#Fitness Training Studio In Oakland

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[textileslut]

i can't stop thinking about sheets.

when i moved last year from oakland, i sold off so many beautiful vintage and antique blankets collected compulsively over my 8 years in california. some of them i slept in, some of them i purchased because i simply couldn't bear the thought of someone else sleeping in them, or worse––cutting them up. i sold the jacquard woven baby blanket, the handmade flannel-backed cowboy quilt, a few quilts from my own studio... it was painful, but it was cathartic (not to mention i made a few much-needed bucks on the ordeal).

what i kept were only the most precious. there's the 1980s mass-produced green and pink sears quilt that i keep on my bed, the antique kimono-cloth indigo crib quilt that hangs on my wall, the tattered 1900s beauty i swore i'd repair which lives deep in a plastic bag in my closet. it's a sparse but meaningful handful of cloths.

i couldn't bear to bring any of the sheets. first of all, the bed i shared with my ex was a king-sized monstrosity which we found on craigslist in an attempt to make more room for ourselves between two dogs, which only served to give the dogs more room to stretch out between us, confining us to small patches of mattress miles away from one another, dooming us to a relationship devoid of fucking.

since i couldn't see myself ever wanting such a large bed or sharing another partnership separated by a canyonlike stretch ever again, the sheets weren't practical, however precious they'd been to be at one time or another.

the thing about sheets, for me, is that the thrill of a good set never wears off. somehow in my searching for an affordable (read: CHEAP) 100% linen sheet set, i found one that would fit the enormous bed for $35 from a brand that sells them new for upwards of $600. i snapped them up fast, and though they were a color i never intended to sleep in, each sleep felt like a gift.

there was the set i bought new (very unlike me!) at nordstrom rack––the thread count was low, but high enough to keep me from rolling around trying to find a spot that felt less abrasive on my skin. they were pink and blue, and purchased out of necessity while trout was being house trained. within minutes of struggling to snap them onto the behemoth, there was a fresh piss stain. i loved them for that, the trout sheets.

i did take a sheet from the lilac colored percale set. the lilac, my favorite color and flower, was luminous and warm. these were the sheets in which frankie and i would split forever, and i bought them only a few weeks before it happened, almost knowing that they would be the sheets of an empty king sized bed––sheets for a newfound freedom soft enough to comfort me in the difficult moments of an inevitable heartbreak. i slept in them exclusively after the breakup, counting down months and weeks and days to my departure from the house we shared. when i left, i took the top sheet, knotting it in the corners to use as a makeshift fitted sheet on my brand new queen sized mattress.

now i'm moving into a new (all to myself) apartment and i can't stop thinking about sheets. it seems that everyone has caught onto linen at this point, though the prices reflect a certain milennial-luxury lifestyle i'm totally unwilling to abide, as ever i guess. a brand called piglet-in-bed boasts yarn-dyed sheets in colors saturated enough to make you swoon for the low low price of $457 before tax and shipping. they do, however, offer a massive 10% off for joining their email list––to enter the site without sharing your information, you must allege "no, i do not want 10% off".

similar brands feel equally scammy. "100% organic linen" and "fair trade" labels are plastered all over minimalist sans-serif websites with no country-of-origin sources to match. these are not the sheets you are looking for!

i'm still feeling called to lilac. it's the color i saw the first time i ever kissed my current person, the one who sleeps on top of the lilac new-life sheet with me, all the way back in 2010. it's the color of my favorite flower, favorite feeling. maybe i'll find the perfect set, but i know that in moments when my body needs comfort, safety, a place to lay down, i can't stop thinking about sheets and how they truly never get old for me.

[highintensitybusiness]

377 - How to Grow your HIT Studio Client Base Fast with Liam Bauer and Jesse Schmidt

Liam Bauer and Jesse Schmidt are the owners of TNT Strength, a strength training studio in Oakland, California. TNT Strength has been in operation since April 2021 and currently features 3 strength training coaches serving 65 clients with HIT influenced exercise protocols. 

Liam and Jesse are passionate about the life-changing and performance-enhancing effects of strength training, and they look forward to expanding their influence to help even more people in the future. 

In this episode, Liam and Jesse share their business journey (starting and growing TNT Strength), client acquisition tactics, marketing strategies, business systems, and much more. 

Get proven marketing tactics and generate more revenue

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Check out this episode!

[ebonyaesthetics]

@cutspluscurves 💪🏾👸🏾How'd someone transform so drastic naturally? HARD FUCKIN WORK💯 Owning my own gym was a DREAM I made come true. This body was earned to🏋🏽‍♀️ Comin out of Oakland CA I had a rough start. Been on my own since I was 13. Got a summer job at 14. Had 2 jobs at 16 and was emancipated by 17 being the court saw I was taking really good care of myself. Got my own studio apt at 18 years old. I was frequently in the hospital all throughout life due to having regular Sickle Cell crisis. Was admitted at least 6 times a year. It was like my second home.🙁 met my husband in 2003 was proposed to by 2005.  Had our son in 2006. Shortly after got up to a all time high weighing 228lbs. I knew it was time to do something. I liked the idea of building my body so I learned how to do so. I desired to be curvy fit not skinny fit so I put my head down and grinded for years. "A walking photoshop " is how I described my goal look 😜😭 Although I got certified most of my knowledge came from my own research. I was my own science project & now I know what works. Expert🤘 Id watch trainers and how they nonchalantly trained. It looked like most were there for the check and not from being passionate abt helping people get results I wanted to be different. I wanted to provide knowledge and teach how to make healthy living a lifestyle while letting them know how I did it and if I could do it ANYBODY could. Started my business and have been living out my calling changing lives ever since. I use to get jobs, and get sick and would get fired! Took up many courses. I'd study and do homework while in the hospital. Tried to earn a paid internship when I was going to school to be a medical assistant and had to sue because I was told I wasn't dependable because I get sick to often although I worked my ass off & earned it. Watched them give it to someone else and it hurt😞 (tears) but you see God had BETTER 🤷🏽‍♀& he lead me to a career & a healthy lifestyle + no more frequent hospitalizations running MY OWN BUISNESS where I answer to no one👌 Won't he do it.You have a purpose and God has a plan. You may not be able to see it in front of you, but blindly have faith. I

[houseofvans]

ART SCHOOL | IN SESSION WITH ROB SATO

From vibrant rainbows to familiar yet alien landscapes occupied by strange beings, LA based artist Rob Sato’s works are filled with creative energy in a loose minimalistic style. From watercolor, digital medium to acrylics and oil, Rob’s artworks and illustrations have been shown in various galleries from Giant Robot 2 to the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, where recently his original paintings for a comic called 442 were exhibited. We’re excited to chat with Rob about his work, his various collaborations and what he’s got coming up for the rest of the year.  Take the Leap!

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Introduce yourself Hello, my name is Rob Sato. I’m an artist, illustrator, and writer. Something people might not know about me is that I was a kid I was so fanatical about the Oakland A’s that when they lost in the World Series I threw a tantrum so big that I destroyed my bedroom and after that I felt so stupid I quit following baseball. Also, I’m told I have maybe one of the great poop stories of the world. It can only be related in person, so ask me about it sometime if we ever meet.

How would you describe your work and style? Eclectic? Kaleidoscopic? I’ve never had a concise answer to this question. I tend not to pin myself down because I think if I did, I’d stop making things. 

Art is my outlet for the cryptic and obscure as well as the gushing spillover of foolish idealism and wild fantasy. It’s the only place I’ve ever found where you can healthily play with unhealthy thoughts, where you can explore undefined emotions, things that lurk out in the corners of consciousness that may be embarrassing or uncontrollable.

I love to make entertainment and decorative work, things that tend to be obvious, that communicate very clearly and reveal all their cards, but I also love to make work that hides things, that actively resists easy understanding or recognition and risks being super personal or unrelatable and strange. This can make things difficult, especially in the ongoing deterioration of attention spans, but I can’t help but pursue things outside of a pop sensibility and logical thought. I have to be, much of the time, in mental wildernesses. It’s hard to get there, hard to be there, and hard to come back, but it keeps me going.

Tell us about how you really started getting into art, and how that turned into what you do now? Was it something you always intended to pursue? I’ve drawn every single day for as long as I can remember. I never really thought about it. It just seems to be what I do. It’s how I have fun, how I solve problems, how I think. I’ve wanted to pursue other things like make movies or write books, but I always find myself drawing. Before I know it, it’s time for bed again.

When you are working on a new piece or upcoming exhibition or show? What’s your process like? What themes do you find yourself taking on? I explode. I used to plan things in a very directed way, but lately I’ve just let my brains spill out everywhere. I make a ton of drawings and paintings, and try my best to be fearless and open. Most of it produces failure after failure, but it shows me what might be worth building on, plus many exciting surprises reveal themselves in the process. As a show nears I start seeing what things fit together, what needs to be edited out, and how it all might form a cohesive exhibition. Sometimes the subject matter is the glue that makes everything stick, other times it’s the aesthetics. Alongside the explosion I usually have 2 or 3 pieces going at any given time that I’ve had long term plans for. These pieces can take take months or even years. 

Thematically I’m all over the place. War and peace, realism and surrealism, grim realities and escapism, sober observations and dumb jokes.

What are some of your go-to art making materials? Are there mediums you want to explore that you’ve yet to get your hands on? I feel pretty comfortable with anything you can use to make a mark on a piece of paper. I’ve mainly used watercolor and various drawing tools for the past several years. I’m been having fun with acrylics and oils again, and I’ve started to play around with photography a little. I’ve had ideas for sculpture and film for years that I’d really like to finally get to. What I really want to get my hands on is more time.

Where do you find inspiration? What kind of things or people inspire what you make? Watching someone pick their nose listening to headphones and singing softly to themselves in line at the grocery store. Just watching my cat live her weird life. Even though the final artwork may not really show it, these places are usually where my ideas originate. Art has also been a place where I can put memories that have some abstract need to be recorded.

I made this series of drawings called “Bad Hands”, which started out with me laughing at these dumb hands I was drawing with academically incorrect anatomy. Abandoning correctness felt so good. In the process it triggered a memory from High School. I had been forbidden from drawing in one of my classes, so I was contorting my hands into different shapes at my desk to amuse myself. There was a hysteria over gang activity in the school at the time and the teacher freaked out thinking I was throwing gang signs and I ended up getting sent to detention. 

At detention I was talking with a friend and made fun of the teacher for her mistake. A kid who was in a gang overheard and then HE misunderstood and thought I was making fun of gangs or something. On my way home from school he and a couple dudes punched and kicked me for a bit while I tried and failed to explain. I think it’s funny. 

So embedded in that piece is this tumbling series of misunderstandings, these multiple layers of hands being perceived as bad, speaking in an absurd language that communicates different things to different people. I know people aren’t going to see all those layers in the final piece, but that’s where it comes from and I hope it at least sparks some thoughts about talking with our hands, and where else can you follow this kind of train of thought except in art?

I get inspired by artists who seem to approach art as an intuitive discovery process rather than a  pursuit of mastery, that play is one of the more important aspects of making things. My wife, Ako, has been a huge influence on me in this respect. She’s continuously playing with various materials around her at any given time and finding out what she can do with them. Everywhere she goes she abandons a nest made of fresh creations she’s manifested out of mud, string, packaging, plants, uneaten rice, her used drinking straw, lint and whatever else was within her reach

You’ve done a lot of collaborations with companies, museums and art galleries. Do you have a favorite collaboration, and what about the collaboration do you enjoy the most? I’ve recently been collaborating with Tiny Splendor, an indie publisher and printer who have studios in LA and Oakland. It’s been really great working with them, Cynthia Navarro in LA on risographs, and with Max Stadnik, who runs the print shop in Oakland. 

Max has been returning to lithography, my favorite traditional printing medium, and he printed a piece of mine inspired by mushrooms called “Growerings". It’s a full 5 color print, which means it took five separate plates and each print had to go through the press 5 times. It turned out more beautifully than I could have hoped for. Litho is a super difficult but also very fun process and the results are so rich. 

I think I particularly love this collaboration because the image fits the medium so well, and the combination of the two elevates the final piece of work, When it works, the artwork and the print become more than just an image on a piece of paper. It’s more alive in some undefinable way.

Since we’re called Art School, we always ask the artists to give us their favorite art tip? Never force the thing you think you want, you’ll probably miss out on the really interesting thing that’s happening. Also, don’t drink too much coffee. I have trouble taking both of these pieces of my own advice every day.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making stuff? How do you chill out? I read and run. I love coffee and I love gossip and talking nonsense with friends. Also, I cannot stop watching Terrace House.

What is the last art show that you went to? What artists should folks keep an eye out for? I recently went to the Velveteria in LA’s Chinatown, which is one man’s collection of paintings on velvet. A very entertaining and very fucked up experience. I went to a life drawing session at Subliminal Projects and got to draw surrounded by Chad Kouri’s fun abstracts. I’m actually typing this interview inside an art show right now. 

I’m here at my wife, Ako Castuera’s, show “Soil” at the Weingart Gallery at Occidental College. We’re here feeding worms. She sculpted this beautiful ceramic vermiculture composter for the show. It’s a grand temple for worms. The show is an act of gratitude for the exchange we have with the soil which provides the clay for ceramics, and for the worms who turn decay into healthy earth to grow new life in. 

She sculpted a menagerie of creatures out of the worm poop that also populate the show. Super fun. Speaking of Ako and Subliminal, her show there with Hellen Jo and Kris Chau this past December was one of those once-in-a-lifetime powerhouse gathering of forces. That may have been the best show I’ve ever seen.

What advice would you give someone thinking about following in your footsteps? What’s something you learned that you want to pass along to art making newbies. Don’t listen to advice if it is extremely quotable. Pay no attention to it especially if it accompanies a photo of a famous artist and fits perfectly into an instagram post. If it’s easy to remember then it’s probably empty, crap inspiration. Those things are entertainments and not words to live by.

 If you’re interested in making art you’ll keep making it. It takes day in, day out patience and exploration and mutation to discover how you really work, not some idea of how an artist works. 

Sometimes it will be very hard, sometimes it will be so breathtakingly easy you think that your problems have been solved forever. Neither situation ever lasts, but cultivate and nurture your curiosity and what you love, and you’ll find ways to make it through the rough times and keep on making things one way or another.

Who are some of your favorite artists to follow and/or see in a show? Lately I’ve been really enjoying the work of Nathaniel Russell whose work makes this great space where funny, grounded matter-of-factness and sweet nothingness sit comfortably together. His drawing also reminds me of Ben Shahn, my all-time favorite drawer. 

I really like Amy Bennet’s oils, these intimate studies of isolation in suburbia where mundanity overlaps with quiet drama and melancholy. Her work obliquely reminds me of Edwin Ushiro’s work, though his stuff is the opposite of melancholic. He captures almost incidental but haunted moments from growing up in Hawaii and infuses them with warmth, and it’s in a style influenced in a super personal way by animation. It reminds me of Satoshi Kon’s movies in its well observed, slice-of-life elements. Edwin’s sketchbooks are a treasure too.  Esther Pearl Watson’s recent autobiographical paintings, Hellen Jo’s latest badass watercolors, Amber Wellman’s funny, playful oil paintings, and Matthew Palladino’s watercolors are also favorites. 

Megan Whitmarsh’s work is some of my favorite to see in person. Her installation with Jade Gordon at the Hammer’s “Made In LA “ show was maybe the funnest work I’ve ever seen and interacted with. I went to see the Ai Wei Wei show at the Marciano Foundation, which I thought was impressive in scale and execution but still somehow lame, but I stumbled on a Mike Kelley installation/ video piece I’d never seen before in the upstairs collection and loved it so much, but I can’t remember the name of it at the moment. 

It’s 2 videos shown side by side of the same guy wearing a cape singing almost the same song simultaneously, but each version has different words at different points. It’s a love song but one version is more bitter and mean and one is sickly sweet. Anyway, highly recommended!

What do you have coming up the rest of the year that you can share with us?  For just a few more days there’s a show up at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center with a bunch of my original paintings for a comic I illustrated about the 442, the Japanese American Army unit of World War II. Plus it has some personal work about Japanese American Incarceration and images from my family’s experience in the concentration camps. My grandfather was incarcerated in the Arkansas camps, and he was a soldier in the 442. 

Next up, I’m in a slew of group shows all happening within a few weeks of each other this month. Poor scheduling on my part as usual, but it’s nice to be invited to so many. I just sent off my piece to the “Seeing Red” show curated by Jeff Hamada of the BOOOOOOOM art and culture blog. That show will be at Thinkspace in LA. Giant Robot has been kind enough to host another solo show for me in September. 

I’ve been busy experimenting with some more 3d stuff that pushes the more narrative side of my work which I hope to show there. We’ll see how the experiments turn out. I’ve also been working on a ton of prints and ideas for books. This year I want to focus on working in print, making zines and comics, and writing a lot more. 

FOLLOW ROB | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE | SHOP 

[bkrootsfitness-blog]

Website : https://www.bkrootsfitness.com/

Address : 300 4th St, Oakland, CA 94607

Phone : +1 510-817-4791

BK ROOTS Fitness is a boutique personal training studio in Oakland, Ca where a holistic approach to health is sustained through hard work and consistency.

[sightsoundrhythm]

JUSTIN BROWN

Justin Brown is a drummer and composer from Oakland, California. His journey so far has seen him play with a multitude of artists including Thundercat, Herbie Hancock, Flying Lotus, Esperanza Spalding, Kenny Garrett and, most recently, touring in Europe with bassist Ben Williams.

Always tasteful in his approach and execution, Justin's style is progressive and virtuosic yet extremely musical. He began playing drums at a young age and later graduated to playing in clubs by his early teens, before studying at the Manhattan School of Music.

Justin has recently returned to California after being a longtime resident of New York City, where he had initially moved as a student before becoming an active participant in the city's eclectic music scene. In 2018 he released his first album as a bandleader under the name Nyeusi which gained high accolades from both the New York Times and NPR's Simon Rentner. The album sits at the intersection of jazz fusion and hip-hop, managing to sound both vintage and incredibly modern at the same time. It features a selection of luminary musicians from the New York jazz scene including Jason Lindner (★) and Fabian Almazan and is available to download here

NYEUSI by Justin Brown

SIGHT/SOUND/RHYTHM spoke with Justin before a show in Vienna, Austria to talk about his musical background and upbringing, connecting the line between some of his many collaborations, and submitting to the music.

You just moved back to California after 13 years in New York. What prompted that move for you?

Well, two things. The main thing was family. My mother is getting older, plus I also have a fifteen year old nephew and I really want to be more involved in his life.

There's no place like New York as far as the music scene, which is what drew me there, but it was just the day to day living that I tapped out on. Just the thought of getting on the train and dealing with all of those energies in a compact space... I just needed a bit more balance, for my own sanity.

So those were the main reasons, but I also have a ton of friends in LA, too, that were pulling me there.

L.A. is the type of place where you can't really beat the quality of living. I might be spending the same amount as far as rent goes but I have more time and I'm able to balance out my day a little bit more. Plus the sun is always out so it's easier on the body and brain.

What are the things that you've valued the most by being between New York and L.A.? Does one feel like a better fit than the other?

That's a good question. Well, I've mainly valued the music. Being in New York I feel like I developed faster, just because it's 24/7 and a lot of the guys that I looked up to and wanted to be around were in New York. By being there I found out who I was and what I actually wanted to do. Also, I always wanted to be involved in more than one thing and New York was the place for me to do that. Whether I wanted to play gospel music, or jazz, or hip hop, it was all happening in that space. I feel like New York made me a little stronger.

L.A. has a beautiful music scene. It's a little more close knit because you have a lot of people who are from there and who grow up with each other. It's almost like these little pockets of families who grow up with this musical journey.

It feels as though it's a little more open now, especially with a lot of the younger dudes, where you get into playing more jazz and experimental music. Although it is still a part of it, it's just not as studio focused. On the flip side of that, L.A. is teaching me a lot about the studio because it's sort of the mecca for that. I'm learning lots about mics and EQs.

I do feel like the two places are still connected. I used to say that if you wanted to become a hardcore musician then you move to New York, and if you wanted to have more stability then you'd move to L.A., but it's changing, mainly because of the younger generation and having access to the internet.

What was your experience like growing up as a kid?

Well, being in the Bay Area, there was a vast amount of artistry, from Tower of Power, to Sly and the Family Stone, from the Black Panther movement to the Hawkins Family. It was really cool to be in an environment where art was prominent.

I was fortunate to go to Berkeley High School where I met Thomas Pridgen and a lot of other amazing musicians. Even though it was a public school, the school band was really good and it had this stature for being one of the best in the country. That school was just a bunch of creatives.

I was there with Daveed Diggs, who was in Hamilton, as well as Chinaka Hodges. There were a bunch of different creatives there and that was really cool to be around. There were also outreach programs like the Young Musician's Program, which is a summer school at the University of California, Berkeley for kids under eighteen and they're basically teaching you at a college level. From being there, and being around the people that I grew up with, I knew what I wanted to pursue. I knew as a kid that I had a talent but I didn't start to exude in it until after I left the Bay Area.

I was very active in music, plus my mother is also a gospel musician, so I was learning a lot. I was fortunate enough to have good parents who helped me to cultivate my craft and I'm very thankful for having been in that environment. I had opportunities to play small gigs. I really commend my mother because from the ages of thirteen to fifteen, she used to let me play at late night clubs and she'd come pick me up at two in the morning. I'm very fortunate that she allowed me to have that outlet.

That's some good parenting.

Yeah! She's a musician as well so she saw an opportunity for me to go in a direction that she didn't really go in. She would go out on tour but it was a struggle because she wanted to be at home with the family. Whenever I wanted to practice or hang out with musicians or go to shows, she was always there to take me. At a young age I got to see a lot of guys playing who would be coming through the Bay Area, like Dennis Chambers and Brian Blade.

You've been friends with Thomas Pridgen for a long time.

Yeah, we grew up together. I met Thomas when I was 8, and I think he was 9. I actually just talked to him earlier. To this day he's like my brother. I'm fortunate enough to have grown up with a guy like that, especially with playing drums.

Were you learning from each other?

Man, he was at such a high level that I was learning from him, for sure. He had access to a lot of the guys that we were watching and he was exposed to the instrument at a very young age. I think the most that I gained from Thomas was how to find yourself through the instrument and how to really dedicate yourself to the craft. We used to cut high school together to go shed the whole day. We'd meet up at school, go to his house to play drums, and then go back to school for band. (laughs)

I also met Ronald Bruner through Thomas. I remember that Thomas would call Ronald and they would play drums over the phone! Those two are my brothers for sure.

Is Ronald still playing with Kamasi Washington?

Yeah, he is. I'm not sure what Thomas is doing right now but he does everything. I know that he was playing with Residente and before that Trash Talk. He's playing a lot in the bay area and he's always super active. I got to see him play with The Mars Volta and that was unreal.

Yeah. All of the drummers who have passed through that band have been phenomenal.

Yeah! Jon Theodore, Deantoni Parks, Thomas, Dave Elitch. All special dudes, for sure.

When you left the Bay Area, did you go straight to New York?

Not right away. I ended up auditioning for the Dave Brubeck Institute, which is at the University of Pacific, in Stockton, California. So I studied there for two years before moving to New York, which was actually a smart move because when I look back on myself at eighteen, I wouldn't have been ready for New York, as a human and as a musician.

It was cool to still be somewhat closer to home and to still be able to take the time to really figure it out. Eric Moore also lived in Stockton, California so I became really good buddies with him. He was my shed partner and we played drums every single day. Being there allowed me to really focus in on the instrument and that's where it hit me that I wanted to do this.

I learned that in order to be good you had to put in the time and the work. So that put me in a really good space and it became a habit of me just trying to get better.

Was it after studying in California that you went to the Julliard School for Music in New York?

I auditioned for the New School and Julliard, where I ended up getting a full scholarship. Once I saw the curriculum though I realised that it wasn't for me. Their curriculum was something that I had already been through, with all of my studies at high school and also at the Brubeck Institute.

I actually dropped out on the first day of school. I woke up and just thought, 'I can't do this'. I didn't even go to class, I went straight to the Dean and told him that it wasn't for me.

At the time there were so many musicians that I looked up to, from Steve Coleman to Yosvany Terry to Josh Roseman... I mean, Steve Coleman had a workshop every Monday at the Jazz Gallery and I used to go there and study. Then it was really about playing and learning what that experience was like, so I dropped out of school. It was the best thing for me because I was just ready to play.

That was a smart move.

Yeah. I mean, sometimes I look back on it and it probably would've been easy to go back to school and to get a degree and get my masters but I wasn't in that headspace. I was ready to play and I was on a mission to try to get better. So I dropped out of Julliard and spent one year in New York working. I got a day job at Guitar Centre just so I could survive. After six months I thought, 'if I'm really going to do this, I just have to fall face first'. I had to be involved in anything and everything that I could, from a restaurant gig to a jazz gig. I knew it was going to be really hard but I had to do it.

After that first year there I ended up going back to school. I went to the Manhattan School for Music and that's when I met other cool musicians and started to build a name for myself. While I was in school I got the call play with Kenny Garrett and after that I started touring.

After leaving Julliard and taking a year to work, do you feel like you benefitted from not fully going down the academic route at that point?

Absolutely. It felt like a better move for me to do that.  

I still consider myself to be a jazz musician, and in New York you still have the masters there who are the great practitioners of this music. I was going to shows and sitting right up under the drums and watching everyone from Brian Blade to Billy Hart, and I even got see Max Roach when he was still around. So it was about going to check out the masters, asking them questions and really learning about the culture.

If I was doing a hip hop gig, I was going to the hip hop clubs and asking Rich Medina what albums to check out. CBGBs was still around, so I got to and see what that was like and to experience that. So it was about learning the culture of each music and I feel like that's something that they aren't going to teach you in school. It's something you have to find for yourself.

What would you like to see implemented in music education that wasn't present when you were studying, or that you feel is just absent?

That's a really good question. I think allowing more students the opportunity to check out the masters. They need to be bringing in people who have the real experience and not just a teacher who went to school, learned the methods and then says, 'here's how to be a jazz musician'. That's not the way to do it.

Colleges bring in master musicians but it's only a minuscule part of the thing. It'd be great to be able to call someone like Billy Hart and to take students to them, to see the show. Also, it's an economic game. Berkley and the Manhattan School for Music have the money to do it but I think it's really about grabbing a hold of the experience. You're not going to really grow unless you're out there doing it. You can be taught a bunch of theory but to be in the moment and playing is where it's at.

You've collaborated with a multitude of different artists including Flying Lotus, Thundercat and Esperanza Spalding, How have you found it adapting to all of those different situations?

It's all about connecting the line. They're all unique individuals but they're also very like-minded. They're vessels submitting to this music and they're all willing to grow. I feel like the more music you go and check out, the easier it is to connect the dots and be able to adapt.

I learned that I would play differently in certain situations, whether I was playing with Esperanza Spalding or Thundercat, but it was really all about submitting to the music and setting a foundation to make things feel good. It's all music and I just want to be able to bring out the characteristics of what the artist is trying to say. At the end of the day it's about having the mindset that it's really not about me. It's about a bigger picture and to be a vessel in a way that gives someone hope or inspiration throughout their daily life.  

The physical aspect between the people I play with can also be different. Once I started playing with Thundercat, I knew that I could play in that style but I knew that I didn't have the physical capability and stamina to do it. So I had to go back to the drawing board in some ways. I even went to Thomas (Pridgen) and asked him, 'how do you not get tired playing these gigs?' He told me that not only do you have to play like that in your practice but you have to take care of yourself by getting proper sleep, drinking a lot of water and stretching. Over time it became easier.

I had a regimen within my practice where I would work on independence and groove, but then it just became about playing and getting my body in the flow. It takes a lot of patience to understand what works and how your body reacts to certain things, like when you play from fast to slow. Trying to relax the mind and body within that. It really comes down to submitting to it.

So it's mainly been the physical changes between gigs that I've had to adapt to more than the musical ones. I guess there are stylistic things which are different. I mean, with Esperanza it'll be sort of samba and bossanova, but with Thundercat it's more backbeat rock. Essentially it's about grooving, making the music feel good and always being open to learning. I try not to be single-minded in music, because the more things you're able to expose yourself to, the greater the musical language is that you can draw from. It's about always being 100% in it. Always checking out music and going to shows. Always talking about music, and just being a musical nerd. The more experience you get the more natural it becomes.

You played with Herbie Hancock. What was it like getting that call?

Bro. That was crazy. Playing with Herbie was a surreal experience. He's been a major influence on me throughout my musical journey so it was a dream come true.

I think it was Terrence Martin that recommended me. I got the call and did the rehearsal... I rarely get nervous but I was starstruck. I couldn't believe it was happening. For the first few days of the tour, it took me a little while to get over the hump. Like, 'oh, man, I'm on an airplane with Herbie Hancock! I'm eating with Herbie Hancock!' (laughs) On the third or forth day he walked up to me and said, 'Yo, Justin! You've been killing it these last few days!' And it just kind of took a load off me, because he was cool and he was feeling what I was doing.

I got to ask him a bunch of questions about Miles (Davis) and Tony (Williams). He actually told me that Tony played with John Coltrane, which was mind boggling to me.

What period would this have been in?

This would have been in the '60s. Herbie was really good friends with Tony, so I asked him: 'Man, did Tony ever play with Coltrane?' and he said that, yes, he did. There was a week at Birdland where something had happened with Elvin (Jones), where I think he might have got arrested, I believe. So Coltrane asked Tony to play that whole week. I asked Herbie, 'Are there any recordings of it?' and he said, “Yeah. I believe his wife has the recordings.” So it was documented.

Herbie never heard the recordings but he saw Tony afterwards and he said that Coltrane was the reason why Tony switched to playing with bigger sticks. Coltrane had so much stamina from playing as much as he did that Tony wanted to get on that same level. This was in the '60s, so already early on he was trying to get more energy and more power after playing with Coltrane. So that was a really cool moment that he shared with me.

Herbie's full spectrum, on a musical level and on a human level. He's extremely open and is very technically minded. We were all sitting at the dinner table one night and we're taking pictures on our phones. Herbie walks up and says, “you guys want to see something? You ever seen a 3D camera phone?” A company called Red made the first 3D camera phone and they sent him the first one. He was like, “yeah, they sent me the aluminium one. I asked for the titanium one, so that'll be waiting for me when I get back!” He's always been that guy. When Sony first started making CDs, they called him. When Midi was first starting to be used, he was one of the first guys to know about it. So it was just really cool to be in that space. I got to chat to him everyday.

He's not going back but he's moving forward into the beyond. I'll definitely cherish that moment [of playing with him] for the rest of my life. I knew going into it that I had be humble; to be thankful and learn as much as I could from Herbie. It definitely made me a better musician and a better human, just from that one month on the road with him. Just seeing how focused he is... it was unreal.

What have been some of the milestones in your playing that have pushed you creatively?

Meeting Herbie was definitely a milestone for me. Anytime I get to talk to one of the masters, I feel like that makes me a stronger human and a stronger musician. It makes me more confident in what I want to achieve. Playing with Kenny Garrett... as well as being able to play with my peers, you know. It's really cool to just be able to grow together.

The day I heard Caravan by Art Blakey when I was ten years old blew my mind. Just hearing how he played the drums and how much authority he had over the instrument was one of those moments where I thought, 'oh, so that's how you do it!'

For me it's about adapting to the energy of the room and being open in that sense as to how I can inspire someone. It goes back to submitting to the music. All of the practice, as well as checking out videos and seeing drummers live definitely helps, but I also want to be a musician that is completely in the moment. I don't ever want to go onto the bandstand thinking that I know what's going to happen. I want to have a mindset that is ready to expect the unexpected and to always play what is called for in the music. You have to be able to open yourself up to what's going to come out naturally and not try to force anything to come out.

All of those things have made me a better musician.

What's something that you've been paying attention to recently that's been inspiring you, either musically or non-musicially?

Well, I'm not really political but I am paying more attention to issues in the world, because as a black man, I feel like I have no choice, you know? I have no choice but to find a way to dumb down the bullshit. So I'm trying to pay more attention to what's going on in the world; to try and inspire someone to get through, because these are tough times.

I've been given a gift... in church you learn at a very young age that it's not about the accolades or being seen, it's about being a spiritual vessel, to give back and to give praise to the most high.

I guess musically I'm really paying a lot of attention to the drum community and seeing how social media is having an affect on it. I saw the transition with my generation, so it's a little harder for me to go all in and just post things up all of the time. I don't want to over expose myself, but I also just want to be a positive example for someone and to inspire the next generation of younger players, to show them that it's possible. I'm also paying more attention to my health, because with the older I get and the more I'm touring, my health is key to staying strong.

You put out the Nyeusi record a little while ago. Are planning on doing anything more with that project?

I'm still trying to figure it out. I am starting to hear the music and I am starting to get the inspiration to do another album, but I'm not sure if I'm going to call it Nyeusi, because I'm in a different space. With where my life is moving, and all the things I draw inspiration from, there might be a different message.

I wanted Nyeusi to be a theme of who I am more than anything. Even though it's my music it's still not about me whatsoever, and I wanted room for all the other musicians to speak in that project. I mean, I might do a Nyeusi II, just because it was well received and people gravitated towards it, which gave me the push to keep going.

It took a lot of energy and a lot of time to put that album out, and once it was out I didn't really do much touring. There was another side that I had to learn about which was how to be an artist and to present the music. Now, I'm more in a head space of wanting to play and wanting to get the music out live and create more content. So it's very loose and in the air, but I will say that for 2020 I'll be doing more shows with Nyeusi and I'm going to have more live content out, so that's where I'm at with it.

Any European dates for 2020?

Yeah, in the fall, and maybe even later on, and then just doing some shows in New York and L.A..

If you could give three albums to a drummer, which would you choose and why?

This is really difficult. Man.

Ok, I would say:

James Brown – Funky Drummer, or The Payback. Why James Brown? Because that's where hip-hop is coming out of, with backbeats and breakbeats. So it can provide a good foundation for someone wanting to become a hip-hop drummer and to have an understanding of the language. Not just James Brown but soul and funk music.

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue. Just because that's a quintessential record for jazz. You can hear where it's coming from and where it's going.

Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life. He's an amazing songwriter and he plays every instrument. Being a drummer, you can get so caught up in the drums that you lose sight of what the message is, and Stevie Wonder is a beautiful storyteller. The music is killing but there's also a message which makes you want to investigate the lyrics. You get a sense of purpose and what music is actually meant for; what your role is as a drummer, too.

What are some of the things that are currently challenging you, either as a musician or just on a human level?

On a human level, learning to love and respect everyone for who they are and what they do. To never knock another person's path. To always be encouraging and spread love, if you will.

As a player, and this is going to sound crazy, but playing louder and faster. (laughs)

I mean, that's a really hard thing for me so I'm really trying to develop and get my phrases and musical statements to be a lot stronger, so that it becomes a part of a language and not just a lick or a fill. So I really want to keep developing and getting better as a person.

Good answer. Thanks for taking the time to sit down and do this.

Man, no problem! Thanks for asking!

Interview & live photo by Dave Jones.

[flych1]

Kehlani singer on her new album

Kehlani, singer on her new album

Photo: Pari Dukovic

Kehlani

In early March, Kehlani was due to meet his label. She was preparing to release her second album - her first since she had a baby and a return to her roots R-B. She was scheduled to perform the first part of Justin Bieber's Changes tour, as well as a number of dream solo dates. Atlantic executives told him they believed in the album, which was scheduled for release on April 24, its 25th anniversary, but the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to develop a promotion plan. We'd have to postpone it. "I was casting actors and actresses. I was doing all kinds of things," she says of all the pre-production she had completed at the time of the mid-March meeting. We're talking about a video call from Zoom; Kehlani sits alone in a sunny room in his Los Angeles home. (Later, she will be joined by her dog, a pint of ice cream and a tequila-based drink with a slice of orange coming out). It just so happens that today is the original release date. They said, "We don't think you should take it out,"" she said. "And then I went to my room and made the 'Toxic' video on my laptop." She posted it on YouTube at the end of March. "People messed with it," she adds. When Kehlani's label accepted her request to release the album this month, it was stipulated that she had to do it all herself. "If all we do is make music and press the button, then you can do it," she says. "And I was like, 'Okay, challenge accepted fucking.'" So now Kehlani and her photographer, with whom she's in quarantine, are planning and editing music videos, photoshoots, and album coverage. (She also lives with her daughter, two younger siblings, a close friend and her assistant). His garage has been converted into a two-level studio, one side for music, the other for visuals. Kehlani has been a professional musician since the age of 13. A series of mixtapes - full of overshares about having a heart built and broken - and a random but successful debut album have already made her a leading figure in the industry. His music is R-B in its purest form: songs about how love defeats you, about floating on the pure adrenaline of a crush, about the desire of someone you can't trust in your heart. It's no coincidence that when white artists like Bieber and Charlie Puth want to look into an R-B sound, they call on Kehlani to help them. The new album, It Was Good Until It Wasn't, is part of a revival of the genre in the midst of its fiercest debates. It is also a transition disc, a bridge between adolescence and adulthood. Throughout her career, Kehlani has been considered the daughter of the R-B: sexy but boyish. In her old music, she played with both sides of the binary. On the new record, it got too big. She did so immediately after giving birth to her daughter Adeya, who is now one year old. (She is currently co-parenting with her ex, Adeya's father, Javaughn Young-White, younger brother of Jaboukie from the Daily Show). "People would always be like, Kehlani is adorable or, like, Kehlani is cool hella. But then I had a baby and it made me look more feminine," she says. "So I guess I thought, OK, I'm going to start shaking my ass and talk about it." (She wanted Bieber to do a song for her album, but he refused. "Because he's a super-married guy now, it didn't really fit," she said. Kehlani's self-managed music video for "Toxic", filmed with the only camera on her MacBook, shows the nervous figure of the singer slipping and squirming, rubbing her arms and hips. "Don Julio has ridiculed me for you," she tells her former lover that she won't reach out to him, even if her body urges her to do it out of instinct. Kehlani insists this is not his last relationship, which ended publicly and painfully, with Compton rapper YG earlier this year. It's the kind of personal drama that made headlines and made Kehlani's blog famous. She writes songs that address all of this openly. Her fans grow up with her career because she is transparent, sometimes to excess. Or, as she says, I do in public, and it makes people feel like I'm not a stranger. I'm a person with a human ass. I'm screwing up in front of the whole world." The conversation about the state of the R-B was revived last November, when Lizzo, often considered a pop artist, won album of the year at the Soul Train Awards, beating soul singer Ari Lennox. ("It's clear that I'm not cool enough," Lennox tweeted after his loss. Last February, rapper Young M.A. went further, saying that "we barely have R-B". Indeed, in recent years, the superstars of the genre - like SWV, Boyz II Men, Ginuwine, Toni Braxton - and their musical descendants have mostly failed to stop the charts as they did two decades ago; many contemporary black musicians evade the label, preferring to be called "alternative R-B", while others experiment more with genres that were once declared out of bounds by the guardians. Kehlani, on the other hand, is part of a coterie of artists who maintain the relevant R-B today, alongside newcomers like Summer Walker, Bryson Tiller and Lennox. She has a song for every step of a relationship: going under it, going over it, watching the door ahead, a personal promise to stop texting her. His music seems new - not as a consistent copy of a Brandy song - but the influence is palpable. She finds the current debate about gender - what the R-B is, what it was and where it has gone - boring. It may no longer sound like it did in the 90s, but rappers (think, more recently, Drake) have expanded it beyond the desperate desire (or desperate loves) of the last century. "I think people don't know enough about music to make these kinds of accusations [that the R-B no longer exists]. The R-B is simple lyrics and a great song. Lots of harmonies and batteries and melodic production," she says, as if it were easy. "I'll never be able to make 90s R-B music. I'm never going to be able to make R-B music from the early 2000s, because that's not when I was making music. It wasn't when I experienced things that shaped my words and my sound." Kehlani was born in Oakland and raised by her aunt. His mother struggled with drug addiction, and his father died when he was 24 years old and she was very young. A stint on America's Got Talent put her in touch with Nick Cannon, who paid for her to spend time in the studio to make her first mixtape in 2014. On Cloud 19, you can hear the beginnings of a great talent: his voice is more acute and younger, but it is overflowing with emotion. On the deck of Cloud 19's "As I Am" film, she sings and succeeds in the chorus of a Mary J. Blige classic. A week after the release of her second mixtape in 2015, she signed with Atlantic Records. Kehlani turned to pop with his debut album of 2017, SweetSexySavage, an album full of rushed and half-finished ideas. It was carried out amid a personal mental health crisis, sparked by rumors that she cheated on her ex-boyfriend, NBA player Kyrie Irving, in 2016. The relentless online bullying led her to attempt suicide. (Kyrie Irving later admitted that she had never been unfaithful.) "I started an album as a person and experienced the most traumatic event of my life," she says. Her label held on until the deadline, letting her make an album from songs she barely recognized. "I had no connection with the music," she says. "I was embarrassed about everything." The new record is a reset, closer to the Grammy-nominated mixtapes that made it famous. It Was Good Until It Wasn't Gives you the Pure B-R rush, the R-B "waiting for you to call me", the R-B "the only thing that interests me is you": the hits of Brandy and Monica in the 90s, the classics of Alicia Keys of the early 2000s who fall in love. She is also less affected by the nostalgia of adolescence than by the immediacy of adult desires. His first mixtapes were about childhood and adolescence; It Was Good Until It Wasn't at peace with the way most conflicts or heartaches unfold. The title comes from a conversation with a friend about her recent breakup. That's the life of this, you know? she said. The is good and then it's not good anymore. Although she has been in the industry since she was a teenager, Kehlani has never had any decisive success for her career, and it is unlikely that the new album will deliver one. "F-MU" is hot and dancing, and the collaboration with Canadian R-B star Tory Lanez, "Can I," is a sexy earworm - although neither song seems particularly suited to virality. His greatest successes are gossip blogs that overshadow his music. His three-month relationship with YG ended just after they released a song together proclaiming their love. (Their duet came out on the eve of Valentine's Day 2020; three days later, she released a breakup song after images of him cheating her surfaced). Minutes before one of our calls, Kehlani posted a series of tweets about a feud with another Oakland native, rapper Kamaiyah, who slammed her on Instagram Live about a previously unreleased mixtape and accused her of being a colorist, among other things. "She gave the green light to my family and me and told everyone in Oakland to kill us for a song," Kehlani says. (Kamaiyah later replied, telling Kehlani, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't threaten you," but added that "a green light means going like a fight, not shooting"). A moment after our discussion, she answered a phone call from a friend and nervously asked if her tweets - which had let the rapper know there was no bad blood - were correct, if she had handled the situation properly. Kehlani and Kamaiyah had long argued over a joint mixtape, which was to be released before the release of their two albums. Her production was difficult, and even the basic decisions - how many songs she should have, what it should be called, what the visual aesthetic should be - met, according to Kehlani, with Kamaiyah's resistance. In the end, she had had enough of back and forth, and the mixtape didn't seem as essential to her as the release of her album. When she came back to our call, her mood was appalled. I tried to contact her to do good business and she said, "If the project doesn't come out, you can't have it [one piece]," she says. "Even though I wrote it." Once again, she was swept away in a drama she couldn't control, tweeting clarifications about a quarrel she didn't care about, instead of celebrating the upcoming release of her album. But why challenge a misinterpretation if she is tired of getting carried away by the drama? How can I put this to rest and out of my body? Because I don't want to wear them," Kehlani says. "Even if you never want to piss me off again, how can I make sure you know it's love on this side?" she tweeted Kamaiyah to let the rapper know she wished him the best. She is satisfied with the way she has defused an unexpected quarrel. A few years ago, it would not have been as weighted. It took a lot of to get to this point, she says. The death of two friends in three months has put a lot of things in perspective. Philadelphia rapper Chynna overdosed in April at age 25; Minnesota rapper Lexii Alijai, whom Kehlani considered "a little sister," overdosed on New Year's Day at just 21 years of age. Lexii Alijai was scheduled to perform the first part of the post-Bieber tour as the headliner. "I couldn't believe it because Alijai was so young," she says. "It was a click, it was amazing, it was sad and it was heartbreaking. I'm always trying to find the best way to help them continue their legacy." Being 25 was also more than a quarter of a life. It was a horizon she never thought she would see. "I've always had a strange feeling about being 25 or older," she says. "It's a shock because I'm now older than my father was." that's part of what made It Was Good Until It Wasn't feel like the album she finally grew up on. "I wanted to be 25 on this one," she says.

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[nowgoforth]

2017: Drowning, treading, making waves

It’s enlightening to read all of the drafts that I never published on this blog; some were too personal, some too rambling. Apparently, one of them was my replay of last year. Pretty sure I ran out of time last year and felt it was too late to share. But I’m going to post one this year, in spite of my worsening memory, and highlight some of my learnings and experiences.

This year…

...I lost my team and gained a new one.

Over the course of a month, both of my peers quit. They had different reasons, but it was still a blow. Although one stayed on for an extra month and worked remotely, he was moving back home and didn’t take on too much of the load. I spent March in a daze, doing my best to answer ALL the tickets alone. Everyone who works in support has some hellish moment that they can point to — I think of my year as “before March” and “after March”.

Luckily, my boss at the time quickly brought in two candidates she had sourced, and they changed the game when they started. They took Product Ops to the next level, as my boss planned, and quickly blended into the seams of Lever’s culture. They gave me hope that we could still hire A players.

...I struggled a lot with supporting our support team.

At the same time that I lost my team, we were *finally* hiring for our Tier 1 Support team. The timing couldn’t have been worse. There was no one to build materials, documentation, structure, and a feedback loop. Product Ops spent the year answering the Support team’s questions every day, and still answering the many tickets that were escalated to our queue. It was frustrating and unsustainable. My biggest regret this year is not planning for the day when we’d hire support reps, and then not sounding the alarm immediately after the first cohort was hired.

We eventually hired a Support Manager who just couldn’t be better. He listened to me and my team from day one, built a feedback process, and relieved some of the stress we were experiencing. We still have a long way to go in terms of documenting tribal knowledge, but it WILL happen and our teams will continue to evolve!

...I moved back to SF and into our own studio.

Yes, I just moved to Berkeley last August…our roommates decided to move to Oakland, and I just didn’t love the place they picked. Plus, if you’re going to move, you might as well move closer to work ;) Our space may be small and overpriced, but we haven’t killed each other and yeah, I’m 10x happier being a city girl a bus ride away from anywhere I wanna go.

...I traveled to Joshua Tree and Paris.

My family and my brother’s friend road tripped to Palm Springs, so my dad could use the National Parks pass we bought for him last Christmas. I wasn’t that amazed by the trees, but loved the rock structures and it was a fun little trip. I genuinely like hanging out with my family.

Paris…oh, Paris…I was not physically prepared for how much walking we’d do. Paris was the first international trip for my boyfriend and I, and we realized how different we were in our traveling styles. I love packing in popular sights, whereas he wants to relax and do nothing. It was a trial, but we got through it. I didn’t fall in love with Paris, but I do think I’d like to give it another try someday.

...I gave yoga a chance.

On our trip to Palm Springs, I found out that my brother’s friend was a yoga fanatic. He talked soooo much about yoga that I felt moved to try out a class. I had never liked yoga for various reasons, but I finally understood why so many people practice it. I attribute this turnaround to finding Jenna, a beautifully in-touch and soulful instructor at Wheel House, which was already one of my favorite studios in the city. The first few times I went, she played just the best song during the end of the class when you lay on your mat, and it spoke directly to my heart. I felt open, receptive, like everyone could see everything in me.

I then discovered two amazing instructors on YouTube, and I haven’t found anyone better than them: Yoga with Kassandra and Allie at The Journey Junkie. I became totally dedicated to Allie in particular and joined her online Facebook group and her 21-day program. (Yeah, was I the last one to find out that there are veritable communities in online Facebook groups?? It’s an entire selling point of online wellness businesses!)

For many months, I had a love affair with yoga. At the time that it started in May, I had been feeling stifled, adrift, without purpose. Regularly practicing yoga gave me a sense of peace, allowed me to tune into my body and mind in different ways, and gradually gave me the kick in the pants to get on with my life.

...I flirted with becoming a health coach and yoga teacher.

In October, I volunteered at the soft opening of a women’s clubhouse called The Assembly. There is so much potential in this fitness/coworking/hangout space, and women so need a way to find our community in this city. I’m excited to keep volunteering and supporting their growth when they officially launch in January!

After checking out The Assembly, I came across the concept of a “health coach”. I thought it might be a stepping stone to opening my own wellness space in the future, and I enrolled in an online institute to become one. During the first month, I realized that I had just been searching for a way to progress towards *something*, anything. The program wasn’t for me. I was a bit ashamed of “quitting”, but my boyfriend reminded me that the act of enrolling in and leaving the program was a learning experience that I could fold into my plans for my future. (And I became good friends with my lab partner, who lives across the country!)

Of course, I fluttered onto the next thing and without much direction, I put a deposit into a yoga teacher training program. I loved yoga, so why wouldn’t I want to deepen my practice? I was also really interested in learning more than the physical poses — the philosophy and anatomy aspects are often overlooked.

A couple weeks after, I stumbled upon the Instagram accounts of teachers who proclaimed that the yoga profession needed to adapt, there were more ways to do the poses everyone teaches. Smarter ways to move our bodies. I started to question what I had been practicing. I knew I hadn’t been hurting my body, but was I doing everything that I could to support its future? 

Annnnnd then I did hurt myself, trying to better my chatarunga pose at home. Now, that isn’t all yoga’s fault, it was also my ego thinking that I didn’t need modifications. But I didn’t feel the pain until afterwards, which scared me into realizing I wasn’t very strong at all. I’ve been doing strength training and “boring” but so-needed mobility workouts ever since. I’ve been feeling powerful and happy, and yes, now yoga feels too slow to me again. I’m sure I’ll find the balance someday.

GEEZ, this is one hell of a long post. I’m exhausted! There’s actually more I could write, which shows that I should probably blog more often. If I missed anything important, well…I’m sure they were documented in some way somewhere else. I guess a lot happened this year after all. Funny how the memory works.

Now, for next year…

My word for the year is “movement”. It could also be “progress”, but I am not married to any particular goal, I just don’t wanna sit around on my ass all year again.

I want new challenges and new responsibilities in my career. I want to feel like I’m experimenting, growing, and learning more about what satisfies me. I legit considered leaving tech this year, but all of the changes I’d been seeking? Well, turns out they just didn’t want to be rushed. They’re coming together right now, and some cool things are in the works. More to come next month ;)

I want to keep moving my body in different ways and progressively getting stronger and more mobile. I need to put more care into my health because hello, I’m getting older. In the same vein, I’d like to cook a little more often and try new ways to make my gut happier. I don’t talk about my IBS a lot, but for the first time in years, I’ve had a breakthrough, thanks to a probiotic. So fingers crossed I stay less bloated and more regular!

I want to seriously practice meditation and let go of a lotttttt of shit. I think I’d be a lot happier and more pleasant to work with, if my emotions didn’t control my reactions.

Goals will change and evolve, but my general intention for 2018 is to actively pursue life. I think that’s enough for one year :P

[bkrootsfitness0]

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Book Now Fitness Training Studio in Oakland

Fitness Training Studio is a fitness center designed to help you achieve your fitness goals. Whether it's the personal training, group fitness classes, tryouts, or anything in between, we have a plan that's perfect for you. Contact Us: (510)817-4791.

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Joker Oakland Raiders shirt

On the night of the Met Gala Joker Oakland Raiders shirt . Pose star Billy Porter shut down the red carpet with one of the most fabulous entrances of all time. Carried in on a litter supported by six shirtless men, he nodded to ancient Egypt with a custom “Sun God” look, inspired by Diana Ross’s character in the campy film Mahogany. It was a custom creation by The Blonds, complete with a bejeweled catsuit, 10-foot angel wings, John Hardy jewelry, and custom Giuseppe Zanotti shoes. Ahead of the grand arrival Joker Oakland Raiders shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Classic Ladies

Hoodie

LongSleeve

Sweatshirt

Unisex Vogue documented Porter as he got ready for the big night Joker Oakland Raiders shirt .One week before the gala, Vogue first snuck into The Blonds’s studio for Porter’s third and final fitting with designers Phillipe and David Blond, who worked with Porter’s stylist, Sam Ratelle, to bring his fabulous vision to life. It was there that the fashion superstar first tried on those epic wings. “Get your photos, darlings,” he said, “before she flies away.” After some quick trimming of his headpiece, which was dripping with gold chains, Porter was off.Flash-forward to 24 hours before the Met, and it was time to rehearse that epic entrance. Along with his six men, many of whom are Broadway dancers by day, the entire ancient Egyptian–inspired crew practiced lifting Porter up and down while marching in unison. “I think you’re going to have fun for days afterwards, talking about it,” Porter said to the camera during the process. (He was absolutely right.)The day of, Porter kept things quiet ahead of his grand performance. While getting his makeup done by La Sonya Gunter, who did his beauty during his Kinky Boots days, Porter is seen lounging on his hotel bed while Gunter uses Pat McGrath products for a glittery gold look. “I’m trying to conserve my energy, because I know it’s going to be crazy tonight,” he said. While Porter’s getting-ready demeanor was chill, Gunter’s vision for the beauty was anything but. “As Oscar Wilde said, ‘One should be wear a work of art, or be a work of art,’ and when I thought of Billy, I was like, he’s both,” she said.After slipping on his custom getup, Porter was off to the Met in his own party bus, where he even drove by cochair Lady Gaga, who was walking to the venue along the Upper East Side. Noticing her entourage carrying her long pink train, he quipped, “I have some people carrying me too, Lady Gaga. I’ll see you there.” Above, see how Porter became a “sun god” for fashion’s biggest night. You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article

[lovediva0303]

Joker Oakland Raiders shirt

On the night of the Met Gala Joker Oakland Raiders shirt . Pose star Billy Porter shut down the red carpet with one of the most fabulous entrances of all time. Carried in on a litter supported by six shirtless men, he nodded to ancient Egypt with a custom “Sun God” look, inspired by Diana Ross’s character in the campy film Mahogany. It was a custom creation by The Blonds, complete with a bejeweled catsuit, 10-foot angel wings, John Hardy jewelry, and custom Giuseppe Zanotti shoes. Ahead of the grand arrival Joker Oakland Raiders shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt

Classic Ladies

Hoodie

LongSleeve

Sweatshirt

Unisex Vogue documented Porter as he got ready for the big night Joker Oakland Raiders shirt .One week before the gala, Vogue first snuck into The Blonds’s studio for Porter’s third and final fitting with designers Phillipe and David Blond, who worked with Porter’s stylist, Sam Ratelle, to bring his fabulous vision to life. It was there that the fashion superstar first tried on those epic wings. “Get your photos, darlings,” he said, “before she flies away.” After some quick trimming of his headpiece, which was dripping with gold chains, Porter was off.Flash-forward to 24 hours before the Met, and it was time to rehearse that epic entrance. Along with his six men, many of whom are Broadway dancers by day, the entire ancient Egyptian–inspired crew practiced lifting Porter up and down while marching in unison. “I think you’re going to have fun for days afterwards, talking about it,” Porter said to the camera during the process. (He was absolutely right.)The day of, Porter kept things quiet ahead of his grand performance. While getting his makeup done by La Sonya Gunter, who did his beauty during his Kinky Boots days, Porter is seen lounging on his hotel bed while Gunter uses Pat McGrath products for a glittery gold look. “I’m trying to conserve my energy, because I know it’s going to be crazy tonight,” he said. While Porter’s getting-ready demeanor was chill, Gunter’s vision for the beauty was anything but. “As Oscar Wilde said, ‘One should be wear a work of art, or be a work of art,’ and when I thought of Billy, I was like, he’s both,” she said.After slipping on his custom getup, Porter was off to the Met in his own party bus, where he even drove by cochair Lady Gaga, who was walking to the venue along the Upper East Side. Noticing her entourage carrying her long pink train, he quipped, “I have some people carrying me too, Lady Gaga. I’ll see you there.” Above, see how Porter became a “sun god” for fashion’s biggest night. You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article

[lovediva013]

Joker Oakland Raiders shirt

On the night of the Met Gala Joker Oakland Raiders shirt . Pose star Billy Porter shut down the red carpet with one of the most fabulous entrances of all time. Carried in on a litter supported by six shirtless men, he nodded to ancient Egypt with a custom “Sun God” look, inspired by Diana Ross’s character in the campy film Mahogany. It was a custom creation by The Blonds, complete with a bejeweled catsuit, 10-foot angel wings, John Hardy jewelry, and custom Giuseppe Zanotti shoes. Ahead of the grand arrival Joker Oakland Raiders shirt, hoodie, sweater, longsleeve and ladies t-shirt Classic Ladies

Hoodie

LongSleeve

Sweatshirt

Unisex Vogue documented Porter as he got ready for the big night Joker Oakland Raiders shirt .One week before the gala, Vogue first snuck into The Blonds’s studio for Porter’s third and final fitting with designers Phillipe and David Blond, who worked with Porter’s stylist, Sam Ratelle, to bring his fabulous vision to life. It was there that the fashion superstar first tried on those epic wings. “Get your photos, darlings,” he said, “before she flies away.” After some quick trimming of his headpiece, which was dripping with gold chains, Porter was off.Flash-forward to 24 hours before the Met, and it was time to rehearse that epic entrance. Along with his six men, many of whom are Broadway dancers by day, the entire ancient Egyptian–inspired crew practiced lifting Porter up and down while marching in unison. “I think you’re going to have fun for days afterwards, talking about it,” Porter said to the camera during the process. (He was absolutely right.)The day of, Porter kept things quiet ahead of his grand performance. While getting his makeup done by La Sonya Gunter, who did his beauty during his Kinky Boots days, Porter is seen lounging on his hotel bed while Gunter uses Pat McGrath products for a glittery gold look. “I’m trying to conserve my energy, because I know it’s going to be crazy tonight,” he said. While Porter’s getting-ready demeanor was chill, Gunter’s vision for the beauty was anything but. “As Oscar Wilde said, ‘One should be wear a work of art, or be a work of art,’ and when I thought of Billy, I was like, he’s both,” she said.After slipping on his custom getup, Porter was off to the Met in his own party bus, where he even drove by cochair Lady Gaga, who was walking to the venue along the Upper East Side. Noticing her entourage carrying her long pink train, he quipped, “I have some people carrying me too, Lady Gaga. I’ll see you there.” Above, see how Porter became a “sun god” for fashion’s biggest night. You Can See More Product: https://hottrendtees.com/product-category/trending/ Read the full article

[gymdoctors]

Find the Best Treadmill Repair Bay Area

Are you looking for a treadmill repair in the Bay Area? There is treadmill repair service in Bay Area that specializes in repairing bike, treadmill, elliptical, and gym systems. They handle all models and makes of gym equipment whether it is commercial or residential fitness equipment. If you have a commercial facility with different types of equipment the technicians in the company will handle that too. So give a call to the treadmill repair company today and they will be at your gym in an hour or two.

If you have ordered a treadmill online and it has come in different pieces they will install it for you. They will come to your gym and service and repair all your equipment so you do not have regular headaches.

Get your treadmills working by contacting treadmill repair service?

The technicians working with treadmill Repair Company are factory trained and can easily get parts to repair your treadmill within warranty or out of warranty. The technicians have insurance for professional liability and are also insured for worker’s compensation. The repair company has been providing service to Orange County and Los Angeles for over twenty years.

They maintain the fitness equipment as per the requirements of the manufacturer so that they last a long time and work without any hassles. The repair company has been recommended by manufacturers and dealers of equipment and also offers preventive maintenance with discounted labor rates.

Treadmill Repair Services in Oakland

The treadmill repair services in Oakland provide repairs of all gym equipment so that they last a long time. They fix and maintain all types of fitness machinery for health clubs, schools, homes, colleges, personal training studios, and others. They have a team of repair technicians that specializes in the repair of all valuable equipment whether it is stationary bikes, elliptical, or treadmills of Precor or Life Fitness.

They provide repair and maintenance for every customer in the locality whether it is commercial or residential property. They understand the problems faced when exercise equipment is malfunctioning. Whenever problems arise the technicians work with proficiency and professionalism to get it back in working condition. Their prices are affordable and they come within an hour or two so your equipment is repaired in record time.

Treadmill Repair in San Francisco

If you are looking for treadmill repair in San Francisco you can contact the repair services that are available 7 days of the week and will get to your fitness studio or your home within 48 hours. You can provide them with a one hour window when they can get to your studio and the personal Treadmill Repair Oakland You will not have to take a break or stay away from work. They also attend to service calls at the weekends and in the evenings.

When they repair your treadmill they will see that it lasts. If the problem recurs again they will replace the treadmill for free. Their repair service is best in San Francisco with trained teams for delivery and experienced technicians.

Are you looking for treadmill repair in California then visit Gymdoc.com for best repair services in the area?