Gotta Vote for Geckos!
I love Sarasota’s hometown, locally-owned all-round great meet-up/sports bar Gecko’s Grill and Pub! I love their nachos — veggie style.
If you’re a fan like me, you can cast a vote — do it before April 4 — for Gecko’s in the Sarasota Herald Tribune’s “Best Sports Bar Showdown — at www.ticketsarasota.com.
Men of Midtown — my V-Day date with Sarasota firefighters!
Could my Valentine’s Day have been any sweeter? I got to get kind of up close and person with some of the men who keep my city safe. Sarasota County Fire Department Battalion 1 Lieutenant Craig Gerardi, Firefighter/EMT J.W. Boyette, Firefighter/Paramedics Stephen Willhoite and Todd Tedder, and volunteer Justin Miante.
Brown Thrasher has died
My beautiful Brown Thrasher has died. I know it’s crazy to get so attached to little creatures, but I can’t help it. (more…)
Chickens … or dogs … fur or feathers in the backyard?
My Sense and the City column this week is all about dogs — why I love ’em, why their owners sometimes bug me, and why I’ll take fur over feathers!
You can read it online at: Which do you prefer in your backyard — chicken or dogs?
Photo courtesy of engnr_chik on Flickr (some rights reserved)
or pick up a free copy of TICKET at news boxes all around the city.
Who …. who?
This GORGEOUS fellow (or female!) owl was spotted by a neighbor up in the tree at dusk. (more…)
This cougar prefers panthers …
Well, the title is a bit misleading for two reasons: I’m a cougar in age only (any female over 35 and not dead yet)
MC's one and only cougar-ish pose.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a gorgeous male … Click on this link to see my kind of guy … looking and walking … like a king.
Girls gone wild — Sarasota Style
In my After Hours column in today’s TICKET section in the Sarasota Herald Tribune — I offer my opinion on what one thing you must do tonight — if you want to have fun — check out the girls (and boys) gone wild members of the Lazy Fairy Improv group —
Girls Gone Wild -- a few members of the Lazy Fairy Improv
I also dish the dirt about the mousy martinis at Hyde Park; and I take a swipe at Sarah Palin.
You can read my column on page 7E in print; or click here: MC’s Must-Scene
Being here now … yoga with Gary Halperin — special offer for Reality Readers
When I got the green light from my doctor a few months ago to ease slowly back into exercise, taking classes with certified professional-level Kripalu Yoga teacher Gary Halperin in his beginner yoga class was the first thing I did — and am still doing … .
Boomerang demonstrates the Back-Sprawled, Paws Akimbo Cat Pose.
As a little gift for readers of this blog, throughout the rest of December, new visitors to any of Gary’s classes pay only $5 for the first class visit — if you mention MC Reality Online when you sign up or show up. This is a great way to try out yoga — especially with Gary who has a fantastic reputation in Sarasota; and it’s also a great way to give yourself a treat during the month of December, which can way too often feel way too harried and hurried.
Classes are normally $12 each, and he offers day and evening classes Monday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday nights — centrally located and easy to get to, at the corner of Tuttle and Ringling. You can contact Gary to sign up for a class, or visit www.feelbetternowyoga.com to learn more. Read more about Halperin in this magazine article — Being Here Now. In the classes I’ve been taking, there are men and women — all ages.
I’m way too often an all-work, no play/no relax kind of gal, but Gary’s classes are teaching me (despite the fact that I’m a slow learner), that I can make and take the time — in fact I deserve to do it — in my life to feel mentally more clear, emotionally more satisfied, psychologically more calm, and physically more comfortable. I find that by doing the simple yoga stretches and poses, combined with the act of just “being here now” in class and listening to my body and being aware of how it feels — has reaped rewards not just physically, but personally and professionally.
I have more energy, more clarity, and more energy throughout my work days in general, even on the days that I’m not taking his class. And more importantly — I’ve been sleeping dramatically better since I started the yoga earlier this fall.
But one of my favorite parts of the class is simply listening to the calm, focused, nonjudgmental “instruction” from Gary. In a way that’s almost uncanny, at the very moments in class where I feel most challenged or conflicted about being there (because I feel I should be working or doing something on my “to-do” list) or even when I’m just feeling insecure about how my body looks while holding some “let it all hang out” pose — Gary inevitably speaks to the class in a way that seems to address precisely what’s going on in my head. And he brings me back to what matters. Just being and accepting the “here” — right where I am at that moment — right now.
It’s a valuable lesson for the rest of my life outside of yoga.