Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Living Outdoors


The renovation of the outside of our house is essentially complete. Can I get an "Amen!"? The fence is up along the front, thanks to many painstaking weeks of work with redwood by carpenter-pirate Howard Hawley. The grass is planted, and the other plants are in, including the olive tree in front and the huge agave from James' parents. Everything is still small. Of course, Saylor accompanied me around the yard to take pics. She loves her new yard. I especially love the shot of the Brazilian pepper with the Italian cypress in the background from across the canyon. It's such a pretty tree. It's really a peaceful design which was one of the goals.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

A Good Book and Some Hot Yoga

I'm reading an inspiring book that my good friends John and Ross gave me for Christmas. It's called "The Right Words at the Right Time." I read most of the stories last night. The idea is that each person recounts a time when someone gave them a tidbit of wisdom that they found useful either at that time, or throughout their life. I identified with many of the stories, especially Gwyneth Paltrow's and Jen Anniston's. Yes, the authors are mostly celebrities or well-known people, but I guess we wouldn't probably buy a book full of stories by, like, Joe the cabbie. Well, I probably would, but that's another post. Anyway, if anyone is looking for a little inspiration, this is pretty good. Of course, as I'm reading I'm thinking of what my own personal story would be and then I'm cracking up about less-than-appropriate things people have said to me, and wondering how that would fit into Marlo's book. Maybe her other book, "Stuff to Smack People For."

But on another note, this Monday was my 3rd Monday of doing Bikram Yoga. For those not in the know, it's a 1.5 hour yoga class taught in a 110-degree room. Can you say hot? My friend Jenni, the pet-sitter, went for 2 years almost every day. She said it was cult-like, but that it positively changed her body. You do get a real sense of accomplishment just by staying in the darn room for that long, and even more so because you did 90 minutes of these 26 rigorous yoga postures. It burns 800 calories in one class. That I like. It's very cleansing, and it completely clears your mind. I think it's because you're so focused on surviving you just can't worry about picayune crap that might seem important before you step into this hotbox of a workout. Despite my protestations, I'm diggin' it.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Where Have I Been?

Happy New Year to those loyal few who check back to my blog and prod me ever so kindly to update the damn thing already. Okay, so I'm not sure why I haven't except that work has had me chained to my desk. But I know I went to the Koreshan State Park and took this picture in one of their little historic buildings. Nice tablescape, don't you think? I could have just moved into one of their little buildings. Might have been a tad lonely though, it being a State Park and all.