Sara Tavares - Lisboa Kuya
Feist and Ben Gibbard - Train Song
Brooks Williams: May You Never

"My Baby Just Cares for Me [sorta sometimes]," Nina Simone [achoo! coughcough]

snow patrol ft martha wainright - set fire to the 3rd bar

Sufjan Stevens - For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless in Ypsilanti

ugh my sinuses achooooo wa waaaa

2 in 1 year

"As if to make up for yesterday’s peace, an exciting conjunction of Venus and rebellious Uranus livens things up a bit. There will be encounters of the close variety – if not physically, then spiritually. These planets are careening through the psychic realm of Pisces and it’s easier to recognize, experience and fall in love with a person’s soul."

[something bit me]

Jonathan Coulton: Baby’s Got Back (orig. Sir Mixalot) this is as good as that clem snide's ballad, inspired - high rec

achoo :(

apane juhvati pranam prane panam tathapare pranapana-gati ruddhva pranayama-parayanah

Khecarī Mudrā is a yoga practice which is carried out by placing the tongue above the soft palate and into the nasal cavity. In the beginning stages, the tongue is placed in contact with the uvula at the back of the mouth. Mudrā (Sanskrit, मुद्रा, literally "seal"), when used in yoga, is a position that is designed to awaken spiritual energies in the body.

The practice is mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (III. 6-7). In recent times, it was taught by Paramahansa Yogananda as a part of Kriya Yoga practice. Yogananda stated that:
Through the performance of Kechari Mudra, touching the tip of the tongue to the uvula, or "little tongue," (or placing it in the nasal cavity behind the uvula), that divine life-current draws the prana from the senses into the spine and draws it up through the chakras to Vaishnavara (Universal Spirit), uniting the consciousness with spirit

According to Swami Kriyananda, "The assumption of this mudra helps to hasten the advent of deep spiritual states of consciousness."

I try for this mudra during the final kapalbhati breathing in my practice, but I can't manage it. I wonder if IPG knows a secret bhakti technique of mastering it or what. (Imagine: the clueless priestweak yogini asks hot guru dude about advanced tongue yoga practices just when he'd dodged dinosaurs . . . glad it didn't even occur to me.) In other somewhat related news, seems I did indeed find where I'll belong next on this yoga journey; I will soon start teacher-training with Siri Egg. I kinda can't believe it, but am very happy despite worrying that I'm just too essentially ridiculous for dancing with God. (And my throat is in fire.)

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ears: mmmmmm tacos are the best food

tj: they're not the healthiest

ears: maybe but tacos are God's favorite food

tj: how do you know?

ears: God is in everyone . . . but mostly in me

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bonus track: "The Sufi's Tears," Charles Lloyd, tenor sax; Geri Allen, piano; Robert Hurst, bass; Eric Harland, drums

"People Get Ready (Impressions cover)," Seal - mmm I love a black choir, like chanting only more groovy

zorbachoad's consolation prize playlist:

morrissey - there's a place in hell for me and my friends

the deers - don't lose faith

richard somebody - born under a bad sign

rufus w ft. dido - I eat dinner ft. when the hunger's gone

u2 - the ground beneath her feet

my bedroom smells like brown sugar poptarts being toasted right now for no reason I can find

the mind's true liberation la la la

Here it comes, the Chinese new year (year of the Ox) and the solar eclipse in Aquarius, both starting after midnight tonight. A solar eclipse plants something (that will uproot or remove what’s in the way of growth) in your life and it shakes shit up thus – like Jack when he planted the beans typa deal. It’s a good thing for most people, though it can feel a bit upsetting (more than a little maybe), and though the effects take up to a year to fully manifest (unlike the effect of a lunar eclipse, which is coming up on Feb 9th so stay tuned). It will have greatest impact on Aquarians, esp. if your birthday is within a few days of it, and on interpersonal dynamics in general bc Aquarius rules that part of life:

“this eclipse occurs conjunct the Fixed Star, Bos, which in Latin means "Ox"! It is a fortunate star . . . the eclipse also awakens the Fixed Star, Dorsum which is often associated with the 10th arcanum of the Tarot pack, the "Wheel of Fortune". This shows that his life, and the destiny of the world, is at a turning point, when decisions made will have profound impact. It is one of those times when intent can be implemented, but for the majority, it might seem more like a throw of the dice. The pace of life accelerates – and the spinning Fates of ancient Greece will be working overtime!”


This one is hitting the brand new sliver moon in Pisces – that’s my moon, the one that if you’re born under it you’re always a little half in this world and half not and have a tendency to hear people in an ‘intuitive’ way. I can hear (or read) what people are feeling and they’re words to me seem like semi-solid projections of those feelings, the thoughts being often secondary altogether (and everyone seeming full of shit to me thus until [too late?] I figured it out that I was just hearing subtext as text). This eclipse is likely going to send me even more into that ‘cat hearing’ mode. I was also directed to imagine what would change up my professional life, and it was like looking in my mind’s eye at a short list of pending funerals. One in particular, of my mentor, feels to me as if it’s half occurring already and the dinner party at his house last weekend was one of the wakes in retrospect. Let’s call these “retirements” and be optimistic, but still – it’s giving me paws to imagine the responsibility that’s coming at me like a train barreling down. Then I guess I’ll cock my head and hear everyone feeling their mortality all at once as our brightest leadership lights go out and the college, like everything else, tips toward bankruptcy, with me of all people in charge of a bunch of shit, Minnie Mouse the Good Witch - ? Hard to imagine as I’m sitting here, the laundry in a moldering pile, my desk a mess, my skin scaly and winter gray, my bed cold as ice, my fridge full of food I’m ignoring as it goes bad and I opt for toast, all possible options in all categories looking either too big or too small mostly. The way I’m talking to myself about it is obviously counter-productive . . .

To get ready for a solar eclipse: sleep a lot, eat a lot, clear your schedule, clean your house, get rid of any lingering chores. Act as if you’re expecting company, and they might stay for months and months. So make room, but also REST so that your patience reserves are as full as possible. No spell casting allowed, as in the “write it on a sheet of paper” bla b la stuff of previous astrological posts – there’s enough going on without your doing anything, in other words, so don’t put the frog in a blender. LET things begin, then ROLL with them, don’t FORCE them.
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In other news, I went to a roller derby last night, where women with names like Lip Service and Cheese Grater thrilled a mind-bogglingly large crowd, converging in of all places North Tonawanda, and lo international dykes and local blue collar guys find that they can channel the same energy. Like a Grateful Dead jam, only different. I went with one of the founders of the league, Flo(torius), whom before this I would have described as swanlike.

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Then this morning was the long awaited Kundalini workshop, my follow-up to still not being over IPG and taking that as a sign to keep going, though to WHERE exactly remains a cloudy intoxicating possibility. The Guru got kicked back at the Peace Bridge, so actually the day was run by a Sikh KY teacher to my longtime friend Pinky. Siri, the teacher, is ooo a cross between my mother and God himself, anywhere from 60 to 100 years old, about equal parts tall and round, and in her head-to-toe white garb w/ turban she looked like a divine egg. She gave a lecture on what it means to be living in the age of Aquarius. The basic characteristics of this age are centripedal , i.e. we move out and into a democratic and communitarian ethos, proliferating in our ways of understanding the world away from central leaders (kings, ethnicities, clans) into an ever greater awareness that we’re all stuck with each other, that what happens to you happens to me. If you want to live in concert with the times, don’t act in a loopy circuit running your intentions through a filter in your head that is designed to hussle every situation towards your self interest. Because YOUR self interest is the same as EVERYONE’s. Example:

You want to give someone a gift, a flower to a pretty girl: you think in a loopy circuit through your brain which calculates the benefit to yourself of giving that gift, of what she’s going to think about it, the odds of her thinking you’re an idiot and kicking your balls to the curb, you follow this line of thinking until you don’t even give her the flower at all or you’re already pissed at her by the time you do because you’ve imagined her kicking you in the balls a bunch of times and what you hope you’d get out of it you actually consider yourself OWED at that point.

Acquarian alternative: you want to give someone a gift, the desire to do so it reason enough, you do that.

Principle: Trust that whatever you have to give is best given. (Except “fuck you”, that you might wanna keep to yourself.)

Then we did yoga, which I always looooove, I can bend over backwards all damn day if someone lets me, then did a little white tantra (stare into your partner’s eyes and try not to feel like a douche nozzle), then we chanted, then omg we danced. I felt like a total idiot at the dancing part, but Siri Egg was rockin' out and she was something to behold. I want to follow her around and hear everything she has to say about anything at all, so I’m gonna try to roll with that. Stay tuned for the likely installment on male/female polarity and how I’m a socket in a plugless terrarium . . . . meanwhile, sing along:

the 5th dimension - aquarius, let the sunshine in cheesy but o so la la laaaa

for virgo today: Your sense of irresistible fun should return today, along with your focus. On top of this money is looking great too, so whatever your plans you’re sure to have a great time. Just don’t let someone in your social circle who will be inclined to behave like a damp squid!

ha. my options tonight so far are robochoad and the shih tzu (hey, "robochoad and the shih tzu" is a great name, eh? too bad I'm not a garage band)

Ryan Adams: Wonderwall (Oasis) lovely cover

bonus: check this out, shits-n-giggles for the seasonal-affective

" Mercury retrograde gives rise to personal misunderstandings; flawed, disrupted, or delayed communications, negotiations and trade; glitches and breakdowns with phones, computers [my laptop, oy what a pain in the ass], cars, buses, and trains. And all of these problems usually arise because some crucial piece of information, or component, has gone astray or awry. . . . on January 21, Mercury slips back into Capricorn [for 2-3 days] the sign of the Sea-Goat. Mercury retro in Capricorn suggests trouble through trying to turn knowledge and ideas to some practical advantage . . . "

[and the dog gets pancreatitis and shits foulness all over your favorite chair]

This retrograde is the astro equivalent to pms, which is very alkdjfa;lsdjfa;annoying to get when in an otherwise energetic phase = frisky/pissy. What the hell kinda mood is friskypissed? Ugh. The upside: it's a good time to change your mind about something you oughta.

the eels - man up (band website) very catchy, I'm going for litemooded

stand me up at the gates of hell la laa

of swords

for virgo: "Many people feel guilty about things they shouldn't feel guilty about," wrote journalist Sydney J. Harris, "in order to shut out feelings of guilt about things they should feel guilty about." Your assignment is to figure out whether this description applies to you. If it does, be brave as you expose the truly guilt-worthy stuff you've repressed. Helpful cosmic energies will flow your way if you uncover what you need to atone for and then atone for it. [ sigh ]

"It's starting to seem that there is nothing so beautiful as risk and nothing sadder than critique. What I didn't know then - these tools are not the right tools."

dawn landes - won't back down (tom petty) web

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p.s. it's national hugging day - or here you can send an ecard instead [ >:( ]

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Pomp just bores me (aside: that's also dating problem #19375638320). I tuned into the inauguration here and there, like to see them try not to get bummed out by Ted Kennedy's brain exploding, but when they got to gizzing over the Americana crystal bowls I was out . . . Aretha's hat though, that I was down for.

[so don't trust it, eh?]

Winter is daily sawing off the top of my skull and then taking a piss into my brain chemicals, smouldering compost between my ears, heat building at the bottom scarylike.

"Que Sera Sera," Sly and the Family Stone - this is great

bonus track:elvis presley - only the strong survive
Lanterns on the Lake - If I Have Been Unkind [web]

bonus track:the smiths - asleep

J. Tillman - When I Light Your Darkened Door (web)

I'm taking a poll: I thought "I don't give a shit" was a shoe in to win (see horse race vid below, which even after 10x is still funny). Who did you think was a winner? On reflection, "Up yours" winning seems to be an interpersonal/existential lesson, eh? passive aggression vs aggression, aggression takes it - ?? If so, maybe I should try more "Up yours", generally speaking - ?? Dunno, I've been trying to find Enlightenment but maybe I'm only always coming in third with "I don't give a shit".

[it's so cold, my brains have freezer burn], speaking of which:

real world sucks? (like it's snowing for 100th day in a row and you feel like blowing your head off into your next life with a stick of dynamite?): try imaginary solutions! (like parsing your horoscope, for instance)

"Giving Up (Gladys Knight and the Pips cover)," Donny Hathaway, from DmS

ingrid michaelson - giving up [reversed ft. no pips] website

for virgo: Until last August, Nigerian religious leader Mohammadu Bello Abubakar had 86 wives. Then an Islamic council ordered him to divorce all but four of them. He was reluctant at first -- many of his 170 children were born of wives he'd have to separate from -- but since the alternative was punishment by death, he ultimately agreed. From the standpoint of your own evolution, Virgo, 2009 will be an excellent time to draw inspiration from Abubakar. I encourage you, in other words, to cull the excess and chaos from your love life. If you're single, narrow your focus down to a couple of fantasies rather than a wide variety. If you're in a committed relationship that's worth working on, swear off any possibility of cheating or escaping. In either case, perform an exorcism of all the ghosts that might threaten to distort your long-term romantic future.

for VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The beautiful part about having problems is whom you become because of them. The ancient philosopher Horace said it best: "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant."

tonight is the full wolf moon, so named for the howling of wolves half-starved by mid-winter - it goes void of course about at 11:30 pm, after which you have to sit back and appreciate what you already have rather than start anything new. it is the moon of communication, family and (if you have one) dogs - foundational things that remain loyal and that have seen you through to this hungry point, when spring has already begun coming toward you, but you may not feel it yet. you need to hug close what feeds and comforts you, give thanks for the roof over your head and anyone under it with you helping you abide there. this particular wolf moon is in Cancer right now and will be until it is no longer void, at which point Mercury will have gone retrograde (which lasts the next 3 weeks). what that means is two things, related: Cancer is the sign for all things related to feeling-for others probably to whom you are related (or who feel like family); Mercury is the planet of communication, so when it is retro you can't communicate very well and probably should avoid trying, at least verbally. so the upshot is that a full wolf moon, which is about communicating with loved ones to show appreciation for them, while in Cancer will be particularly strong but the retro Mercury will hamper your ability to express yourself in anything but sensual/non-verbal ways. so be quiet. think about your closest friends and family, the people who love you no matter what, reach out and stroke their arms if they are near [or let them stroke yours, depending on temperment] since nobody has ever been ill-served by a cuddle, and/or shovel their walkways etc. if they are far, say a prayer of thanks and protection from want for them, including your ancestors.

working to get into the right frame of mind for this moon, I lit a candle at the feet of Mary then went to do yoga - half way through the class, I suddenly irrationally but totally panicked that I had forgotten to let Jasper in before I left (it is horrible weather here, tons of snow plus "freezing fog" whatever that is) and I went running out of the studio like a loony. when I got home, there he was illicitly curled on my bed as per usual, cold and lazy. I said, "welp that put everthing else into perspective now didn't it?" as he settled at my feet.

thao & the get down and stay downs - you really got a hold on me

The sign position of Venus reveals the "role" we take on when we want to attract love. But, it goes well beyond mere flirtation -- we "act like" this sign when we are involved in personal, one-to-one lover relationships . . .

Sometimes our Venus sign is the same as our Sun sign, and the way we express ourselves in matters of the heart is predictable enough. When our Venus and Sun are in different signs, we can surprise others (and ourselves!) with behavior that doesn't always seem to gel with the rest of our character. For example, a normally timid and humble Virgo girl may behave like quite the "queen" with her lover if her Venus is in Leo.

get your basic natal chart

Jessica Lea Mayfield - Call Me (website)

Middle Distance Runner - Brother John (band website) - I love the way this starts, Ears likes the way it ends - kinda Iron&Wine meets Guns-N-Roses typa deal

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for virgo today: VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). The need for change is obvious, but the prospect of altering the rules you live by is frightening. [bah, I laugh in the face of danger] The discomfort you're muddling through is part of healing. You'll soon find new inspiration. Trust in the process. or The planetary influences will add some much needed zest and zing to your love life today. Singles are likely to get flustered [nooo really?! o wait there's more] by someone who is rather captivating but also rather demanding, while attached Virgos should prepare for a sizzling and memorable evening!

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does anyone else toggle horoscopes to find the one that sucks the least? zest zing and sizzle, think I'll go with that one

I've known NuNu since 1996. Now I'm comfortable sharing space w/ her, as in sharing blankets in front of the fire talking. Reflecting on this, I did the math: If I can a get to a point of some kinda easy intimacy with apx one person per decade, I have apx 4 (ok let's think positive and say 6) real friends left to make in my lifetime. Calculating further, if I add a romantic connection into the mix, it takes me a decade to make and lose a friend, resulting in a zero sum gain. (I'm insisting on changing that here-to-for inevitable outcome w/ FPH, but the results aren't in yet.) If I think about the subject this way, instead of thinking "I need more friends", I'm cautious almost to the point of paranoid about whom I'd be willing to spend one of my scanty tokens on. The funniest moment of the night by far was when "Scotty", the dude who said "when one goes, we all go!!" with every shot, tried to pick NuNu up by insisting on smelling her onion-ring breath. Although I have to admire his gameness, since of course all I can do is armscrossy hug myself very apart in crowded rooms, still I'm not thinking I'd plunk down a token on him or anyone else there . . . I realize that I can't keep being a textbook case of a cloistered virtue, but today my prayers are for quality over quantity w/ romance seeming somewhat dubious altogether.

damien rice - when doves cry/I'm going to leave you (prince/led zep)

I'm throwing my arms around Paris (first single off new cd, "Years of Refusal")

I can't help but want revolution where this dude is concerned, cz if he were to say "Hey, I've changed my mind, Love is Awesome so Try It!" he could become the Dali Llama of Twee. Ya know what I'm sayin'? And the crowds of fashionably disaffected followers (priests/nuns) would turn to each other and smile and rejoice and pass around each others' babies whatever - some of them might even get laid and be like whoa holy shit that's better than ice cream, and then they'd all start trying it and they'd make love not war(on themselves).

o well, Say la vee. He'll be in Buffalo this spring, same venue and season as I saw Feist last year, which seems an interesting parallel, from "I feel it all la la" to "Noooo la la la" after the passage of a whopping temper tantrum - like a wrecking ball on the backswing maybe.

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for virgo today: Take it easy today. Even if the day starts like an absolute dream, proceed with caution [ha, how else would I?], because the late afternoon may well create some minor misunderstandings with friends and/or your partner. For single Virgos, there may be some mixed messages to unravel before the day is through! hmm, I'm going out for the first time in my new town, with NuNu as my wingman . . . messages to unravel . . . that doesn't sound so bad

martha wainwright - bloody mother fucking asshole la la la [figured I'd post this one now, while I'm feeling rather sweet and charming - it's great to sing along w in the car]

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for virgo today: Romance may well come under the spotlight, thanks to specific influences, which are amplifying feelings and generating too much sensitivity. It’s not a great idea to initiate any heart-to- hearts; nor is it a great day for frivolous, fun-filled dates. Perhaps what someone wants or needs is a serious response from you! [see how much pressure this is? fine, sweet and serious but wordlessly serious. just look thoughtful. and be charming. got it.]

I'll say yes and then I'll say no (Reversed)

If I do say so myselps, the music I’ve posted recently has kicked some ass that won’t quit. That resolution is panning out for all of us. Another: no more Header of Wretched (with some evolving format changes . . . [like the moon widget?]).

Chris Bathgate, love this guy, has been a fave since I posted “Buffalo Girl”. He looks a bit like Jimmy Neutron, but sounds mmmyyyummy. He’s outa Ann Arbor and playing there at the Ark at the end of January as a prelude to the folk festival, fyi hahem - I think that’s a banjo, and isn’t his weird accent quite fetching?
Yes, I’m Cold
Every Wall You Own (don’t forget lies of omission la la la)

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Once again for the coming year, my horoscope bodes wonderfully well - the best I'll get until 2016 somethingsomething about Saturn breathing down my neck. I hate the pressure to be always so fantastic, frankly. But fine, if I have as good of a year coming as I had going (except a re-balance of blessings from one "house" to another, into the 7th house and outa the asscrack of the 6th specifically), then fine.

Weekend Love Forcast: VIRGO: Someone new finds you sweet, thoughtful and charming.