Sunday, July 08, 2007

Electricity and film.

Last night I went to kirtan which was a great way to spend my Saturday night. I almost didn't go b/c I had no one to go with and I started having these like junior high-style panic attacks in which I envisioned myself showing up, wearing the wrong clothes, and being by myself, a total outcast. I drove down to Power Yoga and I made a deal with myself that if I didn't find easy parking then it wasn't meant to be (see how retarded the mind is?!). So I pull into the parking garage and the electronic sign says there's only one spot left and I got kinda happy b/c finding that one amidst over 500 wasn't going to be easy. I could go home. (Nevermind that I could freely turn around anyway w/out all the games, but for the same inexplicable reason I'll remain in Warrior II for two minutes, I stayed.) But, I found a spot lickety-split so I forced myself to walk across the street. The room was packed and I found a place in the back and sat by myself. There was an adorable blonde girl next to me with an equally adorable outfit on and I thought that she could be my friend, or rather, her friend and her could be my friend, because these are the sort of things that go through my mind when I'm wishing at least ONE of my friends here in this city would have gone with me. I don't understand it -- I can and do go to movies by myself, happily. Why is it that kirtan -- which for godsakes is supposed to be inclusive -- is so hard for me?

Anyway, so I'm sitting there, and this girl saddles up beside me and taps me on the arm. I turn to look and it's my dear friend Chanel!! What fortune! She was in LA for two days on her way back to Boston and had made it to kirtan w/ Nicole (who happens to work two floors beneath mine at the same entertainment studio). I wanted to hear all about Chanel's recent trip to Australia, but talking at kirtan is a little like being on your cellphone in the checkout line -- it's just rude. It'll have to wait. And then later I ran into Andres, so as it turned out, my fears, as most fears are, ended up unfounded and the night was one of the coolest I've had since living here.

There were two singers who were simply amazing. One guy, 20 yrs old, whose name I didn't catch, had an ancient, haunting voice. The other, Arjun, had a deep soulful groove about him. Most of my experience w/ kirtan has been through exposure to Krishna Das, who's cool, and Rusty Wells (also cool) but mostly I picture men and women dressed in orange, blissed out (read: weird) 'recruiting' saps on the way in. I am wrong.

***

My new found love is farmers markets. No joke that local produce tastes better than the grocery market (and this is coming from the girl who has lived at the Whole for the past four years or so). I'm on a mission now to find the best ones in the city. Last week I tried out the Santa Monica one on Arizona (me likey) and then this week I tried out the other one on Main but I missed it though I was able to try the Brentwood one (this will need a second visit since I didn't make it to the taco stand).

All this farmers marketing has me thinking that it's deplorable that for the ones who could benefit from fresh, local, organic food the most, i.e. poor folk, it's simply too expensive. That's just wrong. It's wrong that organic is a luxury item. It's wrong that being environmentally conscious is at a premium. I don't know how to change it yet, but my hunch is that the solution is an economical one and since I'm not an economist or even that bright, this one might take me a while. Where is Gandhi when we need him? Oh yeah. Boo.

***

And then today I was teaching and one of my favorite students was saying that last week, when she was getting married in Massachusetts she missed yoga so she hired a yoga teacher to teach a private class for the wedding guests. She said that she was resistant but then she kept hearing my voice in the back of her head saying "all yoga is good yoga." So she did it and she liked it. I thought, holy shit, did I say that? I forgot. But I liked it, and it was good for me to hear it as if I'd read it somewhere, and I believe it, because yoga is like a baby -- by its nature it can't be bad.

4 comments:

A-Lo said...

I beg to differ. Some babies are just plain evil. mwah haaa haaa.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a pleasent experience at Kirtan.
I love farmer markets.

vanessa said...

a-lo, you're right. i said 'babies'. I meant 'chips'.

peewee said...

ummm...yes it can. That's the response to "yoga can't be bad"