Happy Birthday Michael!

Today is my nephew Michael's birthday. I wanted to wish him a happy birthday. I wish him all the best on his special day and look forward to visiting with him next weekend.
Happy birthday Michael! I love you!

Pen Clipart

In our last installment we brought you a small collection of pencil clipart, great for use in school-related imagery. Because kids have to use pencils in elementary school before they learn to write with other utensils, since kids naturally make a lot of mistakes. But today we're building on that school theme by bringing you some pen clipart images.

I really like pens. Not just regular Bic pens that you buy in bulk or whatever, but high quality expensive pens. I love to collect them, hold them, put them on dispay, and sometimes even write with them!






The above clipart are declared public domain clipart, posted courtesy of http://www.clker.com/. Visit them for more great public domain clipart.

My Insanity Journey UPDATE: Final Week of Round 1, USAF PT Test, & Upper-Cross Syndrome

I’m fast approaching the end of my first round of Insanity. Yes, I did say, “first round” because I plan on doing it again and again and again and maybe again after that! LOL! I really love the workout and it has helped me change my body, as well as my mind, and hopefully my life.

This week I had my Air Force annual physical fitness assessment. I passed my test with the best score of my entire 13-year military career! I scored an 85! I received max points for my waist measurement, push-ups, and sit-ups! But, the 1.5-mile run was still my nemesis. Even though I knocked 45 seconds off last years time; I was still under-satisfied with my run performance. Insanity did not really help me in that regard. I have come to the conclusion that, in order to be able to run, you have to get out and run. There is no substitute for running. I really don’t like running, but will have to get out and do it, if I want to improve my run time. Insanity did help me improve every other aspect of my fitness level on the test. I have a 31.5-inch waist (down from a 38-inch waist!!!!); I did 52 push-ups, and 54 crunches. Insanity really helped me, waist and strength wise, but I will have to really train for the run.

Now, since I have been on Insanity there has been one problem I have noticed with these workouts. The workouts, along with my lifestyle, have caused me to developed upper cross syndrome and it has really been an annoyance. The best way to describe upper cross syndrome (UCS) is seeing that old person who's standing up, but appears to be falling over. You know, their head shifted forward, shoulders rounded, and they look like a hunchback. The reason why they look like that is because of a muscular imbalance between the flexors and extensors of the upper torso. UCS is the weakening and lengthening of the posterior upper-back and neck musculature, and the tightening and shortening of the anterior and opposing musculature.

The way to tell if you might have UCS is you may feel an ache or severe burning sensation in the upper-back, between the shoulder blades, at the base of the back of your neck. You can place two fingers at the top of your right shoulder and feel for a bony notch that protrudes from it. That's your acromion. Now grab a ruler and lie on your back on the floor, your right arm resting alongside your body. With your left hand, measure the distance from your right acromion to the floor, being careful not to raise or lower your right shoulder. If the distance is more than 1 inch, you have UCS. Another method would be to have a friend take a picture of you, shirtless, from the side. Stand tall, but in a relaxed position, the way you would if you weren't thinking about your posture. Check to see if the middle of your ear is in line with the middle of your shoulder, hip, and ankle. If you can't draw a straight line through these points, then you have UCS.

Poor posture, such as slumping over a computer or slouching, contributes to the development of UCS. See, the average human head weighs 8 pounds and if your chin moves forward just 3 inches, as it tends to when you work at a computer, the muscles of your neck, shoulders, and upper back must support the equivalent of 11 pounds. That's a weight-bearing increase of 38 percent, often for hours at a time.

The shoulder (upper-back) is the most complex and unstable joint in the human body. For it to function properly, you need to train all the muscles that help stabilize it. The trouble is that Insanity fails to isolate work the shoulders and back. Some of the exercises target the front and middle portions of the deltoid, but neglect the smaller muscles at the back of the shoulder joint. The result is a strength imbalance, which makes the shoulder less stable. The correction of this problem involves the strengthening of the weakened posterior musculature and stretching of the tight anterior musculature.

A lot of experts feel that a good stretching program, such as Yoga, is essential to both preventing and correcting UCS. In particular, the pectoral muscles and anterior shoulder muscles must be stretched often, especially following training of these muscle groups. Furthermore, a conscious effort should be made to maintain correct posture when walking and sitting (shoulders pulled back, head, neck and back straight). This practice is especially important for those working in an office setting and sitting at a desk in front of a computer all day long. The tendency is to slouch forward with head bent. To help support proper posture when working at a desk, the computer monitor should be at eye level, keyboard should not be too far in front of the body so that shoulders can be kept back, and feet should be flat on floor with a 90-degree bend at the knees.

Insanity doesn’t really address this back and shoulder area at all, but P90X does! So, I will be starting a P90X-Insanity hybrid program after a recovery week, once I finish my first round of Insanity. Hopefully P90X's YogaX and the back and shoulder workouts will help get my back right again… We will see!

I will keep you all posted on what happens once I start. Until then, I will keep digging deep and pressing play! I will be posting my final results and before and after pictures soon!

Late

S

P.S.

If you are suffering from UCS, here are the sources for this article, which have awesome info on the how’s, what’s, why’s, and treatments for this syndrome:

http://www.menshealth.com/men/fitness/muscle-building/posture/article/98b871957cb98010VgnVCM200000cee793cd

http://www.myyogaonline.com/videos/workplace-wellness/upper-cross-syndrome

http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/Avoid_upper_cross_syndrome_and_maintain_rotator_cuff_stability.htm

http://www.mmatraining.com/fitness/posture-up-dealing-with-upper-cross-syndrome/

fossil of the weekend! #69

a cast skeleton of Euoplocephalus and a (crazy!) pursuing Albertosaurus, at the royal tyrrell museum.

Suspicion

I've been adding classic movies I've never taken the time to watch into my Netflix queue. Today I watched Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Fontaine won an Oscar for this film.
If you're not familiar with the film, it's about Lina (Fontaine), a shy woman  from a wealthy family, who meets handsome gambler Johnny (Grant) on a train and falls head over heals for him. But after a whirlwind romance and elopement, Lina's happiness slowly turns to dread as she discovers the true nature of Johnny's carefree ways and gets a glimpse at his dark past.
I must say that Suspicion is another example of why Hitchcock is a master film maker. The lighting, the camera angles, the editing, and storyline - all of these things attest to Hitchcock's genius. He is able to get actors to communicate so much with a simple hand gesture or a facial expression.
I must admit that I was a little disappointed by the movie's ending. I was expecting something different. I thought Cary Grant would end up doing something totally different at the end of the film. I also thought there would be a twist or a hint that leaves you wondering. I thought it might end similarly to the movie Basic Instinct. I was glad that there was a special feature on the DVD that explained that Hitchcock himself did not like the ending of the film. He wanted a totally different ending that was closer to the original book and lobbied hard for it. Unfortunately, the RKO studio executives did not let Hitchcock have his way. So, instead Hitchcock put little hints (the writing and mailing of letters) in the movie to allude to what he really wanted to happen at the end of the film.
I also loved that Hitchcock lit a glass of milk (a key prop in the story) from the inside out using a battery operated light bulb. This allowed it to literally glow and stick out during the filming of a critical scene. My other favorite bit of trivia is that Hitchcock's dog has a cameo in the movie. The dog's name is Johnny (in real life) is Johnny which is also the name of Cary Grant's character.
If you ever get a chance to see Suspicion, I highly recommend it. It played right into my natural paranoia. I could see myself in the Joan Fontaine role - wondering, worrying, thinking the worst. (It's not easy being me.)
Anyway, I'm on to my next Netflix DVD - the first disc of season 5 of 24. I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

A Hankering for Horticulture

A Hankering for Horticulture

With Mother's Day a memory, gardeners in many regions of the Northern Hemisphere are digging out tools and dusting off green thumbs.

It's time to plant.

What are your favorite annual flowers? Have you filled those patio pots yet?

My own fingers are itching to dig in the dirt, as my perennials are springing forth in great green bounty.

Buds are appearing

TGIF

I am grateful that the weekend is here. It's been a good week at work; however, I also feel like I just need a break. My only plans this weekend are to do some errands, try out another church, take a nap, and watch some of my Netflix movies.
I want to recharge and relax. I want to be able to experience some down time because the next few weeks are going to be very busy. I hope to enjoy some time just to be and not have to do anything.
I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!