Hallmark is brilliant. I'm sure it's not just Hallmark, there are likely plenty of other social stationery companies equally making out but we all know when you think of "cards" you think of Hallmark. Hallmark does it right... A long time ago, probably 20 years ago, Hallmark came out with "Secretaries Day." On Secretaries Day any "professional" with a secretary would bring in flowers or chocolate and call it showing their appreciation. I can't figure out if it was meant to be an ego symbol for the "professional" (Hey look I have a secretary) or if it was some brilliant marketing manager's idea that in 20 years you'd be raking in the big bucks.

Secretaries Day is now "Staff Appreciation Day" and this includes every staff member, at least in legal, who is NOT an attorney and NOT one of the "top tier" of professionals such as the CIO, the CKO, the ED and other high ranking managers with a host of initials (when did initials become so important?). This week for Staff Appreciation Day we had the following "festivities" meant to show us how imporant we are to the firm, it's future, it's daily successes and, yes, my friends, the direction of the company (barf icon):

Monday: 4 roses in a clear vase
Tuesday: Breakfast, some catered affair that I, with my much lowered standards, couldn't eat.
Wednesday: A $25 gift certificate American Express thingy
Thursday: 4 chocolate covered strawberries (2 milk, 2 white)
Friday: Root beer floats in the afternoon

Roses die, I can eat at home, $25??? I gave the strawberries away and I don't drink sodas. If the firm really wanted to show appreciation to the staff they could do something that would actually improve the morale of staff and actually say "Hey we know what's important to you!" Something like giving each employee one afternoon a year off (A YEAR PEOPLE, that's how low I'm talking). You could put all the various conditions around it but an afternoon off is much more valuable to me than a week of "gifts" that are someone's way of buying into the corporate proganada and engine careening out of control. Just my humble opinion, of course.

Tiff taught Yoga Kids for me and I ended up going to a last minute "lunch meeting" -- we ended up having pizza and a beer. First, I haven't had beer in a long time. Pizza port Cream Ale.. mhmmm... nice. It's also a freaky thing that I felt "bad" having a beer during the work day as if I violated some "law" of the corporate world. I have no idea why I'd feel that way. What a fucking mind control trip. Then I remembered it was Staff Appreciation Week.

Tonight I got an email from my tattoo artist. The Ganesh idea has been floating around for awhile but I somehow don't feel "worthy" of putting Ganesh on my body... and so I've been hemming and hawing and debating. So suddenly all these things are happening, stupid silly things.... but when all these silly things happen that force the "issue" to be right in front of me I start to believe the universe is giving me a message. Anyway, a few months ago I asked him to sketch me a Ganesh, just the outline, very simple, more like the image on my blog now. Tonight the email had it attached. I love it, it's beautiful. I can't figure out where to put it. I thought about along my side, close to my hip but that feels like an inappropriate place. I'd love to do it right on my forearm but, realistically, I can't do that with my career (damn thing). I thought about some odd place like having it start right above my kne and wrap down the back part. I have another ankle too. I wrote him back about "the vision" and asked him if it felt right... not sure... the Ganesh is perfectly what I was imagining. I suppose I could use my $25 American Express thingy to pay for a few minutes of my tattoo.. hey it might buy me his eye and then I could really be getting a present for Staff Appreciation Week.

Tonight I had the thought that the real magic is in that moment of faith I was talking about earlier. This is what happens for me with yoga... some physical thing that happens to me in the morning will sit with me all day.... For so long I've been hearing the message about my legs with yoga... I've been focused so much on them that I haven't just let go... and it seems like the real moment of truth is the moment that it feels like you've closed your eyes and given yourself over to the magical strings in the air... that's the moment of unity and bliss. That's the yoga.