Waxy and puffy

Photo by Garry Winogrand

Taking Misha's advice, I put her preemptive herbal burn cream all over my head. I washed my hair five times this morning; it did not come out. Looks like it's full of "product" and leaves an orange stain. Ah, and a brief look at ingredients reveals: beeswax.

It is unclear whether or not my scalp will actually  end up being burned. My guess is that it will. I just have to decide between a burned head, weird waxy hair, or prematurely cutting it which would help with the burn cream, but potentially show more bald patches later. Tonight Hridayashri put it on my head which I think will mean a lot less ending up in my hair...

Got thru day five of radiation with Karunadevi, so half way there. The mask, which I will try to get somebody to take a picture of, seems to be getting tighter. When I mentioned this to the technicians, they said it's probably the dexamethasone making my face puffy.

At Rainbow Grocery there wasn't a single can of tomato soup without added sugar. It's not that I am not eating sugar. I've gotten more lax with that - it just bugs me now, unless I'm eating a piece of cake. Looking up Campbell's tomato soup I see that one can contains the same amount of sugar as a Snicker's bar.

Nancy's roses

I asked the other day to become what is called an "anagarika" (anna-GAR-ika) in our Order, which means taking an extra precept. Literally it means "one without a home." It pretty much means adopting a more monastic or simpler type lifestyle, or in my case making formal what I am already doing. Another way of putting it would be to say making a formal commitment to stillness, simplicity, and contentment in all areas of one's life. (You know, as a work-in-progress!) There are various obstacles to doing the ceremony in this country, including that there are no anagarikas in our tradition in North America. (It doesn't have to be done by an anagarika, but that's what makes sense to me, and if it doesn't happen I don't mind.)

What with my radiation and acupuncture schedule, getting out to look at places to live is challenging, though it's still on my mind. A brief sweep of Craig's list in the city reveals that one-bedrooms are around $2,500. Going to have to be further afield.

Going to So. Cal. this weekend to see my dad, my step-mom Chris, and Laura who has been staying down there.

Overall, today, felt incredibly blessed.