Hassan/Closer to the Earth

When I was a kid, my brother had a friend who lived across the street. His name was Hassan and he would come over to play video games.

Every time he'd come through the door, he'd take off his shoes which I thought was kinda funny because we never required him to do that. He'd always insisted he take off his shoes as soon as he came in.

The basis for feet symbolism goes back to the Vedic conception of the universe as the body of God. Just like a body has high and low parts so this universe has high and low, pure and impure places. Up is high, down is low. Feet touch the ground, which is low, and so when you enter a temple you leave your low part at the door. We take off our impure part, our feet, symbolized by leaving our shoes at the door as we enter sacred space. You might say we leave our materialistic side at the door when we enter spiritual space.
http://www.sanskrit.org/www/Hindu%20Primer/feetsymbolism.html

Saturday, I went to meet up with my friend N who had just come back from a 7 week stint in his native India. He told me about all his adventures and I couldn't help but kick myself. He'd been planning this trip since before I left San Francisco. He was going back for the occasion of his cousin's wedding and I offered myself up as a cheap date.

I can't believe I didn't book my ticket right then and there. Where is my sense of adventure these days? Lost in the midst of watching other people's failed risk? Who knows!

He told me about taking a 6 hour hike at the base of the river that feeds into the Himalayas. (I could be entirely making up that last sentence as he was telling me these stories over vodka tonics.) Point is, he's walking on this hike with this little boy who is describing defense mechanisms in the event that they run into a tiger. A TIGER. Can you imagine?

I'd prolly piss myself and get eaten up on the spot.

Back to tigers and other animals. Then N narrated another time he met up with his artist pal who is there working on, what else, art. Again, details evade me. I'm not sure what part of India they were during this adventure. All I remember is they are making their way through miles of wildlife when they get to a clearing. Artist Pal who is ahead gasps with what N described as fear. N catches up and sees a fresh hyena corpse!

Do you know anything about hyenas? From The African Wildlife Federation website:

The spotted hyena is a skillful hunter but also an opportunistic scavenger. It consumes animals of various types and sizes, carrion, bones, vegetable matter and other animals' droppings. The powerful jaws and digestive tract of the hyena allow it to process and obtain nutrients from skin and bones. The only parts of prey not fully digested are hair, horns and hooves; these are regurgitated in the form of pellets.

They eat everything but hair and horns! SICK, DUDE!

So the moral of all this is: drop your plans. Live life! Take adventures when you can! Don't get eaten by hyenas! Be thankful for the spirituality of your being!

Also, our president is Barack Obama. Officially.

Retirement

On Saying Goodbye to Two Very Dear Pairs

I'll admit I do get sentimental about shoes. They are like friends. It's not often you find the right fit or style. I wanted to take the time to say goodbye to two shoes who have been with me since the early 2000s. Onisuka Tigers were purchased in Boston in 2002 while I was visiting N in college. Nike Cortez are an ode to Syracuse and purchased for $20 at Foot Action on a random trip to Carousel Mall with LG.

So many times I buy a pair of shoes and I wear them once and end up tossed in the depths of my closet. Oh, but not these suckers. They went with me everywhere. I've been to Europe, Honduras, East coast and West. They've touched countless sidewalks and roads. Mang, I can still remember the Tigers pinching the sides of my wide ass feet as I broke them in on my walk across Las Ramblas in Barcelona. They were with me all throughout my trip to Scotland and covered my feets as I walked into bars playing 'Songbird' by Oasis.

When they started to deteriorate, I went into denial mode. I thought maybe I should just replace the sneakers for the same pairs. The Tigers were still sold in multiple stores around SF; the Cortezes were proving to be more difficult. At the end, I knew I had to give it up when I was starting to feel the concrete through the soles of the Tigers and when there was a hole in the Cortezes.

Thankfully, the Other M was inspired to find two other sets of sneakers on his eBay perusings. Maybe I'd been overwhelmed at replacing two such good pals so immediately. Maybe I was worried I'd never find something so good again.

Either way, I was taken care of.

France and I Finally Agree on Something...

Kylie Minogue is the Best!

Kylie Minogue is by far my mascot. I love her to no bounds. When she announced she had breast cancer, I prayed for her every time I heard one of her songs or happened to think of her as I walked down the street. For me, she is a classy, sexy lady who has done all of Madonna's tricks first. Have you seen the 'Spinning Around' video? She basically already did the whole 'Hung Up' dance routine back in 2000 in gold hot pants. It is no surprise that France chose to knight Kylie in the Order of Arts and Letters.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=564132&in_page_id=1773&ito=1490

Most Americans got reacquainted with Ms. Minogue during her Fever era. That's cool. I don't hate on when fans became fans. My stay in London in 2003 solidified my love for her. She's as part of the culture there as fish 'n' chips! And who wouldn't adopt her as their loyal knight? She has incredible style and fortitude under personal trials and tribulations. I can't express enough how much I find her to be a the poster child for smiling and remaining positive through adversity. Even when she was breaking up with that foine slice of a man, Olivier Martinez, she was adamant to keep the press off his back to maintain their privacy and dignity. Again, classy lady.

If you haven't picked up her latest album, X, go get it! It's perfect for to get pumped up at the gym or before a night out dancing.

Kylie Minogue is today's sexy animal by the way!

Congratulations, Kylie! You deserve it, sister! God bless.

Sexy Animal of the Day!

Welcome to the newest feature of GET UP ON THIS!

:::drumroll:::

SEXY ANIMAL OF THE DAY

I, personally, don't think it gets any better than this. I don't know his name or his species, but hot dang it's a lizard in a onesie! Can't go wrong! We must also give two snaps up for the way the onesie complements Mr. Lizard's natural skin tones. I definitely enjoy the baby blue. Also, the bunny ears and tail. Ferocious! Thank you, Mr. Lizard, for being our inaugural SEXY ANIMAL OF THE DAY.