Cicada

Nothing like watching one emerging... only saw it for a few minutes before the mosquitoes started harassing me. Bugs are fun!

Paralympic Trading Card: Lee Ford

I got this awesome trading card from Lee Ford, 2012 Paralympic archer.

Deadlifts and Shrugs!

 

Shrugged and deadlifted this for 2 sets of 3 reps.  All 225 lbs. Still short of my 1RM on my deadlifts but hoping to make 300 lbs in the not to distant future and then go beyond it.  I did set a personal best on my shrugs though - last time I maxxed out on my shrugs I went at a single rep of 205 lbs.   

 

And here's what my hands look like after doing my shrugs and deadlifts - proof of a good day's lifting.  Those girly foofy soft manicured hands are highly overrated... as is not having much muscle mass or having much of a 1RM. It's all about strength, power, and mass, not that highly overrated "toned feminine" look too many idiots keep trying to push me towards. I want to LOOK like the Hulk and be able to be just as destructive as the Hulk, if not more so!

Better View of Biceps from 8/15

Here's a few pictures with better views of my developing parts.  I still feel the burden of having XX instead of XY chromosomes!  I will have some nice topography on my arms, shoulders, back, legs, and chest though... and be able to at least do 700+ lbs on my combined back squat, deadlift, and bench press combination! Just 105 more lbs to go on my composite...

Lantern Corps or Rainbow Brite?

Archery may have gotten stormed out but the Firewolf still rose above the gloom and got a nice little bonus after practice.

 And the various Lantern Corps visited after the storms. These pictures below were taken on Paynes Prairie on Highway 441, where I pulled over at the observation station. For anyone who hasn't been there, I highly recommend a visit there, especially during the winter, when it's not so buggy or grotesquely humid although today was a very nice day!

Colors of Triumph: Brown and White

The board stood no chance against me, my back kick, and the Roar of the Tiger... I'm still NOT the world's biggest fan of back kicks but I did it!

Sitting with my fellow intermediate adult-ish creatures after receiving my new belt. I am now officially a high brown belt. The real fun though begins at red belt, when I finally move from intermediate to advanced. 

 Three of the instructors, including our fearless head instructor, are giving us a good pep talk about what the future holds for us as martial artists.

 My old brown belt and my dead, very dead board.

 The obligatory flaunting my goodies including the new belt and certificate that I passed the test and destroyed my board!

Two in the Hole

Final two arrows of the end... the rest were mostly skewed a bit to the left but in some pretty good groups. This was done with my Vapor 2000 shafts (aka HUGE shafts) and the Crusader aka Old Faithful or the Black Knight... and in my knight's backyard at 18 meters on a 60 cm target face. The target face is pretty chewed up from both me and Sir Erika but we figure we must know what we're doing!

Return of the Bicep

I still have a lot more mass I need to put on as well as strength. The shoulder bump is also starting to finally come in. For now, I still feel more like a few sheets toilet paper that's still obviously got XX chromosomes than an actual warrior capable of tearing their opponents into shards that would take an army of doctors and engineers to restore but it's slowly getting there.

Some More Bonding with Camera

The Firewolf is slowly getting the hang of using the timer and other cool features on her new camera. I'm also working on playing with camera angles just for the fun of it. After all, my tripod is bold and fearless!

 And then there was the little side trip during the storm to the Florida Natural History Museum, where they had the Wolf to Woof exhibit. I have a real soft spot for wolves, so of course I was going to investigate this! Besides wolves and dogs, I also got to see foxes (lots of them!), coyotes, jackals, and other types of wild canids.

 Bush dogs are rather funny looking little canines but I sure as heck don't want to tangle with one!

 Maned wolves remind me more of unusually long-legged foxes than anything else.

 Another of the South American canids, the crab-eating fox is another interesting little critter to look at!

 Domesticated foxes, anyone? These are the result of an experiment in Russia where the foxes with the least fear and aggression towards humans were bred. The result? Floppier ears, multiple colors or general coloration seldom seen in the wild, and a more puppy-like look as a whole.

 Coyotes, anyone?

 Channel Island Fox, anyone? These guys are incredibly tiny, critically endangered, and incredibly cute. Looking at their skulls in a mammalogy class I took once upon a time made me realize just how darned small they are too!

 Grey fox (Urocyon cineroargentis) is the only canine that's really proficient at climbing trees. This being said, I would be thoroughly amused if one ever decided to share a tree-stand with me, although I seriously doubt it'll ever happen.