Knees suck. That's not news. Building a better mousetrap is all well and good, but how should a better knee be designed? I want something specific to dream of when I'm doing my PT exercises.

It's our stupid quadruped heritage. Lots of the human body is a not 100% successful adaptation from our non-bipedal ancestors. Which makes me wonder - shouldn't the Intelligent Design advocates be required to explain all those flaws intelligently designed into the human body?

ita, I spent time at Samye Ling, about a half hour north of Lockerbie, Scotland (long story). It is(or was) the largest Buddhist retreat center outside of Asia. I met many a female monk there. It's a lovely place and well worth a visit.

This was in 1995, when I was on a walkabout.

One young man kept sort of staring at me in a non-creepy, yet persistent way. As I was preparing to leave, he came to me and sort of stuttered, "You should stay. You belong here." Um. Thnxkbye...I'm on my way to the Faeroe Islands, Dude. But thanks.

A Huge and very bald female monk (with black horn rimmed glasses secured with a big black croakie around her 12lb bowling ball head...cute!) drove me to the train.

At one point, she broke a very tense silence to ask me what the young man had said to me. I told her and she immediately calmed down and said, "Oh. You'll be back. You are meant to take robes."

Me: What makes you say that?
Her: That man has not spoken since he got here. We thought he couldn't.
Me: He can't speak?
Her: Well. He hasn't since he's been here. He had some sort of trauma and we just thought he couldn't.
Me: Neat. How long has he been here?
Her: 7 years.
Me: ...
Her: Oh, you'll be back.

Have you been back, Beej? Do you know what the difference between a female monk and a nun is?

Tommy, I was completely sure you'd be the first person to comment on the knee. How would you fix it? How does robotics (in the cases where they're basically mimicking our physicality) do it? I have had too much time at physical therapy staring at their wall charts. Nucleus pulposus indeed.

Okay, now I have to go rescue my Roomba.

Before that: Vagina Power. It's strangely compelling. Visuals are totally work safe, audio less so.

This is just freaky - an employee was killed at the Chicago Tribune printing plant. How often does that happen? Even more freaky was the way he died - he was [whitefonted, but it's only somewhat gross] cut in half by a conveyor belt.

Damn.

[link]

That's just horrible.

What is the difference between a Christian monk and nun? Are Christian monks also priests? Is that the difference?

I'm in the midst of cursing human design myself.

Got caught in a brief heavy rainstorm at Target. You know what? I still expect a rainstorm to cool things off. Never mind I haven't lived in that climate in almost 13 year. Those neural pathways are permanently wired. Needless to say, it's very steamy out there and oh, dear monster green Goodman a/c, I love you!

I have tons of various dusting supplies. The checkout lady was teasing me about it. "Do you live in a sandbox?" I toyed with those fluffy swiffers, but I really need something with more pickup. So I have wet & dry wipes, I have dusting spray, I have microfiber cloths (I'd forgotten about those. They work well for knickknacks and are reusable.)

I may have gone overboard.

I have a wrap from Trader Joes and am realizing I was feeling so fragile (crying all over the radio) because I haven't drunk enough water today. Sheesh.

Hope Senor Socks starts improving. It's really scary when they go down so fast and you can't figure out what it is. Mister Kitty's mystery illness was like that, and while I hope you have the same outcome, I hope it happens a lot faster! That was a rough time. Ultimately, what "cured" him was just keeping him hydrated and on an iv feed until he started eating again. He had antibiotics, too, but they seemed to change nothing. The vets still consider it a total mystery.

Tommy, I was completely sure you'd be the first person to comment on the knee.

Heh.

How would you fix it? How does robotics (in the cases where they're basically mimicking our physicality) do it?

Dunno. What the knee has to do is just so complicated (I forget why this is so), it makes sense that our knees would not be perfect and would have "reliability problems". I'm pretty sure robotic knees don't do as much as the human knee. And now I'm wondering if a sort of hinge-pin mechanism is just a better way of going, despite not being a solution discovered by evolution.

ita, I have not. But I have had dreams of being an old woman there.

It was pretty rough while I was there. Very rustic, which seems to have changed a lot in the ensuing 12 years.

During my stay, the high holy guy, who had not visited in 4 years just showed up one day. Everyone kept urging me to go to him for a blessing. For some reason, it was excruciating for me. I could watch the goings on out of the window, and really be happy for the folks who were followers, but I felt a viscerally powerful impulse to NOT participate. As a 'visitor', it was abhorrent to me to be a poseur or interloper.

I feel the same way about co-opting Native American philosophies or any other not-of-my ancestry affectations.

Still, I think I may have missed something by not being able to go with the flow in those moments at Samye Ling.

My totally uneducated sense of the nun vs. monk distinction is that it is very sect based and simply a matter of labeling. At Samye Ling, everyone was a monk and dressed in the same saffron robes. Total equality made the distinction moot.

On the Great Peace March, we had a handful of lovely monks how walked and drummed every day. When members of their sect visited, the women wore slightly different robes.

monks also priests?

Nope. Priest, monk, brother. Very different job descriptions.

My favorite classmate at Loyola was a brother from Australia, a Marist (Little Brother of Mary) who did religious development. He said he preferred being a brother because he has all the fun without all the responsibility.

Damn. I miss him. A wonderful heart, clear mind and dedicated soul.

As a 'visitor', it was abhorrent to me to be a poseur or interloper.

I feel the same way about co-opting Native American philosophies or any other not-of-my ancestry affectations.

It's perhaps because Buddhism is the closest thing I have to a philosophy, I guess, but I think I'd have done it. I'm not serious about the monastery thing right now, but I have considered taking a break to one before.

Honestly, I probably need it more now than I ever have. I certainly need something more than I ever have. Time, however, doesn't comply.

I think I could take a blessing from any religion--well, I mean, if I wanted it. If the person doing the blessing knows that I'm not a believer, that is.

Now I have to go look up knees and monks.