8:42 a.m. - 2003-06-19
buy the pineapple
listen.
strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
you know what's funny?
(and i don't mean the haha kind of funny. this is more like not-at-all-funny-but-fairly-indicitive-of-the-incredibly-unhealthy-ideas-that-the-media-feeds-us funny) (in other words, sick)
i know that i have a nice body. a lot of the time i love my body. not only does it do more or less whatever i ask it to (and that, really, is where the love lies) but it also looks pretty fabulous stretched out on a bed. or a couch. or the floor. or just lounging in a tree. especially just lounging in a tree. there's something undeniably sexy about anyone who can fall asleep 20 feet off the ground with nothing but future firewood supporting them. or at least i'm not going to deny it. but i digress.
the point is that i feel troubled by all the little imperfections, inadequacies, difficulties... all the incorrectly perceived flaws in my physiology.
the answer is deceptively simple; get my slackass lazy carcass back onto a bike. (if i was feeling ambitious i'd go to yoga again too. yoga is a lovely way of making every single muscle in my body scream in pain. and before you all have to sit down and have a cold drink of water to stop the hysterics, let me clarify that this is bikram's yoga, and not some wussy bend-and-stretch-and-breathe nonsense. bikram's yoga is a workout that you can't appreciate until you try it. and, generally speaking, you'll be too sore after trying it to appreciate it then either. so there)
this morning is a scattered morning. i'm going to blame it on the moon, but i may as well blame it on toothpaste... it doesn't matter. my brain is trying to be in a dozen places all at once, and as a result every time i look for it, i find it somewhere different.
i got email from my brother this morning, and he brought up something interesting (this is going to take a bit of background though. just warning you, so you don't think i'm getting sidetracked again) i think he has the coolest job in the whole world, bar none. and that isn't just because i'm never entirely certain what country he's in. he's been to more places in the last 5 years than most people i know will ever see. (and most of my friends are world travellers) he's met some of the people that i respect more than any others on this planet, and he's had more adventures that you can shake a stick at, many of which involve africa, alternative modes of transport, or airport security.
my brother is one of people that i really look up to, which is sometimes a bit weird, since he's younger than i am.
anyway, the point is that despite all his strange and wonderful adventures, he still thinks i'm the one with a cool job.
and it got me thinking about perspective, and truth, and life. in comparison to a standard wake-up-and-go-to-work job, mine is pretty great, and i'll be the first to admit it, but i still don't think it compares to his.
maybe part of the appeal of my job is that, unlike him, i usually get paid for what i do. on the other hand, he gets most of his expenses paid, and that's a pretty potent incentive, considering what his expenses are.
yesterday he was still in south africa. maybe next week he'll be in cambodia. or thailand. i'm just hoping that his travel plans in the next year involve here, because i miss him.
(complete change of topic. again)
last night mom called while we were eating. on the one hand, it felt extremely rude to chat on the phone instead of being social - but... but... it's my mom! and she's been out of the country and far away from the sort of telephone that you can actually pick up and use for too long. (as opposed to the type of phone that's set up on a plank laid across a couple of boards, beside a cow and 2 goats and a grove of banana trees, where you give someone who doesn't speak much english 800 shillings to dial a number for you that may or may not have any resemblance to the number you're trying to reach, and who then pockets your money while saying that all the phone lines in the province are down and would you like to buy a pineapple? and if you're smart, you'll buy the pineapple and go home and eat it, because it'll be the best pineapple you've ever eaten)
anyway. she's in canada again, and it's so good just to be able to talk to her again. i don't know anyone else who has such a close relationship with either parent, and i'm constantly grateful for the bond we share. i think a lot of it is due to her just being such a phenomenal woman - the highest compliment anyone has ever given me is that i remind them of her. one day i hope i'll be worthy of that sort of praise.
