Random Thoughts.
Had my first Men's Yoga class tonight. Thought it would make a good companion to my Chi Kung practice (see below), and I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. Not difficult, really, just a lot of stretching and feeling muscles I haven't felt in long time. Actually quite refreshing and relaxing. There are about 15 guys in the class, with the average age maybe 45. Most are desk jockeys with little or no yoga experience, so I wasn't intimidated by any little rubber bendy guys I expected but did not get in class. No, we did not have to wrap out legs around our necks...yet.

Started back doing Chi Kung (Qi Gong) on Thursdays a couple of weeks ago, and I realized how much I missed it. For those of you that never heard of it, Chi Kung is often referred to as Chinese yoga. If focuses on meditation, breathing, and very mindful movement helping to move and stimulate energy throughout the body. There are also some similarities to Tai Chi. I took a class last summer at Silent Thunder Center for Asian Studies and got hooked on it. I find it helps me focus, calms me down, relaxes me, and has helped to relieve my intestinal problems. The instructor, Master Mokurai is excellent, the classes have a serious yet relaxed atmosphere, and the sessions are inexpensive. He also has a sacred singing and chanting session on Thursday evening, as well as a meditation. I'm going to participate in all three classes tomorrow evening.

Went to my first meeting of the USSRG, (the Ultimate Saturday Spiritual Reading Group) last Saturday, and was very glad I attended. Hosted by my friends Rita and Louie, this is a wonderful, loving and open group of folks all following a similar spiritual path. We discussed The Da Vinci Code, and next month's book is The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg. This group is a blessing as it insures I will read at least one spiritual book per month. Oh, and thanks Vicki for the Chakra Coloring Book. By the way, I intend on visiting the Dan Brown web page and trying to decipher all the hidden codes on the book cover. Looks like fun!

Went to the "Pack the Pit" UNM Lady Lobos game with a bunch of church folk last Saturday. Great time, them gals can really run. Noticed that our team is made up mostly of big Nordic blonde women, which seemed a bit odd to me. I'd expect that maybe for BYU or Wisconsin, but not us. Very exciting game, we were down as many as 10 points during the game but won by 4 points. Still wanting to buy season tickets next year because I think the women are more fun to watch than the men's team.

My minister, Guy Lynch, who is a big stand-up comedy fan, invited me to go see a stand-up show at Sandia Casino which featured the winner of that "Last Comic Standing" TV show, Dat Phan. I really like that guy, but I couldn't go due to yoga class. Oh well, maybe Dat will show at one of our other comedy venues soon. Also hoping those stand-up comedy classes at Laffs are restarted soon. Still want to do that, very much.

I'm going to talk to my realtor on Friday about finally putting the house up for sale. Hopefully I can sell it before my birthday in May. I would actually like to be in a new house by then.

Finished reading the mystery Black Rubber Dress by Lauren Henderson. My friend Jim G. met her at the Vegas Bouchercon, and recommended the book to me. Well, I liked the wisecracking English sculptress heroine, but found the mystery to be somewhat lacking. Most of the book concerns her social encounters with London's snobby elite, or descriptions of what people are wearing, and very little on building plot or suspense. A non-recommendation from me.

I'm almost done with Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen, who also writes the great Constable Evan Evans series set in Wales. This one is the first in the Molly Murphy series, about a Irish immigrant in 1901 New York city. These are wonderfully fun and evocative books. Bowen really knows how to write a good tale with colorful characters and vivid descriptions of time and place. So far this one is even better than The Death Riley, the second Molly story, which I read last year. I've got the third one, For the Love of Mike, in my "next to read" pile.