On the advice of my acupuncturist, I went to Kamwo Herbal Pharmacy at 211 Grand Street in Chinatown, near the corner of Mott. I bought moxa for moxibustion. The moxa I bought is little cigarette-butt looking pieces of ground mugwort and other herbs that are adhered to the body and burnt to stimulate the nervous system. It comes in a box with a picture of a happy lady riding a turtle. When I left Kamwo, I noticed that it was cater-corner to Di Palos, the touristy Little Italy provisions shop that is making a comeback these days. They have really tasty food but you have to wait in this ungodly line full of people from who knows...
Last year I got married and went to Paris, and while wandering around one day we ended up on the Île de la Cité so we went to Notre Dame and went in. Both of us had been to Notre Dame before, but something we had neglected to check out on previous visits was the treasury, which was full of freaky ancient treasures. The treasury houses religious objects like bones from saints, fancy gold cups that popes drank from, and objects given to the church at various royal baptisms, weddings, or coronations. It is dimly lit, macabre. The treasure is in gold vitrines and lit by florescent lights. There were robes that Napoleon wore, an ancient shroud, a crown. By...
