volver

hi. i'm back in vegas. somehow SLIGHTLY less inspired and alive and ..good than i felt in santa fe. go figure. but hell - life is GOOD, so i need to quit ma bitchin. i am healthy (hopefully - i just got 4 vials of blood drawn to prove that point - and now my hands have that weak ow-the-keys-feel-resistant-on-this-keyboard-today feeling of bloodlessness. psychosomatic obviously but that's what i'm feeling), and lucky in so many other millions of ways. i don't mean to sound totally silly & spiritual, but here i go (again) (i should just kill this caveat once and for all cuz CLEARLY i AM TOO a flaky californian fruitcake.) but i've been reading a lot of Thich Naht Hahn lately (have i mentioned this?) Vietnamese Buddhist monk - and his writings remind me that damn, every single breath is a gift from who-knows-where and the fact that our eyes actually work is something a blind person would rejoice over forever more - but instead of looking at the blue and the cool shaped clouds in the sky or admiring FULLY the fact that i get to stare into the friggin CUTE MUZZLE of a dog or whatever - i stare at cellulite or a dent in my car and get all bummed. silly misuse of my awesome resource of vision. doy. anyway, i don't think i'm really doing this topic justice. suffice it to say, that TNH ROCKS (i'm thinking of getting I [heart] TNH shirts made) and that i am one lucky moflicker, who needs to remember that on a daily basis.

bud damn, the time in santa fe with Patty was so ... cool. it felt so different from any other time i've spent anywhere. santa fe definitely has its own awesome thing going on, but on top of that, patty and i did such fun things and had such great conversations. AND ! i went to this healer-guy who she sees. which was a total trip. i actually think i had my first truly metaphysical experience there. i'll tell you more about it, if you want to know - but it had to do with exploring my fear of rats. so trippy. and SO COOOOL. but back to the general feeling: in a word, i'd have to say "expansive." and luckily, not so expensive. just for posterity, i'm going to write down the highlights of the trip:
*indian dinner out
*baking scones in
*massage in patty's office!
*healer-guy session
*x-country skiing
*aussie & s. african x-country ski rental guys
*tea at patty's kitchen table at night
*drawing designs with her, for my cafe
*chai at Annapurna (awesome himalayan cafe)
*santa fe baking company - coffee every morning, how could i forget?
*THE HANUMAN TEMPLE. that ruled.
*the gorge in Taos
*the drive back from Taos - we felt all nice & peaceful
*the drive there & back
*falling asleep with my headlamp on, on the sofabed, reading TNH
*beers with lucia
*walking to the shops
*body - organic cafe
*yoga class

okay sorry that was really boring for anyone but me. wait, no one reads this i forgot. i take it back. :)

coffee heaven

howdy people! i'm writing from what might be one of the top 5 coolest coffeeshops i've ever been in: the Santa Fe Baking Company. it's a mere 10 minute walk from my sister's apartment, and it's got almost everything i like in a coffeeshop, namely:
1. multiple levels. there is a main/top level and then one step down to another level and then another 3 steps down to a little grotto-y looking level
2. multiple lightings. there's a ton of natural light flooding the top level/entry area of the place, and then progressively less natural light/a darker feel in the cavey area. very cool. your light can suit your mood!
3. several bars. there are many little 2-4 person tables scattered about, and then also THREE bars with stools. i think bars lend a very casual, cool feel to a place like this - especially because some of the bars butt up to the sides of the small tables. it gets people chatting and it feels less exclusive and solitary, somehow. i got chatting with the coolest woman the other day because of this arrangement! oh, plus, if you're only having coffee, you don't feel guilty taking over a barstool, the way you do taking up a whole table. ya dig?
4. um, great coffee. and free refills at that!
5. free wireless internet access. [did you know that starbucks charges? i feel like free internet access is almost as much a natural right of humans at this point as oxygen in the air or ground underfoot. i'm sorta kiddin. i just get pissed when i have to pay for it. (and i don't. i read instead. which is probably more productive anyway.)]
6. lots of fun, awesome-looking people. after 2 months in Las Vegas, this is like gold. literally. i would pay just to sit here and take in the vibe of people with wool beanies and open, interesting faces full of hope and free tibet stickers on their trucks. i might officially be a hippie. dammit.



7. oh yeah - and no one steals your laptop or wallet when you go to the bathroom! a just-discovered fact! :)

my drive here was uneventful and beautiful. the almost full moon was hanging over santa fe at twilight as i was cresting the last hill on I-25 on my way into town. a little blurry, but damn the moon makes me feel excited and happy.







and yesterday, my sister and i drove to Taos and saw a giant gorge (the bridge over which which many suiciders jump off of, she told me. it became a more-creepy, less-beautiful experience with that info in-hand.), hiked a little snowy trail up a mountain, and finally found a Hanuman Hindu temple where we drank chai that they offered and sat peacefully before an enormous Hanuman statue and some photos of Neem Karoli Baba - an Indian religious man who looks like he was a damn lot of fun. really peaceful vibe there. it was so nice to even just enter a space that was built simply for the purpose of peace and life-reverence. i guess theoretically this would be the idea behind any church i've ever been in, but somehow it didn't feel the same. felt expansive, instead of the narrowing, strangling sense i'd always gotten in my Catholic youth. alright! that's all i got for today. thanks for reading.