Friday, February 20, 2009

Lackluster Veteran??

Today I took a survey on my use of new Internet technology and found out I'm classified as a "Lackluster Veteran" - part of the group of older faithful Internet users who find themselves overwhelmed with new forms of communication and not so willing to try them all out. What a creepy label!

Try it yourself at the Pew Internet Project's Internet Typology Test and tell me what they call you!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Mary is 109 today!


Today is a great day - Mary is 109 years old and she knows it! I congratulated her this morning on reaching 109 and told her that she will have visitors today. On anyone's birthday, she has always asked the person how they feel about being that old, so today I asked her. She said she doesn't know how she feels about being 109, then she thanked me for coming to see her.

Her spirit is still strong on her good days, and today is one of them. It is a blessing to know her.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Celebrating Lincoln's 200th Birthday


Last night we began the birthday festivities early by going to a Lincoln as Leader lecture at Loyola U by Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. I'm leery of authors who have glitzy websites, but she turned out to be a down-to-earth and fascinating speaker - maybe just like Lincoln. She had all my attention for the 45 minutes she spoke - everyone else's in two auditoriums, too. (I was too late to get free tickets to the main hall where she spoke, but we were able to get in to the "satellite" auditorium where we saw her on videotron.)

Since I have been reading selected Lincoln biographies in chronological order, the early authors have all referred to Lincoln's "homespun" humor without ever giving anything but very tame examples. But Goodwin does not have to be as circumspect, so she told a hilarious example of bathroom humor that was attributed to Lincoln. To me, that was worth the talk by itself - to find out just what "homespun" really meant. Maybe Lyndon Johnson was closest to Lincoln in that respect - earthy humor from the President!

The evening's MC seemed delighted to announce the dignitaries in the audience, particularly "The governor of the State of Illinois, the Honorable Pat Quinn!"

All in all, a wonderful way to observe the occasion - especially with a post-game dinner at Bakers Square, where it turned out to be "Wild Wednesday" - free piece of pie with every order!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

The Alexander Technique


Everyone pretty much knows that I have severe scoliosis (untreated), and I've had my share of back problems - although not more or worse than most people who don't have scoliosis. In my attempts to stay away from the orthopedic surgeon, I faithfully exercise on weight machines, try to keep my weight down, and keep my eye out for good practices for back strength and safety.

I've been aware of the Alexander Technique for some time, but thought it was only something that actors and other performers used. Last week I watched an old video, The Alexander Technique: Solutions for Back Trouble, that I found at a library (natch!).

This has lots of excellent suggestions! I'll pass along just one: when you are standing at a sink - brushing your teeth or peeling potatoes - open the cabinet door under the sink so you can rest your foot on the bottom shelf. If you've got a low drawer nearby, you can use that, too - pull it out and put your foot on it. Raising one knee when you rest your foot on something low changes the position of your back for the better when you're standing. Great idea for everyone.