Quick Like a Bunny

SO busy lately! I am teaching three yoga classes this week -- two on Monday night and one on Wednesday -- both for my yoga teacher who scheduled a vacation prior to snow days pushing the end of the semester back a week. Whew! I also will be attending a free lecture at the Museum of Science on Tuesday night on the evolution of the Y Chromosome. Looks interesting! I think I'll be pretty tired by the time Friday rolls around. Especially since we're in full gear at work getting ready for the Board meeting the following Monday morning. Yep.

That all being said, I really am having a good time. Yesterday was a blast -- daN has been in Maine for the past few days to round out his vacation, and we met in Portland yesterday (i took the bus up), and we met up with Lee, Alan, Zak, Mandi, Mark, Pat, and Erica, and had a wonderful time! Hyjinks included:

• Introducing Toby and Amici (respective dogs of Z & M and L & A, respectively)
• Playing around on the HUGE rocks that resemble driftwood at Two Lights State Park
• Bowling! I'm not terrible -- i got above a hundred both rounds!
• Eating out at the Great Lost Bear -- tasty American bar and grill. Mmmm.
• OH, YES ... driving home in a storm. We probably should have left before dinner when it started snowing since we knew it was coming, but we had such a good time. We didn't get home until 1:00 am, and normally we would have been home by midnight.

It was good. And now i'm off to take yoga at the O2 yoga studio.

Holla back, youngin'!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Q!

I am fully initiated in the ways of seedy karaoke bars now. Well, i suppose not fully. The song i put myself in for was already done by some other chicks there, but i totally know what i want to sing next time i go. Patty, whenever you make it up here next, we're TOTALLY going there -- turns out Courtside Karaoke at the intersections of Fourth and Cambridge in the neighborhood in which i used to reside is a class act full of the best of the spirit of karaoke. So much fun.

Q, your rendition of "Sweet Child of Mine" done me proud.

Note to readers: i didn't end up getting a tattoo yesterday. One of the artists (ironically, the one i couldn't stand, it turns out) told me that the spot i wanted my tattoos never hold ink terribly well, and it tends to bleed over time. So, i didn't end up getting one yesterday. It took me forever to decide about where i'd wanted it, so i wasn't about to jump into where else. Besides -- by the time Q's tattoo was done, we were running short on time anyhow, since we had to get to Boston Beer Works on time.

I love good beer. One of the Beer Works' specialities this month is this fantastic Irish Cream Stout in honor of St. Patty's day. Mmmmmm. I had a tall one and then finished someone's second. I don't usually drink that much beer in one place, but it was worth it.

I also got to hang out with Q's younger sister Heather and her best friend Sara Lee, whom i recall liking quite a bit in high school. Tons of fun, in this wonderful backwoods Mainer kind of way. (Heather's reaction to the turnstiles for exiting the subway station was precious.)

Well, i guess i should do something productive now. Or something.

Systems Recovery

excerpts from an email to Lee:

"life has been full of its usual fullness and wonder. ron and carol watier were down this week (which is why i didn't get back to you earlier) for a storytelling gig that daN got for ron at the sage school. they took us out for dinner both nights -- the first night was texmex and the other night was french-cambodian (REALLY amazing), and it was, overall, just a lot of fun to see them. i enjoy spending time with them...

"teaching yoga is picking up some more again, which is amusing. more studios are calling and requesting me, of course, for times that i am unable to do it. probably at the end of the summer, i'll take a break from teaching so that i can take french classes again. i miss that. and painting classes. i've been getting back in touch with my creative side (although, it almost feels like my creative side is getting back in touch with me) and i find myself wanting to take more time to hone my skills, but i don't have the time for it. it has to come from somewhere, and i am not about to quit this wonderful job i have...

"in may i'm going to denver to have a reunion with my college roommates. YAY! should be fun. little trips that aren't expensive, but get me out of the area. i definitely have the travel bug. i do want to go somewhere completely different and exciting [that in no way resembles where i am right now], but i can't do europe until next year if we're buying a place this year. just can't afford it. HOWEVER, i might want to go to quebec city in the fall, since i've never been there, and we could just drive there. i have to admit -- it's really nice to have a job that pays enough for me to do these things while i'm young and have no children."

All in all, things are good, as usual. My hands are freezing though, so I'll want to shower soon. And since i'm getting a tattoo today, the sooner i'm emotionally prepared, the better. I have been planning on getting apple blossoms on my foot, and i'll see what the artist comes up with, but i'm not sure i'm feeling it right now. I know, though, that i want a dragonfly on the inside of my left ankle and a ladybug on the inside of my right ankle, so maybe i'll do that today instead. Then, of course, Q will be getting hers, too, and we're all going to celebrate her birthday.

I'm off to do great things! Like showering.

February

It's March now. You can tell it snuck up on me, because yesterday (March 2) i called my landlord in a sad fit because i had forgotten to give her the rent check that i wrote out over a week and a half ago. I never do that (forget about the rent check). That's how you can tell that aside from being a short month, it was a busy month!

1. Went to Chicago! It was so good to see Lyrica and get to spend some good time with her boyfriend J as well. He's such a sweetie. We had a very well-balanced weekend, with the opulence of shopping and walking around Michigan Ave and seeing the Bean and walking to the lake on Saturday, and then on Sunday, we largely lazed around, made dinner, went to a coffee shop and read, and did a little yoga. Monday, we went to see Bodyworlds! I missed it when it was in Boston (shame on me) and i was REALLY happy to get to see it. It was, for lack of a better way of putting it, profound. One of the most beautiful things i have ever seen. Quite a life changing experience. The kids were all 100% attentive, and i learned SO much. It was a great time. And then i came home.

2. I also celebrated Laura's birthday last weekend! After teaching yoga at Harvard. We went out dancing! It was a blast. Hennessy's was fabulously fun, as usual, although the band was so loud that my ears are still sensitive from it. They still hurt on Monday morning (went out on Saturday night).

3. Q and i are getting more tattoos next weekend! More coming.

4. My phone died :( Fortunately, the wonderful folks and the Cingular store on Washington Street in Boston were kind enough to get me a new razor phone, its carrying case, a car charger, and a bluetooth wireless headset all for $90 with a $50 mail-in rebate, totaling in a whopping FORTY BUCKS. I would say i got a deal.

5. I paid off my SallieMae student loan! YAY! Unfortunately, we then had to buy home heating oil and received our excise tax bill in the mail, so i have $25 dollars until this coming Friday. Ah well. Now i get to work on the credit card bill!

6. Q and i are dying my hair tonight! YAY!

7. Upcoming Events: Ron and Carol Watier are coming down this week -- daN got Ron a gig at the Sage School! WOO HOO! It will be wonderful to see them. THEN, daN and i are going to New York City with two friends of ours to see the great storyteller Garrison Keilor in Concert! The FOlloWinG weekend, we'll be going to DC to visit Matt and Kathy Watier, and then to see the cherry blossoms in peak condition. Somewhere in there, i will be celebrating Q's birthday by singing drunken karaoke at a seedy bar near Lechmere in East Cambridge after drinking too much at the Boston Beerworks. Woohoo!

All in all, life is wonderful. daN and i are having a lovely time, and when we get to see friends, it's AWESOME. I am hoping to go to Switzerland, Seattle, or Quebec City sometime in the next year though... not sure where i'll get the money for that. Whatever.

How are you?

OK, Q found another cool thing:

Try it. It's cute to go to just to find out. How many people out there have your name?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 4 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

From the Mouth of a Vegetarian Nature-Loving Hippie

I don't advocate wearing an animal fur unless you went out, killed it yourself, ate it for dinner, and then made a coat out of it. That's fine. Yet i understand that there are degrees of extremity.

It occurred to me the other day that my down coat filled with delightfully warm feathers and down was probably the result of a lot of dead birds. Can i bring myself to feel badly about this? Let's apply logic.

First of all, as my darling life partner pointed out, we need to ask: am i capable of keeping warm and staying alive without having an animal coming to harm? Eating? Yes. No problem there. I've been vegetarian for about eleven years. But am i capable of keeping warm in any conditions under 30 degrees where there is a hint of a wind? Not even if i've got multiple wool and cashmere sweaters on underneath it. Put on a down coat, and suddenly, the world is a better place. To answer the question, NO. I am not capable of keeping warm without some further measure of animal product. Sorry, birds.

Second of all, and i think most poignantly, we have to think about the available choices. We've got leather, wool, fur, down, and those bizarre plant-based hollo-fill substances made from god only knows what polymers of plant fiber extracts that probably do worse things to the environment during the production process than killing a couple of birds ever would. Paper or plastic. How do we make these choices? Do i want to wear plants or animals during the winter time? Well, plants DIE during the wintertime. I think that answers that question.

It's finally cold!

I don't know if you've noticed, but winter seems to have set in. Finally. That, and every now and then, snow comes up from the ground. I like to feel like i earn the warm weather somehow, and i am finally feeling like we are going to experience four seasons this year rather than two or three.

I am thinking about writing to Al Gore to get his advice on where daN and i should retire if we want to continue to get four seasons.

Life has been so full! Last weekend, Abbi Chapman was here for about 18 hours (sleeping included) because she had an audition at the Boston Conservatory. Short though the visit was, it was so lovely to see her! Sunday, daN and i "took off" and did a lot of strolling and relaxing. Much needed. This week was an utter whirlwind, too. I taught yoga on Monday, and on Tuesday, i think i might have done some cooking. Wednesday, i took yoga, and then Patty (my college roommate and one of my very best friends) came to stay with me because she had a series of appointments and interviews at the Master's program at Simmons College. YAY! It was so great to see her, too! She left on Friday morning, and though i did still have to work in between, we still got in a lot of good catching up.

Yesterday, daN and i drove up to Portland so he could celebrate his birthday (that happened about two weeks ago) with his family. Or so that they could celebrate with him, which i think was the operative part. He's not one of those people who loves celebrating his birthday, but it was a lot of fun to see his family.

We had dinner at Margarita's in Portland -- fantastic place, though i have to say, Border Cafe in Harvard Square does give them a run for their money in the vegetarian enchilada options.

In other news, i am finally feeling like doing a research project again... perhaps writing a book. I am curious about clowns, their place in American culture, and why people have such differently strong reactions to them. Clowns seem to exist in this liminal space between reality and imagination, but they annouce it with loud make-up and pronouncedly bizarre clothing. Calling attention to that liminal space tends to make people uncomfortable since on a subconscious level, the masses seem to like black and white better than grey. Drag queens, and perhaps, to a certain extend, transgendered individuals, live in a similar grey area and pronounce it differently, and a lot of people are uncomfortable with things other than the binary. On some level, i think that it announces a "things are not always what they seem" paradigm. Well, anyway, it's just in its initial stages, but i am interested in looking at this from the standpoint of gender studies, looking at the burlesque and the roll that that had in French culture during the revolution, and the place that clowns have in American society now, and why it's so ripe to think about how clowns have become something that is SCAREY for most people.

So.... anyway, sorry about geeking out on you there. The point is that while i was in school, i definitely had interests in studying things... and now i am becoming project oriented again. For a while, the project was applying to grad school, and now i'm thinking more about an independent study. Maybe that's what Hampshire prepared me for anyway.