Nearly two months ago, I went on a hiking adventure with my friend Mike. I guess some people might call him Mike #2, as I have another Mike I’ve been friends with longer.
But there is no Mike #2. They are both #1. If I were their Little League coach, they’d both get to be pitcher.
So this Mike I went hiking with is Mike, the aspiring chef. Mike, my Dominican brother from another mother. Mike who can’t ride a bike. (I told him I’d teach him if I could blog about it. He declined).
What Mike said I could blog about is taking a hiking trip to Cold Spring, New York. It’s close to Poughkeepsie and full of trees, fresh air, and antiques.
I thought about going to yoga today, but then I watched a video clip from the late 90’s children’s TV show E-i E-i Yoga. My abs got a sufficient laughter workout, so I think I might just stay in happy baby pose and watch a dvd.
Whether you’ve ever practiced yoga or not, you have to witness this remarkably awkward video.
Some background: Yogi Oki Doki teaches yoga to kids on a farm while wearing jeans. His sidekicks include a Jamaican rooster named Rasta and HowNow the MooCow. They’re all concerned about breathing.
With Thanksgiving a few grocery store fisticuffs away, I’ve been daydreaming of cranberry sauce. The real stuff. Not that gelatinous, cylindrical mass with the can indentations.
I try to convert the unenlightened. This year, I’ve started with my friend Nate. He likes canned fruit. Really likes it.
But hey, admitting it is the first step to recovery.
Whenever I do something fun I want to remember, I try to buy a clothing item or accessory to commemorate the experience. It doesn’t have to be directly related, but I want to be able to dress up again in that joy.
After I took my trapeze class, I went to Beacon’s Closet nearby to find something special. Maybe even a bona fide trapeze dress. (It’s a real style - look it up).
Instead, I found a vintage 1970’s linen dress that reminds me of really pricey wallpaper.
I love “Empire State of Mind” from Jay-Z’s newest album. Check out Alicia Keys playing piano in the middle of Times Square and awkwardly dancing with Jay-Z on the TKTS stairs.
There are fiction class exercises, and then there’s the marathon - the up to 25 pages of material for everyone in class to read and critique.
My first workshop experience was thought provoking and encouraging. Everyone thought the writing was funny, the dialogue strong, the characters interesting.
Then my instructor said soberly, “But I think Amanda’s holding back.”
