Sunrise, 12 May 2008
Just in time! As I was trying to take the photo out my dust-spotted windows, clouds came in from the south and created a dramatic light and dark contrast. The temperature at 0600 is 86°F / 26°C and the forecast for today is “clear” LOL!
It looks to me like we could have some rain; the clouds coming in are thick and threatening.
NBK Shines
We complain about our banks and we write about all the goofs and stupid policies, so it is only fair, when a bank does something right, to share that side of the story, too.
I was invited yesterday to the Mother’s Day celebration benefitting Operation Hope and the Animal Friends League. I used to do fundraising, so I am always interested in just how much of the ticket price will actually benefit the charity.
It was a glorious event, from start to finish. More than 160 gathered to celebrate Motherhood and to support Operation Hope and Animal Friends. During the meal, hostess Sheryl Mairza from Operation Hope announced that because NBK had stepped up to the plate and covered the cost of the breakfast, the entire cost of every ticket would go to benefit the two charities.
WAY TO GO! It is every fundraiser’s dream to find generous corporate sponsors, so that not a penny is wasted and every – oops – fils can go toward the intended charity. Bravo,NBK! I don’t know if banks get tax incentives in Kuwait, as they do in the US. In the US, we know that most major corporations have designated charitable funds and it is our job to encourage them to donate those funds our way. It is by far more difficult to get corporate sponsorship in a country where there may not be such significant tax benefits. Again, Bravo NBK. Thank you for sponsoring Operation Hope and Animal Friends, and for covering the cost of the breakfasts.
Indistinct Sunrise
The sunrise this morning is so pale that while you can see colors, they are all pale and impressionistic, hazy an indistinct:
Jewaira Sunrise
When I saw the sunrise this morning, I thought of Jewaira, another blogger who in her own way and in her own head is also here, there and everywhere. She loves silvery sunrises, and oh man, this is one shimmering, silvery sunrise:
It must be the haze that exaggerates the size of the sun so – and makes it appear to throb, even in the photo.
It is 79°F / 26°C at 0630 with dust expected today according to Q8weather.com.
Early Sunrise
The Qatteri Cat is up to no good this morning. He came into the bedroom around 5:30, meowed in my face until I woke up and petted him, then came back five minutes later and did it again.
“Did you forget to check his food last night?” AdventureMan asks groggily as I stumble out of bed to go check the Qatteri Cat’s food. . .
“I guess not,” I mumble, but although his food is mostly gone, there is still a few little nibbles in his bowl.
As I get some coffee, QC is meowing at the door. I do all the normal things, give him fresh water, check his litter box . . . everything seems right. I guess he is just restless, maybe a little lonely. The Qatteri Cat has the cat-crazies.
But since sunrise is coming earlier these days, I was up to capture a sparkling moment. The surf is smooth today, not as glassy as other days, it has a slubbed texture this morning. There is more haze. It is 77°F / 25°C and the humidity is 41%. It FEELS like it should rain, but I don’t see any big thick rain clouds.
Pyramid Mosque and Gulf Road
My friend and I were driving by this mosque when she sighed.
“We used to think this mosque was huge,” she said. “You could see it from far away. Slowly, slowly, it just disappeared.”
The mosque is now surrounded by tall buildings, and, indeed, if it weren’t for it’s unusual shape, you might barely notice it across from the Holiday Inn, while driving on Gulf road. There are all kinds of buildings along Gulf road, apartments, hospitals, office buildings. They are doing amazing things, twisting glass and concrete spires up into the heavens. The pyramid mosque is dwarfed by these towering buildings.
We also saw these amazing signs along Gulf Road:
If there were one or two, I would not have taken a photo, but there are like EIGHT of these, four on each side of the road, and a lot of flashing lights. I checked the red sign – remember my Arabic is basic – and I could see two “mamnuas” (forbidden) but I didn’t see “foto” or “suraa” so if it says “no photos” will someone please tell me right away so I can take this photo out?
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
This is another one of those books I picked up on the last day of my last travels in the US. I had been through the Barnes and Noble nearby several times, picked this up and looked at is at least a dozen times, then put it down, just not that interested. On the last day, who knows why, I bought it and stuck it in my outer pocket of my suitcase. Maybe it was the only thing I could see that would fit, I don’t know. I had rejected it so many times before.
It hasn’t even been on my night stand, the books I really really intend to read. It has been on a shelf of books I will read someday when I don’t have anything else to do. Every now and then, it caught my eye. The Zanzibar Chest was on the same shelf. . . and that turned out to be a pretty good book. So recently, after I had read some books I had to read but were a little dry, and a couple books I wanted to read which were a little light, I grabbed Water for Elephants.
That was day before yesterday. I couldn’t put it down. I had a whole list of things to get done yesterday, but once I started Water for Elephants, I was lost, totally immersed in the tawdry world of circuses, bound in the magic of the illusion and performances, mesmerized by what goes on behind the scenes to make the spectacular possible.
The main character loses his parents in a totally unnecessary car accident just as he is about to take his final exams in Veterinary Science, at Cornell University. (You might think I am throwing in too much useless detail here, but it matters.) Stunned by the triple loss of both his parents, and the discovery that they had hocked everything to the bank to fund his education, he blanks on his exams and hits the road, ending up with a second rate circus.
What is so amazing about this author is that once you start reading, you are THERE.
The above mentioned Zanzibar Chest keeps you hooked by it’s painfullness, but for both AdventureMan and myself, we never liked the author, we found him a little full of himself. It doesn’t take away from the Zanzibar Chest being a worthy read, and unforgettable read.
Water for Elephants, on the other hand, has a hero you love to love. In a world of strict boundaries, a heirarchical social structure, he manages to cross all the boundaries. He truly loves the animals, and in one scene, that love just radiates, emanates, it illuminates the book from the inside, and makes you feel light and crazy with that same sort of love, love of the whole of creation. Jakob is loyal to his friends, and loyal even to his enemies, he is sacrificial in his loyalty, and, in the end, he is vastly and abundantly rewarded for his good character.
There is something for everyone, just like a circus. Like a circus, too, it has illusions, it distracts with one hand while the trick is performed with another, there is sensuality, there is sexuality, there are photos from old circuses. There are things which could offend just about every sensibility; there is kindness, there is cruelty, justice and injustice and cosmic justice. Sometimes you just have to suspend judgement and go with the read. This is one of those books.
I would say this is one of the finest reading experiences I have had for a long time. Brava, Sara Gruen. Worth every penny.
I’ve told AdventureMan as soon as he finishes The Zanzibar Chest, he has to start Water for Elephants. I can hardly wait. It’s that good.
You can find Water for Elephants in paperback at Amazon.com for $8.37 + shipping.
FORECAST for MiYaFuSHi
WeatherUnderground says it is CLEAR today. Here is the Kuwait Airport forecast for today:
The Magic Bullet
What if someone told you there was a magic pill you could take that would help your body fight off attacks of diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis – almost anything that ails you – wouldn’t you grab that pill?
You can read the entire article HERE, at the New York Times.
You Name It, and Exercise Helps It
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: April 29, 2008
Randi considers the Y.M.C.A. her lifeline, especially the pool. Randi weighs more than 300 pounds and has borderline diabetes, but she controls her blood sugar and keeps her bright outlook on life by swimming every day for about 45 minutes.
Randi overcame any self-consciousness about her weight for the sake of her health, and those who swim with her and share the open locker room are proud of her. If only the millions of others beset with chronic health problems recognized the inestimable value to their physical and emotional well-being of regular physical exercise.
“The single thing that comes close to a magic bullet, in terms of its strong and universal benefits, is exercise,” Frank Hu, epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in the Harvard Magazine.
I have written often about the protective roles of exercise. It can lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, dementia, osteoporosis, gallstones, diverticulitis, falls, erectile dysfunction, peripheral vascular disease and 12 kinds of cancer.
But what if you already have one of these conditions? Or an ailment like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, congestive heart failure or osteoarthritis? How can you exercise if you’re always tired or in pain or have trouble breathing? Can exercise really help?
You bet it can. Marilyn Moffat, a professor of physical therapy at New York University and co-author with Carole B. Lewis of “Age-Defying Fitness” (Peachtree, 2006), conducts workshops for physical therapists around the country and abroad, demonstrating how people with chronic health problems can improve their health and quality of life by learning how to exercise safely.
Up and Moving
“The data show that regular moderate exercise increases your ability to battle the effects of disease,” Dr. Moffat said in an interview. “It has a positive effect on both physical and mental well-being. The goal is to do as much physical activity as your body lets you do, and rest when you need to rest.”
In years past, doctors were afraid to let heart patients exercise. When my father had a heart attack in 1968, he was kept sedentary for six weeks. Now, heart attack patients are in bed barely half a day before they are up and moving, Dr. Moffat said.
The core of cardiac rehab is a progressive exercise program to increase the ability of the heart to pump oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood more effectively throughout the body. The outcome is better endurance, greater ability to enjoy life and decreased mortality.
The same goes for patients with congestive heart failure. “Heart failure patients as old as 91 can increase their oxygen consumption significantly,” Dr. Moffat said.
Aerobic exercise lowers blood pressure in people with hypertension, and it improves peripheral circulation in people who develop cramping leg pains when they walk — a condition called intermittent claudication. The treatment for it, in fact, is to walk a little farther each day.
In people who have had transient ischemic attacks, or ministrokes, “gradually increasing exercise improves blood flow to the brain and may diminish the risk of a full-blown stroke,” Dr. Moffat said. And aerobic and strength exercises have been shown to improve endurance, walking speed and the ability to perform tasks of daily living up to six years after a stroke.
As Randi knows, moderate exercise cuts the risk of developing diabetes. And for those with diabetes, exercise improves glucose tolerance — less medication is needed to control blood sugar — and reduces the risk of life-threatening complications.
Perhaps the most immediate benefits are reaped by people with joint and neuromuscular disorders. Without exercise, those at risk of osteoarthritis become crippled by stiff, deteriorated joints. But exercise that increases strength and aerobic capacity can reduce pain, depression and anxiety and improve function, balance and quality of life.
Likewise for people with rheumatoid arthritis. “The less they do, the worse things get,” Dr. Moffat said. “The more their joints move, the better.”
Exercise that builds gradually and protects inflamed joints can diminish pain, fatigue, morning stiffness, depression and anxiety, she said, and improve strength, walking speed and activity.
Exercise is crucial to improving function of total hip or knee replacements. But “most patients with knee replacements don’t get intensive enough activity,” Dr. Moffat said.
Water exercises are particularly helpful for people with multiple sclerosis, who must avoid overheating. And for those with Parkinson’s, resistance training and aerobic exercise can increase their ability to function independently and improve their balance, stride length, walking speed and mood.
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