church steeple, santa cruz. grey clouds, the precursor to the rain about to come. luckily, i made it home before the worst of it fell. this was yesterday after bikram.

today was my day for work trade. is it bad that i enjoy my work trade? my friend @secretmuffin has to do all kinds of cleaning for her trade. i’m so lucky, basically, i stock the refrigerator and check people into the computer. it’s kinda fun learning people’s “every class” things. each person has their own thing and i’m remembering, that person always needs a mat, that one always needs a towel. my favorite is the one who gets a towels and 2 zicos, one for now and one for later.

i rarely need anything from the front desk, you can count on me for one thing every class. beside the usualy, trying to pee right before class starts, i always practise with 2 paper towels—just in case i need to sneeze. although on more than one occasion a teacher has asked to steal my paper towels for another student. that’s my regular, “every class” thing, what’s yours? ~m

dude, jeff bridges won an oscar last night. here’s some scans from the first edition of bikram’s beginning yoga class. jeff bridges demonstrating half-tortoise. these pictures aren’t in the current edition, hmmmmmm. i don’t know anyone who actually saw crazy heart. i still haven’t seen it, but i plan on correcting that soon. i also haven’t seen the hurt locker, this year’s best picture. i’m glad a woman won and all, but the movie looks way too tense, emotional and violent for me to enjoy. i had trouble watching precious and that din’t even have guns. alright, since oscar chit chat was soooo last night and i still need to catch up on my movies, i’ll see you tomorrow ~m

the tree is long gone, but one of the branches is still there. this is from my photo safari yesterday. as boring as i find walking, it’s much more conducive to taking pictures.

i took today off from bikram to give my back a rest and woke up feeling the best since my injury. since i din’t practise today, i’ll confess a little something to you. i’ve been obsessed with big band music lately. my dad made a couple of cds that i have been listening to a lot over the last two weeks. one of the songs he included is the american classic “chattanooga choo choo.” if he had told me he was gonna put this on, when i asked him to make me some samplers, i would have said no. actually i prolly would have said something like “please don’t, that song makes me want to stab a fork in my ear.” i’ve always had an irrational hatred of that song, almost to the point of physical repulsion. it took several listens before it even wore me down a little, but now i’m completely in love with it. did you know it was the number one song in the country the day the japanese bombed pearl harbor?

if there’s a pose you don’t like in bikram yoga, i highly encourage you to rethink it. what is it about the pose that you don’t like? if it’s hard for you, that prolly means you need that pose the most! instead of dreading a pose, look forward to it. none of the poses are bad, you just need to learn to love them all. like long forgotten classics. see you tomorrow ~m

street portrait, santa cruz. after a new inner tube was purchased, my walk home today was a photo safari. it was supposed to rain, but as you can tell, it was pretty nice out!

great saturday afternoon class. oh boy, was it crowded. our teacher said something good about challenging yourself. that’s how you can keep the same 26 poses interesting, day after day, keep pushing yourself and challenging yourself. don’t get complacent in your practise, don’t think you know what you’re doing. i was behind a woman today who kept setting up for the pose after the one we were about to do. challenge yourself, pretend you’ve never taken a bikram yoga class before. follow your teacher’s instructions precisely, never moving ahead of the dialogue, see how that changes your practise!

i’ve been challenging myself by not taking water. this isn’t something new for me, i used to practise without water a lot. but back then, it was more like a dare, rather than part of my practise, “can i make it?” now, i’m not trying to make it through class, i’m breathing and that’s it. i eat super healthy and drink lots of water throughout the day, i have all the nutrients and water my body needs to make it through a 90 minute bikram yoga class.

you don’t need to lose your water bottle to challenge yourself, try not using your leg as a tripod when setting up for eagle. or not wiping your sweat after every pose. or not using your towel over your heels in rabbit. or not fidgeting so much. that being said, i think it’s okay to wipe sweat from your eyes as necessary. there’s no reason for your contacts to be floating off your eyeballs, in pools of sweat! friends, no kidding, it’s happened to me. alright, hope to see you tomorrow ~m

there aren’t many 24 hour places in santa cruz. in new york, i think, even the day care centers are open 24 hours. “believe i’ll go down to the city, where the neon lights all shine so bright and pretty.”

how was your week, heartbreakers? i felt super loved in all areas of my life. my friends at the studio, on the computer and in real life have not given me a chance to feel down. i’ve had reason, but when so many people are sending you positive energy, you feel it. thanks for the love, friends! see you tomorrow ~m

sunbeams at lighthouse field, santa cruz. not today, last week, but another nice view from the stoney shore. practise today was almost crowded, or it wouldn’t have seemed so packed if people weren’t afraid of the front row. usually people are fighting for front row space, today, no one wanted anything to do with it. i almost went front row, just to set an example, but i’m still taking it slow.

went for the forward bend in standing head to knee today. not sure that i should have. i got there and felt stuck or din’t want to make any sudden movements because it did not feel comfortable. din’t even try it on the other side or second set, i’m fine with going slow.

i gave some advice to one of my tweeps who is dealing with some work stuff. whenever i’m in a situation, i really don’t want to be in, i try to imagine myself in standing bow. i think of myself in the hot room, confident and strong, right as i’m about to begin the bow. be your bow. go forward. see you tomorrow ~m

andy’s, end of the wharf, santa cruz. storm clouds covering the town. i’m liking the black and white, especially when photographing relics like this boardwalk shoppe.

fun class today with a bunch of first timers. they were so small! like little people. after class, we were talking amongst ourselves, assuming they were in high school, but our teacher told us they were in college. young people today look so, young. i remember what i looked like when i was 18, it was not a masculine sight. hell, except for the two turntables and microphone, it wasn’t a masculine sight at 37!

it’s not bragging to say that bikram yoga has improved my physique incredibly. if you stick with it and give it your 110%, 110% of the time, you *will* see results! how do you know you’re giving it “your 110%?” my teacher taught me that the pose doesn’t really start until you want it to stop. when you’re struggling and you can’t go any further, that’s when you’re giving it your 110%. see you tomorrow ~m