If you hire people who don't speak good english, they need to be really good at their jobs!

I officially hate Lowes. For those of you that might not know, Lowes is the California’s big-name hardware store. And I hate it. I hate it with a passion usually reserved only for ballpoint pens and bad driving directions. I hate it so much walking into it, those high shelves, the concrete floors, the greasy, sawdusty, sweaty smell, the people in their cute little blue vests who DON’T speak English and HAVE NO IDEA WHERE ANYTHING IS!

Today, I had to go to Lowes, to buy some I-rings, some S-hooks, a long thin piece of pine, some large metal rings and a small wooden dowel. THIS SMALL SIMPLE LIST TOOK ALMOST TWO HOURS. First there was the guy with the hearing aid that couldn’t hear my pleasant “excuse me sir, where are these rings in a smaller size” and left me standing there feeling extremely awkward until he turned around and almost bumped into me. Right there I was ready to forgive him, I mean, who was I to judge? He couldn’t hear me! I mean, for all I know his mother boxed his ears as a child, and he’s some sort of musical genius who’s going to write nine symphonies and cut the legs off his pianos so he can feel the vibrations through the floor. But possible musical brilliance aside, he still couldn’t tell me where the small I-rings were.

Now I am not racist, nor do I have a problem with stores hiring people with disabilities. I simply think that if you do hire people with imperfect english for whatever reason, they need to be REALLY GOOD AT THEIR JOB or in the back, stocking shelves. It is ridiculous for me not to be able to find a single person in a hardware store who can articulately and concisely tell me exactly where I need to go for what.

The lady with the weird middle-eastern accent couldn’t tell me where the aluminum s-hooks were, and the weird and thickly lisping Indian guy couldn’t tell me where the pine was, and the weird young emo kid who literally DID NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH WHEN SPEAKING could not tell me where the dowels were. All in all, it was NOT a good trip. And it gets worse! Upon getting home, I discovered that the WHOLE BOX OF I-HOOKS was left at the store. So I have to go back. Early. In. The. Morning.

I also currently hate fake flowers, but that’s a story for another day. As are the 5 wonderful hours I spent with the ONLY girl I have ever felt truly comfortable with. I love you Jules!

I have decided, due to a pinched nerve in my shoulder, and more incredibly painful back problems to not do anymore of the yoga I was trying to do. More on that soon as well.

I'm a failure.

I didn't not do yoga yesterday, or the day before.  I officially fail at life.  

I'll do it today, and then move the end of my 40 days 2 days later.  

I feel like a sack of fat, lumpy, useless, excrement.  

At least my ear heard my plea and is much improved (after taking a hot shower, filling my ear with hot water, and lying down on a towel last night)

Blergh

I'm not really in the mood for writing today, but I'm trying to write every day, so I'm going to say something...

J and I went up to Caz today, which was, well an experience... and I'll have a lot to say about it tomorrow.  

Mostly I just want to read my current book Fairest, by Gail Carsen Levine, as I am currently OBSESSED with it. 

And I did NOT want to do my yoga today, I wish I had done it this morning rather than waiting until after I'd been in the car all day, and then with people I was really hyper around, and then in the car for another whole day! (not really, we drove up and down today, but it sure felt like forever...) But yea, yoga was hard, but it still happened.  

Topics for the next few days:

Caz

Someone I shall call Jewel

Music

The Box

And more I'm sure.  

Armegeddon

I'm going to New York this fall, to school on Long Island, which to me, is not that scary. Apparently my mom does not agree however, she said this morning that she was concerned about me going so far away because there's "going to be a nuclear war". Now I like to think a little more optimistically, perhaps that the world is not going to fall apart immediately at least not in the next four years. Can I please get through college, get a degree, before we're reduced to cowering in the country, waiting for one beautiful city after another to go up in smoke.

What I can't understand, is why anyone, no-matter what their agenda, or their reasons, would ever, EVER, fire a nuclear weapon. Wasn't that the POINT of Mutually Assured Destruction? Even just one stupid teeny tiny nuke, just means the end of everything beautiful we have left.

Dear Terrorists, please don't blow up everything until after I get out of college!
Thanks, Em

That'll do the trick, I'm sure.



Yoga was a little hard today, didn't happen until 9pm. Plus, I'm going up to Cazadero Performing Arts Camp tomorrow to visit some old friends. So, no post tomorrow most likely... Not that anyone is waiting on their toes!

Scenery Pill

I spent all today in Point Reyes with my mom... Point Reyes, the most beautiful place in the world.  I didn't even go anywhere exciting, not to the beach, or the beautiful trails, anywhere. But still,  just around the town, and about 10 times to the friend of my mom's who lets her do her laundry at his house, even that is gorgeous.  It's like some sort of supplement, a vitamin, someone should bottle, "Beautiful Scenery, one pill a day keeps the gloom away".  It certainly kept my gloom away today...

I've also been watching this show called 30 days, which I recommend to EVERYONE.  It's available on Hulu.com.  It's so fascinating.  I'm watching this great episode where a Mom concerned with her college daughters drinking decides to binge drink every night for 30 days.  It's well, interesting... I mean, as a college student who is rather responsible, but still does go out and drink and get drunk, it's interesting to see both the college student who gets drunk to the point of blacking out every night (I've only ever blacked out and thrown up once) and the mom who can only handle four drinks before throwing up.  

I also started 40 days of two yoga sets yesterday, and we'll see how it goes, even just doing these two EASY PEASY ones are soo hard, so incredibly difficult.  I'm sore even just after two days, without even doing 26 repetitions of each one (I actually can't yet).  So yea... we'll see. Hopefully by posting about it every day I can keep up with it.  

Anyway... one more little tidbit, I'm involved in an art show in Point Reyes, in the Gallery Route One, where they send out over 100 completely blank empty wooden boxes to do anything you please with to artists in the area.  I'll keep posting about my progress (it's due in a week) hopefully without giving away anything too big!

It all comes down to high-school

I'm currently living in a Sikh Ashram one block from Haight/Ashbury in San Francisco. I'm lucky enough to live there because of being friends with someone who grew up there.

The reason I mention this, is because this morning, I sat in a room watching the girls I live with do this insane yoga set that I literally could not do if I tried. They both just graduated from Miri Piri Academy, in India, the premier school for Sikhs, where you don't just graduate with a high school degree, and an entire health lifestyle ingrained in you, but a license to teach yoga as well. They leave fully able to get along in the world, get a well paying job, or do anything else they want, completely self-sufficient with exercise, good sleep, good food, and every other good habit you could ever want. And I left my high-school with no skills other than a constant nagging that I need to be in "college" being "educated" so I can "succeed".

Not that I'm complaining about Waldorf, the weird little wonderful artsy high-school I went to, I loved it there, I loved the people and the art, and the sense of community, and the teachers interest in each student (I still go back and have coffee with some of my favorite teachers). I loved a lot about my high-school, I left with a profound sense of social depth and moral aptitude which you'd think would be wonderful, but has actually served me badly in the world as I now expect people to treat me with respect and understanding, as I would treat them, where in fact I'm treated as everyone is treated, with distrust and disregard. Still, though, I certainly didn't leave a fully fledged yoga teacher, bilingual, and chock full of all those life improvements and empowerment that the rest of the world has to work so hard on. Now that's a high-school worth going to.

So while the girls were getting up at 5am, taking 11 minute cold showers, making power smoothies, doing Sadhana, (the morning worship involving meditation and the opening of the sacred book) doing the morning yoga set (they each do different sets for 40 days depending on what they want to improve in their bodies) then getting ready, wrapping their turbans and making salad and kicharee (mung beans, rice, vegtables and spices all cooked together into a thick stew) for lunch, and going to work, I was snoring away in bed, fat oozing out of old gross boxers, un-showered greasy hair all over the pillow, till half past eleven. Even after I woke up, it didn't get any better, I stumbled downstairs, morning breath leaving a rancid cloud behind me, and bleary-eyed stuffed some crumpets in my mouth before going back up-stairs to sit around, arguing with my boyfriend, having people cancel plans on me, and altogether doing nothing the entirety of the day. Productive, eh?

Basically, it's not my fault I'm a useless lazy bum, it all comes down to where I went to high-school.

My girls...

And some of the crazy yoga poses they do...

PS... These girls are only 17 and 18. The 18 year old is making $1000 a week as a massage therapist, and is about to go to med school to be an osteopath, while the 17 year old (the one in the crazy pose) is about to go to school to study digital media and art.