Close Encounters

Today on my way home from work I ran into one of my yoga instructors on the Metro! How random is that? Of all the cars comprising all the trains that pass through the stations every five minutes, we ended up sitting directly across from each other.

DC is a big small town. When I first moved here I met someone at a pub playing tunes. A few days later, a friend of a friend, not having anything to do with music but knowing that I was new in town, offered to take me out for dinner. I accepted, and we went to Teaism in Dupont Circle. Finding a table, my dinner companion said, "Hold on, I see someone I know" - and it was the same person I had met at the pub. I was like, I know that person too, and everyone was very startled.

Oh no...

I think I may have found where I'll go once I decide to move on from my current job.

God, please take this away from me.

Oddities Worth Noting

A black girl and a Chinese girl speaking perfect French to each other on the Metro.

The wind blowing so hard that pieces of gravel actually found their way inside my shoes on my walk home from work.

My kitten (okay, okay, she's almost a year old), Elena, making herself comfortable in the (dry) bathtub.

Car-free = Care-free?

I did it. I turned my car back to the dealer, surrendered my tags, and cancelled my insurance. I am officially car-free!

So far I feel okay about this. In the city I have plenty of alternatives, including cars parked only blocks away that I can rent by the hour, the more obvious commercial rental cars, my bike, and (by God!) my own two feet.

This is definitely out of my comfort zone. I have only been without a car at my disposal once before in my life - freshman year of college - and obviously in a laboratory environment such as that I did fine. Here, though, it's been two days and I haven't missed it yet....

There, I Said It

Yoga, Ireland, and Christ: the three main influences in my life.

I Like to Push Myself, But I Should Cut Back

As a teenager I rode horses with one of the most respected trainers in the industry. We would show competitively almost every weekend in the summers. I got pretty good at it and ended up winning a state title at age 13.

I started taking piano lessons from a Polish woman with a several-year waiting list whose parents gave her to a music conservatory in Warsaw when she was two. She moved to the States at age nineteen, having memorized and performance-polished 23 Beethoven Sonatas. We took state piano exams and performed publicly once per month.

I started training in martial arts in high school and soon two classes per week just wasn't enough. I made it through an intense physical and mental weeding-out process to become the only female (besides his daughter) invited to train as one in a group of six at the Grandmaster's home studio.

I took up running after college and soon enough trained for and completed a 26.2-mile race.

And now I seem to have chosen to practice probably the most physically demanding and strenuous form of yoga, Ashtanga. But it must be a release. It can't become pressure. There is intense pressure at work to never make a mistake, and if I do there could be potentially serious consequences because my work influences the decisions that other people make, which in turn influences other people's lives on a daily basis. Yoga for me has to balance that out. I need to go to class ready to stretch and sweat and breathe and progress naturally, whatever that means for me. I can't let yoga become another method for measuring up (to what, anyway?). I can't let it be another venue where mistakes are forbidden. I don't want to break myself down before I can build myself back up. I want to continuously build up: confidence, muscles, flexibility.

I enjoy the rigor of an Ashtanga practice because that's what I'm accustomed to, but it must stay in perspective. Yoga has influenced my life so positively in the short time I've been practicing, I couldn't bear to burn out.

The Countdown Begins

I think I am going to turn in my car on Monday. It's a federal holiday. I'll still be able to attend a much-needed-banish-the-winter-blues Chili and Beer party way the hell up in Gaithersburg on Sunday without begging for a ride. I'll beat the actual end of my lease by 24 whole hours.

This weekend... my last hurrah until I do something marvelous like get a cute little Vespa come summer.

Pics

We went shopping on Rodeo Drive and had fun trying on Versace sunglasses until one pair looked stunning on me and I almost broke the bank.

Of course we had to see the Hollywood sign.

For whatever reason (I won't extrapolate the obvious), celebrities have their own, exclusive Scientology Center not open to the lay-Scientologists. I really don't want to get on my soapbox here, so I will simply point to Luke 14:7-14.

We had an amazing Thai meal at a gorgeous restaurant.

Finally, we got all glammed up to go to a concert. I had never heard of the band, but it is always fun to hear live music and see people enjoying it... plus the concert was invitation only, so I felt very special!

So all in all it was a very fun weekend and I'm glad we were so spontaneous! It had seriously been far too long since we had hung out. I miss you already, Trent!

LA Pictures Coming Soon!

One of the many things I appreciate about Trent is the way he mercilessly challenges the things I say and the way I think. He doesn't let me get away with anything. He isn't afraid to comment on my patterns of behavior. It's disconcerting in the best way.

I realize that I have rather rigid emotional boundaries and that my guard is way up during most of my social interactions; I think it's only because we have known each other for almost a decade that he isn't intimidated by me.

Gettin' Down to Bizznazz

Trent and I are having a great time in LA, but alas, our time together is coming to a close. He is putting the finishing touches on today's blog entry, I'm lounging in front of the TV, and soon we will have to spring into action and head to the airport.

I arrived on Friday, late, and was pretty wiped out from the time change. We were both starving and drove directly to the nearest sushi bar to rejuvenate ourselves. After that we headed back to Trent's apartment in North Hollywood and commeced the lenghy process of catching up. We had a great time reminiscing about how we met and the things we've seen each other through. It's amazing to know someone for ten years (since I was a teeenager!).

On Saturday we spent a leisurely morning hanging out at his apartment and then went off to do some sightseeing and shopping in Beverly Hills. I came very close to purchasing an amazing pair of sunglasses at Versace on Rodeo Drive... but my poor frugal spirit wouldn't allow it.

On Saturday we did some more sightseeing - the Hollywood sign - and some more shopping and generally catching up. Then that night we got all dolled up and had VIP access to an invitation-only concert which was very fun! Afterwards we went to a famous bar called The Abbey (I think every gay person in America has been to that bar at some point in their lives) and actually saw someone from one of my guilty-pleasure TV shows, Work Out. Trent knew her companion, but they were sitting together at a table alone, and didn't want to intrude to say hello.

All in all the weekend was mellow and very fulfilling. I love Trent so much! He is the only person who doesn't think I'm a nut for my Simpson's preoccupation. We took lots of pictures which I will post tomorrow.

Okay, I gotta get packed and ready to catch my flight back to cold, snowy DC.

Sunnier Times

Well, in 24 hours I will be on a nice long flight to sunny California!

I can't wait to escape the -teen degree weather that has been plaguing us here in DC.

I'm off to get a trim for my hair... next time you hear from me I'll be livin' the celebrity life, briefly.

Weirdness

Something odd is going on with my car. The past couple times I have approached my car to get in and go somewhere, it's looked different. Not the way I left it. Or things seem moved around inside.

Nothing is missing, no window is broken, I always leave it locked and secured with my Club.

But today as I was walking home from a speaking engagement at American U, I saw my car and I didn't think it was in the same place as I left it.

I mean, I'm sure nothing is really happening to my car... it's just weird...