Jennifer Trautwig

I went to my daughter Karlee’s soccer game on Saturday and found myself transfixed by the sight of the grass between the bleachers and the field. For a moment I couldn’t decide which was more interesting, the greenness of the green or the movement of the grass as the wind whistled down and across the field. With all the commotion going on midfield (our team was getting squashed) it was surprising that the sight of the grass caught my eye. I thought for a moment that it was just the brilliance of the day, the autumn sun shining down on the field coupled with the cool steady breeze . . . but then I realized that it wasn’t any one aspect of the scene. Instead it was how each of those elements combined to create a feeling that the grass was something more than it appeared . . .

It's amazing what excercise, or lack thereof, will do to a person . . . not only physically but also mentally. For the six days I have been sick. I rarely get sick and yet it seems that when I do, my body decides to do it up royally. It began with what I thought was a flu coming on. I was achy. I had chills. I had some swollen lymph nodes. I had crawl-in-bed-and-just-get-under-the-covers headaches. I felt awful. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I didn't want to see anyone. I couldn't concentrate of anything and I just wanted to sleep . . .

Saturday's run was a doozy . . . it was painful and overwhelmingly hot and humid but it was so worth it. I ran without my Ipod because I wanted to just focus on what was going on with my body. I can't lie, it hurt. Physically it was almost torturous for the first two miles . . . but then something began to change. My body seemed to get back into the rhythm of running and while it was still not pain-free, it was almost rejuvenating. I had been too absorbed in what was wrong that I could not focus on anything else. Running on Saturday reminded to think of the amazing things ones body can do. I haven't run since--thanks to a nasty infection from a cat bite . . . but I'm not letting it get me down, nor am I letting the pain consume me again.

mindbody_debate_1.htmlhttp://blogs.qc.cuny.edu/blogs/0907N_0276/006/2007/09/mindbody_debate_1.html

I thought this was an interesting blog to find considering my recent issues with the whole mind/body struggle as well . . .

I have been rather neglectful in my blogging . . . life has been too complicated--Fall generally is for some reason. I suppose it has something to do with school starting--four teenagers with sports, clubs and/or jobs can really keep a parent running. After reading John's (Currie) post on the good old days of rotary phones, I started thinking about technology and how easy it has made life . . .

is far more palatable an author for me than Henry James although I can't help but feel that I am somehow reading her wrong . . .

After the last class Val and I were discussing an experience we had in common and it made us think of Septimus and his center of attention paranoia--

Stalkers . . .

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be the object of obsession for a stalker. At best I am of average attractiveness--surely nothing so spectacular as to catch the attention of someone so singularly obsessed . . .

And yet somehow I did.

I've been puttering around my house straightening up and all the while Zunshine has been in my head. No, not literally . . . I'm not losing it, I swear. It's her ideas that have been churning around in there . . . just waiting for me to figure out how I feel about them and her. For some reason, I can't quite put my finger on a definitive reaction . . .

Yes, sadly I am feeling wishy-washy on the subject . . .

was thoroughly enjoyable in an absolutely horrifying way.

I have written my review on the website featuring the Franco Magnani memory paintings. It is written as if for Leonardo on-line shortly after the exhibit closed in San Francisco and was placed on the site’s online exhibit—figure early 2000.

I have finally found a blog that I find exceedingly interesting and comprehensible. It's called neurodudes. There was one particular article there that caught my eye. It was about baboon social cognition . . .

“He who understands baboon would do more towards metaphysics than Locke.”