e_bourne

Yes, that's what we went to see. And  we loved it.  The most beautiful closing credits I've seen in a long time, I love Peter Gabriel anyway.

A side benefit is that it's further inspiring me to look at more yoga websites. Yeah. If you've seen the movie, you know why.  We have 8 limbs Yoga just down the street.  Walkable.  Sound Yoga, which is a few blocks further off.  West Seattle Yoga Center. Temple Yoga. And several more.

Soon, I must do more than look. I should investigate more deeply.

And, in the height of laziness, I've indulged in browsing the apple movie trailer site. I love doing that. It's such a guilty pleasure.

Dinner was pleasant.

I think I'll continue being lazy. Lazy is good. The download of the final Who-ishness has started. I expect it will be slow. Many leeches.

Dinner last night with JH was delightful: peanut-and-coconut-encrusted tilapia; a spinach dish with sesame, onions and some other ingredients I missed seeing mixed in; and African/Indian bread cooked right there on my stove. Just spectacular. And the company was quite fine. We then attended the Clarion West party which was a smaller, lower-key affair than usual, between the theft of some students' laptops and it being July Fourth. But I got to see some of my favorite peeps, some folks I don't see almost anywhere but these functions, and to meet some new folks, too. We closed the party at midnight which, for me, was a late night to begin with.

Today, as a result, has been a lazy day. I've spent most of it, frankly, snoozing and watching DVDs. I have gotten out to walk a bit; exercise is a habit I need to build and sustain, especially as I head toward the end of my contract. Being a couch-potato wasn't my original plan, but I seem to have very little energy for much else. The plan this evening is to see "Hancock" with ironymaiden.

Surely I can accomplish something before then. Let me go and attempt it.

Sometimes, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Sometimes fairly obvious things escape me.

I am, often, a total dumbass.

I've been feeling really, really bad lately. General achiness all over, fatigue, extra-bad pain in my already crippled up arthritic hip. The hip is getting replaced next month because it had already reached the point of "dear baby Jeebus let's put in the bionic parts," so it just made sense that all the pain was because of basic hip degeneration.

Except that it started getting bad in my upper arms, too-- an old rotator cuff injury flared up again. And my elbows started hurting. Ah, well, I figured. I've been doing a lot of chocolate work and typing. But then my legs started to ache, bad, all the time. My sleep became affected, as I couldn't get comfortable and I kept twitching, kicking and moving around all night, trying to find a position that didn't hurt.

Vicodin, for which I have an ongoing prescription for when the arthritis gets the better of me, became my best friend. I went through my monthly allotment a week early. I begged drugs from a friend, cut out simple carbs for a few days, took hot baths ... all helpful in the short term, but overall, it kept getting worse. I was also increasingly moody and irritable, partly from pain and lack of sleep, but also because my brain chemistry felt kind of fucked.

Then the holiday weekend arrived and I found that I could barely walk. I was stiff, in pain all over, and exhausted.

You're hot, Patrick said, after sitting next to me on the couch for a few minutes. He put his hand on my forehead. You have a fever.

Maybe I have Lyme disease, I said. It was a joke, but I finally reached the point where my tiny stupid brain allowed that SOMETHING IS ACTUALLY WRONG HERE.

Finally, today, it occurred to me what's different in my life since this started. My doctor put me on simvastatin (the generic of Zocor) for cholesterol. And then I vaguely remembered that two-second conversation with the pharmacist during which she muttered something about "call your doctor if you have muscle pain."

So I hit the internet: 

Statins work by blocking the action of an enzyme (called HMG-CoA reductase) that is part of the early stages of production of cholesterol.

The problem is that the substance formed by this enzyme is also required as the starting material for Coenzyme Q10; this matters because Coenzyme Q10 is absolutely required for the production of energy from food using oxygen. This in turn means that the muscles have to use the rather inefficient method of glycolysis to create energy - this is the method normally used when the muscles are working really hard, as in weightlifting or a sprint. This causes lactic acid buildup and that is what causes the aching. Lack of Coenzyme Q10 can also cause congestive heart failure, because the heart doesn't have enough energy to pump properly.

Muscle aches are well known as a side effect of statins. Unfortunately, if this problem is not addressed fairly quickly the muscles can become damaged, and in extreme cases the muscle cells die, break down and their contents are released into the bloodstream - a problem called rhabdomyolysis which can severely damage the kidneys as well. Side effects this severe are rare, however.

Some experts estimate that roughly 20 percent of patients who take statins experience muscle pain, and it could indicate a serious problem. Perhaps more, because many don't report it to their doctor (the pharmaceutical companies will only own up to about 1.5 percent). Hell, it took me over a week to make the connection, mainly because I'm used to being in pain most of the time, so I figured this had to be related. In Germany, doctors prescribe CoQ10 to patients to counter the effects -- here in the U.S.? They just keep switching patients to different cholesterol meds.

So on Monday, I'll call my doctor. And I'm going to tell her that I intend to make changes in my diet and start taking niacin, and that perhaps we'll see how the blood test looks in six weeks after I do that. According to the piece at that link, niacin works best for lowering raising** HDL when taken with statins. But honestly? Right now I'd like to dump the Zocor entirely.  With extreme prejudice.


** Like I know the difference.

As has been said by others, but bears repeating, if you can, donations are much appreciated for the the Clarion West Students, who were robbed on the Fourth. They lost laptops and some clothing. You can go here for information on where to go to help. It was outrageous.

That being said, I was glad that the students were able to over come their very bad day and make it to the party. They were doing a good job of turning their anger to positive writing force, and they seemed a remarkable and resilient group. We were happy to host them.

I was thrilled to see my friend maryrosenblum It was like picking up a piece of knitting without missing a stitch. We agreed we were both looking so much better than everyone else our age. :-) and rejoiced in how well our children are doing.

It was also wonderful to see scarlettina and her friend Joe, and to see ironymaiden and melkahb who we don't get to see enough off.

The party was smaller than last year's, due to the Fourth I expect, and closed down at midnight. Everything got eaten, except we still have a large bowl of chocolate. Which can never be a bad thing.

Today I want to see a movie.

four laptops stolen from Clarion West student housing

in a nutshell, four people who have turned their lives upside down to write intensively for six weeks have no computers to write on. at least one of them also had no backup of their work. this is devastating.

if you are in Western Washington and have a laptop you can give or loan for the rest of the program, please contact them (info on the page linked above) ASAP. they are also accepting earmarked monetary donations.

My vandal son, AKA Evil Spawn, got the letter from UNLV congratulating him for being placed on the Dean's List at UNLV as one of their Best and Brightest.

I am so proud and weepy I can hardly type.  I went down to the Tombs, aka, his room, and we shared A Moment.

We'll have to celebrate by going to the X-Files Movie. P'raps scarlettina would like to come with, whenever that occurs, and the two of them can geek out as only two true fans can.

Woke up this morning, made breakfast, and sat down with my DVD of 1776. It's a bit overlong and I still get a little cranky with "The Lees of Old Virginia" and "He Plays the Violin." But I never get tired of the repartee, William Daniels, Howard DaSilva and Ken Howard, "But Mr. Adams," "The Egg," and "Molasses to Rum to Slaves" (John Collum is just magnificent). In the balance, it's a fun film and a good musical. I remember seeing it at Radio City Music Hall the year it came out, along with the Rockettes' live show; first time I ever saw them, and I knew I wanted to be one of them when it was all over. (I was a dancer as a kid but, alas, I never grew tall enough.)

So that's how I began this July Fourth.

In searching for information on the Web about the authenticity of the film's dialog (apparently some of it was drawn from congressional transcripts), I came across an interesting blog called Blogging the Revolution. Specifically, I landed on the entry about America's great Jewish patriot Haym Solomon. If you've never heard of him, go over and discover his story. I grew up hearing about him.

I also grew up with the legend about how the stars on the back of the dollar bill are shaped like a Star of David because of his work. Unfortunately, there's no historical basis for this assertion or, at least, no documentation to back it up that I'm aware of. (Once you become a numismatist, you learn stuff like that.) It's a nice thought though.

Plans for the day, until the evening anyway, are loose. But this evening, there's a dinner engagement and the Clarion West party. I look forward to what promises to be a pleasant day.

Happy Independence Day!

(And happy birthday to my dear friend phgellis in celebration of whose birth we shoot off fireworks every year. ::grin::)

i had very low expectations, and it exceeded them. it's forgettable and most of the gags are telegraphed from miles away, but it avoids scatological humor and keeps a light hand with the schadenfreude. Smart is actually smart. there are several funny political jokes that will be dated in six months. good ensemble acting. Masi Oka has a nice little part, and so does the Rock.

i'd say it's aimed at a family evening out with older kids. i had a perfectly pleasant and inoffensive time in my neighborhood theater with my husband.

In a fit of writing yesterday and today, I produced another new article for MSN Tech & Gadgets. Here it is:

iPhone 3G: Apple’s Built It—Will Consumers Come?

Extremely unscientific.

Received the following from an e-mail list I'm on: Key scenes from Fritz Lang's 'Metroplis' have been discovered.

Summary: A long version of the film has been found; it's genuine; it's in good enough condition to be fully restored. The article doesn't say how much of the film's lost footage has been rediscovered, but it's a huge find and apparently changes some key things about the film. Exciting. Very exciting indeed.

I've been so blue the last day or two that I haven't got much to say, but I saw this last night and had to share it: Hellboy meets the Ghost Hunters.



ETA: stannex has posted several more Hellboy crossover promos, including a PSA, two featuring the main character from "Chuck," and two that are "Inside the Actor's Studio" parodies that are brilliant. He's also got the trailer for "The Day the Earth Stood Still" which, remarkably, does bear watching.

I am currently overwhelmed by my husband's wonderfulness. I have a horrible, truly horrible, habit of letting my drugs run down until I have a day's worth left. Or less. Which might not be a big deal except that if I go more than 24 hours without, there is some statistical probability that I could die. I've never wanted to test it and see how likely it is, but I can never quite get my act together enough to get the damn prescription filled in a more timely fashion. (Drug stores will not refuse my prescription, even if I don't have it with me. Heh. No, it's kind of sad I'm so lame I've actually had to find this out).

And there it was, tonight, just when I thought, "Shit, I'm out of brain pills." A brand new bottle waiting for me.

My husband is the most wonderful man in the world.

1.  Weather gets hot.

2.  I am invited somewhere for 4th of July.

3.  I go online and buy attractive top because I have precious few clothes that work in hot weather. Also, most of my clothes are ugly. Also, I am shaped like a globe.

4.  I get e-mail from online merchant that top is back ordered, so it will not arrive by July 4.

5.  Weather gets cooler, so I didn't really need to buy it after all.

6.. I get e-mail from merchant which includes a coupon for money off my next purchase.

7. I notice that everything in this adventure seems to have happened in the wrong order.

A few early-morning thangs:

Via scottbateman   : For me, it's more the Coen Brothers and Maker's Mark, but otherwise ...



Also:

A special message from Hellboy.   AND -- it's Hellboy Day at Things From Another World, with 25 percent off all hellboy merchandise.

Anti-trust regulators are going to investigate the proposed 10-year advertising partnership between Yahoo and Google: Google already controls 60% of the total number of internet searches made in the US, while Yahoo is the second ranked player accounting for 16.6%. Spurned Yahoo suitor Microsoft is bitchy about the union, saying, "They have, like, 90 percent of the market here. And we see absolutely no irony in pointing out how very, very wrong we think that is."

Today is Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Day.

In WTF entertainment news, Sasha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell will team up for a Sherlock Holmes comedy to be produced by Judd Apatow. Elsewhere, Michael Ian Black will host "Reality Bites Back," an unscripted TV program for Comedy Central in which comedians will compete in parodies of reality shows: The already patriotic "American Gladiators" becomes the hyper-nationalistic "Almost-American Gladiators," in which the contestants must fight off roided-out Border Patrol Agents as they replicate the immigrant experience through physical challenges; sub-lebrity exploitation is taken to new heights as the contestants stalk and shoot down their d-list partners in "Hunting with the Stars," and, because the public loves to see amateurs fail at skills it takes years to master, the comedians are given 24 hours to become Olympians in "So You Think You Can Dive."

Babylon A.D. -- like The Transporter, only science fiction and starring Vin Diesel.

After you've seen WALL*E, you can shop at Buy 'n Large!

Just realized that I nearly missed your birthday, ezagaaikwe.

May the year continue to bring you blessings and peace.

OK, it's not really what it sounds like, or maybe it is.

I woke up last night, maybe about two am and realized I'd done something all wrong.

I killed the wrong person. Actually, I still have to kill him, but he isn't a person who matters except in terms of moving the plot along, and he had way too big a death scene. Just didn't deserve to die that well as well as giving away a plot point too soon.

No. I needed to kill someone who mattered. Too many people hadn't been hurt. Someone I cared about needed to feel pain.

So tonight I killed someone who mattered. I killed three people and wept my way through it.  That's always good. If I care, I figure the reader will care. And it ups the stakes There are some very bad people here. They do bad things. And now I care.  So hard and yet so good. I don't think I made it too over the top.  I think there's only one place so far where thick strands of glistening intestines loop out anywhere.  I'm trying to keep it down. Really I am.

And I'm looking at yoga classes. Yes, ironymaiden and melkahb are being inspirational.  We'll see if I can get it off the looking up yoga classes near me.  If I tried to do what they're doing, i think it would kill me.

Yesterday I mentioned that this month's issue of The Numismatist was a good one. What I didn't realize is that it includes a schedule of the events and meetings planned for the ANA World's Fair of Money (the WorldCon of coin collectors), which I'll be attending for the first time this year. Between that (I actually sat here and quietly squee-ed at the programming--I'm such a geek) and an e-mail I received from a pennysmashing acquaintance about all the stuff that will be going on at the show, I decided to add a day to my trip.

In a development that I can explain but still can't believe, neither the airfare nor the extra hotel night will cost me extra. With regard to the airfare, fares to Baltimore have gone down in price since I booked, so they can't charge me any more and they're not charging me a change fee. The hotel thing baffles me. I checked the dates; the reservation changes have been made and the dates are correct on my confirmation. I checked with the airline. Apparently I tripped into some obscure promotional thingum and I'm getting four nights for the price of three. Apparently I'm Supposed To Be There.

Yay!

tonight, we went out for BBQ on the way to another errand.

the iced tea was brewed tea, not a mix, and was a pleasant strength.

the service was adequate.

the mac and cheese was nearly tasteless and undersalted.

C's pulled pork was okay, but nearly cold.

i got ribs. they were covered in a rub that looked like it was made of spices but tasted like just salt. way way too much salt. the meat was dry, firm, and rubbery.

cornbread muffin? rock hard and had a gob of undermixed ingredients inside.

their sauces didn't help with the meat at all.




*sigh* so it looks like Ballard has no real BBQ joint. the Steel Pig and Rhodies are gone. any locals have a favorite for me to try? (i prefer "wet" over "dry", but the key thing for me is extremely tender meat, and sauce that i want to pour on my husband. good cornbread a major plus.)

For those of you who read my wife's posts (that is to say, all of you), you will doubtless have stumbled upon her musings regarding out attempt at kung fu. She is wise in her words and wondrous in her heart, but she has poked me repeatedly about expressing my own thoughts in this Forum.

Thus I come before you, humble readers, with thoughts, impressions, and insights however relevant or beneficial.

Kung fu in a word. Ow.

The pain is not exquisite, as one might poetically hope for, nor so incapacitating that I have missed work because of it, despite my best efforts. It moves muscles I had forgotten, calls upon reserves I had left untapped since I stopped playing soccer, and makes me work my brain and body together as I have not had to for many a year. It is, in this way, wonderful, for this is exactly the sort of thing I desired from physical exercise without quite knowing it. It beats lifting weights or jogging, though I find myself desirous now of doing double punches with metal strapped to my arms.

Nor is the pain completely physical. The second class (a week ago tomorrow) I nearly passed out. It's the first time that inhaling has made me feel sick outside of very high altitudes. It surprised me that I sat for what felt like a long time and still felt dizzy the moment I stood. I did not return to class, instead staying out in the lobby where hand holds were plentiful and practiced horse stance from there. I felt awful because I had missed the instruction and the valuable time in the room with the others. I felt guilty for having abandoned it altogether, as if I had somehow insulted both sifu and the school. Realizing the silliness of this did not diminish it; this was a class I hadn't even actually paid for yet, and I still felt like I was cheating myself.

Sifu has taken it easier since then, but I know that won't last. I could spend two weeks working on horse stance and its variations. The very traditional instruction methods, apparently, involved studying nothing else for three years (since the average age of monastery induction was around six, that makes sense), but modern schools have moved away from that, thank the gods. The firm foundation is key, however, and I clearly need it. It's a function of being older; I've a greater awareness of myself mentally and physically, and I understand far better how much I have to put in before I start getting out what I really want. I'm practicing stance and doing bursts of push-ups outside of class, but that's a manifestation of something else.

I want this. I watched a few of the more experienced students early on, and I found that I did not desire to do what they did because they could kick my ass. It wasn't the end that interested me. I realized I wanted to do what they did because I wanted to do it. I wanted to go through that form engaged by the motion, the energy, the focus, to be in the moment and nothing more. I suppose that's maturity. To desire desirelessness is, of course, the beginning of enlightenment (but let's not get into that...).

I'm finding things clicking. The stance becomes easier to find with each class, often within each class. The punches and fist shapes feel more natural. The muscles worked ache rather than throb. The movements between stances or the smooth flow of a block to a punch takes on an automatic quality - albeit one that vanishes as soon as my concentration wavers, but that's as it should be. One piece at a time the patterns of life erode and rebuild, the desires and expectations realign. It's a good thing.

Kung fu in two words. I'm in.

We're on Portland Center Stage's mailing list since I went to see The Pillow Man last year. Fantastic show. Blew my heart out. Now they send me their season, and once in a while, a comp ticket to entice me.

It's an amazing season. I predict trips to Portland to catch some of these. We've heard particularly good things about Storm Large. So her show looks intriguing. And wow, Frost Nixon! Even without Frank Langella. Wow.

I'm stoked.