Saturday, July 13, 2002
the aware reader will probably notice i'm fiddling with my template. please feel free to offer any feedback. i will carefully consider it before i go ahead and do what i want anyhow...
Friday, July 12, 2002
bbc6's 1973 flashback continues with joni's "help me"
"we love our lovin' - but not like we love our freedom..."
break my heart....
"we love our lovin' - but not like we love our freedom..."
break my heart....
bbc6 featuring 1973 - just missed "reelin' in the years" but catching "dixie chicken" even as we speak
hell yeah!
hell yeah!
workshop with manouso was excellent. he seemed much more mellow than last time, stressing his humorous side as opposed to his taskmaster side. not that the workshop was not intense - i heard a lot of grumbles and moans - but suprisingly, none from me. although, a lot of the instructions will steep into my consciousness, there are always a few special things that will stick. what i took from the 2000 workshop was manouso's statement "you will remember what your body feels more than any of my words". what i think i will take from this one is his explanation of how in yoga we use our body as an instrument to examine our consciousness. how asanas are cleverly designed and how yoga teachers give instructions which are in conflict - which to even approach, we must "dance on the edge" to reconcile the seemingly two opposing instructions. to do this to any degree, an intense level of awareness and presence in the moment is required. once this awareness is cultivated, it can spill over to the rest of our lives to make us more compassionate, loving people.
a great class - as good as my teacher is (and she is very good) taking a class with senior teachers like manouso really is another level - the clarity and precision of the instruction is beautiful. wish i could attend the saturday and sunday sessions, but i am grateful to have been able to attend today's...
a great class - as good as my teacher is (and she is very good) taking a class with senior teachers like manouso really is another level - the clarity and precision of the instruction is beautiful. wish i could attend the saturday and sunday sessions, but i am grateful to have been able to attend today's...
Thursday, July 11, 2002
i am attending a yoga workshop tomorrow with manouso manos. the article i linked to states he is one of the 9 sr. iyengar teachers in the usa, but it's a couple years old. i have heard more recently that there is only one other us teacher at his level - at any rate, it is a privilege to study with him. he comes every year to oberlin. i attended the friday session 2 yrs ago. last year he came right after knee surgery, so i had to sit it out. this year i wish i could do the full weekend, but i can't. as the article says, he can be a taskmaster, so i am a bit apprehensive - but you know i survived it 2 years ago and i am in much better shape now - both in terms of my yoga practice and in terms of general physical conditioning. many teachers attend this seminar and it is kind of refreshing to see teachers get put through the ringer as well - proving the adage - your yoga practice will never be perfect; your yoga practice is already perfect.
Wednesday, July 10, 2002
i hate "bleu cheese", no, not the food product or the salad dressing; they can be quite tasty. no, i hate the term. why is one word (bleu) in french (or should i say a francais) and the other (cheese) in english (a anglais). this must be problematic in canada where, i understand, menus, etc are published in english and french. what do they say on the french side "blue fromage"?
anyhow, there are a few other cases of bilingual phrases - potatoes au gratin, beef au jus - and while they all strike me as a bit silly, inconsistent, pretentious and in general lacking that certain "je ne sais what", pretty much "bleu cheese" is the only one that bothers me. in fact, i always giggle when at some of the finer dining establishments people ask if you want the beef WITH au jus...
the discerning reader can probably tell i still have nothing interesting to say. perhaps someone will (mercifully) suggest a topic. if not, i will be forced to post a long entry discussing the misuse of the word "rollerblade" vis a vis "inline skating" - and believe me, no one wants that...
anyhow, there are a few other cases of bilingual phrases - potatoes au gratin, beef au jus - and while they all strike me as a bit silly, inconsistent, pretentious and in general lacking that certain "je ne sais what", pretty much "bleu cheese" is the only one that bothers me. in fact, i always giggle when at some of the finer dining establishments people ask if you want the beef WITH au jus...
the discerning reader can probably tell i still have nothing interesting to say. perhaps someone will (mercifully) suggest a topic. if not, i will be forced to post a long entry discussing the misuse of the word "rollerblade" vis a vis "inline skating" - and believe me, no one wants that...
Tuesday, July 09, 2002
Monday, July 08, 2002
karen once told me as inventor of blog soup, were i ever to copy that idea, i'd owe her royalties. well, instead i am going to try blog curry® - we can let the lawyers settle it later...
- in addition to the 5 things you wouldn't know about me from reading my blog, there is a sixth - how much i love my family. every blogger has to draw the line about what is public and what is private. i prefer not to discuss too many details about my family - but do know they are my sunshine.
- my beard is at the point where is should be obvious i am growing a beard and not off on some kind of week-long bender - if you refer to the photos in the previous post, i am past the otis the drunk stage and am at the alias guy stage
- i can't update my ticker cause blogger says i have no template. world champ oscar freire took the stage win (first for a world champ since 1981) and yesterday's winner bertogliani holds on to the yellow - don't get used to wearing it dude, lance has gotcha right where he wants ya
- i finished reading hh the dalai lama's commentary on the heart sutra, which expresses the buddhist concept of emptiness - much misunderstood by many, who confuse it with nihilism. while i can't say i understand it deep to my bones, this book and other texts i have read about it have given me a certain intellectual appreciation of it although not a deep experiential understanding of it...
- much as imelda marcos must sometimes go through her closet and decide she has no shoes to wear, occasionally, i'll review my cd closet and decide i have nothing to listen to - when this happens, i ususally go back to a few cd's. one of these is arild andersen's If You Look Far Enough . you know how you may love coffee and tea and beer and gatorade, but sometimes, a cool drink of water is the best. this cd is like that. a one-time ensemble consisting of andersen on bass, personal favorite ralph towner on guitar, nana vasconcelos on percussion and audun kleive on snare, this music is simple, but not simple-minded - totally beyond category - and welcome in my cd player anytime!
- in addition to the 5 things you wouldn't know about me from reading my blog, there is a sixth - how much i love my family. every blogger has to draw the line about what is public and what is private. i prefer not to discuss too many details about my family - but do know they are my sunshine.
- my beard is at the point where is should be obvious i am growing a beard and not off on some kind of week-long bender - if you refer to the photos in the previous post, i am past the otis the drunk stage and am at the alias guy stage
- i can't update my ticker cause blogger says i have no template. world champ oscar freire took the stage win (first for a world champ since 1981) and yesterday's winner bertogliani holds on to the yellow - don't get used to wearing it dude, lance has gotcha right where he wants ya
- i finished reading hh the dalai lama's commentary on the heart sutra, which expresses the buddhist concept of emptiness - much misunderstood by many, who confuse it with nihilism. while i can't say i understand it deep to my bones, this book and other texts i have read about it have given me a certain intellectual appreciation of it although not a deep experiential understanding of it...
- much as imelda marcos must sometimes go through her closet and decide she has no shoes to wear, occasionally, i'll review my cd closet and decide i have nothing to listen to - when this happens, i ususally go back to a few cd's. one of these is arild andersen's If You Look Far Enough . you know how you may love coffee and tea and beer and gatorade, but sometimes, a cool drink of water is the best. this cd is like that. a one-time ensemble consisting of andersen on bass, personal favorite ralph towner on guitar, nana vasconcelos on percussion and audun kleive on snare, this music is simple, but not simple-minded - totally beyond category - and welcome in my cd player anytime!
Sunday, July 07, 2002
5 things you wouldn't know about me from reading my blog
1. sometimes, i enjoy watching pro wrestling.
2. i can juggle.
3. i've had arthroscopic sugery on both knees - right about 4 years ago - left about a year ago - left still doesn't feel 100%
4. i can draw pretty well
5.despite being pretty much a by-the-book liberal politically, i love clint eastwood movies.
p.s. i invite other bloggers to do a similar thing...
went book shopping today - got for myself the dalai lama's commentary on the heart sutra and the book french revolutions by tim moore - about an ordinary guy who rides the tour de france route... for my wife i got a book by neil gaiman - i've heard a lot about him and from what i've heard i bet my wife will like it...
