Pneumatised!

When you think you know all there is to know is the moment you are farthest from wisdom and enlightenment.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and wise woman
Brigid’s Flame

Saturday, March 11, 2006

Nathan and I made a small trip to the gym.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Seated row
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Back extensor

Free weights:
Bicep curl
Two shoulder exercises (no idea what they are called; someone showed them to me)
Wrist strengthening

We skipped out on the cardio as we were planning on going for a walk later. Next time we’ll probably do some more cardio work.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Nathan and I went for another mile run. My time was 8 minutes 55 seconds. Then we headed to the gym. Here’s the list of exercises I did.

Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Leg lifts
Back extensor
Stomach curls
Seated row
Seated leg extension (My knee hurt a bit after doing these and I don’t know why I did these. the doctor for my knee surgery warned me to be wary of this machine as it puts a ton of stress on the knee joint. I guess I just wanted to see if my knee was willing to do this. The machine works the quadriceps, but I guess I’ll just be happy with other ways of strengthening the quads.)

Free weights:
Bicep curl
Two shoulder exercises (no idea what they are called; someone showed them to me)
Wrist strengthening

I did some pushups – 5 variations of them (hands in triangle; hands wide, fingers pointed out; knuckle pushups; regular pushups; and finger pushups (I can’t do them full length yet, so I do them while doing side splits – less weight on the fingers). Total 100 pushups.

Then we did some cardio. I was tired but still managed to do the following.

Eliptical 0.98 mile in 10 minutes
Stair climber 34.6 floors in 10 minutes 15 seconds

Then, we did some stretching and headed home.

Friday, March 10, 2006

I skipped out on the do jang this week. I just wasn’t in the mood for it. As someone said to me, “you have nothing to prove”, which explains why I go when I feel like going and try not to freak out when I don’t go because others expect it. Frankly, I’m only concerned with what my Master thinks (because he’s such a great guy) and he isn’t complaining about my training. Besides, what with the running and the work I need to do, it’s just hard to keep up sometimes. In any case, training for the black belt test starts in May and it’s not like I’m being lazy eating “bonbons” every night.

Today, I went for a run. It’s good for my knee to run and I like getting out for some fresh air (or as fresh as it’ll ever be in this city). It helps clear my congestion from my allergies too.

I decided to go for a mile and a half run. This is probably the second time I’ve done it all in one run. I’ve been doing it split up into a half mile and then a mile. Today my time was decent – 12 minutes 55 seconds. It works out to 8 minutes 36 seconds for a mile. My time is getting better again. I think it has much to do with the cold weather. It just hurts alot to run in the cold, but it’s good for me to get used to it. Since I have to run the 10k in July, it’s good that I get used to running in the cold. I should end up running faster in the summer. Less weight on the body to run with and I don’t have to worry about my lungs and my ears freezing up on me. 🙂

I’m hoping in the next few weeks I should be able to run 2 miles. The one mile should really just feel like a warm-up, not my whole workout. Though I guess it doesn’t help that I have allergies and am congested on the days I’m at home working. Ah well… just love my kitties.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Spring is just around the corner! As the snow melts and the sun gets hotter and brighter as each day passes during this time of year, we start to breathe a sigh of relief having made it through the cold season. The spring equinox occurs when day and night are of equal length again (the autumn equinox being the other time) and each day thereafter the days grow longer. Spring is the time when the earth is fertile again and the plants begin to grow, therefore, spring is about beginnings and starting anew.

Spring equinox is also known as Ostara or Lady Day. Ostara is a Norse goddess of fertility and fecundity. One of her symbols is the hare and for obvious reasons another one of her symbols is the egg (fertility). Variant forms of her name are Eostra and Eostre from which is derived the term Easter. (Easter Sunday, by the way, is simply the first Sunday AFTER the first full moon AFTER spring equinox which would make it April 16 this year. Check it! It works every year.) Spring equinox is also termed Lady Day as this is the time of the maiden. The maiden being young and fertile herself is closely associated with the changes in the Earth at this time.

Spring equinox is still celebrated by many people, pagans and Wiccans being first to mind. From a Wiccan view, Ostara is one of the greater Sabbats and is a time for celebration. Rituals are held as close to the day as possible in order to show reverence and to celebrate the new season. This year Ostara is Monday, March 20. (Astrologically, the sun enters Aries at 1:25 p.m. EST.)

There are a variety of ways to celebrate the spring equinox. One particularly nice way is to wake up early and watch the sunrise. Light a candle and state what you wish to begin in this new season. It is also a good time to think of new ideas, plant new seeds in the ground or your mind, and make new plans for the upcoming year. As the spring equinox is also called Lady Day, pay your respects to the maiden goddess at this time. Remember that what you do for the spring equinox is auspicious for the rest of the year.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

Monday, February 27, 2006

I went to the do jang and helped teach poomse class. Then, I took the next taekwondo class, which was one hour or more traditional training. After, I took the half hour crazy kicking class, which loads of speed kicking

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

I went running. Nathan decided to join me. We ran 1 mile up Church to Yonge and Bloor. My time was 9 minutes 22 seconds. Then, we headed to the gym. Nathan signed up for a gym membership. Yay! We can now go workout together. Below are the exercises I did.

Leg press
Hamstring flexor
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Bicep curl
Tricep extensor
Leg lifts
Back extensor
Abdominal press
Seated row

Using free weights:
Bicep curls
Two shoulder exercises
Wrist strengthening

Cardio:
Elliptical

I did some pushups. We did some stretching and then headed home.

Thursday, March 2, 2006

I went to the do jang and took gumdo and taekwondo class.

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Nathan and I ran 1 mile to Yonge/Bloor via Church street. My time for the run was 8 minutes 53 seconds. Then, we went to the gym. Below are the exercises I did.

Leg press
Hamstring flexor
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Pull-ups (again military and parallel)
Dips
Chest press
Bar pulls (works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Pectoral press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift
Tricep extensor
Leg lifts
Back extensor
Seated row

Free weights:
Bicep curl
Two shoulder exercises
Wrist strengthening

Situps and side situps

Cardio:
Eliptical 0.97 mile in 10 minutes
Stair climber 20 floors in 10 minutes

Then, we did some stretching and headed home.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

“Don’t let the things you can’t do stop you from doing the things you CAN do”

MM,

I was searching online to see if Vision TV was going to show this docudrama again about the Inquisition, when I came across someone’s blog about it.

Here’s what this blogger wrote:

Vision TV Airs “Secret Files of the Inquisition”

Despite the fact that reputable historians have debunked the myths and lengends of the Inquisition, Vision TV airing of it 4 part Docu-drama miniseries “Secret Files of the Inquisition” perpetuates the “black legends”…It begins thus:

“It was a reign of terror that would endure for more than 600 years.

At the dawn of the second millennium, the Roman Catholic Church reigned supreme throughout the kingdoms of Europe. But by the 13th century, emerging Christian sects like the Cathars were challenging the Pope’s authority. To counter their influence, the Church unleashed a new weapon: the Inquisition.”

We should not be too surprised as a new wave of questions, concerns, antipathy, or attacks are forthcoming…

“Some scholars say the Inquisition exists to this day, in the form of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a Vatican office that was headed until recently by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – now Pope Benedict XVI.”

What we need today is another like Tomas de Torquemada…

The above is from http://slatts.blogspot.com/2006/02/vision-tv-airs-secret-files-of.html (Note: I do not want to have a trackback link to this blogger. If you want to see the original post, you’ll have to copy and paste the url.)

I quickly posted a response to that blogger’s entry. Here’s what I said:

“What we need today is another like Tomas de Torquemada…”

Why don’t people like you ever learn? Everyone has a fundamental right to follow whatever faith they choose. You cannot prove that one faith is better or worse than another, regardless of any books “written by God”. Gods don’t write books, people do. Your comment above is just sickening. There is nothing glamourous about needlessly killing and murdering innocent people for nothing more than a difference of opinion of beliefs.

Hope you enjoy hell when you get there.

I generally send blessings to people when writing to them, but frankly you don’t deserve any.

Notice that the blogger doesn’t even cite any “reputable historians”. Notice also the defensive stance the blogger takes regarding the docudrama as if he were being personally attacked. Does he actually expect people to believe the Inquisition never happened, like the Nazis claim the holocaust never happened? Sheesh. We don’t need any more Christian warriors or “God warriors” – between Marguerite Perrin and this blogger, I think the world has enough misguided fools. (By the way, Tomas de Torquemada was the Dominican priest who led the Spanish Inquisition. He was considered to be merciless and relentless in his pursuit of whom he considered to be heretics.)

“Can’t we all just get along?”

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Okay, have to admit it – I love eggs. They have loads of carbs and protein and for someone like me who works out so much sometimes, eggs are the number one food item to have stocked up. (Ask Nathan, I get down to two eggs left and have to run out and buy more.) I never thought anyone loved eggs as much as me until I saw this – Egg Song – on cuteoverload.com in their February archives. Be careful, the song will get stuck in your head all day long. Eggs, anyone? *crack* (BTW, it’s even funnier in the original Korean!)

Thanks to http://xandermol.com/?item=egg-song for the lyrics!

(Eggs… get your eggs here! Fresh and white eggs are here!)
Wiggle, jiggle, yellow middle
That’s the best of what you are `
(I love you, egg!)
White and tender, surround the center
Cozy, sitting in the crackling shell
(I love you)
Vitamins and minerals in you
Oodles of good proteins too
(Oodle doodle)
Popular and perfect and
So complete in every way
(I love you egg, egg!)
Come into my tummy
Oh so very yummy!
Crack, crack, crack, chip-a-chipaway your shell and come to me!
(Get your eggs!)
I love you (fresh eggs)
I love you (white eggs)
Really, really love you so
(Eggs, fresh fresh eggs!)
Eggs, I really love you like the sky above!
(Eggs are the best!)
I love you (fresh eggs)
I love you (white eggs)
Really, really love you so
(Eggs, fresh fresh eggs!)
Three-hundred and sixty-five days
I really love you so!
I really love you so!
(Mmm, yummy!)

And it just occured to me that Ostara is coming… hm… eggs!

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and egg lover
Brigid’s Flame