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.

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...

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! :-)

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.