Accidentally Insane Yoga

     After at least a 5 year hiatus from my sporadic yoga attending "routine," I decided to make the best of my day off yesterday and attend a "restorative yoga class" at my gym. It took me a few tries to locate the class but once I did, I sought out the instructor to say hi and that I was new and to inquire as to the difficulty of the class. Unfortunately, the first thing he says is to the effect of "yeah, this class is advanced and very difficult. I know it says restorative yoga online, I've been trying to get them to change that for years. You're welcome to come and just do as much as you can, don't feel shy to just get up and leave if it's not for you."
     Let me tell you, I was not prepared for this class. It was insane. I had never done much besides beginners or intermediate yoga at best, but I really pushed myself during this class and did the best I could. Still, there were definitely things I didn't even attempt for fear of injuring/embarrassing myself. After class, the instructor came over and asked how I liked it. I mentioned the advanced poses (seriously, insane) that I wasn't prepared for, and he asked if I was a dancer, because "you're pretty flexible." I took it as a giant compliment, but tried my hardest not to laugh (too heartily, that is) in his face. It was a huge reminder that people are far from what they appear, because I am about as far from a dancer as one can get. But he is not what I expected either, because as a past-middle-aged, non-buff man he didn't appear fit, limber, young or frankly hip enough to do this, this, this, or this from appearances alone. I didn't manage to do any of the propped up poses except for the Crow Pose, but I can nearly get my foot behind my head and today I am really, really reeeeeally wishing I hadn't. On top of that, I was feeling so motivated after class that I popped into the weights section for a quick workout. Oh dear lord, I woke up feeling pretty sore this morning and it has only gotten increasingly apparent how painful "just stretching" can make you feel. For the most part, it is that good kind of hurt from a solid, new workout, but I haven't felt sore like this in quite some time. I think I'm enjoying it, but I'm not sure. I bet I'll have a more defined opinion tomorrow ;) In the meantime, I'm pretty sure I need to find myself an actual restorative yoga class!

Garden Iron Headboard

Not too much to report on the furniture front, with the exception of the super secret project that I will obviously have to wait to update on. I think I'm the only person dying to get it out already but I'll have to just put on my big girl panties and deal with it!

A couple weeks ago I picked up a really awesome iron headboard at a garage sale. The woman said it was hers as a child and that it had been passed down for a few generations. It is absolutely a genuine vintage iron headboard, which means it weighs about a hundred pounds! It's really a charming piece and I was intending to restore it (since it's a bit rusted with chipped paint), as I would have liked to use it myself, but I don't have a full bed. Also, it would have to be rigged to a bed frame since it is missing a few original fixtures and I didn't want to try to sell it as such. I decided it would look really nice in a garden though, with vines and flowers climbing up it, so my mom and I drove a couple rebars into a flowery spot in my family's back yard and set it up. I think it turned out very cute, and will only look better as things start to grown on and around it!

UPDATE: here is a more recent post with photos of the headboard as the plants have filled in a bit throughout the summer!

Bizarre art by my favorite artist, Andy Kehoe

All Turns To Brilliance, Andy Kehoe
(forgive me for posting without permission, but you have to see these) 

On The Banks of Broken Worlds, Andy Kehoe

Continuing along the lines of the last post, I wanted to share the work of another artist I admire. His name is Andy Kehoe and not only is his artwork reason enough to know his name, but if you browse through his website or take a gander at his blog (Tall Tales of Depravity) you'll find that the guy is absolutely odd and completely hilarious. He throws frivolously ridiculous sentences into otherwise perfectly normal descriptions. Or he just jumps in with ridiculous right from the beginning. Take, for example, the first few sentences of his autobiography: (courtesy of his website)

Andy Kehoe was the son of a sea merchant that was killed by pirates when he was just three years old. His father barely had time to throw his son overboard before the cargo ship that usually carried pickles and kittens to Spain, carried the burning corpses of his father and all his closest friends to the bottom of the ocean.

What?! That's not the whole story and that's not even the only self explanation he offers. In fact, it's only one of three. I strongly recommend the rest if the above tickles your fancy in the least.

As for his art, it entirely stuns me when I look at it. Seriously, do yourself a favor and browse through his portfolio. It has such a distinctive feel to it as a whole---creepy...yet not unpleasant. Take a look and see what you think. I'm having trouble putting what it makes me feel into words! The aesthetic just really appeals to me, and feels very much like a modernized version of art in the Pacific Northwest Native American tradition (think highly stylized animal forms, particularly faces, in yellow, black, brown and sometimes red). Mix that with a heavy dose of Where The Wild Things Are (whose author, Maurice Sendak, died recently) and you have Andy Kehoe.

Hope you enjoy.

UPDATE 6/26: Here's one more picture. I just can't stop obsessing with these paintings! I think this one is new, it's called Mutual Enchantment.

Ben Ozburn: Photographer

This handsome guy drinking a beer is my dear friend Ben Ozburn. He is an immensely talented photographer and has most recently been documenting the natural beauty in Scotland. Photos from his recent posts have just taken my breath away and I wanted to share them! Take a peek at his photographs--I particularly like the boat ones from the Red Castle post, scroll down a bit for those.

As for myself, I'm still a bit sick and working/attending medical interpreter training classes so nothing new to report on the furniture front. I actually think the sinus infection was probably due to the 10+ hours I spent stupidly power-sanding the super secret (and formerly super dusty) project in a badly ventilated garage stall without a mask. Needless to say I have learned my lesson! Safety first, unless it's reeeeeally inconvenient. Just kidding, I never want to feel this sick again. I picked up a SARS mask or w/e they're called at the dr's office so I'll have that for future sanding endeavors :)

Have a lovely week