I'm gonna start a blog about sleeping bags.

Why? Because apparently I have a lot to say about them.

Exhibit A - the last blog.

Exhibit B - this blog: I was at Aryeye last night shopping for a tent for my trip that I leave for in a few hours (did I buy a $300+ tent? No. Did I come away with a greater knowledge of tents/appreciation for friends who have lent me tents in the past? Yes.) and whilst admiring the different color schemes on the tent field guide poster, I overheard some customers exchanging some words about sleeping bags with a cashier mid transaction. I, without taking my eyes off the tent diagrams, perked up my ears and took a step closer lest I miss a single word. The conversation went something like this:

cashier: . . .men's sleeping bags zip on (one side), women's on the (other).

young man: why is that?

cashier: so you can zip them together.

woman presumably mother of young man: oh I didn't know that.

young man: you thinking of getting some action on the mountain?

ok maybe it's not his mom: (no words, just a bevy of looks directed back at the young man, at the cashier)

I ceased listening after that. I was in shock! Gendered sleeping bags?! Yes, I understand that people have different body types and a gross generalization can be made for those of female biology vs those of male biology, but to limit the union of two sleep bags to those of opposing body types - this is a barefaced outrage! What if I want to be warm in the woods with my Lady Friend? Is this faceless Aryeye to be our remote chaperone/cockblock? And what if two dudes who share a love of nature but not each other's bits, hike up in the mountain together, sharing snacks, stories, platonic shoulder massages, only to find themselves underprepared for unexpected cold weather and need each other to stay warm through the night, to survive? Are we to let them die, together in the tent yet so far apart in their individually zipped up sleeping bags?

I.

think.

not.

So. This to you I propose: gay - I mean Unisex- sleeping bags. One shape. Zipper down both sides so you can keep your side of the futon. Comes in pink with a black dot or black with a pink dot. Galaxy print interior either way*. Can also be zipped head to toe, head to toe, (ahem, not for what you are probably thinking) so that the dots on the bags make a kind of perfect yin/yang symbol when in union. Each one comes with a glow stick, some sage, chapstick. Oh and they're super light and can pack down into a small pouch that doubles as a fanny pack.

People, it's time we all get on the same page: the revolution will be egalitarian, stylish and toasty, toasty warm.

*warm gays in Space!

say cheese.

I think it is time I get a camera. A digital one. Then I could document interesting things in my goings abouts town. Like that one house that has built a platform in their tree in their yard, for what purpose originally, I know not, but the current role it plays is 'perch for large dog.' Well, more recently 'dogs.' Plural. There is something a little unnerving about walking past a six foot wooden fence and having a dog bark at you from above.
Also, I could take photos of this:

How cool is that? I found it whilst google image searching 'lunar eclipse.' I seem to have missed that moment in the sky, a bit of obscurantism on behalf of the cloud cover. Tho, not sure if a lavender winged being in the sky would freak me out more than a domesticated canine hanging out in the arbors.

(baby seal is still my one true love)

last night I watched part of the eclipse, veiled at times by a thin curtain of clouds. at one point, two parallel, transparent shadows crossed over the moon, sweeping from right to left, like a analog glitch in a video. hmmm. I looked at my fellow moon gazer. that was weird. yeah, she agreed. oh good, you saw that too. we hypothesized what the strange trick of light could have been then settled on weird. it was weird. with little/any greater significance? not sure. tho the fact that it was a lunar eclipse on a full moon on the winter equinox while mercury is in retrograde makes me think that maybe, yes, there are some astrological shifts occurring that have perhaps more than subtle influences.

one of which is not being able to sleep. tho that could be blamed on my evening visitor. it's like the universe when all manic last night and decided to clean the whole house from top to bottom and get back to all those emails and letters that have been sitting around. like the one I sent that said something to the effect of 'I think I would like a cat, but I kinda want one to just show up on my doorstep.' a request that i figured would go by the wayside because my door is inside on the second floor. but, low and behold, ye olde universe is a clever monkey. on my way into the house from parking my bike, an apartment neighbor who had just pulled up in her car, stopped and asked if I had gotten a new cat. there was one in the hallway upstairs and she couldn't figure out who it belonged to. hmm. well, well, sure enough I went inside and there was a gentle feline tabby to greet me at the top of the stairs. fun! we hung out for most of the night, there was a bunch of hubbub with the other neighbors as we set out some food and a litter box in the hall. I left my door ajar and he had the run of the place. it was all mellow fun and board games until my later than usual bed time when I retired to my loft bed and mr feline eclipse decided to get really meowy. ilvs #1: poor cat! he must be freaked out and missing his home! ilvs #2: if one of my house mates doesn't kick him out in the next five minutes, I will! I ended up just closing my door and putting in earplugs. ilvs #1: dear universe, I feel kinda bad about it. ilvs #2: dear universe, I don't think I am quite ready for a cat.

and when I awoke, bleary eyed and kinda crabby from like 6 hours of sleep, little house guest was nowhere to be found. darn. I do kinda still want a cat. and he was pretty cute. did I just let this little furry gift from the universe just slip past? maybe he'll reappear and maybe, unlike the full moon solstice lunar eclipse, I won't have to wait another 1600 years or so for it to happen again.

(speaking of strange lights in the sky, google, if you will, 'norway blue light 2009.' i found the link to this while google perusing images of extreme bodybuilders – um, i have a fascination with them, their grotesque ridiculousness, the absurdity of the human body pushed to the unnecessary limit. but back to the blue lights, or 'misfired russian rocket' as it is purported to be, it is beautiful. and if rockets actually did that, i say 'fire away.')

St. Zuckerberg

ze chocolate in my belly goes zing a ling! spilling thru my blood stream! . . .

I picked up a recent New Yorker while sitting in the revamped waiting room of my therapist and started reading an article on that Zuckerberg Facebook guy and was kinda annoyed that I paid a bunch of money to some guy to interrupt me, just when it was getting to the good part, to step into the next room and talk about my feelings. It got me thinking again about how this guy is some kind of futuristic sly new age genius. Allow to explain. One of the reasons I don't do Facebook is that I already spend enough time in front of a computer, I don't need any more reasons to tappity tap my mac. Ok, another reason is to preemptively avoid any twangs of owie while checking someone's Status post break up (friend, romantic or otherwise). An admittedly weak reason. Also, I figure, if something is that cool or important, then I will get the word one way or another. But my point, I'm getting to it, slowly. Basically Facebook is set up as a social network. Fairly blatant statement. The physiological what that looks like is all us people sitting in a chair (I'm generalizing), with focused attention, thinking about our friends, for periods of a time throughout our day, ie connecting. If you take away the computer but keep the rest, the posture, the intention, you basically have the framework for massive collective meditation. Think of the potential! Think of the future! Think of the good that could come of it! Well, except for obsessing over that whole 'why did you unfacebook me?' part. I think it is safe to say we still need a little work before we can get to that point. But in the mean time, we are, whether we agree to it or not, being slowly groomed to become peaceful, powerful meditating machines. If I was more familiar with Facebook lingo I would attempt to make some Ohm/Facebook joke. But until then, namaste.