trixie on my outstretched legs. i’m so lucky and it’s not because i’m wearing lucky brand dungarees, i’m wearing my cool lululemon hat courtesy of my friend @ElizKelley! t-shirt by sweat! trixie is in her summer fur, ha ha. oh, and speaking of lucky, i got the nicest care package from my friend at bikram today!

this past weekend, i was at trader joe’s, looking longingly at the muffins, wishing i could fit them into my budget. lucky me, my friend brought me a half-package of blueberry bran muffins! and because i’m a spoiled brat, she also loaded me up with emergen-c packets and a new candy for me—toblerone! i’ve always seen these packages at the store, but never knew what they were until now—me like!

oh gee, i din’t even get to tell you about my practise today. it was so crowded, i think it was almost 30 people rocking the noon with my today! love all the hot, sweaty bodies getting the room extra juicy. i’ve been eating really well and hydrating like crazy, so i felt great today. super luv feeling so strong after 90 minutes of sweating! see you tomorrow ~m

self-portrait, christmas morning, 2009. doing no-handed donuts in the cemetery parking lot.

i was pretty disappointed with the lakers loss last night. as a fan, you can prepare for the game all you want, yell at the top of your lungs, but it really doesn’t matter. kind of like this, i can write whatever i want, but you’re still gonna eat mcdonalds, drink starbucks, wear lululemon, binge, fast, whatever.

i would like to let go of all my attachments. that way, whatever you do doesn’t bother me. it sounds cold, but isn’t that the goal in life, to have no attachments and be free of all worry?

when i was 18 or 19, i bought a book of poetry by an 8th century zen buddhist. it’s the only book of poetry i’ve ever owned. for some reason, han shan’s poems have always spoken volumes to me. last night my mom gave me a new copy, to replace my moldy original. han shan called his home cold mountain and now his poems seem to speak for me.

“i think of all the places i’ve been,
chasing about from one famous spot to another.
delighting in mountains, i scaled the mile high peaks;
loving the water, i sailed a thousand rivers.
i held farewell parties with my friends in lute valley,
i brought my zither and played on parrot shoals.
who would guess i would end up under a pine tree,
clasping my knees in the whispering cold?”

hey hey heartbreakers, i took this after bikram today. this stretch of street is pretty rough, which is why my bag is sliding off my back. click and see the larger, uncropped version which i like much more.

i hit snooze twice this morning—thank god i can bike to bikram! crowded 8 am class, i was gonna squeeze into the middle row when my friend made room for me next to her in the front. be still my, um, heart and remember, she wants a friend, nothing more. it was still a nice way to spend a sunday morning. except for my stomach growling in class! i had an apple on the way, but nothing more and my the floor series, my stomach was delivering dialogue of its own. lucky for me, the market next door had a good morning grazing—brownie bits and cinammon cake, yum!

~night at the movies~

why was i rushed this morning? i got caught up watching a great documentary—9/11 the falling man. it was about the photographs of people jumping from the twin towers. pretty heavy stuff, they talked to family members, the photographer, newspaper people who printed it. they even went into a little of the history behind photojournalism. it was something you prolly won’t see but is highly recommended.

also high on my recommend list is black dynamite. this movie is so deep with jokes, you can watch it 3 or 4 times and still catch something new. black dynamite is a new movie filmed to look like a “lost” film from the early 1970s. the colour looks incredible and takes you back to the drive-in, the script is well-crafted and clever, the acting and edting were all “perfect”—honestly, ii was the funniest movie i’ve seen all year.

if you like scary movies, i thought paranormal activity was a lot of fun! it wasn’t as scary as i was hoping, but your results may vary. i was really looking forward to this movie and it din’t disappoint. okay heartbreakers, see you tomorrow ~m

don’t let the doghouse bass and acoustic guitar fool you, this was not your typical farmers market band. humanbaby had a real velvets tone to the few songs i was able to hear.

i really wasn’t thinking when i tweeted earlier that class wasn’t crowded. now that i really think about it, you could barely walk anywhere—i had to indiana jones hop across the room to talk to someone. i worked today, as part of my work trade, getting people signed into the computer, giving out mats & towels, running credit cards. looking back, it was pretty busy! class was fantastic, i haven’t had a trish class in so long. she used to be a regular teacher when i first started practising. her words and energy really helped shape my practise, it was rad to have her leading class again.

well, the packers won today, but what am i most thankful for? trixie. um, but not just trixie, her older “brothers” mr. purr & motor. i’m also thankful for my family—my mom & sister and dad. i’m also grateful for my second family—the bikram community. both online and in santa cruz, you’ve taken me in like a wayward son and i love you so much for it. mostly i’m thankful to be alive and able to enjoy so much of life. that’s it. see you tomorrow ~m

i felt like a kid in the candy store today. click and see the larger, uncropped version of this photo if you don’t believe me. it felt great to be working for my yoga, signing people in, handing them mats and towels. even after practise, disinfecting mats din’t feel like a gross chore. honestly, i feel blessed.

that was the attitude i had in class today, it din’t feel that hot, but we had two people on the floor before we even got to garurasana. during the floor series, one guy left the room for a bit. i don’t know what to tell you friends, i felt great in class. maybe because i was grateful to be there or maybe it’s the diet, the breath and all the rest, either way, i enjoyed every sweaty minute. see you tomorrow ~m

biking to bikram. i love the distortion in this iphone photograph! it’s a rocky uphill road at this point in my ride. i’m riding with no hands *and* taking a picture. my mom hates it, but how else could i get that distortion? still waking up at 7:30 in the morning.

biking from bikram. more fun from my iphone. going up another hill, on the bike bath, friday afternoon. you should definitely click through to see the larger, uncropped versions!

strong class today. started out like a sauna, i was dripping a ton of sweat by the second set of pranayama! i was right next to the wall on the “cool” side, talk about taking the easy way out in a crowded class. as soon as our teacher opened the sliding glass door, i got hit with an arctic blast that chilled me to the bone. not only that, but i had a rad dinner last night with plenty of beans, tomato, chard and romaine. that’s two big things i got on my side.

this week, i really concentrated on keeping my shoulders and elbows equal on both sides. heartbreakers, you know my right side needs the most work. even in pranayama, i noticed that i wasn’t putting enough into my right side. my chest can be projecting just a little more. my shoulder needs to stay out straight, instead of hunching in a little. these are all minute corrections, but they add up to a new stretching for me. i’ve definitely heard a crack in my shoulder more than once when i’m doing it right. same thing when my right arm points up in trikanasana. if i’m doing it correct, with my body aligned straight, my shoulder makes the loudest “pop” as i windmill up, reaching for the ceiling. heartbreakers, the smallest movements can make the biggest difference in the benefits you receive from the posture. see you tomorrow ~m

i planned to do the 10 am bikram yoga this morning because i had an unemployment workshop to be at across town this afternoon. since the yoga studio is super close to the transit mall, i had plenty of time to make the workshop. the best laid plans, of course and i got the studio without any shorts! not the first time, not the last. i went to the thrift store, but they din’t have anything for a small fry like me.

sweat friends, i din’t know what to do, so i walked back home. my shins are still on fire with every step, but there was no time for rest. bikram snobs won’t like what happened next, but i’m gonna tell you anyway. even though it was cold and there’s no mirrors, i practised to the cd. not the first time, not the last. i like the fast pace and it’s bikram doing the dialogue!

wouldn’t it be fun if bikram sold a cd version with emmy doing the dialogue? or any other senior teacher for that matter. it could be a “guest teacher” series of cds. it’s the same dialogue, but every teacher has a different delivery. i think it would be fun, but i digress.

all this walking has got muscles in my legs on fire. if bikram yoga exercises every muscle of the body, why does it feel like i’ve never stretched these particular ones before? it shouldn’t be a surprise that i’ve been slacking off in a pose. and of course, it’s one of the most challenging. dandayamana-janushirasana. or donnie yamana & the johnny shirasanas. or standing head to knee. of course. today i noticed that on my “up” leg, i don’t flex my foot back to my face enough. it turns out, i got a lot more flexing to do!

even without benefit of mirror or heat, you can still benefit from these poses as long as you do them right! despite the cold, it was a nice practise. i din’t get to stay in final savasana for long because i had to hoof it back to town to make my bus for my unemployment workshop adventure. here’s a gratuitous photo of me relaxing in the graveyard on the way back, tired but still smiling. see you tomorrow ~m