The Nexus 7 Camera is Not Bad.

 

Don't know how much I'll be using the front facing camera though.  Ahh well, who wants to take pictures all over the place with a bulky tablet anyway? :)

So it's already almost a month into 2013.  While many may have already strayed off their New Year's Resolution path, I'm still writing and re-writing mine.  Some constants:

1) Eat more like a vegan.  I was already not craving meat "with feet" (a.k.a. eating seafood only), but I notice that I am craving seafood less and less - although I'll have occasional free-range or organic eggs.  I will listen to my body to see where it takes me.  Going veggie has me feeling good so far.  I feel lighter and cleaner (if that makes any sense).  Going more vegan has done wonders for my digestion. 

2) Keep up activities that provide good core strength (Pilates and kettlebells).

3) Pushing the limits of my comfort zone.  Or even just "pushing" period.  There's no better way to learn.  Especially by taking courses whenever I can.   

4) Write more.

That'll do for now.  I want to pledge to sleep more, but that's a toughie!  Let's get real here. 6 days/week of classes/activities plus 40 hours of work plus dance plus extra reading/homework = not 8 hours of sleep a night.   

Somehow I still had time to check out new movies.  All were good:

-Django (The scene with the KKK masks.  Hilarity)

-Zero Dark Thirty (The girl is SO badass! Finally, a tiny woman who kicks ass with her brain power)

-Lincoln (One just knew this was going to be good)

-Silver Linings Playbook (Thought it would be cheesy, but it was actually delightful)

-the Hobbit (Lovely lovely lovely!  I was just crushed at the end because I didn't know it still had a Part 2 and 3)

I also somehow magically squeezed in some books:

-Divergent and Insurgent.  Fun young adult reads - very interesting post-apocalyptic concepts.

-Currently reading Bachelor Girl.  It is CRAZY how much Western women were oppressed less than a hundred years ago.  Even articles in prominent magazines and newspapers (e.g. TIME) back in the day spread fear about the danger of the "single woman."  She takes away jobs from men.  She has no morals.  She is sad and "unnatural."  Blablabla.  So horrible but so fascinating at the same time.  I still can't believe this crap was considered legit only a couple of generations ago.  Sheesh. 

Mind Farts

-my coughs have finally subsided - yay! i still get the occasional attack especially when i'm in really cold weather, but i feel great otherwise.

-old school highlighter = vintage method of drawing checking!  check it out:

i get weird satisfaction from peeling the paper layers off.

-eye exam update: my already bad eyesight got a bit worse :(  i am trying to ease my near-sightedness by glancing off into the distance every hour for 10-15 seconds.  too much computer and reading time.

-i really like brussels sprouts.  i now have a steamer so i can eat even more of them.

-Oprah is in town!  poor thing, she came during a cold snap.

-truffle mint tea = strangely refreshing. picked it up as a post-Christmas sale item.

-welcome back, NHL.

R.I.P. Foreign workers in Algeria :(

The oil worker hostage situation in Algeria haunts me. I got chills when I first heard the news. These are techs and engineers just like my dad ... my family friends ... the people in my industry. And now the death count of the hostages is higher than that of the hostage takers. I don't get a lot of violent thoughts, but this stirs them up.  So does the India bus gang rape. And of course, the school shootings.  Would it be terrible to have real-life Dexters out there, I wonder?

My heart goes out to those who lost their lives so brutally and senselessly. And to their loved ones, who are left with the unimaginable pain.

Ugh, i just needed a moment. Makes me feel grateful for being able to work and live where I do. Almost halfway through my workday ... Back to the grind. Happy 2013.

Update: two employees of one of my company's subcontractors were among the victims :( R.I.P.

BUMM-barappap, BUMM-barappap...

Oh Kizomba ... They say you originated in Angola, but I think it was actually Heaven.  Just did a workshop :)  Such a soothing lovely dance. Tried to keep social dancing afterwards but the coughs kept coming and I didn't want to make folks sick (yes, I'm still sick).

So here I am in my post-kizomba swoon, curled up with some NeoCitran and my Nexus 7 and streaming a kizomba playlist.  Not a bad Plan B.

7" of Heaven.

So I did some research, and went for the Google Nexus 7 :) It's beautiful and displays PDFs AND epubs beautifully using the Aldiko reader. I am giddy!

From Tropical Sea Breeze to Crisp Winter Air.

Cuba was, as predicted, amazing.  There were a few culture shocks of course, but overall I fell in love with the beautiful people (so warm, so friendly and so extremely resourceful) and the rhythms.  It helped that I pretty much lived in a summer dress and that my skin and hair lapped up the humidity and perfect weather (28C with ocean breezes).  I will have to go again.  I wasn't able to visit any museums or buy any art on this trip, but I was able to interact with locals and eat amazing local food (anyone that's complained about bland Cuban food to me may have eaten at more 'touristy' places').  I am happy to say that I danced my ass off!  Morning and night :)  We got to be part of a music video for a famous Cuban salsa star and we got to see him and his band in concert as well as another famous salsa band.  Unreal!  I didn't sleep very much on the trip.

Now I am paying the price with my 2nd sick day off from work.  I will definitely go into the office tomorrow though ... there is nothing like spending the day in bed to energize the body. 

Also as predicted, I did come back a little different.  I feel like life could be so much more natural and simple.  I ate and drank (Cuban rummmmm) quite a bit on the trip, but I can still fit into my clothes.  I think we need to pump less processed food into our bodies.  Less processing, period.  We need to sing and dance more.  Cuban men can be quite the manly types but if they feel like breaking into song and dance, they do it on a whim ... and it's harmonious and gorgeous.  Here it's more like drunken Canadians yelling and stumbling around at the bar every now and then - heh.  I do understand that I may have had an unfair bias - I was fortunate to be constantly around a group of male dancers/performers :)

I know, I can't stop gushing about the trip.  The trip has made me appreciate Canada more as well.  I have a job that provides enough for me to live on my own and travel.  Infidelity is not as common (publicly anyway).  People never hear of shortages here (it's a good and bad thing).  But maybe all this abundance and comfortable ease leaves us less resourceful and less imaginative .... just a thought.  It definitely leaves us less ... slender ;)

When I go back, my Spanish will hopefully be better.  It's amazing what you can accomplish with a smile and the ability to salsa though :) 

Mind Farts
 -read Cutting for Stone based on a girlfriend's recommendation.  lovely read that sucks you into Ethiopia and Immigrant US using a plot line that branches out from the result of a union between an Indian nun nurse and a British surgeon: brilliant twin boys
-took Immodium for the first time on the trip (brought some digestion meds with me based on travel reviews and recommendations) and what a little Godsend!
-thinking of caving and getting a tablet.  i love love love my Kobo Touch, but it's not able to read bigger PDF files.  should i bite the bullet and pay for an iPad?  or will it be too bulky as a portable reader?  iPad Mini?  Google Nexus 7 maybe (seems like way more bang for your buck - 1GB RAM and 32GB storage for under 300 bucks)?  i'm just worried about the PDF rendering (my main purpose after all).  gotta do my research

It's a Sign.

I don't normally buy mags, but I picked this one up :)

Let's See How Much I Can Squeeze In the Last 2 Months of 2012 Shall We?

It's been awhile!

All the Hurricane Sandy craziness made me think of how I was just enjoying the NYC Salsa Congress last month.  So I went through my camera.

And emptied it. 

Because ...

I'm going to Cuba!!!!

To dance and learn and dance and learn :)  It's been a dream of mine to do this in Cuba.  I had my last chance to do it with a Cuban-style dance school here so I couldn't resist.  I leave next Sunday.  16 hours of private training with a Cuban professional in one week.  In a land overflowing with rhythm, sensuality and flavour.  The freaking roots of salsa.  I don't think I'll be the same when I come back!

Just 1.4 more weeks of work.  Speaking of which, so far so good.  The slope of my learning curve is ever rising but it helps when those around you are competent and sincere.  It really does.

I've been on a non-fiction reading spree lately.  The last work of fiction I read was Cloud Atlas (beautiful book - the variety of character and feel is mind blowing).  Then I delved into Escape from Davao, which gave me a new fascination about WWII.  While reading it I kept thinking the two halves of me were somewhere, unjoined, in the Philippines at that very period of time.  I had to write my grandma because I kept thinking of her.  If my other grandparents were still around I would have definitely written them too, may they rest in peace.  I couldn't stop imagining their lives and what they must have seen.  My mom was born and raised in Mindanao ... where the soldiers struggled with the heat and humidity and the living things that scraped and bit.  My very own ancestors on both sides suffered at the hands of the Japanese.  The book made it so much more palpable.

Next up is the Master of Disguise.. written by the former CIA agent that was portrayed in Argo (fantastic movie).

Oh!  And the Talent Code was also pretty fascinating.  I was on a "oh it's mostly genetic" train of thought for a while (especially after reading things like the Blank Slate) but the Talent Code had me thinking some more in the other direction.  The more you practice the better you get of course, but there's also more to that.  The igniting of a spark ... the maintaining of a spark ... the focus.  I know I have to sharpen and narrow my focus (focuses? foci?).  I think I'm at the point where if I add any more activities to my plate ... then OPA!  Crash.  So difficult for me though - I hate feeling deprived.  

However  I am great at depriving myself of sleep.  Which is something I'm trying to fight (and am so very painfully reminded of in the mornings).  So before I go, Happy Halloween!!!  I leave you with my first non-salsa Halloween costume in several years.  It took us 4.5 hours :)  Yip-yip-yip-yip.