yoga, books, movies, tv & too many crime procedurals – not necesarily in that order
Last week I heard a report on NPR that was talking about how celebrities – and specifically singers – are using alternate identities and/or personas. It’s been going on forever – with Bowie and The Sex Pistols being obvious early references, but also with authors from almost the moment people began publishing. The piece was referencing Beyonce and Lady Gaga and the perception of these identities by their fans.
To show you how my brain works, I remembered an article not that long ago about how the internet was maybe bad for kids because it’s divorcing them from interpersonal interaction. What I thought about is that the internet has made it possible for EVERYONE to be a rockstar. Not necessarily in the sense of a massive following/fame/money but in that it provides an outlet for everyone to share themselves – including whatever parts and pieces of their personalities they choose. So yeah, you may be a grandmother in a conservative community, but you can create an identity for yourself online where you can indulge in your penchant for Harry Potter fanfic in a place largely free of judgment about that preference. In fact, you’re more likely to meet OTHERS who share your interest and can bolster your confidence in this aspect of who you are. Doesn’t that, by default, make you a more confident and stronger person overall?
Most people I’ve met online represent themselves as whole people – family, personal lives, interests, hobbies – but the folks who only show that one note can be entertaining too. Do I believe that any of the Harry Potter fanfic writers ONLY have that interest? Of course not.
If it weren’t for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer message board I wouldn’t have the seriously awesome internet community I’ve got today. Was BtVS the only thing we talked about? Absolutely not. What there was is just as much intellectual conversation about literary allusion and allegory as I got in any of my college lit classes. There were also late-night games of Calvinball, discussion of a myriad of other shows and films and parts of pop culture, as well as sharing parts of our personal lives. Some of the people I met at the Bronze:Beta are people whose cities and homes I’ve visited and people with whom I’ve shared some of the major events of my life. These are people I consider to be good (and even great) friends – even if I’ve never seen them face to face or spoken to them on the phone.
I don’t think that the internet divorces interpersonal communication. I think that for people like me, it makes it easier to find kindred spirits. Communication is just as malleable as language and culturally we’ll adapt just fine. In fact it might IMPROVE communication because the internet makes it harder to ‘forget’ the stupid or insensitive things people have a tendency to blurt out in conversation. If that makes everyone take a couple of breaths before they ‘speak’ I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing.
I have never left a tl; dr comment anywhere. Not because I haven’t thought something was Too Long and therefore Didn’t Read but I figure if you’re going to comment – don’t be a dick. Read the whole thing and THEN comment rather than going off half-cocked.
Lately though I HAVE used something similar (though not in a commenting sense). Back when I attempted to read Jonathan Strange & Dr. Norrell, I realized life is too damn short to read things that are too boring or too dumb to justify my time. The third parameter is “too gross” which I thankfully don’t come across that often. The first tG; dr I ever found was American Psycho. Disgusting. I didn’t need any more visuals to haunt me the rest of my life besides the ones I’d managed to get through before quitting. *shudder*
Just recently I used tB; dr on Battle of the Network Zombies. It was also a little too gross but I’ve got to figure if I’m a quarter of the way through and the only thing you’ve been able to do is make me mildly queasy (and not at ALL interested in your world/characters) that there’s nothing in the finale that could possibly redeem it. So I quit. I finished According to Jane but I’ve got to include it on my tD; dr list because of the sheer amount of skimming I did. The last most recent tB; dr candidate was The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. It was pretty much awful from page one. I get it was written for a YA audience but DAMN it was terrible. Don’t get me wrong – not as bad as TWILIGHT, just too awful for me to gut through it.
I’m in the midst of The Passage, which started slow but has picked up nicely. I sort of stalled on Between Sisters (Kristen Hannah) mostly because I started it on my phone Kindle app and it’s not my medium of choice. I DID break my $9.99 Kindle book rule for One Dharma by Joseph Goldstein. I LOVE the book and I can’t wait for the Kindle release. While I’m jonesing for a reread of Eat, Pray, Love I can’t see myself shucking out $13.00 for it – especially when I probably have the paperback lurking around here somewhere. Alas, I prefer reading on the Kindle so much that I actually get mildly irritated to have to pick up a physical book.Who’da thunk?
To spend Friday night recovering from your week? Because DAMN.
On the bright side, I got most of the heavy lifting done this week. All that’s left is purging the files and fixing the paperwork. Heh. ALL.
As for now, I’m enjoying a nice cold beer, awaiting some company and contemplating which book I’ll be reading next.
As a public service announcement: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is out on DVD. If you’ve been on the fence, rent it.
First video attempt – let me know if it’s helpful or what I can do to make it better!
It’s spring, damn and blast. I don’t care if the snow disagrees. One of the things about living at 10,000 feet is close to 9 months of winter. I don’t really mind it as the snow is light and fluffy and always looks amazing on the trees and mountaintops. We also get more than 300 days of sunshine every year and there’s not a single bad thing about that. Plus the lack of humidity means that it virtually ALWAYS feels warmer than the thermometer says it is. When we moved, I said I could stand as MUCH snow as you want to send me as long as there’s sunshine. Glad to say it’s absolutely true. This is the end of my second winter (!?) out here and I still love it as much as I did on our first visit.
That said, vacation was a kick in the ass. Time to refresh everything all over, albeit without nearly as much rain as Seattle sees, and I started today. Woke up, finished reading a book, cleaned up the kitchen and then started on our bedroom. Dusted and swept everywhere, got up the rugs for washing, stripped the bedding and mattress pad for washing (which it’s doing right now) and as soon as that room’s done I’ll move to the next.
The basement bedroom, like two of the upstairs rooms, has a mirrored set of sliding closet doors. It’s also much larger than any of the other rooms (with the exception of the basement living room and the kitchen/dining area) and I noticed today that I could probably make a decent yoga space in there. It’s got laminate flooring and high enough ceilings that I don’t have to worry about barking my hands or feet. It’s also cool enough (being the basement) and has a fan so that I should be able to work as hard as I like, comfortably. That’s going to be my new spot then, at least until we get one of the upstairs rooms converted into a real workout space.
One of the things I love about yoga is its malleability. I can tailor my workout to whatever feels appropriate at the time, focusing on whichever areas I’d like. Unfortunately that is also one of the things that stumps people about having a “home practice”. With so many options, how do you keep track of where you started or what you’ve done? I think it’s one of the things people really like about Bikram and the ashtanga series – there are proscribed movements in a particular order such that you’ve always got the next step in front of you. While that sounds nice in theory, I think I’d get bored with it.
I generally start with the Sun series and modify it however I’d like. It’s infinite if you add in Warrior II and Chair (Sun B) and can be modified to include almost anything – triangle, side angle, revolved variations of both, twisting chair, Warrior III, pyramid and about a dozen different ways you can modify Downward Facing Dog. I’m tempted to do audio posts about the variations just so that people can try them if they’re interested. Everyone approaches yoga a little differently and one of the reasons I love taking classes is because I can hear how other people change things up.
So I guess MY spring goal is thirty days of yoga posts. If I can squeeze in classes I will, but it will primarily what I do at home and on the road (we’ve got some overnighters this month). I think my plan will be to work through the Eye of the Tiger practice – it’s pretty comprehensive but too long for everyday. I can attack parts of it and digest what I like and don’t.
Below is the Eye of the Tiger workout – I can’t recall what site I found it on but it’s an Anusara practice.
Eye of the Tiger Practice
The Eye of the Tiger practice is designed as an ultimate daily practice routine to maximize strength, stamina, and flexibility in all the major parts of the body. It covers all the main classes of asana including: Surya Namaskar, standing poses, handbalancings, inversions, backbends, hip-openers, forward bends, and twists. The entire practice can take over 4 hours to complete, so in order to abbreviate, perform a few poses in each category moving down through the lists from top toward the bottom. During a week’s practice schedule be sure to attempt the poses that you might have skipped in previous practices.
Invocation
Surya Namaskar – 10-108x or 10-20 min.
Handstand – 1-5 min. ea. 1-3 X
Pincha Mayurasana (feathered peacock) – 1-5 min. ea. 1-3 X
Standing Poses – 30-60 sec. ea./ side
Vrksasana (tree)
Parsvakonasana (extended side angle)
Trikonasana (triangle)
Virabhadrasana I (warrior I)
Virabhadrasana II (warrior II)
Anjaneyasana (crescent lunge)
Ardha Chandrasana (half moon)
Virabhadrasana III (warrior III)
Parivrtta Trikonasana (revolved triangle)
Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana (revolved half moon)
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana (revolved side angle)
Parsvottanasana (intense side stretch/pyramid)
Utkatasana (chair)
Garudasana (eagle)
Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-legged forward fold)
Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (extended hand to big toe)
Pada Hastasana (hands to feet)
Handbalancings – 1-2x ea./ side
Lolasana (pendant)
Vasisthasana (side plank)
Eka Hasta Bhujasana (elephant’s trunk)
Astavakrasana (8 angle)
Bakasana (crane)
Eka Pada Bakasana II (one legged crane)
Eka Pada Bakasana I (one legged crane)
Visvamitrasana (pose dedicated to visvamitra)
Eka Pada Koundinyasana II (pose dedicated to Koundinya)
Dwi Hasta Bhujasana (two-handed legs over arms)
Bhujapidasana (shoulder pressing pose)
Titthibhasana (firefly)
Parsva Bakasana (side crane)
Eka Pada Koundinyasana I
Eka Pada Galavasana (flying crow)
Kukuttasana (cock posture)
Parsva Kukuttasana (revolved cock posture)
Abdominals – 30-50x ea./ side
Crunches
Criss-Crosses
Navasana (boat)
Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (raised stretched out foot)
Jathara Parivartanasana (spinal twist)
Supta Virasana (reclined hero) – 5 min.
Hip-openers – 1 min. ea./ side
Baddha Konasana
Janu Sirsasana
Parsva Upavistha Konasana
Upavistha Konasana
Triang Mukhaikapada
Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana prep.
Bharadvajasana II
Inversions – 30sec.– 1 min. variations
Sirsasana
Parsva Sirsasana
Parsva Sirsasana in Virasana
Eka Pada Sirsasana
Parsvaika Pada Sirsasana
Parivrttaikapada Sirsasana
Padmasana in Sirsasana
Parsva Padmasana in Sirsasana
Pindasana in Sirsasana
Sirsasana II
Mukta Hasta Sirsasana
Baddha Hasta Sirsasana
Prasarita Hasta Sirsasana
——————————————
Sarvangasana
Sarvangasana II
Eka Pada Sarvangasana
Parsvaika Pada Sarvangasana
Halasana
Supta Konasana
Parsva Halasana
Karna Pidasasana
Parsva Karna Pidasasana
Parsva Sarvangasana in Padmasasana
Parsva Sarvangasana
Setubandha Sarvangasana
Backbends
Eka Pada Supta Virasana
Bhujangasana
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana I prep – one leg in Bhekasana
Dhanurasana
Parsva Dhanurasana
Ustrasana
Purvottanasana – bent knees
Backbends with chair
Urdhva Dhanurasana – (5-25x)
Eka Pada Urdhva Dhanurasana
Viparita Chakrasana
Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana (head up)
Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana
Headstand Drop-overs – (5-25x)
Mandalasana – (3-25x)
Urdhva Dhanurasana – drop-backs – (5-108x)
Vrischikasana I – feet on chair
Kapotasana – pigeon droppings – (3-10x)
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana I
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana II
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana IV
Valakhilyasana
Padangustha Dhanurasana
Natarajasana
Twists & Forward Bends – 30 sec – 1 min. ea./ side
Uttanasana
Virasana – twist
Baddha Konasana
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana prep
Janu Sirsasana
Upavista Konasana
Parsva Upavistha Konasana
Agnistambasana
Ardha Baddha Padmasana Paschimottanasana
Marichyasana II
Triangamuhkaipada Paschimottanasana
Krounchasana
Bharadvajasana II
Compass
Yogadandasana
Pascimottanasana
Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana I & II
Ardha Matsyendrasana
Malasana I
Pasasana – one leg
Padmasana
Hanumanasana
Ardha Matsyendrasana II
Marichyasana IV
Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana
Parivrtta Paschimottanasana
Kurmasana
Somakonasana
Eka Pada Sirsasana
Bhairavasana
Chakorasana
Durvasana
Uttanasana
Supta Padangusthasana
Balasana
Meditation – 10 min.
Savasana – 10 min.
Edited to add reference links so you know what I’m talking about.
