Highlights of the day....

[fajrdrako]

1. I enjoyed rereading The Hedge Knight by George R.R. Martin, which is a short story prequel to the multi-volume "The Song of Ice and Fire", published in Legends, ed. by Robert Silverberg. I'd forgotten how much fun Dunc is, having been so immersed in the dark and complex A Song of Ice and Fire. The reason for rereading The Hedge Knight is that I got issue #2 of the comic - hadn't known that issue #1 was already out, and it didn't turn up on my subscription at the Silver Snail, as it should have. I'll have to track it down.
   
   
2. Had a nice long telephone conversation with Sandi about World Con, OSFS, life and everything.
   
   
3. I actually meditated again - let's see if I can do it for 40 days this time. Last time I tried, I stopped at day 34. That was when the blackout hit. Why did I stop meditation because there was no electricity? I don't know.
   
   
4. Did weights at the fitness club. It felt good. I was tempted to skip, but didn't. Couldn't think of a good enough excuse.
   
   
5. Had a blueberry donut at work, completely off my diet but oh so good. Just what I needed to get me thought a mountain of photocopying.
   
   
6. A great walk home along Elgin St., with thundrous clouds - though the actual thunderstorm didn't happen till hours later.
   
   
7. While walking, I am very much enjoying listening to the audio tape of Slightly Shady by Amanda Quick. It's sexy and witty and I like the protagonists; and the plot has me guessing, too.
   
   
8. For some reason, most of the books and tapes I had on request at the public library all turned up today. I had a full backpack and a shopping bad of library stuff. At least I won't be bored.
   
   
9. Beta'd the second chapter of isagel's wonderful Roman Clex novel. A treat to read.
   
   
10. Watched the little feathered guys being cute. (Is that quality time with my pets?) Domino was running marathons in his hamster wheel, getting puffy when he wanted to be. He's bigger than Wisdom now, but he still has childlike proportions - his head is far bigger than hers or Simon's. I wonder if that will change. Wisdom and Simon spent a lot of time grooming each other's heads. Pryde was a big white puffball with legs sticking out on bottom and beak sticking out in front.
    
    
11. Did some webbrowsing, found some great George R.R. Martin sites including one I'd never seen before that has exactly what I was looking for: character biographies from A Song of Ice and Fire, a site called Blood of Ice and Fire. Sort of a George R.R. Martin version of the Encyclopedia of Arda. I looked up Ser Barrastan Selmy and Jeyne Poole, and neither of them were who I thought they were. I noticed also that the character bios don't go through till the end of the action in A Clash of Kings - I wonder if that means the characters in that book aren't included.
    
    
12. While on this nice George R.R. Martin kick, I read part of the online synopsis of the reading he did at WorldCon, of chapters in the yet-to-be-published A Feast For Crows. I have seldom been so impatient for a book to come out - especially when it isn't even a Dunnett novel. (Write, man, write! I'm desperate here!)
    
    
13. While browsing Martin websites, I made note of the seven gods of the most widespread religion of Westeros - the one the Starks didn't follow. I got a few of them wrong when I was trying to remember them the other day. Can I do it now? The Mother, the Father, the Crone, the Maid, the Stranger, and the ones I keep forgetting, the Warrior and the Smith. One one of my Lois McMaster Bujold mailing lists the other day, people were talking about how her religion seems more authentic that those of other fantasy novels - it didn't strike me as being so much better than others, but maybe I'm missing a point. I certainly think George R.R. Martin's depiction of religion is interesting - mainly because there are a number of distinct and different religions in Westeros, each of them convincing.
    
    
14. I have a sore spot on my foot and don't know how to treat it. A hard, painful lump in the skin. Is that a corn?
    
    
15. Having been in pain for about three weeks and sleeping badly because of it, I suddenly felt much better today, and with my brain more in gear. Why? What was different? I've no idea.
    

Comments

A hard, painful lump in the skin. Is that a corn?

[(Anonymous)]

Try a dab of hand cream, after showering, or before bed, or some such.

Re: A hard, painful lump in the skin. Is that a corn?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a good idea, and easy to do. I'll try it.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

I have a sore spot on my foot and don't know how to treat it. A hard, painful lump in the skin. Is that a corn?

Yes, it sounds like it. Where is it, on the side of your foot near your toes? This is a common place for them. What you can do about it is browse the Dr. Scholl's stuff in a drugstore -- look for foam pads that you can cut to shape. It might be good to get the "ring" type, which will pad the area while not adding any height to the sore spot in the middle.

I hate to say it, but it sounds as if you might need new shoes.

Having been in pain for about three weeks and sleeping badly because of it, I suddenly felt much better today, and with my brain more in gear. Why? What was different? I've no idea.

Aww, that's sad -- I didn't know you've been living with pain for three weeks. I hesitate to ask if it has been from the spot on your foot, or something else...?

What is different is that Mars is no longer so frightfully close to our planet (but I'm not saying that has anything to do with anything), and the seasons have markedly started to turn, and there are different levels of light each day than there were just three weeks ago. But none of that should cause a person physical pain, eh?

I hesitate to conjecture, but did this have anything to do with your forty-day meditation/diet turn? It strikes me that it probably took something more than just whim to get you to stop it at 34 days. Was it not agreeing with you, physically? Or was something else going on that interfered...?

Regardless of causes, I do hope your pain lessens.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The corn actually started with my last pair of shoes - before I got the ones I'm wearing now. I'm hoping these will last another three months, but they're wearing out fast!

The pain that wakes me up is abdominal - same old story, it's happened off and on for decades: aching ovaries? Something like that. I blame a lot of the problems on hormones. Which fluctuate. But pain always causes stress, and saps the energy.

The diet and meditation was helping me to feel very good. So does yoga. Must practise more!

[blackbyrde.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I'm going to have to give George R.R. Martin a read then. I've seen his books in the store, but I think I stayed away from them because they were in a series (?).

Where's the sore spot on your foot? Heel? Ball? Toe?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to give George R.R. Martin a read then

I would recommend his books. Patti loves them too. If you don't like long works, you might want to skip them: they're complex, dense and dark. But brilliant. I can led you the novella "The Hedge Knight"; it gives you a flavour of the culture, though isn't much like the longer work except for that. Definitely a series: "The Hedge Knight" doesn't really count as part of the story, though it's the same region, culture and universe. The books to date are "The Game of Thrones", "A Clash of Kings" and "A Storm of Swords" with the next one that we are impatiently awaiting called "A Feast for Crows". It's important to read them in order - though I've heard of people reading them by following narrator chapter threads, and I think I might do that this time as I reread.

They are in fact quite gruelling. I think I can guarantee that characters you like will die. It's worth it, though.

The sore spot is on the outer edge of my right foot, about an inch from the little toe.

[msdaccxx.livejournal.com]

If it's on or between your toes it's likely to be a corn. Corn usually have a little dark speck in the middle. I get soft corns between my toes sometimes even though i'm the queen of comfy shoes and wear Birkenstocks and Clarks almost all the time. You can get corn removal rings that'll take it off (and half your toe with it) in about five days. If it's giving you serious problems, take yourself and your feet to a podiatrist.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's nowhere near my toes, but on the outer side of my foot, about an inch from the base of the little toe. What are Clarks?

I've been using corn removal rings and at one point I thought it was getting better - but then it got worse. Hmm. Maybe I'll give a few more days (with corn removal rings) and then see a doctor if it isn't more comfortable. I'm overdue for a visit with a doctor anyway.

[msdaccxx.livejournal.com]

Clarks are a British company that have been making super-comfy shoes for over 150 years. When I was a kid in the 1970s, Clarks shoes were as dorktastic as it was possible to be and were strictly for children and old ladies. Nowadays, Clarks are still dorktastic, but that's fashionable now so it's okay. Their terrible website is here (www.clarks.com)