterday’s recording. Was I CRAZY to go hiking right before the storm? Maybe, but it was thrilling! (I also brought my raincoat and extra food and water)

But I got the show in the can and slammed my front door back home, just as the clouds let loose and the blessed rain that California so desperately needs came thundering down. Whew! Way to live dangerously Laurie! 😉

Today

Chilling. May go for a walk around the park as Mark STILL has my tummy trouble and is recovering, which puts shared bike rides off the table. Also, want to practice singing and voice work today in a few hours. I like to let my body warm up. Hey, what the heck, I might just spend some Foolish Fun time watching my favorite junk TV, old Survivor reruns. Makes MY adventure in a warm coat with extra snacks look like a night in a suite at the Hilton!

xoxoxoxoxox

How about you?

Please feel free to comment on MY statuses or add YOUR OWN thoughts, feelings, challenges, rants and raves on these pages too. That was one of the original purposes of why I posted on FB. I thought BCs might like to share about THEIR days. So if you have thoughts and feelings you’d like to share with the group, go ahead and put them here with your comments.

*Daily statuses are not part of the blog’s email notification. When you enter your email under where it says SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS VIA EMAIL, you will be notified of regular blog posts and when podcast episodes are released. I didn’t want to clog your inbox with my daily statuses. However, the automatic publicize feature will inform you on my show FB page, my AdventureLaurie twitter account, google+ on its show page, and Tumblr.

The Bravery Coach

TheBraveryCoach daily tweet is a morning mediation on how I either did, or can incorporate an aspect of bravery into my day. It is cheerful. It is esteem building. Those who want to follow these on Twitter may, by searching for the hashtag #bravery or by seeing my profile:

Daily Bravery Tweets via TheBraveryCoach on Twitter