• POGONIP: Apparently not an Aboriginal name for an Australian rodent similar to a rodent. Instead it’s a dense fog that forms in deep valleys in the winter. Found it at Dictionary.com meaning ice fog (a fog of ice particles) or a dense winter fog containing ice particles.
• As it turns out I am a TEGESTOLOGIST (who knew). It seems that tegestology is the art of collecting cardboard beer coasters. I am not currently an active collector but I do have a collection that I brought with me when I returned from my year in Belgium some 10 years ago. Scarily enough there are websites dedicated to this as evidenced by a search on Google.
• For future reference to those of you possibly interested in playing Boggle in the future (check out online Boggle), KOI is a perfectly valid 3-letter word. A koi is in fact a popular aquarium and ornamental pond fish, and includes any of various bright-colored carp (Cyprinus carpio) of Japan and eastern Asia.

A couple weeks ago we had a discussion at the beach about women and their self-image and esteem issues. The gripe of the guys involved was that even the hottest girls all think they have things wrong with them. We eventually got into models and their bodies, and of course Tyra Banks‘ name came up.

Tyra has always been very vocal about having had self-esteem issues and still struggles with her self-image tho she has come a far way. She now makes sure to try help other young women with their issues at her camp, T-Zone, this is also a frequent topic on her talk show.

Tyra readily admits to the falseness of media images, and publicly decries the image retouching that so often happens in the modelling world. In this month’s issue of Self magazine, they did a reveal of Tyra with and without her makeup. Tyra herself is actually very ordinary in real life and has issues with her looks and her body like many women out there.

So to some of my doubting friends (if this helps, I know it helps me), on an average morning, you wake up looking better than Tyra Banks.

/Panoridim/RestaurantWeek2005

If you missed it, check out the pics from our Restaurant Week venture last week to Guilt Trip (which does not only do pastry guys). Entertaining is all I will say, the opinions varied on the food but as always the lyme was good.

• Christmas is here - Yesterday it still felt like summer, then overnight the weather transitioned into Christmas. I woke up to a strong “Christmas breeze” which feels nice enough but was hell on people like me with allergies. The lights are also out - drove by Liguanea Plaza and saw their usual display of lights in the parking lot. Nice.

• Some record - I heard on the news this evening that we have already had more people killed this year than in any other year. That’s right we have officially broken our record and we still have over a month to go.

• On a more positive note, those of you on MSN may be wondering about my name today: B(out to buss!! Big tings comin’). I am soon to be featured as a talented up-and-coming photographic artist on a website being developed to promote positive images of Jamaica. I will be sure to broadcast the news when the site launches.

Well, this evening I went back to Toastmasters. It has been way too long but everybody made me feel so welcome, they all seemed so happy to see me back. Of course, I tried to make up for my absence a bit by bringing a guest (always a good move).

One thing I did realize in the meeting is that I miss it. When I was actively participating I saw definite improvement in my comfort level with public speaking, even though I only got through 3 speeches.

So here’s the plan. 7 more speeches to go to make CTM (Competent ToastMaster) - if I do at least one a month, then I am done with that level by mid-2006. So there’s one New Year’s Resolution already (tho technically I am gonna try start next month).

We used to talk till morning
Sometimes we read in silence
We used to make each other smile
But then we used to be friends

We shared so many thoughts
Words that were truly meant
I loved the way we were together
But then we used to be friends

We’re nearly strangers now
Words, just a means to an end
I care and I miss you too much
Remember, we used to be friends

My general food philosophy is that no food is bad or forbidden. All foods can be eaten in moderation. Denying yourself the things you like leads to craving and eventually bingeing. This then leads to guilt which serves to reinforce the taboo nature of the foods. My approach is to listen to my body - I try to eat only when I am hungry (not starving), and I stop eating when I am full (but not bursting at the seams). I don’t eat just because it’s there, or because it’s free. I don’t have seconds to be polite.

I find that applying this approach has led to me having a healthy relationship with food and being able to enjoy my life more. A new Brigham Young University Study has found that this approach, which they call “intuitive eating”, may actually be healthier.

I have maintained for a long time that dieting is an unnecessary evil. People then tend to respond “oh, you can say that cause you’re slim”. The truth is I have been through overweight phases more than once, often putting on large amounts of weight in a relatively short period of time. Each time I have lost the weight to go back to what I now call my “equilibrium” weight.

What is that weight? Well, the number is not important but the fact that I am more or less the same size I was over 10 years ago in high school should suffice to answer the question. Each time I lost the weight I did it not by dieting but by eating “normally”.

The article mentioned above outlines the 2 attitudes and 2 behaviours people need to adopt for intuitive eating:

• Attitudes:
  • body acceptance
  • dieting is harmful
• Behaviours:
  • how to not eat for emotional, environmental or social reasons (or at least recognizing the emotional, environmental and cultural relationships we have with food)
  • how to interpret body signals, cravings and hunger, and responding in a healthy, positive, nurturing way

I am not proposing this approach for the very obese necessarily or those with medical conditions requiring a doctor’s supervision, nor if you have deep psychological issues you may need to get past before you can focus on the resultant eating behaviours. But for many people I think this approach can work. It’s at least something to think about.

According to my site stats, visitors to my site in the last month included:

• Australia
• Austria
• Canada
• China
• Dominican Republic
• European Union
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• India
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Jamaica
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Trinidad and Tobago
• United Arab Emirates
• United States
• Venezuela

This thank you note was delayed due to my preoccupation with the unforeseen technical difficulties.

My birthday (long-awaited) past over a week ago. It started out on a sad note with me being a little down and alone. The pouring rain that awoke me on Saturday morning had me in tears at the thought that I might not be able to celebrate in the anticipated fashion. However, the clouds parted and sun shone so all was well with my world.

Special thanks go out to IslandNix, aptly named as she orchestrated a posse of people to whisk me off to a tiny island off the coast for my birthday. Thanks to Seeker for managing the musical entertainment. Thanks and congrats to Adricey for a good game of beach Twister.

Others in attendance included SweetSimone, the Reluctant Intellectual and a few non-bloggers (Melissa, Donnette, Rory, Simone).

Thanks guys!

As of Thursday morning, all the phone lines in my house are working. We have had to replace all the cordless phones and one of the wired ones. Still no luck with the DSL though (but I have heard there is a general problem going around). As a result I am resorting to dial-up. Sigh. Better than nothing tho.