Clever Manka is dressed and undressed

All these links I'm posting for posterity/my own reference when I can finally push my body again. Not sure whether they're motivating or depressing. Anyway. Working into middle/side splits.

I tried one of my fancy new serger stitches this weekend and it didn't work, but I did learn some things. I'm much more confident about a successful re-thread of the machine happening within three attempts, and cover stitch takes a really long time to rip out and leaves holes in your fabric. But hey! Practice.

You might consider checking out the Alameda county fair pig race that Mallory Ortberg posted on the Toast today.

I'm not sure if I lost my box of Clever Manka calling/business cards or if I actually gave away 100 of those things. In any case, I need to order more if I want them for Con*Strict which dear god is so much sooner than I'm ready for. This weekend is mckitterick's birthday weekend (also the first full weekend he's home since May 23rd), next weekend I'm in Indy visiting my parents, and then...Con*Strict. Not a lot of time to get stuff done for it.

I would like to make myself some travel clothes. The dress I put together this weekend came out super cute (despite the failed cover stitch) and I'd like to have two of those to take, along with some re-fashioned leggings, but...there's also the fact I learned this weekend that this con is small enough I get to make my own badge for it. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT. Oh hell yes.

More opportunities to practice art! What a fun thing and rare to make my own con badge. Definitely something Mad Max themed. Pretty sure I'm gonna use this image as the base. ALSO I found someone who says she'd like to receive the altered portrait of Furiosa when I finish it. Knowing I have an owner lined up for a piece of art is so helpful for me. Obviously the portrait isn't even gonna get started before I return from Las Vegas. And the badge obviously has the priority before new clothes. If only I didn't have this pesky day job.

Seriously, though, looking at the calendar of my current vacation days for July, I'm only in the office thirteen days for the month. That will get my accrued vacation time below 200 hours for the first time in five years.

Mostly for my own records, but if anyone else can use this info all in one post, awesome.( Cut for a bunch of embedded videos )

Monday
First five poses of progression to Hanumasana

Wednesday
Yoga for menstrual issues, cobbled together from recommended poses here.
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Balasana
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana
Supta Baddha Konasana
Janu Sirsasana
Marichyasana III
Supta Padangusthasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Balasana
Viparita Karani

Thursday
Om Chantress SI Joint Happiness

Friday
Progression to Hanumasana (I fucking love this series)

Saturday
Self Myofascial Release, focusing on hips

Until I get my appointment with the MovNat guy in KC, here is a set of body-straightening exercises to help alleviate internal rotation issues before a workout. I love how Breaking Muscle sometimes seems to magically intuit what I need.

I think I will never fully grasp the ability of humans to insist that the world (and other people) are other than what they themselves want the world to be. There are people who've known me for more than a decade who insist on my treating them as superior just because of their status. No, dude. I don't respect anyone who doesn't respect me as an equal human being.



Those fancy letters after your name don't make you better, smarter, or more deserving of deference. To be honest, the only thing those fancy letters after your name tell me is that you spent some time studying one particular thing. I'll recognize you as more informed about that one subject, and that's pretty much it. TBH, I think that attitude is what has made me so successful in this job and respected by the people in university-level administration roles.

I forgot to post my Intentional Movement Report last night, so I put it up this morning and backdated it to last night. If you want to check it out, it's here.

I am not a fan of pre-workout static stretching. I know I get lessened results when I do it. If I need loosening up for a particular lift, I do myofascial release. But I do think static stretching can be used effectively in mobility work. After all, certain types of yoga can be seen as static stretching. Breaking Muscle posted an article about using static stretching for lifting heavy. I think one of the most important parts is the last paragraph: Having a thorough and regular stretching routine will keep your body more injury resistant, prevent compensation patterns or overuse of a muscle from occurring, and allow you to feel stable and balanced during your lifts.

Consistency in any exercise or movement program is crucial. A few weeks (months?) ago, I decided to focus my daily intentional movement on yoga and mobility. I've seen some fantastic progress in my regular yoga practice since then. It's been so impressive that when I return from Atlanta, I'm going to incorporate a more regimented program. I'll have three specific series that I'll do once every week, preferably on regular days. One day will be SI Joint Happiness, one day will be progression to Hanumanasana, and one day will be a yet-to-be-found/created series that focuses on upper body and core strength/stabilization. I'll do at least one myofascial release session a week and at least one free-for-all yoga day a week. Any additional days (if I get in more than five days in a week) will be one of those latter two options.

Fun!

In other body news, I found the culprit for my abdominal pains. I forgot to take it yesterday morning and felt fine all day. Took it with dinner and within half an hour had slight gas/cramping discomfort that lasted until about 9am this morning. I'm decreasing the dosage to one scoop instead of two and only taking it at night for the next three days. I'm not going to bother bringing it to Atlanta at all. When I get back, I'll resume the one scoop in the evening until I feel fine with that dosage and then gradually work my way up to two scoops twice a day. One of the nice things about managing my health with supplements instead of pharmaceuticals is being able to play around with dosages so easily.

How's this Monday treating you all?

It's Friday! Before we party, let's start with body stuff.

First, a recommendation find: Overhead squats are my most feared (yes, feared) lift. Frankly, they terrify me. I'm a bit unsteady in even a basic weighted squat, but I feel downright unstable in the overhead squat and I have actually fallen over backward while in the bottom of one. With weight overhead. In a full squat. I am still proud of myself for bailing out under it correctly and nobody was hurt, but still. The overhead squat is really, really scary to me. If you're in the same boat, the trouble might not all be in your hips. Here are a couple mobility drills to open up your thoracic spine which will allow that gorgeous, broad, open chest and strong uplifted arms that are crucial to a successful overhead squat. I'm going to add at least the first one to my Restorative Yoga Collection because honestly it looks gloriously soothing.

Next, a personal find: I mentioned a little bit ago about my newly-smooth thumbnails after decades of them looking like tiny washboards. I now have little half-moons under my fingernails. Used to be I only had half-moons under my thumbs and the fingernails were just solid pink beds. No more! Circulation and oxygen supply must be vastly improved because I have at least a suggestion of a moon under every finger. The pinkies are barely there, but they're there! So exciting! Visible progress like this is incredibly rewarding.

Yesterday was my monthly supplementation consultation with Dr. Jonah. We're phasing out the digestion treatment, continuing with the endocrine support (decreasing amounts on that was an informative experiment but not one I'm going to repeat for a while), and starting work on gut flora--clearing out overgrowth and bad stuff as well as re-populating the good stuff. If this helps my abdominal swelling issues, it will make having my period at 221B Con so much easier.

Last night I slept pretty well. Cramps woke me only twice, and the second time I was able to fall back asleep after taking a Naproxen. SLEEP IS SO GOOD. But before bed (and by "before bed" I mean "immediately after eating dinner"), I settled myself into bed with herbal soothers, a heating pad, and my laptop to indulge in some fic-reading. I'm going through an old LJ community for due South fic recs and found this story that was really touching and a slow build to some very steamy and sweet sex. The comm has been inactive for more than ten years, so a lot of the URLs don't work anymore. I'm glad that one did. Sorry I can't give you the comm name--I have it as an open tab on my home computer and I can't find it in an LJ search.

Update on that DIY Vitamin C Serum I mentioned a couple weeks ago: It's pretty fucking amazing. I just upped the percentage of LAA to 10% in the batch I made last night, but even at 5% I was seeing skin quality improvement. In fact, last weekend mckitterick said something like "I don't know what you're using on your face lately, but your skin looks twenty years old." Granted, I have anti-aging genes and not a lot of wrinkles, but the little pre-crow's-feet lines next to my eyes are gone and my naso-labial folds are as minimized as they're going to get on someone with my size nose and cheekbones. Also, just the overall skin quality is improved. And because of the tiny bit of glycerin included in the mix, I don't have to use any sort of additional moisturizer. I'm going to have to be super careful about slathering on the SPF this summer, though. Probably gonna switch to this SPF this summer to avoid those chin-breakouts I'm prone to.

If anyone local wants to try the serum for themselves, I'm willing to part with a half teaspoon of the LAA powder I ordered to get you started. Once mixed, it's good for a week before it deteriorates. But it will give you a sense of how your skin reacts. Bring your own dropper container, though!

I'm all alone in the office today \o/ and am very much looking forward to the weekend. I am dreading the task of getting the house organized for the student-recruitment visit reception on Monday. Thinking we probably would feel better getting that out of the way as soon as possible, but I'm pretty sure we'll put it off until Sunday night just like I said I didn't want to but it's the weekend.

Five basic movements (shockingly, not from Breaking Muscle--thanks, splix for sharing that on Tumblr) to keep from being the bad sort of stiff.

I am so relieved that it's Friday I can't even tell you. So. Relieved. I've been going to bed at 9pm the past few nights and waking up just a bit before 7am. It's fantastic that I'm able to sleep that much, but I'll be happy when I don't need to sleep that much. We're boxing tomorrow, but I don't imagine I'll be doing much bag work, and sparring is out for a couple more weeks.



So much I want to do this weekend that I've put off for three weeks 'cos of the flu and recovering from the flu. Making a pair of commissioned bloomers, making some freeze-able food for some friends going through a rough patch, catching a movie (either Jupiter Ascending again or Kingsman for the first time), as well as all the normal weekend stuff--laundry, grocery shopping, food prep. All that while being conscious not to wear myself out and set myself back further with the healing process.

God. Bodies.

I'm also pulling together the final elements for the Sebastienne Moran cosplay I'm taking to 221B Con in April. I think it's gonna look pretty hot and scruffy (my favorite!). Wish my arms and shoulders were in the same shape they were this time last year but oh well (I can still sort of see my triceps when I flex them?). I'll be up to sparring with mckitterick by then, and maybe we can time a session so any arm bruises will be in fine form for the con. It would be so great if there were a Moriarty willing to take slashy pics with me. I feel like such a creeper, though, asking someone I don't know to do a suggestive photoshoot. I mean, how does one go about asking a near-stranger "Hey so I have this idea that involves us switching dominant/intimidating poses with each other because we all know Moriarty and Moran have a seriously fucked up relationship--wanna put that on film and share it with the entire internet?" One doesn't. At least not when one is me.

I might put some sneak peek pics of me in the costume up before the con. It's always good to get a test run of a costume, even when it's not terribly involved. Also, if we take pics in the back yard, I can pose with my rifle.