So this weekend is the big move back up to Hudson (rumor has it that Philip Glass just bought a house on my street). Very long in coming. I'm excited to have my own place again . . . it's a cute 1 BR apartment with wood floors and a big kitchen. The street is really quiet and pretty--an entire long block of renovated Victorians.

I have to laugh a little at myself for the full circle this year has been, a circuitous path to a better life under the auspices of a failed relationship--from the northlands of Hudson east across the river to Athens, south to Kingston, now back across the river and north again. Actually if you draw it point to point, it's more like a square. So I've come full square?

I'm still reeling from the Ohio trip, from the sequins and the glitter and all the oily, muscly bodies. Whoever thought a beginning hip-hop class in Rhinebeck, NY, would lead me to Columbus to participate in Arnold Shwarzenegger's fitness vision for the midwest, and have me returning, no less, with a perfectly kitsch championship medal and windbreaker just for proof.

And the contrast of the flashing lights, bucking bronco machines, and magical energy drinks (one "natural" drink I looked at was 375% caffeine; I think that's like 5 Red Bulls in one) with the peaceful hallways of the Kripalu Yoga Center is just shocking. For the writer in me, it provides large amounts of unexpected glee. I thrive on contrast I realize--the joy of the nonsequitor, strange image next to an even stranger one. It makes me feel lucky somehow to be privy to so many different worlds. The land of Unique Fitness (where I dance in Kingston) is contrast enough to the rest of my life, no matter transporting that world into the world of Arnold Schwarzanegger and his fitness version of Bladerunner. The world is a cauldron of weirdness is all I can say.

I have to get back to work where I'm writing an article on the "Yoga of Poetry" for Kripalu's monthly newsletter. It's a little confusing but I figure if I use enough abstractions it'll arrive at making some kind of sense.

Thanks for reading!

For now,
L