Skyfall: Kristen James 008 License to Kill

She does just that but before each kill she smiles. Most Double 0 agents look quite serious before they pull the trigger but not this version. She wants us to love her as well as she sets us up for the 55 minute Skyfall. 

Skyfall is the perfect metaphor for KSC. Because except for our connection to the pedal stroke we are literally in Skyfall when we begin our takeoff. In the luxury of a warm up we forget that it’s our turn to die but fortunately our MI6 female agent brings us to only a near death experience. And by the time we take all the resistance off we live yet another day because the Evil One wants to take us on yet another NDE* as soon as we are able to get back in the saddle. 

Make no mistake the woman may be beautiful but she is lethal and has a license to kill. 

James, Kristen James.  

*NDE- Near Death Experience. 

Ghost in the Machine

Looking particularly stunning today the Evil Woman had some operating challenges in the Lavender Palace. It started out electrical with the emergency light illuminated when it wasn’t supposed to be.  Louis along with Mario (a member of our stellar Maintain staff) entered the studio with a huge ladder that stretched almost to the ceiling. Mario scurried up the harrowing steps and extinguished the misbehaving light right quick so we could have the proper environs restored to the proceedings of KSC.  Maybe that started the Ghost in the Machine, as a strange presence seemed to haunt Kristen throughout the ride.  

Ever the perfectionist Kristen seemed put out at first by the intermittent outages in her mike and it gave me pause to smile because it really doesn’t matter we all were happy as clams in the 8:30 and whether she’s mike’d up or dependent on her eloquent naked speaking voice it was all good.  After a time she seemed to be accepting of the strange phenomena a ghost in the machine. After all the entire spirit world should know how just much fun we’re having back here on earth.

The Evil Woman was convinced that when she cocked her head to one side the microphone functioned normally but aligned center the spirit took over and I could swear the specter was smiling each time he and his chicanery “pulled the plug” out.  And we never get cheated in KSC. As the “interruption” would have taken two songs off the play list Kristen undaunted would have none of that and played on because we always get our moneys worth and then some each and every ride. 

Oh and this tuck your tailbone thing in. Yeah well as she stood up and demonstrated her pelvic tilt I said men can’t do that s*it! I told Greg in the Boys locker-room and after a belly laugh (he has no belly) he concurred with me. I have to consciously sit back to accomplish that thing women can do.  And I love when they shake that thing called the gluteus maximus cause it sends me right to where I see a Ghost in the Machine.  

Artistecharismatique

This entry is purely emotional and resembles an ethereal quality singular in nature. These things arrive nascent and so it must be that they have complete veracity. 

Saturday morning would not be Saturday unless it started with Kristen James in the Lavender Palace. I am where I love to be in #4 because the energy and charisma are best felt up close.  Some shy away from the 1st row and it would be pure speculation as to why and so I will not venture any hypothesis.  

Charisma: a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm. She has it and we all know it and when it’s palpable like today I just had to mention it. Since the end of summer something has changed and its either I am listening with more sensory acuity or the Evil Woman is just getting better. I am drawing the conclusion that it’s a little bit of both.  

Today in the locker room as if by a form of clairvoyance I started talking to a stranger named Peter. I was waxing on about spin class and Kristen’s Spin Class in particular. I told him that it was in essence a moving form of Zen with the bonus of 55 energetic athletes adding fuel to your inner fire. He instantly perked up and  it was then I knew I had found a new enrollee.  Peter is a member of EQ Manhattan but works out here on weekends. I told him that unless his hand to eye coordination was par extraordinaire he probably should look for another EQ star performer. He looked quizzically at me and I told him that the class is literally sold out in 4 seconds. 

Today after a week or more trying to figure out how to tuck my tailbone I finally got it. Although I am blessed with an abundance of grey cells common sense has not much room in my head. However, when Kristen said push back on your tailbone off your pubic bone it all became clear. Instantly the ride for me changed and instead of pressure I felt comfort in the saddle.  Remarkable that after almost 3 years I am still trying to perfect my form and today went a long way in changing it for the better. 

Charisma is an ethereal quality and at times it’s visible in nature and in the Lavender Palace.  

Just Give Me One More Day

At rides end I think of one thing always. Just give me one more day in the Lavender Palace with Kristen James.  I know one-thing two things actually.  The first is Monika Keano the spiritual intuitive who worked with me for 5 years opened my gift of writing. Kristen James when I asked her if I could blog about her almost 3 years ago was the 2nd gift that helped tune my channel to the artistry of the language of the universe.  I know I do the writing but if it were not for these two women the treasure God gave me would have  stayed in Davy Jones’ Locker. 

Pink Tights and Other Delights.

Another Saturday arrives and the ceremony begins at 8 AM.  In bike #4 I see everything. Even though I don’t have eyes in the back of my head.  The front row in my opinion is the only place to be in KSC because the Queen of Spin is best observed up close especially when she is dressed in pink tights. She never hides the physiology she works so hard to keep and even though she is so mean she is eye candy to both genders. But that’s only the surface what lies within is much more important and why we come again and again. Since her father’s passing her heart is on her sleeve more now than ever in the 3 years I have had the pleasure of spinning with her.  When she speaks of him or uses the lyrics of her favorite tunes to recall his memory, this man I never knew comes alive in Lavender Palace.  He must have been a parent that knew what he was doing because KJ knows when to be firm even when it’s not popular and soft and approachable when others might turn a dear ear.  

Her theme today was about leasing 3 years with an option to buy. (She likes everything in 3s or so she’s told us time and again)  I should have heard this soliloquy before I became a serial monogamist with 3 wives.  It makes sense too because as KJ said our hopes and dreams at 25 go through monumental changes as we traverse through our 40s and 50s. Those of you lucky enough to mate for life are of course in the minority and your strength of character and selection of a significant other was not about luck. If I knew that I had to be on my best behavior all the days of my life maybe I could have avoided some of the devastating mistakes I’ve made with the women in my life.  Is this too personal? Maybe but I feel like some of you are actually my friends and still others in the very least fraintances. 

Oh by the way I don’t really recommend taking back to back KSC classes because if you do it right there is no need to do a 2nd hour. Half way through I was spent and I could feel the sugar levels drop as if I had a measuring stick in the palm of my hand. It was fun however hearing two of my past and current favorite songs twice.  

Doing It My Way:

http://mylifeafteraa.blogspot.com/2012/10/doing-it-my-way.html

Lemon Law

This morning I had two lemons between my cheeks and I guess I was supposed to make lemonade with all the “squeezing” I was to do.  I hope that I didn’t “squirt” Stacey in the eyes because lemon juice stings kinda.  And another thing.  When the Evil Woman tells us to tuck our tailbone under I feel like I should grow a tail first.  If I had one I might be able to do just that.  Otherwise I am stuck with this white boy ass doing not much except shrinking and drooping getting in and out of the saddle.  

There oughta be a law because lemons are for lemonade, garnish for booze and for cars that suck.  Do they have a place in the Lavender Palace? I guess so if I can blow whistles and cause a ruckus lemons can join the party as well. 

 In KJ’s absence I found myself spinning with Dana on Wednesday.  I have only one set of legs and split classes for the most part between Kristen and Tripp. So the opportunity presented itself. I took it.  She’s kinda cool.  She’s kinda young but she’s also kinda fierce too!  Ostensibly it’s hard to imagine how this sylph can bring it but she delivers like the milkman used to right on time.  And she kinda makes me sweat. Yesterday in addition to the 3 usual lakes I leave under my bike (Apologies to the Maintain staff) I started an estuary that stretched up into the next bike where Stacey was.  Jack the River whenever I spin with Dana Mancini. 

Tuesday in a rare appearance in the Blue Sapphire’s class, Carolyn Mellace I felt like Flo Rida, I was all in and at rides end I was all in too. This woman is charming, sophisticated and one great performance artist. Her discography is tailor made for the unique design Carolyn brings to the party. It’s always challenging and it’s a killer workout.  I have to get back to her class she is pure talent.  

Revelry

I miss the revelry and the almost pageantry like ceremony that is KSC.  I know one day it will come to an end but the memory will live on even when I hear Casper whispering to me.  Returning to Bike #4 (if my hand is quick enough) is just days away and I cannot wait to lose my breath and break away with the Queen of Spin.  

I have always appreciated the talent we have at Equinox Woodbury and last week when I went to a combination spin class floor exercise strength class did I really appreciate it. While I finished out my hour on the bike I watched 3 yes 3 people on the floor doing their best imitation of Jane Fonda. I know how good I have it.  

For the Love of God Revisited.

Venturing into KG’s one-hour class this past Thursday was a leap of faith. I had been in the 45-minute versions almost exclusively but in this winter break I was able to secure a bike in prime time. I hadn’t thought much about the extra 15 minutes until Kristen said “you will feel like giving up today.” Now I’ve completed 17 marathons and 3 ultra marathons and was a DNF (did not finish) in just one. My mind turned to that one time and I started to doubt my own resolve but I couldn’t stand the embarrassment of unclipping and getting off my bike and waltzing unceremoniously out of the studio.

When I heard Kristen talk about her 8-year-old son as he said to her “For the love of God, you’re teaching again?” That was all I needed to dismiss this qualm and I settled back into my gel seat and gone was any notion that I was in any way quitting. I took on the face of the 17 races I had completed and the 1 I didn’t vanished with my next breath.

In this class we have heard a lot about the Hard Zone and going anaerobic, And my awareness of being out of breath and being accustomed to it has expanded and I am determined to visit this middle ground of the hard zone rather than just being out of breath the whole session. This will take discipline I thought but maybe it just comes with my rising fitness. The hard zone, breathing in through my nose and out my mouth takes concentration because the easier softer way is just to breath through my mouth.

But let’s get serious now; can I really escape being out of breath for virtually the whole session? “For the love of God” the answer is that I don’t know and my sense is that I’m okay with it. I am okay with it because my quality of life in the other 23 hours has already seen a marked improvement. My weight is dropping and my lungs are starting to take on  the size of a yellow physio ball. And I am starting to feel sorry for all my other Equinoxites that work out exclusively in the main room. Poor things they’re just going through their workouts in the infield while we are getting comfortable on the warning track and not afraid of hitting up against the outfield wall.