Monday Meditation for You

How to be juggy, as told to me by Swami Satchidananda:



"If any thought, any action would disturb your mind, you should stay away from that. Then the mind is in its natural, pure, calm state. So the question here is not how to calm the mind, but how to stay away from disturbing the mind. If left alone, the mind is peaceful. It’s almost like a bowl of water. You don’t have to make the water do something to be calm. Simply, don’t shake it, don’t throw something into it. If you leave it alone, it will retain its own natural tranquility. The mind is exactly like that."

A Rosa Crapicana Weekend

Look at how pretty my niece Allie is!! She had her First Communion yesterday:




So my weekend sort of sucked. I went to Rosa Mexicana on Friday - I cannot stress this enough. DO NOT GO TO ROSA MEXICANA. EVER. It's horrible, it's crap, it doesn't deserve to be associated with anything Mexican. The food was mediocre, I paid 24 bucks for 5 unflavorful shrimp over a huge bed of a rice and salsa mixture that was way too spicy to eat. So I told the waitress and they brought me something else, but again - mediocre - and the night was already blowing. The pomegranate margaritas were good, but again, overpriced and you can get much better ones (and larger) at Cilantro and Panchitos or Ranchos. And the food is better in all three of those places. So then I went home and slept for about an hour and then was wide awake until about 5:30am. So I called Quick Draw and told her there was no way I could make her 7:30 pickup to go the walkathon and gratefully, she understood. I need my sleep otherwise I'm a beast of a human being. Grumpy isn't even the word. Bitch is more like it. Ha. So I slept until noon and thank god there was something on TV to distract me from my bad-sleep-deprived mood:

An America's Next Top Model Marathon on MTV. You don't know how that saved me from utter despair, but it did.

And Sunday was Yoga Day. I have to keep this up, I have to, for my mental health at the very least. Because I was still riding the icky mood train and then when I got there, all of it dissolved and I felt downright happy again afterwards. So I treated myself to a rainforest superfoods juice drink from their grocery store - where the staff is SO unbelievably friendly, so Om Shanti right back to you, cashier dude - I forget how it's those little niceties that make people's day. A "hi, how are you, beautiful day isn't it?" is more than enough sometimes to shapeshift a negative person into a positive one.

And then, I get home and I check out the day's baseball scores and I see:

Yankees - LOST

Mets - WIN.

I won't get into how happy that makes me, at the risk of offending my many Yankee Fan Friends. But I will say this, I really like Joe Torre and I will be sad if he gets fired and some other city gets to have him. It's all a cycle, the Yankees have had many good years and a lot of luck and a lot of success and now its just a downturn of that cycle.

But the Mets - woo hoo!

So that's all for now - congrats also going out to my dear Mervyn who got a new job (although I have yet to hear all the details) but what I have heard sounds super cool and I think she will be happier and maybe she'll have summers off and can come and visit her New York Peeps more often?? PLEASE?? Or maybe I need to go to Texas...that's an idea...

Like walking in the rain and the snow and there's nowhere to go...

I love that song...anyway...quick post just to update you all...on tap: Rosa Mexicana tonight, a walkathon and possible softball game on Long Island tomorrow and yoga and a call to Mommy recovering from surgery on Sunday..woo hoo!

I'm a bit tired today... I met Ms. Lucy for mango margaritas last night...it was just one of those days where a cocktail of some sort is needed so that you can breathe properly again. Sigh. I got home at a normal time but for some reason, I feel a little "less than" today...not the juggy self I've been the past week...hmmm, I don't like that. But wow the margaritas were GOOD. This place always gives you a generous amount of tequila...nice indeed.
One thing might change that feeling and that would be seeing HOT FUZZ (by the same guys who did Shaun of the Dead) tonight with The Cousin because chances are I'll laugh. A LOT. And laughter is the best medicine. So fingers crossed on that one. Tomorrow is Earth Day and I'm going to Integral to see what's up there, including a film on Protecting the Amazon Rainforest ... then Sunday is yoga (yay!) and then the movie "Fracture" at Union Square.

Yawn! I think it's time for coffee...or something...the weather is so nice, I just want to go sit outside but I cannot, I must work...oh woe is me... I do go and sit outside for lunch though and as I sip my OJ and eat my banana, I've come to the conclusion that drug deals are being done right in front of me. These guys come and sit on the steps of the building on the corner and people must know that they are "open for business" because little by little, he gets customers - money exchanged, a "hand shake" and whatever just happened has happened and the customers walk away. It took me awhile to figure it out, what all the hanging out was about, but now I get it. I wonder if they know there are FBI offices in that building?

I know this is a pretty boring post, but I felt like posting and yet since today, I am feeling "less than", I can't seem to think of much interesting to report...such is life. Some days you feel like a nut, some days you don't...

Quote of the Day

Yoganandaji once explained the difference between meditation and prayer.

He said, "When you pray you are talking and God is listening. When you are meditating God is talking and you are listening."

Awesome! Exactly how I feel about it!

Get thee to an Ark Builder!

"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

Yes, the rains are upon us! Luckily, I was able to get my Mets game in on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a lovely day at the ballpark (albeit a bit chilly - yes Charlie, I was bundled cutely for the occasion - how else could I have enjoyed my ice cold beers on such a cold day?) even though My Mets lost. Boo hoo. But they provided some exciting moments, they almost staged a comeback in the 9th, but alas it was not to be. Oh well. I did get to see one of those R2D2 mailboxes finally - I got way too excited when Quick Draw pointed it out to me, but damn it, I didn't have my camera with me this time. On to Astoria then, where we all enjoyed a tasty Greek meal of grilled swordfish, lemon potatoes, Greek salad, and some honey-cinnamon custard type dessert they give you for free at the end.

Back to the Mets for a second. Did you watch the game on Friday? This is what I love: so they were down by one run and they send in 48 year old Julio Franco to pinch hit and he smacks the ball and drives in David Wright and they end up winning the game. How awesome is that? 48 years old!!! And he's showing the kiddies how it's done. LOVE IT. Makes me jump up and down in my living room when I see that!

Back to Saturday now. By the time I got home, the deluge began...and went on and on and on and on and on and is still pitter-pattering out there now. But the issue for me was I had to go out in it yesterday. I started my 4 week yoga intensive yesterday and poor little ole me had to battle the elements in order to become enlightened and in shape. It wasn't that bad, actually. Come on, once you are wet, you are wet - not much you can do about it except plaster on a fake smile and pretend you don't care, pretend you aren't uncomfortable as the icky water sloshes between your wet socks despite the fact that your boots are supposed to be waterproof.

But hey, Yoga was cool. I know most of this stuff already, this is more like a refresher for me so that I get back in the habit of doing it on a regular basis and its always more interesting to practice with a group. And I really love just going to Integral - I feel very comfortable there and its just a very welcoming type of place. The building, the rooms, the people who work there, all have a peaceful vibe and you can't help but absorb that in when you are there. So the class was 2 hours and then I was feeling so cheery and good about myself that I walked a bit in the downpour - I was soaked anyway, so who cares, remember? - and went to Barnes and Noble to look at books for an hour or so. I bought one on mantras and meditation and another on Kundalini Yoga and then went to Starbucks to read them and sip a much deserved Vanilla Latte.

Hmmmm...I think that's all for now...nothing much else to report... but you'll be the first to know if any breaking news should occur.... stay tuned :-)

Oh - new favorite-can't-get-it-out-of-my-head-song alert!! In the Margins by Echo and the Bunnymen from Siberia - beautiful beautiful beautiful:

Tuck me in
I need to sleep now
I need dream how
I used to dream
Look me in the face now
Help me believe howI used to believe
Now do you see how
They're in the margins
Below and up aboveI'll see now
How life wins
When all that's left is love

Row me in
Lessen my heart, love
Loosen my soul, love
Spirits and dreams
Hope begins
Right at the start of
The search for the gold, love
In the driving rain
Now do you see how
We're in the margins
We're below and up above
I see now
How life wins
When we're all that's left is love
We're all that’s left
Of love
all that’s left is love
all that’s left of love

God Bless the Messenger Guy!

I always run into the same messenger guy in the elevator and he always talks to me - the first time he struck up a conversation, I thought he was flirting because he told me I "had a cute face" and that I looked like Melissa Joan Hart (a.k.a Sabrina the Teenage Witch) - I don't see it, but she's cute enough I suppose so I took it as a compliment. But the more I run into him, I saw that he does this with everyone - he's always complimenting every person he sees - both the gentlemen and the ladies - and he's super friendly and I realized - he's just a good, pleasant person. And it's effortless for him - he just feels good about life and himself and then he says something sweet or happy to someone else - complete stranger or not - and he passes it on. That person walks away smiling or feeling better in someway and then maybe goes off and does the same thing to the people he/she runs into and a pattern is created and it's contagious and pretty soon, you have a building full of shiny happy people who don't realize why they feel good, but they do, and all because of the messenger guy and his kind words.

Anyway, he makes me think of this quote:

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware.
~ Hebrews 13:2

I'm not saying he's an angel (or maybe I am - don't think my English major's eye didn't hold onto the whole "messenger" symbolism!) but sometimes, people say the right things to you at exactly the moment you need to hear them and when I ran into him in the elevator this morning, that happened. It doesn't matter what he said, it was meaningful to me and made me feel much better in a moment that I felt sort of discouraged and slightly sad and "oh sigh, it's Friday, wouldn't I rather be at home, still asleep".

He also encouraged me to learn Spanish (or at least visit the Dominican Republic where its so beautiful and I would no doubt pick it up in no time). When I got to the 16th floor, I thanked him and he replied "denada - God bless you and have a wonderful day"; I smiled back and waved "adios"!

Now let's see if I can pass on his good vibes to some other people today. You try too...and let me know how it works out.

Orchid Show Notes

The Orchid Show was amazing...simply beautiful...see below for a sampling of the over 50 pics I took - they really don't do the show justice though, you'll need to see this for yourself someday. So what else is new? A bad mood seems to have permeated my existence this week and I seem to hate everyone. I can't shake it. Oh well, I have to fight on, I suppose. Maybe I just need to go see Blades of Glory or Hot Fuzz and laugh my ass off and I'll feel better. Or when I go to yoga this Sunday, that will help refocus my head a little bit. Anyway, enough about me - let me know how you are - misery LOVES company :-D


Here's Floating Head on Metro North on Sunday, enjoying her coffee and shiny new lovely haircut:




And here is the orchid I bought - lovely isn't she? I think her name is Elizabeth, but I'm not sure. Veronica knows why that might be her name! "Sitting in the beavis treeeeeeeee..."

Thanks Easter Bunny!

I have the best Easter Bunny - MY MOMMY!!!!! She isn't feeling well right now so I was thinking well maybe I wouldn't get a package from her with all sorts of Eastery Delights...but today: A PACKAGE!! Full of Girl Scout cookies, Jelly Bellies, Peeps, and See's Chocolate Eggs...I have the prettiest Easter Bunny, I have the sweetest Easter Bunny... since she gave me a basket full of candy, I wish I could be there to give her a basket full of hugs and kisses...I Love You Mama Juicy!

And so Happy Easter to all..the picture above is my cousin Jamie's son Sam, I just thought this was TOO cute not to post. I will be celebrating by the Annual Reading of Nikki's 4th Grade Stations of The Cross ("There's Mother"; Jesus is stripped of his clothing: "this is so embarassing") and by going to the Orchid Show at the Bronx Botanical Garden. I'll let you know how all that goes on Monday, I'm sure..but for now, sing along with me, won't you?

Here comes Peter Cottontail,

Hopping' down the bunny trail,

Hippity, hoppity,

Easter's on its way.

Bringing' every girl and boy

Baskets full of Easter joy,

Things to make your Easter bright and gay.

He's got jellybeans for Tommy,

Colored eggs for sister Sue,

There's an orchid for your Mommy

And an Easter bonnet, too.

Here comes Peter Cottontail,

Hopping' down the bunny trail,

Look at him stop, and listen to him say:

"Try to do the things you should."

Maybe if you're extra good,

He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way.

You'll wake up on Easter morning

And you'll know that he was there

When you find those chocolate bunnies

That he's hiding everywhere.

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail,

Hopping' down the bunny trail,

Hippity hoppity,

Happy Easter day.

The Boys of Summer are BACK!

Last night was the start of Baseball Season - WOO HOO! And as I sat in Petite Abeille facing the bar and its two tvs and throughly enjoyed my mussels provencale (that's tomato and white wine broth, thyme, eggplant, and roasted red peppers) and les pommes frites, I could see MY guys beat the Cardinals quite impressively. Awesome. I can't tell you how excited I am for this season to start...lets hope this is a sign of good things to come :-)