Exercise, and my back: massage helps

My back isn't at 100%, but it's a lot better than it was a few days ago, thanks in no small part to rysmiel massaging it while I was in Montreal. This does not mean that I'm going to do the lat pulldowns again any time soon, if ever, nor that I won't be using muscle relaxants or anti-inflammatories when needed. It does mean they're needed less.

Today's workout was skewed more toward the lower-body parts of what I do. If I manage not to have another break before Wiscon, I might even be able to increase the weight on the leg press by then.

( more about my workout (numbers) )

Exercise, and my back: massage helps

My back isn't at 100%, but it's a lot better than it was a few days ago, thanks in no small part to rysmiel massaging it while I was in Montreal. This does not mean that I'm going to do the lat pulldowns again any time soon, if ever, nor that I won't be using muscle relaxants or anti-inflammatories when needed. It does mean they're needed less.

Today's workout was skewed more toward the lower-body parts of what I do. If I manage not to have another break before Wiscon, I might even be able to increase the weight on the leg press by then.

( more about my workout (numbers) )

Moth addendum

In our posts about the current butterfly exhibition at Montreal's Botanical Garden, neither I nor rysmiel mentioned that Atlas moths have translucent patches in their wings. The effect is subtle: I didn't notice it until I'd seen them against two different-colored surfaces. The first temptation is to conclude that those patches are pale green, or yellow, or brown, depending on what's behind the moth, because multi-colored moths and butterflies are well within the range of expectation.

In brief conversation, none of us came up with a good guess as to what purpose this serves, or how it evolved. The effect resembles that on Australian currency, but I doubt anyone has tried to counterfeit a moth, let alone done so often enough to exert evolutionary pressure.

Moth addendum

In our posts about the current butterfly exhibition at Montreal's Botanical Garden, neither I nor rysmiel mentioned that Atlas moths have translucent patches in their wings. The effect is subtle: I didn't notice it until I'd seen them against two different-colored surfaces. The first temptation is to conclude that those patches are pale green, or yellow, or brown, depending on what's behind the moth, because multi-colored moths and butterflies are well within the range of expectation.

In brief conversation, none of us came up with a good guess as to what purpose this serves, or how it evolved. The effect resembles that on Australian currency, but I doubt anyone has tried to counterfeit a moth, let alone done so often enough to exert evolutionary pressure.