Yoga for LIFE

I recently began teaching yoga classes at a community co-op in downtown El Paso called The Root Yoga Studio. I have my class every Monday through Friday at noon. It's been such a nice experience meeting new people who come to class--some of them regularly and others once in awhile. But for me, it's a pleasure to share my own practice and help others get familiar with their own bodies. I truly think that people are either drawn to yoga or they're not, and if you get the itch it is almost impossible to ignore. My hope is that by dedicating an hour a day to this beautiful practice, more people will experience all the benefits that yoga can offer.

New Haircut

I sort of thought that once my black hair grew out 100% that I'd get married. But that's not happening so I think it's time for a new haircut.

Evolution of Surfboards: From Bruiser to Big Red

I did end up learning how to surf.

The second time I went out was with my unsympathetic roommate and some of his friends. I later learned that when the guys go out, that's when I should stay on the beach. A "good" day meant decent sized waves, which were too big to learn on. So these guys saw me fall and slip and tumble for about 30 minutes before I quit. Surely, I thought, this was the hardest sport ever invented. I was winded and exhausted. It boggled my mind how surfers can stay out there for hours and still have pot bellies. Not all of them of course--just the ones who still think it's college and drink beer every night. Finally an older guy came over to offer a tip. He told me that I needed to keep the front tip of my board skimming right under the water. It would help me paddle around faster. But to avoid purling I had to shift my body weight towards the back of the board or else my nose would get too far submerged. He also suggested I push down using one knee to shift the weight, but I didn't find that very effective.

(1) Keep your nose skimming right below the surface of the water to get speed. But lift through the chest (Yogis know this as the Cobra pose) to shift your weight to the back if you start to purl. Usually this happens as you're just starting to catch the wave.

After that I decided I'd stick to surfing without friends. They didn't offer any help anyway! A lot of the young locals are so obsessed with the image of surfing they didn't want to be associated with a kook like me. The old guys and the ones without something to prove turned out to be the most helpful and fun to be around.

One evening after work I "paddled out" (you've got to use the lingo, folks) and there were about 5 guys out with me. Two of them were on stand-up paddleboards, which are oversized longboards that are so bouyant you can stand on them and maneuver with just a little balance. They could go far past the breakers and it looked peaceful. I was doing my thing, attempting to catch waves, when one of them nicely offered to let me ride his big paddleboard thing. He said he was in the mood to surf, so I took him up on it. That night didn't do much for my surfing, but it's a vivid memory. I was able to see the ocean from a perspective I'd never had before. I felt connected to it, and it felt like happiness.

I can't remember when I had a breakthrough and was able to stand up and ride the wave to shore. I had a friend, Jeff Nicholson, who would meet me at around 5:30 after work down in front of my house at 35th street. No matter what the conditions were, we would take turns on my board until it got dark. A lot of nights the water was choppy and I'd watch Jeff try over and over to ride the wave in. We had a lot of fun, especially when Babs would come along and get used to the water.

I'm sure something clicked when the waves were tiny and the blue sky was calm and steady. All I know is that I was hooked. I wanted to go out all the time, and eventually I was able to feel confident with friends looking on. Confident meaning not completely ashamed! So I just kept at it.

We only went to Sandbridge once and there was a big group of us that day. Cory and Craig were there, Ashton, Reid, Jayhoo and maybe some other I've forgotten. Wes and I went out to a different peak away from the others, and he let loose of some excess baggage and had to leave me for awhile. That's the day he taught me how to ride the line. And then I did! I've only done it a few times and I think it was luck. But that time I got a cheer from friends down the beach that made it even more special. What an amazing feeling!

For the rest of the Summer I'd get tips here and there from Wes that helped me improve.

(2) If you're looking at the peak and it breaks to your left, go right. If it breaks to your right, go left.

(3) If the wave is coming at you and will break before you can get enough speed, it's going to crash on top of you. Wait for a better wave and start early.

We'd walk down to the shore and every wave that broke I had to say "take it" or "skip it," and if it was a taker I'd have to say which way to ride it, left or right. Or else!

Once we went to Croatan and there were these waves that were breaking 2-3 times over. If you caught the furthest break then you could ride it midway until it reformed and broke again. It was wild! I only did it once and passed Wes and a stranger who cheered me on.

Another morning Wes and Sam went without me and I was bummed so I figured I'd just go out myself! I went to the 15th st. pier on the southside and caught the first wave to the shore. That was the only time I really felt like "I could surf!" I made friends with these 2 guys who were out there and we just shot the shit and surfed until Wes decided to come over. That was a good day.

Now I have this 3-2 O'neill wetsuit I need to use somehow, and I'm thinking it will have to wait until next August when my family takes a trip to Oceanside, CA. I just hope I can remember how.

Now that I don't live anywhere near the ocean, and don't have any options to move back to the beach, it makes me painfully sad that I only had one summer of surfing. But it was one hell of a summer!



This is the second board I bought, which is a 9'2'' Hobie I got from Freedom Surf Shop for $260. The last day I took it out I dropped it by the truck so it needs a quick ding repair.

If we had more people like Carl, we'd be okay.

Hi folks. Tonight I sat with my aunt around the kitchen table for a couple hours as she reviewed a contract offer on her house. Her realtor was Carl, who wears a tan jacket embroidered with the Coldwell Bankers logo. I could tell he's been doing this for a long time because he has dentures and he accepted the hot tea and cookies that were offered. (It annoys me when people who come to you for business reasons turn down a cordial offer to drink something while you're at it.) We eventually got down to reviewing the 36-page contract. What I like about Carl, and why I've taken it to the blog, is that he sat with us and shared personal stories about his life and childhood that made this otherwise tedious procedure more bearable. At times he climbed up on a soap box to shake his finger at the Berle and Dodds of the world. He talked about when his father bought a home in D.C. on 15th Street there was one page of paperwork. The top half was the contract and the bottom half was the deed for closing. And by golly he has that page framed in his home right now. As we continued on through the pages we learned how Carl has turned down buyers who expect to pay their mortgage using the combined monthly salaries from a dual income household. He remembered the days when you were required to afford your monthly payment with one week of salary. Then it went to two weeks, then three, and now you can buy a large house an not have enough money for furniture. He recalled advising one couple to buy small, build up some equity, sell the house and then get the bigger house of their dreams. Six years later and they still send him Christmas cards thanking him for this guidance. "Everything in this country has become about getting things now. Nobody wants to wait anymore." So here is Carl, the trusted agent we're coming to know. As the last page of the contract is perused I expect a quick handshake and departure. But instead the conversation relaxes a little, and my aunt and Carl begin reminiscing the old days. They seem about the same generation of retirees born in the late thirties early forties. Carl talks about riding his bike unsupervised around the construction of the Pentagon near his house. How once in shop class his head was split open by a 2x4 and the school nurese sent him walking to the nearest doctor. My favorite story was his recollection of Friday nights growing up at home. It was the end of the workweek and his family would finish dinner and put their individual weekly earnings in a pile on the table. Paper routes included. The first thing off the top was 10% for the Lutheran church. Then came mother's allowance, which was never arguable. Then the oldest son, Carl, who had to justify the amount he received, and so on until the money was divied into envelopes. When one of the siblings needed new shoes, everone took from their envelope and chipped in. It is the modern co-op concept at its finest. Looking after the ones closest to you, protecting the collective well-being.

Carl doesn't like the government telling him what to do. Let us negotiate and find the right path on our own. Don't tell him he can't ride his bike off the ramp of a construction site. Don't be surprised that he's taken care of his family selling homes honestly in a dirty market. This is Carl and he does it his own way.

Sunday Ibok

You are in my heart Sunday.

Getting Things Done

Sometimes it's hard to do things on my to-do list. Getting inspired to be productive usually requires donuts. Luckily I had a coupon to get my oil changed at a shop next to Dunkin' Donuts. This made waking up for today's task a breeze. I don't normally sit inside the mechanic's lobby due to loud televisions showing geriatric commercials and bitter coffee, but today I perched up and studied for my upcoming yoga training final. While memorizing the Sanskrit names for chakras, I overheard a fellow patron discuss his ambition to learn how to surf. I chimed in, feeling the sugar high from my recent Maple Frosted Donut and Old Fashioned Donut. Turns out Willy and his sidekick run a car detailing service out of their van--which was in the shop for a leaky air conditioner. Today's sun will make a man do crazy things. We had a great chat that included the process of learning to surf. This reminded me of how I only chronicled my first day out, and how I should take note of my recent progress. Here's something else. AM 850 is the best radio station in Hampton Roads. Stand-up comedy 24/7. Also, mechanics really do treat women as inferior human beings. I have yet to been shown otherwise. 

Bite of Wisdom

If you put a really good cookie inside a turd, the cookie becomes the turd. - C. Pittman

If you lie down with dogs, you'll rise with fleas.

Joining a group that meets just once a month produces the same increase in happiness as doubling your income. According to research...the daily activities most closely associated with happiness are social--having sex, socializing after work, and having dinner with friends.

Memorial Day WOOO

It's Memorial Day weekend and it seems like everyone from Ohio-on-east has flocked to Virginia Beach. I spent the day alone which was a little weird. I decided to test out my new surfboard that I bought for $100 from a cashier at WRV. It's an 8'2" longboard. I couldn't find anyone to go with me so I awkwardly entered the ocean in front of hundreds of onlookers, trying to give off the "please don't judge me, I've never done this!"vibe. I paddled out, which for me is the easy part. I paddled a little last summer and I can swim pretty well. I took on a few monster waves and managed to hang tough. I just went out as far as the dudes were. When the "set" came in I turned around to try and catch a wave. Either I wouldn't turn fast enough and it would crash when I was sideways, or the nose of my board would dip under water and I would front flip off of it (supposedly called "purling," which to me is a kind of stitch in knitting).

At one point a dude-bro kind of smirked at me, and it was not because he thought I was cute. I'm pretty sure about that since my mop of hair was in my face. It was because I looked like a girl who was trying to teach herself how to surf in some nasty chop soup. I came in after about 30 minutes which felt like enough. That's when I noticed I had a nice pink rash from the boardshorts I wore specifically to avoid a rash. Overall it was a healthy experience, and I feel like I got over the hump of getting out there. My plan is to go after work and keep trying, ideally with some helpful bros, and sticking to some shore break.

Now the day is over and I get the pleasure of hearing my roommate Chase, friend Taylor and new friend whose name I forgot, play droney music downstairs. They are so good! Chase has a combo with the marimba and melodica that sounds crazy. The new guy has a Les Paul that is gorgeous and sounds so sweet. He brought some electronic digs that I hope they bust out. I am only writing this because I am procrastinating the writing I REALLY must do--which is about why I want to be a writer. I might go on a bike ride instead. I did some tourist watching earlier. I love when parents hold their kid's hand. I also love it when old couples look like each other. And when regular aged couples crack each other up. That's all you really need in life I say. That and some pizza pie.

Oh Memorial Day, so bittersweet. Change happening so fast. Lots of weird feelings. Don't want to be anywhere else though.

<3

OH Barbacoa I Love You!

My 27th Birthday.

Birthdays are weird. I usually dread mine and love other people's. I love the idea of celebrating my friends one at a time periodically through the year. But when it comes to my own I tend to get lost in self-deprecating introspection. This year I didn't know what to expect. I am living in a place with great nice wonderful people, but hardly anyone I've known longer than a few months. I remember back to times when I've been surrounded by my closest friends, and I wondered how this would be different.  Then I tried to be Zen-like and appreciate the golden present. For all of you out there who are curious about what I did for my 27th birthday, here's how it went.  

• There was a storm on Tuesday evening that knocked the power out. My phone was dead until the birthday was almost over, so I didn't get to take any of the nice birthday calls. This was sad because it's the only day of the year I actually get calls. I also didn't see the super nice facebook posts until the next morning. BUT, I was more Zen-like. 

• I was gifted an ice cream cake. My favorite thing about my birthday is ice cream cake. Again, the power was out so it melted in the freezer. BUT, when the power came back on it re-froze, and it's still good even when it's misshaped. I was also sent some yellow tulips from Mom, Dad and Babs. 

• My birthday request: 18 holes of golf.  We had an 8:50 tee-time at Hell's Point golf course.   Sure it took us 6 hours in a cart, but it was so much fun! At first I was all about keeping score, but after the first hole that was not reasonable. Lucky for us, the storm caused the phones at the club to go dead so hardly anyone could schedule a tee time. We took mulligans since we basically had the course to ourselves. We lost about 15 balls. Par was made once, and we had some bogeys. Only my right ear got sunburned. Two of the next three things are true: I want to get really good at golf. I want to buy some long khaki shorts. I want to get my own golf cart to drive around town instead of a scooter. 

• After golfing I went shopping for my favorite line of clothing. I am not going to tell you what that line is, because I don't want to share my secret (but it's awesome!). Then we got some snacks and headed back. 

• Then I hung with some local friends and ate some seafood on Rudee's Inlet!  I crashed around midnight after a couple nightcaps of the 2011 Summertime Special. (Recipe: Frozen drink-in-a-bag mixed with Bud Lime. It might sound naco, but it's perfect.)

I know a lot of people have beef with facebook, but I must give it props as a medium for birthday wishes. Today my heart swelled when I got to see what people posted. I saw names that go all the way back to when I was a kid. It reminds me that even though I might be physically distant from my friends, they are out there still. And for my 27th birthday I was mostly able to avoid the depression and be grateful for the life I've led thus far, and for the people I've met along the way. 

If I can just avoid overdosing this year I'm all set.