My Freak Anatomy: Peroneus Brevis

Yoga has made me very aware of my freakish anatomy. I'm pretty sure I have a short peroneus brevis muscle or tendon. Way before I discovered yoga, I discovered the pain this short muscle can cause. Two words: Ski Boots. I hate ski boots. Ski boots lock your lower leg into a forward leaning position--and for me that hurts. It is one of the reasons I will never ski again.

I rediscovered the pain when I started doing yoga. Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) is one of the most basic poses, but it isn't really easy to do. I really didn't like it at first because that same part of my leg would just burn. I guess the more I have done it over the years, the more I have stretched/strengthened the muscle, and it doesn't bother me as much anymore. Recently in class Nancy mentioned that another yogi says that you have to try something for ten years before you can say you don't like it! Ten years! He says you really have to know something before you can say you don't like it. I'm not so sure about that, but I can say that I like triangle a lot more now than I did ten years ago.
In yoga last Sunday we did a vinyasa that included both trikonasana and pavirtta trikonasana (revolved triangle.) The revolved pose really hit that spot and I could feel it burn. I need to do a lot more trikonasana and pavirtta trikonasa before snowboarding season arrives. The snowboard boots are a gajillion times more comfortable than ski boots, but sometimes I still feel the burn on my right leg.

Nuh-Uh!

Ross and I both have the same magnet on our cars. Today he told me that a coworker came in and asked him what flag it is. Puerto Rican? Oh, no he didn't!!! Apparently Ross's other coworkers were just as flabbergasted as he was. Then the guy showed just how awesome he is by saying "But it has one star!" Duh. Texas is the Lonestar State. I don't know why I'm ever surprised at how clueless educated people can be.

Kabloom!

Patty has really taken off in the last couple of weeks. It's amazing what a little sun and fertilizer will do! She now has about 20 blooms!

My Poor SIGG

I have had my SIGG bottle for years. Recently it got crushed. Here's the story: A few weeks ago we went to the drive in to see Pirates of Caribbean and Fast Five. Ainsmar decided to meet us there. Well, the dumb people wouldn't let Ainsmar in--cause he was a single in a car, and they arbitrarily decide whether or not they will allow singles in. We had taken my car to the drive in, so I had to set myself up a seat in the back. That was fine until it started raining. We put the top up, and I was squished into the back of the car. That was probably when my SIGG fell behind the driver's seat.

A while later the rain stopped and we put the top back down. At some point when we were rearranging the seats the bottle was crushed between the front and back seats. I do remember hearing a pop at some point.

I still love my SIGG, and I'm going to keep using it. It still works right? I'm just sad that I had gone so long without any real damage and now it has major damage.

And Ainsmar won't be going to the drive in any time soon. He was really mad that they made him turn around and park at the gas station then walk in. And when he was walking in they told him to get off the grass! Poor guy. Poor SIGG.

X-Men First Class

Last night we saw X-Men First Class. It was good. Much better than Thor--which didn't even feel like a complete movie. I liked the story, and the acting was good. I didn't particularly like any of the women, but I loved Frost's outfits. I think Magneto was my favorite character, but his voice was strange. It seemed like he kept switching accents, and then at the end he had the rough-voice thing going. Of course I was annoyed by a couple of things... First, when Charles Xavier would do his telepath thing he would put his fingers to his temple. It was ridiculous. Also, the movie had that instant-warrior thing going on. In a week all the new recruits became great soldier-weapons.

Overall I would recommend it. Just don't forget your suspension of disbelief at home.

Mudra Monday: Mystery Mudra

I don't know what mudra this is. This is another mudra that I find myself doing a lot, especially when I'm tired. I have seen it on a couple of websites, but I haven't been able to find out what it symbolizes. It is comforting, kind of like sucking my thumb.

Lime Basil Tea Cookies

I found this recipe in the latest issue of Bon Apetit. I decided to try it because I actually have sweet basil growing in my mini garden. Of course I altered it.

Lime Basil Tea Cookies

1 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/2 c. butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 Tbl. minced fresh basil leaves

1 tsp. finely grated lime zest

1 Tbl. lime juice

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place all ingredients into food processor. (Put the blade in first....I forgot and had to dump it all out....)

3. Pulse food processor until large moist clumps form.

4. Measure level tablespoonfuls of dough, roll into balls, and place on baking sheet.

5. Dust the bottom of a measuring cup with powdered sugar and press cookies into 2 inch rounds. Thicker is better.

6. Bake until edges are brown. Mine were done at 17 minutes.

This made 16 cookies.

For a sweeter treat sprinkle with large sugar crystals before baking.

This recipe was perfect for my small food processor. It was easy and the cookies turned out well. I think I'm going to make some digesta-biscuits next.

Annoyed

I've been trying to post that pineapple video for 3 days now. I kept getting an error message. Well, I finally went to the help forums. Turns out I can no longer directly upload to Blogger. WTF? So then why is there a video upload button? I'm so freaking annoyed. I had to upload the video to YouTube and then embed it in the post. Annoyed. Why did I get an error message that explained nothing? Why didn't I get any sort of notice? This sucks. Google is pissing me off. First Goog411 goes offline, then Google video. Grrrrr.

As Seen on TV

Ross and I saw this gizmo on HSN. It makes coring a pineapple super easy. Ross loves pineapple, and cutting one up is a pain. Believe it or not, pineapple is a source of salmonella--on the outside, so I'm super careful when I cut it up--constantly washing the knife. Well, I did some searching and found out that they sell it at Williams Sonoma. I went to the store and was able to find it, and it was even on sale! We bought a couple of pineapples (also on sale) and Ross tried it out. Super easy and super cool!

Here's a video of Ross coring a very ripe, juicy pineapple.

Zoom!

I had my teeth cleaned last week, and I was so excited to finally get my teeth whitened. On Tuesday I went back and had Zoom Whitening at my dentist's office. It wasn't completely painless, but I was completely back to normal by the next morning. I'm really pleased with the results and they told me they would get even whiter if I use the take home gel. Next month I'm getting the composites on the sides of my 4 front teeth replaced. They need to be replaced and the new ones will match my new whiter teeth.

The before photo:

The during photo:The after photo:
The staff was very impressed with my results, and now that my teeth don't hurt I'm very happy.

Elvis Costello at Wolf Trap

On Wednesday night I saw Elvis at Wolf Trap for the third time. Wolf Trap is my favorite venue. It's really hard to explain it to people. It is covered, but open to the air on the sides and back. There's nothing like being distracted by a firefly instead of drunk people. I had a great seat--a front row box seat! Well, my seat was actually in the second row, but the usher told me I could sit in the front row until someone came and no one ever came to kick me out.

I didn't get any good photos because the lighting on stage was very bright. It must have been hot under those lights, poor Elvis's suit was soaked.

The show was also on the Revolver Tour, even though it didn't say so on the T-shirts or on the website. The wheel had different songs on it, and wedges that said Joker. The best part of the show was when a girl named Roxanne went up on stage. She got to choose the song and she picked I Want You. That is one of my favorite Elvis songs. When he started playing though, it wasn't I Want You, it was Roxanne. After one verse he switched over to I Want You. Seamless.

It was a great show. Oh, and the response to Elvis's two acoustic songs was a standing ovation rather than booing. That's more like it. And I just remembered. He also sang Purple Rain. I've been thinking about it and I don't know what my favorite Elvis song is. I feel like need to figure it out. Like it should be a set answer that I don't have to think about.

First Fruits

Bailey chewed on my jalapeno plants and one of them didn't survive. I bought another one, and well, she promptly chewed that one up too. I caught her and she acted like she hadn't done anything, but her slobber all over the leaves told a different story. I just picked my first jalapeno and there are about 5 other ones starting to grow and about a dozen flowers. I'm excited. I'll be able to make some yummy guacamole.

Mudra Monday

I am very interested in mudras--symbolic hand gestures. I bought a set of cards that has a different yoga mudra on each one. This is the courage mudra. I often look down and notice that my hands are curled up in this position. I find it very comforting, which makes sense because it is an anti-panic mudra. I thought that maybe there was some kind of trigger point on my fingers, but I've looked at all sorts of acupuncture maps, and I really haven't found anything.

Kirtan Kriya

One of the last times I was at yoga--which sadly, was a long time ago--Nancy introduced us to the Kirtan Kriya. She's been reading books by Dr. Daniel Amen. Dr. Amen recommends the Kirtan Kriya in his book Making a Good Brain Great. The Kirtan Kriya is a Kundalini yoga meditation that combines mantras (words) and mudras (hand positions.)

I'm not good at meditation. My mind wanders, and usually it wanders in a negative downward spiral. I think the combination of mantra and mudra works for me. I was able to concentrate on that and not get lost in negative or random thoughts.

To practice the Kirtan Kriya touch each of the fingers consecutively to the thumb while saying the matching word--as shown below. Envision the sound coming down through the top of your head and out through your third eye. Repeat starting with the pointer finger. When you are done open the hands and say Aaaah. Detailed instructions for the 12 minute version are available here.

The sounds are based on the five primal sounds. Saa means birth or infinity, Taa means life, Naa means death or completion, and Maa means rebirth.

Cucumber Mint Soda

Last night and this morning I went through a bunch of old Bon Apetit magazines. I used to keep them all, but I don't anymore. Half of the magazines were still in the plastic wrapper, which is why I stopped subscribing (but they keep sending them.) In one of the more recent issues I found a recipe for Cucumber Mint Basil Soda. I had all the ingredients, so I decided to try it. Like Ross says, I never met a recipe I liked, so I decided to change it up. I left out the basil and added some alcohol.

Cucumber Mint Fizz

1 c sugar

1 c water

mint

thinly sliced cucumber

ice

club soda

your alcohol of choice

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2. Add mint and cucumber slices to simple syrup and steep for at least 30 minutes.

3. Strain the syrup.

4. Fill a glass with ice.

5. Add 2 Tbl. syrup to the glass.

6. Add 1-2 oz. alcohol to the glass. --I chose Tanqueray Rangpur and Ross chose white rum.

7. Top off glass with club soda and garnish with mint and cucumber.
I only put one ounce (2 Tbl.) of booze in my drink. It was nice and refreshing. Of course there's a lot of leftover simple syrup. I might have to try it in some iced tea tomorrow.

One More Pair

My mom gave me this pair of earrings the last time I was in Texas. I found them in the car today and realized they weren't in yesterday's photo.

Amber Collection

My parents go to the gem and jewelry show in Tucson every year. Each year they buy me some amber jewelry, so I have quite a collection. I have more amber than I do jade. Here's a look at my collection. I think my favorite right now is the green amber earrings on the left.

Au Naturel

This is what my hair looks like if I comb it when it is dry. It isn't totally au naturel. There was some product in it. I kind of like it like this. I wish I could have a big, perfectly round globe of an afro. I've seen a lady at work with one, and it is magnificent.

I wish natural hair was more accepted, but I think people equate curl and frizz with being unkept.

That Takes Me Back

On Sunday Julia decided she wanted to play with Play Doh. I opened up a container and the smell hit me. Smells really trigger memories for me and that smell took me back.

Of course when I had Play Doh I only had two colors--maybe three. Evelyn and Julia have lots of different colors. Now it even comes in silver and gold! I had to take a photo of the Cheeto-colored Play Doh. It was freaky.

I had fun being a kid and playing with the Doh. I even made some blue spaghetti. Oh, and a brown cow with black spots. Play Doh. Yay!

I won! I won!

On Memorial day we went to the mall. I went into Aveda to get a free sample and also some shampoo. When I was checking out they asked me if I wanted to enter to win an Aveda gift basket. The dollar entry would go to charity. I saw the reusable bag and decided to enter. I figured that alone was worth a dollar.

Just a couple of days later I received a call letting me know that I won the gift basket! Me! I was over the moon when I found out that I won the Caribbean body scrub. Ross and I love the way it smells. I also won a shampure candle, a hair tie, a chakra body mist, natural cleaning products, foot relief and a hair mask. Hand relief and some other sun care products were also included--I gave them to Valerie. I think I may put on some of that foot relief tonight. My heels are a little ashy.

Bliss

I've been jonesing for a shoe fix for a while now. I've specifically been wanting these sandals since I saw them in a magazine. The trouble was that I couldn't find them in any store and I wanted to try them on. Last weekend I was surfing the internet and I found the shoes--and they were half price. I took a chance and ordered them. They came yesterday and I'm giddy. I ordered the shoes in the right size. Ross likes the them, but he didn't like me wearing them around with brown socks to stretch out the front straps.

I this this purchase will hold me for a while, but I can't wait to get me some Miz Mooz shoes at Infinity Shoes in NYC.

I love that these shoes don't have logos all over them so I'm not a walking billboard.

Patty Finally Blooms

Last year I bought a violet because the blooms were so beautiful--I named her Patty. The blooms lasted a while, but when they were gone, no more came out. The good news is that it didn't die--the leaves continued to grow. I decided to figure out why it wasn't blooming. I read up and learned that it needed more light and some fertilizer. I moved the plant closer to the window and bought some fertilizer made special for violets. Patty finally has blooms. And they aren't the color in the photo. They are a dark royal purple. I think when all the blooms open up there will be about a dozen flowers. I'm so excited. I have a plant that didn't die, and is actually thriving! I guess it helps to figure out what the plant likes and give it to 'em.

OSS 117

We watched OSS 117 Cairo, Nest of Spies some time ago. This past weekend we watched OSS 117 Lost in Rio. These French films are Bond spoofs and I thought they were both funny. I was laughing really hard during a couple of the scenes. de la Bath is a suave yet bumbling, sexist, racist, and antisemitic secret agent. He is the stereotypical character that believes all the stereotypes. He thinks he's great, but really he's not. The second film is set in 1967, but it was filmed in 2009. They did a really good job of making look like a 1960s movie. The movies are both much closer to actual Bond films than Austin Powers movies. I'd recommend them if you're looking for a silly laugh.