Things I Need to Invest In:

On Saturday, my scooter died again. Long story short, my gas gauge was broken and my gas kept emptying quicker than it should have been.

Luckily it is fixed...for now, but I need a new one. I was really screwed over by the guy who sold it to me as I know NOTHING about scooters.

I have also become really fed up with my hair. It doesn't style and now that it's hot out again (and humid like yesterday), it doesn't curl and if I WERE to style, it would flop and frizz. I even have a cowlick where new baby bangs are growing and it doesn't do ANYTHING but look stupid.

So, I have decided to spend a buttload of money to get it styled. I have felt unattractive for MONTHS and things will be changing soon so I want to change, too! My colleague got her hair straightened at the Aveda salon I go to and her hair looks great! I want to look great too!!

As for the other things: here is a list of things I need to invest in:

1. A new apartment (very soon)
2. Taking care of a dog of my own and fostering a dog.(after the apartment part)
3. A BRAND new scooter-no MORE second-hand!! (next Christmas)
4. A new more protective helmet(ASAP)
5. Hair Straightening and products for the summer
6. My own happiness

Number 6 means doing what I can to make me feel better about myself. So far I have:
1. Got a Yoga membership and started doing all kinds of Yoga, breathing (Pranayama) and some meditation.
2. Got a deck of "Yoga Cards" to do a little bit of Yoga, Pranayama and meditation when I wake up and go to bed.
3. Dalai Lama books and other books to help me find true happiness
4. An Ayurveda diet book, to help me eat better
5. Helping the doggies, but not just for me but MORE for them
6. and of course, the hair straightening!

Things are SLOWLY starting to slow down, so I am going to go to Yoga more during the week and on Saturdays, and belly dancing on Sundays.

Ok, well I need to go to work, but am glad that I finally have time to get myself on the right track :D

Learning from the Dalai Lama: "20 Ways to Get Good Karma"

I've been saying some stupid things to people and pissing people off lately without any intentions. I've become anti-social for fear that I don't fit in ANYWHERE...except with Hino, my mom and stepdad(and da fambly dog Bogart) and with Taichung PAWS people...

I've been producing a lot of bad karma and need to produce good and what better way to learn how to get rid of my negativity and NOT let other negative forces drain me than from the Dalai Lama himself!!!



http://www.spiritualnow.com/articles/25/1/20-Ways-to-Get-Good-Karma/Page1.html

Instructions for Life by The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama

Ask The Dalai Lama a Question

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s:
   - Respect for self,
   - Respect for others and
   - Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
    think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
20. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

He is amazing and I'm learning so is Yoga...I can do poses I never could before and Yoga makes me feel calm and I love that blissful feeling after a session!!

I also tried belly dancing for real (NOT the video you can play at home) and my Belly dance teacher was impressed at how quickly I caught on and I LOVE BELLY DANCING, TOO!

I can't wait to go again!

Also..I'm considering a tattoo. I got my belly button pierced when I was 20 and it hurt soooo bad (I SCREAMED the F word so loud that I'm sure my whole hometown heard it) and now I want this, but am afraid of the pain...this is what I want:

but maybe reverse and as much as I love pink, maybe a beautiful turquoise or azure blue, like the coast in the Maldives..


I just need the courage...

OK...so my quest to improving myself is a loooong way but...

"A tree as big around as you can reach, starts with a small seed: a thousand mile journey starts with one step." -Lao Tzu

Contemplating Bad Karma, the Aftermath and the Not-So Logical Solution

I've been unbelievably stressed and busy and worried these past few months. That has caused me to turn into a complete and utter bitch and quite unhappy with everything and everyone ESPECIALLY myself.

I have offended people with my sarcastic jokes and comments. For example, last Friday, Hino and I went to get boiled food. They have the food out so that you can pick what you want and of course like any place in Taiwan, they have duck's blood things, blood rice things, chicken butts, chicken feet, etc etc.

Anyway, I noticed the chicken feet were de-clawed and they looked like long human fingers with only 3 attached...like alien's hands or something. So I made my hand look like one and put in Hino's face and made my fake chicken feet hand say "Hello" to Hino and then accidentally showed my cringe of disgust to the boiled food woman vendor. Hino was so embarrassed and got so pissed at me for my utter rudeness that he lectured me all the way home like a mom.

The BRUTAL truth is, I am going through delayed culture shock. Usually people here get it about 3-4 months upon living in Taiwan. I got my culture shock after living here a year and 4 months.

(Let's just note I wrote a few things that really pissed me off but I deleted it to be a civil and fair person and the point of this blog is to help me get over my anger, not worsen it. I will leave it to your imagination as to what I wrote, but I will give you a hint: selfish, ignorant drivers and the headgames professional people play are just a couple of MANY...)

So all this has caused some things to go wrong in my life recently, that I really needed to go right. I call this the effect of bad karma and now I'm trying to reverse the effect into a positive one so that I can get the two MAJOR things that could really turn my life around for the best! And not only that, but to stop being a person no one wants to be around and to be a BETTER person.

So, I've decided to go the spiritual route. I know my Christian and non-religious friends will laugh and mock me, but since I've been going to the temple (and yes, I actually DO pray at the temples) it just works for me!

So now...I am going to go to the big Taoist temple tomorrow on Jhong Ming South Road and pray and offer some kind of really good offering (well, probably 2: 1 as a thank-you and one as the offering to help me with my situations and Hino's as well as my family, friends and his)
Laugh and mock all you want, but I am actually a believer. Read back on my old blog entries(I think???) and you will see an entry about a fortune that I got at the Buddhist Temple in Amsterdam about what I interpreted it as going to Asia and Taiwan...
Not sure what higher force is at work, but whatever it does, it motivates me to work hard, to get the job done and get what I want and in a positive way. Actually, I'm not expecting Buddha or Guanyin to just hand it to me..of course not!! But maybe to help give me strength and patience or something like that so that I can use what I have to make things work for the best and in my favor.

Ok, now that I just emptied my head, I'm even more exhausted and am going to read "The Book Thief". Although, I wanted to write more and my head isn't completely empty. There are other things I want to say, but those will have to wait.

Pink Floyd Alliterations and More Yoga Talk

From: Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall pt.2" from the album "The Wall"

We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

I think at some point every teacher considers these lyrics and wonder if they really are "just another brick in the wall"


This is one of my fears and it worries me...I'm afraid I'm losing all creativity, imagination and energy and that's the last thing I want!


Ok, that's enough of that :)

One last thing before I TRY to go to bed....

I LOVE Yoga!!! I can't wait to not be so busy and have more time for Yoga...My Yoga instructors are GREAT and I am SLOWLY becoming more flexible than I did when I took dance as a kid!!!!!


And Bikram "Hot" Yoga really helps my body loosen up and go into poses(Asanas) deeper!!!


I...am...addicted!!!!


I have sooooooooooooo much more to say but VERY little time so hopefully it will all be posted here in due time. Thanks for your patience!

Namaste!

My Late Night Off-the-Wall Reincarnation Theory

I wanted to post a nice, sentimental blog about my weekend reuniting with Toby, the dog I tried to find a home for, in his new home and all that, but have decided to put that on my Taiwan Dog Blog when I have time.

For the record, I am neither high NOR drunk...just a little silly :P

While I was in the bathroom, just 10 minutes ago, I was thinking about how I have these fascinations with Asian culture: Indian, Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese to name a couple. I jokingly thought to myself, "I must have been Indian or Chinese or Japanese in a past life!" But then I remembered back in uni when I was in Kung Fu and my instructors telling me that I have a special knack for Kung Fu (I'm totally serious, by the way for you non-believers). I was OK with Butterfly Knives, but ended up bailing on them because I felt bad because they let me do the lessons for free since I didn't have the money.

Anyway, this got me thinking about the painting"Ophelia" from the 1800's in France by one Antoine Auguste Ernest Hebert
My dad found this picture and well..it's me! The eyes are the proof! Every time I looked at this picture I always romantically imagined being Hebert's young French muse in character as the one woman I always empathized with (until a few years ago). But now I don't think it was me. Or my soul that is. Yeah maybe it was my body, but someone else's soul or existence.

This is my theory in a nutshell: We are born and then we die. But when we die, somehow our bodies are copied or clones or magically duplicated (or something-haven't worked out those details yet). Our old bodies stay in the ground, but the new bodies somehow reappear and the life process happens again. Except-our souls or existences or whatever they are are put into another person's body....or being's body.

Sounds crazy?? Well...yeah...it's my late night off-the-wall theory! I've had these since I was a child and that has what made me what my friends in school called me: strange. Who knows if it's true or not but it's an idea that was just passing by in my head and I thought I'd share it!

The greatest, most famous and brilliant people had and have utterly strange, out-of-this-world and impossible ideas and MOST have turned out to either be true or successful or both.

How boring would it be if my blog was about a dull daily routine or about what person that you don't know or care about gave me "drama"?? My imagination has ALWAYS run away with me and even though I'm 28-years-old, nothing has changed and I am here to share that runaway imagination with you!

I'm off to read a bit of "The Kite Runner" since my insomnia is back with a vengeance...

Finding my Inner Peace and Calm

Due to personal reasons, I made a VERY spontaneous decision last Wednesday...to take Yoga lessons.

Actually it's not all that spontaneous, I've been wanting to do this since I was in High School, but in high school my dad never let me because I had a tendency to take something and quit right away (except for singing) plus I am one of those people who want to do EVERYTHING!

This decision came upon me after some stress issues that I've been experiencing. It's just a decision that I feel I need to do!

Some friends mentioned buying a Wii and doing Wii fit...and actually that was my original plan, but right now I need to get out of my apartment-that is the main goal.

So I signed up at True Yoga. Hino freaked(only because he is a "I got my schedule and plan and I HAVE TO FOLLOW IT" person and I...well..am not anymore) because I am paying for these Yoga lessons with a lot of my money that was to go to my new apartment and yeah, it probably was irresponsible, but at this point in my life I feel 200% sure that it was worth it...Actually I've been saving and saving so I still have sufficient funds for apartment, rent and food (So mom no worries!!) I just won't be able to go to IKEA until I actually do get my apartment(or after) is all...

As for the Yoga, I've never thought something so simple as sitting on a mat, doing stretches and sometimes chanting "OM" would make me feel so calm and relaxed...It's like going on vacation 2-3 times a week. Which was another thing. I could spend about the same amount of money and go to Thailand or Japan for a couple days to relax, but then have to come back....with Yoga, this is long term and is a kind of therapy. I want to travel Asia, but I've been letting myself go for too long and I NEED to work on ME first!

Not only do they have Yoga, but they have Belly Dancing, Salsa and other dance classes!

And..when I get more in shape then I can do "Hot Yoga" which is intense yoga with the room temperature raised!


Anyway, this is something I've always wanted and it feels great!!

On another note, we went to Tsaotun on Sunday and ten of us went to clean the shelter! We took some of the dogs on a walk and it was great! I'll post it on my Taiwan Dog Blog.

Well...more news on Yoga later!

Movies I Want to See & Books I Want to Read

Not much has been happening to me besides working. I went to Dajia to the Matsu (goddess of the sea and sailors) with Hino and his friends on Saturday. On Saturday evening, Hino, Tania (a good friend of ours along with her husband , Trent) went to the Lantern Festival on Wen Shin. It was a disappointment. TOO MANY people and TOO FEW lanterns and food stalls.

On Sunday, we had a Taichung PAWS meeting which I will try to find a way to post the results from the meeting. That will be posted on Bre's Taiwan Dog Blog (http://taiwandogblog.blogspot.com).

Since I don't have much to say besides my sudden obsession with wanting a new apartment(a.k.a. a home), a tugou/Formosan dog to take care of in said apartment and constantly looking and shopping for things for my apartment like a bread maker, a washer and other appliances I never cared about before. I think it's safe to say that I'm going through "Kitchen Withdrawal" ...I NEED a kitchen!!!

And since that stuff is boring for a blog, I decided to make a list of movies I want to see after seeing CNN's The Screening Room episode on the Sundance Film Festival.

Movies I've been wanting to see:

• The Good German (halfway through the book)
• Valkyrie (have been reading a lot of WWII books lately)
• Sicko
• 10 Promises to My Dog
• Slumdog Millionaire

Sundance movies:

• Rudo y Cursi
• Push
• We Live in Public

DVDs I want:

• Little Britain
• Absolutely Fabulous
• Dogtown (Best Friends Animal Network)

Books I am reading now:

• The Good German (halfway through)
• Be the Pack Leader
• Siddhartha

My list of books just waiting to be read:

• Dogtown (a book from the Best Friends Animal Network)
• The Lost Continent-Travels in Small Town America by Bill Bryson
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusack
• Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui
• Development and Practice of Humanitarian Buddhism
• Oracle Bones- A Journey Through Time in China by Peter Hessler (seeing as it is almost 500 pages, I might let someone borrow it first before I read it)

Books I've read before and want to read again:

• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Some books I've read and suggest reading:

• Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
• The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
• The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff
• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery
• Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut
• Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan (and when you're finished with that make sure to read his next book, Be the Pack Leader)

Well, that's all for now! I hope my life will get more interesting so I can post more and I will get the Dajia pics up soon!