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Sunday, February 23, 2014

thoughts on living and teaching

thoughts on living and teaching:





I have not blogged much recently.  I have put more of myself into teaching, and I have decided to make some major changes in my life.  
As some may already know, on December 30, I took my first ever yoga class, at Flow Yoga Center on P Street, near Logan Circle, in DC.  I had prior to that driven the woman who served as my wife's caregiver after her stem cell transplant to and from classes there, particularly picking her up late at night.  She persuaded me it would not hurt to try, so I did.   After that first class I made a number of commitments, starting with deciding to continue with yoga -  It is now not unusual for me to take classes five or more times per week.  The hour or more of a class requires me to slow down my mind, to be present in what I am doing, to pay attention to what my body is telling me.
At the same time I decided to change how I consumed.  I have effectively given up meat, although I will partake when invited to someone's home, and on a rare special occasion when we are out.  I have given up beer, having had exactly one since December 30, when t a get-together at a bar famous for its wide assortment.  I had had no ice cream, and few other sweets.  
There are multiple changes that have resulted.
First, I have lost a ton of weight.  Before my weight now fluctuated around 200 pounds, 

Austerity, health care and politics
There are two pieces featured in today's email from the Washington Post related to health care. In Richmond’s hell-no Republicans the P{ost editorial board takes to task the Republicans in Virginia's House of Delegates for their refusal to seriously address the issue of uninsured, refusing to take $$ from the federal government to fund Medicaid expansion.  They offer a pittance of $81 million to r
teacherken at Daily Kos This Week 2-22-14
teacherken at Daily Kos:teacherken at Daily Kos This WeekMilbank gets it right on Cruz and companyin a column titled High cost of an ego trip, written after watching what Cruz put Republican senators through on raising the debt ceiling. A couple of relevant snips: Cruz’s ego trip had come at a high cost. He had forced McConnell, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and other Republicans to cast votes that co