Saturday, January 01, 2005


2005 brings. . . .spring?

2005 starts out well enough with warm temperatures reaching 60 degrees, and brilliant sunshine, as if it were, well, may. even tho' i'm still lacking anything that resembles energy, i'm not complaining.

on this front, our pal in tokyo, joyce g., sends a list of poses from the svaroopa yoga tradition she swears helps combat the lingering cold:

"Magic Four Pose #1 - Slow Motion Dive from Chair

  1. Sit in a chair. Toes pointed slightly inward (for better contact with gravity).
  2. Lean elbows on knees. Let head hang. Totally relax.
  3. To go deeper (provided you do NOT have high blood pressure or glaucoma), go fully forward, letting your head and arms hang between your legs.

STAY FOR AS LONG AS COMFORTABLE (for me, this is sometimes 30 sec and sometimes 15 min.). Come up with common sense - gently, with head coming up last.

Magic Four Pose #2 - Half-Lotus Slow Motion Dive from Chair

  1. Still in chair, place ankle of one leg on thigh of opposite leg.
  2. Repeat steps 2 and 3, above. (And then repeat on opposite side).

Magic Four Pose #3 - Lunge
(The only time to skip this one is before bedtime!)

  1. Go into a lunge (front leg bent, back leg straight).
  2. Lift torso and twist it slightly so that your breastbone can rest on the thigh of the bent knee. (So it's like a lunge with a mini-twist.)
  3. Place hands on floor on both sides of bent knee. Let gravity flow up into the arms.
  4. Let chin hang wherever is comfortable. Stay for as long as. . . Repeat on other side.

Magic Four Pose #4 - Reclining Spinal Twist

  1. Lay down on floor.
  2. Bring knees to chest.
  3. Drop knees to one side.
  4. Have arms comfortably extended. The key is to have the knees touch the wrist.
  5. Keep head STRAIGHT. Repeat on other side.

If you don't feel well enough to do the entire series, just the last pose might create a shift in how you're feeling."

a-ok, joyce, will try this series myself!

also today i enjoyed the wood-roasted espresso fabriano sent by tim f. from caffe d'arte. the founder of d'arte, mauro cipolla, traces his roots to caserta, outside naples.

as a result, this is a dark-roasted coffee with large patches of oil, not a northern-italian style at all. although this endless cold really prevents me from tasting the all-arabica blend properly, i think some green spiciness from the dry grounds managed to penetrate my sad sinuses.

as brewed espresso, the fabriano seems most notable to me for its outstanding thick body and really dark-colored crema, almost earth-colored, a deep maroon with more "burnt siena" than red. it does have a long, slightly powdery, pungent, and mouth-drying finish that calls out for a glass of water, which is of course how coffee is usually served in naples.

as an americano with sugar and light cream, the coffee develops a real dark chocolate flavor that made me feel like i was eating a square of cafe tasse. i may prefer this blend as an americano, in fact.

mr. right, who deeply dislikes dark-roasted coffees, pronounced this one "good, nice, ok." which is pretty high praise for someone who generally rejects coffees of this hue completely and normally refuses to try more than a few sips.

i can't wait to try this coffee when i can taste it!

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