in case you wondered: books i recently purchased
'the pain survival guide' and managing pain before it manages you. they have a good amount of overlap but they're both quite good. tips on relaxation/communication/importance of understanding limits and pain medications and appropriate amounts of rest and activity, not pushing yourself too hard and so on. some of this stuff seems obvious but it's helpful to have it broken down into a program - at least it is for me. the 'managing pain before it manages you' book even has downloadable relaxation mp3s, although i don't know how they are, i haven't downloaded them yet. (i'm going to make myself some mix cds before my trip. yes, cds. i like physical media.)
the painting path: embodying spiritual discovery through yoga, brush and color. it's kind of like 'the artist's way' for painting/visual art specifically. i especially like the yoga in this because there are modified versions for those of us (well, me) who can't do traditional floor poses - it's already written in. i know it can be done, but it's nice to find that it already has been taken care of and i don't have to figure it out on my own (which is good because that's a huge blocking issue i have with yoga as an exercise medium.) the first exercise is why i was playing with pastels a little while back.
julia's kitchen wisdom: essential techniques and recipes from a lifetime of cooking i love julia child (no, i haven't seen the new movie, but i did read it in book form and i've also read 'my life in france' which i think is where the julia child biographical bits came from) and i've been wondering where to begin (the art of french cooking is intimidating as hell) so i saw this in the grocery store of all places and bought it. it's bloody marvelous. she's very big on what i'm going to call 'technique cooking' - get down a certain technique and then modify it to get all kinds of variations instead of depending so heavily on individual recipes. i've read other books that use the same sort of approach - the essential vegetarian cookbook (by diana shaw) and the tassajara cookbook, which i think was one of the originals. i read that one as a teenager and it completely altered my worldview of cooking.
(i used to cook more often than i do. i'm trying to get excited about it again rather than just feel defeated by everything like i have lately. that's actually why i bought the julia child book and it was apparently PERFECT. i also bought a miniature-madeline pan and a nice serrated paring knife at that kitchen store.)
the painting path: embodying spiritual discovery through yoga, brush and color. it's kind of like 'the artist's way' for painting/visual art specifically. i especially like the yoga in this because there are modified versions for those of us (well, me) who can't do traditional floor poses - it's already written in. i know it can be done, but it's nice to find that it already has been taken care of and i don't have to figure it out on my own (which is good because that's a huge blocking issue i have with yoga as an exercise medium.) the first exercise is why i was playing with pastels a little while back.
julia's kitchen wisdom: essential techniques and recipes from a lifetime of cooking i love julia child (no, i haven't seen the new movie, but i did read it in book form and i've also read 'my life in france' which i think is where the julia child biographical bits came from) and i've been wondering where to begin (the art of french cooking is intimidating as hell) so i saw this in the grocery store of all places and bought it. it's bloody marvelous. she's very big on what i'm going to call 'technique cooking' - get down a certain technique and then modify it to get all kinds of variations instead of depending so heavily on individual recipes. i've read other books that use the same sort of approach - the essential vegetarian cookbook (by diana shaw) and the tassajara cookbook, which i think was one of the originals. i read that one as a teenager and it completely altered my worldview of cooking.
(i used to cook more often than i do. i'm trying to get excited about it again rather than just feel defeated by everything like i have lately. that's actually why i bought the julia child book and it was apparently PERFECT. i also bought a miniature-madeline pan and a nice serrated paring knife at that kitchen store.)