Meet Trixie!

This is the newest member of my elite inner circle, my lovely new friend Trixie Tungsten E2 - she is hoping to assist me in the Plan that is Threefold (see post below) as well as all other areas of my life (personal and workwise) that need whipping into shape.

Cute isn't she? She is my little (albeit expensive) treat for myself since I'll be getting my tax refund back any day now. The rest of it goes into savings, but I thought:

I'm good enough.

I'm smart enough.

And I like me.

Therefore, she was purchased. And the Tree was happy.

There is a a Plan and the Plan is Threefold

Veronica - just know that.

What's up doc? Well I stayed home sick on Thursday - I needed a rest because I felt like I was coming down with something; my glands on my neck were all swollen and I felt sinus infection-y or sore throat-y. And I went to the dentist where I was pronounced perfect and beautiful (that's only teethwise) and with those words of encouragement, my swollen glands decided to try to disappear. I felt so much improved that on Friday, I was well enough to meet the Chia Pet for a Margarita Chat - this week, the special margarita was Patron Silver and Freshly Squeezed Pink Grapefruit. Yum indeed. Ah, but we did not overdo it of course, because Saturday is the Holy Day of Meditation class and getting up early is part of it. And it was such a lovely sunny morning, I was not rushing for once to get there on time, so I was slowly walking along 13th to class, listening to my iPod and eating my banana and feeling very good. For class this week, we tried walking meditation and because it was such a pretty day, Jyothi took us up the stairs to the roof of the building where they have a patio and even though the sun was out, it was still slightly chilly - our feet were bare! - and you can see the river and she led us in a circle, just walking walking and concentrating. Then she had us sit and meditate for maybe 10 minutes and it was so nice, with your eyes closed and the cool breeze and you can feel the sun on your face and I just really enjoyed that. So peaceful. I thought being up on the roof would be so distracting, with the pretty view and the street noise and the buildings all around, maybe I'd be too busy checking things out, my mind wandering too much, but not the case. I want so badly to go sit by the ocean now and try this - that must feel amazing. Cayucos California, anyone?

This week will be our last class and the thought of that makes me sad! These four weeks have made such a difference and I want to keep it going and I think part of that has come from being involved with a group activity like this once a week. To be surrounded by people who have a real interest in this and who are looking for a spiritual aspect as well - this is not trendy icky yoga like you would get at Crunch or NYSC or something - helps to keep the good vibes flowing and to keep me focused. I just leave Integral feeling so good and it stays with me. So the Plan is:

1. Take the Yoga 4 week workshop on Sundays; when that is complete, start the once a week Hatha 1 class.
2. Free group meditation on Saturdays at noon
3. Take more classes/workshops in general - there are few really interesting ones that I'm thinking about - chakras, nutrition, breathing techniques

Sunday, I had the Luck O' the Irish! Actually, just the Food O' the Irish. The Brooklynites cooked a really great shepherd's pie and apple berry crumble, topped off (of course) with Irish coffee and lots of laughing. And then the long subway ride home. I forgot that the R doesn't run at all after like 10 pm so like an idiot, I stood there and waited as 2 N trains came and went, not figuring it out. So then it was back on the road to get the E train and I didn't get home until 1:30. So I am SO very tired today.

And how are you?

America's 400th Birthday

We have decided on an adventure. The adventure will take place May 11-May 13th and a car will be rented and that Friday, after work, Vu, Floating Head, and I will be going to Jamestown Virgina for the weekend as that is the big blowout weekend for all things colonial!

http://www.americas400thanniversary.com/

We are very excited by this - lots of woo hoos and speculating about what fun things might happen when we are transported back in time!

Woo hoo!

For some interesting reading, check out the US News and World Report -they've been doing a whole series on Jamestown and its importance:

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070121/29globe.htm

Gruntled!

Many moons ago, when Vox was my co-worker (and all was right with the world), we discussed "if one could be DIS-gruntled, could one then be gruntled?" and the answer, apparently, is yes. Floating Head and I spoke about this on Saturday after meditation class - gruntled is one notch below juggy. Defintion: content, satisfied, balanced? Something along those lines - Vox and FH can correct me if I'm wrong, but the main point here is that I feel gruntled. And I just wanted to say so.

I had a nice day on Saturday, it feels good to get up early for the meditation class - very peaceful and its a great way to start the day. This time, we did a 20 minute plus meditation and did Shiva chants which are good to do when you are trying to get rid of negativity and such. We also learned about candle meditation, how to use mala beads and how to set up an altar and we all talked about how we felt during the week after meditating, what worked, what didn't, etc. All in all, it's a really good group, everyone is really open and nice and into it, enthusiastic as I am about learning this - all except for One Girl that needs to not come back to the class. She's annoying, she left her cell phone on and it went off twice and she is just super negative and has an attitude. But such is life, I suppose. That's the goal of this class, to learn how to not pay attention to these negatives and get on with the positives of life. Tune those buggers out!

Afterwards, Floating Head and I browsed in their bookstore and bought a few items. I bought "The Golden Present" by Sri Swami Satchidananda on the advice of our teacher. It has a reading for each day of the year and I'm going to follow her method which is she only allows herself to read the daily "medicine" if she has meditated. If not, she has to wait until next year. Then we walked to the macrobiotic vegetarian place where we ate last week and this time I tried sweet potato pancakes with fresh fruit - yum. We were feeling very juggy so in order to up the jugginess quotient, we got manicures (by not so very nice manicurists at Think Pink - we will NOT be thinking pink again), walked around some more, window shopping here and there, got a nice vanilla latte and headed home. And that was that.

Yesterday? I got Stuff Done. Chores and errands and such, things that I've been putting off for a while and need to release from the Grand To Do list.

And that's about it. Mostly today, I just wanted to share my gruntled state with you all - because in the words of Vidal Sassoon, if I don't look good, you don't look good...hee hee hee...

ALSO! Today is an ode to Duran Duran, because tonight is a new moon. And what is my favorite Duran Duran song? That's right, NEW MOON ON MONDAY! Um, so guess what I listened to about 3 times already today? That's right, NEW MOON ON MONDAY!

Send me your warning siren
As if I could ever hide
Last time la luna,I light my torch and wave it for the...
New moon on monday
And a firedance through the night
I stayed the cold day with a lonely satellite

R2D2 Mailboxes!!!

This is a freaking FANTASTIC idea...I can't wait to put my mail in one of these...in honor of the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars, the USPS is putting out these mailboxes that look like R2D2!!

Icy Day, Cookie Monsters, & Baseball Season

It's snowing! Woo hoo! Big fat ice crystals are popping off my window by my desk here at work, jumping and blowing all around. This is probably the last storm of the winter (although I think I wrote that last week!) but all this wintery action isn't unusual for March, I remember writing my big senior paper in college and around March was when it had to be in its almost finished form and we had to have weekly meetings with Professor Baswell to discuss our progress. My paper had to do with Spenser's The Faerie Queen, and there is a particular part of the poem that has a line about a world enclosed in glass. I remember getting up early and walking over to the library to work on my paper and there had been an ice storm during the night. I - coming from the Nevada desert - had never seen an ice storm before, and I remember thinking that this is exactly what a world enclosed in glass would look like because everything - the branches, the leaves, streetlights - were completely encased in a clear layer of ice, completely frozen. Icicles were hanging from everything. It was really strange and beautiful and because of the snow falling, all the typical street noises were hushed and it was very quiet outside. I think later that week it went up to 60 degrees quickly and it melted before you knew it, but for one day, you got to see something unusual and it hasn't happened here since. Anyway,I'm thinking about that today.

So the cookies I made for The Boss for his birthday were such a hit, I’ve been requested to make them on a regular basis. I attribute their absolute goodness to the new baking sheets I got from Santa Claus this Xmas! Quality bake ware does make a difference, I see that now. They came out buttery and baked to perfection. Maybe this will be my new monthly good deed and I can try different recipes but I only want certain people (i.e. people I like) to eat them, so that kind of cancels out the good deed aspect of this task, doesn’t it? Ah but if they are made with love (like they were for The Boss) then my heart is in the right place. Once when going somewhere to study (or perhaps up to the Bronx Botanical Garden), Vron and I stopped at UFM (which sadly NO LONGER EXISTS up in Columbiaville) to get a bagel and coffee, and the guy behind the counter always buttered those bagels to perfection and the coffee was always delicious, just the right amount of milk and sugar in proportion to the coffee - in those days, I put sugar in my café au lait. And Vron commented on this to him and said “it’s because you make it with love, isn’t it?” and the man smiled and said nothing. And that’s how we knew it was true.

And that’s your lesson for the day, kiddies. Whether it’s mixing a gimlet (ha!) or making your bed, do it well and with love, and you shall reap the rewards. Hee hee hee....

On a final note: I have bought my first ticket to a Mets game this week for April 14th and will be buying a second today at lunch - the Cubs will be at Shea in May so me and 2 of my coworkers are going. I've waited since October for baseball to be back and we are almost there ... fingers crossed. Last year was so much fun and I only got to wear my hat once so I plan to go to as many 2$ games (yes 2 bucks, I have connections) as I can get my hands on.

Everything is Beautiful!

So says Yogi Jyothi, my new hero...so what did I do this weekend? I had a grand ole juggy time of it...Friday after work, I met Chia Pet for 2 pomegranate margaritas - nice, lovely, generous tall glasses of Patron and pomegranate juice on the rocks - but I couldn't go overboard because I had to be up by 8am to head on over to W. 13th Street for my first meditation class. Let me tell you: this class is one of the Best Things I've Ever Done In My Life For Myself. It ranks right up there with forcing myself to go to Maui with Mervyn in 2000. I arrive and head up to the 3rd floor, where of course Floating Head has beat me there, she's already on a cushion and ready to go, so I change into my yoga pants, and sit down to meet the most wonderful creature I think I've ever met. Our yogi is this tiny Japanese woman who is so full of light and smiles and has such positive energy, I had a desire to somehow shrink her down and keep her in my pocket so that I could pull her out during the week when I need to feel happy. Everything is beautiful, she kept saying - and when it's coming from her, you actually believe it. Is it possible that someone like her really exists (especially in NYC - how does she keep that energy and attitude going?); that's what is amazing to me. Even when she was telling us about how the week before she had been very sad and depressed, I couldn't imagine it. While explaining to us how to start a meditation practice, she kept on repeating "don't panic and don't punish yourself". So guess what? New philosophy on life is:

Don't panic and don't punish!Just shift what you are paying attention to from negative to positive.

She makes it sounds so simple, but we all know it's not. It's HARD. So that's what the meditation is for though and I have to say, so far, I'm thinking this works. Because I felt amazing in the class, I felt very smiley and happy and it stayed with me all day (and that's not because afterwards, we did a little retail therapy and bought some things in bright colors at Old Navy and I bought the much-loved and much-desired Arcade Fire CD "Funeral" which I have not stopped listening to since I got home that night). I got this sort of buzzing, warm feeling in my head and I felt very light. I felt different and I think that's the point. You get away from yourself and all your stupid thoughts and destructive emotions for awhile and then maybe with those things out of the way, you can see everything a little bit clearer and you can see it all for what it really is. And I was still feeling it on Sunday too, even before I did our "homework" for the week, which is to meditate for at least 10 minutes every day and to note how you feel. I did 10 minutes before going out the door to meet Quick Draw and Hubby in Brooklyn Heights for a yum-filled dinner of something called "Texas Meatloaf", which was meatloaf wrapped in bacon. Yeah, I know! BACON. Anything wrapped in bacon is good. Then we saw the movie "Zodiac", which was fantastic, fascinating. I knew he was never really caught but I didn't know much of the back story of the case. Excellently done. Then it was home to bake cookies for The Boss - it's his birthday so 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies were in order. That and a Fonzie card that plays the theme song to Happy Days when you open it.

And that's pretty much it. So the points to remember and take with you as you leave my blog?

1. Everything (and everyone) is beautiful.
2. Don't panic
3. Don't punish

Off you go now!

Favorite Scene from "The Office" Rerun Last Night

Michael: You show me a white man you trust and I will show you a black man that I trust even more. Pam, tell me what white person you trust.

Pam: My dad.

Michael: …Danny Glover!

Jim: Jonas Salk.

Michael: Who?

Jim: Justin Timberlake

Michael: Oh please. Colin Powell!

Karen: Hey I’ve got one. Jesus.

Michael: Apollo Creed.

Anti-Juggy

This is to clarify my post below, because I know someone is due to ask "Qu'est-ce que c'est juggy"? Alas, only Floating Head can truly know what the definition of juggy is - it's a secret, and "i'll never tellll". But I will say that to feel anti-juggy is very well put by Dorothy Parker in her poem, "Symptom Recital":

Symptom Recital
I do not like my state of mind;
I'm bitter, querulous, unkind.
I hate my legs, I hate my hands,
I do not yearn for lovelier lands.
I dread the dawn's recurrent light;
I hate to go to bed at night.
I snoot at simple, earnest folk.
I cannot take the gentlest joke.
I find no peace in paint or type.
My world is but a lot of tripe.
I'm disillusioned, empty-breasted.
For what I think, I'd be arrested.
I am not sick, I am not well.
My quondam dreams are shot to hell.
My soul is crushed, my spirit sore;
I do not like me any more...

Juggy?

I hesitate to say yes, but after watching 3 straight episodes of ER last night (all of which included my beloved - and soon to be leaving - Luka) and getting to sleep by midnight and sleeping a full 8 hours after basically no sleep, dare I say, I feel downright JUGGY again? Please please, let me be juggy... I wish for Floating Head to attain the Juggy State again too....

Back to work! Just thought I'd update all the faithful readers that I did not succumb to the Despair of the Not Well Rested!

Later on, we'll conspire, as we dream by the fire...

It's snowing very prettily outside right now, just like powdered sugar falling down, it's 17 degrees (weather.com says "feels like 12") and you would think with these two variables, I would be delighted. But I had a rough night. I went to bed at about 12:30 and fell asleep right away, only to wake up at 3am, wide awake and freezing. I could not get warm - there seemed to be no heat escaping out of the radiator - and I could not get comfortable and I could not fall back asleep until about 6am. DAMN DAMN DAMN. I woke up at 9:10 in a panic "I'm late I'm late I'm late" but of course I'm never really all that late, I have amazing getreadyfast skills. Out the door at 10 and I got here at somewhat of a normal time for me, close to 10:30. Boy am I groggy though. I predict a total collapse around 3pm, even with the aid of caffeine and a walk around outside or two (because who doesn't want to miss what maybe the last Walking in a Winter Wonderland moment for this season?). Ah, well at the very least, I'm cutely bundled, just the way my Da likes me to be :-) - if a bit red-eyed.

On to the work at hand! On to face the day... perhaps a slip and slide and a fall on the sidewalk too... lets see how the day unfolds...

Blockheads!

I forgot to mention that we had a Blockhead's reunion on Thursday (lucky for Vox, The Office was a rerun otherwise....nah! I'd miss The Office for some Vox time!) and as always, it was lovely to see Mr. Vox and hear about the Second Coming - yes, that's right, his progeny is going to battle Baby Suri for OUR VERY SOULS!! You heard it here first! ALL PRAISE XENU!

I'm very excited today, because Floating Head and I just signed up for a class at Intergral , designed to bring us some much needed peace. For the next 4 Saturdays, she and I will be meeting for two hours every morning to learn the Art and Practice of Meditation:

"For anyone new to meditation, as well as those who wish to enhance or strengthen their practice, IYI's meditation course offers the opportunity to discover the many dimensions and benefits of quieting the mind. Guided by a certified meditation instructor, you will practice five meditation techniques in depth. The experience will help you decide which techniques resonate for you and inspire you to integrate meditation into your life."

I have a very unquiet mind. I tend to not be able to focus on things for very long, I get easily swayed by my emotional state and I kind of flutter around, getting some stuff done (leaving too much unfinished) and I think I need to learn how to be more peaceful. When I took yoga class regularly a few years ago, we always ended the class with the whole corpse pose- candlelit room-relaxation for 10 minutes while the teacher spoke to us quietly bit and I can't tell you how wonderful those 10 minutes can be. It sounds oh so "New Age-y" I know, but I always went home feeling much lighter on the inside and more open-hearted as those New Agers say - and who couldn't benefit from a little more of that?

Our Grownup Sleepover

Our sleepover was loads of fun on Friday, despite the fact that I was still a little woozy from my little cold - I got there around 7:30 with homemade brownies and a bottle of wine to find Vu and Floating Head already enjoying a bottle and ready to order some yummy Italian food. Soon, it was one bottle down (cold forgotten), some trashy fun TV, a bottle of champagne opened, followed by lots of giggling and eventually, some rest. The key words, you could say were:

DRINKING:

AND SLEEPING:

THE END! Cheers to you ladies, lets make this a regular event!