In the remaining weeks before the USA’s, I ran at dawn and then again at dusk. I had a routine: run one time around the block of apartment buildings on my side of a major street, which constitutes phases one and two, and then cross the street and run around the entire section of phases three and four of the same complex. Most of the apartments have multiple windows. Seeing that I live along a corner of the building, I personally have three windows in the living room, French doors in the dining room, one in the kitchen, and a sliding glass door in the bedroom. I try desperately to remember to close most of them, but there are moments when I find myself in various stages of undress as I meander into the dining room or living room and then realize, “oops.” Most likely, the same occurs for others in this complex because, for the second time this year, I discovered another naked person.

It’s not as though I’m on a hunt for them either. There I was, 6:30 in the morning, sun beginning to make its daily trek towards the top of the sky, my legs on fire, my iPod blaring (by the way, it’s broken now, and I’m utterly devastated, but more on that later), and my eyes wandering. I’m a voyeur, I guess. I like to observe, and I look to do it unnoticed—incognito, if you will. You get a true feel for someone’s features, choices, mood, etc. And so, in my state of observation (and general nosiness), I peered into window after window, opened blinds after opened blinds, and there, before me, was a naked woman applying make up at her bathroom counter, of which I could see through the French door with the open blinds that led into the living room, which led into the bathroom with the light on and the door open. Her view from the living room was that of brush and trees—no buildings—so there was no reason to close the blinds when the sky was still dark and the lights were on inside. What freedom, huh? To walk around naked in the privacy of your home and not be concerned with others poking their noses in your business (except for crazy runners like me who happen to charge by while the moon is still in the sky).

My site is kind of like that, in a way. Here I am. Naked for you to read and observe. Even when I’m not aware of your presence, you might still be there, peering in my windows and seeing what you can catch a glimpse of. Sometimes I mean for you to see things, and other times, I reveal much more between the lines than the average passerby is aware of. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel a need to do all-out nudes for my galleries. My words reveal my nakedness. I bare much of my mind. I bare much of my soul. Must I bare my body completely too?

See, if I were to ever meet the naked man from across the street or learn the name and occupation of the naked woman in that apartment along my run, then the image in my mind would change and the impact would lessen. The mystery allows the memory to remain just as it came in…with a bit of awe, shock, and general appreciation for the human form. So maybe, if I too revealed all, whether it is mind, body, or soul, then I would lessen the impact I might have on you. I guess what I’m saying is that when I disappear for a few days or a few weeks or when I don’t allow that piece of fabric to fall from my breast or when I don’t share what I did on a Friday night, don’t be disappointed. Instead rejoice in the curiosity you may feel and appreciate the suspense you may experience. It’s only fair as I don’t know all there is to know about my readers and viewers either, and I don’t know that I’d want to. Some things are better left unsaid and hidden.

Then again, maybe I'm assuming too much, and you don't even notice when I'm gone or when I don't display a nipple. Or am I assuming too much there as well?

Jodi

I'm still here, and I feel an entry brewing inside, so expect something this weekend (oh lord...the pressure is on me now). By the way, I don't know why, but Blogger doesn't seem to like when I press Enter to create a new paragraph, so I'm doing the unthinkable and writing one paragraph for all points I'm discussing. Thank goodness this is a short post. All others will be written in Word first and then copied to the Blogger page. See, I'd start a new paragraph here. Sigh. Okay, there has been a reason for my disappearance and a damn good one at that. I placed fourth at the USA's in the Figure A division. I've been requalified for the NPC National shows for the next two years, which gives me a little breathing room to discover what path I truly want to take in this industry. Oh...forget it. I'm transferring this over to Word so I can become paragraph happy. Hold on a moment . . . . Jeez...I can't even cut and paste. Grrrrr!!! Okay, keep holding on (to what, I don't know); the rest is being done in Word.

See, I don’t want my journal entries to be solely about training; I’ve saved much of that for my members’ message board, and since I was so busy with preparing for the two national shows I did this year, most of what I had to discuss was in regards to training. So those posts were relegated to the message forum. And here I am discussing the very thing that I’d like to keep on that board, but you’ll just have to deal with it. Lol!

Let me bring you up to date on my plans for August and September. I have a photo shoot with Gene Carangal, who is flying both me and Jen Cook (IFBB fitness competitor) to South Padre Island to work in the dunes and along the beach for some amazing photos. We’ve been wanting to do this for some time now, and with the date falling directly between the end of USA’s and the advent of the FemSport/FVF show in Vancouver, I feel my physique should be spot on for photos…not too lean, not too thick either.

Then, Labor Day weekend will be spent in Vancouver. I’ll go into this with more detail if you’re interested, though I’d rather leave it for the training log in the members’ section. John Stutz is considering flying me to the Utah area for a second shoot with him in September, but that’s not finalized by any means. I’m also preparing Julia, my figure competitor client, for the Europa show here in Dallas in September, and Dan Ray will be coming down to work with both of us. I’m contemplating a trip to New York to work with Brian Moss and Paul B. Goode, but that’s not until October or November, so we won’t go into details about that yet. And since I’ve touched upon November, may as well get y’all completely aware and prepared: my birthday is November 8. I like diamonds, shoes, cars, and beaches, if anyone is interested in purchasing these items. Lol!!! Even I can’t keep a straight face with that statement. A $25 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble and a piece of carrot cake (or chocolate cake) will suffice. Or a simple e-card (a much more realistic possibility, I’m sure).

I will begin tutoring in a couple of weeks. I’m going to be working a student who is just entering high school, and it is a weekly job for the entire semester. I’m not quite sure how I’ll juggle everything, and I’m imagining that sleep will be the victim here, but there are just so many things I want to dabble in and yet only so many hours in the day. But remember, the shows end with Labor Day weekend and don’t start up again until next April at the very earliest. My training will be altered a bit, my diet changing, and my cardio not so regimented. I see glute and quad growth on the horizon. Poor jeans; they’ll have some stretching to do before too long.

Okay…what are y’all interested in having me write about? I’m not saying that I’ll fulfill requests, but you just never know with me. I would like to know what you want to know, so please post comments. And yes, I know. I still need to clarify the naked people magnetism comment I made. I’ll get to it this weekend. Pinky promise.

Jodi