R.I.P. Papa Rudy.

My mom's oldest sister just lost her husband.  I met him only a few times because they are in the Philippines, but I feel like I know him because of the stories my mom has been telling me since I was a child.

Papa Rudy was a kind, gentle man. An artist. I remember seeing his work back in 2004 when I was last in the Philippines.  He would blurt out an English word every now and then and giggle at the usage.  Then we would all egg him on to try more words :)

This is one of those times I wish the world was a little smaller. I hate that I can't even make my uncle's funeral because it is half a world away.   

Rest in peace Papa Rudy.  I hope you didn't suffer and that you knew you were greatly loved and would be greatly missed.  

The Good Push.

Generally I'm not a big fan of being overbearing and pushy.  Sometimes though, one can benefit from a push or two.  Starting off last week with food poisoning was tough, and I was planning to just rest it up for the remainder of the week/weekend, catch up on work and not go on the office ski trip. Fortunately, a couple of my coworkers were aggressive enough to make sure I got a snowboard rental before 8pm closing time on Thursday night and I was lured into the ski trip with promises of feeding bison breakfast at a farm on the way (when else would I ever get to do that?) and resting my food poisoning away on the drive to the mountains.

So I got to hang with bison before sunrise.  BIG AND FLUFFY BISON!

I also got to improve my snowboarding (I haven't been on a board in ages!) while looking at this:

Beautiful majestic Rockies!

Proud accomplishments of a beginner boarder:

-getting off chairlifts a few times without having to do the roll of shame

-actually executing some (very sloppy) carving (on very gentle slopes)

And THEN I was pushed into going to the Banff hot springs. I never EVER thought I would get in a swimsuit and sit in a pool outdoors during the winter.  It turned out out to be fabulous and I even enjoyed the fluffy snowflakes landing on my face while my sore bottom half was immersed in deliciously warm steamy water. 

So I survived and I admit that my coworkers were right after all.  I'm now food poisoning free and back to working overtime. This week I was delighted to get a big award at work :) Yay for recognition!  I already spent some of it at Lululemon ;)

Ahh, the rewards of pushing yourself (or being good-naturedly pushed) beyond your comfort zone. Stay uncomfortable, folks!

Never Again (a.k.a. Vegans Vomit Too).

I just spent most of the night alternating between vomiting and curling up on my bathroom floor. And now I am in bed instead of being productive at the office.

Thanks a lot, kombucha.

Ohhh you seemed so harmless - good for me, even.  I remember when we first met at a farmers market in Hawaii.  The long haired surf bum that brewed you himself served me a delicious tart slightly fizzy cup of you.  There was sunshine, a rainbow of fruits and veggies ... and you.

I've bought you several times since then, always in attractive shiny bottles that gleamed with healthful promise.  The bacteria is good for you, the labels said.  

Sure, yesterday's bottle seemed a bit bitter towards the end of the workday, but little did I know that the apocalypse would visit my guts that evening.

Lesson learned.  Next time I want the benefits of fermentation I'll just have some sauerkraut or wine.

Silver lining? I just finished reading Chocolat.  It was on TV over the holidays and I'd forgotten how delicious the story is and how I've been meaning to read the actual novel.  So I borrowed an eBook from good ol' EPL with the Overdrive app.  Maybe not the best thing to read while food-poisoned,  but still enjoyable nonetheless.  A small town in France, a wanderer who sets up a chocolaterie, gypsies and small town prejudices, small town kindnesses, chocolate and more chocolate! 

Mind Farts
-I was complaining earlier about how the level of empathy still needs to catch up with technology in this world. Turns out there are uses for the empathy-challenged.  Just read an article on how certain folks like CEOs and surgeons and lawyers can do very well if they have a certain degree of ruthlessness
-level 2 yoga is HARD! Just like when my Cuban dance instructor started throwing ballet training in the mix, I quickly realize that so many endeavors are way harder than they look. It's tricky because dancers and yogis make it look so graceful and effortless - but that's where the 'art' part comes in now doesn't it?
-but not vomiting. Vomiting feels as horrible as it looks. Unless maybe there are bulimics out there that have mastered it. While violently retching, I did wonder briefly: how do bulimics do this in public spaces?  But self-induced vomit is not the same as bacteria attacking your insides. Yikes, enough vomit talk
-sometimes while checking drawings I will stream some BBC radio. There was a documentary on a really amazing badass woman: Noor Inayat Khan.  British secret agent of Indian descent.  She was a musician and a dreamer but also became an expert wireless operator during WWII. She was a pretty and tiny little thing but she was dangerous enough to be betrayed and then captured by the Germans, where she was tortured for months (almost a year), then raped, beaten and shot in the head in Dachau. Despite everything she still refused to give up info. She was only 30.