i talked to my mom last night. she gave me a big "life" pep talk. i really needed it.
this morning i found this email in my inbox:

As part of my continuing series: "Love Your Life, Make Each Day Count", today's topic is: "Finding the Hidden You". Think back, when was the last time you thoroughly enjoyed a job or something you had done on a continuing basis where you made a financial gain? Now, this doesn't have to be anything grand, it can be something minor you spent one day doing, but in the end you felt good about yourself and it had a positive impact upon you.
We are all put on this earth for a purpose, and our life is a journey to find what that exactly might be. Are we good with children? Do we enjoy working with animals? Could we perhaps be useful in a boutique...if fashion
is interesting to us? Working as a volunteer for a radio station (you enjoyed) or as a volunteer for a fund raising drive might be your cup of tea. Whatever it is, Make Each Day Count so that when you lay your head down for the night, you can take a deep sigh and say "that was a good day"! Not every day can be EXCELLENT, but on the whole, you will feel like you've had a place in the scheme of things.

Signed...The Old Philosopher

<3

my mom, me, and my dad

1978

tonight i took a kundalini yoga class at prana mandir with kim.

"Kundalini incorporates mantras (chanting), meditations, visualizations, and guided relaxation. It focuses on healing and "purifying" the mind, body, and emotions. Kundalini yoga is designed to activate the kundalini energy in the spine.

This is achieved with poses, breath control, chanting, and meditation. Kundalini yoga is beneficial in dealing with addictions, and many people find it a natural way of releasing endorphins just by breathing and doing the poses.

Kundalini yoga consists of poses combined with breath control, hand and finger gestures, body locks, chanting and meditation. You will practice precise postures; sounds and breathing that activate different parts of the body and the brain to produce specific results. "

it was very emotional and helped me release a lot of negative energy i've been storing in my chest and lungs. i felt like i was being held down by a lot of dirty air. one pose i surprised myself with was this one:



i'm extremely flexible and think i was meant to do yoga. i need to take more classes and want to learn so much more about it.

after yoga we had some tea and then went to Serendipity 3. i had chicken pot pie and for dessert we shared a HUGE ice cream sundae with peanut butter topping. it was heaven.

on my way home on the train i saw some army guys in the 71st/continental subway station. they were toteing M-16's and looked like they meant business. i recently found out 2 of my uncles are going to be sent to Iraq. they're in the reserves and in their 50's.

bryan told me he saw Michael Stipe today in the Apple store. he was using a computer right next to him. he has a scruffy patchy beard.

i just watched a documentary about Spencer Tunick, the guy who takes photos of naked people in public places. i really like him. he handed me his card on the streets of manhattan once, a few years back. i wanted to pose for him but i was too lazy to wake up and be there by 6 a.m.
people like him make me want to do more ART.

it doesn't matter what other people think of you.

the sooner you learn this, the better off you will be.

this weekend was full of food, folks and fun. friday night we went to bryan's grandma's house for chinese new year's eve dinner. we had roasted pork with crispy skin, big shrimp, glass noodles with shrimp, all kinds of green vegetables, stewed taro with pigs feet. for dessert bryan's cousin made mochi-like rice balls boiled in sugar syrup and we also had chocolate chip cookies and sweet cakes.
saturday we headed back over to her house for 10 more hours of food. we had all the stuff from the previous day plus several tofu and bean curd dishes, lo bahko, rice with chinese sausages, soups, chicken, etc. bryan's grandma wouldn't let us leave without taking a big bag of oranges, a whole chicken, some shrimp chips, a quart of soup, and some sweet buns. yum.
we left around 10 that night and headed to the lower east side for a friend's birthday. had a few drinks and then headed to ray's for a slice. as if we hadn't eaten enough already!
sunday morning we woke up early and met bryan's brother and his girlfriend in chinatown to try to catch the new years parade but we just missed it.
we had lunch at thai son where i discovered the fabulousness that is the vietnamese sandwich. for dessert we had ice cream at the chinatown ice cream factory where they have flavors like almond cookie, lychee, red bean, and ginger. so delicious! after that we had some tea and red bean buns and then parted ways. a perfect weekend.