tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68817242024-03-13T14:42:06.814-04:00floatthe original kStyle blog.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.comBlogger751125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-27486458310654794362008-01-31T20:47:00.000-05:002008-01-31T20:48:51.017-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Come Visit My New Spot</span><br /><br />I think I'm going to start posting more at my new blog, <a href="http://beingitalian.blogspot.com/">La Dolce Vita</a>. Come on by.<br /><br />But keep float in your RSS feed, because I am a fickle dame.<br /><br />xo,<br />StylekStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-75958297829187956342008-01-30T20:24:00.000-05:002008-01-30T20:39:22.561-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Becoming Italian</span><br /><br />Last week, my friend/astrologer asked me what my gift to myself would be for my birthday, like a birthday resolution. I wasn't sure what she meant, so I asked her what hers was (she's an early Aquarius; I'm a late one). She said she was going to allow herself to be free of assumptions. "When I'm talking to people, I'm not going to assume I know where they're coming from, and I'm going to let myself ask questions. Like that mug"--she said, indicating my hand--"I didn't assume it was yours."<br /><br />"It is," I replied. "I like it because it has sheep on it."<br /><br />"It's a great mug," she agreed.<br /><br />So I thought about it some more. My New Year's Resolution ("more time, more money, lighten up") didn't seem quite right for a <span style="font-style: italic;">birthday </span>idea. After some contemplation, some <a href="http://www.ricksteves.com/tvr/tuscanyrse407_scr.htm">watching</a> <a href="http://www.lidiasitaly.com/index2.htm">PBS</a>, and hearing tales from G. about "The Italians" in his department (there are lots, and they <span style="font-style: italic;">love </span>their espresso) I've decided to <span style="font-style: italic;">be more Italian</span>.<br /><br />What does that mean for me? It means seeking pleasure in the little details of life. It means being more open and expressive. It means being warm and welcoming--I can be a chilly New Englander sometimes, not meaning to, but it's ingrained in all us Yanks. It means drinking a little more wine, and a little more espresso, and not worrying about it. It means having friends over for dinner more often. It means cooking up a storm, kicking up my heels, spending some money on looking sharp (which I've been doing well with already), and <span style="font-style: italic;">enjoying</span>. It means defining myself first as <span style="font-style: italic;">myself </span>and not as a worker or doer. <br /><br />And it means not hiding. Ever since I began working, I've been cramming myself into a little cubicle-shaped mold and trying to be inconspicuous. If you are conspicuous, you get more work dumped on you. If you are conspicuous, you might be seen as being showy, having to little to do, and being a bad worker bee. I've decided to be conspicuous again. I've shrunken myself enough.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-10852239215202376992008-01-25T22:21:00.001-05:002008-01-25T22:21:43.642-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Out of Hand</span><br /><br />Social networking sites: <span style="font-style:italic;">Please stop</span>!kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-37444584741763165862008-01-25T09:49:00.001-05:002008-01-25T09:58:05.548-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Turning Over Stones</span><br /><br />Even while applying for jobs, I'm taking a few steps back and reevaluating everything: interests, career options, personality assessments. Why not? Maybe I'm missing something obvious.<br /><br />Taking the Strong Interests Inventory this morning, I realized (again) how much I miss having the arts in my life. Not the healing arts--the <span style="font-style:italic;">arts</span>. Of course, the immediate rebound thought is: There's no way to make a living in the arts. And maybe that's true.<br /><br />Here's a funny story. I went to college planning to major in theater. But once I got there, I found the theater department to be pretentious and so so <span style="font-style:italic;">postmodern</span>. In the bad way.<br /><br />I couldn't decide on a major. Then one day, thumbing through the course catalog, I realized that I wanted to take every single class printed on 3 consecutive pages. <span style="font-style:italic;">What department is this?</span> I asked myself. It was Classical Civilization (CCIV), the study of the Greeks and Romans.<br /><br />Now, I had heard my mom talking on the phone to her friends, saying: "K. wants to me a theater major. We're hoping she meets some handsome econ major and he changes her mind." So I knew that my parents would really be quite happy if I abandoned my theater dreams.<br /><br />I came home over break, excited to break the news. "I've decided not to major in theater!" I announced. My folks burst into wide grins. Their eyes lit up. "What will you study?" they asked. "Classical Civilization!" I proudly announced.<br /><br />Their faces fell. This is not what they had in mind. A pause, then a single question: "What's that?"kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-90820695070866527662008-01-22T21:35:00.000-05:002008-01-22T21:47:13.860-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Endangered Word List</span><br /><br />Sadly, today I must add another word to the EWL. I'm giving it "threatened" status, in the hopes that with education and awareness we can turn its fate around before it becomes officially endangered. Here is the word with its proper definition (as written by moi). <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Simplistic</span>--adj.--overly simple, usually used pejoratively.<br /><br />Simplistic does <span style="font-style:italic;">not </span>mean "simple" or "very simple". It means that something is simple to the point that important detail is lost. <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/simplistic">Wiktionary </a>also notes that the phrase "overly simplistic" is a tautology.<br /><br />I have no idea how this innocent word has wound up so used and abused, as it would seem to be a rather unusual target for mass manhandling. It is with sorrow in my heart that I place it with its brethren "literally" (recently removed from "Endangered" status, but still "Threatened") and "<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1B3GGGL_en___US210&defl=en&q=define:unique&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title">unique</a> " (which has been beaten within a tautology of its life).kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-31934986496102766952008-01-20T09:52:00.001-05:002008-01-20T10:06:47.645-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Surprising</span><br /><br />I've been doing a fair amount of self-analysis and fact-finding in order to determine what sort of career would suit me--and make some money.<br /><br />The upshot is, I have a more mature understanding of careers, myself, and job description lingo than I did when I was last intently job-searching; therefore, I'm becoming terribly excited about job descriptions that would have sounded <span style="font-style: italic;">completely dull</span> to me six years ago.<br /><br />I'm swooning over phrases such as: "to work collaboratively [<span style="font-style: italic;">work collaboratively!</span>--dreamy sigh] with colleagues to develop projects"; "develop systems and processes"; "collaboratively develop content for and implement short courses"; "marketing of fund-raising initiatives"; "write and integrate"; "plan, organize, and implement".<br /><br />See, at Day Job, I have no say. Here are the specs--make a book according to them! I like organizing stuff, but it looses all its juice when I have no voice and no creative control. I need to be allowed to innovate, collaborate, and integrate. My colleagues in my department are wonderful <span style="font-style: italic;">craftspeople </span>of books. They enjoy the process of molding a project to its specifications, making it well. I am a different species, and I admire their work, but I will never love doing it myself.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-44862214575199340262008-01-17T22:25:00.000-05:002008-01-17T23:14:40.923-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">What I Bought<br /></span><br />I will be 30 a month from today, and I need a real wardrobe. A wardrobe that looks professional. I made a big dent in that today, with one massive shopping excursion. It was tiring, yes, but there are some good sales (even lower than the Internet sale prices). And now I am well on my way to my goal of a <a href="http://msucares.com/pubs/publications/p2228.htm">good set of clothes</a> based on taupe and grey neutrals with pink, cream, and purple accent colors.<br /><br />Here's what came home in the bags (color shown on link may not match the color I purchased):<br /><br /><a href="http://www.eddiebauer.com/eb/product.asp?cm_cg=T319&product_id=31597&.rand=disabled">grey blazer</a>, <a href="http://www.eddiebauer.com/eb/product.asp?cm_cg=T307&product_id=28473&.rand=disabled">brown blazer</a>, <a href="http://www.eddiebauer.com/eb/product.asp?cm_cg=T307&product_id=31806&.rand=disabled">pink sweater</a>, <a href="http://www.eddiebauer.com/eb/product.asp?cm_cg=T378&product_id=21871&.rand=disabled">purple sweater</a>, <a href="http://www.jjill.com/jjillonline/product/itempage.aspx?BID=S20080152125564D5D4538D125466B979D21&item=A23886&h=M&sk=M&ac=search">classic white shirt</a>, <a href="http://www.jjill.com/jjillonline/product/itempage.aspx?BID=S20080152125564D5D4538D125466B979D21&item=I78788&h=M&sk=M&ac=search">dressy-hippie cream-colored shirt</a>, <a href="http://www.jjill.com/jjillonline/product/itempage.aspx?BID=S20080152125564D5D4538D125466B979D21&item=I32788&h=M&sk=M&ac=search">casual pink shirt</a>, cute socks, and supportive bras.<br /><br />And, on order: <a href="http://www.jjill.com/jjillonline/product/itempage.aspx?BID=S20080152125564D5D4538D125466B979D21&item=D03886&h=M&sk=M&ac=search">camel herringbone pants</a>, to go with the brown blazer.<br /><br />The bras were ludicrously expensive, but they did make the sweaters look better. A good bra can give the illusion of losing 10 pounds instantly.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-36021760021185252202008-01-16T21:07:00.000-05:002008-01-16T21:14:26.480-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Two Perfect Meals</span><br /><br />breakfast: slightly sweet and chewy homemade bread one friend gave me, toasted and enjoyed with butter, a hint of salt, and homemade apricot chutney another friend gave me. The bread and chutney were meant to be, and I am so grateful that they found each other and me.<br /><br />dinner: pressure-cooker lamb and white bean stew, <a href="http://www.kqed.org/w/jpfastfood/recipes.html">a la Jacques Pepin</a>. I have never seen lamb fall apart at the lightest touch of a spoon before. Amazing. And, only one pot to clean. <span style="font-style:italic;">J'adore Jacques!</span>kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-49820174833551560222008-01-15T21:51:00.000-05:002008-01-15T22:04:59.319-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">ack, clothes</span><br /><br />I'm not a great clothing shopper. Clothes shopping awakens the inner 6-year-old me being dragged through the store by my mom. <br /><br />...Can't we go to the bookstore now? Or spend that money on a vacation?<br /><br />I used to rely on Grandma's annual clothing infusions at Christmas, but now she is older and just sends money. I have about 3 outfits, and they are all the same uniform: slacks, long sleeve tee, ancient pilled sweater that has outlasted its proper TJ Maxx lifespan, <a href="http://www.planetshoes.com/storeitems.asp?gender=Women&brands=Earth&style=dress%20shoes">Earth shoes</a>. (At least the shoes are snazzy.)<br /><br />But suddenly I am faced with clothes shopping. I have all these talks lined up with alumni from my alma mater who rank high in their nonprofit organizations. I'm visiting their offices, and I don't want to look like I'm <span style="font-style:italic;">still </span>in college.<br /><br />I've figured out that I should find a dressy-but-not-formal outfit, such as <a href="http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/outfit.jsp?ensembleId=3453&N=1200054&pCategoryId=194&categoryId=233&Ns=CATEGORY_SEQ_233&">white shirt, slacks, blazer</a>. An outfit that says, "I am professional and put-together, and although I know and respect that this is not a job interview, it could be one in the near future, at which point I will be astute enough to wear a dark suit, but not before then."<br /><br />But, damn!, professional clothing is expensive. It's no wonder I don't have any.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-48209991196463159502008-01-14T18:49:00.000-05:002008-01-14T18:50:54.733-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">New Years Resolutions</span><br /><br />(with a nod to <a href="http://roomfornuance.com">Ann</a>)<br /><br />I keep them simple. I always forget what they were, anyway. This year, I have crafted something resembling a Resolution Haiku:<br /><br />More Time<br />More Money<br />Lighten UpkStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-90226695946461200752008-01-14T08:41:00.001-05:002008-01-14T08:41:51.681-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Too Much Snow.</span><br /><br />Enough is enough, already.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-67105541841662008192008-01-12T11:06:00.000-05:002008-01-12T11:42:41.563-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">A few things I like</span><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warm_spell">mild January days</a><br /><a href="http://www.paperweight-mall.com/">paperweights</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pytor-Illych-Tchaikovsky-Nutcracker-Complete/dp/B00000A1GL/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1200154259&sr=8-3">The Waltz of the Flowers</a><br /><a href="http://www.libraryinsight.com/mpbymuseum.asp?jx=ac">free museum passes from the library</a><br /><a href="http://www.google.com/images?q=saag+paneer&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_en___US210">saag paneer</a><br /><a href="http://www.aromaweb.com/">essential oils</a>kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-76860681196748311232008-01-10T22:08:00.000-05:002008-01-11T17:39:17.382-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">And now, a pause for the Heart Sutra</span><br /><br />(I encourage you just to read through and enjoy a few times, allowing the meaning to settle in your heart, before following the links.)<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">as translated in </span><span><a href="http://www.parallax.org/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=BOOKCFTH">Chanting from the Heart</a></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Monks and Nuns of Plum Village<br /><br />The Heart of Understanding<br /></span><br />The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalokita#Mahayana_account">Bodhisattva Avalokita</a>,<br />while moving in the deep course of Perfect Understanding,<br />shed light on the <a href="http://www.dmcclanahan.com/heart_sutra.htm#skandha5">Five Skandhas</a> and found them equally empty.<br />After this penetration, he overcame ill-being.<br /><br />Listen, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shariputra">Shariputra</a>,<br />form is emptiness, and <a href="http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Garden_of_Emptiness_-_Dharma_talk_-_Echard%2C_Roshi">emptiness </a>is form.<br />Form is not other than emptiness, emptiness is not other than form.<br />The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness.<br /><br />Listen, Shariputra,<br />all dharmas are marked with emptiness.<br />They are neither produced nor destroyed,<br />neither defiled nor immaculate,<br />neither increasing or decreasing.<br />Therefore in emptiness there is neither form, nor feelings, nor perceptions,<br />nor mental formations, nor consciousness.<br />No eye, or ear, or nose, or tongue, or body, or mind.<br />No form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind.<br />No realms of elements (from eyes to mind consciousness),<br />no interdependent origins and no extinction of them<br />(from ignorance to death and decay).<br />No ill-being, no cause of ill-being, no end of ill-being, and no path.<br />No understanding and no attainment.<br /><br />Because there is no attainment,<br />the Bodhisattvas, grounded in Perfect Understanding,<br />find no obstacles to their minds.<br />Having no obstacles, they overcome fear,<br />liberating themselves forever from illusion, realizing perfect nirvana.<br />All Buddhas in the past, present, and future,<br />thanks to this Perfect Understanding,<br />arrive at full, right, and universal enlightenment.<br /><br />Therefore one should know<br />that Perfect Understanding is the highest mantra, the unequaled mantra,<br />the destroyer of ill-being, the incorruptible truth.<br />A mantra of Prajnaparamita should therefore be proclaimed:<br /><br />Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha<br />Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha<br /><a href="http://www.theartofcalligraphy.com/mantra.html">Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha<br /></a>kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-61208575943699258742008-01-05T19:07:00.000-05:002008-01-05T19:18:12.225-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Sea Change</span><br /><br />I quit the spa. I couldn't take the lack of free time. But I appointed my successor, and I offered to train her. I've quit in the noblest possible way.<br /><br />In truth, I'm contemplating closing up shiatsu shop and moving to an entirely different field. I love the business end--the strategizing, writing the marketing, vision statements and mission statements--but I'm tired of doing the actual shiatsu. But we'll see.<br /><br />I'm lining up fact-finding missions: talking to people in nonprofit management to see what it's like and how one gets there. Two out of three contacts I found through my alumni network have already responded, happy to have coffee and tell me about their work. And a friend of my father is the CEO of a large nonprofit; my dad will call him to ask if I may talk to him, too.<br /><br />What am I missing? I realized, thanks to working with a fabulous life coach (we trade), that I need to be more intellectually stimulated.There's a limit to my right-brained-ness. I'm incredibly analytical and need to use that part of myself. And I need to learn new things, whereas now I'm merely <span style="font-style:italic;">practicing </span>things I've already learned. Practice is good, it lets one get into depth, but I feel I've probed pretty deep into shiatsu and book production, and I'm bored.<br /><br />I also want time again. Time to devote to being wildly creative. I always had the creative arts in my life until I forsaked them for the healing arts. For the last 5 years, all my spare time, energy, and money has been in pursuit of shiatsu (and tai chi/yoga classes to support the shiatsu). And I'm sick of it, really. I want to learn ceramics or brush calligraphy, to dance as much as possible, and to accept that I've healed whatever I wanted to heal in myself, and helped heal a few others, and that's good. Good enough.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-46002256002489653222007-12-23T11:27:00.000-05:002007-12-23T11:29:23.144-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Bye for Now</span><br /><br />We take off for a holiday East Coast roadtrip tomorrow: Hartford for Christmas, DC for New Year's, Philly and NYC on the way back.<br /><br />Happy Merry Jolly Yule to all! And a prosperous New Year!kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-92131382519809916852007-12-21T11:13:00.000-05:002007-12-21T11:28:35.027-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">My First Paid Singing Gig</span><br /><br />At the office Christmas party (which really was quite nice), after speeches and eating and pass-the-present, the Emcee/HR director announced we would be doing something different this year. She offered cash to the first 10 people who got up to sing a verse of seasonal song in front of everyone. Naturally, I was first up to the podium. It was my first paid singing gig, $50 for a bit of "White Christmas." I was grateful for my high school musical theater days. Only 5 people sang for their suppers! Fifty smackers each, people! I wondered briefly if they would shell out if I got up again and did a few bars of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", but I decided to stop while I was ahead. <br /><br />I have a musical theater voice: alto, not always totally precise with the notes, but I can sing with character and decent tone and phrasing. I am often forgiven a little liberty with hitting the "center" of the notes because of my other vocal virtues and a dash of stage presence. I have virtually no range because I'm out of practice, of course. Of the other brave/shameless chanteuses, two had clear, precise choral voices and did admirably with choral favorites: O Holy Night and Silent Night. (I asked later, and yes, they both had been in choruses at one time or another. I admired the range of the fellow who sang "O Holy Night". That song is <span style="font-style:italic;">waaay </span>out of my league.) A third could not carry a tune in a basket, but did a game job of "Rudolph". The fourth got up to help save "Rudoph", making it a duet.<br /><br />After the party, I went straight to an antiques shop and bought a beautiful paperweight for $48--$50.40 with tax, perfect. It's colorful and imperfect, but it makes up for its small chip with lots of character. Appropriate to win with my singing.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-1759626434791181662007-12-17T19:58:00.000-05:002007-12-17T20:12:07.317-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Pah rum pah pah pum</span><br /><br />That little drummer boy has it out for me. That song--it stays in my head, endless loops of pah-rum-ing, pah-rum-ing, pah-rum-ing, through day, night, sleep, meetings, eating, talking, piercing even through other music playing. Each breath, each heartbeat echoes with a PAH-RUM. I have no respite, no refuge.<br /><br />After days of torture, by some miracle or whim the capricious demon drummer boy will leave me be, and the quiet falls like gentle snow, blanketing my wounded psyche...Then--WHAM!--The Song That Shall Not Be Named is playing on the radio, in the grocery store, on TV.<br /><br />He leaves only to torture me more.<br /><br />Pah-RUM PAH-RUM PUM PUM<br /><br />The Holy Family was truly holy not to beat the drummer boy with his own drumstick.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-89858680271079875862007-12-16T09:45:00.000-05:002007-12-16T11:18:37.173-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Work work work</span><br /><br />With a big nod to the <a href="http://dharmaplease.blogspot.com/2007/12/stuffing.html">interesting</a> <a href="http://dharmaplease.blogspot.com/2007/12/importance-of-t.html">discussions</a> over at Narya's.<br /><br />I'm in the odd position of having three jobs. Well, that's not the odd part, really. The odd part is that I am in an entirely different <span style="font-style: italic;">position </span>at the three jobs, in terms of structure, and doing very different work, and receiving very different pay.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Day Job</span>: I am a salaried employee with great benefits, including 401K with employer matching, health insurance, and paid time off. But I feel stapled to my desk and trapped.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">My Business</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">L'Etat c'est moi</span>. I do what I like exactly how I like. I do all the marketing, the business planning--and I get excited about that part (sometimes more excited than about the actual shiatsu). Am I making a dime? No. Do I have to do <span style="font-style: italic;">X</span> hours of unpaid work to bring in one hour of paid work? Yes. And then, the money that comes in goes back out to rent and liability. But I have fun. And someday I will profit. (I did double my revenue since last year, and increased spending by only about a third, so we're closer...)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">The Spa</span>: I walked into the spa yesterday, my first day, and had three clients. One booked in advance; two were basically walk-ins. A fourth wanted an appointment when I was working on someone else, and didn't return.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3a. </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Spa v Day Job</span>: For three hours of actual work at the spa I made what I make in one whole day at Day Job. But--1. I was there all day even when not working, in case someone else came in, and no pay for those hours. 2. No benefits, no paid time off.<br /><br />The other gals--the aestheticians--had fewer clients than I, maybe one client each. But they also answered the phones, made appointments, sold gift certificates, and so forth. I think that they receive an hourly wage in addition to whatever they make working on clients. And yet, I may well have netted more money than they did, I don't know. I got to rest between clients, they got hourly pay. Which is better? I think that soon I won't have downtime between clients. Tiring, but more pay.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3b</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Spa v My Business</span>: At the spa, I walk in, see the clients they've booked for me, under the auspices of <span style="font-style: italic;">their </span>marketing, and leave at the end of the day anticipating a paycheck. The spa takes 50% of what the client pays, but charges the clients 30-50% more than I do. (Clients are paying for the "spa experience", which requires much more infrastructure and many more niceties than my practice, and I am A-OK with this. If clients want the spa experience, with all the robes, fountains, aromatherapy, soft music, etc., that entails, they <span style="font-style: italic;">should </span>pay more. If they want an artsy, fun environment, and shiatsu done more traditionally, they should come to my private practice in the yoga studio and pay less.) The spa clients often tip 20%, essentially making up the difference in pay. And then, I have no overhead to pay, so I can just take the money. In my private practice, any money coming in pays rent for the space first, then filters down to the marketing budget.<br /><br />However, I greatly modify my way of practicing shiatsu for the spa. In my practice, I do shiatsu old-school: comfy futon on the floor, client fully clothed, balancing <span style="font-style: italic;">qi</span> using principles of East Asian medicine. At the spa, clients are expecting "massage" and aromatherapy. The first thing all spa clients do is to take off street clothes and put on a robe and slippers in the locker room. I get it; it's nice. It lets them move into a different mental space, it's a ritual. So then I'm left doing shiatsu through a sheet instead of through clothes, which limits the supported stretches I can do and the positions I can place the client in. (How to work in side position with a naked person on a table? How to stretch a leg to the side on a naked person? These techniques work much better with a fully clothed client on a wide futon on the floor.) Working on the table is the hardest modification for me. I was trained to work on the floor, from a kneeling position. Now I stand and bend over, sending happy thoughts to my lower back. Different!<br /><br />And then, these clients want their <span style="font-style: italic;">muscles </span>worked out. I don't usually focus on muscles, but rather on <span style="font-style: italic;">qi. </span>So there I am, leaning my forearms as deeply as they'll go onto three different sets of sore shoulders. I find it a little tiring to work this way, to be honest. In my own practice, if someone needs really deep pressure, I stand one one foot and use the other to leeeeaaaan my body weight in through my sole. This, again, works best on the floor. Oh also, they keep the spa room sweltering hot because the clients are nude and laying still, but I am fully-clothed and moving a lot, such that the heat rather depleted me.<br /><br />I do like the aromatherapy, though, and may incorporate it into my own practice. Scent is very powerful. I mix up a carrier oil (jojoba) with a couple drops of an essential oil or two (I used rosemary and lavender together yesterday, yummy). Then I apply when working on head, neck, hands, arms, and feet. I could see my private clients liking this, and I could even add a couple bucks to the treatment fee.<br /><br />To sum up <span style="font-style: italic;">Spa v My Business</span>: I get actual money from working at the spa, but less satisfaction, and it's more tiring.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion</span>. Which is best? I have no idea.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-86877825624723948912007-12-14T17:20:00.000-05:002007-12-14T17:21:48.917-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Holy Crap YUM</span><br /><br />Dried Bing cherries! Does everyone know about this? Why didn't anyone tell me??kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-6770069082668763362007-12-13T18:54:00.000-05:002007-12-13T19:04:57.542-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Happy Nor'easter</span><br /><br />My poor husband is stuck on the roads. I have the good fortune of being home today anyway, using my extra time off before it expires next week. The cats are sleeping. They are champions. I joined them, all drooling and snoring on the couch, but I only lasted about 45 minutes. They are way beyond my league, sleep-wise. It was kind of them to let me try.<br /><br />Television choices: 10 channels of snow coverage (It's snowing! The traffic is bad! Let's go to a map! Let's go to a correspondent standing in the snow!), a documentary on Pittsburgh, a PBS interview with Steve Martin that makes the great comic seem boring, a cooking show rerun, and <span style="font-style: italic;">That 70s Show</span>. No, really.<br /><br />A few presents are prettily wrapped and unrefined gingerbread is in the oven.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-6342447239641097572007-12-13T13:50:00.000-05:002007-12-13T14:16:28.688-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Odd Scenes</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1.</span> A lady left me a message wanting to learn more about shiatsu. She had a whispery, childlike voice and a scattered way of speaking that make me think she is a young teen. I call her back. She tells me something unusual is going on, and she wonders if I can help. "You see, I'm an empath," she begins. I think, oh no, she can't turn off hearing voices or something. But it turns out that she meant that to be the <span style="font-style: italic;">normal </span>part. She pauses, gathers her nerves, and adds, "And I think I have that seasonal affect." Winter depression? Seasonal Affective Disorder? That's the big revelation? I assure her that it is miserable, but perfectly normal, and that shiatsu can help. I offer to send her my latest newsletter, which is all about SAD. She doesn't currently have an email address, she explains, because the smutty ads just keep coming, and she thinks they are targeting her specifically. I explain that we all get those. She gives me someone else's email address, someone who won't mind receiving her email for her.<br /><br />And then, in her scattered, rambling, crazy-laughing way, she keeps me on the phone for <span style="font-style: italic;">half an hour</span> talking about <span style="font-style: italic;">whatever comes into her head</span>. I gently try to return her to the topic at hand, repeatedly. I ask outright--and at last get her attention--whether she would like to make an appointment. I offer her giant chunks of time in which I'm available to give her shiatsu; in response, she asks for a time I did not offer: Next Friday night. I explain that I'll be at a Solstice event. She invites herself to the event. I explain that it's a private event. She begs me to get her in. I tell her about another, <span style="font-style: italic;">open </span>event she can go to instead. She thanks me, but also says she would rather come to mine if I can possibly get her in.<br /><br />She asks if I accept credit cards for shiatsu payment. I say no. She says this is a problem, even though she knows it's expensive for the practitioner to accept cards. I tell her I offer half-hour treatments at an affordable rate. She asks if she can get 40 minutes instead, because half an hour is not enough. Patience Meter on Empty, I pass my husband a note that reads, "10 Kinds of Crazy!!". He calls my phone so I can say, "Oh, call waiting!" and hang up on 10 Kinds of Crazy. She was clearly not, in fact, a teen, but a grown woman with issues.<br /><br />If she ever gets it together to call me back to make an actual appointment, I have decided to refer her elsewhere.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2.</span> The acupuncturist got drunk at the Christmas party. I went upstairs to use the bathroom. She opens the door, leans against the frame, smiles a silly smile and asks, "So how <span style="font-style: italic;">are </span>you?"<br /><br />"Good. How are <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span>?"<br /><br />She drops her eyeglasses off her head, bends over and fumbles to pick them up. She says, "I'm good, I'm good. I'm not sure how many martinis I had. Maybe 2...or 3...."<br /><br />I ask if she wants a ride home. "Nah, I'll just wait here for a bit." I wish her luck navigating the stairs.<br /><br />When I return downstairs, I find that she is curled up in the floor of an empty, dark room. She is talking to someone, but no one else is there. The hostess goes to check on the acupuncturist. It turns out she's talking to her boyfriend on the cell phone.<br /><br />Only 3 other guests remain--me, G, another shiatsu practitioner. We leave. I wonder how the acupuncturist gets home.<br /><br />The martinis were awfully good.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-39652750901401504652007-12-07T23:22:00.000-05:002007-12-07T23:23:30.311-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">An Interesting Question</span><br /><br />Someone asked me today: If you were handed a plane ticket and could write in any destination, where would you go?<br /><br />Now I ask you.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-4221996432514935302007-12-07T22:33:00.001-05:002007-12-07T23:26:27.505-05:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Christmas Song</span><br /><br />I think Larry's right. I think we should try to pen our own Christmas song. I've been mulling it over for a day or two, hoping to sneak up on some inspiration before it fled away. At first, all I got was some simple lyrics with a lovely, haunting melody:<br /><br />Christmas time is heeeere<br />Happiness and cheeeer<br />Yuletide by the fireside....<br /><br />Melancholic and beautiful, but certainly not new. It's from <span style="font-style: italic;">A Charlie Brown Christmas</span>, which explains why animated children with giant heads were skating to the song in my mind's eye.<br /><br />Then some <span style="font-style: italic;">great</span> lyrics popped into my head:<br /><br />Doorbells and sleighbells and schnitzel with noodles<br />Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings...<br /><br />Damn, I remain a hack. No wonder those lyrics I channeled were way beyond my writing ability. The next line is, of course, "These are a few of my favorite things".<br /><br />But I think I may have the beginnings of a chorus--really, truly new, as no melody sang through my mind--so help me find the lyrics that go with these. Or, help me out by making these better. Or we can ditch them, whatever, especially of I'm plagiarizing without knowing it.<br /><br />Ahem.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Working title: <span style="font-style: italic;">A Christmas Lullaby for All Mankind</span><br /></div><br /><br />"And here's my Christmas wish for you<br /><br />May love grow in your heart like a rose<br />May peace fly to your heart on a dove<br />Let kindness shine from your heart like a star<br />May your heart be light"<br /><br />We could also/instead work in wisdom or charity, faith or trust...But they seem so <span style="font-style:italic;">serious</span>.<br /><br />***<br />And I can kind of hear the end of the song, lines alternating sung like church bells, fade out:<br /><br />Good night<br />Sweet dreams<br />Good night<br />Sweet dreams<br />Good night<br /><br />***<br />Maybe this is all very bad. Go easy if it is. In the spirit of Christmas charity and all.<br /><br />PS Ann, you're a poet. Lend a hand?kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-78339321614197027212007-12-05T21:52:00.000-05:002007-12-05T22:23:15.001-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Bloggers, Did You Know?</span><br /><br />I got in the car to drive home, turned on the All Day All Night Christmas Music Channel.<br /><br />Now, I can be something a classicist, figuratively and literally. I majored in Greek philosophy in college, for goodness' sake. I want my holiday songs to be <span style="font-style:italic;">classics</span>, be they the Alleuia chorus from Handel's <span style="font-style:italic;">Messiah </span>or Andy Williams' shiny-as-a-new-penny <span style="font-style:italic;">Most Wonderful Time of the Year</span> (what an arrangement! Bravo to whoever did that!).<br /><br />And instead, the song that played when I switched on the radio...It was...It gave me belly laughs. Whooping belly laughs with tears in my eyes. I mean no disrespect to any Christian believers. It's the aesthetics of the song that really killed me. A gravelly voice crooned in a rock-pop-country way to Mary, asking, repeatedly, "Mary, did you know"--that your Son would walk on water, that the Son you delivered would deliver you, etc etc. <br /><br />But, as LeVar Burton (my first crush) used to say on Reading Rainbow, you don't have to take <span style="font-style:italic;">my </span>word for it. Someone very thoughtfully made us a PowerPoint <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN70R-3ao0U&feature=related">YouTube video</a>.<br /><br />PS. From the looks of it, this song I'd heretofore never heard of is quite popular, maybe in a different geographic region than the Deep Blue North.kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881724.post-23542705706382535032007-12-02T09:33:00.000-05:002007-12-02T09:46:52.523-05:00<span style="font-weight:bold;">Unexpected</span><br /><br />I got a call on Friday. A spa in a wealthy area has a backlog of shiatsu clients, but their practitioner had to move suddenly to Florida because of a family emergency. I met the owner the next day at 9 AM, did an audition treatment, walked out with a black shirt to wear when I start work the 15th. This is a chance to make good money. I would like that. For years I've felt like I was working my ass off for every last penny, not compensated enough.<br /><br />So, I'll just start with Saturdays; and if it works out, and if the p/t nonprofit job comes through, I'll be able to quit Day Job, work more than one day at the spa, and still have time for my own practice (heretofore unprofitable).<br /><br />I'm reeling. I was exhausted from the upheaval and the interview yesterday. I was catatonic on the couch from 2 PM onward.<br /><br />The prospect of working at an upscale spa has certainly brought up some of my "stuff". I look scruffy compared to the other employees and certainly the owner, the Most Polished Woman of All. I've always thought of myself as charmingly earthy, but I suspect I'll need to apply some serious makeup to bring in the tips from the wealthy ladies. <br /><br />And, how do I feel about being the money-leech at the side of the wealthy wives? Not sure.<br /><br />I also have some latent prejudices against the upper classes. Will I be treated like the "help"? Are they spoiled, self-involved people, and will my treatments be reinforcing those tendencies? Most of all, will I morph into a little clone of the wealthy ladies, not unlike Cady in <span style="font-style:italic;">Mean Girls</span> becoming the queen of the clique she set out to bring low? Or Andy in <span style="font-style:italic;">The Devil Wears Prada</span>?<br /><br />Ah hell, I should just let it go and allow myself not to work so damn hard at a job I don't like, give myself permission to make some money and enjoy it.<br /><br />...Right?kStylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06722899143558375319noreply@blogger.com9