Thursday, April 10, 2008

Downward facing pupster

My yoga teacher, Gregg, is fantastic. I'm not one of those students that idolizes her yoga teacher, but I have great respect and admiration for Gregg because he is a really caring, giving and attentive teacher. I've been going to his classes regularly for two years now and never have I blossomed in my practice more.

I think a lot of my yoga-related growth also has to do with the fact that I read a lot about yoga. There are a lot of really fantastic yoga teachers out there, but studying with them is so expensive. Gregg told me about this yearlong intensive with a really great Anusara teacher, and I want to do it pretty badly, but I doubt that Dave and I can afford it. Broken down, $580 is a pretty good deal for 12 weekends of intense study with a well-known instructor, but our budget is already pretty tight as is. I'm pretty frugal when it comes to a lot of things, and I wish Dave was more frugal, but I'm resigned to the fact that although I'd love to do this, I won't be able to unless I devise some ingenious strategy straight from a Saved by the Bell episode to raise the money. Alas ...

Also, Dave and I are fascinated by the way our dogs seem to have caught on to the yoga craze. It's like every time they wake up from a nap they do a long Downward Facing Dog with a perfect flow to an Upward Facing Dog. Their technique is almost instinctive!

On the knitting front: I started the second sock last night, but after all of the cool increases and decreases and techniques from finishing the first one I fricking forgot how to cast on for the second! Please, will someone tell me that this kind of forgetfulness is common among easily distracted knitters? I hope so. Anyway, for the record, 2x2 rib is boring, especially when the entire shaft of the sock is 2x2 rib. Ugh. I think that this is why lace and patterned socks were first designed. Why should the heel and toe be the only fun and exciting part?

I've been looking for a good sweater pattern that's easy to construct without a lot of sewing and nonsense. I've found three, two cardigans and one kimono-type sweater. The only problem I I have now is actually going out and buying the yarn for it and constructing it. I have project entropy like that.

It's rainy and stormy here in Dallas. The weather is ridiculously unpredictable. Tornado warnings are going off here and in Fort Worth seemingly every other day. Here's hoping we make it through the rainy season alive!

3 comments:

Olivia said...

Said Phoebe Buffet Style: "Ooh. I *wonder* why it's called Up Dog and Down Dog?"

Personally I think they should be called Up Cat and Down Cat. Or Rabbit, yes. Up Rabbit and down Rabbit.

Hehe.

Believe it or not, we had thunder and tiny hailstones yesterday. Of course it was a cold day, but maybe it's trying to warm up and the northern air won't let go.

I think I heard thunder about half an hour ago, and indeed when I looked out the window we had rare fluffy clouds in the sky, instead of the usual grey cast.

MattJ said...

Yeah we got some thundery lightning goodness down here in leafy surrey too!

'Liv - Yoga isn't founded on the purest source of evil ever known to mankind, hence the absence of cats ;)

I admire you dedication to the whole yoga thing, I've not been able to stick with anything like that since I went back to college nearly 10 years ago! lol!

Miss Dallas said...

Matt, much to your chagrin, there is such a thing as cat pose!

We made out lucky with the weather this week. Thousands of North Texans have been without power since Friday morning from what some people thought was a spontaneous tornado. Roofs were ripped off, fences were knocked down, but we were left untouched, which is awesome, because today the weather is amazing! Cool and breezy with plenty of sun!

Our roses are already blooming, and I'll make sure to snap a couple of shots!