So Tired....

I'm feeling a bit burnt out, probably because of the heatwave. I've been really tired for the past few days, and just generally lacking in energy. When the weather gets a little cooler, I expect I'll feel better. I'm not genetically predisposed towards living in this kind of heat! My Innu subconscious is craving snow, and maybe even a nice bowl of raw whale fat.

I think I'll skip kung fu tonight. This way, I can get some much-needed housework done. I need to do the laundry, dishes, chinchilla cage, plus plenty of tidying. I also get to rearrange the livingroom. I inherited some shelves which I'm going to place beneath my television. This will elevate it to the perfect height for practicing with my dance videos.

Despite the enervating temperatures, I've remained productive. I finished a long strand of beaded fringe. It's long enough to put on a dance belt. Today, I started the fringe to go on the top. I think I'll put it on a white bedlah. Now, I just have to find some white fabric. I'm certain I have some around here, somewhere.

I was so exhausted last night that I wasn't sure I'd be able to manage yoga class, but I went, nonetheless. I'm glad I did. It revitalized me. I thought I was doing really well with the Matsyasana, but the instructor came up, and with some direction, I achieved a much larger stretch. And I'm finally achieving flexibility in the one area where I thought I had little: my lower back. With direction, I'm finally bending forward nice and low without hunching through my upper back. Maybe someday I'll finally be able to sit with my legs spread, then rest my chest on the floor. That would make me very pleased.

I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. I need a day off. But I won't have a day off until Friday. That morning, I want to go fishing. And that's also the day f00dave comes back from Newfoundland, land of scrunchions, cod cheeks, and mathematicians. Afterwards, we're going to Montreal. If you live in the area and want to get together, let me know! My schedule is pretty flexible.

Customer Oddities

Working in the tourist district lets me meet all sorts of people. This past week, I met two which amused and/or confused me. The first was a man with his young son. He stepped into the shop to take a look at a handpainted scarf bearing a Samurai motif. While looking at this, he noticed my bokken off in the corner. He walked over to it, picked it up, and told his son, "You have to be careful with these. They're sharp. You might cut your fingers off."

While I watched him, he grasped the pommel with one hand and the blade with the other and began tugging violently.

He looked up at me and said, "I guess I'm not strong enough. I can't get it to open."

"Well, that's because it's a bokken and not a katana. It's a wooden weapon."

...

The other instance happened while I was listening to music by Rachid Taha. A middle-aged German woman walked up to me and asked, "Excuse me! What language is that song?"

"Arabic," I said.

"Arabic? What's that?"

For one of the few times in my life, I was left at a loss for words. After a couple of moments, I said, "Well, they speak it in Egypt."

"Ah, Egypt!"

After chatting with her further, I discovered she comes from a military family. How can it be possible that someone, especially someone with a military background, cannot have heard of Arabic? This breaks my mind.