time suck

Home so late. So tired. And did a quick check of email before coming here to post and got pulled into a seriously corny time-suck.

Here's pretty much what homework looks like at my house (although it aint cookies here, it's video game time).

bloat

So we did the Passover dinner tonight (day late, but NOT a dollar short). Mom knocked it out of the park, as always. One of her neighbors came, too (a favorite of mine--she's awesome). Good company, good food....except now I have that feeling like you get after Thanksgiving dinner or something. I feel like I could pop!

passover passed over

Happy Passover, to those who celebrate!
My family celebrates.
But tonight, Passover seemed to have passed-over.

The cat ate it.



Actually we are celebrating tomorrow night instead, is all.

No SneakyLapUpAllTheChickenSoupKittehs allowed.

The ones that DrinkTheKosherGrapeJuice are fine, though ;-)

like...

Oh my gawd, so like I was waiting to do today's blogpost until I finished the like 29 loads of laundry that I had to do today....

but then I like remembered that Masterpiece Theater was resuming tonight and like that Sean Bean was going to like...play Sharpe...



and well...I LIKE.

So I'm off to go watch ;-)


ed to add: Egads, Padma Lakshmi should have stuck to Top Chef!

snaps on saturday

Dinnahhhh.
A raw foods take on chili, set up by me as a taco salad of sorts.
Everything is uncooked.
The chips are corn, flax, and seasonings, that went in the dehydrator.
The "chili" is remarkably chili-like, made with sun-dried tomatoes, some soaked almonds, and a whole bunch of added flavorings.
The least exciting was the "cheese sauce", but I think if I add some stuff to it I can rescue it and turn it into a salad dressing or something.

All in all pretty yummy, and fun to prepare.

desperate times, desperate measures

Today was HARD. From the second the alarm clock rang, right on up until the very last dousing out of the little fires that kept flaring up all day long.
It. Was. Challenging.

When it was all said and done and everything was dealt with, I finally just poured me a stiff one.


I'm not a lush or anything.
I just sometimes like to celebrate the switching o' the gears.
Cheers.
Here's a toast to tomorrow being easier.

just gimme warm n fuzzy please

I haven't had any time to knit, so I'll have to just admire a photo of it.

I'm totally exhausted. Been moving consistently since 6am and it's creeping up on midnight. The evening was Circle Dancing in bellydance class in honor of spring equinox (a few days off, but class in only on Thursdays, so whatcha-gonna-do). Anyhow, I'm needing sleep.

a bit of ringing in my ears

I was asked to be a chaperon today at the District Band Festival.
9am to 4pm, five middle school bands....all getting chance to perform in their individual groups and get feedback and instruction from the high school band teachers. This also means that as each school was waiting their turn to play, they all got a chance to practice being "good audiences" for the other four bands (heh. yah-right.)

Actually, MyFavoriteKid's teacher was pretty swift. She had her kids filling out a worksheet, writing down the names of the songs the other schools performed, what their critique of the performance was, and what feedback was being given by the high school teachers. I love her. Smart cookie.

My bit in all of this was to chaperon kids to and fro down the hallways to the bathrooms so they didn't disturb the rest of the building (this field trip was being held at the big high school auditorium), and to also help getting the kids their lunches, and making sure they were where they were supposed when they were supposed to be there.

After lunch, the high school drum corps and the high school jazz band came in and showed them what it all looks and sounds like if they continue on past middle school. Then all five middle school bands got on stage together to perform two pieces that they have each been working on in their respective schools.



That's when I was starting to think I should have brought some earplugs LOL.

Whoooooole lotta band, dudes.
It even took them having two conductors so the kids could all see the direction, one mirroring the other.

Long day. We just got home. Just inhaled some dinner and fed the pets, changed our clothes (MyFK into formal band uniform), and we are back out the door again, because the whole she-bang (individual band and collective band pieces) is being repeated tonight as a full length concert. The high school bands are also going to drop in a do a few numbers. Wont be home until probably 930 or 10, so it's a late one for mid-week.


It's a neat evening. Just a very long day.
Oh, hey....I did actually manage to knit a few rows here and there in the middle of all this, though.
Not so bad ;-)

have you ever tried to be like a log??

When the urge arises in your mind
To feelings of desire or angry hate,
Do not act! Be silent, do not speak!
And like a log of wood be sure to stay.

And when your mind is wild or filled with mockery,
Or filled with pride and haughty arrogance,
Or when you would expose another's secret guilt,
To bring up old dissensions or to act deceitfully,

Or when you want to fish for praise,
Or criticize and spoil another's name,
Or use harsh language, sparring for a fight,
It's then that like a log you should remain.

And when you yearn for wealth, attention, fame,
A circle of retainers serving you,
And when you look for honors, recognition,
It's then that like a log you should remain.

And when you inclined to overlook another's need
And want to get the best thing for yourself,
And when you feel the urge to speak,
It's then that like a log you should remain.

Impatience, indolence, faintheartedness,
And likewise arrogance and careless speach,
Attachment to your side--when these areise,
It's then that like a log you should remain.

Examine thus yourself from every side.
Take note of your defilements and your pointless efforts.
For the the heroes on the Bodhisattva path
Seize firmly on such faults with proper remedy.

With perfect and unyielding faith,
With steadfastness, respect, and courtesy.
With conscientiousness and awe,
Work calmly for the happiness of others.

The Way of The Bodhisattva*
by Shantideva
Chapter 5 "Vigilant Introspection", verses 48-55

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooo, this text I am quoting from was written a loooong time ago (700 A.D.-ish), when apparently things like reactions and behaviors were not so much different. I have a few different translations of this text. No matter how it is translated, I can always easily pick out several of those behaviors I perform on a regular basis. And no matter which version I look at, in these passages you are instructed to remain either a log or a piece of wood.

I dunno about you, but any given day (like *ahem* today), I can experience a multitude of these pesky little issues. Remain like a log, I do not. Sometimes. Other times, I do remain like a log. Boy, lemme tell ya'---it's interesting what a difference just a few moments of Log-ness can do for a gal ;-)

One of the commentaries I have read recently on this section refers to remaining like a log as "just not doing the habitual thing" (the habitual thing often being to throw kerosene on the fire in an attempt to put it out. Duh.). So if you are remaining like a log, it isn't like you are just sitting there doing nothing. It's more like you are actively just sitting there doing nothing.

Not sure if that difference makes any sense, but try doing it next time you get pissed and I think you'll notice the difference pretty quick LOL.
Sometimes (possibly always, I am beginning to believe) thinking about these things is not nearly as effective as just doing them.



*Bodhisattva: a being whose actions promote unity or harmony; one who vows to postpone one's own enlightenment in order to help all sentient beings realize liberation; one who seeks enlightenment not only for oneself but for others.

in the kitchen, not cooking

Oh, I spent a fun afternoon in the kitchen today. I've been tinkering with raw foods recipes this past week now that the temperatures are heating up. I know Raw Living Foods is a full on lifestyle choice for a lot of people, but for me it comes and goes. I was actually 100% raw for almost a full year in my late 20's. For the time being I just find it a fun way to make food, it tastes good, I love eating it...but I still eat cooked foods, too.

Anyhow. Today I prepared foods out of this book:


Today I made those little wrappers you see on the cover there. For all intents and purposes they are sort of like fruit roll-ups. It's a puree of dehydrated mango, fresh coconut (split 'em open myself), sprinkled with some cilantro. I haven't made them into the rolls yet, that'll be what I'm up to tomorrow...but for tonight I made this marinated portobello mushroom dish with a side of some fake rosemary mashed potatoes that totally kicked ass. Warmed it up in the dehydrator, so it was nice and warm, and didn't even feel "raw" at all. Sorry I didn't take a photo. It looked so yummy I dug right into it before I thought about doing that, but I have a second serving saved up for lunch tomorrow, so maybe I will try to take shot during the light of day.

Last week, out of this same book, I made a mock "mac-n-cheese", and then I also made some corn chips in the dehydrator. Oh my gosh, they are so good. I still have some stored in an airtight container and am going to play with making them into a plate of nachos somehow later this week. Crazy fun.

The corn chips, the mango wrappers, and one other recipe, are published online for free here if you are interested. Everything I have made out of this book so far has been really delicious. Some of the best raw foods I've made thus far.

ohhh what a weekend

Here's a little imaginary conversation for ya'~~

YourOneLeggedBlogAuthoress: Oh, man. I had already tweaked my knee a week ago warming up for our dress rehearsal...but then this weekend? I twisted my ankle. But good.

AnyOneOfYou: Oh, no! How'd you do that?!

YourOneLeggedBlogAuthoress: Getting off my Boyfriend's motorcycle.

Dudes, I am such a klutz *sigh*
Hey. Pass me an ice pack. Please?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other than that, the weekend was fantastic. Except for the fact that I got up in the mornings even earlier than I do mid-week. It's the only way to make it to the zen center for morning practice, though. TheMostImportantGuy and I went to both Saturday and Sunday morning.

On Saturday after practice we went out to breakfast with the other folks from the center, went to the dog park, and took the scooter-ride mentioned above. We had a chill evening at home and finally got to watch Inglourious Basterds, me with my leg propped up and wrapped in an ace bandage and ice packs.

Today, we went back to the center, and then spent the rest of the day hanging out with the resident monk (who's about our age, from California originally...in other words, he's a lot like us...only bald...and a monk LOL).
We basically spent the whole day eating.
We had a light breakfast at this really cool coffee shop we'd never been to before, came back to my house and had a lovely cheese plate while watching some Planet Earth, and then went out to lunch (which was the whole reason for his visit) to our favorite vegetarian restaurant, Ubuntu.

I'm stuffed.

I took some really great photos of the food, but my favorite photos of the day were of "The Ladies Who Lunch".



Their outfits were VERY "put together" (Matchy-Matchy!!).

Kinda makes me want to sort through my hat collection and call all my girlfriends to make a lunch date :-)

snaps on saturday

Evol Kittehs.

salon is gone

Back from the salon.
No drastic changes.

The haircut is pretty much the same. It's the color that's different. I previously had lots of stripes going on, and now it's more in layers and with less contrast between the color choices. Hard to tell from the photo, but it's very dark brown underneath, chocolate brown on top, and some shots of an even lighter brown scattered about. I still have a couple of blondy-blonde streaks shooting out from underneath. I like them. Good thing, 'cuz they probably will never fade--they are so bleached out I'll probably have to grow them out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past week has been ridiculously hectic, made even more challenging (hmmm...should I say "sucktacular"??) by MyFavoriteKid. He is making a mess out of his school situation (again). His pattern it would seem, is to forget a task or assignment, or to not understand something that is being taught (ie. he falls behind just a wee bit), and rather than just nip it in the bud and deal with it, he just kinda hopes it will go away (oh yah, baby--great strategy).

Every. Single. Day. This. Week. I have discovered one more missing assignment, one more non-comprehended concept, one more unsuccessfully buried thing. It's been grand (insert sarcasm). I'm seriously displeased, but I am also seriously helping him to find a better way of doing things. Teaching those skills, however (especially since I do not necessarily possess them myself...come see my garage of shame), is sucking the life out of me. Not to mention any possibility of free time. I mean, like even just grabbing a cup of tea to keep my head on straight, it seems. Guess I shouldn't be complaining. I did at least have time to get my hair done (but we were talking scary roots, dudes).

I always feel bad when I admit I am thrilled that he is heading off for his dad's for the weekend (like this weekend--yay!). I know parents that have never spent a day away from their kid and/or miss them terribly once they are parted. Me? I think if I didn't get a break a couple of days a month, I might need a rubber room and a coat with fancy sleeves. Or a big bottle of vodka. I am happy to report that I need neither, but it is only because I DO get that break. If I don't recharge, I don't parent all that well.

Ya' know, when I was in my early 20's I read the book Gift from the Sea. Taking a break and recharging in order to be more functional as a nurturer (and a useful member of society) is pretty much the premise of the whole book. I read that book YEARS before becoming a parent.

Maybe I should reread it.

new do?

I am going in tomorrow for a cut-n-color. I'm thinking I'm mixing things up a bit, go for a new style, but I'm not exactly decided on what that should be.

Here's what the quiz at blogthings thinks I should do:

You Should Have Super Short Hair

You are confident and conventional. You are proud of who you are and have nothing to hide. Your hair tells people that you are honest and straightforward. You appear ready to face the world head on. You can be very quiet at times. You aren't shy though... you're just thinking things over. You prefer to plan out the best course of action before you do anything. You want to be able to be your best in every situation.

What Length Hair Should You Have?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

I think my following through on that is HIGHLY UNLIKELY.
Mostly because that description does not even SOUND like me! LOL

still an "a" student

Ahhh, yes. "Bring A Parent To School Day" today.
(thank goodness it was a minimum day, I can only take so much LOL)

First block, Advanced Band (advanced for middle school, that is):


They were working on a medley of pieces from the Lord of The Rings movie soundtrack. I loooove LoTR, so that made for an awesome morning. Even when it was out of tune it was great.
Didn't hurt any that I got to knit while I listened.

Then on to Language Arts:


Much discussion about the book they are reading, "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry". They also discussed a video they watched last week about the Birmingham Children's March. Very cool of the teacher to connect the issues with kids their own age. I dig her. I also brought in a t-shirt I had picked up for her that says, "I'm so adjective, I verb nouns!" She loved it (I knew she would).

Then it was the lunch break, and MyFavoriteKid (maybe I should take the Favorite away for this paragraph) asked me to eat lunch away from him and his buddies. DangedAsswipeMiddleSchooler. LOL
As it turns out, I wasn't the only parent that happened to, and so a few of us made our own little lunch club. Screw them. That turned out pretty great anyhow because one of the ditched parents was my physical therapist! (small world)

Ok, then it was Algebra 1:

They had a test.
I had more knitting.

The most entertaining class for me today was the last period: Social Studies. They're studying Medieval Japan, and today was their test covering the last 3 Chapters. The teacher asked (with a bit of a giggle-snort) if any of the parents wanted to take the test, too. I jumped at it. I think that might have pissed the other parents off. For some reason I guess that meant they all had to take it. Ha.

It was actually not an easy test! It was good for me to see how hard MyFK has had to work in the class to do good.

49 questions, I missed 3 ;-)
(the parent/guy next to me only answered maybe 10 and got most wrong)

Sure didn't hurt me any that a whole bunch of the questions were about how buddhism got to Japan and how zen played into the role of being a samurai (*mwahaha*). Also didn't hurt any that I know what haiku is, why a samurai would know how to do a tea ceremony and why he would perform one, and that I know what Noh Theater is. It also didn't hurt any that I have read the Pillow Book.
Oh, and that I have seen Kill Bill a couple of times.
Heh.

Life=Textbook.

the evening sit

I know it's a dark photo (squint, will ya'??!), but I wanted to show you Riley doing his evening sit thang:


He does this every single night after he eats his dinner...just sitting on the back step quietly listening to the night air, and it seems that he even knows what "evening sit" means (when you say it, he'll make for the door).

No frogs tonight.

what a combo

I've got the PostPerformanceLetDown/Hangover mixed in with the DaylightSavingsTimeWarp, and it's totally messing with my equilibrium.

It was cold here in the morning (upper 30's), but in the upper 60's (maybe even low 70's) during the day, and I even have some windows open now and it's 10:15.

The dog is outside on the back step having his "evening sit", which he does every night after dinner, but he wont come in because he's listening to frog mating season or something out there. Lots o' frog racket. But it's nice :-)

I ran around doing all sorts of whatnot today, and haven't knit since I-dunno-when, so I'm going go do a few rows now, and listen to the serenade.

performed today...

Performed today with The Sabah Ensemble at the Rakkasah Middle Eastern Dance Festival.
Here's me backstage just a few minutes before heading down to perform.


Sorry the photo is a so TaTaBooBeeLicious, but I took it myself, arm in the air one handed style, and I only had time for 1-click so this is all I got.
Well, ok. That's not true.
This was my 2nd-click.
My 1st-click was taken when the troupe and our wonderful accompanying musicians were standing together in a circle in what we affectionately call our "Kumbayah Moment" (we hold hands and connect for minute). My 1st photo was also arm in the air, taken from above, but shot looking down into our circle, and it ended up being one reallllly ugly photo of everyone's bare feet.
I saw what I had taken and had about 4 seconds to click the one you see above before we all made way for the wings of the stage.
The TaTa's look better than TheFeet.
(Did you know I am not a fan of nekkid feet, and I don't even wear sandals?)

Anyhow.
It was a really great performance. I love what we do. The works we make don't really fit any of the various molds for this medium (we aren't cabaret, tribal, Egyptian-style...hell, I don't know what we are). When we create a piece what we end up with is choreography (or structured improvisation) that often looks more like a "statement". More like the way a modern dance piece might look, for example (remember, this new piece was inspired by this photo; and the first half of the choreography was a structured improv based on "walking meditation" that broke out into individual solo statements). It's really out of the ordinary what we do, and it's quite unexpected for the audience, I think too. Especially at a big bellydance festival such as this.
Fun fun fun.

snaps on saturday

Ooooo, my favorite breakfast :-)
It's my "CloseAsICanGet" version of a meal I absolutely adore served at Cafe Fanny, in Berkeley (owned by the famous Alice Waters). It's Acme Pain au Levain (the bread), toasted and rubbed with garlic and then schmeared with organic butter, topped with prosciutto, and (hard) poached eggs. Olives and fruit on the side.
To DIE for.

Made easy by my fancy new egg poaching pan.

Bought her a few weeks ago and she is getting plenty of use, lemme tell ya'.

the lift team

I was just talking to TheMostImportantGuy's Dad the other day, about "The Lift Team".

(OH. Update! TheMIG's Dad is out of the regular hospital and is doing well, but healing slowly. He's been moved to a fancy extended care facility to get some Physical Therapy until he's stronger. There may be a small round of chemo on the horizon, just to be safe.)

So TheMIG's Dad was talking to me about how strong the nurses and PT's are, and it sort of had this "kinda surprises me 'cuz they're girls" tone to it. So I told him about TheLiftTeam.

See, now when I was in the ICU after my accident, the nurses did not (well, did very little) moving of me. The hospital had a system in place so they would not injure themselves. When patients like me needed to be transported from the bed to a gurney to get into some other treatment room, or like when I was learning to get up and down but still needed help, the ICU nurses when get on the horn and call for TheLiftTeam.

A few minutes later, three (hot) strapping young dudes would show up and pick me up and move me.
*big fat grin*

Although there was lots of celebrating to be had as I recovered and became more self-sufficient, there was a certain amount of sadness in having to say goodbye to TheLiftTeam.
Heh.

Anyhow. I was clickin' around the internet the other day, and ran into this here video of a crazy robotic panda shakin' up TheLiftTeam's job security:



I think I'd still prefer the hotties.
Although if laughter is the best medicine, this panda thing might just do the trick ;-)

I actually think I could use one of these around the house just to get me out of bed in the morning.
Wonder if I could train him to bring me coffee.

so much for brownies

Is anyone else out there besides me reading this book?

It's blowing my head open. I'm not even sure what to say about yet, she's crawlin' so deeply into my head.

dear lorena...

In response to comments from yesterday's post:

Dear Lorena,
Don't worry. You're safe. ;-)

You're a 5. I'm a 6. Won't steal your shoes. I won't even /hijack them ;-)
But now I know your shoe size (*mwahaha*).

And Denise?? Wow. Worlds collide!
I swear it---I need to take an AmpuTeeHeeRoadTripTour and meet y'all in person.

~~quick little note to gwen as a follow-up to yesterday's comments: I watched the eel/boullabaise episode, too! Hahaha! But! But! How 'bout that huuuuge fish head?!!

Ok, and now for some LOVE.


Squeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! Sock yarn in my mailbox! Dyed in the colorway of "Sock Monkey"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Somebody was payin' attention LOL.
That somebody was Lorena...one of my favorite "we-don't-really-know-each-other, but-we-totally-know-each-other, so why-not-hey, let's send I-saw-this-and it-is-soooo-you gifts to each other" friends.

Dude. You totally know my tastes.
Not that I needed to tell you that, though. Heh.
Now gimme all your Chuck Taylors. ROTFLMAO

classic julia

My fingers are still killing me and it makes me want to scream because I'm crabby and can't knit to make myself un-crabby.
*POUT*

This is a post I typed up a couple of weekends ago, but hadn't added the photo to it, so it was parked as a draft.

I'm off to reapply neosporin an bandaids.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Caught some classic Julia Child on a PBS marathon recently. My favorite episode was about omelettes. In the photo below she had set up a little cook-to-order omelette buffet party.


"Ohh, and there's this gentleman who wanted a spinach omelette...
there's the spinach right in the middle, that creamed spinach nicely flavored up......
I think I let that one cook up a little bit too long...
I don't think he's going to know the difference!
And as always, a little parsley will cover up anything....

Ohh, here comes my mother-in-law. Guess I'll give her a liver omelette. That will fix her up I guess!"

dog ate my homework

It's going to sound like MyFavoriteKid wrote this post for me, but...
I can't do a decent post tonight! I can't type (easily) because my fingers are all cut up!

I had to do some repairs to my dance costume this morning before our rehearsal. My coin belt needed some reinforcing and some links replaced. It's made of real coins, and it's quite heavy. I cut my fingers (well, mostly both thumbs) pretty damn deep! I didn't notice it much during the day, but once I got the kiddo to bed and sat down to do some knitting and typing I realized I cannot do either! (I know this looks like typing, but I've used the backspace key about 427 times).

since then. thinking.

Many days spent in retreat, practicing "not attaching to thinking"...
with the final result being that my last hour or so has been spent thinking and thinking and thinking about how badly I wanted to get home so that I could lay down with my TherapyBallThingy underneath my excruciatingly aching low back (cause by all that sitting/practicing).
Funny thing, to me. LOL

almost...

Zen center today from 6am to 930pm (which means up at 430am--gah! and just now getting home and settled at 1030pm--double gah!).

At least tonight was a ceremony that ended in cake and ice cream LOL.

Tomorrow is a short one. Another 6am start, but over by 9, at which point we all go out to breakfast together.



I am beginning to understand why these happen only once a year.

an elephant never forgets

A very strange thing today during meditation practice.

All of my scars started getting really really tight.

There I was, sitting still and the scar that runs across the front of my pelvic bone just got....tight. Like when you use a vacuum sealing machine or something so you can deep freeze a steak or something. Or like when you snag a really nice piece of silk, and right in the middle of this flowing fabric is a tight spot. Yeah. Kinda like that.

Anyhow. Then the scar on my upper arm started going tight. So my pelvis is tight. And the skin on my right arm is clamping down on itself. And thennnnnn....well, I have this other scar that runs the full lenght down the center of my torso from my sternum to my belly button...and the top part of that scar? Where it is pretty much right over my diaphragm? well, that one just started twitching and spasming. It was going bezerk-o.

And so I'm sitting there meditating because I'm on this 8-day retreat thingy, and I'm just "noticing" all of this scar stuff happening, and I'm trying not to "think" about it. Not that I am ignoring it. It's more that I am noticing it, but that I am not adding words to it. I'm just sitting with it. Feeling it, basically. Experiencing it, but not critiquing it.

Anyhow, it's when that last scar starts twitching, that the feelings get pretty strong because that twitch is accompanied by this NoNoNoNoNooNoooNOOOOO feeling that I get from time to time when I am flashing back to the car accident era ('cuz of these scars are from that), and that is when I realize...

Hey! Yesterday was the 6 year anniversary of the accident! And I missed it! Ha! I was even like, "Hey. Is the anniversary on the 3rd? Or the 4th? I dont even remember!" (I had to check my own blog to be sure...how odd is that LOL)

I mean, it didn't go totally unnoticed leading up to today. Sometime in February I reminded myself that it was coming and to just be on alert for the really odd behavior that sometimes comes out of me this time of year. And about a week ago I was starting to get my March calendar out more and more, and I thought about it for about one hot second each second. But get this one. On the 2nd I actually had to fill out some papers for the DMV where they were asking me the date of the onset of my disability, and I wrote the 3rd (the very next day), but I didn't make a thing of it. Not even a connection, really.
It just went by.

So my head? Me thinks me head is movin' on!

Seems like my body still be a little stuck, though LOL...but it was even on delay. A whole day behind. Maybe another anniversary or two and perhaps even that will shift ;-)

all i got is this

Kids, I am whooped. I am so. Danged. Tired.
All I have for you is this photo I took a couple of Saturdays ago of some wacky artwork I found up on Berkeley's Telegraph Ave:



Someone just layered their masterpiece right on over the bills that were posted on the plywood of a vacant building.


(PS...when I was young and hot, I had the brains and the balls)

tonight, the knitting wins

Can't type tonight.
The knitting is calling.


nataliedee.com


(I'm huge Natalie Dee fan---I even own some t-shirts)

more floor

So this is an addendum to yesterday's post. Mouse was had said that if I am going to stare at the floor for so long, she wondered if it was at least a nice one.

That photo is a pretty great shot of it (I used it onece before here), and you can also see more photos of it here (the zen center website--just click and let the photos scroll through the slide show on the home page). One of the reasons I like that photo above though, is that it is taken from where I often end up sitting. It's not like we have assigned seats or anything, but the corner spots are usually easier for me to get up and down from (crutches, and all that).

So the floor. Lemme tell ya', I have a very interesting relationship with the floor of this place. You see, many years ago (beginning in 1994 for me, actually), long before the zen center purchased this building from it's previous owner, it was on long term lease to none other but my very own dance teacher and her partner.

This is the building that I learned to dance in. For years, every week, on Thursday nights, I sat on a mat (longer, full body) on this floor, doing the same warm-up series that I now teach (my teacher passed away in 1999 and I started co-teaching the class in 2000).

This is the floor where I danced my very first solo, and where I rehearsed my very first performances, and where I circle-danced on solstices and equinoxes with my fellow classmates. I have rolled around on this floor as a dancer, and when I practice meditation sometimes I swear I am merging with it once again. Heck, we're both made of cells, right? It's just a floor, and I'm just a person, and only because of how those cells ended up being organized, no??

I have a deep connection to the floor. To the whole space, really. When we would rehearse a dance piece, sometimes these geese from across the street would honk, and the geese still honk during meditation all these years later! And the windows, which are squares of various shades of opaque glass...the whole room shifts and changes and sun filters in. The kitchen and bathroom still have their classic tile, and the garden outside, even though tended to differently, still has some of the same features, especially the larger trees.

I love this place, and when it became a zen center and my teacher and her partner needed to relocate (because they couldn't manage to purchase the building when the owner sold it), I was shook up for a bit. It was quite the shift getting used to the new place. I now have the same deep love for our current space. But I never ever thought that I'd see the inside of the old space again.

And now, here I sit.
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Oh, and by the way....



Can you believe it's March?!