An Update/A New Focus/50 Years Ago

It has been almost two years since I made a blog post directly to this Blog. From 2012 to 2014, the website Herbivore Athletics was where I kept my fitness and dietary business/personal information and all of my blog posts. Now that it is the fall of 2014, Herbivore Athletics no longer exists and I am back to a simple blogspot. It will be for my own thought-collection process, but also to share with you. Read if you want to!

There is no need to lie and say this is the most important information you will ever read, but you can find some unique ideas and be your own judge of whether or not your friend/acquaintance, Billy Prusinowski is making sound decisions as his life moves forward. 

Two weeks back, a 30th bday somehow found its way into my life. Friends dined, favorite musical acts were seen, parties were had; it was a festive occasion. Is this opening a new chapter? They say 30 is the new 20, but I would like to have my own opinion on the matter. I think things are changing...

Listen to this song. It's so raw and classic. But don't forget to finish reading this post!

Bob Dylan performed The Times They Are A Changin' in 1964. I respect that man, and he continues to play music 50 years later. We all know 1964 was wildly different than today, but 2014 is our time and while that's the case, I'm going to maintain the CAN DO mentality day-in, day-out. 

Back to this 30th birthday of mine. This past year has been graced with many encounters and many friendships; I had to have some kind of gathering where they could all come together and enjoy a night of festiveness. The struggle is where do I hold such a gathering? My friends are back in New York! My other friends are in the SF Bay Area. My closest friends are here in Santa Cruz. WTF should I do? I'll just have three parties and book a trip back to the east coast :)

First: Souley Vegan Dinner for with my SF Bay Area Friends

2nd: Gaslight Anthem and Against Me! in Oakland with Allison, Jay, and Amy

3rd: Epic, classy and unforgettable party in Santa Cruz with all my closest pals

4th: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival with Allison, Deanna, and Mike in SF

And for the Syracusans still in my life, my east coast trip is booked for the weekend of November 14-16. Let's all meet up in reverie and enjoy a vegan meal or two at Strong Hearts Cafe! My dad is being inducted into the Camillus Hall of Fame for running his karate dojo there for the past 40 years. Long Live Kenpo-Jutsu Karate.

Syracuse Kenpo Karate 1974
Bill Prusinowski Sr. and Ken Baker

This trip will be a much needed rest from the stresses of everyday life. Who's not stressed? Of course we all are, so there is no need to emphasize all of the little aspects of your own personal situations for all of us to hear. Hey, we hear ya! Turn your stressors into things that get you somewhere. Maybe try to monetize your stress, and only be complicit in stressful situations if you know you're going to make money from them.

• My Vega job (traveling to different Whole Foods Markets to sample vegan protein shakes)
• My Fitness Instructor job (teaching cardio kickboxing 3 days a week at different gyms)
• My Union School Rep job (being available to support teachers at my school with grievances)
• My 7th Grade Teaching Career (language arts and social studies EVERY DAY at good ol' Cesar Chavez Middle School in sunny Santa Cruz County)

There is a bullet-pointed list of my stressors. Today is full of personal organization for me, so these are being listed here on my blog and also in my Google Calendar. If you haven't messed with that shit yet, try it out. Organize your life! Connect phone to computer to Gmail, oh man it's so rad. 

For years, it hurt my ears when people described themselves as their job title. After so much indoctrination from my Crimethinc reading in college and after, anything related to "work" totally urked me. It wasn't doing work that seemed so awful, it was how it so defined people. I always wanted to think of myself as so much more than a ___(jobtitle)____. It was so refreshing to hear someone say, "I'm Steph, nice to meet you. What do I do? I'm a big hiker...originally from New York. I follow politics and am an indie movie connoisseur." Though, usually someone will be saying "Kevin. Architect 20 years."

I am many other things than my profession. My days are filled with enjoyment and enrichment that is not done solely to earn a wage. What is awesome about those four jobs of mine is that I LOVE THEM ALL. Being a teacher allows me to work with other people. These people aren't grumpy old fucks. They are kids! Full of life and enthusiasm. Just like me. My career is to help these kids become life-long learners and prepare them for fruitful futures. If anyone out there is considering a new livelihood, teaching kids is the way to go. 

Sadly enough, teaching does not pay the bills. Five years ago I made the move to California. Land of sunshine and amazing outlooks, unfortunately coupled with exorbitant prices for housing, gasoline, food and most other consumer goods. I don't have a flamboyant standard of living, but many of the things I do now enjoy (in my 4th decade on this earth) cost a decent chunk-of-change. Lucky for me, I chose to continue with my fitness endeavors that I was committed to previous to grad school, and those continue to line my pockets (lol, with a few bucks at least) on top of my meager teacher's salary. Those fitness endeavors keep me an Herbivore Athlete and help me reach quite significant masses through my thrice-weekly cardio kickboxing instruction. Check out the size of this class!

Wednesdays at Lifestyle Fitness

Thursdays at Toadal Fitness

This one is a throwback from our old studio at the Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center

Continuing with the theme of Herbivore Athletics, this past year I got a job working for my all-time favorite supplement company, Vega. It was March when Allison and I road-tripped to LA for the Vega Unleashed rooftop party and I met the necessary people to get the ball rolling in NorCal as a demo rep.It has been fun doing this on my weekends! Whoever said weekends were for rest? If it was the bible, I'll gladly disagree and instead travel to Whole Foods Markets all over the Bay Area and get paid to sling smoothies!

Last but not least, I have become what I always wanted to become when I signed my teacher's contract. A union leader. If you're not down with unions, I hope your pay is cut, retirement revoked and made to work weekends for free! Unions are pro-worker, pro-teacher and pro-student. Join our struggle against the figureheads they pinch their pennies and try to squeeze us workers (especially public service employees) in between!

I will leave this entry with a few other pictures from the last three months or so. 2014 has been a tumultuous year, so fixating on the positives is important for that continued CAN DO mentality.

To all you gunslingers- Happy Halloween. Thanks for reading. 

West Coast Fam (Bert, Jerome, Michael, Olivia) takes
a private plane to Santa Barbara for a sunny September weekend

Retired from Saturday morning classes at Toadal Fitness

Fifty  years ago our parents couldn't have even imagined us.
Family sticks together. Me and my cousin Erika in SF.