Dear Mom,

Today I woke up and went "ugh." I ugh'd a few more times as I staggered downstairs and put on my shoes. I went "chug" with a cup of water, and then "oh" when I turned on the treadmill. It hurt a little at first, but then I got used to it. I was listening to Mr. Lehrman talk about mindset and attracting success and instead of making things happen, letting them happen. So I let myself run for awhile.

When I was done, I drank a LOT of coffee. It was dark, just the way I like it - French Roast.

I "tipped" and "tapped" on my computer for awhile, and then went down for workout #2. I started to "ugh" and "oh" but with the last dead-lift I was sounding more like a woman and making some high pitched noises as I wrestled with the bar. I was listening to techno music. It was a good workout.

I was on the phone for awhile, tipping and tapping at the keyboard, and went "ahhhh" in the hottub at around 9pm.

Now I'm starting to "zzzz" but I wanted to share my eats with the world.

Breakfast was a bowl of granola cereal with soy milk and bananas. It was the stranges thing, because after drinking the soy I could suddenly make out subtle shades of colors I hadn't recognized before and had an incredible urge to decorate the house. I read something like that about soy ... but then it passed. It must have just been a "moment." I also had a piece of toast with peanut butter - you know, the all-natural organic kind that you have to stir vigorously with a knife for ten minutes before you use it the first time (after that, it's fine).

After my workout, I had Surge. This was so cool because I saw the guy who formulated it. He is a short man and he gave a seminar in Toronto. He didn't say, "Eh" a lot, like I thought he was supposed to.

For lunch I had roasted chicken breast in whole wheat pita with a big bowl of broccoli and cauliflower.

Dinner was a vegan burrito with some corn chips. Somehow I snuck in a few cookies (organic Tea Ring cookies) as well - they go well with coffee (did I mention I drank a lot of it?).

I also had an organic Boysenberry jam and all natural peanut butter sandwich.

My breakdowns look like this:

Calories: 2441
Fat: 68g (12g saturated)
Sodium: 2620mg Potassium: 2490mg
Carbohydrate: 338g (Lookout, Dr. Atkins!) (35g fiber, 88g sugars)
Protein: 123g

I am now 204.5 (the 0.5 is very important, I couldn't form opinions without it).

Thanks for listening, Mom.

Jeremy Likness

* This blog is triplicated:

http://naturalphysiques.blogspot.com <--- with audio!
http://www.naturalphysiques.com...viewforum.php?id=19 <-- in stunning 2D
http://www.bodyblog.com/Public.asp?id=1025 <--- with cool pictures

What an exciting day.

Where do I begin?

Exercise today was incline cardio and then HIIT. Was going to weight train but the schedule and my level of soreness made the HIIT a more practical solution. Still burned quite a few calories.

I am very stoked because I shared the inspiration that motivational speaker John DiLemme has been - he is one of the most incredible speakers I have been blessed to hear, and I've watched him live twice so far - and receive a tremendous response. He took a look at Become the Journey and I was honored to receive what he wrote his experience to be! I posted his words up at the site:

http://www.becomethejourney.com/

Talk about making my day!!!! I look forward to learning more from him - his story is VERY inspiration and you should check it out at:

http://www.findyourwhy.com/

Here were my eats for the day:

Breakfast = 3 scoops of Beverly Ultra Size + 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Had a banana and some corn chips (part of my daughter's lunch) for a snack

A cup of chili and more chips for lunch

Dinner was 10oz of buffalo steak with a tossed salad (oil and vinegar) and some baked beans.

I have a lot of great things happening with the book - some great feedback and testimonials as well as some great exposure at a few places, and my wife is also getting excited about her real estate career - just a few more months of classes and she has a part-time job in a real-estate office where she is just learning a ton. So we celebrated with a few glasses of red wine.

Here's what my calorie breakdown looks like for today:

Calories: 2080
Fat: 73g (23g saturated)
Sodium: 2270mg Potassium: 1750mg
Carbohydrate: 186g (30g fiber)
Protein: 111g

P/C/F = 21% / 35% / 31% (rest is alcohol)

Take care!!! Thank you ALL for the TREMENDOUS support you've given me for all of the projects I've completed and for my eBook, it is GREATLY appreciated!

Jeremy

This morning, I thought I'd share my coffee collection. We didn't really realize until we were unpacking in the new home that we had so much "coffee equipment" - we ended up dedicating a small cabinet to the coffee. While I am a big fan of the regular, drip-percolated coffee (I prefer to buy whole beans and grind them fresh - I do 1 tbsp ground bean per 6oz cup of coffee, sometimes stronger) there are a few other methods I enjoy:



The french press is great. It basically eliminates the filter. You grind the coffee coarse for this. You boil the water, pour it into the press with the grinds, and allow it to steep (I prefer 5 minutes). After it has steeped, like a tea, you push down the plunger which has a strainer on the end. Then, you pour out the liquid. The larger grinds are stopped by the strainer, but you will still get a little silt in the bottom of the cup. I prefer to use the french press with a French Roast.

One other use for the French press is to make lattés. Basically, brew your coffee. Then, put it in a pot and mix in your  soy milk, regular milk, heavy whipping cream, or whatever you prefer to make a latté with. Now, wait until it starts to froth in the pot and then pour into the french press. Over the sink, pump the sieve up and down - this further "whips" the cream so you get a nice, frothed latté when you pour it out!



Turkish coffee is also awesome. Guess what? You use Turkish Coffee. This is coffee that has been ground very fine -finer than even an espresso grind - with cardamon seed, which adds the spice.  You simply place 1 tbsp or more of ground coffee per "cup" you wish to make. Add water and set on the stove top. When it is ready, it begins to foam or bubble. You pour into an espresso cup and serve - this will typically have a thick sludge on the bottom. I love it!



I don't yet have an espresso machine, but this is how the traditional Cuban coffee which is essentially espresso with sugar is made (I skip the sugar). Basically, you pour water into the bottom. In the middle is a section where you place the grinds - this is an espresso grind, so it is very fine. You set it on the stove top. The water boils, steam goes through the grinds and then deposits the espresso in the top. YUM!



This was a parting gift from a previous job. The traditional ones are brass, this one is plastic. This is a cool way to make coffee, but takes a long time. You grind coarse grinds and place them in the top compartment. You then boil water and pour it in top. If you notice, there are tiny pinholes in the section between the top and bottom. When you put the lid on, it forms a vacuum seal so that air pressure cannot force the drip through. Instead, gravity pulls it through the pinholes and it collects in the bottom. This process takes a long time, probably about 2 - 4 hours. Of course, by this time, the coffee is cold. You then add this to a saucer pan with an equal part of cream. Mix the two together and wait until it comes to a boil/froth and then serve. It is the tastiest coffee I've ever had, but prepare to be wired - it's like drinking a pot of coffee in a shot glass.

There ya go! Four great ways to start the day.

Jeremy Likness

Bloody as in Bull's Blood wine. Hit a personal goal, so we grabbed a bottle from Hungary. Nice and smooth, a little watery but hit the spot for a table wine.

Woke up and ran for 60 minutes to techno (as I mentioned in my earlier post), installed a light fixture, hit the hot tub, relaxed for a bit, then headed on down to the Mickelson Trail and walked for 4 miles while my daughter rode her bike. Dinner was chicken from the grill in whole wheat pita with a ton of green beans and celebration wine. Here's the scoop ...

Calories: 1272 (yes, I had to make up for my splurge day yesterday ... actually enjoyed my calories today)
Fat: 23g (11g saturated)
Sodium: 722mg Potassium: 2000mg (check the fruit and veggies, bay-bee)
Carbohydrate: 137g (23g fiber, 19g sugar)
Protein: 105g

P/C/F = 32% / 41% / 15% (rest is alcohol from the red wine)

We ... out.

Jeremy

Okay, maybe not for your life, but for your health.

Yesterday started innocently enough. I knew that Mom and my little angel were up late last night baking chocolate chip cookies, so I decided to have one "innocent" cookie. Not a problem.

We went to meet Grandma and Grandpa so they could go to our son's game for basketball camp. We stopped at a restaurant and I had a perfectly sane breakfast. At Grandma's house, however, things were a little different. First, she had baked some brownies. THEN to top it off, she makes some coffee and brings it out with those little chocolate sticks you dip in the coffee and eat while you're drinking it. What's a guy to do?

We watched my son play ... that was a trip down memory lane. He was playing at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology for I had a very brief time trying out the whole college concept. College and I did not agree so it was a short-lived semester, but the memories came flooding back - 14 years ago it was that I was a scared teenager just out of high school trying to find my place in life. Powerful.

We came home and wound down for the evening. I realized I had quite a bit of making up to do with going a bit over my calories. Here was the breakdown for the day:

Total calories: 2648
Fat: 128g (42g saturated)
Sodium: 4840mg (run - run - run - water retention) Potassium: 1680mg
Carbohydrate: 289g (27g fiber, 58g sugar)
Protein: 96g

I bought a great techno-style CD that has Omnibus, Sandstorm, and some other greats on it. Worked out to be 60 minutes of throbbing dance music. So this morning, I walked down to the basement and threw on the CD. 16 songs. So I took it one song at a time. 60 minutes later, I stepped off after having burned over 900 calories (so the readout said - it was just slower than a 10-minute mile but at an incline the entire time). Felt great about myself!

Now on to relax and enjoy the remains of the day. I do believe the hottub is calling me. It will be a nice way to soak after a long run while the 75 degree breeze blows over the hills.

Jeremy Likness

(I thought that might get your attention).

Today I did dual cardio - 30 minutes on incline in the morning, then HIIT.

Eats for the day:

Breakfast - ooh la la ice cream:
3 scoops Beverly Ultra Size
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
Tons of ice
Blend and serve - so yummy

Lunch:
1 whole wheat pita with 4.5 oz chicken breast
1 whole wheat pita with 5 oz steak
2 cups green beans (yes! veggies!)

Snack:
1 slice stone ground whole wheat bread
1 tbsp boysenberry jam
1 tbsp all natural peanut butter
1 Voortman's tea ring cookie

Dinner:
1 cup homemade chili
1.5 oz corn chips
1 beer

Late night snack:
1.5 oz all natural dark chocolate

Supplements: Usana HealthPaks AM and PM

Da breakdown:

2319 calories
88g fat (36g saturated)
2340mg sodium - 2280mg potassium
201g carbohydrate (31g fiber, 45g sugar)
171g protein

P/C/F = 29% / 34% / 33% (rest is alcohol)

Jeremy

Er, that is, two exercises.

My standard morning 30-minutes of cardio, this time while listening to Cynthia Kersey, followed by a push-workout later in the day:

12 x squat @ 175
6 x squat @ 265
3 x squat @ 310
1 x squat @ 330

12 x military press @ 75
6 x military press @ 105
3 x military press @ 120
1 x military press @ 125

12 x bench press @ 130
6 x bench press @ 195
3 x bench press @ 225
1 x bench press @ 240

It was a miserable workout. Fun to do, but miserable because I'm much weaker than I ever was at my peak. Lesson learned. More resolve to push forward.

Okay, onto the fun stuff ... the eats. Oh, by the weigh, er, way, have I mentioned my weight? Was staying at a steady 210. Now down to 206.5. Will be under 200 by first week in August, and when I go to our international USANA convention in Salt Lake City, Utah in mid-September, I will be 190s.

Here are my eats for today ...

Breakfast:

1 cup Select Organic Honey 7-Grain Flakes Cereal
1 cup of the evil soy milk (LOL)
1 slice of stone ground organic whole wheat toast, with
1.5 tbsp of organic all natural peanut butter

Second breakfast (tee-hee):

2 whole eggs
1/2 cup shredded potatoes
1/3 cup chopped onions (veggies!)
1/8 piece chopped green pepper (veggies!)
3 oz diced chicken breast
1 tsp olive oil
(All of the above cooked into a skillet)

Post-workout:

Banana (fruit!)

Dinner:

6.5 oz New York strip steak (grilled)
1/2 cup cauliflower (veggies!)

Mid-evening treat:

1 Voortman's Tea Ring cookie
1 oz all-natural dark chocolate

Late night:

1 Amy's Organic Vegan Burrito (beans & rice)

So the tally comes to ...

Calories: 2040
Fat: 75g (21g of saturated)
Sodium: 1610mg Potassium: 3290mg (lo and behold, I finally got it right)
Carbohydrate: 222g (27g fiber - still a little low for me)
Protein: 129g

P/C/F = 25% / 43% / 32%

The wife went to the store and brought back bags and bags of frozen veggies. I say ... YEAH! Now I will REALLY start to put them on the map.

Okay, nuff fer now. Talk soon!

Jeremy Likness

Today was going to be a dual cardio day. Realized early on that it wasn't going to happen - first few days of working out left me feeling like I was hit with a Mac truck. So I'll take my rest day, go moderate on calories and pick up tomorrow with cardio in the morning followed by a "push" workout (squat, military press, bench press).

Here are my eats for the day ...

In addition to the USANA HealthPaks, there is ...

Breakfast:

Had a "date" with my wife. Son was at work, daughter at bible school. We went to a local restaurant called Cheyenne Crossing (est. late 1800's) and I had two eggs, 1/4 pound of buffalo sausage, 1/2 cup hashed browns, and 1 slice of dry toast.

Lunch:

A vegan burrito (stuffed with rice and beans)

Afternoon snack:

Voortman's Tea Rings (no trans-fatty acids) and coffee with heavy whipping cream

Dinner:

Whole wheat pita with 3 oz lean beef, 1 oz shredded cheese stuffed inside

Post-dinner splurge:

1 cup of Breyer's All Natural Rocky Road Ice Cream (sluuurp)

Fat calories were a little high today:

1910 calories total (see, I can have my ice cream and still keep calories low ... but once again I'm not practicing what I preach by not having enough fruit and veggies, I really gotta get back in the habit)

Fat: 95g (38g saturated)
Sodium: 2060mg to Potassium: 1270mg

Carbohydrate: 170g (11g of fiber)

Protein: 90g

The ratios of P/C/F were 19% / 36% / 45% for what it's worth.

More fun tomorrow!

Jeremy

Yes, that's right. In addition to 30 minutes of low-intensity jogging at an incline this morning, and another high-intensity interval-training session that lasted 20 minutes, I have some delectable items on my cutting (fat loss) menu today. Let's review ...

Breakfast started with the USANA HealthPak and a craving for protein that was satisfied with an ice cold Ultra Size shake. When you put way more ice than water, it becomes more like ice cream. 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream add that much needed "creamy edge."

Still craving meat for lunch, I slapped two patties of lean beef onto organic stone ground whole wheat bread (a whopping 10 oz of beef). Add some blue cheese crumbles and Tabasco sauce, and I'm in heaven.

Had some more coffee later in the day and enjoyed this with a Tea Ring cookie.

Late afternoon snack had me craving carbs, a craving satisfied with two more pieces of whole wheat bread, 2 tbsp of organic all natural peanut butter, and 2 tbsp of organic all natural boysenberry jelly. Yum!

Dinner was more carbs - whole wheat spaghetti with sauce on top.

I finished the day with home-made cocoa: 1 tbsp cocoa, 2 tbsp raw organic sugar, 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream, add hot water and a cookie and we're golden! This wasn't RIGHT before going to bed, of course.

Today's menu took on the characteristics of having 2150 calories.

81 grams of fat (34 grams of saturated fat).
2120mg of sodium to only (gasp - not enough fruit or veggies today) 1180mg potassium
Carbohydrate was at 224g with 25g from fiber and 52g from sugar
Protein was at 145g - protein has been high for me but I've been craving it (the bodybuilders reading this go ugh .. high? You should eat 400 grams at 200 lbs).

My ratios of P/C/F = 26% / 41% / 33% for today.

The-the-the-the-theat-that's all f-f-folks.

Jeremy

Today I wanted to take you on a brief tour of my ... um, er, ah, tattoos!
 
I'll share them in chronological order with you. If, for some strange reason, you would like to see them "up close" just click on the thumbnail.
 
The first tattoo was a gift to me from a friend for my 19th birthday. At the time, I wanted something to symbolize what I was struggling to gain in my life - balance. This Yin-Yang caught my eye. It was not only the symbol of balance, positive and negative, but it was stylized to include fire and water as well. I think the tattooist did a great job, and this was placed on my right shoulder.
 

 
The second tattoo I received was a few months later. I did it on a whim, not really knowing what I wanted, and found the cheapest place to get it. It was not the greatest one I had done. It was a lone wolf howling with the rising sun behind it, as I considered myself to be a "lone wolf" at the time. My initials are beneath - this is on my left shoulder.
 

 
My third tattoo was on my back, over the shoulder blade. It came a few years later. I wanted something to symbolize knowledge because despite tough times in my life, I always knew I could learn more. I chose the illuminati for this -the pyramid with the eye that appears on American currency. The tattooist stylized this to make it chrome with an "energy field" around it - thought it was creative but some people don't recognize what it is!
 

 
The most recent tattoo I received only about 5 years ago, I believe in 1999. It is interesting because my family was on vacation in Amsterdam. I wanted a "unique" souvenir to take home that would remind me of the place. So while my son and wife were on a tour of various places, I went down to the infamous Red Light District and sought out a tattoo place. The one I found was actually run by an Australian, so it is a tattoo from Amsterdam by a man from Australia - his favorite words as the gun was burning into my skin were - "No worries, mate!" - this was on my left calf. It is also unique - it is an ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life, while is also on my wedding ring. A brief note - as a Christian, I recognize these symbols as pagan. However, I don't consider them to be against what I believe in, because symbols are just that - symbols. The ankh is a symbol of life, just like a sideways "8" is a symbol for infinity. On our wedding rings, for example, we have ankhs and infinity symbols alternating around them. This is to symbolize our life together forever in Christ. While I had not yet received my faith when I received this tattoo, it was representative of a seed that had been planted. The sun inside makes this like a keyhole looking at the lifeforce within - sort of like looking at life as a keyhole to the soul. I liked it because it was like a "hole" in my leg showing the energy within. That was just two years before I was baptized with my children.
 

 
And that's it for today!
 

Today's stats ...

Woke up and did something I don't normally do, and that was 30 minutes of cardio on an empty stomach. I'm usually concerned about lean muscle loss, but figured I'd experiment today.

Workout was my pull-workout - sets of 12, 6, 3, and 1 doing dead-lifts, bent-over rows (reverse grip to involve the biceps more), and pull-downs.

Here is the nutrition breakdown:

Breakfast:

USANA HealthPak - AM
1/2 cup "Back to Nature" plain granola
1/2 cup "Mountain High" plain whole fat yogurt
1 cup raw chopped strawberries
(the above mixed together)

Next meal:

3 whole eggs, scrambled
1/4 diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced white onion
1/2 cup sliced potatoes (hash-brown style)
1 slice stone ground whole wheat toast
1 tbsp canola mayonnaise (didn't have peanut butter!)

Post-workout:

2 scoops BioTest Surge!

"Tie-me over until dinner":

Turkish coffee with 1/2 tbsp raw sugar and 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Dinner:

1 whole wheat hamburger bun
4.5 oz lean (7%) beef cooked on the grill
1 tbsp crumbled bleau cheese
1 tsp mustard
1 cup steamed broccoli

Late night:

USANA HealthPak - PM
3 scoops Beverly International "Ultra Size"
1 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Dah stats:

Calories: 2105
Fat: 76g (36g saturated)
Sodium: 2150mg / Potassium: 2200mg
Carbohydrate: 206g (22g fiber, 77g sugar)
Protein: 151g

Turns out to be P/C/F = 29%/39%/32%

Whoomp! Onto another day!

Was getting ready to go down to the basement to train, when a storm rolled over. The temperature, which had been a hot 85 and climbing, rapidly dropped to 65 and the hail began to fall. Snapped this shot on my deck - you can actually see the hail in the air (the big blurry circles). Click on the thumbnail for full-sized image.

Zoek het verschil! - Suriyanto.Com :: Suriyanto.Tk

Pardon the foreign language - it is a skills test. Spot the differences between the two pictures. Give it a try!

Jeremy

This morning I'd like to take you on a tour of my jungle - the dungeon of weight-lifting and cardio equipment in my house! It all starts in our upper Master Bedroom - while the room is spacious (the entire top level) and has our offices, bed, and library, there is also a nice little corner for the dip station so that I can do pull-ups and dips and push-ups and leg raises to my heart's content throughout the day (oh, you can click on the images to make them larger):



It may seem to be a strange mix - putting such a looming piece of fitness equipment in our master bedroom ... but we had to find space where it was available. It actually turned out to be convenient for us to also place the recumbent bike in the family room. This allows us to perform our cardio while watching FitTV or thumping out some loud dance beats:



The real fun starts in our basement. This is where we have the two racks of dumbbells in pairs from 1 lb to 100 lbs (with PlateMates - magnets that weigh 1.25 lbs each):



Of course, dumbbells are not much fun without a bench to use them on. The picture of the bench is included with the amazing Parabody system - this beauty was tough to squeeze inside (not the 1/4" clearance at the top) but was well worth the effort. It has a bench with snake hooks that serve as automatic spotters, low pulley, high pulley, and Smith machine as well. Here it is:



Next to this beauty is what used to be my nemesis that I'd battle with daily until I learned to embrace the rigors of cardio and push myself to new limits each time. It is the fun treadmill, that often likes to raise upon an incline while I'm pounding out the miles running full speed and not getting anywhere:



Of course, after a tough workout, one must first sooth the muscles:



And then relax for a bit:



Okay, that's the tour for this morning!

Jeremy Likness

who's who in quake

Ah, the sweet memories. When I moved to Atlanta, GA I was "hired" onto a team of developers to work on modifications for a game called Quake. My work with a unique for of Midnight CTF, which I not come up with the idea for - someone else who did not know how to program had the idea, and I wrote it - grabbed the attention of these developers who had me code the physics and weapons for SWAT quake (things like allowing the player to climb walls, creating a queue for players to watch the game before joining, chase cams, etc - reinventing the wheel that was not yet revealed with Quakeworld). Anyway, love this page ... has me under my handle NiKoDeMoS in the who's who in Quake!

Jeremy

Today was a day of rest and relaxation. The girls went to Spearfish for a festival. I stayed home and read for awhile, then my son took me to see "I, Robot" which was much better than I expected. We grilled out and had dinner together and then I relaxed the rest of the day.

I had a purposefully low calorie day to jump into the week. I'm upping my cardiovascular exercise and monitoring my calories a little more closely. I was originally going to fast but decided instead to just cut my calories and fly under the radar. Here were my meals:

Breakfast:

1/2 cup granola mixed with 1/4 cup whole fat yogurt
lotsa coffee

Lunch:

1 slice stone ground whole wheat bread
1 tbsp all natural organic peanut butter
1 cup strawberries

Snack at the movies:

1.5 oz mixed nuts

Dinner:

4 oz grilled skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup Quinoa
1 large romaine and red pepper/cucumber salad

(all of the above diced and mixed together)

Late night snack:

1 slice stone ground whole wheat bread
1 pat of margarine (the kind that does NOT have trans fatty acids)

Breakdowns:

Calories - 1129
Fat: 44g
Sodium: 1240mg / Potassium: 1880mg
Carbohydrate: 123g / 19g fiber / 25g sugar
Protein: 68g

It's a 23/43/34 pro/carb/fat split

Jeremy

I was blessed with a visit from a unique friend the other day. She is someone I have known for years, but only online. She decided to make a road trip cross-country to visit with my family, and drove from Detroit, Michigan to where we live in Lead, SD. One thing she was very adamant about was visiting the Crazy Horse monument. When she was last there, they had only blasted away the forehead. Now, the entire face was complete. To give you an idea of how magnificent this project is, when completed, it will dward the Washington Monument by 8 feet and stand taller than all of the pyramids in Egypt. Mount Rushmore could fit in the hair behind the head in the sculpture. It all began 50 years ago with a lone man hiking to the top of the mountain and single-jacking (drilling by hand using a drill bit and a sledge hammer) four holes to blast the first 10 tons out of what now has been over 8 million tons of rock to be dislodged from the mountain.

Here I am standing with my friend Nicole, and you can see the progress of the sculpture in the background. As always, click on the thumbnail for a larger image.



This plaster sculpture depicts how the project will look when complete. My daughter is sitting at the foot to give some scale - the sculpture here is 1/34th of the actual size of the mountain sculpture, which can be seen in the distance.



Here you can see the proud face of Crazy Horse from the base of the mountain.



To put it further into perspective, this is a picture of me holding my daughter at the base of the sculpture.



There are no known pictures of Crazy Horse. In the 40s, sculptor Korczak created his first "template" from wood based on "word pictures" from the Native Americans who approached him to perform the work.



The center is rich with archaeological artifacts and Native American crafts. Here is a family registered with a tribe demonstrating a dance.



The regalia worn during the rituals and dances is beautiful.



Korczak was very talented. Here is a depiction of his fighting stallions sculpture. The original was in wood and balanced on the tail of a single horse. This bronze larger-than-life replica was commissioned and originally placed at the state capitol, and was later moved back to Crazy Horse.



I'm not usually a gift shop person, but the story moved me ... how a man was humble enough to begin by himself on a project so bold as to change the appearance of a mountain. He did not worry about how long it would take or what resources he had available, he just started with the first blast and worked on it day by day. His passion was so great that he died before even seeing the completed face. It was a full 50 years after his first hole was dug that the face was finally unveiled - and that is only a small fraction of the statue. When asked why he took on this task, he explained that it was not important when the monument will be finished, only that he continue the dream. This quote really moved me, so I picked up a stone that had these words written across the face to remind me of where I am going in life:

When the Legends Die
The Dreams End
When the Dreams End
There is No More Greatness

We are therefore asked to "Never Forget Our Dreams."

Jeremy

Not much to say just yet. This blog is going to be a collection of my adventures in South Dakota. We plan to do quite a bit in the area, so I'll be sure to snap a few photos and post them as well as share the updates related to my website, NaturalPhysiques.com. We had a recent excursion into Custer State Park that was a lot of fun. Here are a few of the pictures that we took (click on thumbnails for full sized view!)
 
The buffalo were quite close to the road, so I was able to take some up close shots. We got so hungry watching these magnificent creatures, that we ended the day with some nice 10oz buffalo steaks in Keystone!
 

 
My wife and daughter had fun in this small "cave" at the Needles in Custer State Park:
 

 
We love the weather patterns in South Dakota. It is fun to watch the storms roll in. You never know if the wall of approaching blackness is going to dump a load of rain and hail, or if it is simply going to pass by with a spectacular show of horizontal lightning.
 

 
We didn't quite capture the essence of seeing Mt. Rushmore through a tunnel, but this image is what it looks like from a distance when you've emerged from the other end.
 

 
My favorite summer-time cowboy hat with my daughter.
 

 
My daughter loves to hike. She insisted we climb the rocks and take this picture.
 

 
Did I mention we love to eat buffalo?
 

 
Ah, the infamous tunnels. My daughter actually enjoyed the pig-tail bridges more, but we didn't have a picture of those. You honk your horn really loud and hope someone doesn't come barrelling through in the opposite direction!
 

 
That's it for now .. once I upload pictures from our recent visit to Crazy Horse, I'll post them here!
 
Jeremy Likness