New Blog

I have a new blog site up at http://zachkatagiri.com/blog… I'll be updating things there from now on…

What Makes Me Happy

My nieces are amazingly cute, I think.

No.

Wait.

I think that's objective.

My nieces are amazingly cute.

Ellie is now at a point where she can actually hold a conversation with me, which is awesome, and Cara, while not quite there yet, is a master of the call and response uttering, listening, responding, and so forth.

And while this, in general, makes me happy, I had a recent conversation that I found to be particularly hopeful.

It was shortly after the election, and I was talking with Ellie, and asking her if she had heard about the election - did they talk about it at her school? She said yes, and we talked a little bit about how Obama was our new president.

Adrianne had told me that her teacher had explained that this was a big deal because he was our first African American president, and, more than that, the first time that a minority was in such a visible position of power. Blah, blah, blah. So I asked Ellie about this, and in her kid-like agreeability, she affirmed all the things I was saying about how important that was, and what a big deal this was for society.

"Uh huh."

But it was in talking to 3-year-old Ellie and understanding that she didn't really grasp the gravity of what had just happened, that I found the most poignant reason for feeling hopeful: realizing that she was part of a generation that would grow up to accept the concept of a black man running for, and winning, presidency of the United States, as common, the simple reality that they've grown up with and accepted as life.

I just really think that's inspiring. Thanks, Ellie. I can't wait to watch the steps your generation takes to help move the world forward with open minds, open arms, into a wide-open future of possibility.

Spa Treatment!

So one of the clients I work with doesn't have that much money - so I only do a little bit of work for her here and there when she gets paid. Usually at some point near the end of the month with her saying that she has x amount and was hoping I could so y and z. And she's a wonderful woman, so I always say yes, even if it's below my normal rates. I've got a soft spot for good people, I suppose.

Anyway - recently she said that, since she knows she underpays me a lot of the time, it was the least she could do to give me an hour at the spa she worked at with the person who was, in her opinion, the best there… so we booked a day - which happened to be today, and I went out there to have my massage. Tip was included… so I just had to show up, and relax.

Very nice.

So I get there, and the woman (my masseur) has me strip down and get under this blanket (so I'm covered - nothing sketchy, guys) and begins giving me my 45 minute head-to-foot massage.

Now, I've both given and received a lot of massages in my life - and when I think of massages, I think of kneading out knots, hitting pressure points, lots of hard pushing and pounding (well, not pounding, but you know what I mean). And this was far from that. In fact, there were time when I wished I was being handled a little more firmly - but she spent a lot of time just kind of running her hands over my back, arms, legs, etc. Some massaging, sure - but a lot of it was more just comforting, rather than satisfying, if it makes sense to use those words.

I don't know. Maybe this is not a typical massage - but, as I was lying there, feeling her hands gently on my back - what it made me think of… esp. because I was under a blanket, was getting tucked in at night as a little kid. You know? Your mom tucks you in, says good night, and, perhaps, runs her hand along your back as she walks away. As I said: comforting.

And I wonder - if this is other people's experience, is that the point? Is the point of a massage not really about getting your body worked - but about just feeling that sense of "I'm in your hands, take care of me…" that bring us back to feeling secure in the wombs of our childhood beds?

Just throwing that out there.