Monday, June 29, 2009

Guest Blogger, Yoga Lip-Gloss - Day 5

I'm like 28 today. Like, OMG!! It's amazing how quickly the time passes. I know it sounds so cliché, but it truly does feel like just yesterday that I started yoga and ....damn this tea is good...I wonder how it would taste if I added some of that herb the hippie next door gave me.... girlfriends from high school and spent the money my parents gave me to go to college, on yoga clothes....wheeee, I don't know what I'm writing about... Life is filled with so many lessons, experiences, joys, and triumphs...what the hell am I talking about..oh yeah, to celebrate my birthday, I got dressed up in my best pink yoga bottoms and my Eco Haven yoga top, my yoga hat, the one with the adorable sprigs of incense sticking out of the top and went to my yoga class. A girl's got to feel pretty, right? God, this tea is good..I have so many thoughts to share on this special day but I'd like to focus on a list of 28 things that I will do on the day after my birthday:

1. Paint my toenails pink

2. Do some yoga

3. Go to the GreatTranscendentalYoga Superstore

...umm, well I really can't think of anything else right now, but check back later when I put my thinking cap on...

P.S. There are these cute lines that are forming around my cats when I look at them. I didn't know cats could do that....

Saturday, June 27, 2009

YogaDawg's Yoga Fun Sundays

I receive a lot of yoga books from publishers for review and rarely do I give them more than a casual glance as the text simply seems to exist to fluff out the book between pictures of someone doing yoga asanas, so it was a complete pleasure to receive “Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth” by Stephen Philips. This is one of the rare books on yoga that has great depth in the telling of yoga history and philosophy. From the description of a yoga class to translations of the Upanishads, Gita, Yoga Sutra and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, this is a serious study ideally suited for all levels of yoga students. Going beyond Hatha yoga, “Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth” explains aspects of Karma, Bhakti and Trantra yoga in interesting detail. Graced with ample notes for further study and a glossary of Sanskrit words, this book takes an honored place among the books that I read slowly and often. “Yoga, Karma, and Rebirth” is a great source of yoga knowledge. Highly recommended!

Available at Amazon and Columbia University Press




Friday, June 26, 2009

Guest Blogger, Yoga Lip-Gloss - Day 4

Yesterday I had a deliriously wonderful afternoon at the GreatTranscendentalYoga Superstore. They were showing all these cute yoga clothes from hot, new yoga designers. It was so fab. They let us shoppers nibbled on some kind of yoga food. It looked a little like dried cow dung, but it was kind of good even though it looked icky. I bought some to take home and used some of the herbs that the hippie next door gave me...I was like, feeling so good and started flying around like those crazy cats the other day...., than I spent the evening organizing my condo as I didn't know where I was going to put all the yoga stuff I bought today. But I just started and six hours later, I was able to cram the new stuff in places I didn't know existed. The rewards are HUGE because now I have these cool piles of yoga stuff towering over me. I am losing a lot of floor space though. Tah tah for now. Damn I wish I had some brownies...xoxo

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Guest Blogger, Yoga Lip-Gloss - Day 3

YogaDawg left me this cute book. It's called "My Third Eye Itches - A Yogic Guide". I skimmed through it as I don't have much time to read. I am so busy shopping for all these yummy yoga things that who has time to read. Anyway it turns out the guy next door IS a hippie..I still don't like hippies but that is so un-PC of me isn't it girls, oh well, hee hee hee, I am so bad...but I love the brownies he left at my door...anyway I was going to take a yoga class today but I'm feeling really spacey for some reason...anyway what was I talking about? I forget, but anyway I got to get that brownie recipie..I guess I should end this post by telling you that the yoga language has so many tre chic words like, yoga, mat, om, lip-gloss...only kidding about lip-gloss, wanted to see if you were still awake..I think I need a nap...by the way, I know this is strange, but my cats are looking at me a bit strange. Isn't that weird?

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Guest Blogger, Yoga Lip-Gloss - Day 2

Hello my new blog fans out there! I want to let you know that I bought a new pink, polka dot yoga mat today. It is sooooo swanky. I used to have a lavender yoga mat, but kept losing it in the yoga studio where I go for my yoga class because everything there is like lavender. I don't think anyone minded that I had a pink, polka dot yoga mat. But you never know because some of those girls there can be real bitches at the studio. They call it the Lavender Palace...isn't that so cute! Yum, by the way the brownies from the hippie next door are really good...There is an old saying, "when one door closes, another one opens". I'm not sure what that means exactly but will say that if the yoga bitches give me a hard time then they are just real poops and who cares about them anyway...wow, I'm feeling really good...something about these brownies... So anyway girls, do something daring and get your self a pink, polka dot yoga mat like mine. You know I got it at the GreatTranscendentalYoga Superstore. It is so yogi...ahm, yoga, ahmm ..yogic...whatever.... there. They will let you try on different shades of their yoga lip-gloss or sample the yoga cosmetics. They have the cutest collection of bobble heads. I'm not sure who they were supposed to be, but they have the fabest loin cloths on. I think one was called Patanjali....damn, I'm really hungry all of a sudden....

PS This is one of my other kittie-cats!


Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Guest Blogger, Yoga Lip-Gloss - Day 1

(Please welcome Guest Blogger, Yoga Lip-Gloss. She is a major force in the yoga blogging world and agreed to guest blog My Itchy Third Eye - YD)

Hi everyone, YogaDawg asked me to be his guest blogger. He said he needs to spend quality time with certain hot, young yogini stars (yeah, like that'll be the day...sorry YogaDawg, only kidding...lol) now that he's a big-time, hot-shot yoga blogger. Anyway I guess I should begin by telling you a little bit about myself. I love yoga and I also love my lip-gloss, my iPod and my fave yoga togs and cute yoga shoes and things. I like yoga clothes a lot, especially those from the GreatTranscendentalYoga Superstore. The men there are so cute even though I think a lot of them are gay...not that's there anything wrong with that...hee hee hee. Anyway, it doesn't matter to me. I just love my pink, leopard print yoga mat. It matches the pink, leopard print walls in my condo. I have 7 cats. I named them after the chakras even though I have trouble remembering which cat is which and can't pronounce the name of those chakras anyway. But that doesn't matter because they are so cute. I put a cute picture of one of my kitties below. I love myself and think I am exciting and funny. What I don't love is that stinky older guy across the condo from me. He keeps calling the condo association on me claiming my condo smells like cat pee. I think he is an old hippy...not that there is anything wrong with that...hee hee hee. I love pink nail polish. I love pink lip-gloss. Did I mention that already? I am funny and exciting. I love to shop at the GreatTranscendentalYoga Superstore. I think I mentioned that already. I hope you like this really rad first post by me... xoxo

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Yoga Bloggers

This YogaDawg blog was mentioned in the August 2009 issue of Yoga Journal. This would be a good time to bring back this classis satirical take of the world of yoga bloggers from the underground yoga guide, My Third Eye Itches.


In the Internet age, the yoga blog is the spiritual heart of yoga. It is where yogis can yammer about the poses they did in class, be loquacious with their spiritual insights, and dissect and chart their inner and outer progress. The yoga blogger writes about the value of yoga in their lives as well as any profound physical, psychological, and spiritual changes that they observe. More importantly, the yoga blog allows the yogi a place to write profound dissertations on the color of their mat, what they ate for breakfast, who was in their class on such and such day, and whether their yoga teacher is hot or not.

Though the yoga blogger may seem self-centered and self-absorbed in their yoga life, they nonetheless feels that this egotistical preoccupation of theirs will yield great insight and profound realizations to their blog readers. Unfortunately, the yoga blogger sometimes has trouble knowing when to stop writing. When this happens, the yoga blog tends to degrade into endless rambling about failed love affairs between fellow yoga students and teachers, mind-numbing questioning of whether the only guy in yoga class is in fact gay, the color of their bowel movements after eating an all vegetarian, free-range, pesticide free, ecotopian, all grain yoga diet for a week, and even detailed descriptions of their newest purchases from the GreatTranscendentalYoga SuperStore.

The great danger is when the blogger thinks that they are a great writer and entertains the idea of penning a yoga book. Their inspiration for this is the great yoga guide book, My Third Eye Itches: A Yoga Guide. They quickly figures out how to cut and paste all of their blog posts into a Word document, which they promptly sends off to the editor in chief of EternallyBlissfulYoga SuperMagazine.





YogaDawg's Yoga Fun Sundays

Saw this clip floating around a couple of yoga blogs. Janice Dickinson trying to "blow it out" with yoga. Kind of gives yoga a crappy image...har-har! Some comments from E are even funnier:

Madisyn Tue, Jun 16, 2009, 12:16 PM
Why am I laughing so hard right now?

Sanjaya Tue, Jun 16, 2009, 12:32 PM
She looks like a giant turd in the video.

eek Tue, Jun 16, 2009, 12:46 PM
Um, EW?

Saturday, June 20, 2009

YogaDawg 's Jazz Saturdays - Terence Blanchard

Terence Blanchard at the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival DC June 2009






Performers:
Terence Blanchard - Trumpet
Aaron Parks - Piano
Brice Winston - Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Derrick Hodge - Acoustic and Electric Basses
Kendrick Scott - Drums, Percussion
Zach Harmon - Tabla drums
Northwest Sinfonia, 40-member string orchestra: Conducted by Terence Blanchard

Sunday, June 14, 2009

YogaDawg's Yoga Fun Sundays

This is a couple of years old and just saw it again recently and it cracked me up. Heidi Klum Teaches Meditation

Saturday, June 13, 2009

YogaDawg's Jazz Saturdays - The Eyal Vilner Big Band





The Vanguard





The Eyal Vilner Big Band at Small's




The Eyal Vilner Big Band

Eyal Vilner - Alto Sax
Yaala Ballin - Vocalist
Alexi David - Bass
Jonathan Riklis - Piano
Yonatan Rosen - Drums
Alex Hoffman - Tenor Sax
Yaron Elyashiv - Tenor Sax
Andrew Gould - Alto Sax
Jonah Parzen-Johnson - Baritone Sax
Itamar Borochov - Trumpet
Cameron Johnson - Trumpet
James Zeller - Trombone
Ivan Malespine - Trombone

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Beige Book - He Said, She Said #1

He said he does yoga. She said, “Oh God, please don’t tell me you're an artist also!”

watercolor, photos, feathers on paper - 12 x 9 inch

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Cherryl Duncan - Animal Rights

Cherryl Duncan of Living Yoga does a naked yoga photo shoot to raise money for animal rights.

Support the cause to help all sentient beings live in peace because we all end up butt naked at our ultimate bodily demise.



FREE range doesn't mean free from hormones, antibiotics or cruelty. Are you sure you want to eat that chicken?

Make the choice to live with compassion.

Commit to one vegetarian day a week. The earth does not only belong to us.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

YogaDawg gets the nod from Yoga Journal

The YogaDawg blog is mentioned in the August 2009 issue of Yoga Journal. When done exploring this blog and you are ready to brave the full YogaDawg experience, please head over to the main YogaDawg yoga site:

My Third Eye Itches
http://www.yogadawg.com

Here is how the YogaDawg site would be described if Yoga Journal wrote a feature about it (ummm, ahh, clear throat, cough; it was written by a Yoga Journal writer):

My Third Eye Itches is a satirical, illustrated reference guide to yoga. Written in the voice of a fictional guru, Sri Sri Swami Baba Guru YogaDawg, it challenges the 15.8 million Americans who practice yoga to find the humor in an ancient Indian philosophy turned $5.7 billion industry. While My Third Eye Itches is designed for both the novice and experienced yogi, it is peppered with jokes that only serious yogis can fully appreciate.

In My Third Eye Itches, YogaDawg guides the reader through three progressive phases of yoga know-how. He begins with the basics, explaining yoga styles through the lens of high school cliques and neatly categorizing teachers and students into irreverent stereotypes. He then describes the ins and outs of starting a yoga studio, from selecting the appropriate “transitional” neighborhood locale to recruiting friends and family for manual labor in exchange for free yoga classes. Finally, YogaDawg reveals the innermost workings of the yoga industry, including yoga shopping, yoga news, yoga workshops, and the all-important Yogatude.

YogaDawg and his crass yoga advice was created shortly after stumbling into his first yoga class. Throughout his evolution as a yoga student, he maintained a yoga humor Web site that now draws innumerable unique visits per day from around the globe. YogaDawg.com has won the accolades of many prominent yogis, including author Anne Cushman, yoga performance artist Edward Clark, comedian Vanda Mikoloski, Nike yoga spokesperson Kimberly Fowler, and Kirtan master, David Newman (Durga Das). My Third Eye Itches is the culmination of YogaDawg’s in-demand brand of yoga humor and has been awarded the Cool Site of the Day award

Namaste and hoping you too find the humor in yoga and life,

YogaDawg



Congratulations to the YogaDork, BrooksHall, ReluctantAshtangi and Yoga for Cynics blogs which I always check into almost everyday. Also I have to plug my 'Sister from another Mother' blog, Linda's Yoga Journey, who continues to kick yoga's ass.

I couldn't resist doing the Yoga Journal cover at the end of the post...:)









Thursday, June 04, 2009

Fragment - Bliss II

He walked down Rue Saint-Marc, stopped and looked around. All was as it should be and he became enraptured.

watercolor on paper - 8 x 8 inch

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Fragment - Song and Dance

He wondered if it would have been easier if he was a song and dance man.

watercolor on paper - 12 by 17 inch