Friday, July 20, 2012

Glamping


Today's word; glamping

The word glamping is a blend of camping with the adjective glamorous, i.e. the notion of glamorous camping. The word first appeared about five years ago, and the concept is thought primarily to be a British invention – possibly spawned by an increasing guilt over carbon footprints among the middle classes. by Kerry Maxwell

Well Hells bells that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Glamping!
I stumbled upon this glorious word while I was obsessing over vintage campers last week. 



1958 Ken Craft by Crissy Brennan
 
Shasta Trailer from Design Sponge
Now I can fantasize about G L A M P I N G with a bunch of my besties at a music festival or the fam at a beach side park. So this way I don't have to get out the flashlight and carry my toiletries down the dark scary road to the (grungy) public restroom to brush my teeth. I can be in my vintage camper or yurt, tepee or podpad. Preferably with a toilet and running water, thank you very much! This is a fantasy remember?

So instead of a big luxury hotel on the beach or a little tent at the campground there is something in between. And there is even a website for you to book your glamping trip today.  http://glampinghub.com/  So cool. This can be taken to the extreme or minimal I'm sure. I mean, I don't need to eat scrapple on china. But a king bed, cute sheets & a stove? Heck ya, that would be swell.


1950 Vagabond, Steven & Jenay Katkowsky
 The day would be spent sipping on mixed cocktails lounging around the glampground by our glamper and somehow awesome food would get made and someone would bring us steamed shrimp & clams and maybe we'd even do a crab feast. On second thought picking crabs takes away too much time from drinking.
In this fantasy I don't really need that much food. I can be sustained by alcohol alone. We wander to the VIP section wherever we go and get perfect tans in the perfect 77 degree weather. The kids don't cry and play all day with the friendly neighbor glampers who are inviting us over for champagne and oysters right now...









Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Yogathon

Job fantasy #136 - Yoga Studio Owner 

Yoga for me is like getting a Richard Simmons hug at a Grateful Dead concert. A little less enthusiastic maybe. No, it's a therapy session on Sunday after church and a steamy trip to India bound into one. 

Slow down. Imagine an hour in your day with no one judging you (or the intent not to). A room full of people focused on positive experiences. Accepting yourself AS YOU ARE. Even if you don't have the prettiest pose or best ___ in the room. (Insert your favorite self hated item here.) And sweating your butt off from movement! 

                                                               Jody Kivort
                                          
The conventional notion that real exercise needs to be the most distance covered or weight pumped to work will be tested. The most challenging aspect of yoga for me is the mental push ups. There is the opportunity to quiet the noise in your head and be...

Present. 

It takes practice to be the pose...the air...the universe. You uncluttered.

No one is shouting your name to finish. But if you can find inner stamina it's a zen win.



Friday, July 6, 2012

Summer On The Rocks


   Summer vacation in Michigan has become one of my fondest vacation memories and anytime trips when I can get up there. My dad and his wife have a Frank Lloyd Wright like lake house that has been a family home for two generations. The first half of the 1900's her father's family spent summertime cooling off, fishing and golfing at the lake instead of in the heat of New Jersey. Eventually buying land on a point in one of the quaintest towns you will ever see.
   The minute you get off the plane in Traverse City the air smells like sweet nothing. It's as if the oxygen molecules are brand new and your lungs can finally fill completely. We make our winding drive north through small beach towns as we go along remembering this dock and that post office. Moving further from our busy lives at home. There is a building anticipation for the first glimpse of our lake town. Where is that bridge crossing over to 'Mayberry'!
   In town bicycles and boats are the mode of transportation and dogs have a chance to be mayor, like in the neighboring community. The T.V. is on very little and supper goes late into the night. But the star of the summer is the water. Hearing waves from bed is at the top of my things to live for. When I was sixteen I learned to water ski here. Any summer we come we may kayak, swim to the other bank, pontoon, find ancient fossils on the lake shore, paint rocks, watch the sunrise or set over lake water. You name it. One of my favorite things is to spend a whole day looking for blue rocks on Lake Michigan's shore. They're remnants of an old glass factory where some bizarre oxidization happened and created a variety of brilliant blue and pine green porous rocks.
   Historically I get bored quickly with quiet towns but here I have had to give calm a chance. It surrounds you. (You have to embrace it or go insane.)We went to watch the sunset on Lake Michigan one evening and Dad and Barbara sat on a bench watching a pair of Wood ducks.They sat. And sat. And they laughed at some minute detail about the duck couple and how wonderful they were. I was in awe they were entertained by so little. My city demons desire a little more action. Back here in the city however I'm daydreaming of that boring old lake.