Rachel Machacek's Blog

It’s raining. Cats are sleeping. Plants are growing. Stew is stewing. It’s Eric’s birthday. He got a shop vac. I have a to-do list and it’s mostly crossed out. But mostly, the cats. THOSE CATS. I’m happily cliche about photographing them on an ironing board.

When people say just wait for the dust to settle, they have clearly never (ever) used a home fire extinguisher. I hadn’t either until the other night. Let me tell you, it’s not nearly as fun as you think it’s going to be, like when people who are rolling around aimlessly in space use an [...]

A look back at old journal confessions. Sometimes, I picked the first sentence of an entry. Sometimes, I didn’t. Sometimes, all I could find was a song lyric. 1994: I scratch my head while I wonder how I feel about my life. 1995: My heart had just stopped breaking and now it feels like someone [...]

Construction paper? Lindsey Lohan? Wordplay? This card has everything. FRONT INSIDE

Two days til V-Day. It’s a bloody retail explosion. I’ve included some faves, not a single stuffed bear because those are gross, and one questionable item I can’t decide if I or anyone should like, buy or consume. and and OK, can we talk about the Pinot Noir that comes in a RED PURSE-SHAPED BOX? [...]

Every week, I pick a collective intention – a sankalpa – for my yoga classes. I incorporate a reading with this theme in mind for our final savasana. All of these themes evolve out of what I’m thinking, feeling, needing right now, and my hope is my students will find something relatable and meaningful in [...]

Does a relationship count if it’s not Facebook Official? Like, if both parties haven’t updated their status, are they really truly together? Someone recently asked me about this because her new boyfriend hadn’t updated his status even though they already had the “we’re exclusive” conversation and had been dating four months. Her concern was that [...]

In cleaning out my desk here at home, I found this old writing assignment from junior year in high school. I wrote it almost exactly 21 years ago to the date of “The Science of Single” being published. Coincidence? Not really. The writing assignment was “Romanticize.” I’m guessing we were supposed to romanticize a situation. [...]

Here’s another lesson from a cool video called “Long Live the Kings.” French Guys with French Hair on French Motorcycles. Be sure to watch to the scene of one of them pulling sardines from a can with a knife and licking the blade. Mon Dieu. But mostly, listen to the part with this quote. (Don’t [...]

During my three weeks at yoga camp in November, I learned a few things. Not just about how to cue Vrksasana (tree), my favorite pose and Bhujangasana (cobra), the pose with the coolest sounding name (seriously say it out loud right now [boo-jang-ahhs-anna] and tell me I’m wrong). I got a little closer to myself. [...]