yogi | author | artist
Ibsen used to say, about writing plays, that in the first draft your characters are strangers. In the second draft they are friends, and by the third they are close family.
– Charles Harris, from 9 Steps to Writing Dialogue with Rich Subtext.
Charles Harris has a lovely piece on writing dialogue that has subtext. I always liked my dialog, so I’m going to have to try his guidance on and see if I can add some more depth! The quote above really inspired me.
While I’m a firm advocate of leaving judgement off the yoga mat, in the publishing world, reviews by readers are essential. If you happen to read one of my books, please do me the honor of commenting about it on the book’s page at Amazon.com, goodreads.com, or your favorite source for books.
It helps more people become aware of the books, so they can decide if it would be interesting for them to read.
Thank you!
We’ve been smiling all week in class, using the ISHTA Inner Smile meditation. Come join me in asana classes or Saturday morning for meditation. Or if you’re a guy intimidated by all the flexy girls in classes, check in on Sunday for my Man to Man: Yoga for the Average Guy workshop. You’ll be lookin’ like the Buddha!
Here’s a treat: Ron Gutman’s TED Talk on the power of the smile.
Most of the women I know who practice yoga come to it for the way it makes them feel:
Most men I know would love to feel the same things; and the men who practice yoga do! Continue reading “Man to Man: Yoga for the Average Guy”
I’ve been doing a little research on James Bond for a new book (no not a spy thriller), and learned the name of the hat everyone has been wearing for the last four years: the trilby. Here’s a fun blog post about them, and why everyone shouldn’t be wearing them. Except, by the author’s critique, me.
Here’s a photo from the awesome web site, thesuitsofjamesbond.com
a short story, by Peter Ferko
On my subway car in the Nation’s Capital, I face ahead as a man behind resists belligerent calls from a fellow passenger to release the doors and much harrumphing from my car mates. The recorded voice once again presumes cooperation as it states, “Doors closing,” while in fact, they open, allowing a recently-coiffed man in a stylish — rather than the more typically conservative — blue wool coat to sneak in the doors ahead of me; then they shut again, catching the sneak by the arm like a strict aunt. Continue reading “On the Washington Metro”
I love the Paris Review’s interviews. Their tweets pull such juicy quotes that I want to read them all, and then the interviews are so good that I want to read all the authors’ books (which I usually haven’t).
Here’s a great answer from the interview with Elizabeth Hardwick:
I don’t have many plots and perhaps as a justification I sometimes think: If I want a plot I’ll watch Dallas. I think it’s mood. No, I mean tone. Tone arrived at by language. I can’t write a story or an essay until I can, by revision after revision, get the opening tone right. Sometimes it seems to take forever, but when I have it I can usually go on. It’s a matter of the voice, how you are going to approach the task at hand. It’s all language and rhythm and the establishment of the relation to the material, of who’s speaking, not speaking as a person exactly, but as a mind, a sensibility.
I can relate to that ‘revision after revision’ piece. It helps you recognize what’s there only because it’s precious to you and what’s their because it’s important.
Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Garnett uses yoga, even though he can’t do some of the poses. Wanna give it a try in a nonjudgmental setting? Join my workshop 6/14 in NYC. Sign up here (or get your guy to come): ISHTA Yoga.
I’m sure the intern, volunteer, or president of Integral had the best intentions trying to build a presence on twitter, but ya gotta watch for style, content, appropriateness (or perhaps this tweet’s a hack). It made me smile to think of the Swami instructing us about autocorrect, though!
Paramahansa Yogananda on the meaning of Christmas:
In these twenty centuries Christmas has been celebrated 1,935 times—yet how few have realized the true significance of the birth of Jesus! Every year, God and the angels recognize this occasion with celestial celebrations for the good of all. So let each one of you, by prior weeks of deep meditation, prepare his consciousness to celebrate this coming Christmas. Continue reading “Birth of Christ (consciousness)”