Apparently

Chair yoga is not for me. I used to do yoga back in the day when I could get up from the floor fairly easier, and I really enjoyed it and found it beneficial. I thought chair yoga would be great, so I went to a library programme, but I didn't think about how much arm work there would be, things like raising the arms above the head and hugging yourself. I have one torn long head on the biceps tendon and the rotator cuff is also torn on the right which was never repaired; on the other side both have been torn in a fall and repaired, but it has been hurti for awhile, so I've been wondering if I should go back to my orthopaedist. I still have range of motion issues on that injured side and probably always will. There's only so much moddification I can do. I did modify the legs a little. I didn't put my lower legs on my thighs, as that does hurt, even after knee replacement, although I can do it briefly. But my back hurts today from doing the twists, and I had to get dog food and cat litter today. Even though the food was 18.5 lbs and the cat litter was 'lightweight' (the torn rotator cuff/biceps tear on the right was from pulling regular cat litter off a shelf, so I'm really careful with that and only use the lightweight, but it's only 10 lbs. difference). So everything kind of hurts today, even with Tylenol. I'm signed up to do it again next Saturday. I'm thinking maybe not. If I do it, I may stick with books and at home videos where I can modify in peace. I know it's not a competition, but it feels like I'm failing if I don't try to do them as demonstrated in front of other people. And I suffered for that idiocy today.

Oh, it's nice

to take my shoes off and get into some comfy clothes. I'm in for the night until 7 am, when I go pick someone from work. I managed to get week #7's homework (videos and podcasts) finished for class, but still have the last week's topic of mashups and miscellaneous Web 2.0 concepts to go.

I just helped someone make a wonderful honey-soy sauce and tofu. I'm eager to try it for myself. It has honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, cayenne pepper, and ginger in it, and boy does it have a zing.

The nice Indian couple across the hall have moved out. They were good neighbours and always filled the hallway with good smells of cooking. They even got Cerys a bag of dog food at one point because it is the custom in their culture to feed animals, which are seen to be close to God.

Speaking of animals, I visted D last Friday and played with her new kitten, Claire, a 6-week-old tortoiseshell. I found out today that Claire later had to be euthanised after suffering from coccidiosis. That's a shame. They're going to wait awhile before getting another kitten. Their 3-year-old son doesn't really understand where the kitten has gone, though, and their dog seems a little depressed. But it really hit D the hardest, I think.

The link above goes to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is offering free access for a year to bloggers who want to link to their content. I guess they want to compete with Wikipedia. It's a great deal--you just sign up and they verify that you blog regularly, etc. You can sign up yourself at: Encyclopaedia Britannica WebShare.

Okay, that's all for now.

Yipee! You actually get textual content tonight!

I'm home at a semi-reasonable hour tonight. So, here are some random things I needed to blog about:

1. Shane Ragland, who had been convicted of murdering UK football player Trent DiGiuro in 1994, but that conviction had been overturned because a forensics expert lied on the stand, was set for his second murder trial when he copped a plea for second-degree manslaughter instead. The authorities are recommending an eight-year sentence, but with credit for time served, so he'll be out in three days.
   
   I can understand why he took the plea bargain--he was facing life in prison for using a scoped rifle to shoot and kill DiGiuro who was out on a balcony with friends celebrating his 21st birthday. My first thought was why on earth did the Fayette Commonwealth's Attorney offer it? Apparently it was to protect the main witness, who had been under the protection of state and federal agencies, but this could be done only once. Still I don't get it. Wouldn't she be safer with Ragland behind bars?
   
   The defence of course maintains Ragland's innocence, saying that he had to say he did it to get out of jail, basically. What a load of crap. Either you plead guilty because you did it, or you plead innocent because you didn't.
   
   At the time of DiGiuro's death, I lived two blocks away, near campus. It shocked the community that anyone would do this. Now the guy's going to just walk? Argh. My thoughts are with DiGiuro's family. It's been an emotional rollercoaster and I'm sure this isn't how they wanted it to end, although I guess it's good he did serve some time.
   
   
2. On a lighter note, the moon is high and beautiful and full overhead, but later on tonight there will be a full lunar eclipse. It'll be near morning, which might affect viewing. I'm not sure if I want to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning to watch, but thought I'd put it out there for any of you who want to watch it. The high point I think is 5:52 EDT.
   
   
3. My neighbour across the hall, who is Hindu, came up to me and told me that in her religion they feed animals because they are close to God, and she didn't have any and neither did her friends. Her family is far away. So she wondered if it would be okay to get food for my dog and if so, what kind do I feed her? I told her that would be fine, but I was pretty sure it had beef in it and I didn't know if that would be a problem. I looked at the ingredients and there it was. She said she'd check with her mother (she seems pretty young, in her early 20s). Apparently it was alright because this morning next to the newspaper there was a bag of food for Cerys. So Cerys benefits and so do we. That's very nice of them. I must find a way to thank them (although I wish they'd feed me; I constantly smelling wonderful smells of Indian food when I pass their apartment). :)
   
   
4. I worked 10 hours Saturday but I'm off from the store today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. Yay! Maybe I can get some rest.
   
   
5. Despite the heat and drought, I've seen lots of butterflies lately. I love them. My middle name, Eilir, actually means butterfly in Welsh. They're wonderful examples of transformation.
   
   
6. I'm beginning to get stuff out of the library. I have boxes of books in my new closet, and I'm putting the journals that have been weeded on a cart to go back to the compactor (and yes, I did offer them to other libraries first). Emptying that shelving unit gives me room for things that were on my small bookshelf, which will be going away. Eventually my desk will be back with that larger shelf. I need to keep room for acquisitions to be processed, though.
   

That's all I can think of right now.