#NerdsUnite: The Ramblings of a Raconteuse (Changing It Up)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Helenna. We met on twitter not too long ao, and she's totes mcgotes one rad chiquita banana with a flare for all things flair! That's right, Helenna here is what we call an artsy fartsy nerd. She's a poet, into all things dramatic arts, and she's going to come on board to write each week about her love of said drama. Well not like actual drama drama, like some cat fight shit - but you get the idea. I only have one thing left to say ... HIT IT HELENNA!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Helslevy

I’ve been really bored with my workouts lately.

It’s now Day 175 of #projecthelenna according to “My Fitness Pal,”  and I’m still doing really well with my healthy eating habits, but my workouts are leaving me feeling pretty blah.  I seem to just get bored.  It’s difficult for me to really motivate myself when it comes to strength training.  When I first started #projecthelenna a girlfriend of mine who is a personal trainer put together a training plan for me.  I was totally rocking it at first, but lately I’ve been sucking the big one.  I’ll be all stoked with cardio, but as soon as it’s time to do a lunge or a squat I check out.

My dream would be to have a personal trainer who comes to my house 4 days a week to whip my butt into shape.  That way I wouldn’t have to even think about what I was doing, I could just follow their instructions and enjoy the results. And while that isn’t a reality right now, I know that I need to change things up to stay on top of things. So today I decided to go to “Pink Iron” in West Hollywood.

A girlfriend of mine has been going there regularly and looks phenomenal.  This gym is really interesting to me because while it’s an all ladies facility and has a lot of pink in the color scheme, the focus of the gym is building “lean, mean” girlie machines,” and all of their training is done in group classes.  It’s a great non intimidating atmosphere to be in while lifting some heavy weights and not feeling like a dork.

I had a great time today and will definitely be going back, but I also realized that the best thing for me might be doing something totally different for every workout.  I tend to enjoy myself the most when whatever I’m doing feels like it’s working my mind as well as my body which is why I love yoga so much.  As soon as I start thinking of something as just “a workout”  I’m kind of dead in the water.

But, that being said, here are some things that I’d like to try out, or places I’d like to return that I’ve loved in the past:

- Krav Maga (I did 5 months of Level 1.  It’s really expensive to go to the National Training Center, so I’d like to find somewhere that does the same or similar training.)

- Cardio Bar (I’ve been a few times before and really enjoyed it)

- Bar Method (this is a great butt workout)

- Pilates (I’ve gone to Pilates Plus off and on for a couple of years)

- some form of martial art (I’ve never studied a martial art, but would love to start one day…)

- beginner hip hop dance classes or modern dance (I danced when I was little and did a few musicals in college, but it’s been awhile since I braved the dance scene.  I’m thinking I should rock it out again…)

- train for a marathon (this is a long term possibility, but a possibility nonetheless..)

and of course,

- yoga (i’ve been a yogi for many years, but have neglected my practice lately)

Do you all have workouts that you love?

I’d really like to hear any suggestions you all might have for workouts that are fun and enjoyable and keep you motivated to go back for more!

Until next time,

#xoxo hels

tweet me at: @helslevy

browse me at: helennasantoslevy.com

email me at: contacthelenna@gmail.com

#Fact: The scariest part of the human experience is realizing how powerful you really are

Ahhhhhhhhhhh ... I'm going mad. 

These past two weeks have been the most stressful of my entire life. It's all obviously completely self-induced, but psychologically I am absolutely MAD right now. 

So, as I've said previously, I am currently raising capital. I am taking meetings with strategic and private investors and all of the feedback has been EXTREMELY positive. 

I am humbled ... so so so fucking humbled. 

My next doable action is to bring to the table my terms for this one crowd. I listened to my advisor at first getting back to him SUPER fast, but for the last week - I have completely retreated. It was mostly strategic to be honest, since I GENUINELY wanted to make sure I FULLY understood what I was agreeing to and was operating from a place of calm and not desperation or excitement. 

This is the part where meditation helps you so greatly in business. 

Starting this business was a no brainer. I hated my life, I hated EVERYTHING I was and EVERYTHING I had become - so changing wasn't even a thought, it was what I needed to do. 

I am now at that step again where I realize this is EXACTLY what I need to do, and it's all so scary. Financially speaking to be responsible for something that I didn't even think I'd make in a lifetime is a heavy, heavy feeling.

This is the biggest decision of my life, and I am doing it all alone. 

Yes, I have advisors (and one in particular that is literally holding my hand through this process) but it's nuts. My family has ABSOLUTELY no clue on any advice to give me, and I have super rich friends who have all started their own businesses who have been quite helpful - but it's all so, so maddening. I feel like I'm MVP of a game that I don't understand!!! 

My brain is running itself in one big circle which kicks my ADD into overdrive which causes my attention span and energy to drop down to nothing. 

I'm like a turtle when I get like this ... I just stick my little head back into my shell and retreat. 

The only problem with that though is I no longer have that childish option. I have to put on my big girl pants, run this business, take meetings, and fucking deal. 

That's NUTS!!! 

WHO EVER WANTS TO HAVE TO DEAL?!?!?!?! 

I can't focus on the fact that I am making decisions that will impact the rest of my life - I merely need to stay present in this moment and allow this fear, and anxiety to pass through me. I do not own this anxiousness, and while yes, I am manifesting it currently, I at ANY moment can change it and embrace the awesomeness and embrace the abundance. 

Fuck, all of this is so hard man. 

I can at least say when this is all over that "I did it," I just wish this "breaking through" process was 5% easier. 

Just 5%.

I'm not greedy, I promise. 

Oh yeah and ... 

click the screenshot to comment on Facebook

#nerdsunite

#NerdsUnite: Big lights, big city, and a journey into confidence

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Jordan. He's a youngin living in the great big apple in the hopes of becoming his dream, a theater director. Will he make it? Won't he? What problems and struggles will he deal with along the way. I have no idea ... so that's why he's here. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT JORDAN!!! </editorsnote> 

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Jordan Friedman

This is becoming a very exciting time for me right now in my project. I’m just about to start rehearsing the actual show itself next week. It’s weird for me in a sense thinking of this project in its early stages right around two months ago, and now to see much of this process actually begin and unfold in front of me. There’s still a lot of work to do, I’m working on some more script analysis and having a few meetings. Then I think a lot of my time, and these blogs will focus on the rehearsal process from the start of next week until show time.  I’ve done a lot of talking back and forth to different sorts of people, including another meeting with designers coming up as well as discussing with one of my friends who possibly could help me with graphic design work (This is very important to me since a three year old could probably make a better poster than me).  I’m also mentally sort of getting myself in a rehearsal-ready mind frame and thinking of how I can best use the information I have about the script. It’s been a lot on my mind, but I think I’m doing the best I can with it to make this show work and not overwhelm myself at the same time.   

Over two months into the process, this has been very interesting for me doing independent work. Up until now I’ve been primarily working for other companies who want me to work on shows that best fit the needs of their company or their target audience. While this was beneficial to some degree, I had concerns of falling into a certain niche as a theatre artist. I consider myself someone who likes to do a variety of work as a theatre director, and I want to be able to branch into work that I felt as if I was separating myself from doing in the work I did prior. It’s an atmosphere that I’m actually slowly getting used to, as I’ve done work at least somewhat supervised going back to college work being guided by curriculums and professors. It’s not as if such supervision was entirely bad, in fact a lot of positives came out of it and my core directing and theatre skills came out of it. However, being in the real world is a different feeling. You’re not doing work for a grade or because you’re directly being told to. If you’re a director in the real world, you want to do this for more than just one course. That sort of overall though is what I’ve incorporated into my M.O of working independently at least for one show. Will I return to working for other companies? Absolutely. I’m young enough in that I’m able to take in a lot of information from many different people. But what I’m doing now is seeking something I feel is probably intangible and something one best learns on their own, which is leadership techniques, and the idea of building something from the ground up.  It’s an experience I’m very glad I’m doing, and something I know I’ll carry with me for the rest of my professional career. I’ll leave you all on that note, I have a lot of work to do.

Until next time.

Nerd responsibly.

-Jordan

#nerdsunite

Follw him on Twitter at @jordanbfriedman!

A Director Blogs:  adirectorblogs.blogspot.com

#RIP @OkCupid: A letter of goodbye and a formal announcement of retirement

After ... 2 years and three months, I have decided it is time to say goodbye to my beloved OkCupid account. 

Yep, true story. 

With over 103 dates in 9 months and an average of 2 to 3 dates per week in the year since ... I am capped out. I get more requests for business on there now than I do legitimate dates and I gotta admit I'm just over it. 

We've had a good time dear friend. Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!!!

I need new dating energy, and I definitely need a change of pace. 

I've obviously been angsty about this for some time now, but it's about time I take some freaking action!!! 

In an awesomely coincidental manner I just so happened to get hit up by Date My School last month and I am now working as one of their brand ambassadors. 

Their big claim to fame is that they can match you in less than 30 minutes. 

Obviously, being an efficiency freak, that got my attention. 

I'll now be documenting my dating adventures over there testing this theory. 

See, here's my profile ... 

Obvi, I didn't go to college - but I'm using our intern's college email addy to get access. (Thanks again John!) 

<tangent> That, btw, is a SUPER big no no for DMS. All of the people on there are VERIFIED to go to the university they say they did. I'm just a special case cause, like, I never went to college but I'm nerdy and heart academia and college boys in general. </tangent> 

My goal right now is spreading the DMS love all over UCLA so I've been tweeting, hosting little events there, and even canvassing the campus with all things DMS (AND dodging security and building management in the meantime. Who knew sneaking into dorm rooms to pass out door hangers was a super big no no? Ask for forgiveness never permission nerderinos!!!). 

I'm pretty intrigued by this new dating realm. I heart new, shiny things, but in my heart and soul I am FREAKISHLY loyal so the thought of changing freaked me out at first. 

Recognizing though that growth could come from this place of fear I just decided to go with it and see what happens. 

And now here I be. 

I'll still leave my OKC profile up (since I know people search for it), but I'm officially no longer accepting dates from it, and if you want to chit chat just pop on DMS. No joke, man their UX is pretty gnarly and it's definitely less douchier than a lot of the other sites I've been on. ::cough cough Plenty of Fish cough cough:: 

Also, I'll be giving out free dating advice and profile suggestions. I'll leave my DMS profile up while I'm working every day from now on, so feel free to message me anytime and I'll take a look and help adjust your profile. 

Here's to bettering ourselves as people nerds, and stepping more outside of our comfort zone. I'm not quite sure what this new journey is going to bring, but I am MORE than ready and MORE than excited. 

#YAYLIFE

Click here to set up your Date My School profile

#Tonight: Beer + Boobs + Brains = @Goalsportscafe

It's Tuesday nerderinos!

That means it's TRIVIA NIGHT AT GOAL!!!!

Come flex off those nerdy muscles with some random trivia - and it's SO GOOD AT GOAL!!!

Goal is located at 8334 West 3rd street in LA (zip code: 90048), and because you guys rock it so hardcore, the owners are also going to be giving us specials!!

Yep, we have $5 stellas, $5 vodka drinks and $5 appetizers.

So come on down tonight! Festivities start at 8:45!!!

Everyone in LA is invited. So come on down for all things awesome, and I can't WAAIIIITTTTT to kick it with you guys tonight.

Tweet me if you have any questions, problems, or whatevs - @JenFriel

SO MUCH FREAKING LOVE!!!!! See your faces tonight!!

#nerdsunite