I'm not Drunk--

That's just my Yoga High!

Last night I said, "I feel drunk now," to a classmate as we were walking out of Yoga.

Yes, that was my profound first sentence after two hours of silence.

I thought about it all the way to the car (the statement). & then it hit me--that's the perfect way to describe my post-yoga-mood.

And I mean this in the second definition of the adjective "drunk" (at least according to Merriam-Webster):

2: dominated by an intense feeling [drunk with rage]

But ignore their rage example. It is more like--PEACE or HAPPY or like I could talk to the flowers.

We added a couple new poses:
cobra, sphinx, the fish, mountain-->standing side stretches

We also did some OM OM OM. Which is what a lot of people imagine when you mention Yoga. Or maybe that was just me several years ago.

I always imagined people sitting lotus-style (like up there in that picture) with their eyes closed, chanting. Well, last night we did the OM OM OM. And well, everyone was into it. Shocker.

OM: is reputed to be the resonant vibrational tone of the non-dualistic universe as a whole.

So there we have it.

~~J

From the Mouths of Professors:

Actually, wisdom(s) from the mouth of a former professor.

The class? Forms of Poetry. I’ve been meaning to post this for a while now. I figured a couple semesters removed was appropriate.

the notetaker? Rachel. She is at least half the reason I made it through that class without throwing the biggest tantrum known to mankind.

(of course these are not notes, these are just random sentences spout out from the depths of melancholy and despair)

I have rearranged the snippets she copied into various "subject" matter(s) and will present them this way. Remember that these were from throughout the semester, and as random as you could ever imagine!

On POETRY/POEMS:
------------------------
~Carl, you’ve just taken the door off the doorjamb!
~The poems aren’t written for the podium or the soapbox.
~We’re all the way back at the station of the metro with Ezra Pound again.
~We’re breathing the commas, we’re breathing the periods.
~Can you hold back on your rhythm, man!
~The pain of the page disappears and we have the voice speaking to us...
~He catches us with a comma.

ON LOVE:
-----------
~And love, of course, is embedded in lovely
~Trudie…truth, beauty maybe I’ll meet her someday...
~You might meet your partner in Cincinnati three years from now…if that happens send me a postcard.
~It’s like when you play chess, no matter how many times you play you’ll always think, “Wow, I’ve never been here before.”

ON AGING:
-------------
~Most people become old orphans...
~Old age ain’t for sissies!
~We’re no different that the squirrel… we’re biological.
~We’re a long way from Mr. Stevenson’s fifth grade class.
~There's the "wheel of fortune," if you will.
~Bob doesn’t even want to look!
~Physics is physics and there’s no escaping, biology is biology and there’s no escaping.

~~J

Yoga Me This:

Day One.

aka the first time in my life (I know of) in which I didn't speak for over two hours.

If you know me--you know me.

If you don't know me--
this is big!

(I've been told that I even "sleep talk")

I had my first (for credit) yoga class this evening and I feel like jello.

I am still totally stress-free though and THAT is a serious plus! (I also have a feeling that I will sleep like a baby)

For those who have any clue about Yoga we did:

Sponge (aka Corpse)
Crocodile
Half locus
Dolphin
Downward facing dog
“Half lord of the fishes”
Bridge
Chair
Lion
Half bow
Triangle
Warrior II
“Single nostril breathing”
Legs-up-the-wall
Modified eagle

Of course, none of that is in sequence (nor is it everything). I just rifled through Google trying to find names of these poses. One cool thing about this class is that we do it--with the lights off. And you're so busy concentrating on yourself, that it is impossible to even remember the 19 other people around you.

Our instructor has been teaching Yoga since 1975. You do the math. He combines a lot of different "schools" and methods of yoga and was affiliated with the Himalayan Institute for a very long time.

I don't really know what all that means yet, but I can tell you that I am a master of the Sponge aka Corpse pose already.

And if you're not laughing your ass off over that yet, LOOK AT IT HERE.

~~J

The Editing Process--

(subtitle: I NEED ONE!)

There is a difference between editing your own work and editing the work of others. Editing the work of other is a million times easier.

When the story is being filtered through you, when the words spitting out onto the page (or screen) are yours—you rarely see mistakes or missing information. All of that information is in your brain as you read along.

This being said (was that an excuse?) I am embarrassed looking back at the “original” drafts I submitted to classes to read. I am going to stop doing that—BUT it is amazing to see how much better version 25 is compared to version 10.

I am thinking about a story I wrote in April. It is now July and three months (only three months? or is that four?) have made it fantastic.

When do I stop? (Alternate title to post?)

I have left the story alone for weeks; I pick it up and feel the need to edit like a maniac. Maybe “maniac” is a strong word.

This morning, I was looking for adverbs and unnecessary words. I was looking at ways to make it tighter, stronger. I was looking to remove a sentence here or there.

Sometimes I wonder if this is why I haven't written anything of late. Okay, I have written something this month (I was looking over and editing it last night)--actually I wrote it LAST month!

How many times can I let friends read and reread and read the same story again before they stop being my friend?

Is this why writers work in "circles" or is this why writers are notorious drinkers? (Alternate title #2: A Drink--)

My vision is blurry, a sure sign I need to stop(period NOT question mark).

~~J

You can quote me...

“I think therefore I am.”
--Descartes

“I cannot write therefore I read.”
--Myself

That being “said,” you’d think I was doing a lot of writing or reading to pass my “non” work time. Wrong. If the last two months of “no class” have taught me anything, it is that I need a full schedule to maintain equipoise.

Read This Week:
"The Ice Palace" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"The Five-Forty-Eight" by John Cheever

Written This Week:
This blog entry

of course, if I maybe stop watching every single second of MJ coverage, I may find all the lost time I keep complaining about.

OH! I took another GRE practice exam (only the “English” side, so I guess that is practically cheating) and I learned that I am seriously lacking in Reading Comprehension skills.

WHAT? Everything else was greater than average, but the very low comprehension score pulled me waaaaay back.

So even though I have read two relatively famous short stories (and really loved them) don’t ask me what they were about because I probably didn’t understand them anyway.

Sigh. But I want to talk about those two stories like it is nobody's business. Especially the endings...*watches tumbleweeds blow by*...

I am considering taking a couple classes online this semester...maybe in lieu of "testing for language credit." I think I'm afraid that I will fail the "test for credit" delaying my graduation another semester.

You can thank my most recent "never gonna graduate" nightmares for this current revelation. I don't know what to do now. Grad school won't happen until NEXT fall...should I chance it?

What harm is a few "fun" psychology classes anyway? (Abnormal! Psychology of Learning/Memory!) Or maybe another history class?

You can quote me on that!

~~J