Just like a kid...

@ Pelican's Snoballs*






*There is no way that these things are not bad for you. I'm talking straight high fructose corn syrup and chemicals, y'all.

Today...

I missed Carrboro.

Violin Boy!

David Binanay...violin virtuoso

Some Truth To It

Remember those "No Fear" shirts from the 90's?  They were very trendy and featured slogans meant to motivate people by belittling them for feeling pain or fatigue.

I had one with an X-ray of a broken hand on it that read "Pain is Temporary, Glory is Forever".  I didn't really like it or understand it, but bought it because everyone else had one.  I wore it until it had a hole and never thought twice about its claim until about 10 years later.

Fast forward to Thailand in the summer of 2004 and my yoga teacher waxing philosophically about yoga injuries and how they are really just a form of weakness or sickness exiting the body as you deepen your practice.  Noted.

Fast forward to now, and I'm beginning to think there is some truth to this whole idea about pain, sickness and injury.  As I laid in wind removing pose in Bikram class on Tuesday evening, I realized I was pulling my knees closer to my body than ever before because my arms were wrapping around the knees more.  My arms were able to do this because my shoulder was somehow more open after my recent shoulder/neck injury.  Again, I noticed this in camel pose, as I was bending backwards, my shoulder blades were able to point in toward my spine more, which allowed a deeper backward bend.  Was my shoulder injury a result of some weakness or sickness leaving my body? Did the folks at "No Fear" have it right all along?

The Last Supper

I couldn't believe it when I awoke early one morning to news that Magnolia Grill would be closing it's doors on May 31, 2012.  Interestingly enough, Jason and I had been planning an outing to the grill for a send off/we haven't had a fancy dinner in a while date.  I picked up the phone in hopes of making our reservation, and got nothing but a busy signal for hours and hours and hours that day.  Jason and I decided that we must go in person.  We did, and we got the last reservation for a 2-top in Magnolia Grill's history.  I think that makes us famous.

Last night we dined on (literally!) the best food ever.  Mag Grill has always been our favorite restaurant in the triangle area for its big bold flavors and overall awesome dining experience.  I can also remember going to the grill as a small child with my mom (sometimes, we would pretend to be famous and eat out for fancy dinners).  As a child, an elaborate dinner menu can seem not far from disgusting so our waitress offered to have the chef make me fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  You don't even need to ask me if it was the best fried chicken and mashed potatoes I've ever had.  I'll never forget that.  Mag Grill, you will always have a spot in my heart.


Pre-dinner exictey...



That illustrious sign (with an obnoxious beemer SUV in front blocking the driveway...boo!!!)




The Menu




I decide with wine flushed cheeks








Spring Salad with candied pecans

                                                  
Wild Alaskan Halibut with cauliflower chowder sauce and yummy little potatoes





Chocolate Chip Poundcake with Roasted Bananas and Banana Ice Cream







Pear Crisp (epically delicious)







 So yummy!!!

Something I learned

We did a lesson to teach students about recycling.  It's pretty crazy what happens to your trash.  And it's even crazier what happens to everyday items that make their way to landfill when they could just as easily be recycled.

I learned how long these items will be in the landfill if we don't recycle them:

• banana -- 3 to 4 weeks
• paper bag -- 1 month
• cotton rag -- 5 months
• wool sock -- 1 year
• cigarette butt -- 2 to 5 years
• leather boot -- 40 to 50 years
• rubber sole (of the boot) -- 50 to 80 years
• tin can (soup or vegetable can) -- 80 to 100 years
• aluminum can (soda pop can) -- 200 to 500 years
• plastic 6-pack rings -- 450 years
• plastic jug -- 1 million years
• Styrofoam cup -- forever
• glass bottle -- forever

My Spring Frill

When you're moving to Oregon in T-minus 75 days (holy crap), it's kind of important to save money.  I really love buying things for myself: clothes, shoes, bags, expensive salads, $4.00 coffee drinks, 6 packs of craft beer for $10.99, and I could just go on...

But, I have really tried to control myself and my spending, so that I am not completely broke and destitute for our move.  Not to mention, acquisition for more stuff, just means more stuff to move.

However, a girl has to treat herself every now and then.  Too much saving and denying of ones desires can lead to terrible things.  So, I did buy myself these, for a little spring pressie.

Minnetonka Thunderbird Moccasins 

Acupuncture

So, for the past week I've been dealing with what I think is a yoga induced over-usage injury in my shoulder and neck.  I finally decided enough was enough and got some acupuncture.

It was my first time, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  At first, it was much like getting a massage:  the requisite questions about stress, tension storage areas, and nutrition; laying face down on a massage table in a cold room, someone gentle touching your trigger points, and then OUCH!

"Was that a needle that you just stuck into me"?

Oh, yeah...that's was acupuncture is.

I'll be honest with you, I thought I'd like the treatment much more than I did.  I thought I would be OK with the fact that someone was inserting tiny needles into me, and at first I suppose I was.  But as my body began to sweat profusely (I'm still not sure why this happened, I'm hypothesizing that my body must have gone into some kind of fight or flight mode) and more needles were going into me, some larger that their predecessors, I began to feel a low deep annoying type of pain, a scratching of nails on a chalkboard pain, or someone diddling a nerve in a busted tooth pain.  It was weird.  The doctor left the room, and I tried to concentrate on breathing and relaxing, but all I could think about was a myriad of needle injury possibilities. What if I took too deep of a breath then causing a needle to move, which then leaves me paralyzed or even dead?  Sharp thing are kind of scary.

So, do I feel better?  Well, much of the tension that was associated with the neck/shoulder injury is gone.  So, I guess that's good. The main injury is still there, but methinks it just needs time to heal.  Here's the weird thing:  for the past couple of weeks, my allergies had been gone.  I was going outside again, running, and feeling good.  Then, all of a sudden after the acupuncture, they came back full force.  I'm sneezing, snotting, and eye-watering all over the place all over again.  Not cool. Did something new tree begin to pollinate or did the acupuncture trigger some strange reaction?

Acupuncture.
Would I go back? Never say never, but...
Would I try to find another option first?  Probably
Would I rather get a nice deep massage?  Definitely.

The best analogy I can think of is that it was like watching a scary movie for me.  I just don't like scary movies.  Some people do.  Some people really like being scared.  I hate being scared.  Like...a lot.

And then again, this strange aversion to the whole experience makes me wonder if perhaps I do need indeed need acupuncture.  Sometimes we find ways to obviate the things that we need.

Things I think about while my students who don't speak English struggle through the End of Grade Tests

How come Europe and Asia each get to be there own continents even though they are on the same land mass?

bowling!

Post # 600

My portrait.

As seen by a 3rd grader:




Please note I have never worn a cowboy hat nor have I ever carried a lasso to school.

For the teach!

Today in the Teacher Appreciation Raffle I won this scarf!

The Pale King

Lately, when I'm not reading Dracula, I've been reading this tome by the late David Foster Wallace.


 



At a whopping 557 pages, this is definitely the longest book I will have ever read (please note here, that I have not as of yet finished Moby Dick, but plan on doing so...someday).  There has been a lot of hype surrounding this book because a) David Foster is no longer with us after committing suicide in 2008 b) This book was published posthumously c) He worked on this book for many years, and was working on it at the time of his death d) David Foster Wallace is/was an amazing writer and social commentary making badass.

I can't really explain what my fascination is with David Foster Wallace.  It all started a few years ago when Jason brought home a graduation speech that DFW made to Kenyon University grads in 2005.  I was so taken aback by his commentary on life.  Cautioning us against the dangers of living on our "default setting" which would have us programmed to be selfish, he describes a very real and very mundane scenario that we have probably all been through.  He explains how doing the most routinized of tasks can sometimes elevate us to a point that pisses us off so much because whatever selfish intention we have is somehow being thwarted by "everyone else".  He goes on to say that life is full of things that will piss us off and if we choose to be mad at them, we will end up of being mad our whole lives or lapse into our default setting just to cope.

Not only do I love what he says and have lived those moments myself, but I love that he stood up in front of a group of bright eyed and bushy tailed college graduates and had the balls to tell them that: hey life sucks, but don't let it get to you, get over it and try to be happy by cultivating a sense of self that allow you to see more:

But if you've really learned how to think, how to pay attention, then you will know you have other options. It will be within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same force that lit the stars - compassion, love, the sub-surface unity of all things.

The real irony of all this is that (I suppose) the rote-ness of  life did eventually get to DFW.   He chose a permanent escape from his life in 2008.  There are many people who are truly troubled and ill and choose to commit suicide.  However,  I believe that there is a smaller group of people who have committed suicide because they knew too much and couldn't handle it.  People who have a heightened awareness of things or some kind of elevated sense of intelligence that was too much of a burden to bear on a daily basis.  To me, this is the most tragic kind of death: the loss of a visionary.  This is what I'd like to believe about DFW.  I could be wrong.  I didn't know the man, and I'm sure those from his inner circle may have different things to say.  I've read that he was deeply depressed at times, but he was also a genius.

So, back to the The Pale King.  

 I am loving this book and finding myself wanting to write down every little thing in it.  After being inspired by another couple's endeavor to keep a sort of a reading log, Jason and I started a Book of Books several months ago.  The Book of Books is a notebook in which we write meaningful, interesting, insightful or just plain funny passages that we read in our respective books.  It's really helpful when wanting to remember awesome things that you read.  It's also fun to see what the other person writes down in the book.  I don't put much in the Book of Books.  Jason will write down just about anything, but something has to really wow me or deeply resonate within me for me to want to take the time to write it down.  While reading The Pale King, I find myself wanting to write down almost every sentence.  Much like his Kenyon Speech, The Pale King has this way of perfectly articulating social commentary via sentences that crescendo leaving us gasping for a breath.

uh oh...

It's Teacher Appreciation Week and today one of these guys was lurking in my school mailbox.

These cannot even be considered real food.

I ate it.

Not a Competition

Yesterday was the demonstration at Bikram Yoga Durham.  There was about 14 of us who got up in front of our yoga peers and demonstrated the progress of our practice.  Though it wasn't a competition exactly, it held the format of a typical Bikram competition sans scoring and judging.  Basically, this means that we had to include the 5 basic postures designated for competition and 2 postures from the advanced Bikram series.  We had to bow before and after our routine, and announce the names of each posture before we did it.  There are also weird rules about which direction you have to face when doing whatever posture.  That was hard to remember.  I went last which was extremely nerve inducing as I had to watch each of the others demonstrating, finishing, and plopping down on the floor in relief.  I had no idea how nervous I would be once I got up on the podium.  I was shaking, folks.  It's one thing getting up in front of people and speaking, or singing, or whatever.  But getting up in front of people in tiny little shorts and trying to balance?  Scary.

My Routine:

Standing Head to Knee Pose (not the full expression, I guess the camera-man missed that)




Standing Bow Pulling Pose



Bow Pulling Pose




Rabbit Pose





Stretching Pose



Bound Lotus Pose





Headstand with Lotus Pose (Again, my camera man missed the full expression of this one, but got me "gracefully" moving into it)




The group who demonstrated. This was an awesome group of people with whom to do this.  Representing a variety of levels and ages, each and every one of us have such unique practices and are on such different yogic paths.  It was very inspiring to share this experience with each of them.





What a learning experience!  My postures are not perfect, in fact I could probably go through and pick apart each one, but that is not the point.  The point was to share my progress, and demonstrate my experiences and love for the yoga.  I feel honored to have been asked to participate and I would do it again in an instant!

A good one*

Some say that you can tell a good man by the way he treats his __________. Insert mother, grandmother, sister, wife, babies, old people, etc...
Well, I say that you can tell a good man by the way he treats his pet.




It's easy to love your family or to treat a cute baby well. But to truly love an animal the right way is a completely selfless act.
Just ask her






Luckily, my dad fills all the requirements
- Edith Barbee

So what had happened was...

So, after my post yesterday about potentially quitting my 60 day challenge, I really got to thinking about it. I had already decided to go for a run in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful day, pollen not seeming so bad, and the run went great! It was as if no time had passed at all since I last ran. I felt so strong and happy as I finished and at that moment I decided that I was not going to go to yoga class.  I didn't want to.  I wanted to continue feeling great, ride out the post run high.  So, I went home.  No day 41.  Challenge aborted at day 40.

I am 100% OK with this though.  I made it 40 days.  I'm not quitting yoga all together, just quitting going everyday.  Just changing it up a bit.  In fact, I'm going to Bikram class today and I am happy about it.

I'm realizing that too much of anything is not good. A lesson I've learned time and time again in other facets of life but to which I continue to return. A popular Buddhist principle, the middle path, perfectly illustrates this idea: everything in moderation.  When I run too much, I am full of disdain for running and long for time to do copious amounts of yoga.  When I do copious amounts of yoga, I miss running and fantasize about skipping out on yoga class.  The answer is to follow the middle path.  Do both, in moderation. Enjoy both. 

Tune us the Sitar neither high nor low,
And we will dance away the hearts of men.

But the string too tight breaks, and the music dies.

The string too slack has no sound, and the music dies.

There is a middle way.

Tune us the Sitar neither low nor high.
And we will dance away the hearts of men.”

— An ancient song that inspired The Buddha

 However, there is something to be learned from doing anything to an extreme.  You learn things about yourself and how you handle challenges.  And, of course, you eventually learn the lesson of moderation. For doing anything to an extreme will unequivocally lead to this realization.

Lesson learned, universe.

State of the (my) Union

Well, today is day 41 of this 60 day Bikram yoga challenge and I will be honest with you folks, I really want to quit at day 45 and here's why:

1) 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 days...who cares?  The idea is to do a lot of yoga, and I did that.
2) I am (literally) slowly but slowly desiccating. I fear for the future of my relationship with hydration. 
3) My nails have turned to wax paper.
4) My hair!  When it's not wet, it's extremely dry, and poofy.
5) My skin...it's dry and sallow.
6) I miss running and I'm ready to get back out there.
7) My thighs...once they were small ham hocks, and now they have morphed to giant watermelons (while I appreciate the extra muscle and strength, I am not thankful for the extra mass)
8) Laundry has become a daily occurrence.  I'd like to go a day without having to wash sweaty wet towels and Bikram clothes.


The demonstration is Sunday, which will be day 44.  I suppose I will go until Day 45, and see what happens.  If I am miraculously re-inspired, I will forge on.  But if I feel as though the demonstration is the perfect culmination to many days of hard work,  I'd like to think that there is no shame in stopping after 45 days.  45 days straight and a demonstration under my belt will be a huge accomplishment.  I won't be quitting yoga forever, I'll merely be changing my routine, re-incorporating running and giving my poor body a break from the heat and constant moisture.

 Maybe this is just a low point.  Mile 17 of the marathon: too far to quit, but too early to feel close to the finish.  Maybe my brain is merely rationalizing my desire to quit with excuses.

We shall see...

See you soon!

Downtown Eugene!