TEASER
The following bit of dialog was missing from the blog, but a version of it will appear in Part II of my 2007 Mysore Diary - which hits the floors of finer health food stores on November 1. (You can read Part I in the comfort of your own home by clicking here).....
DAY 17
Today a friend informed me that the Kali pendant I wear is not good.
"She is too angry," he said, shaking is head. "Not good."
He had a point. Shortly after I put on the necklace -- back home in Chicago -- I nearly had a temper tantrum.
Still, I needed to have some reminder of God around my neck. But when I asked friend what I should wear instead, he shrugged.
"Should I wear Shiva?" I asked. "After all, he's for yogis."
He thought about it for a moment.
"No," he said, shaking his head again. "He is bachelor. Not good for woman to wear."
"Well," I said. "What about Ganesh? He's just a boy with the head of an elephant. And he is for writers."
He didn't have to think very long about that one.
"No," he said with finality. "He is also bachelor."
I was becoming irritated - and quickly slipping into Kali mode.
"OK," I said. "Fine.
"But what SHOULD I wear then?"
He thought about it for a moment.
"Om," he said, brightening.
"Om is good. It is neutral. It symbolizes God.
"Yes," he said, nodding. "Om is perfect."
***
This friend, by the way, is Catholic.
Yet I went out and bought an Om necklace anyway.
It has not removed the anger.
Yet.
Has the king of Chicago gone nutz?
ReplyDeleteMayor Richard Daley reached for bottled water to slake his thirst for new tax revenue Wednesday, proposing a 10-cent tariff on every bottle sold in the city.
That $1.25 water from a vending machine could soon cost $1.35. And a 24-pack of Aquafina, advertised for $4.50 at a local grocery chain, would cost $6.90 with the proposed tax, an increase of more than 50 percent.
With millions of water bottles drained each year across the city, the dime-per-bottle tax would add up to a projected $21 million, part of a $293 million package of new taxes, fees and fines proposed by Daley on Wednesday.
Is part one of diary also included in previous blog posts? Can I order this/these books? Are photos included?
ReplyDeleteThanks dreyfuss for the news commentary. It sounds like a luxury tax, (poor people in the US don't drink bottle water).
bottled water contributes significently to land fill.
ReplyDeletewhy do you listen to a catholic about what deity you should wear? if it speaks to you, by all means. i guess if i listened to that person i surely would be doomed seeing i have hanuman, ganesh & om tattooed to me.