Giving Thanks

This year I am most grateful to God for His direct transmission of Yoga to me, in all of its Glory and aspects. I am especially thankful for the warrior postures which remind me to remain vigilant in my practice and in my mission. They remind me not to sit back and allow evil to run rampant in His creation. They remind me to actively fight what I know to be wrong. They remind me to remind others to do the same. They strengthen my body, and fortify my soul, so that I may stand strong, tall, and confident in opposition to deception, and the people who use it for a brief advantage. The postures bring light to my body so that I may light the way for others; helping them to abandon the darkness which has engulfed their lives. Darkness gives them that brief advantage, but that same darkness which they project to the world will ultimately turn on them, and destroy them.

I am, of course, as always, thankful for true friends and my real family, and for the fact that I am able to transmit Yoga to them as well. Danyavad Ananda. Hari Om.

Everything's coming up Rosie

November 6, 2007. What a great day. O.K., I admit, I love Rosie O'Donnell. Say what you will about her, but she stands up for what she believes, and gives a strong voice to millions of people who don't share her access to the media. U.S. media- what a joke. Instead of demanding a full explanation to all of the suspicious events of 9/11 in outrage, they force feed us fluff pieces about Britney Spears not wearing panties, or Paris Hilton crying because she has to go to jail. Instead of discussing why World Trade 7 is the only building in history to have collapsed in free fall from fire, they give free advertising to histrionic celebrities. Why aren't more people outraged? Because they're not allowed to be. The media tells us what's important. Watch BBC news if you want real news. Watch U.S. news if you want propaganda and B.S.. But then again, BBC news reported WTC 7 collapsed 20 minutes before it actually did, with the building in plain sight right behind the reporter, so whom CAN we trust? I trust Rosie.

I digress. Let's go back to November 6th. I woke up early because I wanted to go meet Rosie at Borders Bookstore in Columbus Circle. I did my yoga, and off I went. I noticed the Christmas lights had been strung up on the light poles in preparation for their Thanksgiving awakening. Rosie's voice popped into my mind saying "Christmas is coming early for you this year." In Columbus Circle, amidst the chilly mist of the fountains, an older black woman was walking towards me with a stroller; "A nanny", I thought. These two invaders of my mind would prove to be a foreshadowing of things to come.

The first thing I saw when I entered the Time Warner building, where Borders is located, was a gargantuan statue of a smiling obese oriental man with a small penis. He was standing tall and proud despite his shortcomings. I thought to myself, "How apropos?". Rosie knows her shortcomings, but she refuses to be bullied into silence, because she knows something's not right with the world. Disharmony abounds.

I bought my copy of "Celebrity Detox" and stood on the line that stretched and wound from one end of the large store to the other. I figured I would have time to start reading it. There was a woman behind me who brought to mind my friend Chris and his blog, where he rants about annoying people. She decided she was going to use her cell phone to get attention, regardless of whether or not the attention was positive. One call after the other, she spewed the banality of her life into my ears, stopping short of tapping me on the shoulder to say she wanted to talk to someone. I tried my best to keep reading. I reached the end of the line almost a quarter of the way through the book.

The moment had arrived. The moment where I meet the woman who starred in "A League of Their Own" with Madonna. The woman who married the woman she loved, partly in protest to the Bush administration. The woman who brought her unique, uncensored view to "the View". I was overcome with emotions- so many emotions; so much to say; so many people waiting behind me. I managed to thank her for all she did on "the View". She gave me a hug and I gave her a kiss.

November 6th was Rosie day for me. A few days prior, I noticed on her blog that she was performing at Lincoln Center for the New York Comedy Festival after the book signing. I had to go. I purchased a ticket on the Internet, but I wasn't very happy with my seat. After the book signing I went to pick up my ticket from the box office. I asked the teller if I could possibly get a better seat. She said, "I can give you third row center". "Third row, as in A, B, C, third row?", I asked. I had to be clear on this because the ticket I had purchased was in row HH, meaning it was passed rows A-Z and all the way from AA to HH in the orchestra section. "That's beautiful", I said, "thank you so much.".

I went home for the few hours between the book signing and the show. I ate a little, waited two hours, and did some more yoga. I showered, put on fresh clothes and made my way to the city for a night of theater. As I sat in my seat, which was spitting distance from the stage, I looked around to see when the auditorium would fill and people would take their seats so that the show would start. There was a very pretty, youthful woman staring at me and smiling for some reason. It didn't click, but later on, sitting at home, looking at pictures from the show on Rosie's website, I came to realize that the woman was Fran Drescher. Yes, it was "the Nanny" herself.

Rosie strutted onstage to the sounds of Eminem, and nonstop laughter followed. I was the victim of a frozen smile. Rosie was in top form. In a word, hysterical. The early Christmas present was Roseanne Barr. Rosie introduced her to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. During their respective sets, both Rosies looked at me a few times, and I felt as if they were speaking only to me. After a full set from each of the Rosies, they took the stage together as a comedy tag-team. The literal showstopper was Rosie and Roseanne singing "I've Got You Bitch". Rosie took the Cher parts, and Roseanne took the Sonny parts. Pure Magic. Merry Early Christmas to me!

New Beginnings

Welcome to my blog.

Yesterday was a Hindi festival of lights called Deepawali, or Diwali for short. The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the light inside us and the victory of good over evil. I lit lots of candles around my apartment and incense, and did lots of yoga.

I savored my meditation yesterday. Perhaps it takes a special occasion to truly appreciate what we have. I usually do about an hour of yoga during the day and then twenty to thirty minutes at night. Last night, I decided on Kundalini yoga for my night session, as nothing really gets the kundalini (energry coiled up at the base of the spine) moving like kapalabhati, or breath of fire. The kundalini DVD I followed is set up so that you can do preset practices to achieve various ends, such as wake up, or sleep better, balance and feeling good. I did the balance and feeling good, followed by the improved sleep. The DVD automatically keeps running to a section of breathing techniques. Normally I would just let it run while I meditated a bit and then shut off the DVD because this section runs for a half an hour, but this being a special occasion, and me already in lotus position, I decided to do it. I'm glad I did. It was really uplifting, and the physical feeling the breathing techniques gave me is almost indescribable. It was like a coolness, a tingling energy, the most beautiful sensation you could ever feel. WAH! HEY GURU! (WOW! MY GURU!). I'm going to make an early new year's resolution to do those breathing techniques more often.

The last few years of my life have been very difficult. My woes over my sister's health problems were compounded by the psychopathic scheming, treachery, and betrayal of people who claimed to be my "friends". This is the first and last time that they will be mentioned in my blog. I have reclaimed my life. I have restored what they sought to destroy. I am moving on without them. Good riddance. I have learned that it's best to avoid negative people at all cost. Otherwise, the cost may be my own life. I don't feel bad about it. I feel renewed, enlivened, and enlightened. Here's to new beginnings.