Monday, October 31, 2011

October Diet Quality Card
 work days

october diet quality card

My diet is kind of a car wreck right now, especially on work days. This isn't even the worst it was, I probably only managed pasta and chicken for lunch for half the month and had Potbelly sandwiches for the other half of the month. With chips and Coke, naturally. That's how the demon Coke got back in, I finally girded up my loins to bring my lunches again and that was going to stop me from grabbing a Coke when I was out. And right then my nice employer started stocking the fridge with free Coke. Aughhh, I am too weak for that kind of temptation...

Even besides that, I have way fallen off the whole wheat pasta wagon. I like whole wheat pasta all right, but white pasta is nom nom nom. I think the sweetie man accidentally picked up a packet of white spaghetti probably a few weeks ago and now when he goes to the store I whisper you know sweetie this spaghetti isn't whole wheat into my sleeve.

I have too much work to doooo, I can't keep up with my nutrition...

Friday, October 28, 2011

Movement and Muscles at the Shoulder
 flexion and extension

It's another good thing that I got Biggie for these pictures, because flexion and extension are movements in the sagittal plane—i.e., from front to back. So in a drawing they're like 3-D, like coming out at you, and that's a bit beyond me to draw. I have slightly indicated their directions with arrows on my skeletons, but it's easier to get if you just look at the photos.

biggie flexes her arm at the shoulder biggie hyperextends her arm at the shoulder

What movements happen at this joint?

Technically flexion is when the angle between two bones is decreased by moving them toward each other, and extension is when the angle is increased by moving them away from each other. Which is easy enough to picture at the elbow, flexion is when you move your forearm toward your upper arm and extension is when you move your forearm away from your upper arm. There has to be another definition for when the two bones are already perpendicular if that's the right word, though. Like your scapula and your humerus or your pelvis and your femur, what angle are we talking about? But anyway at your shoulder and your hip, flexion is bringing your humerus or femur forward and extension is bringing it back.

Remember that movements and muscle groups tend to occur in pairs, one to do and the other to undo. So extension is returning to neutral from flexion, and in the picture above Biggie is actually hyperextending her arm past neutral, which you can do at the shoulder and hip but not, I don't think, at the elbow or knee.

What muscles make these movements happen?

shoulder flexion shoulder extension

The muscles that flex your upper arm are your anterior deltoid, coracobrachialis and pectoralis major. Your deltoid is actually three muscles that form a cap over your shoulder, the anterior deltoid covering the front, the middle deltoid covering the side, and the posterior deltoid covering the back. Your coracobrachilalis is a small muscle that attaches from the coracoid process of the scapula to the inside of your upper arm. When you're like, woah did I really pull my armpit muscle? I think that's your coracobrachialis. Your pectoralis major is a giant breastplate of muscle that attaches from your collarbone, sternum, ribs, and also your obliques to your upper arm.

The muscles that extend and hyperextend your upper arm are your teres minor, subscapularis, posterior deltoid, teres major, and latissimus dorsi. Teres minor and subscapularis are two of four rotator cuff muscles, which we will talk about about when we talk about internal and external rotation. Teres minor attaches from the upper part of your scapula to the back of your humerus, whereas teres major attaches from the lower part of your scapula to sort of under your arm. Latissimus dorsi like trapezius is a giant backplate of muscle—traps are on top, lats are lower.

Makes sense, right? If muscles in the front contract, they pull your arm forward. If muscles in the back contract, they pull your arm back.

What exercises make these muscles work?

Pushups, pullups, rope climbing and throwing flex and extend the upper arms to work your anterior deltoid, coracobrachialis and pectoralis major, and your posterior deltoid, teres major and latissiumus dorsi. A tennis serve is a really good example of flexing and extending the upper arm. Rowing and pulldowns also work the teres major and latissimus dorsi for upper arm extension.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Pasta with Carrot Pesto

pasta with carrot pesto

I'm making these all the same on the first pass, pretty simply, so the flavors of the actual vegetables come through. Or well, the actual vegetables and the garlic. But then I think there could be variations, like I always like carrot with ginger and I also think carrots would go well with almonds. Or what if the vegetables were roasted like in Oh She Glows Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto, not to mention what about, hey ohhh, basil or other herbs...

1 lb frozen carrots
2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb pasta

Bring lightly salted water to a boil over high heat in a large saucepan. Add carrots and cook until tender, about five minutes. Drain.

Put more water on for the pasta.

Put the carrots, garlic, walnuts, parmesan cheese and nutmeg into a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Drizzle in the olive oil and process until smooth.

Cook the pasta until al dente, about ten minutes. Drain. You may want to reserve a cup or so of the cooking water in case your pesto is very thick.

Return the pasta to the pot and stir in the pesto, thinning it out with reserved water as desired.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Bones of the Shoulder

shoulder anterior view shoulder posterior view

What bones are at this joint?

So the bones at the actual shoulder joint are the scapula or shoulder blade, and the humerus or upper arm bone.

What type of joint is this?

Here we are talking about the glenohumeral joint, which is a ball and socket synovial joint where the head of the humerus fits into the glenoid fossa or cavity of the scapula.

The scapula is a very funky bone, it's not just a straight up blade like a spade. It has a few weird protuberances, like it has a spine on the back that ends in a knobby bit called the acromion process. There's also a knobby bit in the front called the coracoid process, and in front of that another knobby bit called the supraglenoid tubercle, and under that is the glenoid cavity where the humerus fits in. Which you can sort of see on my skeleton but you know, not really, because this is not a very advanced skeleton. But it does basically have the right number of vertebrae and ribs, which is an advance for me.

What body part moves this joint?

The meaty parts that move the shoulder joint are your chest, shoulder, shoulder blades, and back.

What body part is moved at this joint?

The meat that is moved at your shoulder is your upper arm.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Fall Work Outerwear

fall work outerwear

So outerwear is my project this fall and winter, outerwear as its own outfit. What coat for what season goes with what hat and what scarf and what gloves, decide now and save a hundred decisions all winter about this orange scarf going or not going with this grey coat that does or doesn't have purple undertones. And by a hundred decisions I mean that I decide every time that the orange scarf doesn't go with the grey coat that does have purple undertones, and wear it anyway. Then do it all over again, like putting on a coat and a scarf is a Sisyphean task.

The coat that I'm wearing for fall is my ex-husband's leather jacket. A lot of things that I don't have anymore, I know he has two of. Like why didn't I take at least one strainer or the other vacuum cleaner, because I was busy making sure that I had three different translations of The Iliad and this leather jacket.

The maroon armwarmers are prized possessions that I think came from Gaye Abandon in Melbourne. I think that's where. They were a gift from my esteemed friend Az who also is from Melbourne. Yes, here is a very similar pair. So cute, and they're so warm...

The black pinstriped scarf is from Urban Outfitters, I don't usually shop there but I was caught out in a snowstorm and needed something to wrap my head. Normally I wear knitted scarves. I mean, I knit them. Scarves. This flannel is a very nice weight for fall, though. Meine upholdski und frau T.S. Helliot has this same scarf, soooouuulmates...

Monday, October 24, 2011

Movement and Muscles at the Shoulder Girdle
 summary

  elevation depression abduction adduction upward rotation downward rotation
levator scapulae X          
rhomboids X     X   X
trapezius
   upper
X       X  
   middle       X X  
   lower   X        
serratus anterior     X   X  
pectoralis minor   X X     X

Friday, October 21, 2011

Eat My Schwartz's Apple Pie Smoothie

eat my schwartz's apple pie smoothie

I use the Bella Cucina Rocket Blender to make my smoothies.

We're having a little Indian summer, so it's warm enough for me to squeeze in one more smoothie? It's seasonal, it's apple pie!

Schwartz uses cinnamon applesauce plus the extra teaspoon of cinnamon, she says it's key to getting the apple pie taste. I like natural applesauce, which is what I had, and also plain greek instead of vanilla yogurt. I liked it, I don't like things too sweet and it was sweet enough for me. I know I'm always saying this, but something about the cinnamon and the peanut butter and the yogurt together really does make this taste like pie. Maybe like a cross between apple pie and caramel apples.

4 apple juice ice cubes
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup greek yogurt
2 tablespoons peanut butter
almond milk

Put the frozen apple juice cubes, applesauce, cinnamon, yogurt and peanut butter in the blender cup, then pour in enough almond milk to just about fill the cup.

Screw on the cap, stick the cup on the motor base, and blend for 30 seconds. Then take it off the base and give it a little shake to get anything that's stuck on the top of the cup. Blend for another 20 seconds or until the smoothie is churning freely from top to bottom.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Pasta with Broccoli Pesto

fettuccine with broccoli pesto

I got the idea for this from Bork Bork Bork and then Smitten Kitchen's Linguine with Pea Pesto, which I've made in my own lazy way and is very good. Recipe TK, but then I thought I would try making pesto with all my favorite frozen vegetables and now I have to go in alphabetical order with peas at the end.

By the time I get to peas, you will have gotten the gist: frozen vegetables, garlic, nuts, cheese, and olive oil.

1 lb frozen broccoli
2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lb pasta

Bring lightly salted water to a boil over high heat in a large saucepan. Add broccoli and cook until tender, about five minutes. Drain.

Put more water on for the pasta.

Put the broccoli, garlic, walnuts, parmesan cheese and nutmeg into a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Drizzle in the olive oil and process until smooth.

Cook the pasta until al dente, about ten minutes. Drain. You may want to reserve a cup or so of the cooking water in case your pesto is very thick.

Return the pasta to the pot and stir in the pesto, thinning it out with reserved water as desired.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Movement and Muscles at the Shoulder Girdle
 upward and downward rotation

I melted my brain trying to logically figure out which way upward rotation is, totally unnecessarily as it turns out, because I could have just looked at the picture in the supplemental Fitness Professionals' Guide to Musculoskeletal Anatomy and Human Movement that came with all of my ACE study materials, and that I didn't even open until I had struggled through eighteen weeks of human anatomy by myself. Argh.

What movements happen at this joint?

So upward rotation is when the shoulder blades turn—imagine two dials—toward your spine and downward rotation is when they turn away from your spine, and by the way, these happen when you abduct and adduct your arms at your shoulders.

biggie rotates her shoulder blades upward by abducting her arms biggie rotates her shoulder blades downward by adducting her arms

What muscles make these movements happen?

shoulder girdle upward rotation shoulder girdle downward rotation

The muscles that upwardly rotate your shoulder blades are your upper and middle trapezius, rhomboid minor and major, and serratus anterior.

The muscles that downwardly rotate your shoulder blades are your pectoralis minor and rhomboid minor and major.

What exercises make these muscles work?

Since upward and downward rotation at the shoulder girdle happen along with abduction and adduction at the shoulder, any exercises that work those shoulder muscles also work the shoulder girdle muscles. Stay tuned...

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Closet

my closet

My closet, I may have told you, is two sets of aluminum utility shelves that fit actually perfectly in the alcove at the back of my bedroom. I bought three sets, actually, and cannibalized the third set for extra shelves. My closet used to be the little (walk-in, sigh) room under the stairs; but in the grand tradition of the man always getting a room of his own, the sweetie man got the room under the stairs when he moved in.

I love my closet, though. I like my bedroom more with my closet back there, it used to be a weird empty space where nothing fit. And the sweetie man added a bar over the shelves where I can hang shirts in front of the creepy crawl space—when I first moved into this apartment, I used to lie in bed obsessively looking at the creepy crawl space and feeling like it was the observation window from the episode of Star Trek TNG where Picard gets mistaken for a god—and also some hooks where I can hang my long and medium-length coats and dresses. It's really a totally efficient use of space.

Except for the fact that I keep growing out of my skirts and pants, I hardly add things to my closet. In fact I subtract a lot more, I really feel like I have more than enough clothes.

I was supposed to go to boot camp Thursday night, but I've been doing that thing where my practices keep ticking up and last week I did eight. I mean, four of them were practices I led. Still with boot camp, I was headed for six this week and I really, really need for five to be the norm. So I got home from work and changed into my pajamas and asked the I-Ching if it was okay to have a night in, and the I-Ching said that I should put on the brakes before going forward. I'm not making that up, it actually said put on the brakes. But it also said that I shouldn't slack off, I decided that meant I should reorganize my closet so the left side would be clothes for sleep and work and the right side would be clothes for hobby, play, and pastime. So now it is, organized. So now my underwear and sock bins for hobby and play and pastime are right underneath the clothes.

My hats and gloves and scarves are still a terrible jumble, and so are my shoes. Hats and gloves and scarves are my project for this fall and winter.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Fried Eggs and Oatmeal
 with Tomatoes and Spinach

fried eggs and oatmeal with spinach and cherry tomatoes

So anyway, I don't know if I'm just easily amused but tomatoes and mushrooms does taste different to me than spinach and mushrooms and different than tomatoes and spinach.

olive oil
leftover cooked oatmeal
cherry tomatoes
baby spinach
two eggs

Pretty thoroughly wash and drain a good amount of baby spinach, like up to half a package.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat, then add the spinach. Be careful, the spinach is wet and the hot oil will spatter! Saute the spinach until well wilted, then shove it off to the side of the skillet. Sometimes I squeeze the oil out of the spinach to recoat the bottom of the skillet.

Slice a couple 1/2 inch slices of oatmeal and lay them down in the skillet to fry up. Halve about five cherry tomatoes and put them in the skillet with the oatmeal.

When the oatmeal and tomatoes have browned, crack a couple eggs in the skillet and let them fry a bit. Then dribble in just a little water and cover the skillet to steam the tops of the eggs.

When the eggs are cooked to your liking, get it all out of the skillet with a spatula.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Movement and Muscles at the Shoulder Girdle
 abduction and adduction

A useful thing to keep in mind going forward would be that ab is Latin for "from" and ad is Latin for "to." So for example, Poppy is talking about muscles ad infinitum means to infinity and beyond!

What movements happen at this joint?

The next two movements at the shoulder girdle are abduction and adduction. Abduction is when the shoulder blades are pulled apart, away from the body's midline. Adduction is when the shoulder blades are pulled together, towards the body's midline.

biggie abducts her shoulder blades biggie adducts her shoulder blades

We do a ton of work squeezing our shoulder blades together in Box's kettlebell camps. Modern life tends to make us slouch forward, which isn't good skating form. Strengthening your back muscles gives you a little extra help pulling that little bit of weight back with everything else into that good skater position, so you don't fall on your face!

What muscles make these movements happen?

shoulder girdle abduction shoulder girdle adduction

The muscles in your chest that abduct your shoulder blades are your serratus anterior and your pectoralis minor. Makes sense, right? When those muscles contract, they pull toward the front and pull the shoulder blades apart.

The muscles in your back that that adduct your shoulder blades are your middle trapezius and your rhomboid minor and major. Also makes sense! When those muscles contract, they pull toward the center of the back and pull the shoulder blades together. And you can see that the rhomboids being on a diagonal pull both up and in, so they both elevate and adduct.

What exercises make these muscles work?

So for your rhomboids, you're looking for exercises where you pull your shoulder blades together like chin ups or less impossibly bent over rows. Squeeze your shoulder blades for best results! For your pectoralis minor and serratus anterior, you're looking for exercises where you pull your shoulder blades apart like push ups— you contract those muscles and your shoulder blades pull apart when you push up— and also according to the book regular or incline bench presses and cable crossover chest flys. Which I don't do, I'm mostly a bodyweight gal with a little bit of kettlebell. The book also says pullovers for your serratus anterior, which I think could be done nicely with a kettlebell.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Veganly Black Eyed Peas
  with Jalapenos and Collard Greens

veganly blackeyed peas with collard greens

This is also really good, same idea with the caramelized onions and peppers but with the flavor of black eyed peas and collard greens.

If you want, put on a pot of rice before you start the beans. Though this is really good as a side dish with, um, chicken.

olive oil
1 lb collard greens
1 onion
2-3 jalapenos
3-5 cloves garlic
2 cans black eyed peas, rinsed and drained

Bring a pot of water to a boil and gently heat oil in a saute pan over low heat as you finely slice the onion and peppers, adding vegetables to the pan as they are sliced. Saute aromatics over low heat until caramelized, up to thirty minutes.

Stem and roughly slice the collard greens. When the water is boiling, blanch the green for a few minutes and lightly drain them in a colander.

The aromatics might still need more work. Stir them occasionally and keep sauteeing until they're really broken down and a deep golden brown.

Meanwhile mince the garlic. Add to pan and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Add black eyed peas and collard greens. Saute until greens are very wilted, about twenty minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Movement and Muscles at the Shoulder Girdle
 elevation and depression

So now we're up to:

What movements happen at this joint?

The first two movements at the shoulder girdle that I'm going to talk about are elevation and depression. Elevation is when the shoulder blades go up, as in shrugging your shoulders. Depression is when they come back down. Movements and also muscle groups tend to occur in pairs, basically one to do and the other to undo. So depression isn't so much about pressing your shoulder blades down past their neutral position, though you can a little bit, it's more what goes up must come down and there's muscles to do that.

biggie elevates her shoulder girdle biggie depresses her shoulder girdle

Huge thanks to shoalmate Zombea Arthur for posing for a hundred and fifty shots of movement at the major joints in a tank top on this sunny but freezing morning. Also see her neckwarmer, that is something that I want to make a few of this season—more about that later.

What muscles make these movements happen?

shoulder girdle elevation shoulder girdle depression

The muscles in your back that elevate your shoulder blades are the Harry Potter spell of muscles, your levator scapulae, and your rhomboid minor and major and upper trapezius. You can see how that is, right? How the levator scapulae when it contracts—which is how muscles work— will pull the shoulder blade up? Same for the rhomboids? Some part of the upper rhomboid is the rhomboid minor and some part of the lower rhomboid is the rhomboid major, I'm not exactly sure where one ends and the other begins. The book says they're functionally the same muscle; this is not always the case with muscles named minor and major, sometimes they're totally different muscles that do totally different things. And like your trapezius is such a big muscle that different parts do different things, you can see how the upper trapezius would pull your shoulder blade up.

The muscles that depress your shoulder blades are your lower trapezius in your back, and your pectoralis minor in your chest. It's probably clearest with the lower trapezius, being below the shoulder blade; it contracts, it pulls the shoulder blade down. Whereas the pectoralis minor pulls more at a downward diagonal, but still down.

What exercises make these muscles work?

Once you understand the movements that happen at these joints, you mainly know what exercises that would work the muscles that make those movements happen. You basically make that movement and since what goes up must come down, you make the other movement on the return. Shoulder shrugs elevate the shoulder blades to work the levator scapulae and upper trapezius, and upward rows do more work on the trapezius with a little upward and downward rotation thrown in, which we will get into a couple posts from this. I feel like abduction and adduction are more involved with working the rhomboids, pectoralis minor, and serratus anterior, so onward...

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Fall Work Wear
 mock blazer

fall work wear mock blazer

Looky here, I also have two of these mock blazers from Lands End in herringbone grey and heather brown. I'm thinking that I've had them for more than ten years, because I remember the cubicle I was sitting in when the package was delivered and that was pre-9/11.

What.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Fried Eggs and Oatmeal
 with Spinach and Mushrooms

fried eggs and oatmeal with spinach and mushrooms

The tricky part about spinach for me is, sometimes it's yummy and sometimes it's like chalky on your teeth? I hate that, supposedly it's the oxalic acid in spinach. I haven't found anything that says how to make it not like that, it seems worse to me if you wilt the spinach just wet and better if you saute the spinach in a good amount of olive oil until it's pretty well cooked. So, I do that.

olive oil
leftover cooked oatmeal
baby spinach
button mushrooms
two eggs

Since I cook my spinach way down, I put in a lot. If you get baby spinach in a clamshell, like half the package. It really shrinks. I pretty thoroughly wash, even soak, and then just drain off the water—it doesn't have to be spun dry.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat, then add the spinach. Be careful, the spinach is wet and the hot oil will spatter! Saute the spinach until well wilted, then shove it off to the side of the skillet. Sometimes I squeeze the oil out of the spinach to recoat the bottom of the skillet.

Slice a couple 1/2 inch slices of oatmeal and lay them down in the skillet to fry up. Thickly slice five mushrooms, and put them in the skillet with the oatmeal.

When the oatmeal and mushrooms have browned, crack a couple eggs in the skillet and let them fry a bit. Then dribble in just a little water and cover the skillet to steam the tops of the eggs.

When the eggs are cooked to your liking, get it all out of the skillet with a spatula.

Friday, October 7, 2011

A Periodization

So I gave some thought to the question that I raised in my fall fitness plan and finally figured out a really good training periodization based on a January-June home season (and based on actually having played and trained for a couple of seasons now.) Which all might get changed next season, stay tuned. I have the technology, ladies, I can rebuild him—

Period Month Strength Speed Agility Blocking Scrimmage Bout
Break Jul X          
Base Aug X X X      
Build Sep-Oct X X X X    
Pre-Peak Nov-Dec   X X X X  
Peak/Taper Jan-Jun     X X X X

Strength is off-skates strength training for muscle activation and injury prevention. Speed would start with skating form and gradually build from moderate to extensive to intensive endurance for skating fitness. Agility is learning and practicing non-contact skating skills, from basic to fancy. Blocking is learning and practicing contact skating skills, covering a range of skill- and position-specific focuses. Scrimmage is learning and practicing the game. Bout is what we do it all for, playing the game in front of thousands of spectators.

Starting this week and in upcoming weeks, I will be writing a series of anatomy study guides and can tell you right now that they're all going to end with "and you need to work on this muscle for playing derby because you use it for blah-di-blah-blah," and you may be thinking, there are a hundred million things in derby that I need to work on, not to mention street teaming and volunteer hours and track duty, how the hell am I supposed to fit in working the freaking small muscles of my back, and the answer is, periodization. You train all year round, but different things at the right time of year—for best results, and also for keeping it fun.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Veganly Chickpeas
  with Hungarian Peppers and Kale

veganly chickpeas with kale

Really all the veganly beans recipes are pretty good, I've weeded out the ones that were just okay. But seriously this one is SO good. I changed up the basic recipe because I didn't think thickened broth was the way to go with kale and I was right.

I hardly use spices except for salt and pepper, this is all about the flavors of chickpeas (sort of toothy), caramelized onions (sweet), peppers (surprisingly hot, I think that's what really makes this), and kale (sort of juicy and greeny) playing off each other.

I'm not eating this with rice so much; but if you want, put on a pot of rice before you start the beans.

olive oil
1 lb kale
1 onion
2 hungarian hot peppers
3-5 cloves garlic
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Bring a pot of water to a boil and gently heat oil in a saute pan over low heat as you finely slice the onion and peppers, adding vegetables to the pan as they are sliced. Saute aromatics over low heat until caramelized, like up to thirty minutes. It's worth it, though. When the world's laziest cook tells you it's worth it, it is. While you're letting the aromatics work, as Rachael Ray says, stem and roughly slice the kale. When the water is boiling, blanch the kale for a few minutes. I take it off the heat when I can smell the kale, then lightly drain it in a colander—you don't have to squeeze it dry, you can leave it pretty wet.

The aromatics might still need more work. Stir them occasionally and keep sauteeing until they're really broken down and a deep golden brown.

Meanwhile mince the garlic. Add to pan and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Add chickpeas and kale. Saute until kale is very wilted, about twenty minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Bones of the Shoulder Girdle

Many a derby girl knows this, your arms are not... that well attached. Your ribs are connected to your spine in back and to your breastbone in front. That's all good, you have your skull to protect your brain, your spine to protect your spinal cord, and your rib cage to protect your heart and lungs. Your breastbone is connected to the medial or inside ends of your collarbones, the lateral or outside ends of your collarbones are attached to your shoulder blades, and your shoulder blades are attached to the proximal or near ends of your upper arm bones. Like, barely. Like your arms are basically dangling from your shoulder blades, and your shoulder blades are basically dangling from your collarbone. Think about that the next time you bash your shoulder into somebody else's.

20111004_shouldergirdleant20111004_shouldergirdlepost

What bones are at this joint?

So yeah, the bones at the shoulder girdle are the sternum or breastbone, the clavicle or collarbone, the scapula or shoulder blade, and the humerus or upper arm bone. But nevermind your arms for a minute, because the muscles at the shoulder girdle aren't so much about moving your arms as they are about stabilizing your shoulder blades. So that they don't wobble all over the place when you move your arms. I mean, right? Like walking on solid ground, and not having the ground wobble under your feet.

What type of joint is this?

This was asked on the practice test that I just scored 52% on, so I am adding it to my review. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT REALLY COVERED IN THE CHAPTER. There are five joints in the shoulder girdle, and these are the types of joints they are:

  • the sternoclavicular joint is a saddle synovial joint, which is a joint between concave and convex surfaces that works like a ball and socket
  • the acromioclavicular joint is a plane synovial joint, which glides
  • the glenohumeral joint is a ball and socket synovial joint

The other two joints in the shoulder girdle are fake joints:

  • the scapulocostal joint attaches the shoulder blades to the ribs with soft tissue—i.e., the trapezius, rhomboid, and serratus anterior muscles
  • the suprahumeral joint attaches the humerus to a scapular ligament

A joke!

Q: How many suprahumeral joints does it take to change a light bulb?
A: One.

Get it? Because the suprahumeral joint is what you use when you raise your arm high to change light bulbs.

What body part moves this joint?

When I say what body part, I sort of mean what meaty part and that will lead us to the muscles we're talking about. And when I say moves, I mean what meat is doing the heavy lifting. Which if I keep talking like that I'm going to end up vegan again. Here we're talking mostly about the back, but a little bit about the chest.

What body part is moved at this joint?

Here it's the back and a little bit of chest moving something that's in the back—that is, the shoulder blades. Which when they move may move the things they're connected to, but that's secondary to what we're talking about here.

Primary to what we're talking about here is, you can work your back muscles to stabilize your shoulder blades. The more stable your shoulder blades are, the more stable your shoulders are. The more stable and also the stronger your shoulders are, the less likely that your arm will fall off when you inevitably bash your shoulder into somebody else's.

Sold? More TK.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fall Work Wear
 my other boots

fall work wear my other boots

Okay but, I have this other pair of boots, the cowboy boots that were hand-me-downs from B, which are really amazing and also totally comfortable. I was worried about the toes pinching, but they don't at all and they are totally flat. So I can descend the stairs without fear!

I would make these my fall boots, but then I think I have to always wear black or red with them. And denim is okay with them. I mean, right?

WHAT I DO NOT WANT MORE THAN ONE PAIR OF SHOES PER SEASON

Also I should say that I don't always wear one of the thirteen sweaters, I also like layering long-sleeved t-shirts under my summer tank tops. In winter, I will be layering those long-sleeved t-shirts under my sweaters...

Monday, October 3, 2011

Fried Eggs and Oatmeal
 with Tomatoes and Mushrooms

fried eggs and oatmeal with tomatoes and mushrooms

I actually prefer fried leftover to freshly cooked oatmeal, I got the idea from Make Room! Make Room! Which is the book that the movie Soylent Green is based on, I'd like to think that I'm the first food blogger to bring you recipes from Soylent Green...

Probably less than a year ago, the idea of savory oatmeal freaked me right out. Now savory oatmeal is the new black, I've seen it all over. Though I don't want oatmeal with just chives and soy sauce, I need to be eating actual vegetables. Just like I eat sweet oatmeal with the fruits and the nuts, and not just brown sugar. My go to veggies for this are cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, and baby spinach. They basically rotate through my refrigerator, and I pair them up for different flavor combinations.

Let me tell you what about fried tomatoes and mushrooms for breakfast, the British know what's up with breakfast—

olive oil
leftover cooked oatmeal
cherry tomatoes
button mushrooms
two eggs

Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. I put away my leftover oatmeal in a square takealong container, I just slice off a couple 1/2 inch slices and put them in the skillet to fry up. If you fry them nicely like not moving them until they crust on the bottom and carefully flipping them, you can make crispy oatmeal sticks.

It's usually too early for that for me, though. I don't mind eating mush.

I halve about five tomatoes and thickly slice five mushrooms, and put them in the skillet with the oatmeal. Then I do some dishes to keep myself from harassing my breakfast, it just needs a few minutes to get nicely browned.

Then I crack a couple eggs in the skillet, let them fry a bit and then dribble in just a little water from the kettle and cover the skillet to steam the tops of the eggs. If you want nice oatmeal sticks, you should take them out before you steam the eggs.

When the eggs are cooked to your liking, get it all out of the skillet with a spatula.