Where was this place?

Our friends Seyhan and Oguz met up with us in Madison Square Park this past Thursday to share a bit of halal gyro and get the kids to hang out in the playground.

They mentioned this place in Soho that had great rice pudding so we thought, Hmmm....new place! Let's try it out.

It was amazing! The first flavor I tested was Man-Made Mascerpone and it was exactly what I loved in the itty bowls we used to get in Lahore, Pakistan. The rice pudding in those clay bowls would be so thick that it wouldn't detach itself even with the bowls all stacked upside down!

As we were enjoying the gumpy goodness, Oguz breaks the news that he knew about this place since 5 years ago.

Screeech...wait a minute.

It's been here for 5 years?

Where was I?

Worst of all, I've known you guys a total of 22 months and you've brought me here NOW?

What? I wasn't GOOD ENOUGH to share this with?

(photo credit: Kean Soo keaner.net)

I think they owe me a bunch of treats at Rice to Riches. Which would be a good thing, because I'm hooked and they're kinda on the expensive side.

Make some money Oguz!

Dana's ridiculous picture

Well, technically MY ridiculous picture, but Dana took it!

This is what you would have seen when you entered Atmananda Saturday morning: Me brandishing power tools.

I should never again pose for people with iPhones.

Why I almost didn't offer my seat to a pregnant woman today

When I was pregnant with Monster, it used to bug me when people in the subway didn't offer their seat to me. I'd hang around in front of them (literally hang OUT!), with my feet swelling out of my shoes, my body almost drooping under its own weight and mentally call them names if they did nothing more than stare at me staring back at them.
Well today, I almost did the same thing. Which is why I always remind everyone

NEVER TALK BIG!

It's never safe to make claims as I did...."I would NEVER do that to a pregnant woman!"

However, in my defence, she didn't have one of those soccer ball in the tummy bodies...She had more of a sack of potatoes wrapped around her torse-body. And she was wearing black. Which is never a good thing, unless I'm wearing it to hide MY silhoutte (then it's totally fine.)

For the longest time I stared at her tummy (oh my, another thing I said I'd never do!) and wondered if she was or wasn't expecting. Deciding after a while that I'd rather make a fool out of myself than be inconsiderate, I quietly offered my seat.

Which she decline.

Phew. I had a long train ride ahead of me and after performing my good deed of the day, I went to sleep.

Did I tell you?

Internet,

Mr. Ozturk made dinner!

And not only was it tasty, it was presented so well I actually felt jealous that the dude can cook up food prettier than I can.

Yes, it's been some time since he cooked and I'm still awed.

I had to post this, in case one day I wake up and refuse to acknowledge that the fact really happened.

Morning Surprise

The place where I've been stealing to lately, has moved into a new space. We'd been cleaning and prepping this new place over the weekend, as our Karma yogic practice. This morning we were supposed to resume our regular schedule however, for the 9 am class we unanimously decided that the studio floor was still waaaay too filthy for our precious mats.

So we took our class to the (haha) freshly watered grass of Union Square Park. For a slightly less than filthy environment.

The first thing I (or rather, my olfactory nerves) noticed: "There is a bum somewhere in the bushes!" And true enough, a bum was sleeping only a few yards away. We must have scared him with our kapalabhati breathing though, because a few seconds into it and she rolled her eyes at us and slunk off.

We were doing our best to close off our minds, but I kept one eye out for park Staff because we were *gasp* breaking a few rules. Who knew the lawns were closed on Mondays? Nobody bothered us however, even when the park staff did show up. However, guess who joined it? A backpacking yogi! lolz. Some white rasta dude just hopped in, rolled out a yoga mat and joined in. Our poor teacher! Leah gave us all a "what the wha...?" look but good hearted Leah, continued her class without getting fazed.

We did make him work for the free class though, we made him take our pictures.

Cleansing my Soul, by cleaning?

I'm in a different world in the mornings these days. Where breathing is priority and thoughts are quiet and actions deliberate and aware. I was told that to cleanse my thoughts, my heart and my past, I will be doing what we call "Karma Yoga" or community service.

I didn't know that could include harm manual labor.

Ok, maybe not that hard. But definitely not what I expected.

After sweeping a particularly dusty room in the new center.

At least one of us was happy with our work

Hanging out resting

And then we wondered where the fourth of us was and we look outside the window to this. The best karmic service: guard the moving van in the open air. Thank you Dana!

Finding Peace

As much as I love spending time chilling and taking pictures, these days I'm completely committed to closing my eyes and taking a step back from myself. I have enrolled in some classes where I'll be taking my yoga practice further and try to reach some advanced stages that I was previously terrified of.
I'll post pictured of the studio soon and you can see where I am hanging out these days when I'm not here.
And to the two people that stopped following me, I forgive you, but man! The things you will miss!

Me and my low expectations from my kid

Mr. Oz took Monster for a potty break and makes her pee even though she was adamant she didn't "need" to.

Wizard: 1-2-3 PEE!

Monster: giggles and pees.

Me: Wow, I'm convinced of your powers. However did you teach her that?

Wizard: (After giving me a disbelieving look) She's a HUMAN! She understands what we teach her!

And all this time I was thinking of spritzing her butt with water the next time she peed on my carpet.

Wizard's Wise Tips

Late tonight walking around in Union Square, Wizard and I were reminiscing about her early days together as a young couple. We crashed a lot of late night parties and movies. For instance, I once buyed the tickets for an old movie and sneaked into a sold out movie that had opened that very night, but that's another story for another time.

Wizard was very resourceful in finding out about free events like movies, free admissions to concerts and more. The time we couldn't register in time to watch Napolean Dynamite was the first time we successfully crashed a invitation-only viewing.

He walked up to the greeter oh-so-casually and told them he's on the list.

"Name, sir?" asked the bouncer.

"Aaron," Wizard replied.

"Which Aaron?" the bouncer returned. "There are two here."

"{mumbles something}"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't catch that."

"I'll show you," the Wizard offered to run his finger down the list and stopped at an Aaron Whoever.

"That's me right there," he beamed at the bouncer.

"Enjoy the party sir" and that's how were led into a party we were not even invited in. I bet the couple that crashed the President's party may have taken some tips from my Wizard.

There are two lessons to be learned here:
1. A common name like Aaron, John, Eddie/Ed is most definitely on every printed list in NYC on a Saturday night; and
2. You won't be challenged to prove your identity if the name is ostensibly Jewish.

Go enjoy your life, crash a party for free.