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Long weekend. Yay! I didn’t remember it until speaking with a vendor on Tuesday.

He said, “Are you doing anything special for the weekend? My wife and I are going to Lake Powell.”

Me (internal monolog: “Wow, that’s random.”): “Uhhh…”

Him: “We go every Memorial Day.”

Me: “Oh, that sounds great.” (Internal monolog: “Long weekend! Woohoo! What month is this?!”)

Anyhow, to celebrate, I made pancakes for breakfast. This is the best and easiest pancake recipe ever. Cakey, vanilla-y, and like I said, super easy.

1 c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 T sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 c soymilk
2 T vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Add wet into dry and stir until lumps are pea-size.

Yum!

I have two favorite kitchen objects right now: a new cast iron skillet and a new cookbook. The skillet rocks — really, there’s nothing like cooking in cast iron. I’m eager to try out some naan on it.

The other new favorite is this book: Good to the Grain. Not only does it offer me an opportunity to treasure hunt local stores for more exotic flours like amaranth, spelt and teff, it also has the most astonishingly beautiful pictures and (yes, I worked in bookstores for a decade) a top-notch binding.

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Speaking of books. I just downloaded the Kindle version of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hinduism. I’ve been having such a good time listening to podcasts by Swami Jyotirmayananda every day, but it occurs to me that my understanding of Hinduism is kind of catch as catch can — bits and pieces picked up in yoga classes, online, through my own random reading list, etc.

Must take a moment to shout out to Volleyball Guy, who insists all of his students learn to recite the limbs of Ashtanga, recite the yamas and niyamas, and chant a good number of mantras. He always put the asana practice in perspective re: the larger picture of raja yoga.

So yeah, an “Idiot’s Guide” is pretty unsophisticated. But whatever, right? I need an overview. I’ve learned to go easy when I suggest that people should pick up an “Idiot’s Guide” or “For Dummies” book. It never occurred to me that someone might take it personally, until someone did. But I’m pretty shameless about starting from scratch when I’m learning something new.

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And now some pics of Waylon doing what he does best on this long holiday weekend.

This afternoon we’re going to visit a potential sister for Waylon. Both The Cop and I agree that any bulldog girl who’s going to grow up to weigh 100 pounds ought to have a super feminine name. I mean, the incongruity is too tempting, don’t you think? If you want to leave a suggestion in the comments, feel free. I keep thinking of flower names, like Lily or Violet.

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And Happy Vesak Day to all! Vesak Day commemorates The Buddha’s birth, enlightment, and passing.

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P.S. Does a dog have Buddha nature?

Life is unfair, but that’s okay.

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Possible sister for Waylon?

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Why Way needs a bud. Everyone likes to play the bitey game.

Chatting online with Liz and Sonya the other day and somehow the topic turned to my love (adoration, more accurately) of stoner stuff. Dude, where’s my car? Sweet! Obviously I cannot act upon my love of all things stoner (Officer Husband’s career would certainly suffer if he had a stoner wife), but I did indulge myself a bit this morning by practicing to a Grateful Dead soundtrack. Wheeee! Seriously, if you want happy happy energy, practice to the Dead. Next social event with The Cop & his colleagues, I’ll be the chick wearing tie dye!

In a weird twist of (perhaps practice-induced) mental flexibility, I’ve “allowed myself” (yeah, yeah, red flag, I know) to gain almost 5 pounds. This was an intuitive move — clear of intent but nebulous of purpose — and I’m really enjoying it (aside from very infrequent flashes of “I’ve let myself go!” panic). So yes, I am enjoying it physically — feeling strong and robust and energetic, and really REALLY resilient — though occasionally feeling uncomfortable in my mind. What’s breaking the tie between body and mind is the fact that the extra weight seems to be oiling the backbends quite dramatically.

My back is supple in a way that I’ve never experienced before. Perhaps my deeply held, brittle self-discipline re: body size affects physical flexibility? Does this rise to the level of a DUH! observation? Or is it woo woo mysticism? I don’t know! I can’t distinguish between the utterly obvious and crazy delusion because I’m just a hippie!

And here’s The Dude with his new stuffed elephant toy.

So I look over last night and all I can think is, “God, I have to make him some pants.”

Great day so far — got up late (7:15!), had coffee, practiced. Went for a walk in the desert with The Cop and Waylon. Came home, had lunch, read (a great book that I read years ago & am thoroughly enjoying re-reading). Made pasta for dinner tonight. (Last night I made a chocolate bundt cake with cream cheese glaze that we’ll bring along, as well.) Just now I’m having a cup of chai and one of these. Damn, they’re good! They actually came in a basket The Cop’s parents sent. I set them aside, not too terribly interested in trying them. Finally got around to having one last night. OMG. Unbelievable.

We’ll be at my Mom and Dad’s house this evening — The Cop, My Gift, Waylon and me. My sister, her girlfriend and their dog, Wiley, are in from San Diego. Ought to be fun.

Some pics from this morning. The Cop and Way:

Lots of cholla cactus around the trail. Waylon managed to get a bit in his front left paw. The Cop got most of it out on the trail, and I just pulled the last bit out a minute ago when I saw him fussing with his paw again.

And here’s Way with an early Christmas present. Hope everyone gets everything they want in 2010!

Maxine left us the other day. We brought her to the vet, because she indicated to The Cop that she was done with her life. It was so hard to let her go, but certainly time. She was 14 — and her breed generally lives about 10 years. So a very, very old lady.

I thought about how she was so gracious when I entered her & The Cop’s life. I remember the first time I met her. She sat on the couch next to me and I wondered if she was waiting for The Cop to leave the room so she could kill the interloper.

But that wasn’t her style. Nope. She played along, she helped raise Tyler and Waylon, and she never complained. Sure, she couldn’t *say* anything, but dogs let you know when they’re disgruntled. Maxine was pretty zen through whatever we threw at her. As long as she could lie out in the grass on a sunny day, she was pretty happy.

A little under the weather today. Kinda tired and headachey. Maybe a cold coming on? I was all pathetic at practice (internally, kinda whiny — externally, probably couldn’t tell anything was going on). But I pretty much had to fight off the impulse to just curl up on my mat and go to sleep.

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“Why does baddha konasana hurt so much?” That’s a keyword phrase that brought someone to the site recently. If you’re still around and reading: take heart! It stops hurting. Eventually. It was a good couple of years (with 6 months off when my piriformis totally rebelled), but now baddha k is my FAVORITE pose. Largely because it was so hard won.

I think back though, and wonder: Why did I persist?

Is it some leftover tapas from a past life? That’s all I can figure.

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Seems like psoas stretching is a big fad among Ashtangis these days. I’m in. I’ve been doing lunges twice a day for the past few days now. And there’s hanumansana after the prasaritas every day. Still, my shoulders and hip flexors are super-recalcitrant in backbends. Oh, I guess I’m responsible for that, eh? All of those squats and shoulder presses and my abiding love for climbing overhangs. Ah well.

We have to do what we love. Like eating palm fronds.

Or maybe hip joint? Eh, who knows. A sharp pain that’s kicked off by internal rotation of the right leg. I am going to practice later than usual today, so all I know for sure right now is that my coffee is delicious and there’s something weird going on in the right hip. I’ll know more once I take it for a spin later on.

Sharp, sudden pains are tough to work with — like trying to hug a porcupine.

And my internal monolog about this whole thing is twofold: 1) I hope it isn’t bad enough to impact my practice substantially, and 2) Hey, it’s the right side! My tight side. Maybe this is an opening? That would totally rock. I can LBH on the left side with actual pleasure — can’t say the same, though, about the right.

Watched Kino’s Intermediate DVD yesterday. (Is THAT what caused this pain? ) Watching the practice DVD was cool, but the real treat is the “How to Work” DVD. Lots of stuff MM has taught me, and some expecially interesting tidbits.

Karandavasana: She demoed it with hands in headstand position. Do the descent and return. Then shift hands to pincha position (don’t come down, just shift ‘em in headstand — you can do it!), and come down with hands in pincha and head on the floor. Once the butt is down and knees tucked in, lift the head off the floor. She demoed falling from there, which was charming, and then suggested you walk the lotus back up the arms and carry on, lifting the duck with pincha arms and head on the floor.

I loved the tone of this DVD, which was all about incremental progress. Basically, you do and do and do until finally you really can.

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Here are a couple of pictures of Waylon with his new toy: a stuffed duck. He loves his stuffed animals. I got him a red lobster, too. I find it endlessly amusing to see him walking around with stuffed animals in his mouth — the more colorful and ridiculous, the better.

I accomplished a lot today, seemingly without really trying. By noon, The Cop and I had spent a little time having breakfast at Starbucks with Waylon, the house was clean, clothes were ironed for the week, and all my little chores completed.

When we first arrived at Starbucks this morning, a man was sitting outside at one table talking to a young woman at another table. She had on a yellow and gold dress and looked like she’d been up all night. She was very thin and twitchy and I understood she was a meth user even before I saw The Cop’s eyes, which change a little when he sees… uh, persons of interest.

As we were sitting with our coffee, an older man dressed in golf clothes stopped to look at Waylon.

“That is a big pit bull,” he said.

We told him that Waylon is not a pit bull. He asked a few questions, then said, “He seems friendly.” When we agreed, he smiled and drew closer and spasmodically poked the air in front of Waylon’s face a few times. “Nice dog,” he said as he walked happily to his car.

I wondered what kind of animals the man usually interacts with. His gesture wouldn’t be appreciated by cats. I thought about birds, and imagined him being bitten. Reptiles? I couldn’t imagine they’d respond well, either. The Cop had wondered the same thing and come up with his own explanation: “Maybe he has a five year old at home that he likes to flick on the head.”

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Here’s a picture of Waylon with his true love. He can only play with it when Maxine is asleep. She does not allow anyone else to play with a ball when she is awake. Seriously. I have to hide yoga balls and tennis balls because she bites and “kills” the big ones, and declares ultimate ownership (she will NOT share, but will pretty much fight to the death) over smaller ones.

I was worried at first that Waylon might swallow the tennis ball, but as it turns out, he just wants to carry it around and lie down next to it and gaze at it lovingly.

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Nothing like a super short short story. Lydia Davis. Here’s a good story — and a link to an interview, and a link to more samples…