I took a "wellness" day today. Meaning, I called in sick, but technically I am not sick, just feeling crappy. One more day of sitting in front of a computer would have put me over the edge.

As usual it took a half hour of agonizing to reach the decision to call in, and then 5 minutes practicing my phone call to achieve just the right tone. I am not good at calling in sick even when it's perfectly legitimate; I have too much worker's guilt.

I spent the day pleasantly. Took a Bikram class in the morning for no other reason than it was convenient and close. I questioned it directly afterwards, cuz it made me feel worse, not better. But a few hours later, the magic kicked in and I felt really energetic and relaxed and clear-headed.

Bought a newish copy of Rilke's Neue Gedichte from the Salvation Army, cuz, like the Gita, you can't have too many translations of Rilke in your house. This one's by Edward Snow, and it rocks. I used to think Stephen Mitchell's translations were the best, but this Snow fellow has got it goin' on.

The best part of the day (besides spending quality time with Coney) was joining my new gym!

I bought a one-month membership to a gym in my 'hood called Absolute Power. Cuz you know, I don't want some gym with just limited powers, or a system of checks and balances. No, I want my gym to be teetering on the edge of corruption and madness.

The gym, like everything else in my neighborhood, is the third-world, post-apocalyptic version of the real thing. But I have no fancy needs--I just want a place where I can use the treadmill and elliptical trainer and call it a day. And get this, it's a 5 minute walk from my house! I have never been so close to a gym before.