We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Temperamentally, I always had respect for my elders despite some adolescent rebellion and stupidity which lasted too long.
In college, we all had to read The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Code of Hammurabi, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Hesiod, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Old Testament, and lots of more modern things like Plato. Foundational things. Yeah, parts of the New Testament too. Good (required) intro to everything wonderful. I had a good liberal arts education but we were too young and stupid for it.
Do American colleges have lots of lectures nowadays - not for credit, but just for general interest outside of politics? I don't know. I am grateful for Youtube.
I was interested then, but it was more dutiful. Now I have a different sense of time. Gilgamesh feels recent.
This guy tells you lots about the Gilgamesh epic but too little of the story and maybe too much about the archeology. All fun:
2:14a: But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them,
2:36 "Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified."
2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"
2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
2:39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him."
2:40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
2:41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.
Admittedly, they contain almost no nutrition but when they are good (rarely, unless home-grown varieties), they are great to eat anyway.
Around a week ago I started a bunch from seeds indoors. Odd varieties, yellow, purple, striped, and mico cherry tomatoes. They are already popping up in the potting mix.
The varieties of presentations under the umbrella of Schizophrenia worldwide is around 0.3 %. Not rare. There are no cures, but there are things than can help these people somewhat, if they want them. I do not know what % of the street people they represent.
In the old days, non-functional and irrational people were kept in the attic or basement, or situated in asylums and sanitariums. With modern medicines, people can do somewhat better if they accept treatment and reasonable support for a lifetime. In the US, that is voluntary.
Like the author of the article, a good pal in my freshman year in college descended into psychosis. I watched the darkness and dysfunction descend until his parents took him home. Tragic. I wonder what happened.
I think about 5 hours is all, maybe 6, over this weekend. It's Spring here, so time for weekend functional movementss instead of gym. Unlike gym, beer is permitted here. But damn, my wheelbarrow broke so more deadlifts than I wanted.
- Till vegetable garden (mostly for tomatoes, but some squash too despite the f-ing squash borers) with shovel, and prepare trenches for tomatoes in a month or so. I will like to put some annual flowers in there too, for fun. Also, Mouse Melons and cucumbers. Someday, I want to make an herb garden, but now I just stick them in pots or anywhere. Thyme is my favorite flavor, and it lives forever.
- Prune all shrubs, roses, peach tree, and fig tree.
- Fertilize all shrubs and the rhubarb patch too. Late to do that, but better late than never. Really should have dumped a pile of manure on the rhubarb before it emerged.
- Fertilize lawn. Man, my lawn is not up to snuff. I found a spot where the coyotes like to poop.
- Planted all of the indoor seasonal narcissi in the front garden
- Put wren houses out and repair Screech Owl nest box (too late for that?).
20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
20:20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
20:21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
20:24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
20:25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
20:26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."
20:27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe."
20:28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
20:29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
- An hour of physical activity daily, just walking, jogging, or swimming laps, is better than nothing. It's minimal to maintain functionality.
- You can't lose fat through exercise. That's about food.
I've been chatting with doctors lately - my cardiologist for my annual stress test (no symptoms, no problems) and the internist who works out in my gym at 5 am. Oh, and my pure weights friend who is my internist (he is buff at 60). They joke about people who do long/slow exercise instead of weights and HIIT, but they are wrong to disparage people who make the effort to do anything more than sit on their asses.
Of course, though, I know what the docs are talking about.
Let's just talk about cardiac fitness rather than just the ability to hike for 5 or 6 hours. The reasons to do "cardio" exercises are only secondarily for general endurance - they mean to address the heart muscle. That means Cardiac Output when needed, and improving heart vasculature (so you can maybe survive your first heart attack). People who just do "cardio" things do not build or maintain much strength.
That gets us to HIIT. HIIT is a serious cardiac stressor. It's sort-of fun too if you like to sweat. Yes, heavy weights are heart stressors too, but only for seconds. Our Maggie's calisthenics routines are too, to a degree, although they are more oriented to athleticism.
For people who like fitness, one way to do cardio days (assuming you do 2 weights days and 2 calisthenic/sports days) is to use the hour or so to mix in the HIIT with just trucking along. That's how the idea is designed to work anyway.
Low-Intensity Cardio Training: What Is It & How Does It Work?(Note that they assume that low intensity is just one part of a fitness program)
Eventually, we will all break down, get frail, and die (or die before we get frail), but why not make the most of today? Fitness is not about life span.
Another menu I just found from our October hiking trip in Provence. No choices - it was what the Chef wanted to do that night. Olive Oil Ice? Yeah. Quite amazing. But for me, it's all about the cheeses.
Legendary bad boy, the Earl of Rochester,
The 
An end to the reading wars?
The collector - 