Thursday, January 31, 2008

Too Tired

So I'm on the third day of the first phase of the Nutrition Program cleanse. I'm having to map out my schedule for eating every day which is a trip. What I've noticed is that if I don't get a good amount of sleep (let's say 7-8 hours) I really feel it the next day whereas usually I just up my intake of fruit and refined sugar to burn through some of those low energy moments. Today would be a tired day. Very tired day. Oh well, what do you do? I suspect I'll not do much here at the front desk for the next hour and a half and then eat an egg and fruit as a snack so I can power up for yoga teaching tonight.

Tomorrow I'll still eat a little regular food and then Sat-Mon I'll just be on the powder mix and two types of broth. That should be an interesting experience fo sho.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Gotta Say

I'm pretty impressed with myself for sticking with the blog and regularly updating it so often! Hurray! I think a part of me expected that I'd start this up, post 4-5things and then drop out. I think that's what would have happened if I hadn't learned the joy that is uploaded video from Youtube. That's saved me a number of times when I didn't have much to say.

Yesterday I went back and started tagging earlier posts. I think all of Jan is done now and I'm hoping to dig into Dec later on this month. That will make the blog a lot more useful for those of you just interested in following certain lines of thought. I know that what I write is all over the place. That's what makes it fun for me but I realize it might be frustrating to you, dear readers. See how much I care for you! So please keep the comments coming. Comments are what keep me motivated (I'm a simple man really).

In other news, did my first day of the first phase of the cleanse diet yesterday. I missed two snacks near the end of the day and that led to a headache and to me doing what I didn't feel was my best teaching last night (sorry 6:30 people - I'll do better next week!).

Noel helped me prep food last night (basically she did most of it, bless her) so I'm better prepared today. Then by Saturday I go into the second phase where I only eat broth and this Flaxomax style cleansing drink (no, for those who watch Tom Goes into the Mayor's Office, it's not actually Flaxomax but the container is a similar size).

I searched for Flaxamax on youtube and came up blank, so here's another Tom clip in its stead:

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Strange Doesn't Begin to Cover It

Ceca v. Britney

Someone commented that Britney Spears has a ways to go in order to catch up to Ceca who I blogged about a few days ago. That got me thinking that perhaps such "antics" aren't so far off the radar from the American pop mainstream. I'm curious to see if the active political revolutionary as pop star takes off in the U.S. In a lot of ways M.I.A. could be seen as the underground acceptance of this idea.

In many ways pop star as terrorist is the natural extension of the pop star as bad girl/boy. As a nation we deep focus in on the artists who are closest to the edge: Britney, Paris, Amy Winehouse, etc. So far the activities have been safe to those outside their immediate circle but what would happen if someone came close to the stars and started to indoctrinate them in an edgy political belief system under the guise of liberation. Would the star lose their luster, would the magazine reading, Entertainment Tonight watching public give up and stop caring about the star or would they start to obsess even further? It's an interesting question as there has yet appeared to be a ceiling on how far public interest towards stars.

Of course we can look at Patty Hearst as a model for this potential revolutionary star archetype. But the question is could a Patty Hearst happen now or are there better societal controls in place to prevent this from happening now? You'd think with the public acceptance of stars as role models for transgressive behavior we would have seen something in the past few decades.

I look at myself and I am immediately drawn to those sorts of figures and yet in my daily life I am peaceful and pacifistic in my intention by and large. Maybe the magnetic pull of this sort of thing would go away very quickly if it were to happen. Maybe the mass psyche is balanced enough that extra outbreaks like that simply are not possible. For the last sentence to make sense you have to view pop stars as a manifestation of mass psyche. I think a valid argument can be made for that idea but frankly I've got to start getting ready for work so that discussion will have to wait.

Be good to each other,

DND

Monday, January 28, 2008

A Golden Dawn

Radiance and light, baby. From the top of the world.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Ceca (is she the future of music?)

Political revolutions and popstars. First turbofolk, next the world. Ceca's been a side obsession for me for a while now.

From YouTube you can see she's safe as milk:


From Wiki you can see that she's probably the most revolutionary pop star in the world:

Controversies and criticism

In 1995 Ceca married Željko Ražnatović Arkan, leader of the paramilitary forces Arkan's Tigers and one of the most influential criminals in Belgrade in the 90's. His marriage to Ceca was broadcasted on TV, made headlines in newspapers, and was seen in estrada-circles as a "Serbian fairytale." Arkan was assassinated on January 15, 2000 in Belgrade, and Ceca was left alone with their two children. Despite having been shot in the head, he remained alive for a little, but died in her arms in the back of the car that was taking them to the ER. After 18 months of mourning, she made her first public appearance in a TV interview. " One part of me died that day...I will always love him, and only him, I'm sure of that...," she said. Ceca never allows anyone to talk badly about Arkan in her presence. To this day, she is officially single and has stated that she has been abstinent for the last seven years.

Ceca was arrested in March 2003, and detained for four months accused of helping the Zemun clan to assassinate Serbia's prime minister Zoran Đinđić and for illegal weapon possession. She was later cleared of all charges.
At the moment, she is being prosecuted for illegal financial transactions in her football club FK Obilic.
She was accused by Dejan Milenković Bagzi on trial for assassination of Zoran Đinđić that she was implicated in a plan to kidnap Željko Mitrović (owner of RTV Pink) . As a result Ceca was banned from TV Pink [2]. It has been recently confirmed that Ceca will not be banned from RTV Pink anymore.[3]

4am

3:49a.m.
Woke up at 3:00 and cannot get back to sleep. I've started the nutrition program at Corepower. They set you up with a chart of foods that may be good for your blood type. I made a dinner (a very rare thing for me) last night and adjusted a menu (from Weight Watchers) for Morroccan Barley and Vegetable Pilaf and Tempeh so as to include more of the foods that are my "super energy" foods. So this is my recipe (more or less bearing in mind that I spice to taste and sight measure my vegetables too):

1/4 tsp Cumin
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1 1/4 tsp Table Salt
2 tsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Dried Blueberries
1 Large Red Onion (cut into large sections)
2 Cups of Carrots (sliced into 1/4 inch chunks)
2 Cups of Turnips (peeled and cut into thick chunks)
6 Tbsp of Walnuts (hand crushed)
1 Cup of Uncooked Barley
1/4 Tsp Turmeric
1 package of Tempeh

1. Bring 6 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add barley, cover and simmer until tender, about 35 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat foil with cooking spray.
3. Place carrots, turnips and onion on prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with remaining salt and turmeric; toss to coat. Roast 25 to 35 minutes, tossing vegetables once or twice, until lightly charred and tender.
4. Drain barley and return to pot. Stir in blueberries, cumin, turmeric, and roasted vegetables.
5. Spray Tempeh with cooking oil and broil for several minutes. Cut Tempeh into pieces and toss with walnuts into barley pilaf just before serving. Yields about 1 cup per serving. (Note: Store for up to 3 days in the fridge.)


It was very yummy but I wonder if it gave me so much energy that sleep became a little difficult. If you're a blood-type A and want a filling yummy energy boosting meal, I recommend this one! The differences are substituting carrots for squash, dried blueberries for currants, walnuts for sliced almonds and Turmeric for Cayenne Pepper. I also used a bigger onion.

Good morning!
DND
4:11am

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Nemesis Fight

Wow, this is some fantastic Batman fan fiction that I found at this place

BATMAN: NEMESIS FIGHT
The Joker was Batman's evli nemisis and tehy foughts too many times so now Batman was tired.
"Morning Alfred" he said as he took off his bat suit.
"I made yuo teh eggs." And Bruce Wayne ate the eggs. But too bad becaus Joker knew what Batmans scret idenity was Bruce Wayne and came to combat him.
"No! You can not hurt the master Wayne" said Alferd and he was killed by the Joker's men.
"Good shoot!" shouted Joker at the gun man.
Batman wsa very angary for the kill of hsi frend so he shouted "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" and shoot a big fireball like on Dragonball Z.
Joker was exploded over all the place and turned into a ghost. So Batman needed to fight with gohst powars to fight Joker's ghost.
Hsi magic baterang flew and cut Joker head off.
"I safed the day!" Batman shouted..

Later he wsa having sex with Catwoman becuas she was good now. But after tehy wer done she laufhed.
"Hah." seh said "taht was a trick. I am not good lkie I sad. I am alyaws evil!!" and she teird to kill him with a knife.
Batman had too use his refelxes to sotp the knife and kciked her.
Robin ran into to see what was noise and saw that it was naked Catwoman.
"Oh no, is Catwoman"
Catwomna tried now to kill Robin but she msised and Robin pncuhed her to go threw the window and she fel down and died.
"Batamn" Robin said and he was sad "I dont want to fight criem any more. I am tired of kiling." and he left.
"No! Robin!" But it was teh end. Adn he nevr saw Robin afetr that.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

To All the Foods I've Known Before (pt. 3)

Holy Moly, Geez Louis here it is the third and final part of my thrilling Nutrition Program food listing. I wouldn't want to keep you, my adoring fans, from this vital and important information any longer than need be so without further ado I bring you:

1/23/2008
1 Large bag of popcorn
1 Naked Juice Berry Blast (eaten together - the excessive salt made my tummy a little sour)
1 home made dessert bar (big burst of immediate energy then it made me hungrier)
3 fun-sized Milky Way bars (a little jittery)
1 Lean cuisine vegetable egg roll
1 Lean cuisine four cheese cannelloni (eaten together, made me feel pleasantly full)

And that's that all I've got. God only knows if I'll ever stoop so low to list the exact foods I eat over the course of a day so if you enjoy the ball's in your court, it'll make a great blog. Just be sure to eat a little Taco Bell now and again to keep it interesting.

Man on Mars

This is pretty cool.

Food I have Known (part two in a thrilling series)

Here's how I finished off yesterday:

1/22/07
Sub Sandwich (wheat bread, avocado, lettuce, tomato, pickled peppers, hummus) - Filled me up, didn't notice much affect other than that.

And that's that. More later today, I know you can hardly wait.

DND

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Food I have Eaten

Hey, I used to joke that blogs existed solely as a way of the writers to inform their readers how many times they ate at Taco Bell. Well, as part of the upcoming Nutrition Program I need to log my eating for three days and tell them how it makes me feel. I figured since I'm writing it down anyways, I might as well share. Unless you're interested in details regarding my eating please feel free to skip this one today and tomorrow.

1/21/2007 Food Log
1 Naked Strawberry Banana C (felt good, energized but not shakey)
1 Naked Green Machine
Saurkraut
2 Tofu Dogs
2 slices of wheat bread (ate the last four listings as one meal - felt full and yet not overfull. Energized. Pretty good. A couple of hours later my tummy felt a little acidic)
2 Mints (made me a little jittery and didn't help the slight headache I was already nursing)
1 Cheese Sandwich with whole wheat bread, low fat cheese, tomatos
1 Cheese pita sandwich
Stir fried yellow peppers with tofu
1 Frozen fudge on a stick bar (Ate these last items as dinner. Had been hungry but felt much better after. Filled up.)

1/22/07 Food log
1 Naked Orange Mango energy drink
1 Kashi peanut butter bar (ate first two together. Felt good though not as full as when I drink a full smoothy Naked drink)
1 banana (immediate burst of energy no later lull)
1 Veggie burger from The Local
1 plate of fries and malt vinegar (ate second two entries together - I felt bloated and my tummy has been queasy all afternoon)
3 Fun-sized Snickers bars (immediate burst of energy, then jittery).

I'll finish off today's food and give you tomorrow's this time tomorrow. Can you take the suspense?!

DND

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Hi Goodbye

Had a great time yesterday and also today. Just got back from a performance our friend Jillia was in. Great stuff. Peer Gynt was also excellent. I thought I'd have time for a more in depth review but I'm tired and have to teach in the early a.m. Have a great night!

DND

Saturday, January 19, 2008

It's Your Birthday

Hurray, it's Noel's birthday today!!



PS: Please post your Birthday greetings to Noel in the comments section and I'll be sure that she sees them!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Weekend Plans

It's Noel's birthday tomorrow so I'm very excited! We're going to stay at the Westin downtown, go out to dinner (probably Cafe Brenda) and also see Peer Gynt at the Guthrie - all excellent stuff!

Tonight we're going to see "Cloverfield" and then go to the Matt Zaun memorial performance at the Ritz Theater. It still makes me sad and feel weird to think that Matt's gone. It is amazing the huge circle of friends that his passing affected. His memorial art show last month was amazing and a true tribute to this great man and I suspect this show will be the same.

Take care,

DND

Television Telephone Ettiquette

I noticed while watching "Big Love" that no one says "goodbye" before hanging up the phone. When I mentioned this to Noel she told me that it's very rare that anyone on TV says goodbye on the phone. From a storytelling flow angle I can understand this because if you're trying to make a dramatic point that may be stolen by the "OK, well take care then." thrown in at the end. However, from an actual "let's pretend this stuff is real rather than just a story angle" I have to say that in my life I've only hung up on people a very few times and it usually was out of anger. These hang ups caused ruffled feathers from the other side too, of course they did - no one likes to be hung up on. No wonder everyone on is always having such big drama on TV, they're mad at everyone else from hanging up on them.

The other thing is that in movies and TV if someone coughs it's a sure sign that they're about to get deathly ill. Please do not take this as a representation as to how it works in real life.

Good Morning

DND

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Aquarium Life

On living public:

Blogging is an interesting sensation. I've been going a bit deeper the past few days into some of my "weird" philosophies and theories and there's a moment where I think, "Hmm, do I want to put this out in a public place?". After all, anyone can read this. But on reflection I suspect most people have a good portion of odd theories floating around in their heads so I'd rather get mine out so you know who you're dealing with when you deal with me. I've never been a "cards too close to my chest" kind of guy, I guess. Privacy isn't that important to me. Space and time of my own is but people not knowing what I do in that space or time isn't. That's an important differentiation. Also, blogging about the weird shit is the most fun so why stop?

Blog organization:

I have decided that I'm going to start labeling my posts so that readers can more easily gain access to the areas that interest them. Please let me know what I can do to offer better usability.

Music updates:

I don't believe I've mentioned it here yet but I'm working on a new music recording project with Todd from Avenpitch (I used to play keyboards in AP a few years back). We're focusing on doing a few singles a year. I recorded most the vocals for our first cut last night and had a blast! I think they're some of the better vocals I've done and the song's a lot of fun. We'll do touch up vocals next Monday and then I'll take a month off recording to help out with the Nutrition Program at Corepower before we dive into track two. Definitely keep you posted.

That's all I've got.

DND

Monday, January 14, 2008

Playing with Mantra

The concept I've been playing with put in as simple of terms as I can muster:

Completely engagement of the ego self while at the same time identifying solely with the transcendent self.

The mantra I use to keep this idea present:

Atman David

I use mantras a good deal in my yoga practice. After engaging rhythmic breathing I follow this formula

First inhale: AT
First exhale: MAN
Second inhale: DA
Second exhale: VID

Atman is the Hindu term for the transcendent self or the "self behind the self" and David is the name I was born into. I only started using this last week but it's interesting how charged the use of my own name is. It can open a trance state pretty quickly, I suspose it's the vast degree of connection.

Whether or not mantra "sends out energy" or "taps me into the universal self" is beside the point. A good mantra can very easily create a very steady and solid rhythm for your breath and it can also help the mind to relax into a trance or semi-trance state. Practicing yoga from this state is great as the postures are usually deeper and the mind less concerned with what is happening outside of the mat.

The Future of Music Sales and Distribution

Here's an interesting article by David Byrne about the future of music sales and distribution. Jason K emailed it to me and I thought I'd share.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Communicating The Invisible (part one)

Got home last night from a party and started to chat to Noel about metaphysics. It's been awhile since I've thought and talked so near to the boundaries of reason. I love moving conversation to the point where it is almost invisible, meaning that the ideas you're talking about are near impossible to describe so the terms used are very soft and non-binding, and both parties in the conversation acknowledge that the words themselves are simply stairs to a destination rather than concrete debatable items. It's a testament to our relationship that Noel and I have a conversation like this and not have it end with passive "in one ear out the other" listening on one side, or debate over terminology, or a big "you don't get it" denouement.

We were talking about the ability to fully engage the ego self while at the same time remaining attached solely to the transcendent self. The ego self is necessary to create motion and engagement however if you get attached to this self and the "fruits of the labor" of this self you push yourself into the painful spiral of want/need/happy/sad whereas if the perspective remains only on the side of the transcendent self you watch the fully engaged ego self move through the same fields, but due to the fact you're not personally invested in what the crop yields, the wheel of pain and joy can be avoided. It's not that you no longer feel pain or joy it is simply that you are no longer attached to the pain or the joy nor concerned with the labeling of pain or joy so they become raw and pure experience.

This may seem like a lot of conceptual masturbation or gibberish from the outside but when I've lived inside of the "full identification with the transcendent self while keeping the ego self fully engaged" concept, life has been very fine. Putting the words down here are in no way meant as a way to tell anyone else how to live, it is more a personal exercise and experiment in playing with the ability to communicate invisible ideas successfully. Please post a comment if you have a chance and let me know if this makes sense or not. I have the feeling that I may be going through various permutations of the same ideas a number of times here because, like robots last week, this is what excites me.

DND

Friday, January 11, 2008

Corpse Wheeled to Check-Cashing Store Leads to 2 Arrests

It's an amazing thing when an article can have a headline that juicy, that over the top and the actual story itself eclipses the header. Brilliant stuff. That it's all over a $355 check is even better!

DND

from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/nyregion/09dead.html?em&ex=1200114000&en=5cb64a5542894788&ei=5087%0A

Corpse Wheeled to Check-Cashing Store Leads to 2 Arrests
By BRUCE LAMBERT and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: January 9, 2008
Even for the once-notorious Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, it may have been a first: Two men were arrested on Tuesday after pushing a corpse, seated in an office chair, along the sidewalk to a check-cashing store to cash the dead man’s Social Security check, the police said.

When Virgilio Cintron, 66, died at his apartment at 436 West 52nd Street recently, his roommate and a friend saw an opportunity to cash his $355 check, the police said.

They did not go about it the easy way, the police said, choosing a ruse that resembled the plot of “Weekend at Bernie’s,” a film about two young men who prop up their dead employer to pretend that he is alive.

“Hell’s Kitchen has a rich history,” said Paul J. Browne, a police spokesman, “but this is one for the books.”

There was no sign of foul play in Mr. Cintron’s death, he added.

The roommate, James P. O’Hare, and his friend, David J. Dalaia, both 65 and unemployed, placed Mr. Cintron’s body in the chair and wheeled it around the corner, south along Ninth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon, the police said. The men parked the chair with the corpse in front of Pay-O-Matic at 763 Ninth Avenue, a check-cashing business that Mr. Cintron had patronized.

They went inside to present the check, but a clerk said Mr. Cintron would have to cash it himself, and asked where he was, the police said.

“He is outside,” Mr. O’Hare said, indicating the body in the chair, according to Mr. Browne.

The two men started to bring the chair inside, but it was too late.

Their sidewalk procession had already attracted the stares of passers-by who were startled by the sight of the body flopping from side to side as the two men tried to prop it up, the police said. The late Mr. Cintron was dressed in a faded black T-shirt and blue-and-white sneakers. His pants were pulled up part of the way, and his midsection was covered by a jacket, the police said. While the two men were inside the check-cashing office, a small crowd had gathered around the chair. A detective, Travis Rapp, eating a late lunch at a nearby Empanada Mama saw the crowd and notified the Midtown North station house.

Police officers and an ambulance arrived as the two men were trying to maneuver the corpse and chair into the check-cashing office.

The two men were taken into custody and questioned. The police said they were considering charging them with check-cashing fraud.

Mr. Cintron’s body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner’s office said its preliminary assessment was that he had died of natural causes within the past 24 hours.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

What Makes Me Happy Right Now

A little video entertainment for the fans:

Food and Holiday Weight

Hey hey aren't holiday weight gains fun? I think I weigh a good 10-15 pounds up on last March, yikes! Back on Weightwatchers (online works well) and I'm going to be doing the Corepower nutrition program as well. Should be sitting pretty in a month or two after which point I'm toying with the idea of going completely raw (i.e. no cooked food). I did that for a few weeks last year and I felt great. I'm hoping that a year or so on the program might help move me to another level mentally and emotionally. I love the idea of eating sunshine/becoming light which the raw foods deal taps into very strongly. I usually need some form of ideological excitement to get me into big new things and that one does it for me. Finally I debating whether or not to do another marathon this year, all the training seems kind of fun (and hellish, and fun).

That's all I've got. Very best!

DND

Monday, January 7, 2008

Future Breeze

Bleep, blorp, bloop. Just had a good conversation with Noel, I think some great things are coming soon. I'll keep you posted. It's interesting that when it comes time to make big choices sometimes it seems as though you've already made them.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Saturday, January 5, 2008

I Am a Fan of Robot Fan Dancing



Oddly enough it was my thinking about the robotic joys of the new Britney Spears album that spurred me into my recent robot obsession. This will probably be my last robot video for a little while (unless something else really cool comes along) so enjoy!

In other news, found my cell phone, hurray! Napped in the afternoon, double hurray!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Soon Hu-man Muse-ish-uns Will be Ob-so-lete

My Robot obsession continues:



supercar

Crazy night last night. I lost my cellphone two days ago, then last night my car gets a flat in St. Paul. I put on the spare (and believe me that one was easier said than done) but as soon as I get on 94 I realize that the spare is flat too. Ending up having to borrow a phone at Blockbuster to call Noel to get a tow truck. I wait for an hour in the Target parking lot and it gets there. Today I get the tires fixed and a tune up only to find out to my great joy that with a number of other repairs the whole deal's going to cost about $2k. Ah yes, such joy.

On the plus side every class I taught went really nicely, I think my constant stream of sub classes is really making me a better teacher.

Have fun.

DND

Robot Running

Run ASIMO Run! I'd heard about ASIMO but this is the first I've actually watched video. Amazing stuff - "he" looks like a LEGO spaceman.

Dancing Robot Arms

Thursday, January 3, 2008

My Space is a Space of Strangeness

Before this blog I used to write off and on at my Myspace account (www.myspace.com/fadladder) but Myspace leant itself to parody, smart ass strangeness, project promotion, bizarre cut-up writing and little else. When major events hit (Matt Zaun's passing and the 35 bridge) I could write something actually about myself but otherwise it was back to obscure or snide. I'd try to write in my "actual voice" but the format subverted my ability to do that. I wonder if it's all the flashing banners and lights - the put me into a surrealist daze. I still post there but reserve it now fully for promotion and strangeness.

When I started this blog I wondered if I could write something regularly that didn't decend into strangeness. It's been easy enough so far. Maybe the soft blues and tans of the text entry portion of this site relax me into a better writing mind.

Today I had work off. I taught a couple of classes in the morning and then teach one at 7:30 tonight. Otherwise ate lunch with Nick and Brett Smith and then hung out with Nick and played the Wii. Great times. The Wii is a lot of fun when played in groups, though Nick's tennis skills are impressive (he beat me in three out of three sets - damn). I hadn't owned a video game system for awhile and the last one I had (a PS2) I got bored of really fast and sold to a friend. The Wii's great because it has a stack of addicting short games that don't eat up days on end. I can put it down for a week without a problem and then come back to it without any problem* and have a lot of fun with it. I find it neither compulsively addicting nor boring. Good stuff.

All for now. Have a nice Thursday.

DND

*the same cannot be said for comic book message boards, if you followed my entry last month you'll be interested to know that I've gone back repeatedly through the gateway to newsarama.com It's officially an addiction.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

108

Happy New Year everyone. I've got a few minutes before I teach a class out here at Corepower Eden Prairie so I thought I'd pop by and set down a few words.

Had a nice night last night. Noel wasn't feeling well so we stayed in. Watched the Doctor Who episode "Girl in the Fireplace" which is especially good. Great script by Moffat. Also watched the first episode of Big Love season two. Then hung out and talked about the '07 recapping the highs and lows. It's sad that Noel has the crud (right after I got over it) but other than that it was an especially nice night.

Taught a class in the a.m. then went to St. Paul and did the 108 Sun Salutations (on 1/08 even), an old yogic tradition. Definitely the most physically challenging thing I've done in a while but it was amazing as well. Sarah led and did an amazing job. You wouldn't think such a simple series of postures would get so difficult after a while but they certainly do. I locked onto a mantra for a chunk of the class which helped but the last 27 were mind meltingly intense. Felt extremely blissy afterwards. I love yoga. Union.

Went home and watched "Adrenaline Drive" with Noel. A Japanese movie from 2000 that felt a lot like a more sparsely paced mid-80s John Hughes movie (maybe starring a young Tom Cruise and Mary Stewart Masterson. It was fine afternoon fare though not as good as a lot of the Asian movies we've seen lately.

OK, gotta get to it students should be arriving soon.

Be well,

DND