oh, march, where did you go? it seems like you just got here! well, did you roast in yr bikram yoga class like i did today? they say you burn 1200 calories in a bikram class, i think i burned 1201 today—i got worked! that’s why we love them baker classes, right? she worked us good and we’ll all happily be back for more. nice to practise with friends i hadn’t seen in 900 years or so! speaking of friends, i alluded to it yesterday, but din’t really give it the justice it deserved. before we went to see “between the lines,” my friend cooked the raddest dinner for me! it was all vegan goodness with rice and black beans and yummy veggies, mmmmmmm. not only was it delicious, but it saved me a few bucks in groceries! yes, i’m that much of a cheapskate right now! free dinner is the only kind of stimulus i’m getting, i gotta be thankful. so, my friend has a cool, solid-black cat named ratty. he is what you might call a handi-capable kitty.

no, there’s nothing wrong with his eyes, he was just shaking his head after i asked if i could take his picture! click and look at the large version—his body is so still as he shakes his head from side-to-side! ratty only has 3 legs, but you wouldn’t know it, the way he runs around. his mom is a music addict and has turned me on to some of the best music i’ve ever heard in my life. that may sound like an exaggeration, but we listen to such great music together everyday, that it really isn’t. if she would ever start writing about some of the music she loves, you might start reading her website more often! for now, though, check out her review of the dave rawlings machine at the rio. okee dokes artichokes, see you tomorrow! ~m p.s. if you can’t get enough of moi, follow me on twitter!

what a day! on my bike ride to work, i pedal along the mighty san lorenzo river which is a bird watcher’s paradise. i don’t even know what kind of birds i saw today, but i scared a big flock of beautiful, yellow-bellied flyers! they looked so nice flying out of the tree they’d been hanging out in. also love all the bird tweeting i hear in the morning, what a way to get to work! speaking of bird tweets, don’t forget to follow me on twitter! small class, but strong energy anyway. it was kind of a fun class too, the way our teacher leads class is really great. she runs the gamut from working-you-really-hard to totally-soft, gentle yoga teacher. plus, i think she makes us hold the poses a little longer than some of the other teachers—i love that!

hey, i never got to tell you about my big weekend! after a great dinner at my friend’s house, we rode our bikes to see “between the lines”—a documentary about two surfers in the vietnam war. well, actually only one was in the war, the other was avoiding it. pretty great movie. dig this clip from youtube and i think you’ll agree that if it shows up on netflix, it’s worth putting at the top of yr list. see you tomorrow ~m

i had a good class today, but the voices in my head were too loud for me. even though i did all the poses with energy and strength, i still heard myself wondering, “what am i doing here? should i really be burning away 1200 calories? i should leave now and buy some ice cream instead.” sometimes i think i’d like to take a break from bikram until i gain 20 pounds. although if i did that, i’m not sure i’d ever come back. okay, enough of my insecurities, i know we all have doubts about practising sometimes. how about something nice to look at instead? i like the overall colors of this photograph. see you tomorrow ~m

for the first time in my life, i can honestly say i ate too much last night! i have to admit, there was a bit of a celebration going on in the birdhouse last night. the night before, i finished the initial work on a website that i’ve been working on *plus* the lakers had a good early game against the nets. well, they lost a big lead in the first half, so i wasn’t too happy about that, but whatevs. the point being, i ate it up yesterday. during the game i had a salame sandwich and chips, plus a tasty soda! what else did i eat? oh yeah, a big burrito and taco from a taqueria nearby, two huge cinnamon buns and a quart of milk! not too mention a lot of fruit—you should have seen my plate of orange rinds! i had four different oranges while i saw the watchmen on my computer! to say i ate like a pig would be putting it nicely. my class this morning was fine, until we hit the ground and i realized how much food i ate! the last time i sat out so many postures, it was because i din’t eat enough. today, i felt like a big belly, oh well, there’s always tomorrow. ~m p.s. wanna know what i’m doing tonight? follow me on twitter and find out!

how about a treat for friday? i hardly ever get a sally class! she always teaches the earlier classes, so i only ever see her in passing. i don’t feel like i work any harder in her classes, but i always find myself going farther than i usually do. she helps me pass borders i couldn’t before.
thank god for the internet! keeping me in the loop with a great lakers game this afternoon and then watchmen this evening! i don’t know which was more exciting—the game or the movie! actually, photographing this lizard before the game was pretty cool. see you tomorrow! ~m

that was prolly only the third time i’ve taken a class that curt taught. he’s funny! he told called out me friend “i know you’re in class when i hear the water bottles jangling.” ha ha. it wasn’t even that hot in class today. i was kind of dreading the afternoon class because i usually get so worked in it, but not today. i was on the cool side of the room though, maybe that helped. or maybe it was my great diet of strawberries, blackberries, oranges and almonds. wait, i also had a ton of ruffles, a turkey sandwich and a blueberry bagel. maybe it was the laughter, who knows? i din’t really think about it too much to be honest with you. i was in a hurry to get home—the lakers started at the same time class did. to make life easy, i grabbed some chicken, rice and beans from their buffet table. it’s so convenient, right next door to yoga. if i din’t have new leaf and traders so close to me, life would be a lot harder. anyway, i’m sure you’re all excited about the weekend, so, how about another cute trixie picture? i love this girl! see you tomorrow ~m

small but strong class today. love the positive energy in the room and so does my body right now as i’m still feeling good posture in my back, late into the evening. after class, i got to indulge in one of the best things about living in santa cruz—the farmers market! my office mate and i casually left our office and walked down to the farmers market almost immediately after i got back from bending! what a treat to work in such a casual environment! at the farmers market i got some nice carrots and she got some beautiful anenomes to brighten our already beautiful office. the drum circle sounded nice as the sun was drifting lazily down. since i’m all loverley with my new town, i might as well share one of my photos from a misty sunday morning a couple weeks ago. click and enjoy, m