Sometimes My Arms Bend Back

My days of late have been a mish-mash of small accomplishments, excitement and complete and total confusion. All in all it is still a life worth living, and I am grateful for that.  I have decided to make ponies and unicorns a place for me. Where I can dump my brain and write things of interest. If you like it, well then that’s cool too.

Some random going ons:

Lord of the Rings

Thus continues my descent into total dorkdom.  I have finished the LOTR trilogy, and while at times it was fascinating and entertaining, I mostly thought it was a bore. Is that a heresy? I feel kind of bad about not loving them, because I devoted so much time to reading. To be quite honest, there were WAY too many characters referenced and involved. Also, the history and geography in the book requires a deep and intimate understanding to the Tolkien “middle earth” that would only be acquired by reading the Silmarillion – something i’m not about to do.  I might be alone in this, but after months of time spent reading the trilogy, I would have much rather just watched the movies.  Off to Murakami-land now!

Circus

My aerial skills have been improving, but now I am learning a whole new batch of tricks that make me feel inadequate.  I guess it is all part of the process. I am, however getting much stronger.  I can do 7 pull-ups on average and just recently accomplished a meathook.  A meathook is a move where if done correctly, it feels like a huge hook is stuck in your chest. Fun! Unfortunately, I can’t get out of it just yet and I can only do it on my right side. The result is some very unpretty flopping around.

My contortion training is officially non-existent. I was stretching everyday, but now I have so many things going on I can barely find the time. It seems like that time wont be returning again until the new year.  I am now just a run of the mill flexible girl, not the freakishly bendy sideshow freak I long to be.

Gratitude

I recently wrote an article on my other site about ways to be happy every day.  One of the most impacting suggestions, even to me, was that of gratitude. We are all so guilty of focusing on the negative and complaining about what we don’t have, that we forget about the things that we do.  Ok, so everyone is grateful to have a roof over their heads, and loved ones, and food, and their health and blah blah blah. Don’t get me wrong, these are all wonderful things to have and those that do are very, very lucky. But what about the little things? The things that make us smile every single day. Your favorite socks, or a song, the tiling in your garage, or the little old lady that sells soap on the corner.  Here are some things I’m recently grateful for, in no particular order.

• - pumpkin seeds
• - mice
• - David Lynch’s brain
• - knee-high socks
• - Windows 7
• - autumn
• - peopleofwalmart.com
• - Narwhals
• - Tim Burton’s Moma Exhibit
• - Yerba Mate
• - The World’s Strongest Librarian
• - Etsy

Twin Peaks

I have been watching the Twin Peaks series for the first time in 10 years. God damn it is so good! How was this ever on TV? David Lynch is usually a hit or miss for me.  I really can’t figure out if he is pretentious and weird on purpose or if he really is just crazy. Regardless, it is undeniable that his films resonate with your soul and no matter how hard you try to figure out why.. you never will.

On a somewhat related note:

Gluten: my arch nemesis

Sparing the gory details, I have found that I have a gluten intolerance. On top of being vegan, this is a daunting task. I am very lucky that I live in an area that gives me a lot of options. I am also very thankful for the internet and its abundance of vegan/gluten free recipes.

I haven’t eaten gluten in almost 3 weeks and am supplementing the vitamins that I was deficient in due to my intolerance. Now all of my ailments are gradually disappearing. This is the longest I have gone without a migraine in a very, very long time.

Happiness ensues.