Mid-January, Rain - January 13, 2012 |
March 22, 2009 Kripalu More changes here as the Omega Institute pours money into what used to be the Happy Hippie Hangout. Now the doors all lock � every door was replaced by heavy hotel-like doors that require passkeys. They all slam now. There is a personal safe in every bedroom. The good thing about the doors is that there is no longer a little wavy-glassed window in each one, letting in the hallway light all night. And, for the gig: bottled water. It used to be a pitcher and glasses, with fresh squeezed lemon slices. They�ve gone all plastic. Plastic cups in the rooms, too, rather than little glasses. People seem happy here though, I mean the employees. The events coordinator�s office has had a revolving door for several years now. Every time we book a gig, the same forms have to be filled out because it�s a new person who doesn�t know us yet. Still, there�s more of a feeling of cohesiveness here right now than I have felt in a long time. Such disruption with lots of construction of new buildings and parking lots, and staff changeovers. The energy of the audiences is different now. They�re targeting a wider demographic than the old Kripalu used to do. It�s more mainstream. The audiences are a little more lively, a little more given to laughing out loud. It�s unexpectedly nice. We stayed over after the gig, which we haven�t done in ages. It was nice not to have to pack up so quickly and get out. Now I�m about to go to breakfast. Already the doors are slamming, the vacuums running down the hall (while not actually going anywhere in a bipedal fashion), feet clomping on the stairs. Can I just say I�m tired? I�m tired every day now. Someone from the audience, a stranger, even mentioned that I looked tired last night. I�ve got to get into a better exercise program and stop eating sugar. ******** Just had their great breakfast. Firm-poached egg on spinach with sauteed onions, a dollop of steel cut oatmeal and one of yellow grits, with a bit of maple syrup, a few almonds, sunflower seeds, raisins and flaked coconut; a spoon of scrambled tofu with peppers and onions. My English PG Tips tea which I brought from home. It�s almost completely replaced coffee in my mornings. I found my mates, who had come down to breakfast just a minute earlier. It�s supposed to be a silent meal but we were cutting up a bit and giggling under our breath. Chris was particularly frisky. Carol has been dealing with Mystery Nausea lately. She barfed on the way to the Grange Hall gig a couple of weeks ago for no apparent reason. She�s sometimes been prone to a little of this, like if she takes vitamins without eating enough food along with them, but it seems to be persistent right now. She was feeling a touch of it after breakfast. She�s in menopause, so pregnancy is out of the question; still, being us, we had to bring it up. �Have you been having sex without me?� Chris whispered across the table. More suppressed giggling. �I confess, it was me,� I said. �There�s something I haven�t told you.� ******** Oshee says she�s getting attached to me. I�m rather attached to hir, too, but in an unattached way. I had told hir I wanted hir to meet my family, and later she reflected on hir relationship with my friend Melissa, who never wanted her family to meet Oshee. Not very open minded, I guess. That�s a whole other thing, too. They met in a breath workshop and had this very intense connection for a while, but I guess Melissa was a little hot and cold and elusive. She�s in a long term relationship with someone probably not right for her, but she�s stayed in it because they built a house together (before talking about what their commitment was to one another). I guess she was paying lip service to leaving Hal, but never did have The Conversation, and Oshee was hoping. Melissa is also the least verbally communicative person I�ve ever known. She has real trouble framing things in words and saying, �I like this,� and �This doesn�t work for me.� This is why she finds herself in a relationship that she avoids by compartmentalizing it away from everything else in her life. They�re working on it, she says. They�ve been to counseling and are trying to figure out whether it�s worth saving, whether it�s worth the value of a house. Oshee is better; not so obsessed now, ze says. But oh, how I know that feeling of wanting someone you almost might have, maybe, but then don�t have, ever. It has to have been a blow to be hidden from Melissa�s family, to be this secret little crush that couldn�t integrate because ze didn�t fit in. ******** I guess I�m awake enough now, not to need a nap. It�s good for me to make myself get up early. I�m feeling slightly motivated to start treating my body better. Those sugar cravings are my Watermelon � I mean, my Waterloo. Gotta call up the cavalry. |
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