CIRCLING THE WAGONS

Today I got up at 6 to move everything (and I mean everything) out of the bedroom before teaching at 8, so the LL's handsome painters could do their thing. Tore nails out of the walls. Swept. Hid stuff. Covered things. Warned the cat. Peach walls are coming, madam. And much dust.

Then caffeineless I taught the 8AM Mysore. The Riverboat Captain Who Plays Sitar made an appearance and had many questions (some of which I could answer) plus there were some regulars. Afterwords I did my own practice. I keep forgetting to mention that I have not stood up from backbend since throwing out the thing (back) in March. Well, perhaps once or twice. But not much since. I've been doing the pose differently since Tim Miller showed me a better way at an Asana Doctor workshop a few weeks ago. It seems to be working (ie the back is being rehabilitated). I am also doing Mari C and D differently (with a straighter back, both cheeks on the floor) which also seems to help.

Afterwords I gave blood (the secret to passing the iron/anemia test is to *not* have anything with caffeine in it before donating; the two people after me both flunked). I do wish they'd take down that 9/11-era newspaper clipping of Robin Williams giving blood....It makes me not want to go back.

The weekend was punctuated by back-to-back widescreen screenings of Deadwood in central AC comfort, some Target Therapy and hanging out with the family under some gigantic oaks in my nephew's hugehuge lawn out near the hometown. He is 30. THIRTY. The family is doing well but I should've taken Young Mulletted Joey up on his offer to open my trunk (the boot hasn't opened since even before the FedEx truck hit the car in January). The great-niece is teething; very cute and quiet is that baby. Saturday night I went to see the play Leaving Iowa flanked by Larry David Midwest and The Media Junkie (who hit it off); afterwords one of the stars joined us for dinner, which was full of clever high-jinks and references to Combat! and Bedouins.

And last night I finally saw the final cut of our video project, Valerie Loves Me. It doesn't suck! It's quite good in fact. Not just the production values but also the writing and, well, even my so-called acting is halfway passable. Blaine is a genius.

I hope I still feel that way the next time we screen it.....