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I got rubbed out
Oct. 12th, 2007 07:58 pmI'm skipping gaming tonight because it would be rude to go infect all of my friends. I started that "you know you're getting sick" tickle at the back of my throat around 1pm, with a runny nose and sinus headache soon thereafter, and breaking a sweat at random intervals all afternoon leads me to believe I'm starting a fever.
After work was my first Spa Event of the weekend - the "Orient Essence" massage at a spa in Water Tower Place. The massage table was HEATED (purr). My masseur was a large eastern European man named Anatoly who spoke very little english but who really knew his stuff.
The primary thing behind this massage was that they soaked some kind of herb bag things in hot oil and then used them to massage you. It was all nice and spicy-smelling, with just enough sandalwood in there to make me feel more like a mysterious eastern princess and less like a baked good. There was probably some kind of energy theory involed, as he kept pausing them on various places - all I know is that it felt good. The little bags made it feel kind of smooth and kind of scrubby which was nice too.
Then he did some general massage, which was frankly the best part of the experience. Not sure whether it was his training or just the fact that he was a big strong guy, but I sometimes have trouble getting the kind of pressure I want in a massage. You need to press hard because I have DEEP muscle tension, but I also have a thick layer of blubber that tends to shift things around when you're trying to work. Also, I thing that some male masseurs are so concerned about how their touch is perceived that they may miss that need work. (I remember one massage student who was so indirect with his instructions that it took me a few minutes to figure out that he wanted me to move my boob out of the way!). Well, Tony had no such compunctions - an one point he had one hand on my shoulder and one under the opposite hip to mobilize my spine, and frankly all I was thinking was "oooooo.......".
Of course, it was over too soon. Since this was a special, I made sure to tip him based on the usual price for that process, not the deep discount. Wish I could afford to do this more often.
I'm curling up for the evening to watch PBS and read some of the new books I got at Borders on my way home. I have some homemade turkey soup from last fall thawing on the stove. sleeeeeeppppp....
After work was my first Spa Event of the weekend - the "Orient Essence" massage at a spa in Water Tower Place. The massage table was HEATED (purr). My masseur was a large eastern European man named Anatoly who spoke very little english but who really knew his stuff.
The primary thing behind this massage was that they soaked some kind of herb bag things in hot oil and then used them to massage you. It was all nice and spicy-smelling, with just enough sandalwood in there to make me feel more like a mysterious eastern princess and less like a baked good. There was probably some kind of energy theory involed, as he kept pausing them on various places - all I know is that it felt good. The little bags made it feel kind of smooth and kind of scrubby which was nice too.
Then he did some general massage, which was frankly the best part of the experience. Not sure whether it was his training or just the fact that he was a big strong guy, but I sometimes have trouble getting the kind of pressure I want in a massage. You need to press hard because I have DEEP muscle tension, but I also have a thick layer of blubber that tends to shift things around when you're trying to work. Also, I thing that some male masseurs are so concerned about how their touch is perceived that they may miss that need work. (I remember one massage student who was so indirect with his instructions that it took me a few minutes to figure out that he wanted me to move my boob out of the way!). Well, Tony had no such compunctions - an one point he had one hand on my shoulder and one under the opposite hip to mobilize my spine, and frankly all I was thinking was "oooooo.......".
Of course, it was over too soon. Since this was a special, I made sure to tip him based on the usual price for that process, not the deep discount. Wish I could afford to do this more often.
I'm curling up for the evening to watch PBS and read some of the new books I got at Borders on my way home. I have some homemade turkey soup from last fall thawing on the stove. sleeeeeeppppp....
