The Basics

Yoga
Originally uploaded by Tokyorosa

Anusara Syllabus I

Anusara, the kind of yoga I practice, is John Friend's American incarnation of Hatha yoga. This is a blurry cell phone photo of a poster of the Anusara asanas, poses, used in practice. This poster hangs in the vestibule of the yoga studio. I think I can do about three of the hundred or so poses on the poster. Maybe.

I do like yoga, but at the moment my practice is focused on showing up. Some days are like that.

And More Blogs. Food Ones!


I'm a big fan of food writing in book form, from M.F.K. Fisher to Anthony Bourdain (though I've just about had it with that ruffian's ways). There are a number of interesting food blogs out there, too. Here are a couple that I read regularly:

The Girl Who Ate Everything (a.k.a Robyn Lee) is a young New Yorker who began this blog while still in college (maybe high school?). She also writes now, post college graduation, for Serious Eats. Here's a sample of her writing:

Is "burger" an emotion? I think it might be. Because when I was at Elephant and Castle with Olivia and I had my heart set on eating a burger, all I could think was "buuurrrggerrrr," in the tone of a low rumble, like a growl, or a malfunctioning washing machine. I didn't just think "burger"—I felt it too. Semi-raw meat juices seeping out of the crags of a chunk of ground beef, mixing with a layer of melted cheese, soaking into a semi-crisp, patchily carbonized toasted bun. You know? BURGER. Or cheeseburger, more like.

On the other end of the sophistication spectrum is David Lebovitz, whose blog is subtitled "...Living The Sweet Life in Paris." David is an American expatriot, relocated to, yes, Paris. He's published several dessert cookbooks and offers tours of Parisian bakeries and chocolate shops. Here is a sample of his writing (filed in his archives, under "Parisian Culture"):

I've gotten in so much trouble mangling the language it's no longer funny (well, actually it is...) One of my most infamous stories, that I think I may have recounted here before, I was at my favorite épicerie and I wanted red currant, or groseille jam.
So in my picture-perfect French, I said, "Je voudrais le confiture de gros selles (which I pronounced as 'gross sells'), s'il vous plait." She looked at me, her eyes incredulous that she couldn't possibly believe her ears.
It was after a moment, I realized I meant groseilles (pronounced 'gro-zay').
I had asked for Big Turd Jam.

Yeah. Real sophisticated stuff.