Lately, depending on your perspective, I have been either a) totally getting my health on, or b) punishing myself with torture that may lead to premature death.

To wit:

Today was my second Bikram yoga class. Today I watched a puddle of my own sweat form on the part of the yoga mat not covered by a terry towel during one asana. It was dripping off my back, onto my face, and then from my head.

Bikram yoga is 90 minutes of yoga in 110 degrees at 50 percent humidity. Apparently, you burn upwards of 500 calories in one session. Afterwards, you are starving and sleepy, and in some cases (like mine) feel like you want to die. Sounds good, right? Apparently, this is the way you are supposed to feel. Cleansing toxins from your body and massaging your organs and all that. I even have a friend who swears his stinky office mate got less stinky after starting Bikram.

Right now, I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but then again I've also got better posture, spring in my step, and those stairs to my apartment feel like nothing. Go figure.

I have a one month promo membership -- let's see where this goes.

And tired of paying $3 a pop for probiotic goodness in a jar, I've also been brewing my own kombucha.















^^ That was my first batch, made with Earl Grey tea. You can see the "mother" kombucha colonies (or "mushrooms") at the bottom of the jars. First batch was super vinegary, but produced some fine looking mushroom "babies" (the white layer on the top):



















Just harvested my second batch today -- this time made with green tea -- and it was significantly less vinegary. A lot of people say kombucha tastes like sweaty socks, so people will generally put a tablespoon or more of fruit juice in the glass to make it palatable. This batch is so easy to drink straight I thought I'd done something wrong.

Anyway, let's hope I'm doing more good than harm! Now I'm off for a beer.

I don't know a single person wielding two X chromosomes that does not love Pride and Prejudice -- P&P for short -- whether it be the book or the BBC film version (yum, Colin Firth!)

Anyway, in the age of zombie everything, P&Pers, you knew this was coming:



















I actually took a little looksie in this book at Diesel, a Bookstore and it's pretty cute.
















Plus, Elizabeth Bennett is a badass, taking to the next level the unconventional qualities (of the time) she displays in P&P that makes all young girls want to be her.

Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, will be at Diesel, A Bookstore on June 8. I think I may go.

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a penny-pinching, reducing, reusing, recycling, reconsidering and refusing fool. And it is for this very reason that I am loving this stuff:

Swap Meets, Web Sites On Rise As Economy Falls

I've been thrifting for two decades -- first out of necessity and fashion, and now more out of frugality, green principles, and, well fashion too! I am loving these sites that are popping up all over the internets. One of the sites profiled in the above article, Rehash, is a particularly good one for fashionistas. Freecycle is another well-organized one (they've even got them in the UK) where I've found things in the past for my old offices, and given some things away as well.

At least there's an itty bitty silver lining in this bad economy cloud.

Weekends don't get any better than this.

Chicken and waffles at Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland:















Heavenly. Don't believe me?















Check out their Gourmet mag write-up here. Yes, they are that good.

And never let it be said that I don't make my own contribution to food coma weekends as well. Yay for the first peaches of the season, and yay for peach upside down cake:















To round out the food theme, I even got a prezzie. New lunch tote from my man:

Why is the GOP a dinosaur that is losing constituents, becoming the party of colossal FAIL?

Because they unapologetically put profit before people.

RNC Chief: Gay Marriage Will Burden Small Business

[GOP Chairman Michael] Steele said that was just an example of how the party can retool its message to appeal to young voters and minorities without sacrificing core conservative principles.

"Now all of a sudden I've got someone who wasn't a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for," Steele told Republicans at the state convention in traditionally conservative Georgia. "So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money."

Yeah, that's pretty hip, Michael Steele.

How difficult is it to understand that anyone who will trample the civil rights of someone else, especially for a buck, will not think twice before stabbing you in the back for the same? And the bit about appealing to minorities? Bitch, please. Watch your back.

The Work of Fashion Photographer Richard Avedon -- a retrospective at NYC's International Center of Photography.

This is stunning:

Golden Gate Bridge vs. Mega Shark = teh best

Irish Student Hoaxes World's Media With Fake Quote

When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote on Wikipedia, he said he was testing how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.

As regular readers of my blog know, I am a big fan of using Wikipedia as a reference link, as it is a great way to get a primer on something, and folks interested in more can check out the footnotes for more in-depth articles. But being aware of its potential problems is key. And when it comes to potential problems, how about them apples?

Also sweet: this oldie but goodie I found a while back on the Grammy page. Gotta love web 2.0.

Trevor's book, Rarer and More Wonderful, was reviewed by Michael Roberson on CutBank Reviews -- the blog for the literary journal of the University of Montana.

The craft of reviews is something I never really appreciated until Trevor started doing them himself. Michael's review of Trevor's book is a really terrific piece in its own right, seamlessly transitioning from one set of unique poems to another and capturing the book's many themes, then tying this fecund, wild world together by laying each component bare so we can all have a good look at what it contributes to the landscape. Fantastic.

Incidentally, Michael also has another claim to fame: he's from our backwoods 'hood. Tuompton, holla!

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own. -- Cesar Chavez

Happy International Workers' Day!