Sent this in a postcard to myself from Thailand. Thanks, Jami Sieber! 2012 is on us. The age of doing is over. Are you worshipping the past? Are you building fires toward illimitable being and wearing them out like aRead more…
Why Mina Birds whistle
The Suan Doi Guest House in Chiang Mai is a tropical paradise inside the urban riot of Thailand’s second city. Its spirit houses – outside and inside the property – are grand affairs befitting the jungle courtyard inside. Enormous urnsRead more…
On the Universality of Morning Doves
They’re here. Every morning, hidden away in the sparse jungle remnants around the condos. “hoohoo hoo”, they seem to be asking, and answering, “roo rooroo”. They’re not the smartest creatures, honestly. We had them in Ojai, and for some reasonRead more…
Inappropriate Foot
Every bodywork experience exists on a continuum somewhere between: 0 – Radioactive No-No Square (your bathing suit zones and nearby regions are strictly quarantined) …and… 10 – Happy Ending (rarely actually happy for anyone) Isaac Newton’s 3rd Law of MotionRead more…
Indian at the World Fair
It was common practice at the World Fair each year in England to bring natives – often whole family groups – from around the empire to live their daily lives, to exhibit themselves, for the edification and education of theRead more…
My elephant wants to send me on the short bus
The second day we walk out to the forest at 6.30 with the sun climbing the mountains behind the jungle. The couple mahouts that set out with us are jaunty, easy, and of course, tiny. Tiem, who is responsible forRead more…
a 10-foot golden fire
Immensity of Thai Buddha, coated in gold, crown of fire lit by spot, jeweled coat burning 2 men high. All I see is the platform, its velvet space in the shape of a meditating man, bordered in soft color, twoRead more…
Dogs in the Elephant Village
Every one of us, a dog in the elephant village. Eager to go, to be of use, to be part of the mysterious indigo and grey movements of the day. We scrabble with each other. We lie in the brightRead more…
Thailand Fat Camp
A head 9 feet off the ground, weighing in between 3500 and 4000 kg (which for the English Imperial Measurement victims in the audience, that’s approximately 4.4 tons), your instructor only speaks Thai, has a neck wider than your waist,Read more…
Wat Phra That Lampang Luang
Say that 10 times fast! A long, quiet morning at The Riverside guest house in Lampang. It’s actually beside the river Ping (which also runs through Chiang Mai). The brown expanse of the river, bounded by concrete in a weirdlyRead more…