How do you like my featherbed?

I think this would be a good time for a music meme...killer of boredom and all that...

List seven songs you are into right now, no matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to

1) "Delilah"- Dresden Dolls
2) "Sinister Grains"-Anoushka Shankar
3) "Seeing Red"-Edward Ka-Spel
4) "Hospitalistische Kinder / Engel der Vernichtung"- Einsturzende Neubauten
5) "L'echange"-Attrition
6) "Matty Groves"-Fairport Convention
7) "There is a Ghost"-Marianne Faithfull

If you've taken the time to read this far, consider yourself tagged...you know, if you want to. I'm not into forced surveys.

Oh...and in case you were wondering about the featherbed thing in the title...it's from the lyrics to Matty Groves...a traditional English folk ballad that I love which also happens to be playing on my myspace profile at the moment. (Yes, I've succumbed to the evil of myspace...my nearest and dearest friend is there. What's a girl to do?)

That is all.

Yoga

A while back, I was seeing an acupuncturist to deal with pain in my extremities. At the time, I assumed that the pain was arthritic but have since determined (with the help of my physician) that it’s a circulatory issue. I’m still using some of the therapies that the acupuncturist taught me, but what I’ve also found to be helpful is incorporating yoga into my daily routine…particularly the poses that require deep stretching.

I’ve been using a DVD called Yoga for Absolute Beginners by Marlon Braccia, and she has a routine for increasing flexibility. That one seems to be working the best since it generates more heat in the muscles than some of the other routines on the disk. The production quality is not very good, but the instructor has a soothing voice, and she does a great job of explaining correct posture and breathing techniques (which get passed over in a lot of beginner yoga DVDs…but they are hugely important). I also really like the pacing of the routine because it gives me time to really work the poses.

Birthday Video

I want to show off my birthday presents. Hee hee...

Paper Cranes, Pirates, and Presents!

My sister-in-law and I have been meeting on Thursdays to watch movies. So far, we've seen the Devil's Backbone, Welcome to Woop Woop, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Skeleton Key. There will be many more in the future, but last night we strayed from the course. Anneliese took me out for foo-foo chai with rasberries and whipped cream, and we had Chinese food for dinner. She taught me how to make paper cranes, and she let me play with her very cute and very hyper corgi puppies. There was a movie playing in the background, but I honestly don't remember much of it. I was distracted by the dogs, but I do know that it had Franka Potente in it. I always notice Franka Potente, because she's frelling drad.

When I came home, Christoph was wearing a black velvet pirate's hat. In his best scoundrel voice, he sent me on a treasure hunt to find eight items that he had hidden for my birthday. The first was the pirate hat which he plunked down on my head. I also found two temporary jolly roger tattoos, theatrical adhesive, two fake handlebar mustaches, a bowler hat, and...what I really, really wanted...a world war II bomber's cap! Yay!

I have a goofy grin plastered to my face, and I think there might be a need for a video in the future.

A Long-expected read

I’m finally reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I finished the Fellowship of the Ring on New Years Day, and this week I’ve been slowly working my way through The Two Towers. This is an excellent read, and I’ve grown extremely fond of many characters, especially Sam Gamgee.

The Barrow-Downs, a website devoted to Tolkien’s work, has a nifty name generator. I entered my full name, and it said that in Middle-Earth I would have been a respected Dark-Elf called Gorothchil. Other feminine versions could have been Gorothchiliel, Gorothchilien, or Gorothchildwen. I like all of those, actually, and I’m extremely pleased to be a dark elf.