Under My Head

I did a headstand in yoga class today. I got to class early and my teacher was doing one. I mentioned how I admired the position and always wondered about how to do one. Ive never done one after years and years of yoga. We had a discussion and before I knew it, I was pressed up against the wall, my waist high up in the air and my legs planted straight on the ground. At that point, it seemed like the most natural thing for my feet was to go up against the wall. She held me for a second and then let go. "Nothing's gonna happen to you." And nothing I did, cept the world, which in that moment was an empty room, was upside down. I didnt break, I didnt snap, I didnt fall. My body felt light and I felt cool then warm. It was amazing.

Let's see. The last few days have been busy with all sorts of activities. Beehive.

Aside from keeping up with the latest feud on "The View" (it was really cheap for Elizbeth to bring up Rosie's feud with Donald Trump), missing Victoria and gearing myself up for the imminent return to New Haven, I had some Filipino food. Only my second time since I got to Vancouver. And it's not for lack of Filipino restaurants and stores. Pinakbet and okoy, some vinegar and a cupful of sinigang broth? Yummmm. A very recent acquaintance (a real life chef for what it s worth), said "Filipino food is weird." Putting aside the strange hostility of saying this to me (me being Filipino-Canadian), lots of non Filipinos prolly share that assessment. To me, it isn't so much "weird" in the sense that Im grossed out by it or that the culinary aesthete in me (of which there's really very little...Im hungry all the time and eat liberally) gets confused since I cant fix and place Filipino food. Is it Asian? It is Spanish? Who cares? It's good. Soul food. It can fix me right.

In other news, there's also been a rash of robberies in my neighbourhood. Ive been getting email updates from Tom in Kyoto since he's on the neighbourhood list serve and I never bothered to sign up when I first moved in. The latest was on Saturday when a homeowner around the block happened upon two thieves in his house: a tall, thin man, white, with bad acne and even worse teeth and a girlfriend who pretty much looked the same. Meth heads. Quite a few of them roaming round east of Fraser. Ive already been sleeping poorly. I set the alarm tonight at about 8 30. Im trying to get to bed early cause with my insomnia and drug addicts running around outside, it s hard to fall asleep. I have to find a good hiding place for my laptop and my Marc Jacobs bag when I go out. God forbid this place was ever broken in to, crackheads would prolly think my MJ was a bowling bag and would leave it alone. Hope so. This part of town isnt gentrifying fast enough for me. (Ya, I said it.)

And yet in even more news, I may be dying. See, yesterday, I had lunch with a friend round Stanley Park. Walking back towards Robson, I came across a community notice board and I happened to have a flyer for this art project Im working on so I thought Id post one. Most of the flyers Ive posted have been in and around my neighbourhood. Main Street, Mount Pleasant, the Kingsway, Commercial. I didnt have tape or thumbtacks. There were a bunch of tacks and as I was prying one off the wooden columns, it somehow relodged itself into the nail bed of my right index finger. I was a bit stunned and pulled it out. The pin on a tack isnt very long but most of it was in my finger. I pulled it out and it produced a small trickle of blood. The nail didnt look rusty.

Regardless, Im on the watch for gangrene.