Lessons in Humility

Soooo... I've been couch-ridden for almost a week and it's given me time to contemplate the meaning of the word "humility" as well as "humiliation." You see, I sprained my knee pretty damn bad by tripping on a cat scratching post one day, and then falling in the shower the next when the knee gave out.

Yes, you read that right. A cat scratching post.

Everyone I Know In The World: Wait, you're learning a variation of Muay Thai and it's a cat scratching post you sprain your MCL on? Really?

Me: Yes. >:(

ER Doctor: ... ooooo-kay. That's a new one.
Orthopedic Specialist: ... really?
Mother: ... like, what the cat scratches?
Friends: ... wait, the cat, or the cat's scratching post? Because cats can be evil, man, maybe they're trying to kill you. If they trip you, then you're down on their level and they can go for the jugular--

Me: *facepalm*

I've been told that I should come up with a cooler story, like I was doing a round-house kick to a 6'5" 300 lbs man's head and sprained my knee on his face, or I was back-flipping off a wall and landed wrong to avoid crushing a small child, etc. etc.

But, nope. I got nothing. Just me and a modern art wavy cat scratching post I bought from Target.

And now some crutches, and ibuprofen, and couch-surfing. Because in all seriousness, when I fell in the shower, Mr. Bay thought I was dead. First time I fell, the knee didn't hurt that bad, so I went about my business for the day. Second time (first fall in shower), I pulled a silent Nancy Kerrigan with gritted teeth on the bottom of the shower stall. Then I was an idiot and stood up on my good leg. My blood pressure dropped and I went back down like a wildebeest with a lion on its ass, complete with bloodless face, unblinking eyes, and no breathing for about ten seconds. Mum knows the technical term for it, but all Mr. Bay knew was PANIC, so I've been on my best behavior since trying not to give him an ulcer.

That also means I'm antsier than a two year old with a sugar high from the enforced inactivity, and surfing the web for marathons to run in the fall while I sigh heavily and glare at the confines of my living room. So if I can focus for more than five seconds on one thing, I might finish some of the stories on my to do list. Or, conversely, I might go back to pushing myself around the house in circles on our wheeled-ottoman making pirate noises and chasing the cats.

It's 50-50 at this point...

Free non-fiction e-books

I just thought I'd mention this for any non-fiction e-book fans wandering through:

The National Academies Press offers literally hundreds of free PDF versions of their publications. I think it's mostly the bestsellers that they charge for the PDFs, but even then they usually let you read the book online (html frame) for free.

I generally hang out in the Conflict and Security section, but they have the whole spectrum of sociology, science and technology too. If you're a student, it's a great research resource, and if you just like to keep learning, they have so many topics of interest, your head will explode :)

Describe yourself in pictures

Rules:

01. Answer each of the questions below the cut using the [Flickr] search engine.
02. Choose a photo from the first three pages.
03. Copy the URL of your favorite photos [here]. (J's note: Flickr users can opt out of Big Huge Labs, so I would save the list of URLs separately before pasting them into the mosaic maker. If you get a blank square and try to navigate back, it clears the form and you have to start all over again.)
04. Then share with the world.



01. First Name
02. Favourite Food
03. Hometown
04. Favourite Colour
05. Celebrity Crush
06. Favourite Drink
07. Dream Holiday
08. Favourite Dessert
09. What I Want To Be When I Grow Up
10. What I Love Most In The World
11. One Word That Describes Me
12. My LiveJournal Name

quick note

This video makes me wish I wasn't allergic to Dove soap. Well played, Dove. Well played.

Weekly Zen brought to you by Yogi Tea

As previously stated, Mr. Bay leaves his Yogi tea tags around like a ferret hoardes shiny things:

Always be pure, simple and honest.

Be kind and compassionate and the whole world will be your friend.

You must know that you can swim through every change of tide.

Serve humanity so that people feel we are kind to them.

Inspiring others towards happiness brings you happiness.

Unite with your higher self and create a friendship.

There are three values: Feel good, be good and do good.

If you unconsciously live a conscious life, you can never be poor.

Provoke, confront, elevate.

The beauty in you is your spirit.

Those who want to be prosperous must first make others prosperous.

There is a beauty in your presence. Show who you are.

Real happiness lies in that which never comes nor goes, but simply is.

Deep tea thoughts...

So much for my resolve to post every week :) In my defense, both me and Mr. Bay have been quite ill of late, with a nasty tummy bug.

I myself prefer the smooth roasted flavor of hoji-cha green tea, but my One Twu Luv prefers Yogi brand Licorice Root tea. I freely admit that I cannot digest anything produced by Yogi tea, if only because I am allergic to most of their filler herbs. Alas, poor heartburn, I knew it well.

But Mr. Bay enjoys his tea everynight before bed, and has this habit of leaving tea bag wrappers and the little tea tags in small piles around the kitchen, for me to discover as I go about tidying things (OCD, moi? Just because everything has it's place. And it's proper angles. And it's proper proximity to each other...)

This week's little ferret hole of discovery:

Experience your own body, your own mind and your own soul.

Without realizing who you are, happiness cannot come to you.

Delight the world with your compassion, kindness and grace.