Ageless Spine

My back gave me quite a lot of problems this winter. Starting in December, my lower back complained every day. When chiropractor visits, stretches, and ibuprofen didn’t make my back happy it stopped complaining and took it up a level. It beat the crap out of me when it spasmed/seized up one morning.

Putting on socks, undies, pants took a half hour and hurt like hell. I finally broke down and went to my doctor, who is an osteopath. His first adjustment didn’t work, but the muscle relaxant took the edge off. My second adjustment was magical. I didn’t hurt when I left his office. Sure, the pain returned but at a very low level. It’s now gone. Yay, Dr. Croft!

With back issues fresh in my mind, I ordered Ageless Spine, Lasting Health by Kathleen Porter. The idea that how we carry ourselves and our misuse of our body posture causes problems appeals to me. I’ve been prone to joint and muscles issues all my life. Wouldn’t it be nice to find a way to prevent this?

I’ve only started the book, but I’m liking it so far. I’ve also read 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back by Esther Gokhale. Her book got me rethinking how I position myself for sleeping, how I walk, sit, and bend. Yet, it is so hard to change, or at least be consistent with the changes in using my body. We’ll see if Kathleen Porter’s book helps me continue on this good posture path.

Feeling Super

Dang it. I’m hooked again. Having an addictive personality creates problems in my life. Now it’s a return to an addiction I had overcome years ago. Yes, I’m indulging in an old obsession. It’s ridiculous for a 51 year-old woman to be buying comic books again.

I wrote about my old collection, which I still have by the way. That box of comic books will soon sit next to a box full of new comics at the rate I’m going. It’s like a mad rush to catch up on a bunch of my old favorites, plus trying new ones.

I blame this on my sister. She picked up a book for me as a Christmas present. The book looked at superheroines and just reading about them had me wondering about the current cast of characters. I highly recommend The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines by Mike Madrid. A quick and fun read, Madrid covers a variety of heroines, some of them my faves.

After reading the book I picked up a few used comic books at Bookman’s and discovered that the new comic books are sold at Hastings. Oh dear. I think the last time I stood around looking at the comic book racks I was 13 years old. Yet here I am.

Tonight I checked at Hastings to see if this week’s scheduled books showed up at Hastings. Yes, they were there. I picked up the following:

Detective Comics #861 – I’m loving the artwork of JH Williams, but of course he is no longer the artist starting with this issue, except for the cover. Will writer Greg Rucka keep me entranced even without the fantastic visuals and color schemes?

Supergirl #49 – Hey, I like books about female superheroes, even if they are young. My inner young girl is all over the Supergirl and Batgirl stories.

Daredevil #504 – I used to be a fan of Daredevil, so thought I’d try reading him again.

Fantastic Four #575 – As with Daredevil, I used to enjoy the Fantastic Four comics.

Earlier this week I picked up Power Girl #8:

Her power seems to derive from her huge… um… cleavage as it is shown all the time. Who designs these costumes?

The Power Girl comics so far seem to be more humorous than violent, but I’ve only read two of them so far so I am not the best observer of all things Power Girl.

I also bought The Uncanny X-Men #520. Do you know there are multiple X-Men comic books? There is X-Men Noir, Dark X-Men, X-Men Forever, X-Men Origins, X-Men Legacy, and even X-Babies. With so many different ones I picked the highest number as I figured that with issue 520 it had to be part of the original series.

It feels so silly to be reading these again. Yet I’m loving this flirtation with my younger self’s obsession. Maybe it’s all a midlife crisis and I’m grasping for my missing youth. Whatever it is, it feels super.

On a Lazy Day, an Interest in Civil War Battles

It’s a lovely day in Flagstaff. It’s not lovely due to the weather, though watching the clouds skuttle by overhead and the breeze blow through the open windows is nice. It’s lovely because I can be as lazy as I want today. I’ve no place to go, have nothing to do, and have books to read.

My vacation to Maryland, where I visited Baltimore and Washington, DC, made me ready for a day to do nothing. My visits to the Civil War battlefields Antietam and Gettysburg has me wanting to learn more. This morning I read James McPherson’s Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam, a book that covers a lot of territory (prior battles, politics in Washington, and mini-biographies of the various generals involved).

As someone who detested the Civil War and the stupidity shown on both sides, it’s funny that a visit to two battlefields has me now interested in what happened. Seeing the cornfield and the sunken road at Antietam now gives me a mental picture of what it was like. But I think what really got me was the view from the visitor center at Antietam. Off to the left and down the road was a little white building. I didn’t think anything of it until seeing this photograph:

That building, the Dunkard Church, still exists. Somehow this image and walking the actual location fired off a desire to learn more. And I certainly needed to learn more. The poor Park Ranger must have been used to visitors who know every aspect of the battle, but he had to hear me ask, “So, who won this one? North? South?” Yes, I was that clueless.

I rented the movie Gettysburg to learn more about what happened there. I think I may finally find the willingness to rent Ken Burns’ documentary, The Civil War.

So, from something that I hated to read about, I’m now obsessing over. I do believe travel makes a difference. Seeing the places where well-known history occurred gives you a better sense of place, and reading about it gives you a better sense of the time.

I’m glad to have this lazy day to do my reading. I’m glad to be home. I’m especially glad that I didn’t live during the Civil War. It’s still miserable history, but I’m glad to learn about it all.

Fun Friday

Mom made it to the doctor’s office so she can get some blood sucked out of her for lab work. I tried to buy Mom a wing chair today but the JCPenney Home Store doesn’t have furniture available to bring home. You have to order it for future delivery. I’ve tried to do some work from home and it’s been a challenge.

Anyway, that’s all past and now I can relax…until Mom needs dinner.

Okay, it wasn’t that bad. I did stop into Borders and did some book browsing, which always calms me down. I even found a few books that looked interesting that I bought for my Kindle. Now I just have to go put my feet up and do some reading. Now that could qualify as fun.

Here’s a video that also looks mighty fun (you can’t go wrong with Fred Astaire…or Rita Hayworth):

A Good Evening

I don’t have anything much to say, so shall do my best to come up with something. Do expect to be bored.

• I love the weather getting colder, but dang it! Do I have to start scraping ice off my windshield already? Yep, I had to this morning.
• Tonight’s dinner was a delicious salmon fillet with a crunchy salad. Lately I’m finding foods like radishes all kinds of delicious.
• I’m about to finish the second season of Babylon 5 and look forward to season three.
• I’m thinking that Janet MacLagan’s book, “Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes,” would make a good Christmas present…for me.
• I’ve started knitting my first sweater. We’ll see if I finish it before winter is over, but it’s about time that I stretch my skills beyond basic scarves.

Okay, that’s what I came up with. So, were you bored?

May It Not Be a Lazy Sunday

I slept or lazed through a good chunk of Saturday. I woke up at 4:00 AM, couldn’t get back to sleep until 7:30 AM, and then woke up around noon. Stayed in bed until 5:00 PM reading knitting books and magazines. Man, I have to do more today!

It’s all to do with the business of work the last three weeks. I’ve worked many extra hours each of these weeks and I’m tired. It felt great to have a whole day of doing nothing.

May I get my butt in gear today. I don’t want to lounge around all day. I’ve got some housecleaning to do, some errands to run, and more knitting to do . I finished up a scarf Friday night, other than weaving in the ends. I want to make another Shape-It-Scarf (from Sally Melville’s Knit Stitch book) using some ribbon yarn with browns and reds in it.

Okay, so back to getting things done, though the bed and some books are calling.

Update: I did a few things around the place and then went back to bed for another nap. Yep, I’m just wiped out. I managed to run one errand at least, but I’m not expecting much else for the rest of the day.

A Pain in the Foot — Eh, Not So Much

I’ve lived with plantar fasciitis for several years and nothing would make me feel like the problem was being healed. Sure, I’d be real good for awhile, icing my foot nightly, swallowing down ibuprofen, and wearing my shoe inserts daily. Yet the pain never went away. I couldn’t go for long walks or stand for long periods of time without feeling an increase in the pain level. Yet I’m feeling hopeful lately.

I went for three short hikes in the last six days and I’m not hobbling around in pain. I don’t want to jinx the whole thing, but I think my foot might be getting better. I’m not ready to hike the Grand Canyon, but I’m not afraid of taking a walk on campus on a gorgeous afternoon.

I went to see my podiatrist a few weeks ago and got another cortisone shot. I’ve had a few before in my foot, and they do seem to relieve some of the pain. I also got some new shoe inserts that really feel good. Yet I don’t think the pain relief is really coming from the visit to the doctor.  I’m crediting a book.

Last week I was browsing on Amazon and found a book that I could download to my Kindle: 3 Minutes to a Pain-Free Life by Joseph Weisberg and Heidi Shink. I figured, what the heck, it can’t hurt — after all, I’m already hurting. Wow. What a difference those simple stretches have made.

You do six stretches daily and hold them for 30 seconds each. I was already doing variations of three of them with my regular stretching routine and agreed with Dr. Weisberg that they make quite a difference. The other ones weren’t too difficult…well, except for the squat. I can’t seem to get very low and keep my feet flat without rolling backwards and my butt hitting the floor.

Dr. Weisberg also had stretches for various body problems, so I went right for the foot section. The thirty second stretch for helping to relieve foot pain? It’s so easy! Well, except that I feel that stretch in my feet, ankles, and calves. Man, are my calf muscles tight. All you have to do is kneel down, curl your toes under, and try to rest your butt on your heels. I can’t get my butt near my heels without feeling miserable, so I pull up just a bit. Obviously this is all a sign that my calves, ankles, and feet really need the stretching. I’m amazed, because I’d been doing all kinds of stretches, yet this one stretch seems to hit the spot.

Within three days my pain was gone. Gone. No dull ache, no twinges of sharp pain, no limping around trying to protect my right foot. Sure, if I walked too far and too long, the pain would return slightly. Yet the pain would disappear after more stretches and icing. It wasn’t a constant presence.

It may have also helped that I’m also doing the recommended stretch for shin splints. I don’t have shin splints, but I get them so easily, I figured it wouldn’t hurt. I think the two stretches together work together nicely, and they both work my lower leg.

Anyway, I’m too afraid the improvement will go away, but it is fun to think that I just may be able to do some longer hikes in the future. Hope is a good thing, and I now have some. If you’re dealing with pain, do check the book out. It may offer some relief.

Lazy Days

I just don’t seem to have much to blog about, or if I do have something to blog about I don’t want to sit down and write about it. This happens every so often. Odds are, that as soon as I post this I’ll feel a burning need to write something. It usually works that way.

Meanwhile, let me recommend you rent Lars and the Real Girl, read Einstein: His Life and Universe, watch “The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class,” and surf over to the fabulous planet of Fabulon.

Dragons at 10 O’Clock

I’ve found a new book series that has me putting off the dusting and vacuuming (of course, anything can make me procrastinate when it comes to dusting and vacuuming). Naomi Novik’s books about a  world with dragons and Napoleon have me hooked. I started with His Majesty’s Dragon.

Imagine the British and the French at war. Sure, there’s the British Navy fighting to keep Napoleon from attacking England, but there’s also the Aerial Corps . . . consisting of dragons and their crews.  Think dogfights, but instead of  men flying airplanes their crafts are dragons — some of them acid spitting. It’s a fun read.

I just finished the second book in the series, Throne of Jade, which takes Captain Laurence and his dragon Temeraire to China. And now, here’s where the danger of owning a Kindle comes into play, I’ve just downloaded the third book, Black Powder War. This all comes from downloading a sample chapter from the first book on Friday night. I’m on my third book already! The Kindle makes it all too easy.

And yes, I will have dragons at 10 O’clock if I start reading now. But the books are so much fun. Who cares if I stay up late reading?

Losing Myself in My Kindle

I spent a late night on Tuesday following the primary outcomes. Yes, I was disappointed that Clinton made a bit of a comeback, as I’m at the point that I want the Democratic nominee to go after McCain instead of the two candidates going after each other.

Feeling rather burnt out last night I decided to finish a book last night. Jasper Fforde’s title, Lost in a Good Book, described my attitude perfectly — it was a pleasure to lose myself in something entertaining. Tuesday Next’s adventures make me laugh, and where else can you have Miss Havisham of Dicken’s Great Expectations speeding in a sports car in order to beat Alice in Wonderland’s Red Queen to a book sale?

Tonight I may head to bed early and read some more. I started a biography on George Washington and it’s pretty darn interesting. I’ve always found Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Ben Franklin much more fascinating historical characters, so I really bought the book to see if I could find a way to put Washington on my fascination list. He’s always seemed rather boring to me. Ha! What a fascinating history so far: massacres, stifled ambitions, tobacco farming, and an ongoing suspicion of being cheated by London businessmen have filled the pages so far, and somehow I’m liking good ol’ George.

And yes, the Kindle makes reading easier. Reading is a one-handed affair, which is nice when I’m also trying to eat at the same time. No longer do I have to hold the book in one hand and turn the page with the other. Now I just hold the Kindle and quickly push the Next Page button. By the way, if you just got a Kindle I recommend you do what I do to limit accidentally hitting buttons: fold back the front of the Kindle cover and place the elastic band to hold it in place (I learned this on the Kindle forum). Here’s a photo found on Flickr showing the cover folded back:

If you’re laying in bed on your right side you can slip your hand in between the cover and hold on with just a few fingers as the elastic holds your hand in place (photo example). Your thumb is in a the perfect position for pushing the Next Page button. If you’re on your left side, your hand fits around that same cover to the left of the Kindle. Your thumb can rest along the bottom cover clasp putting it into perfect position to….guess what? Yep, push the Next Page button. It’s the perfect lazy reader’s way to read a book.

Reading Time…

…Or is time to read? I finished up one of my two classes that I’m taking this semester. It was a seven-week class and quite intense. I still have the other class, which I have to catch up in, but it feels so nice to have some time where I can goof off. So, what am I going to do now that I don’t have to do all that class reading? Why, read of course!

Having too much fun with my Kindle, I’ve ordered some books that I would not normally pick up at the bookstore. I’ve also downloaded various old favorites from http://manybooks.net. So the other day I finished up a wonderful book called Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission by Hampton Sides. As I lay in bed yesterday suffering through the remnants of this cold/flu I opened up an old favorite: Persuasion by Jane Austen. I also purchased His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph Ellis (I enjoyed his Founding Brothers), Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia.

With all that waiting for me to read you would think I’d be one satisfied reader. Nope. I want more! Tonight I followed up on some other books for my Kindle, and they are all free. Baen Books has free downloads of some of the books in their library. Their free library has some old books, some books that start a series, and many books I’ve never read. I did download several of the James Schmitz books. I’ve been a fan of his since I first stumbled upon a Telzey Amberdon collection. And now I have it downloaded to my Kindle to reread whenever I want. I picked up On Basilisk Station by David Weber, the first in the Honor Harrington series. My paperback copy is crumbling, so downloading to my Kindle gives me another option for reading the book. Baen also offered a short story or novella by one of my favorite writers: Lois McMaster Bujold. I picked up The Mountains of Mourning. It’s a beautiful addition to Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan novels. I also picked up a few books that I’ve never read. What a concept.

If you’re a fan of the Firefly TV series and you like Steven Brust’s writing there is another freebie to pick up. You can read My Own Kind of Freedom: A Firefly Novel on your computer, but I sent it to Amazon to be ‘Kindle-ized’ and it’s now waiting for me to read…at my convenience.

So, how do I like my Kindle? I like it! I love the ability to carry multiple books with me, and open whatever I’m in the mood for, and it opens to wherever I left off. I’m trying to load up different types of books just because I can have this variety on hand. I can open an old favorite to read about familiar characters such as Telzey Amberdon; Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth; Miles Vorkosigan; Honor Harrington; Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy; and Ozma of Oz. Even with all these characters and all these books the Kindle doesn’t load my book bag down at all.

I do think that I have one problem with my Kindle. My battery doesn’t seem to keep a charge as long as promised. That seems to be the one bug that some Kindles have. I’ll contact Amazon, but I’m still trying to figure out how long the charge does last depending on whether it’s on or in sleep mode or I’m reading. Other than that issue — and I just have to work with Amazon to get it fixed or replaced…or charge it all the time — I’m a happy Kindle user.

So what do I read tonight?

Kindle Links

As something funky happened with my Kindle this morning (couldn’t get it out of sleep mode), I went out on the web to find info. There is lots of stuff to find right now. I’ve discovered some interesting bits of trivia about my Kindle. Did you know there’s a copy of Minesweeper on it? Press Shift+Alt+M while on Home and you can play the game.  Here are some of the helpful links that I’ve found:

The Amazon Kindle forums – I discovered how to best use the cover by reading these forums.

The whispernet coverage map – no wonder I don’t get the full EVDO wireless: I live in northern Arizona. I do get the regular wireless connection, but will have to wait for my Phoenix trips to see hoe the EVDO works. Though I swear that I did get it for about ten minutes my first night with the Kindle.

The Kindle Fan Guide (pdf) - this is where I learned the nifty Minesweeper info. It can also be purchased as a download from the Kindle store.

The Kindle Blog – I do love me my blogs. This blogger has lots of good links and more information about using the Kindle.

Manybooks.net – whoo hoo! Free books in Kindle format can be downloaded from here. I picked up Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Princess of Mars and Jean Webster’s Daddy Long Legs and will certainly be going back for more.

Oh, as for my problem with the Kindle, I seem to have it working. I didn’t have to reset it, but had to charge it and turn it off and on a few times and it’s working fine.  Now it’s time to go back to reading Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up.

Feeling Golden

I finished up my first paper for one of my classes. It’s turned in and I’m feeling good. So, after treating myself to some new books for my Kindle (Steve Martin’s “Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life,” Jane Austen’s “Persuasion” and “Pride and Prejudice”) I thought I’d post a new Second Life pic or two.

Early this evening after completing some work and doing more essay writing, I popped in to SL. I’d seen some hair and a dress on the Fashion Planet feed and found myself lusting. The hair was from Here Comes Trouble and the dress is a beauty from House of Zen. I feel golden.

Isn’t the texture gorgeous on the dress? Here’s another shot with some boots and stockings:

Well, I like the dress. There is something about Chinese cheongsams that make me smile. I bought one once while shopping at a thrift store. It was a gorgeous aqua silk with gold designs and I snapped it up quickly. There weren’t very many opportunities to wear it, but who cares? It was too fun to have. I kept the dress for years until the moths chomped on it and made it too indecent to wear.

So, I love that I can take a break from essay writing and relax. Unfortunately, I still need to think about my next round of homework. Fortunately, I can wear a pretty dress while doing it.

It’s Here!

It finally arrived. My Kindle is here. So what books do I buy first?

Sunday Night Not-So-Blues

I would be saddened that my weekend is about to end but as I’m off work tomorrow, and the day after is a holiday, my weekend is flowing along nicely, thank you. Relaxation is a wonderful thing.

Yesterday I did nothing but make a pot of beans (which I’ll be eating off of for weeks) and some homemade bread. God, I love homemade bread. I pulled out the bread maker when I started the beans because there’s nothing better than buttered homemade bread sopping up a bowl of beans. Please, I do not want to hear about the hazards of carbohydrates. It’s too delicious a hazard to give up.

I took Spencer out on a nice hike yesterday which seemed longer than it really was due to walking over packed snow. This has been unusual for us in Flagstaff. A foot or two of snow still sticking around over two weeks after it fell. We normally have a high melt-off rate, but the weather has stayed in the thirties for most of this time and we only end up with ice and not melting snow. Sliding around on my dirt road to get to my truck has been a challenge. Happily, today the temperature was above 40 degrees and my road is finally becoming a muddy, mucky mess that it should have been weeks ago.

Today, I saw a movie: PS: I Love You and found it appropriately soppy. Dawn, it’s a good chick flick — I cried several times. Then I spent some time reading up on Amazon’s Kindle. Why? Because I got one for Christmas. Yes, my sister bought me one, wrapping up the pages of information she printed off from the web site. No, she didn’t wrap an actual Kindle — they’re back ordered and I’m waiting to get it, but I’ve already started deciding on what books to load first.

Tonight I’m watching some older movies on DVD. Due to my mom discussing the Ocean’s 11 films and how she’d not seen them, I was interested again in seeing them all. Watched the first last night, just finished Ocean’s 12, and am about to put in Ocean’s 13. Yeah, my life is exciting, isn’t it?

No big plans for New Year’s Eve as I usually am too sleepy and too anti-social to do the party thing. Yeah, as I said, my life is exciting…really.