While my husband insists upon calling my “Word Lounge” the “Abode of Writeyness,” it actually has another moniker that dates back to January when I bought some weight equipment.

As someone who doesn’t keep “normal” hours, and doesn’t particularly like group exercise anyway, I determined that I needed some form of strength training in addition to the walking and dance warmups and calisthenics I was already doing, I found a weight machine that only cost $200, and I’ve been using it fairly regularly ever since.

The brand listed on all the documentation is some sports-equipment-y name I can never remember, but the name MARCY is stamped in friendly orange letters on the seat back.

Can you blame me, then, for thinking of the room as “Marcy’s Playground?”

It’s a dark, damp, dismal looking day outside. It’s the kind of day that makes health nuts storm into the kitchen, swallow whatever Orovo product is helping them get their groove on, eat some granola, and run three miles before breakfast, “so I can get it done before the rain starts.”

For me, however, it is a day in which I’ve already finished the article that was due, already posted a blog entry at All Things Girl, and am settling in to enjoy a day of reading, writing, and…I don’t know…rhythm I guess? It’s a weight day, exercise wise, and I always do a really energetic dance warm-up with music that even makes crunches fun.

No, really.

Meanwhile…I’m craving oatmeal, even though it’s already 73 degrees outside.

When I was very young, I used to watch my mother doing yoga in the living room along with Lilias, courtesy of PBS. I’ve got friends and net-friends who practice, and a yoga center just opened in the local shopping center I like to visit, but I’m not ready for a formal class yet.

I was pretty excited, therefore, when I got the chance to review a yoga dvd. It’s the “Gentle Practice” disc from RealBodyWork.com, and I’ve just finished my first half-hour session. I had to wait til I could breathe without coughing before I could try it.

Tonight, as a gentle rain fell beyond the window, I dimmed the lights and popped in the disc.

I was greeted by the teacher, a woman named Zyrka, whose manner and appearance reminded me very strongly of Donna Murphy’s character in Star Trek: Insurrection - very centered and serene, and with a sense of stillness that was extremely comfortable. Some exercise DVDs are intimidating; this one is not. From the moment Zyrka appeared on my screen, I was on board. She spends several minutes explaining how to dress (comfortable, movable, layers), and what equipment you need (a mat and yoga block are fine, but all you really need is a carpeted floor and a blanket). She stresses that you shouldn’t drink water (unless you’re pregnant) during the session, but MUST hydrate before and after, and she also goes through information like not to do inversion exercises if you have high blood pressure or during your period.

As I’ve been sick for a couple weeks, and, as posted earlier, am pretty tired today, and because I’ve never done yoga before, I chose to try the easiest shortest practice session, a 33 minute gentle workout for beginners. I’m a little too stiff in the knees for a couple of the poses, but I didn’t feel like I was straining. In fact, I feel pleasantly warm, and calm, but not tired, twenty minutes after completion.

Before actually doing a session I explored the DVD. There are six practice sessions available, a beginning series of roughly half, three-quarters, and a whole hour each, and a more challenging series of roughly the same lengths of time. The first one is mainly sitting poses.

There is also a pose guide, where you can work through the different poses at your own pace, to get a feel for how they should, well, feel. I explored that feature a little bit, and will look at it again before I do another session.

I’m really excited by this disc, and I think I’ll be adding a Sunday session to my week from now on. It just seems like the perfect calming/centering/stretching thing to cap a weekend and transition back into Monday.

I should add, that while I’m open to experiencing different spiritual traditions, some people are not. There is nothing of mysticism in this DVD. It’s all just being in tune with your body and breath.

Of course, now I’m hyper-conscious of my breathing, but that will pass.

The company that produces this yoga dvd, RealBodyWork, also makes a Tai Chi disc. I’m curious to see what that’s like.

Okay, so, I just received in the mail from Sara the most amazing bag that she made, because she’s amazingly talented. And I just realized that I never posted MY part of the PiF meme, so I’m doing it now.

To borrow from her:

It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward” where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

So here’s how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise!

I’m adding the caveat here that something handmade from me MAY end up being a short story or other piece of original writing, because I’m better at words than crafts. Then again, I do have some talents y’all don’t know about.

Oh, and for purposes of this meme, responses MUST be at the blog, NOT on LiveJournal.

The hope being, then, that YOU will pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

From my stepfather…

Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

So, what do a bunch of geeks (and one feisty old lady) do on a sunny Saturday? Believe it or not, we all abandoned our homes full of various devices connected with Cat5e cable, and went to a quilt show.

The show in question was called “Four Score and Seven Quilts Ago,” and while a good portion of the quilts were newly constructed, using the very latest in quilting machines from Baby Lock (which, by the way, were seriously cool, and if I had $5,000 to spend on a sewing machine, one would have come home with me, just to “have”), many were also antiques, and others were made in memory of relatives who had been conductors on the underground railroad.

There was an informal debate among us all day, about whether or not using a computer to make a quilt was “cheating.” Ms. Feisty thought it was, the rest of us took milder stances, ultimately agreeing that it was the act of quilting, rather than the method, that was important, though I think we all have great respect for the women who did - and do - still hand-piece, and hand-sew all their squares.

In addition to a display of quilts, which ranged from the cute to the questionable, from the truly awesome to the incredibly frightening (orange and neon yellow in an “ugly fabric quilt”) - my favorite was a wholecloth quilt that was white on white and looked like the inside of an ornate tray ceiling - there were vendors, including a stall selling hand-painted batik. I bought my mother a collection of batik quilt squares with brightly colored fish, because she’ll appreciate it.

She wasn’t with me at the show, but she was very present in my mind when we were there.

Ms. Eclectic invited us to go along with her as she takes the Divine Ms. R to see a quilt show, which also happens to feature a Civil War Re-enactment Camp. I mentioned the latter to my mother on the phone yesterday, and then added that I’d never experienced such a thing from the perspective of the South. “What do they do,” she wondered. “Change the ending so they win?” We both laughed, but I have to admit that I’m still curious. Still, Ms. E is a history goddess, so it should be interesting to hear what she has to say.

When I told Fuzzy what we were doing, I presented his alternatives: paint the kitchen, install roller shades in the offices, and measure the carpet hallway for new carpet. Is it any wonder that he chose quilts and faux soldiers over that?

Still the kitchen must be painted, and the carpet replaced before May, when my parents are coming for a visit, or I’ll hear about it forever.

The roller shades may have to wait, but I still want them. The vertical blinds don’t give me the option of blocking just the TOP of the window, during the afternoon when the sun is slanting in, and my computer screen becomes unreadable.

As to the quilts, well, I love fiber arts, and I love quilts. I’m looking forward to this.