Dogged Blog

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Days Eight and Nine

My silence didn't mean I missed my workouts -- apparently my extra workout time is eating into my blogging time.

Kyrie and I have had two very long walks in the last two days. Of course I walk her at least twice every day, but we have three kinds of walks: A quick trip across the street so she can potty, a walk of a few blocks, and a long walk, which is usually somewhere around a mile and sometimes as much as 2.5 miles.

I'm sure that doesn't seem long to KT, but it's long to us.

I wanted to go to  qui quong again this morning, but I had some kind of weird insect bite yesterday, and the doctor gave me an antihistamine for it, and it made me groggy and stupid all day. So I got behind on work, and had to catch up this morning so I can leave for Austin tomorrow for South by Southwest.

I'll definitely be going to the gym later today, though.

Some social media advice for pet writers and veterinarians: Dump the screename

I'm losing count of the number of my fellow dog and cat writers, and almost all my veterinarian friends and colleagues, who have recently started using social media and signed up on Twitter and even Facebook with screennames instead of their professional names.

I have one single heartfelt piece of advice for you all: Don't.

Tweeting about your new book deal or column as ZiggysMom or DogGuru or whatever is not clever and it doesn't create "buzz" and it's not thinking outside the box. It's going to hurt you.

Let's just start with the most obvious way it hurts you: Unless your books or columns are authored by ZiggysMom, or your business card reads "DogGuru DVM," the connection between your cute username and your professional work is going to be lost for the vast majority of people. 

If someone is looking for you in social media, they aren't going to magically know your screen name. They'll know your real name. That's how they'll look for you, and how they'll know they've found you.

Blogging or using social media (which is a form of blogging) under a screename is also seen as extremely unprofessional.

Now, there was a time when using a screen name was the norm. In fact, some writers and pundits became as well or even better-known by their screen names as their real names.

But this is not AOL in 1993.  Social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook exist to facilitate real life and professional networking, and they're based on the premise that people are who they say they are and do what they say they do. Which, if you're a professional writer, is pretty critical.

Furthermore, some networks require you to participate in your real name. Facebook will actually delete a profile if it's not created by, and in the real name of, a real person. (Yes, I'm sorry -- your dog, like your animal shelter, rescue group or radio program, can have a fan page, but not a profile, on Facebook.)

You also look unprofessional because you're not doing it right -- in other words, you're not participating in the way that's the norm in your field. It makes you stand out, and not in a good way. It makes you look out of touch and slightly hokey.

So if you only recently created a social media account in a screen name, consider dumping it and starting over with your professional name, the one that's on your byline or the spine of your books, or your veterinary license. The one people will Google when they want to check out your references and your credibility and your connections.

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day Seven

So, Travis texted me this morning at around 7:30, and I phoned him back instead of texting. Apparently he can text in his sleep, since I woke him up.

He called me from his hike after he was conscious, and I told him I planned to hit the gym today. This is the first time since we began this that I have no desire at all to be active. But... 90 workouts in 90 days it is. So, I'm off to the gym. I'll update this post when I'm back, because I'm all about the transparency, accountability and sore aching muscles.

Update: Worked out at the gym. I guess Kyrie and I will have a long walk tonight, too -- not quite a hike, but a nice long walk. Just need to wait until she wakes up from her nap.

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day Six

Tonight I opted for a long hike as my day six workout, and I wish I hadn't. A nasty little ankle-biter of a toy dog with a death wish was running loose and totally ruined it for me and Kyrie.

Under normal circumstances I'd say this dog had gotten out accidentally, but I happen to know where he lives and his owner, mind-bogglingly given we live in the city, lets him run loose. The dog's confrontational and noisy and snappy, and he stands in the middle of the street and charges at you when you walk by. Which people might think is funny, to see a toy dog charging a giant breed dog like my Kyrie, but it's not funny at all.

Really pisses me off, in fact.

I think next week I'm going to try some water aerobics. Tomorrow, though, I'm going to do my weight training and then just have a little recreational swim. 

So, how are you all doing?

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day Five

Qui quong class was surprisingly hard. I thought my years of yoga would prepare me for it, but it was actually quite different from yoga, and I kept finding myself holding my breath (kind of defeating everything qui quong is about -- and yoga, for that matter), and then getting dizzy. Also my balance apparently sucks.

Then I did my resistance workout while my sister in law used the cardio equipment. She joined the Y today, too, so I'll have a class and workout buddy!

Now I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open, though. Good thing it's Friday!

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Days Three and Four

It's not often that I did something and didn't write, rather than the other way around.

But yesterday was Day Three of the 90 day workout challenge I'm doing with Travis and everyone else who signed up to join us, and I did get my workout in! In fact, I got in two, one long walk with Kyrie and one visit to the gym.

And I've already been to the gym today, and may well get in another long walk this evening, as long as the rain holds off and Kyrie's paw is fully recovered from a splinter she got in it this morning.

Tomorrow I'll be going to my first Qui Quong class, along with my sister-in-law. Then I'll do my regular workout while she has a gym tour -- she's considering getting a family membership. I've already taken my little nephew swimming there once, and I think my brother, who came to watch, was impressed with the facility, which is my local Y.

It's in the midst of a re-model, but the pool renovation has already been completed, and the gym, workout rooms and the "wellness studios" are all open. It's just the showers and spa that aren't. Which does mean I have to go home to shower, and I miss having access to a hot tub somewhere, but other than that, it's a pretty great place.

Some people complain that it's expensive, and I suppose compared to other gyms it might be, but it's still what I consider a negligible amount of money, and it's walking distance to my house, which is worth a lot to me. And when I can't walk (takes around half an hour each way), it has a big parking lot. That's worth a lot to me, too, in the city, where few businesses have parking and we're all competing for a few metered spaces. 

How did/are the rest of you doing on days three and four?

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day Two

Oh owwwwww owwww owww.

My plan this morning was to take Kyrie for a hike, but to say she balked would be an understatement. It was pouring rain, and apparently my little princess still hates the rain, even in her beautiful raincoat.

So this afternoon I hit the gym for the second day in a row. I thought my arms were going to fall off, they were so tired.

Ninety massages in 90 days, anyone?

And how did you all do?

Ninety workouts in 90 days: Day One

I hit the gym and finished my workout, but my legs are shaking. I'm literally sitting here at the computer and they're shaking.

It's amazing how much weaker you are when you've been sick -- I remember when I had whooping cough a couple of years ago, how much it set me back with weight lifting.

So, how did the rest of you do today? Sound off!

Ninety workouts in 90 days

When I was down in Los Angeles visiting my friend Travis at the beginning of February, I told him I'd been having a hard time sticking with my workout program since my mom's death -- I'd go steadily for a week or two, then kind of crash and burn.

I said I'd been thinking of making a "rain or shine" commitment to work out every day for 90 days in a row, and he said, almost just tossing it off, "I'll help you with that if you'd like."

It took me three weeks, but I finally said I'd like to take him up on it, at which point he said he could use some motivation himself, so maybe we could do it jointly. Then I got the plague, and so I put it off until Monday -- in other words, tomorrow.

I guess I'll wait until I'm not hacking up a lung to hit the swimming pool again, but starting tomorrow, me and the gym are going to get re-acquainted. Travis... you ready?

San Francisco farmers market

Sent from my iPhone

Hudson Leick's joke

So, in my liveblogging of the Xena convention, I watched Hudson Leick, who played Callisto, Xena's arch-enemy, do her stage appearance. I liveblogged it for AfterEllen.com, with photos (including this one) by KT Jorgensen.

And Hudson told a joke that was too smutty for AfterEllen and too long for Twitter, but I promised to tell it so here it is.

First, Hudson started out with a long dissertation on French swear words, with a particular focus on her favorite, "Va te faire enculer," which means, "Go get fucked in the ass."

She was joking about a line of Xena-themed vibrators she wanted to create:

She said she and a friend want to create a line of Xena-themed vibrators. "The Gabrielle one that just makes you cry, I love you, I love you.' The Callisto one that goes 'AAAAAAHHHHHHHHRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHAAAAA' all the time. The Xena one that is all stoic, 'I want to, but I won't,' and gazes longingly at Gabrielle the whole time."

Then Adam from Creation Entertainment, which produced the convention, made a comment that there are no vibrators for men.

And of course, an entire auditorium of lesbians knew enough to yell, "Yes, there are!"

"They're for everyone," Hudson told Adam. "You should try it." Then she smiled. "It involves va te faire enculer."

Liveblogging the Xena convention, of course I am!

I completely forgot to post here that I'm liveblogging the 15th Annual Xena: Warrior Princess convention in Los Angeles this weekend. I started today with coverage of Katherine Fugate, Hudson Leick, and a fantastic appearance by Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor. You'll find it over on AfterEllen.com.

On Saturday, you'll also find dozens of incredible photos, including many taken backstage, from KT Jorgensen, along with exclusive interviews with Lucy and Renee, and continuing convention coverage.

So yo, Xena fans... come on over!