New York in the time of bedbugs

This is what it has come to. This afternoon, a woman was having an argument with her two teenagers in the row in front of us at the movie theater: “You’re crazy!” she said. “No, we’re just playing it safe,” they said. ”What a great idea!” I told the girls, who were spreading out a giant piece of clear plastic over each seat before they sat down. The mother turned around and told us that where she grew up—Cuba—everyone had bedbugs and it was no big deal. Then she broke out into what she said was a traditional Jamaican song about bedbugs that sounded a lot like “La Cucaracha.” It was a reminder that in New York (and elsewhere), It’s always something, as Gilda Radner used to say.

Branching out

Everybody's got a birds-in-a-tree iPhone snap. Here's mine:

Boss yoga

Every time I think I may have taken yoga as far as I can—or it’s taken me as far as it can—I realize there are more lessons to learn and more applications to put them into practice. At work, where I took on more managerial duties than usual this week, I realized how important it is to keep breathing, slow down. In the physical practice of yoga, there’s a rule of thumb that your breath is your guide to how hard to push. If you’re holding your breath or breathing high and fast, you need to back off. If you’re breathing easily, you should stay where you are or increase the challenge. There were a few hours this week when I was so stressed out, I think I inhaled about once every 15 minutes. Sadly, in situations like these, I rarely think about yoga, much less try to apply it. 

A sad little drama

A week ago, we noticed this amusing addition to the construction site that has become a permanent fixture outside our window:

Yesterday, we noticed that things had taken a creepy turn:

Achy breaky body

When I told my yoga teacher E a while back that sometimes my back is so sore and weak in the mornings, I can hardly get out of bed, she looked perplexed, as if she was confused by my bringing up the obvious. “Everyone our age has aches and pains,” she said. “I can’t bend over the sink to brush my teeth in the morning.” 

Schadenfreude at works

There's a guy at work who says peculiarly comforting things. It's hard to explain exactly why I find them so helpful, but I do. For example, when I obsess about potential imperfections in a task that I have completed, he says, "That ship has sailed." Poof! Anxiety gone. And this week, when I worried about how I was ever going to get all my work done, he said, "Well, at least you don't live in Japan." Wow! I cheered right up!

Human Race

I hate rushing. In order to avoid it … I rush. I get up early, so I won’t have to race the clock. I jump in the shower before Other, so I won’t get a late start and have to make up for it. I run to the subway station, so I won’t have to run for a train. I get to work early, so I won’t have to play catchup when I get there. God, it’s exhausting!