The Luna Park Gazette

"Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self." -- The Bhagavad Gita Was there really a time in my life when I could do the wheel pose? I have this vague, but distinct memory of being able to do Urdhva Dhanurasana or Upward Facing Bow with the greatest of ease. You get on your back, put your hands on the floor behind your head and use your arms and legs to push until your body forms an inverted U. Simple, right? Not only do I remember doing it, I remember how I used to enjoy doing it. I liked how it stretched out my back and gave me a different view of the world. Did I imagine all that? I’ve been going to my gym for cardio workouts—they recently hung up a heavy bag, thank God—but I haven’t gotten back to the weights yet, so I’m using bodyweight exercises for my strength training. It’s been a while since I’ve done the wheel pose—before I needed glasses and hearing aids--but I figured it was something akin to learning how to ride a bicy...

“ Fall down seven times, stand up eight .”—Japanese proverb Well, there’s another reason to hate Bernie Madoff. Last week, a particularly vile white-collar crime story came to an end when Madoff, the infamous fraudster, finally did the right thing and departed from this life. And on that very same day I nearly ended up in a straitjacket. Madoff, who was serving a 150-year prison sentence, ran what is believed to be the largest Ponzi scheme in financial history, taking in celebrities, universities, institutional investors and just about anybody else who crossed his path. The Madoff nightmare broke in December 2008 and, as a financial news reporter, I wrote a number of stories related to the scandal. In fact, I covered a half-day conference that was dedicated solely to Madoff’s misdeeds. The people who had organized this event wanted to offer advice to financial professionals who were concerned about being sued by Madoff’s victims—which should you give an idea of the sc...

“You are not stuck unless you decide to be.” – Wayne Dyer As a born and bred New Yorker, I’m accustomed to strangers approaching me to make even stranger requests. People tend to be begging for money, asking for directions or trying to save your soul. I usually give folks in that last category directions straight to hell. These stranger interruptus experiences have been severely curtailed by COVID-19, as it’s kind of hard to run into people when you hardly run out of your house. And it’s really tough to rattle a tin cup on Zoom. While I’ve saved a bundle in small change during this freakish time, I’ve also been so hard up for human contact that I’m tempted to allow some religious loon shriek bible verses at me—as long as he’s wearing a mask. The other day I was caught completely off guard when I walked into my gym’s locker room and this shirtless stranger actually…spoke to me. “Excuse me…can you take my picture…?” I paused for a moment as I slowly realized...

“The very first Easter taught us this: that life never ends and love never dies.” – Kate McGahan Gosh, that hurts. I got my second coronavirus vaccine shot yesterday and my arm is still smarting. But it’s Easter Sunday and there is a feeling of rebirth in the air, so I’ll gladly take my lumps if it means escaping from Covid Hell any time soon. And this is the day where we celebrate the man who suffered all manner of hideous abuse and rose from the dead. A sore arm ain’t so bad in comparison. Once again I went down to NYU Langone in Sunset Park for my injection. I bounded into the waiting room Saturday morning all ready for a long day of doing nothing, which it was what happened on my first go-round. The place had been mobbed that time and I fully expected to be stuck in the jammed facility until early afternoon. I had packed a bag with the New York Times, a novel I’ve been reading, my journal and my phone charger. People who go on camping trips don't pack this...