Holy cow, not only is it december, but 2009 is already upon us! I can't believe i've been writing to you guys for so long! it seems like just the other day, there were no archives. All of a sudden, a year's worth of ramblings have sneaked onto this website. I know i don't always write about bikram yoga, so thanks for putting up with all the sportscasts, cat pictures and media complaints. To start december off right, i'll share some fashion history with you. My white adidas sambas look pretty punk for a mainstream shoe. Here's a screenshot off the new Revolution Rock dvd. The Clash live being filmed for Rude Boy—check out Paul rockin' a pair of white 3 stripes! Joe's converse, as they are apt to do, have obviously failed him. see you tomorrow, m

Our teacher gave us a new meaning for the word headcoat today. When i think of a headcoat, i think of a sherlock holmes deerhunter. today she told us about the headcoat she had, when her puppy was snuggling on top of her head! She was great in her description of how the puppy was so flexible, trying to get as much of his body against her head as possible. it reminded me of trixie doing the same thing. oh how cute! the past few days have been excellent for being next to her in the sun! alright, go lakers! ~m

I feel so lazy today! one buddy did the 8 & 10, another did the 10 and the advanced. I did the 10, came home and napped with trixie in the sun. It feels so nice to lay right next to her. Honestly, since she’s an only kitty now, i think she has some adjusting to do or at least that’s how it feels. i’m trying to make her feel like the queen of the house, in any case and i’m having a relaxing time while i’m doing it. she sat in my lap all evening yesterday, i couldn’t believe it. i’ve never seen such devotion in a droid before. um. anyway, tomorrow is a must-win for the packers. they all are, but this is our season, tomorrow. at least there’s the lakers to cheer on tomorrow evening, oh yeah! ~m

Today’s 10 was more crowded than yesterday’s 10! Usually the space in front of the podium is off-limits, but we fit one there too! i think there’s always room for one more. i know some people have spatial issues, but that’s another blog isn’t it? you know i love the crowded classes and to see so many familiar faces in a holiday mood was even nicer.

Yoga Flyers Part 2
after the 10, i went to the bagelry where a cornucoppia of new yoga flyers were waiting for me! You know i love any excuse to use my camera. Check out the log fireplace! i guess that means the hatha flow class is gonna be hot! There’s even a special thanksgiving day class that could have been removed already, lucky i got there to photo it!

Since i was downtown anyway, i stuck around for the 4, what a fun class! Right when the teacher pulled up, my friend started dancing and jumping in the air! if i was a better photographer, i’d have the proof to show you, but whatever, see you tomorrow. ~m
p.s. sorry to bombard you with images, but how cute is my little trixie? i took this right before i posted today’s blog! what a little hunny bunny!

t-day. i had every intention of doing the 8, but no dice. when i woke up, trixie was right up against the top of my head. it was so cute, i din’t wanna lose the moment, so i reset the alarm and enjoyed being next to her. she din’t move and we stayed like that for another hour. how lucky to be able to do that! what are you thankful for? me? cats past and present, my practise, my life, my friends. i’m alao thankful for the fact that Bikram just signed a new deal with a hotel in palm desert. it looks like teacher training for the next 4 years will be held there! I don’t have to get a passport! food will be more expensive, but at least it’s in southern california. what an exciting prospect! okay kids, enjoy your tofu turkey! ~m

i think i know a kitty who misses being harrassed and bullied! she seems so needy when i get home, i seriously think my little honey bunny misses all the negative attention bear gave her. it sure is quiet around the house without him, but i’m happy for all the extra trixie time. it was nice to ride my bike in the rain on the way to yoga! i only have to ride 2 blocks and it isn’t heavy traffic. i was all decked out in my new rain gear, i looked like gorton’s fisherman. the rain felt so nice, it was a gentle blanket of drops hitting my face. The room was super humid! It was hard to find a dry spot to put my mat down on. k’s classes are so nicely paced, even in the high humidity, she makes them fun and challenging. what an awesome way to break up a day! tomorrow’s gonna be a big holiday class. they can fit 52 people in the studio, i wonder how many will show. i’ll tell you tomorrow. ~m

The President pardoned a bunch of people the other day. I’d like to start an open letter to the President requesting that he pardon the West Memphis 3. If you’ve been under a rock or busy with iraq, you may have missed who the West Memphis 3 are. This is a great opportunity to put a positive spin on a lousy presidency. How about doing some real justice in the world and setting those young men free? Now that there is dna evidence proving their innocence, every day is one more too many behind bars. for fuck’s sake, free the West Memphis 3! it really could happen to me or you. ~m

p.s. today was the best class i’ve had since yesterday and that was the best class i’d had in a few weeks! that lower back issue is slowly becoming not an issue. slowly. one page at a time. more later.

my neighbor grows yummy golden delicious apples, they’re bright yellow with red spots all over them. the red spots mean that’s where the sugar is. ya gotta love a sweet apple. you also gotta love this sign my neighbor painted for his roadside stand! i photographed it for you this morning. see you tomorrow, m

even though i din’t really want to, I broke down and bought a second yogitoes today. I bought my first yogitoes during my yoga honeymoon last year. tht was when i wanted to consume all things yoga—“i need a steel water bottle! i need a yogitoes! i need bikram’s book!” since then, i’ve discovered that only the last sentence was true and now i’m kinda anti-yogitoes. i mean, they din’t have them when these poses were invented 5,000 years ago, okay? The yogitoes mat *does* provide a little bit better traction, which is most handy in trikanasana, i’ll say that. it also soaks up a lot more sweat than the microfiber towels i sometimes use, so there is that too. a beach towel soaks up a lot of sweat but also weighs about twice what a yogitoes weighs. This is an important consideration when you’re on a bike and the main reason why i decided to buy a second yogitoes. my back-up microfiber towels are light, but they leave a lot of sweat in the studio and make farting noises when i flatten my back out on the ground—embarrassing! Seriously though, since i practise daily, i figured why not two yogitoes. We’ll see how it goes, sometimes it takes two days for my one to dry, so i might need three soon, ha ha. ~m
p.s. tonight the m stands for mmmmmmcheesecake!

i din’t realize it was the 22nd until just now. It’s a heavy day in american history, but i don’t wanna get into it now. I’m still thinking about this morning’s class, our teacher is such a goof! She said releasing from garurasana was like being q-bert! she makes me laugh so much sometimes, she is a silly one. she did say something pretty great about hanging out with her dogs and kind of blowing off the day. i’m so happy i had an entire year of blowing off the day and spending it with my bear. i can’t tell you how many days i spent here just kicking it with him right next to me. i’m lucky to have had that time and guess what? i just spent the last hour in the sun with trixie, so i feel even better. big game for the packers tomorrow, i know you’re all just as excited about it as i am, Go Pack! ~m

The friday class always seems like a party class, no matter who teaches it. It was all hot and steamy and positive energy and lots of fun for sure. a lot of good words today, centered on challenging ourselves. i’ll be honest, it was a challenge not to drink as much water as i did! Another day where i’m not hydrated enough before class. well kids, it’s another night where i get to say Go Lakers! ~m

how was the 6 am bikram yoga class today? it felt more like after-hours than early morning. Nice to see so many familiar faces, though. so many people too, wow, it made for a steamy class! thank gosh, it took me a while to warm up. then i warmed up too much, whoa nelly! Oh! One cool thing about the early time was seeing the light from the outside windows go from pitch black to morning light. the early morning light, when the sun is barely peeking over the horizon, is amazingly beautiful. the sun shines in beautiful waves of different colors, i almost wish i’d been outside to enjoy it. say all you want about sunsets, there really is nothing like a beautiful sunrise. alright, time to enjoy the evening. go lakers! ~m

“trixie standing in the shadow of her brothers”
i took this tonight while typing this!

Nice sweaty class today! You know it’s a hot class when n leaves the room to fill up her water bottle. needless to say, i was grateful for the open doors when they occured. even though i do it everyday, it still feels so decadent to do a noon class. how nice it is, right smack in the middle of the day. The yoga studio is a whole other world, it feels like a santuary. Shortly after i was at the farmers market, that’s a different world too! Later this evening, the drum circle sure sounded good. i swear, during certain parts of my day it feels like i’m on vacation. hasta de nada, m

after practise today, i went to the bagelry and realized what a nerd i am. the woman who fixed my turkey on whole wheat said “it’s a pleasure to wait on someone with such good manners.” honestly, that’s the first time anyone has ever said that to me before. i’m sure there was something i wanted to talk about from class, but that comment at lunch threw my head for a loop. if you’re ever waiting on someone who has good manners, tell them you think they’re really cool. see you tomorrow, m

Well, i may practise bikram yoga every day and even though i do aspire to sell yoga-inspired clothing, i do not consider myself a yoga person. What is a yoga person? i’m not sure, exactly. All i do know is that sometimes i get embarrassed having my yoga mat with me. Like today, i was in a long line at the bagelry and i had time to admire the flyers on the walls. Look at how many yoga flyers were in one place!

Am i uptight? I don’t think you should answer that. It was a nice class today! There were 8 people, it was about 85 in the room, it was warm, but not death valley and my buddy still complained about the heat. i swear it has to be in his mind. i just hope he doesn’t try out one of these other practises! later, m

Practise has been my favorite time of day, even more so than usual. It’s nice to be able to think about nothing for awhile. I guess it really is a 90 minute open eye meditation. Did i see someone complain about people being too close to their mat? Seriously, there is no territory in the yoga studio. Even before class, one guy seemed offended when this woman asked him to move his mat closer to the mirror so she could squeeze into the second row. On a saturday or sunday, you better be prepared to be right next to someone. I told the woman next to me that i expected her to lift my head up with her hand during poorna-salabhasana! That’s the communal attitude i expect in the studio, none of this too close stuff! see you tomorrow ~m

i decided to plant a tree at bear’s grave! i’ve been racking my brain with what kind of tree to plant and i’ve finally decided—i’m going to plant a salmon tree at his grave. i don’t think there’s anything he would like better. i haven’t been able to find any seeds for a salmon tree, but i know they exist because i took this picture earlier today. Mmmmmm, salmon tree. ~m

It’s only been until recently that i really began to appreciate classes that start on time. I like a laid back attitude, but time is very valuable. We get yelled at if we waste it, so it make sense to start on it. it sucks to get locked out, but, you wanna know what? it’s happened to me before too, but not since! Anyway, i had a really nice class today despite being next to a porno soundtrack! Ew, gross, the moaning. If no one else is doing it, wouldn’t you notice? I’m so catty, sometimes, aren’t i? Okay, i gotta go play big brother, see you cats later. ~m

Today was a good day and it wasn’t all the smiling faces that greeted me on my way home tonight. Today’s class was seriously small, so small that we did a silent practise so our teacher could practise with us! It was rad, i wish you all had been there, but i guess there would have then been too many people for a silent practise! Anyway, it was a nice class! i had a few teachers in my head, correcting me, so it wasn’t entirely silent, i guess. Even though i miss the real corrections, i still really like the silent class. It’s such a nice vibe, i’m glad none of you were there, ha ha, no i’m not that mean, i’m just being a hillbilly tonight. why not, i’m “the fool on the hill” afterall. alright, see you all tomorrow! ~m

Well, i guess my little cow kitty was lonely today! Wow, she was so excited to see me today! i’d never seen such devotion in a droid before. wait, um. she’s snoring now, it’s so cute! i love it when she snores. It was a steady pace of a yoga class today. a steady place to not think and just be. Oh what luxury to be practising in the middle of the day while others are at a desk or on the job. I guess in the grand scheme of things, i couldn’t ask for a better set-up. i’ll miss my kiddo, but the wheel of death and life and all that sort of thing, right? lates, m

It’s been a strange 24+ hours. Oh boy. The house feels so much bigger without a shadow. It’s also a lot quieter. No one greeted me when i got home either. What a trip. In fact, it was a long strange trip. To paraphrase an old friend, 14 years is a long time to say goodbye. It’s gonna be weird without that kid, but i’ll manage. Like in yoga, i’ll take it one day at a time. ~m

“You’ve been with me for such a long time
You’re my sunshine...
and i want you to know my feelings are true
i really love you
You’re my best friend”
—Queen

No blog today friends, i gotta say goodbye to my bear.

The air was hot and heavy today. It was so hot and sticky in the room, our teacher kept opening the door to let in some fresh air. It doesn’t cool you down, but it sure makes the air easier to breathe. I took water more than usual and i’m sure that’s what kept me going. What a change from friday’s no heater class! Where were all the complainers today? Instead everyone was complaining about too much heat. No one is ever satisfied. see you tomorrow. ~m

Wow, the gifts keep coming left and right! Am i ever so grateful. it’s like a welcoming party all of a sudden and i thank you. and i promise i’m going to make the shirts i keep promising! That’s been the mood of late, friends, and it feels good. something has to, my poor little bear hasn’t been. that’s been the other biggy around here lately. i’ll write more tomorrow, after we beat the vikes. Go Pack! ~m

Great class today! The heaters were completely out, it was like we were in the 1800s. No it wasn’t that good, there were portable heaters, but i could barely feel the one i was next to. it was a nice chance to focus on my form instead of my depth. Hey, i thought this shirt was pretty cool. shout it out loud, m

When it rains it pours! Oh boy friends, it doesn’t get better than this--first my sister brings over dessert. Now there’s the possibility of free candy tomorrow? oh joy. it’s getting better all the time. with a little help from my friends. of course. ~m

Oh what? Did someone say 4-0? That’s right, baby! My Lakers are off to a great start this season. I know we got 78 more games to go, but how about it, huh? Football season is already half over and the Packers have still only won 4 games. I won’t be putting away my green and gold gear anytime soon, but it sure is nice to be wearing purple and gold tonight! I’d say that point guard Jordan Farmar is still doing his yoga, judging from that fall he took tonight. He does an american practise called yogahoops or something like that, it’s more of a flow yoga with dogs and what not, but at least he’s doing yoga. Our captain Kareem is a bikram student or at least was for awhile. There’s a quote from him in Bikram’s new book even. The captain’s son is a teacher in new york and also an asana champion from a couple years back. I’d send him a guy shirt, but i don’t think they do padangustasana in yogahoops. I practised next to a first timer this afternoon. She had on a t-shirt and long pants, too bad because it was amazingly hot today! Oh man, i was hurting and i barely had anything on, i don’t know how she did it! She din’t rest once, it was very inspiring. Okay kids, time to hit the hay and practise again tomorrow. See you at the noon! ~m

What an exciting election night! On the sign-in sheet at the yoga studio, there were even little “vote” messages. The energy in the neighborhood has been palpable, everyone is so excited! I was also very excited to hear that michigan passed their medical marijuana law! Detroit Rock City! How many states is that now—12 out of 50? That’s over 20% of the country! Seriously, the federal government needs to revise their draconian marijuana laws. They do not reflect what the american public is about in the 21st century. Are you telling me uncle sam knows more than God? Legalize nature, it’s been too long. ~m

You wanna hear something that makes me feel really old? We’re coming up on the 29th anniversary of the first time i saw Kiss in concert! Whoa, 29 years—that’s a long time! That’s more than twice purr kitty’s age! Oh man, i can’t believe it was so long ago. My memory is pretty bad and i can only remember bits and pieces of that night, but what i do remember was unforgettable. I still have my t-shirt from that night! It wasn’t my first concert, but it was the first concert i ever wanted to go to. To this day, it still ranks as one of the highlights of my life. It’s right up there with Lee Perry holding my hand while he sang to me, talking to Ron Asheton on the telephone and seeing the very first Kiss reunion makeup show at Irvine Meadows. There’s been other great moments in my life, but i have too many goosebumps right now to think about any more! Alright friends, if we don’t have a black president tomorrow, i’m leaving for vansterdam. lates, m

When do you put a pet down? You know, i don’t even consider bear a “pet,” he’s more like my friend or boss then a pet. Semantics aside, when is it appropriate to take his life away from him? I’ve been debating this with me, myself and i for a couple weeks now, it sucks. He’s still the same bear mentally, his body is just not processing the food he eats. The past few days have been difficult for him and his bowels, last night was particularly bad, but who is it worse on, him or me? It’s nothing for him to go into the bathroom and get sick all over the floor, but me, i’m up at 2, 3, 4 in the morning cleaning it up. He doesn’t seem in pain, but is he just being stoic? actually i kinda doubt that, he’s such a little brat, i think if he was uncomfortable, he would find a way to let me know. Maybe being sick all over the floor, rather than in the box, is his way of expressing his discomfort, i dunno. When he’s got his body pressed up against me and i’m stroking the top of his head, listening to him purr, it sure doesn’t seem like he’s dying. i know i’m putting off the inevitable, but i don’t want to miss him any earlier than i have to. Friends, i know there’s no right answer, but thanks for letting me vent anyway. See you tomorrow ~m

Even though the heater wasn’t working, i still had a great class today. As long as you give it your all, you’re gonna sweat no matter what. even with cool air blowing on me, i was still dripping sweat during the opening breathing exercise. The heat is just a prop, like those blocks or towels that get used in other yoga practises. I like the heat, but now, for the most part, it seems like the heat is all in my head. Although today is a day when it would have been nice if the heater was really cranking, like in a baker class. It’s been so cold today and raining off and on, i can’t think of any place i’d rather be than in a sweltering hot room! Oh well, like i said, even without the heat, i still had a good class. Afterwards, there were snickers bars too! That’s the way to end class—with a yummy snickers! It really does satisfy, even if “i can’t get no satisfaction.”

Media Watch Part 2
I read an interesting article in a fish wrapper called “usa today.” it read more cities are “asking” their employees to cover up their tattoos. Apparently, in some cities, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of tattooed citizens. What confuses me is why cities wouldn’t want their employees to reflect the community itself. If more people in a town are getting tattooed that means, to me, in that community at least, tattoos are being recognized as art or something other than a jail pasttime. if a lot of people in a town suddenly gave up their cars for bikes or walking, wouldn’t a city find that to be a viable reason to make sure there are sidewalks and bike paths for the people of the community? The problem isn’t the tattoos, it’s the people who are “offended” by them. People like that are always asking, “what are you going to do 10 years from now?” Who cares? it’s not your problem, now please fuck off. Seriously though, who are you to be offended by anything i do? After reading that, my desire to get my knuckles tattooed has increased tenfold. Ever since i was a little kid, i’ve always wanted to do that and about 8 years ago, i figured out what i wanted. I’d like to sell enough tank tops and t-shirts so i can become my own boss. When i’m signing the checks, it won’t matter if i have my knuckles tattooed or not. I know Bikram doesn’t like them, but i still want to get my back piece done, as well as my knuckles, “someday, someday.”

What an exciting weekend—lakers tonight and packers on fox tomorrow! Whoohoo! I get so excited when i can see my team on TV, gosh how i miss direct tv. with only free tv, in one year, i’ve already watched a lifetime's worth of 49ers and Raiders games. Ugh. That’s why i’m so excited about tomorrow—i finally get to see my team in action. That’s why the party starts tonight at 6 with the lakers on the radio, thank god for the internet, then we take a yoga break tomorrow at 8 and pick up the party for the packers at 10 tomorrow morning. Life is good, heartbreakers. lates, m