Tinypliny's Journal

07/14/2011 11:22 #54700

Urdhva Dhanurasana
Category: dance

I finally did it yesterday. I got to the Upward Bow/Wheel pose without sagging on my yoga mat.

I wasn't expecting to reach the pose at all. But my head was suddenly suspended in mid air and I was looking at (e:Paul) on the nearby mat upside down. It was a very happy moment. Erin's wonderful practice at Hand to Heart yoga has finally started making a positive difference to my upper body strength.

And now for the next yoga frontier...

Check back in a year. ;-)

tinypliny - 07/14/11 18:06
(e:Paul) - not only did Erin say it was the next step, she demonstrated the Eka Pada Urdhva Dhanurasana (the one-legged upward/inverted bow). Those must be some really high-powered specs! I thought I was the blind one because I intentionally don't wear specs.

tinypliny - 07/14/11 17:57
I am pretty relieved that you are not my yoga teacher, (e:metalpeter)! Last time you were insisting that do all the inversions with tea cups balanced.

LOL, but you are right though. I am not sure I could do it all the time. Maybe yesterday was a fluke... I am going to try and reach the next stage but can't tell when that will be. And (e:Paul) is always messing up gymnastics with yoga. He doesn't see the fine line... ;-)

metalpeter - 07/14/11 17:11
Now related to that (e:tinypliny) now that you have that down... The next part is to get it mastered so you can all ways do it... Not not sure if they do this in Yoga... But I think the next step would be to start moving your hands in closer to your feet (acrobatics maybe.......Once they are in (from what I have seen) close enough both feet can come off the floor?

metalpeter - 07/14/11 17:08
Isn't a back hand spring Gymnasitics?

heidi - 07/14/11 13:13
(I went Monday... maybe tonight?)

heidi - 07/14/11 13:13
Dammit... yoga was calling me last night and I shoulda just listened. Congrats on the wheel!

paul - 07/14/11 12:24
(e:Terry) says she said it. I must have not noticed because I didn't have my glasses on.

paul - 07/14/11 12:23
Oh I can totally do that. I wish she had said that was the next step.

The next step after that is back handspring!

07/13/2011 12:08 #54694

Paolo
Category: e:strip

You are a very inspiring person, in general. I realized that yesterday, watching you work. I don't know if I ever told you.

I went home and worked a couple hours more till it was finally dawn, thanks to you. Hehe :-)

07/13/2011 11:44 #54693

Wok no more.
Category: eating in

Just when I was getting ready to order the wok, Amazon changed the price on me.

Now this is just annoying! Or maybe it's a signal that I didn't need that wok.

EDIT: And of course, as soon as I deleted every single thing from my cart in protest against Amazon's price-changing shady tactics. the wok silently dropped to it's former price again.

How unbelievably dodgy is this?!

EDIT2: I gave Amazon the royal shove and bought this 12 inch fry-pan from Overstock.com where it has been the same price for more than a month.

tinypliny - 07/14/11 00:25
That's camelcamelcamel.com at this :::link::: It's incredibly handy for keeping a watch on things.

(e:paul) just checked this on his phone and the price had dropped back to what it was earlier ($86.66). I deleted the wok from cart as soon as I saw the hideous price change. I am sure others must have as well. All this price see-sawing is so ludicrous.

kookcity2000 - 07/13/11 21:29
what are you using to track prices

07/11/2011 16:44 #54687

Using Gnumeric to eliminate duplicates
Category: i-tech

I can always use R, but sometimes Gnumeric comes in handy to whittle down lists filled with duplicates in a jiffy.

Simplified steps from

1. Say you have a column A with A1 to A100 rows with duplicate data that you want to eliminate

2. Go to Data > Advanced Filter. Under the input tab, choose list range as A1 to A100.

3. I don't understand why Gnumeric needs a criteria range for everything but it does... Even for duplicate-value-finding that involves no mathematical formulas. So choose a criteria range. Say B1 to B2. Make sure that the first cell of the criteria range has the same column header as the list range. So if, say your cell A1 was named "Numbers" then B1 should also be "Numbers". Leave B2 blank.

4. Check unique records only

5. Go to the Output tab. Choose an output range (longer than the input range, just to prevent any complaints from gnumeric). Click OK.

You should have the original list with no duplicates in the output range.

07/11/2011 00:32 #54685

Biscoff Cookie CopyCat Recipe
Category: eating in

I found an interesting variation on the Biscoff Speculoos recipe at this

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baker's ammonia
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baker's ammonia and salt together; set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on low speed, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar together. Add the vanilla extract. Gradually blend the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of a 9x13 greased pan. Decoratively score the dough with a fork or small knife, if you wish.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Store in an airtight container. Well-wrapped shortbread may also be frozen.

Source: The Art Of The Cookie

Baker's Ammonia? What in the world is that? Sounds so fishy... and sea-weedy.

tinypliny - 07/17/11 15:22
This was a major doorstopper because I completely subbed the butter with applesauce, subbed half the flour with wheat bran, subbed the fishy ammonia thingy with regular baking soda, forgot the vanilla extract and used 100% brown sugar. And of course, I have no measures, everything was eyeballed. I narrowly escaped breaking my teeth as I bit into one without cares. They are rather good (in a wow, this is so healthy for me way) dipped in hot tea.