Noel, it looks like your team finally got a break!

Which West Wing character are you?

Possibly the best television show ever created in the history of mankind. My Chinese horoscope also tells me that my ideal job is to be a king (mwahahahaha!).

Which 'West Wing' Character are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Jeb (President) Dear God, I wouldn't invite you to a party, but you can sort out my finances and MC at a function any time you like.. Mr President Sir.. Jeb (President) 95% Toby 70% CJ 65% Charlie 65% Leo 60% Donna 55% Josh 50% Will 40% Abby 25%

Everything you need to learn, you learn in yoga (and econometrics)

Spot was just telling me that we have not done a yoga post in a while. And today, right after a good Saturday morning session of yoga, a hot shower, and a cup of coffee, is a really good time to do it.

I love telling this story, because it sounds like something I just made up. My yoga journey started with an email from an irate Econometrics professor, who was upset with the poor results of the final exam. Apparently, people were still confused with “Y regressed on X.” (Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I got that right.) At the end of his rant he gave this parting shot: “Maybe you should do yoga to give you perspective.” Sure, I got an A in the class (so humble), but it wouldn’t hurt to get some perspective, wouldn’t it.

Not surprisingly, the first few weeks of yoga class were frustrating. You want my legs where? (The answer was over your hips which are over your head.) Ah, to be 30 and taking yoga classes with slender 19 year olds. It was an exercise in pain and humiliation. How does it feel to be the only one in class who couldn’t do a shoulder stand? It probably feels like getting a D in Basic Macroeconomics.

Problem was I couldn’t quit. I had paid $120 in advance and by God I was going to get my month’s worth of groceries even if it kills me.

I’ve come a long way (5 semesters of yoga, to be precise) since then. Five semesters of achy-breaky pain. Five semesters of agony (trying to get that bind in place, still can’t do it) and ecstasy (my first wheel pose, my first time upside down, my first split since I was five years old).

Yoga has taught me to respect my body. I may still be a size 12, but I think I have never loved my body more. I admire what it can do, with a little bit of prodding. I have learned to listen to it, and to make adjustments accordingly. I know that my right side is stronger, but my left side is more flexible. I know that my half-moon pose is better standing on my right leg, but my pigeon pose feels better with my left leg. I know I can go all the way down I do a wide angle seated forward bend, but I have to remember to pull back a bit so that my spine is straight. I am slowly working towards a good headstand, without the wall behind me, and I am getting close.

I’ve learned to trust my classmates, instead of trying to out-class them. I would not have learned as much, or dared as much, if not for my teacher and my fellow classmates. I have never thought of myself as a back-bender, but today my classmates help me go down into a wheel pose from a standing position, instead of a lying down position. Many of them have trusted me when they were upside down – they know I won’t let them fall and break their necks. I know that if I break wind during a particularly long session of shoulder stand, no one will laugh at me, because they are all trying so hard to keep the gas in as well.

By the way, these pictures are of poses that I have already done (and still doing). Yay me!

Most images are from Yoga Journal, but I've forgotten where the others came from. My apologies to the owners of the images.

THE HAM!!!

Let me present...the HAM!!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, 17 pounds of delicious Smithfield ham that I got for Christmas! Took me forever to cook because I have no pot large enough to hold it, so I had to boil one end first, then the other! Then I put it in the oven encrusted with brown sugar and baked it till the sugar caramelized! Okay, one more look...

Thank you Roomie and her SLR for the HAM portraits!

50 More Things You Don't Really Need to Know about Me

1* Do you like cheese?
not all kinds, and there is such a thing as too much cheese...

2* Have you ever smoked heroin?
don’t you snort it?

3* Do you own a gun?
no

4* Your favorite song?
closer you get by dido

5* Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
i’ve only gone for regular check-ups so there was nothing to worry about...dentists, however, are a completely different story...

6* What do you think of hotdogs?
taste better when they are RED (a la Tender Juicy)

7* Favorite Christmas song?
hmmm, that’s pretty hard to call...a toss-up between we three kings and what child is this

8* What do you prefer to drink in the morning.
coffee with milk

9* Can you do push ups?
MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

10* Favorite super-hero?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who. Although, from the Justice League, it would be Wonder Woman.

11* What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
pearl earrings

12* Favorite hobby?
knitting, cooking, testing perfumes

13* Secret weapon to get the opposite sex?
if i had any weapons, then maybe i wouldn’t be in this rocking chair knitting a scarf for a stuffed dog...

14* Do you have A.D.D.?
i got this far in the survey, didn’t i?

15* What's one trait do you hate about yourself?
that i’m poor, hahaha!

16* Middle Name:
uy!

17* Three thoughts at this exact moment
a.) dissertation
b.) shit, dissertation
c.) shittety bricketty! dissertation!

18* Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
a.) cappucino
b.) carrot cake
c.) load for the laundry card

19* Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?
a.) water
b.) coffee
c.) orange juice

20* Current worry right now?
see #17

21* Current hate?
having heat when it’s warm and no heat when it’s cold

22* Favorite places?
my room, my bed, and I’m lying down

23* How did you bring in the New Year?
visited friends in virginia

24* Where would you like to go?
anywhere i can go shopping

25* Name three people who will complete this and return?
a) Spot
b) Spot
c) Spot

26* Do you own flip flops?
yes

27* What shirt are you wearing?
white Fordham shirt

28* Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
i don’t think i’ve had the opportunity...but if it’s anything like satin dresses, probably not.

29* Can you whistle?
yes

30* Favorite color/s?
light aqua

31* Would you like to be a pirate?
only if i get sandwiched between johnny depp and orlando bloom (with a little chow yun fat on the side)

32* What songs do you sing in the shower room?
anything by the corrs

33* Favorite girl's name?
Shakespearean names: Viola, Olivia, Katharina, Beatrice, Imogen

34* Favorite boy's name?
As with 33: Auberon, Sebastian, Edmund (though he was a villain)

35* What's in your pocket right now?
no pockets now

36* Last thing that made you laugh?
noel’s entry on how leanne is his loudest friend

37* Best bed sheets as a child?
i remember we had matching sheets for 2 queen sized beds – one set was yellow and the other was green

38* Worst injury you've ever had?
tripped at the quad during my freshman year...my pride was really hurt

39* Do you love where you live?
sure. *don't be fooled by the rocks that i got, i'm still jenny from the block...*

40* How many computers do you have in your house?
3 laptops

41* Who is your loudest friend?
Spot!

42* How many dogs do you have?
Spot!

43* Does someone have a crush on you?
do pigs fly?

45* What is your favorite book?
Godfather, Pride and Prejudice

46* What is your favorite candy?
Peppermint Patties

47* Favorite Sports Teams?
Yankees, Maple Leafs, Lightning

48* What song do you want played at your funeral?
Don’t Stop Me Now or Another One Bites the Dust (mwahaha!) by Queen

49* What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Sleeping, like any normal person

50* What is the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
It’s kinda warm in here...

In the wee small hours of morning...

“How impressed I was, I remember well, impressed and over-awed by the magnificence of the breakfast offered to us. There was tea, in a great silver urn, and coffee too, and on the heater, piping hot, dishes of scrambled eggs, of bacon, and another of fish. There was a little clutch of boiled eggs as well, in their own special heater, and porridge, in a silver porringer. On another side-board was a ham, and a great piece of cold bacon. There were scones too, on the table, and toast, and various pots of jam, marmalade, and honey, while dessert dishes, piled high with fruit, stood at either end. It seemed strange to me that Maxim, who in Italy and France had eaten a croissant and fruit only, and drunk a cup of coffee, should sit down to this breakfast at home, enough for a dozen people, day after day probably, year after year seeing nothing ridiculous about it, nothing wasteful.” -- Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Such were the breakfasts at Manderley. Now if only we could get rid of the psychotic housekeeper...

I am not a breakfast person. When I wake up in the morning, my body craves three things: more sleep, a bath, and a cup of coffee, in that order. When I was younger, I could go all day without eating until dinner (which, in my old life, was around 9 in the evening), but now, I can probably do it until 3 pm, provided that I had 3 cups of coffee in the preceding hours.

A lot of people are surprised when they find out that I don’t eat breakfast (“but it’s the most important meal of the day!”) but the thing is, I was always in a hurry and I always blamed breakfast as the reason why my sisters and I were late to school. My sisters had to eat breakfast, and it took them forever to finish eating. Seriously, 90-year old grandmothers and civil service employees ate faster than them. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was skipping lunch too, as there was too much school crap to finish over lunch break. But that was short-lived because I got crankier the less rice I had during a day. The only time I ate breakfast on a regular basis was when I was on an internship, and catching up with my boss entailed breaking several Olympic track and field records. Not to mention that the cafeteria was the best in the country.

I don’t have any problem with actual breakfast food. I love having fried rice, tocino, sausages, and eggs (fried, scrambled, boiled, poached, you name it!). I love orange juice (especially with a little champagne mixed in) and lots of coffee with milk. Congee, and pancakes and bacon, and butter and marmalade and toast. I love going to diners and ordering corn beef hash and home fries. I hate cereal though – I hate it with a passion.

The thing is, I really need to re-learn the breakfast thing. My classes start a little late in the morning, which means, I will be pretty much pre-occupied through lunch till late afternoon. Then I have to do laundry! Last Tuesday, I tried to get a little bit of lamb stew down my throat at around 10 am, and I was miserable trying to scarf down the entire lot. For once, I wanted to throw up lamb. Lamb! So does anyone have any suggestions about how I can try to integrate breakfast in my life? I’m pretty prepared, with a couple dozen eggs, marmalade, bread, and a bit of ham (okay, 17 pounds of ham). How do I make peace with breakfast?

A to Z, which I filched from Noel

A - Age: uhm, 27…
B - Band Listening to Right Now: Freddie Mercury and Queen! (nice duds guys)

C - Career: In my head -- vampire slayer; reality – PhD student

D - Drink or Smoke: Drink
E - Easiest Friends To Talk To: Sisters, cousins, current/former/semi roomies (just some of them, of course)
F - First Crush: Leif Garett, hahaha, try googling that!

G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: gummy bears
H - Have a Boyfriend / Girlfriend: No, but I have a fire escape guy…
I - In love: only with my dissertation

J - Junk Food You Like: Planters cheese curls! (yes, I know the picture says cheese balls, dammit!)

K - Kids: Just remember I will probably be the last person you ask to babysit!
L - Longest Ride Ever: Noel, there’s no such thing as Manila to New York…HK to New York
M - Making love out of nothing at all: And I don’t know how you do it… Have to agree with Noel on Air Supply

N - Names For Your Future Kids: Harry Jasper Junior? (MWAHAHAHA!)

O - One Wish You Have Now: that I will be more disciplined and more organized
P - Phobias: Telephone – hate dialing unfamiliar numbers or talking to people I don’t really know.
Q - Favorite Quote: "In Te Domine speravi" and “Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus”
R - Reasons to Smile: The world didn’t end while I was sleeping…
S - Sleeping Time: 1 am, more or less
T - Time You Woke Up: 8:30 am if I am lucky
U - Unknown Fact About You: That I used to be called Angel
V - Vegetable You Hate: No matter how hard I try, I cannot like bitter melon.
W - Worst Habit: procrastination
X - X-rays You’ve Had: chest and teeth
Y - Yummy Foods: Most of my cooking, Roomie’s flan, Mommy’s mung bean soup, Grand Majestic, dimsum…
Z - Zodiac Sign: Capricorn, born in the year of the Fire Dragon