How exactly do I transform from this...


to this...


I currently have ZERO skills at isolating body-sections and then moving them in staggered-cohesion. Add to that stick-like everything and you have a winning insect combination.

The Salsa diary for this week reads:

10. I finally realized that I like dancing the salsa because I am fascinated by the music, its variations and the whole culture surrounding the music and the dance that has evolved with this music. It is to me, a study of an unspoken yet a well-enunciated language and its often-surprising dialects.

9. Took a couple on-2 classes in NYC and fell in love with the variation. I am just as terrible at dancing on-2 as I am at dancing on-1. But somehow, I could relate to the music much better with the on-2 style compared with the on-1 style. But alas, no one teaches the on-2 style in Buffalo.

8. I am not very thrilled about wrestling everyone else (apart from Sean, Sarah and those rare beginner leads who don't have a very large height differential) in class. And because I am so horrible at following people, I am seriously considering practicing just the solo shines and ignoring the fact that it is a partnered dance. After all, I make my own damn rules for anything I like so much.

7. Just look at what kind of awesomeness you can achieve with solo salsa:

Fine! That's the super-goddess of on-2 salsa. Probably imbibed on-2 skills in-utero.

6. Something is holding me back from hip-hop classes. It's not a concrete something but it's definitely some non-concrete vague thing that I haven't figured out yet.

5. I took a structured approach to yogasanas over the weekend and earlier this week and found that my balancing powers are very asymmetric. No wonder I am always stumbling on my quick moves and spins.

4. My made-for-salsa shoes arrive Tuesday. No heels. All suede. I am thrilled beyond words. I don't think ANY pair of shoes have ever generated such anticipation... well maybe those spongy slippers in 2nd grade decades ago, but nothing after that. I spent a couple hours at Capezio's flagship store on Broadway, prancing about in every single "latina" heels they had. They made me dread spins, and I can't take that kind of dread for something I really like.

3. I wish I lived in NYC.

2. I wish I lived in NYC.

1. I wish I lived in NYC.

You can go ahead and hate me for the 1-2-3 now but I can't help it.

Some of the first things people say when I tell them I am taking salsa lessons is:

"Really? I somehow can't visualize you doing salsa."
(Silent me: No one asked you to visualize anything!)

"Really? you wear a dress and heels and all that?"
(Silent me: I don't wear metallic lamé, if that's what you mean.)

"Really? I don't see you moving to salsa?"
(Silent me: Good to know you don't have an eye disorder.)

"Really, you don't look like *that* type."
(Silent me: I will wear a T-shirt that says "that type" prominently on it, next time.)

"Really? I would never have thought!"
(Silent me: Yeah, thinking was never your strong point.)

"Really? When are you starting?"
(Silent me: I guess listening is not your strong point either.)

"Really? You can dance?"
(Silent me: Well. You have seen me walking...)

"Really? Surprising."
(Silent me: What, exactly?)

"Really?!!!!"
(Silent me: REALLY!)

Oh, and the worst...
"Really. Hmm (up and down doubtful body-stare)."
(Parkinson me: *annoyed pout*)

It's a weird feeling to receive all these comments. It's the same way when I tell people I love 80s and 90s heavy metal. My dance class (and for that matter, love of heavy metal) is an outlet of tons of fun for me, not some competitive salsa world championship entry practice (or an entry point to a "metalhead" lifestyle).

Screw it all. I love salsa.

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::

---

PS: I usually invite all of them to Configuration dance studio on Lexington and Ashland to Sarah Hooper and Sean Ortiz's salsa lessons on Thursdays (TODAY!) starting 7:00 PM. You could salsa too if you wanted, regardless of how many "Really??"s you get. :-)

Classic example of why one-line snippet "conclusions" of scientific studies can often lead to a bunch of stupid contradictory recommendations:



I can't believe the University of Buffalo is writing up such unsubstantial fluff to "guide" the public and calling it science-supported! UGH. I especially have issues with:

7. Jack-up your consumption of soy (The evidence is NOT conclusive. I, for one, have trouble believing that the women who ate more soy in that study did not have other healthy habits along with the soy-eating behaviour. (These might not have been the focus of that study.) And I happen to know what dataset that study came from.)

9. Pay with cash at the grocery store to avoid junk food. (I NEVER pay with cash. Ever. Come and take a look at my kitchen, UB news person! If method of payment drove food habits, why don't we just go ahead and ban credit cards. Ever heard of something called an ecological fallacy?)

10. Have a few drinks to boost romance. (Sure. Why not. Eat a chunk of tofu to go along with the alcohol. I am sure that will balance out all the ill-effects of alcohol.)

Badly done, UB. I wish you didn't go about giving misinformed pop-advice and calling it "research-tested". It decreases the credibility of the research that actually went into the studies that this ridiculous list cites.

I stayed on for both the beginner and the intermediate salsa-for-the-soul classes today. Only, it didn't turn out quite as smooth on my soles. And I mean that in a very literal sense.

I was a whole 15 minutes late for the beginner's class because the HSBC ATM on Elmwood and Utica was out of order. Why does it have to be the one day that I forgot to withdraw cash in the morning?! So I ran around in the snow looking for another ATM and found a random one at some sleazy bar that charged me $2.50 extra for the money. I think the patrons at the bar got a kick out of all my hurry to get the money out and some of them were shouting "welcome to (whatever that bar was called)" as I rushed out. I swear it sounded like welcome to hotel california! So weird. I should have chosen the one at the petrol pump.

I finally stomped into class and then, in a completely miscalculated and misguided move, I tried to put Gaffer tape all over my "dance-designated" shoe-soles to make them spin better. It was as if an evil tiny voice in my coat hood was telling me to delay dancing even further by trying ludicrous things at the last minute. For those not in the know, Gaffer tape is a matté take on duct tape. It is used for residue-free sticking jobs in studios and in the entertainment industry.



It sounded like a good temporary fix for sticky shoes and thus, better spins in theory. Alas, the ridiculously fancy-looking tape reverted and stuck to the floor as I danced. So I had to peel it all off in the end. I am sure I annoyed Sarah and Sean with all my deranged flitting-about near the studio door.

To add to the general stickiness of the dance floor, someone else in the class, quite unfortunately, came in with their street boots (I did not!!) and there was water on the floor near where I put my dance anchor down. As a result, spinning, on the whole, was a disaster yet again. I tried wiping the water off with the tissue I had but some wet spots remained. Thankfully, Sarah took care of them later.

I guess I will need to pick my dance spot carefully next time, move away from anyone wearing street boots and wear heels with suede. I am done wearing flat boots and feeling like.. well a flat waddling duck. This probably means wearing dress socks under the wool socks I usually wear, and then maybe I will look like a duck with boots on?


Anything for salsa!!!!

Apart from all the sticky sole drama, the beginner class was a blast. I met this really cool person who had a lovely name that I just can't remember now. Mariposa? That Alzheimer's must be creeping up on me faster than I think. Thanks to my diminished faculties, we will henceforth refer to her as Mariposa. I think her name was really quite different and I am losing my touch here but let's not squabble over scrabble and get on with the story.

So the point was, Mariposa's whole being invigorated everyone around the studio. I wish I were more like her and less like loony here-but-not-really-there me. I LOVED her energy as she danced... darn it, I wish I could remember her real name. She lighted up the proceedings and at one point, while we were dancing, suddenly swept me off the floor - I honestly have no idea how she did that!!?! Maybe she has trained in martial arts? Apparently, my stick-like forearms and frame have no weight at all and people can't even feel them.


Now, that is some cause for concern - to be so unsubstantial as to be weightless. Maybe I need to do some weight-training and put some muscle on? I wish I had some of the muscle of that enviable wikipedia salsa woman.

Which brings me to another little hitch in my dancing technique. Salsa is very much about dynamics and part of the dynamics are developed through a push-and-pull kind of movement. It's almost like you and your dancing partner are on opposite ends of a huge elastic band and you take turns at pushing and pulling the band as you dance. The beats that accompany salsa music also undulate and then tighten. The music and the synchronous dance steps are the basis to the elastic push-pull-push rhythm of salsa. Something like this - pay attention to the hands..

(Yeah, I don't have a clue what they were on about, either.)

The thing is my push-pull-push technique is frankly, quite awful. I annoyed the hell out of another student in the class, who has been dancing for a while, with all my ineptness at the "elastic band" moves. When Sean or Sarah is leading, I hardly feel as if I am a bad follower but my lack of skills as a follower are magnified with everyone else. This is probably why I can't dance effectively outside of class, yet. I am hoping that things get better with each class... I have faith that they will but dance is like a language. Without immersion and practice, it's going to be an uphill task.

Oh and I learnt this absolutely awesome 70s disco-like move where you almost moonwalk sideways by alternately pivoting with your left heel and toe as you move sideways to your right. It was so cool to be able to do that step that I wished that salsa didn't have to be a partnered dance. There is definitely some scope here for "salsa battles" with individual dances. Maybe I should join the hip hop class and incorporate salsa moves into it. There are some interesting possibilities to where I want to take my sudden interest in salsa. I just feel that, with no current or even future practice partners, my partnered salsa will never really get better - so why not work more intensively on an individual style...

---

PS: I guess the salsa class drawing-muse theory isn't working. My mad drawing skillz are worse than a 1st grader. Pfft. On a positive note, at least they are accurate. If someone is desperate enough to ask me what I look like on film, I can comfortably point at my strikingly-lifelike self-portrait here.

PPS: I also danced with Sarah for a bit today and found that not all people have a hair texture like a street-sweeping broom. I am so used to the texture of my hair as I comb it with my hands everyday that it comes as a sensory surprise when someone's hair feels like silk. Her's does. It took me by surprise so much that I actually said it out loud. And I winked back at Mariposa across the studio a minute later. Two completely unrelated things... that are bothering me slightly right now. Maybe I shouldn't care so much.

Salsa for the soul, indeed.

My classes start once more this new year and I have missed them so much! I have a rather ambitious new year resolution of getting really good at Salsa.

Well... not as good as this pair... but you know what they say.

If you aim for the stars, you will at least put your boots on and get to your roof, or something to that effect.

---

PS: There is something so amazing about that wikipedia photograph of salsa. I love that pose they are striking. The expressions on their face, as they dance, are so charming.

PPS: Come to the Salsa for the soul class at Lexington & Ashland today at 7 PM for the beginner's class and 8 PM for the intermediate class or stay for both. Super-awesome Sarah Hooper and Sean Ortiz will be gliding and shining you into some Salsa awesomeness.

PPPS: You KNOW whatever is on TV or wherever else is so not worth missing Salsa lessons! :-)

is out there.

While (e:paul) is obsessing about smartphones, I have been poring over sewing machine reviews and photos. Currently, I am torn between these two:

The Singer 4411 heavy duty model


and

The Brother XL2600I 25 Stitch Mechanical model


I want to be able to

• hem jeans and trousers
• make duvet covers
• make that winter coat

I don't know if either of these will serve all those purposes...

It's FIVE days into 2011. ALREADY. Seriously, this year is moving even faster than last year! One of my new year resolutions (among, a 1000 others) was to decrease my salt intake. I found out in the last three months of 2010 that I was eating roughly 5000 to 6000 MILLIgrams of salt everyday. That's nearly 5x-6x times the recommended daily amount for someone my height/weight/age.

As I went around work and outside telling people about my resolution, I received many useful tips on reducing salt in my diet. I am going to document them here so that I can refer back to them when I feel like I am slipping in my resolution.

1. Use lemon juice as a garnish. This is an interesting piece of advice and potentially one that might work.
2. Use herb blends instead of salt -- Herbmare is expensive for just some herbs and salt in the long run. I am going to try using a lot more spices in my cooking and lessen the salt instead.
3. If you like salty snacks, try celery -- okay, this is working. Celery is salty. I am going to have to look up the amount of naturally occurring salt in celery. Why should naturally occurring saltiness be any different in its physiological effects than added salt?
4. Do not salt while you are cooking. Add salt in the end. This sounds like good advice. Apparently, "saltiness" gets muted as foods cook and this forces the cook to add more salt. I can actually see this happening in my kitchen because I keep tasting things as they cook and I do salt like the cook in Alice in Wonderland.

Yes, like her. Notice the baton-like salt shaker in the cook's hand.
Well... okay, according to the book, it's some potent pepper mix which makes everyone else sneeze, but that is how I add spices and salt when I cook. If anyone else is there while I am cooking, they eventually end up in a sneezing fit or tell me about how they suddenly have this intense desire to sneeze... or cry (because of all the onions I merrily chopped). Strangely, all this affects me very little or not at all.

---

PS: Someone actually messaged me and asked me if I eat 4000 GRAMs of salt per day. I did mean milligrams but I can't help wondering what might happen if I really ate 4000 grams of salt a day. Would people be able to use me as a salt-shaker at the cafeteria? *Patron flagging down waitress* "Hey miss, could I have (e:tinypliny) come and dance over here please. Thanks."

I started making the Tassajara bread yesterday (e:tinypliny,53377). Unlike the no-knead bread that I can now make with my eyes closed without recipés or measurements, this was pretty involved and required a million rising phases and also, a good amount of kneading muscle (that I don't have, btw).

I fell asleep halfway between the sponge-phase and the "1st" (technically second) rising phase. As a result, the bread rose for nearly 5 hours and resembled an intimidating massive football in the morning. The whole flat smelled like a yeast factory. I managed to punch it down for the third rise, reshaped it, allowed 20 more minutes of rising, scored and baked it at 350 F for 75 minutes and this is what I got.


Not bad at all. But it doesn't even remotely smell or taste like any chocolate - even though it has 2 glasses of spicy chocolate in the dough. Oh and it's not spicy either. I suspect that the yeast polished off all the chocolate and the peppers.


Strange little creatures.

I am making a modified version of the Tassajara Bread right now.

I got tired of the chocolate pepper shake I made and poured it all into the bread dough. The bread is in the initial sponge stage now. It could be a total disaster or a pleasant surprise... who knows.

I really wanted to do something fun to start the new year and learnt a ton of R analysis the whole day. But I guess I was a bit too ambitious when I decided to end the day with a new bread-making technique. I don't see this bread reaching it's final pop-it-in-the-oven stage anytime soon. I have already made too many changes to the recipé to be confident about what will eventually come out.

I am hoping the yeast like all the chocolate and the bread doesn't turn into a sedimentary chocolate-flavoured rock.

Fine. I will document the boring highlights of my year, just because I want to test out the exciting new list feature. (I am like (e:paul)'s list-guinea pig!)

• Where were you when 2010 began? At the ((e:PMT)) Party.

• Who were you with? A bunch of ((e:peeps)), having a great time drinking some pink stuff and then realizing that it was pink because I had switched glasses with someone. The pink stuff was insane.

• Where will you be when 2010 ends? At ((e:PMT))'s... maybe if I don't fall asleep like I did before the Halloween party.

• Whom will you be with when 2010 ends?

• Was 2010 a good year for you? What is "good" exactly?

• What was your favorite moment of the year? Definitely that one dance at the salsa class when I was absolutely amazed at how body dynamics clicked into perfect synchrony during dance.

• What was your least favorite moment of the year? Looking at my experiment results and finding inconsistency everywhere. :/

• Did you keep your New Year resolutions of 2010? Yep. Got rid of some more stuff from home. Finally let go of old clothes that were never really my size, gritted my teeth and went shopping for new ones almost my size. Picked up a new resolution of maybe sewing a winter coat all by myself someday. Joined salsa class and had a blast. Didn't draw as much I wanted to though... but that might change this year, considering my salsa class is like an ever-evolving muse.

• Do you have any New Year resolutions for 2011? Oh absolutely. I believe in new days, new years, new re-inventions, new research, new ideas, new wishes and new resolutions! Some mundane ones are to reduce salt in my diet. I think I will leave drawing to fate and hope that my muse gets more interesting. I really can't resolve to do things that are somewhat out of my power but I hope I graduate this coming year.

• Did you fall in love in 2010? I acquired several new impractical crushes. I am forever crushing on someone or something totally inappropriate or unattainable. Does that count? :-)

• What was your favorite month of 2010? I am not sure I remember what month it is sometimes.

• Did you travel outside of the US in 2010? No. I can't. I have to graduate first.

• How many different states did you travel to in 2010? Hmm... let's see. Cali, Florida, DC with a stop at Atlanta - so 3 or 4? And of course NYC many times.

• Did you lose anybody close to you in 2010? Well... yes, and no. Maybe?

• What was your favorite movie that you saw in 2010? Haha She is SO out of my league.

• What was your favorite song in 2010? Are you kidding me? How could I possibly have a favourite song when I listen to like 500 artists on an average and love them all every year and the next year and forever?

• What was your favorite album in 2010? I can't choose. It's impossible. I could point at around 50 albums that I heard for the first time and swooned over this year, even though some of them were produced several decades back or were released yesterday. I discovered a whole new world of salsa music. This question is really the most unanswerable out of the lot.

• What was your most exciting moment of 2010? Salsa class. Several moments but probably when I found that I could actually dance the basic step and it was not confusing. It was awesome.

• What was your proudest moment of 2010? These little devils didn't die on me.

• What was your most embarrassing moment of 2010? Um. So not telling you. Because all of them would probably take up several pages. If I don't get embarrassed any given day, I begin to suspect that something went wrong and I hadn't done anything interesting or worth writing about that day.

• If you could go back in time to any moment of 2010 and change something, what would it be? Ahhhhhh... why struggle with the hypothetical. They haven't perfected the time machine yet.

• What are your plans for 2010? How are plans different from resolutions? Do you plan to take over the world but you resolve not to kill everyone while doing it? Is this a trick question?