Potatoes in the Mist

I temporarily like Brooklyn better than Manhattan...though I suppose it's fading already. Whenever I teach there I succumb to the charm of the cute brownstones with people and dogs gathered on the stoops (and you know I pat all the dogs) and the quaintness of the yoga studio being over an old-fashioned bike shop. The people seem friendlier - they smile as I pass - and Union Street at night is a veritable Doggie Way, with a dog to pat every few feet. You can imagine how awesome that is. The only thing wrong with that studio is the stereo. The stereo and I do not get along. I gave up trying to hook up my iPod to it (which works everywhere else I teach), so I tried CDs tonight. However, the volume kept getting louder, even as I tried to turn it down, so I ended up turning off the music. I've taught more "silent" classes there than anywhere else. AND fireworks started going off in Prospect Park in the middle of class. This one woman looked truly rattled and yelled, "...

I had lunch with AT today at Wai (a tasty little somewhat healthy diner on 6th Ave). Much of the conversation was of a confidential nature, and I am not allowed to blog about it :( However, I can tell you what we ate. It was one of those rare lunches you can split exactly down the middle, without unfairness. Here's what we had: 2 Wai salads (greens, avocado, chickpeas, tofu, carrots and carrot-ginger dressing) 1 order of steamed vegetarian dumplings (shared) 2 cold ginger teas 1 slice of warm apple crumble pie (shared) I've gotten the pie cold before, not wanting to be Sally-like; but having it warm really makes all the difference. Anyhow, I'm reading a Whitney Gaskell book (see sidebar), and the heroine is regretting how she used to slather on baby oil as a teenager and bake in the sun. I did the same thing. In fact, I listened to the Spice Girls as I baked in the sun (the resulting brain-fry probably made the music seem better than it was), and then I jumped in the pool. ...

Basement Jaxx - Romeo I love this video. I first saw it at New York Sports Club (before I switched to Crunch) a few years ago. To heighten the randomness of it all, Basement Jaxx is actually a pair of British DJs...with a Bollywood fetish, I guess. My favorite part is the interlude 2 minutes in where she's sad and wistful but then, in the next frame, jumps around dancing...in a different outfit, no less. Enjoy!

Well, we saw the new Adam Sandler movie. I kind of have mixed feelings about it, which I guess is appropriate because it was kind of a genre bender...comedy for the first half, tragedy for the second. (I'm serious.) Then a cheap plot twist made it all ok...but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It was unexpectedly similar to "The Monkey's Paw." I guess there is no such thing as a free lunch. Also, the waterbugs are out. I had the good fortune to never see one when I was living in Massachusetts or Rhode Island...but I see them all the time in New York, and they're not pretty. They're large, flat bugs with reddish shiny wings. They can be as large as your hand (almost). The worst thing about them is, they scurry toward you instead of away. Some missed connection in the brain, I'm sure. Once I saw one in the lobby of our building, lying on its back. I was worried someone was going to step on it but no way was I going to touch it to flip it right side u...

I came up with a list of favorite authors. I decided I should do this so I can be on the lookout for books by these people and not fear that I'm missing them. Here goes: Cecilia Ahern Maeve Binchy Elizabeth Berg Jennifer Coburn Megan Crane Emily Giffin Marian Keyes Sophie Kinsella Cara Lockwood Liane Moriarty Sinead Moriarty Anne Tyler Nick Hornby Eric Jerome Dickey Patrick Sanchez Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez Alison Pace Meg Cabot Jane Green Lisa Jewell Valerie Frankel Melissa Senate Jennifer Weiner They are in no particular order. Also, I'm a little fickle...if someone's last book wasn't the best (e.g., John Irving, Gregory Maguire), they might not be on the list right now, but I might put them back later. Especially if they write something yummy. I'm teaching tonight at a private club. I'm relieved that tonight's class is 6:30 pm, not 7 am like the last class I taught there. Bearette is just not a morning person. She wishes she could be, but it's not meant ...

Shamelessly stolen from Kitkat . 1. Which curse word do you use the most? %*#&^^. 2. Do you own an iPod? Yup, it's pink. 3. What time is your alarm clock set for? It's not set, unless I'm teaching in the morning. 4. How many suitcases do you own? Two. One is carry-on size and the other is slightly larger. 5. Do you wear flip flops even when it's cold? No, though I have been known to wear Birkenstocks in November. 6. Would you rather take the picture or be in the picture? Take the picture, usually. 7. What was the last movie you watched? Billy Madison (I can't believe I'm admitting that ;) 8. Do you or any of your friends have children? I don't, but my friend AT from high school has a little girl and is currently pregnant with twin boys. She sent me pictures of the ultrasound via email. Someone had drawn little arrows on them, labeled "boy". 9. Has anyone ever called you lazy? Not that I can remember. 10. Do you ever take medication to help you ...

We just saw Nacho Libre and it was fabulous! I am going to add it to my favorite movies list (in my profile). I was in a semi-bad mood when the movie started and it cheered me right up. It had the same writers and director as Napoleon Dynamite , and the same endearing strangeness.

So I bought a new skirt today. I was on my way to the library to fetch my copy of Elements of Style by Wendy Wasserstein, when a sale at the Gap caught my eye. I'm not much of a shopper, except where the Strand is concerned; however, I do like sales. I picked up a black eyelet skirt and congratulated myself for not buying it a few weeks ago, when it was twice the price: In other exciting news, my copy of Digging to America by Anne Tyler is now in transit (meaning, it should get to my branch library soon). Yay! D and I were planning on seeing Nacho Libre this weekend but the critics gave it a mild pounding . We'll probably see it anyway. It's getting compared to Napoleon Dynamite , which I love. In a secret, shameful way, I was planning on seeing Lake House, but it got slaughtered . Did you read on MSN about how Keanu Reaves wants to get married (though he doesn't have a bride yet)? He seems sweet. Finally, the librarian who disapproved of my choices was working agai...

D doesn't like sweet potatoes, so I've been fitting them in while he's away. Here's a picture of the sweet potato quesadilla I made tonight, before it went in the oven: If you want to try this, the recipe is adapted from Nava Atlas, and it goes as follows: 2 tortillas 1 sweet potato 1 4-oz can mild green chiles (you may want to get medium) cheddar cheese You microwave the sweet potato for 10 minutes, peel it, and slice it in 1/4-inch slices, which you arrange on one of the tortillas. Then you sprinkle the chiles and cheese on top. You can also add baby spinach as I did in the photo. Lay the other tortilla on top and cook the quesadilla in a 400-degree oven for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. For some reason, cooking this recipe made me remember Bridget Fonda in Shag, saying in a thick Southern accent, "Jimmy Valentine is a sweet patata." Has anyone else seen both Shag and Singles ? If so, did you notice that Bridget looked like a different person in Singles ,...

So it's kind of weird with D gone. I know he was anxious about the sleeping situation. He was also worried that he might eat too much at the pizza buffet tonight. (Can you tell this event was planned by a guy?) I told him he could call me if he wanted me to stop him. I didn't hear from him so I guess the situation was under control. On Sunday I saw The Break-Up with TN. I have to say I was kinda disappointed (though I had fun with TN as always). I don't know why I keep going to see Jennifer Aniston movies. They're never good. Although this one had a surprise ending. I was waiting for it to creak to its inevitable conclusion, and then something different happened. So that was interesting, I suppose. I watched Seinfeld on TBS earlier. I was never into the show during its original run, though my mother watched it regularly. I guess my reasons were as follows: 1) no romance 2) I didn't find anybody on the show attractive 3) they all seemed kind of despicable For some re...

This morning, I woke up and went to the living room to do yoga in my pajamas when I saw that I was not alone. There was a little squirrel with black beady eyes and a fluffy tail crouched on the terrace. He cocked his head and stared at me for so long that I felt like I was the intruder. Then I started doing my yoga warmups, but by then he had lost interest and was staring right ahead. It was here I had some internal dialogue: You should get the camera. You shouldn't get the camera, it will scare him. He looked so cute that the desire for the camera won out...but when I returned with the camera, he had gone. I wonder if he knows yoga now.

I like elephants. I'm going to put up a picture of a baby elephant over at my sister blog, Capybaras United . In the meantime, here are some fun elephant facts from elephant.elehost.com : Elephant trunks can get very heavy. It is not uncommon to see elephants resting them over a tusk! Elephants cry, play, have incredible memories, and laugh ! Elephants are sensitive fellow animals where if a baby complains, the entire family will rumble and go over to touch and caress it. Elephants have greeting ceremonies when a friend that has been away for some time returns to the group. Elephants grieve at a loss of a stillborn baby, a family member, and in many cases other elephants. Elephants don't drink with their trunks , but use them as "tools" to drink with. This is accomplished by filling the trunk with water and then using it as a hose to pour it into the elephant's mouth. Interestingly, the Asian elephant is more closely related to the extinct mammoth than to the...

Tonight my mom sent me some granola in the mail, plus some presents from China. Since the camera was already out, I decided to bust out some yoga moves for y'all. Leah had asked to see a headstand a while back so I decided to oblige. Here's the fun, wild Chinese T-shirt my mom sent: The small golden pig and pineapple had chocolates inside them. D ate his already. The keychain is from Tsinghua University, which my sister is somehow affilated with. Here's astavakrasana: And headstand.

The librarian disapproved of my reading choices today. I handed back the newest Eric Jerome Dickey (not worth the bother) and took out French Kiss by Aimee Friedman (a young adult book; they tend to be fun) and Tight by Patrick Sanchez (about three women; the title refers to plastic surgery). She looked down at them, clicked her tongue and said: "I can't believe you read these books. You don't look..." (Meaning: the books look raunchy and I look like a "good girl".) I thought it was rather out-of-hand for her to comment on my choices, but I protested: "It's YA, it's just silly." The librarian muttered something else under her breath, looked at D and said, "Well, I bet he doesn't mind." When we left, D said, "I bet she liked the books. It's what she would read if she could." OUCH! Bear in mind I have a somewhat troubled history with this librarian. My local library is, um, special, and some of the librarians have ...

Well, I went to the chiropractor today. He told me I was easy to adjust and gave me 2 gold stars. (Not literally.) Then he told me about his next patient. "He's a skydiver. He's broken every bone in his body ," he said in awe. He's terrified to adjust him for fear of breaking something else. I got to meet the skydiver, btw...he was waiting out front when I left. He looks a bit like Billy Crudup, with a slightly crazed look in his eye. Janeane Garofalo lives in the building where my chiro has his office, though I have yet to see her. My chiro has seen her and says her dogs "are like ponies. They're bigger than she is!" Speaking of animals, I'm into cats now. I still wouldn't want to be around them for long periods of time - I'm sure I'd get very allergic - but I saw Pars again today. His stomping grounds are on 26th Street. He had a pretty gray friend with him today and they both glided over to me and purred. When I tried to leave, Par...

So I'm reading Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane. It's a good book, and I'm enjoying it, but parts of it scare me a little. One of the protagonists works as a waitress (until she gets fired) and talks about the things her coworkers do: 1) spit in food (I've heard of this before) 2) putting credit cards where the sun don't shine 3) most horrifically, in my opinion...dipping used utensils into the water pitcher to "clean" them and pouring people water from the pitcher. She advises everyone eating at a restaurant to get bottled water. #3 bothers me the most because #1 and #2 are only done in anger, but #3 is a routine practice. According to the author, anyway. I've never worked in a real restaurant -- Taco Bell in high school doesn't count. They had plastic forks and knives. And I can assure you that the vats the beans are kept in are washed. I know because I did it myself. I'm scared to eat out now.

Well, I had a fun if long day. I taught 2 classes. Then I got stuck on the subway and witnessed an almost-fight between a woman and a guy who was playing a boombox. "Shut off that $#&*^ music!" she yelled. "You come over here and turn it off," he said menacingly. I actually liked the music but did not want to get involved. He was playing "Funky Town", "I Feel For You" (Chaka Khan), etc. So after we got moving again, the subway stopped again, only this time the doors were open. Realizing I was already late to meet our friends for dinner, I popped out and walked home, only to get rained on. Ugh. Fortunately, AT was running late too - his college roommate G, who was visiting, also got stuck on the subway - so it all worked out and no one was waiting. We ate at Zen Palate where I engaged in random entree selection, just picking "Red Mist" in part because G and I couldn't visualize it and we were curious. Well, it was a bad choice. I...

So I went shopping today! One item has to remain a secret for now (I'll explain later). I got the following books at The Strand : (Did I mention that I love The Strand? Half price or lower on every book, and they get stuff early. Heaven.) Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane (despite negative title, looks like a fun book with many '80s references) Finishing Touches by Deanna Kizis The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty The Right Fit by Sinead Moriarty (about adopting a Chinese baby girl, not something I plan on doing but am nonetheless intrigued by.)