I met Russell Brown, the man behind LA acupuncture sensation Poke, at a party in WeHo in 2012. I thought we were flirting but I think he was just sizing up my myriad issues and how they could be addressed by Chinese medicine. He’s since become the kind of friend who is closer to family than actual family, the kind you can call in the night screaming “my pee doesn’t feel right.” His knowledge, calm and ability to discuss Real Housewives’ behavior using terms like Yang and Chi (while still respecting the concepts) makes him indispensable. If you can’t get to LA to see him, where he often works with clients in communities in need, then follow him on Instagram- and subscribe to his free Substack Diet Poke, where he does a great job of simplifying essential concepts in a funny, pop way that’s still totally healing. I particularly love how he grapples with the LA desire to be perfect and the ways in which certain new age goals are at odds with real healing. To put it simply, he’s my Dr. Phil and my Ma Anand Sheela all rolled into one, only queer and without delusions of grandeur. He gets my vote for most likely to change the world.
Jan 3, 2023

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sometimes i also think im flirting but my conversational partner is just sizing up my myriad issues and how they could be addressed by Chinese medicine as well. i relate to this in a major way lena thank you!!!! <3333333333
Dec 19, 2023

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I was referred to Asher Hartman by my friend Rachel who was referred to him by some other woowoo bitch and boy am I grateful everyday! He reads your chakras over Zoom and records it so you can have the reading forever. I listen to mine from a year ago all the time and can't wait to go back. He told me that my mother had the energy of a deflated soufflé and that my overall energy was that of the butterfly that the guy in New Yorker logo is looking at through his monocle mixed with post-kidnapping Patty Hearst! This is so real!
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big energy work girlie here, I don’t have any certifications so I typically go to open classes in the city &/or ask friends that are reiki practitioners. You have to go to somebody you trust & truly feel comfortable with, also staying open to what may happen. I’ve had some people try that felt very disingenuous and kinda scammy but, that never deterred me bc of my own personal experiences previously. Best recent session happened to be a group soundbath!! we laid down for 30 minutes, then she came around the space and hovered over us while doing something (idk my eyes were closed I was going THRU it) and I left feeling 10x better, half of the things stressing me no longer seemed that big and it pivoted me. It could just be that I had 60 minutes to breathe, relax and think while somebody was gently guiding me, who knows- the human mind is a complex thing. Also used to work w a reiki practitioner who would somehow overhear thoughts and even bring it up (she’s freaked out several ladies) and it still trips me out. I don’t quite understand but I’ve been going back bc i like how it makes me feel!!
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Making money in this modern world is blessed and cursed. Between acting jobs I also am an astrologer. I believe every actress should somehow give back spiritually between jobs… whatever that means to them. In fact, there has been a history of actors and actresses doing astrology in their spare time Shelley Winters, Shirley McClaine (duh) and Andrew Garfield to name a few. (more on that another time… watch this space) As it is my day job to brush up on current transits, my go to podcast is Anne Ortlees Weekly Weather. Anne Ortlee is a legendary  New York Astrologer. Despite her icon status, she's unjaded, and sweet. She often pontificates on her ongoing battle to limit her pasta intake. Between what I would call “zaniness”, her translation of Astrology is spot on. You slip into her orbit and suddenly fantasize taking her to a pasta dinner uptown.Once you start you can’t stop. And if you know you know. I usually listen every Sunday night while washing my hair and applying face oil in silence.
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I have (and have had) many pets since I was a wee girl- newts, bunnies, terriers, gerbils, frogs, iguanas, fish, hedgehogs, and I’ve loved each of them with all I’ve got. But over the last few years, I’ve found my truest passion is raising kittens (don’t tell my dogs, who seem 100% sure the cats are just disruptive indignities I must suffer to get back to them.) Kittens are nature’s anti-depressant, the best reality show you’re not watching and a totally inspiring example of the mindfuck that is evolution. I mean, these little creeps have been designed by a Higher Power to look adorably lost, impossibly needy… and then BAM they’re opening all your doors and eating all your salad and looking down at you from the bookshelf like you’re the help in a Downton Abbey sequel. Plus, on a soppy note, a teensy rescue kitten is the example of tenacity we all need- they don’t give up as they go from fetal bird confusion to diabolical emperor. Any opportunity to foster, raise and/or unleash kittens on their next willing fin-dom arrangement is one of my higher callings. At the moment, two young ‘ens are staring at me from a cactus shaped condo in the corner of our bedroom. Another eight year old adoptee/Garfield doppelganger is on a reduced calorie diet upstairs so that he can maintain his heart health and travel in something smaller than the laundry hamper. Look at us! We’re a chic literary salon but I’m the only one who can read (I think. I have one cat who can probably read, she just does it at night when I’m not looking.)
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Recently a woman at a party came up to me and said : “I used to follow your Instagram but I stopped when your interior problems became a bit much for me.” I guess she meant my health issues, but from now on they’re just “interior problems.” Over the years, as I’ve gotten more used to living in this body (I have endometriosis, auto-immune arthritis and Ehler-Danlos Syndrome) and have learned more about sick girl/crip culture, I’ve grown simultaneously less noisy about my own struggles (there are a lot of people out there doing it better) and more confident about asking for what I need when I need it. One subtle form of support is the cane: it both allows me to hoof around comfortably when I’m in pain and reminds people that we aren’t all walking around with ease and to handle each other with care. You’ve gotta be pretty heartless to body slam someone on a cane just to get to the simple syrup at Blue Bottle coffee, ya know? The cane has the potential, with a little *lol* legwork, be quite stylish- my most cherished is a woman’s walking stick from the early 20th century with a carved parrot’s head handle, its eyes made from gleaming amber glass- this (and many other wonderful walking stickszzzzz) can be procured at: antiquecanes.com, the kind of business that would fail anywhere else but here in London, it’s thriving. The other favorite source for canes is zitomer.com, the eternally fancy pharmacy on the Upper East Side. These are some Liza Minelli, give em the ole razzle dazzle canes. Plus, you can pick up fancy bows and nice mini hand lotions at the same time.
Jan 3, 2023
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