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>Photos will have to suffice.

I mean, for f*ck’s sake.
Only in Tennessee.

Voulez-voulez-vous get me back to Cap Hill…

>For several weeks now, maybe months, this song pops up in my head with no corresponding stimulus or significance. I have not seen this movie in over a decade. I do not know why this is or where it came from but if you can help, please feel free to do so.

Here you go:

voulez-voulez-vous hello Alice.

>On my walks home after work in the afternoons there is this certain point on the hill at 17th and Pine where I can see all the way to the hills of Issaquah and, now with the snow season upon us, the outline of Mount Si. The last two days, with the weather being so clear, I have come upon a beautiful thing which I am still kicking myself for not bringing my digital camera to photograph.

The sun is at it’s most splendorous point in it’s setting process after 4pm. So as I’m at the top of this hill, I can see all of the various homes/condos/apartments scattered upon the hilltops of the eastside. What makes it so noteworthy is that the sunset causes the light to reflect off of dozens and dozens of the windows of aforementioned residential structures, resulting in this yellowish/orange-sh shimmering glow that makes it look like little fires all over the hillside. It’s absolutely gorgeous and helps me (somewhat) to tolerate the cookie-cutter-condo infestation of my old stomping ground.
It’s supposed to be sunny again tomorrow; maybe I’ll remember my camera next time.

Oh, and if anyone has a lawyer-friend who knows anything about divorce/liability/assets issues, and doesn’t mind giving some free advice, please let me know. I feel like I am going to have “ex” issues forever. sigh.

voulez-voulez-vous trying to deal.

>okay, post-yoga post.

so, I was walking to the store after yoga because the last several times I had gone to get toilet paper I had, of course, forgotten to get toilet paper. Today, my resolve was intact: I would leave the store with toilet paper.

On my way, as I passed the rather large rosemary bushes decorating the north side of Olive, I realized how, as a habit, I always ran a sprig through my fingers as I walked by so the scent of rosemary would follow me on my errand. I realized, this simple thing…my assault of an innocent herb flourishing on the sidewalk…made me happy.

So why the hell, if my threshold for happiness is so easily met, by a shrub, a pug, the smile that crosses my face when I see the pair of tennis shoes, spray painted fluorescent orange, dangling from the telephone wires on Denny and 12th…why aren’t these simple things enough to pull me up and out of dwelling on the very few things in my life that bring me sadness? The few things I have little or no control over…I submerge into these negative feedback loops consisting of frustration, sadness, jealousy, anger, resentment…why is it so easy to sink into the things that bring unhappiness and so challenging to remember the simple things that bring you joy?

The changing of my perspective and focusing on what is as opposed to what I think it is is fundamental to the work I have to do on myself.

As the Dalai Lama says: “Happiness can be achieved by training the mind.”

voulez-voulez-vous Ommmmm…

>of being surrounded by people yet feeling painfully lonely.

eh, I’m an artist. i’m supposed to thrive on angst and solitude…i think.

no worries. i’m not gonna go all “Frida Kahlo” on everyone.

Van Gogh…eh, maybe.

voulez-voulez-vous can i have your ear?

>so I can take higher-quality photos than with my phone.

Behold…what I have come to call, “The Yoga Tree”:

Ironically enough, I pass this oddity on my way to and from yoga every day.
Damn, he’s been holding that pose a long time…

voulez-voulez-vous ashtanga tree

>Every day at the intersection of Broadway and Olive I see, on opposing corners of the street, a man dressed as the Statue of Liberty and the other dressed as Superman, respectively.

I suspect for Superman, his attire is not a costume.

I will elaborate more when I’m not out the door to my yoga class.

voulez-voulez-vous bring us your tired, your poor, your sore from too many sun salutations…

>Dammit. I just ‘sighed’. I think I owe somebody money for that.

Today was the most fulfilling I’ve had in a while.
Permit me to explain.

It didn’t rain on my way to work.
I got a compliment on my hat.
I got a lot accomplished at work and even got ahead in a few things.
Spent some time connecting with friends.
Made weekend plans.
Tried to eat a mango at my desk (not recommended…)
It didn’t rain on the way home.
Jammed to Hooverphonic on my walk.
Stopped at Madison Market since my favorite yogurt was on sale for $0.59/each, and I also got another mango and an avocado…
Came home, spent time with housemates, changed for class, strolled several blocks to get there…
Had an awesome yoga session with a new teacher I liked very much…
Walked home, said hello to passers-by.
Met the “lady with the pugs” and sat on the cold grass with the pugs and wiggled and cuddled with them before I went in the house. (they were wearing matching red plaid coats!)
Came home, had some turkey and avocado, made some tea, grabbed a Pelligrino, went upstairs, hung out on the floor with Professor Pi (my chinchilla) while he bounced and wiggled and tried to chew on my yoga pants. (this, too, is not recommended…)
Worked on a project for a friend, sipped tea, chatted with some other friends for a bit…

And now I plan on heating up my lavender-scented back/neck muscle beanbag-type wrap thing, crawling into bed, grabbing my tea, draping my lavender-scented back/neck muscle beanbag-type wrap thing around my deltoids, reading, and letting sleep take me whenever it deems appropriate.

voulez-voulez-vous sigh

Dammit!

>Oddity for the day:

Leaving work, walking toward Broadway. Hear the unmistakable sounds of seagulls. Many seagulls.

I look up.

Many, many seagulls.

Um…this was downtown, not Elliott Bay.

Maybe one or two errant birds, okay. But these things had lined themselves up like a chorus line on the rooftops of several buildings for over a block.

Ever see that scene in “The Day After Tomorrow” where the birds, knowing what’s up, flee en masse from the seas inland in order to avoid impending meteorological disaster? I did.

I wondered if the plague of locusts was far behind.

Pedestrians and bus stop denizens were just as enrapt and puzzled as I. As we observed they would rapidly perch then flee in perfect sync. When nature behaves in such a way it tends to make me edgy.

Then I saw the massive horde congealing as a single avian unit in one very specific place.

Dick’s drive-in burger joint.

Bet I walk to work tomorrow and there’s nasty grease-induced bird shit littering the cross-streets of Broadway.

voulez-voulez-vous:

Barman: Did you say the end of the world is coming? Shouldn’t we all lay down on the floor or put paper bags over our heads?

Ford Prefect: If you wish.

Barman: Will it help?

Ford Prefect: Not at all.

>Here’s my tea’s message for the day:

Considering I’ve had a strenuous yoga class, a rather warm bath, and now have tea in hand (see photo)…maybe I should get to work on that painting I started…

voulez-voulez-vous hibiscus ginger.