Eternal Life

What a fantastic treat I had on this Halloween to enjoy a class with one of my favourite yoga teachers (who rarely teaches on the regular schedule). My always inspiring teacher shared with us the meaning of "eternal life". People in our past and present eternally exist in our lives in the way that they have influenced and touched us - may it be a positive or negative experience. These influences show itself in the way we act, in the things we say, in the choice we make, and the way we view life. Unbeknownst to us, no matter how insignificant we think our actions are - like a simple smile or nod of acknowledgement - we may change another person's view of life for the day.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main" - John Donne

Note to self: Time to turn the switch back on to living as opposed to existing; time to open up and reconnect to people new and old; time to stop being afraid of disappointments; time to take risk and give myself opportunities of possible pleasantries.

30 strangers challenge?

Those who know me well know that I am shy. You would think that by my age I would have been able to overcome my social shortcoming but I still have trouble shaking it off. I have been prescribed an exercise (by those of my friends who are social butterflies) but have been putting it off. The exercise is for me to initiate and exchange small talks with strangers. It is an easy task for many but for me it is terrifying (I know...I suck).

Anyway, as an incentive for carrying out the task, I have decided to sweeten the bitterness of the deal and more importantly to make myself take the steps to overcome my shyness. So, for every thirty strangers that I exchange small talks with, I shall reward myself by buying a gift that comes in a little blue box wrapped in white bow.

I hope this works - because I really really like things that comes in those darn blue little boxes.

Wish me luck...

Album Name: You + Me = Together Forever

I am not one who blogs about dating/relationship matters – as most of you are already aware of what a disaster I am when it comes to this particular subject matter. However, my colleague – let’s call her HH for her Hollywood Hair – suggested that I blog about a topic we often laugh about - “mix-tape” situations. We coined the term “mix-tape” to refer to any cheesy “romantic” gesture that one pulls on one’s object of affection prematurely in the very early stage of dating (perhaps from date one to five) which often results in the object of affection running for the door. So far, our list of “mix-tape” situations consists of the following:

• Le Classic: making a mixed CD of “our” songs for your date with a picture of both of you on the cover
• Le Martha: bringing him baked goods on the first date in a Martha style presentation
• Le Invasion: moving your beauty supplies into his bathroom medicine cabinet
• Le Surprise: showing up at his workplace with a picnic basket filled with lunch goodies
• Le Text: texting every five minutes to tell him how much you miss him
• Le Pet: adding his last name to your pet’s first name
• Le Family: inviting him to a family function to meet mom and dad
• Le Facebook: changing your relationship status on Facebook to “in a relationship” and tagged him on it

To my dear readers: Don’t you worry - Yours truly have not committed any of the “mix-tape” offences as described above….yet. Oh yeah, and neither has HH (she wanted me to add that in).

If you wish to share your “mix-tape” situations, I’ll love to hear them - send them my way.

Nirvana?

Yoga has always been a source of happiness for me. But today at class, the teacher opened up new possibilities during the camel pose when she urged us to imagine "reaching your pubes to your mouth". Hmm...could that be the road to nirvana?

p.s. Of course, I couldn't hold in my giggles in class when my teacher spoke those words.

The eternal optimist?

I had a lousy week last week. The growing list of wrongs rotted away what little faith and hope that I had in the universe – as a non-worshipper of religion, I am of the view that the universe has mystical forces which govern life (and no, I do not believe in unicorns). Last week, the universe was unkind to me – I was called fat by a stranger, honked at by a rude driver, sidelined from yoga due to a pulled back muscle, and “lost” my house-key. I did find my “lost” key yesterday (after making double-trip to my parents’ for spare key) – which I hope is the turn of the tide from wrongs to rights. Does this mean that in store for me this week will be a healthy pain-free back? a wave from a polite driver? compliment from a stranger?

Unnecessary Evil

I willed myself to walk to work this morning despite my very sore back and I was greeted by the up-most unpleasantness of an extremely rude driver. The driver of a black sedan (BC licence plate 164 WDF), a lady with blown out dark chocolate shoulder length hair – about size 10 figure (BMI – not normal), unnecessarily honked at me as I was trying to cross the little side street outside my home. Her thoughtlessness not only angered me but saddened me – I am sad that people still choose to be unkind to others over nothing – a few seconds ahead in traffic will not get you far (,dear lady). I hope this lady curbed her evil ways before she is met by her own match – someone who is much less docile than I am – then she will be very sorry for her ways.

Even as docile as I am, I did wish that I had yogurt with me this morning to fling at her car.

Size 0 Nation - or in my culture, Size 00(0)

I am 5'2" and weigh about 125 lbs (with a +/- 2 lbs fluctuation). According to the BMI, I am NORMAL. My clothing size ranges from 0 to 4, S or XS, depending on the make. I do not think that I am FAT in any way; I may not be thin - but I am by no way FAT. If I do think that I am FAT, then I would be suffering from body dysmorphic disorder.

That being said, I was judged as being curvaceous (i.e. FAT) by the male counterparts of my culture just because I don't quite fit in the 100 lbs, Size 00 mould. Bollocks! Unless you are sculpted like a Greek God (or better yet, Michelangelo's David), you have no right to call me FAT - got it?

p.s. It is laughable when I have arms that are more cut than yours...

Once bitten, twice shy; a couple times bitten, forever shy

Once bitten, twice shy; a couple times bitten, forever shy - that, ladies and gentlemen is the reason that I am on a hiatus from dating.

Eeck!!!!

Disclaimer: As a yogi, I really shouldn't be blogging about this incident but the human side of me can't help but wanting to share the following tale with you.

Just like any other typical weekday, I ended my work day with a visit to the yoga studio. As I was early to class this evening, I placed my mat towards the end of the room and proceeded to chill on my mat before class started. My attempt to find zen was momentarily disturbed (I mean seriously disturbed) when a middle-aged gentleman walked into the studio and placed his mat about a foot or so to the right of mine. I looked up and was almost blinded by what I saw - the gentleman seemed to have forgotten his shorts! He was merely attired in a tank top and his tightie-whitie - eeeck!!!! Horror thoughts started to run though my mind - what if we had to do a forward fold facing the right of the room? Channelling the Oscar-calibre actress within me, I pretended that nothing was out of ordinary and tried very very hard not to display disgust on my face.

Lucky for me, just before class was about to start, my yoga teacher requested that we all moved our mats towards the front of the room. I was quick (the quickest that I have ever been) to jump on the request and shifted my mat all the way to the front of the room instead. Phew! I was relieved to not have to face the possible unsightly vision in a forward fold. The first sun salutation into our practice, I noticed that the gentleman had left the room (I swear I wasn't checking him out - it was inevitable since I was facing the back of the room in downward dog position). The gentleman returned to the room shortly and this time in shorts - does this mean that he had forgotten to put on his shorts when he first walked in? or was that done was purpose?

Yogi took flight (AcroYoga)

Over the Thanksgiving weekend (the Canadian Thanksgiving), I, not only over-indulged in turkey (a very delicious one cooked by my talented cousin but also had a new experience - AcroYoga. On a wimp and by pure chance, I signed up for a weekend acroyoga workshop and was definitely physically humbled. AcroYoga combines the practices of yoga, arobatics and thai massage and most importantly promotes the spirit of trust, connection and playfulness - http://www.acroyoga.org/.

Despite my recent struggle with my fundamental faith in good versus evil in humanity, I pleasantly surprised myself by placing trust in complete strangers to be my base as I fly in seemingly dangerous acrobatic moves. The sense of community was so full within the group of participants; the positive energy exuded by the group slowly restored my faith in the good of mankind.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the strong support base from family/friends which allows for opportunities to explore new experiences.

Namaste

Project Runway Canada

Love Love Love. I am usually not a fan of a Canadian version of a US reality show but this one I love. Project Runway Canada premiered last night at 7pm (PST) (same day rerun at 10pm) on Slice. Unlike the usual shoddy quality of the Canadian production (like the nightmare of Canada's Next Top Model - in my opinion), the production of Project Runway Canada was excellent - it rivals that of the US version and definitely was way better than Project Catwalk (the UK version). The casting was very well done - it showcased the diversity of our Canadian demography (which was my more PC way of saying my people were well-represented in the show). The only part of the show that was lacking was Tim Gunn. Brian Bailey, the mentor, tried to channel Tim Gunn by using Tim Gunn's favourite phrase of "make it work" but he was definitely no Tim Gunn. (Strangely, he reminded me of Jack Black playing the role of Tim Gunn - maybe it was the mustache). Cheesy as it may seem, I thought Iman's parting words to the eliminated designer of "you don't measure up" was more catchy than Heidi Klum's "auf wiedersen".

I am feeling much better about the new fall tv season now that Project Runway Canada is on. I will be feeling superb if CTV brings back Nip/Tuck - Season 5 - make it happen, TV God...

F-me pumps

Shiny ruby patent-leather pumps - don't these pumps just scream S E X! Well, these are my latest favourite pair of shoes. Once I slipped these on, I instantly feel sizzling - yes watch out boys (haha).

Bright colored patent-leather shoes are a must to funk up this season's understated style (ala Marc Jacobs). Go get your own pair of F-me pumps while I sit here admiring mine.