67 books to read before 10

Link to Wired article

Stone Path

Stone path
materials:

Sand or stone dust
top soil

Steps:
1. clear the path
2. dig to desired depth for level and stone thickness allow for 1" sand base
3. distribute 1" sand base
4. tamp down
5. layout stones with 2" spaces between
6. fill with soil
7. tamp down again

General Tips & Rules:

• A sand base should always be used. Customers are being told this at the point of design.
• For the small patios, use a 1" sand base. Hardscape subcontractors are required to use a compacted base for larger patios.
• Stepping stone paths should be laid out in a straight line or with nice, smooth arcs. People should not have to think about what they are doing when they walk on the path. Stones should also be a comfortable pace apart.
• Gaps on patios should be 2" or less. Gaps on steeper paths should be between 3" - 6".
• On steeper paths, make sure that you are not putting the point of one stone towards the point of the next. Try to have a flat side butt up against a flat side.
• Use a hammer and a chisel to break flagging. If an exact break is needed, then score the bottom of the stone with a masonry saw and then break it with a hammer and chisel.

8 Tips for a Successful Home Yoga Practice

By Frances Frischkorn

One of the most beautiful and liberating aspects of yoga is that you don’t need any fancy equipment or a designated building or field to practice. Yoga is accessible. The practice meets you where you are – as long as you are willing to approach it.

 

Sometimes it’s just not possible to make it into a studio for class. Perhaps this is because of financial or geographical restrictions or simply a matter of preference. Regardless, developing a home yoga practice and committing to it is a profound tool for deepening into your own personal relationship with yoga.

 

As a practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga primarily, I love the self-led nature of a Mysore practice within a group environment. But, it is not possible for me at this time to practice in a shala setting consistently, so here are some tools that have helped me in my home practice of Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga.

 

1. Stick with a set sequence. Practicing the same poses every day repeatedly is a powerful way to keep consistent with your practice. This repetition offers you a clear vantage point from which to watch yourself grow and change. The nature and sequencing of Ashtanga Yoga offers this beautifully. You don’t have to think about what pose you want to do next, so instead you can focus on your breath, bandhas and drishti. This takes you into a deeper meditative and focused place, so that you will step off your mat feeling more present and peaceful. 

 

2. Require a minimum of practice for yourself each day. Even if it’s just 15 minutes, make yourself a promise that you will do your 15 minutes. That’s your practice - just that - everything else is bonus time! Start small (baby steps!); this way you can stick with your commitment and feel positive about your practice rather than guilty if you don’t have a lot of time/energy that day.

 

3. Prioritize and sanctify your practice. Make a specific spot in your home/hotel/dorm room that is specifically reserved for your practice. When you roll out your mat, you are in your own little yoga studio, so be there! Don’t roll it out and then walk away and get on Facebook (guilty – I’ve done that – it does not benefit your practice!). Creating a small altar or having a special picture, token or candle there to mark this as a sacred space for intentional practice will help you. When you practice, make practice your sole focus. Turn off the phone, music and computer. Honor your practice time as sacred and important. Make boundaries around yourself for your practice time. If you are in a house with other people, you will need to gracefully practice conscious communication with them in order to protect your uninterrupted practice time and space.

 

4. Take the time to sit and be still. Always include time in your practice just to BE – to breathe and to be present with yourself. Perhaps picking a gentle pranayama practice will help you, or mantra meditation or japa. Finding stillness in your practice will make you feel very nourished and peaceful, and this will then make you want to practice with more consistency and devotion! Just three minutes of conscious deepbreathing can work wonders! Practicing meditation will benefit your asana practice, because it will help you build your powers of concentration. The inverse is true as well; practicing asana, especially with an intense focus on controlling prana through drishti, bandhas and breath, will make you a better meditator.

 

5. Invert! Go upside down every day! Shoulder-stand, headstand and viparita karani are all fantastic practices. There are so many wonderful health benefits from inverting. Plus, it’s a great way to clear your head and get a new perspective on things. I always feel happier and better about life after a few minutes of hanging out upside down.

 

6. Go in for regular tune-ups. Occasionally, give yourself the treat of working with a great teacher. Go in for a few classes or a workshop. This will help bring attention to areas of your practice that need assistance, and it will also provide you with new inspiration and motivation for your daily home practice.

 

7. Use the resources around you well. If you are feeling a little stuck all by yourself, look around for some help and a break in the routine. Find a local donation-based community yoga class to attend occasionally instead of breaking the bank on a $20 class. Learn from reading blogs and yoga websites, or even take an online yoga class if that’s what is most available to you. YogaGlo offers a free trial membership and classes with great, experienced teachers.

 

8. Be smart about sequencing. So, maybe you don’t want to do the same sequence every day? That’s cool; sometimes I like to just “play” Vinyasa style on my mat. If that’s what you are going to do, make sure your practice is balanced!

 

Tips for smart sequencing:

 

Start by getting in touch with your breath. Ujjayi Pranayama in child’s pose or a seated position works well.

 

Warm up the spine and backs of the legs slowly with some nice gentle stretches – cat/cows, rag doll forward fold, gentle lunges are all good options.

 

Sun Salutations – ESSENTIAL! Both Surya Namaskar A and B. Really follow the breath. Be precise through the vinyasa positions – don’t skimp on your Chaturangas!

 

Standing and Balancing poses – Personally I don’t think a practice is complete without Trikonasana (Triangle Pose) or Parsvokonasna (Extended Side Angle Pose). The twisted variations of each of these poses are wonderful as well. Give your hip flexors some attention with runner’s lunge/lizard or a low lunge with the arms arching up overhead for a nice heart opening sensation.

 

Seated poses – Include forward folds, twists and hip-openers. Always practice equally on the left and right sides.

 

Include focus on building core-strength with strong, long Chaturangas and poses like Navasana (boat pose), forearm plank and side plank.

 

When you are properly warmed up, practice backbends – maybe just start with a Bridge pose. Locust, Bow and Camel are all great poses to build strength around the spine and to really open the chest. These poses will help you in Wheel (Urdhva Dhanurasana). It is important to stay really engaged with your bandhas in all your backbends. Having a strong lift at the navel will help make space in your lower back for deeper and safer back bending.

 

Always practice a gentle forward fold to neutralize the spine after back bending.

 

End with inversions and other quieting poses (maybe some passive forward folding or restoratives).

 

Savasana – Give your body the time to integrate all of the energetic movement that you facilitated through asana. Let your mind and body relax and be receptive.

 

Sit and Meditate.

 

Express Gratitude! Give thanks! You are blessed to be practicing yoga – don’t forget that! An attitude of gratitude opens doors and hearts.

Minecraft Mods

1. Back up the "Application Support/minecraft" folder

This means to go into user name/Library/Application Support

copy the "minecraft" folder, paste it in the same directory "Application Support and name it something about the version and date that is relevant to what you are doing.

Example: "minecraft 1.3.2 no mods"

It's always good to have a fresh version around incase you blow it when you start mucking around in there and you need to revert and start again. It's also good to try mods on fresh minecraft.jar (meaning no mods) because they may or may not be compatible and these developers are not good at documentation of testing. So keep one or two around. I have 1 for each version we have tried mods with (1.1, 1.2.5 and 1.3.2). Some mods are only available for specific versions since they are made by individuals they don't always have the attention span to update their mods with each update ofMinecraft.

2. Download your files and save them in one file -  "Mods" on your desktop:

A. Download Risugami's ModLoader and unzip it. 

http://www.minecraftmine.org/minecraft-1-0-0-modloader-1-0-0-mod/

scroll down and click on the text link. They use this adfly service which is annoying. You have to wait 5 seconds then hit the "skip Ad" button in the top right corner to initiate the download. Don't read the copy on this site - it's maddening. just get the files and go.

B. Optional, download AudioMod

http://www.minecraftmine.org/audiomod-1-1/

Again - scroll down and click on the text link. They use this adfly service which is annoying. You have to wait 5 seconds then hit the "skip Ad" button in the top right corner to initiate the download. Don't read the copy on this site - it's maddening. just get the files and go.

C. Download ModloaderMP 

Take the CLIENT VERSION 

http://www.minecraftmine.org/modloadermp-mod/

Again - scroll down and click on the text link. They use this adfly service which is annoying. You have to wait 5 seconds then hit the "skip Ad" button in the top right corner to initiate the download. Don't read the copy on this site - it's maddening. just get the files and go.

D. Download Minecraft Forge 

Take the recommended client

http://www.minecraftdl.com/minecraft-forge-api/

This is a different site but just as annoying - maybe more so due tot he display ads and default video and audio ads. 

Again - scroll down and click on the text link. They use this adfly service which is annoying. You have to wait 5 seconds then hit the "skip Ad" button in the top right corner to initiate the download. Don't read the copy on this site - it's maddening. just get the files and go.

E. Download the mod file

http://trains-and-zeppelin.wikispaces.com/Download

3. Then open your minecraft.jar 

Use Unarchiver or Win7 to open the .jar file. 

http://www.7-zip.org/

http://download.cnet.com/The-Unarchiver/3000-2250_4-10655313.html

You can toss the old .jar file and rename the opened file "minecraft.jar" since you lose the suffix when it's opened up.

4. Add all the Mod files to the opened minecraft.jar file in the following sequence.

A. Modloader

Go to the Modloader file, select all, copy, then go to the now open minecraft.jar file and paste the files. Replace all files that are already in there.

B. ModloaderMp

Same process here.

C. Minecraft forge

Same process here.

D. Optional: AudioMod

Same process here.

E. Trains and Zeppelin

Same process here.

5. Delete The META-INF folder in minecraft.jar file. 

If you don't delete this file the screen will be black and the game won't load.

6. Close your minecraft.jar. 

It doesn't seem to be necessary to rearchive the file just be sure that the file is named "minecraft.jar". 

7. Optional: the content of the "resource files" goes into the resources/mod folder

I couldn't figure this out so I didn't do it.

8. Follow the steps in the given sequence or it will not work in SMP (One modloaderMp's file is modified a bit)

I haven't verified this but I did follow this sequence and it worked which is something.

Standard Process Cleanse Info

PDF from standard process

http://www.standardprocess.com/display/displayFile.aspx?docid=369&filename=/Public/Lit/Miscellaneous/purificationguideL2605.pdf

• good overview of the program, what to eat, how many supplements to take, etc.
• What the cleanse will do for you
• Recipes to make that are good (lentil soup in particular was  life saver for me – make a batch, store in small jam jars which just happen to be 1 cup servings, grab in the morning to take for lunch, or crack one in the evening for your dinner)

Supplements:

Protein powder – I used Hemp

http://www.amazon.com/Manitoba-Harvest-Soluble-Concentrate-16-Ounce/dp/B002CPVTH4/ref=sr_1_5?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337891728&sr=1-5

Gastro fiber 

http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Process-Gastro-Fiber-150-C/dp/B0058PHOPQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337891632&sr=1-1

You may want to also take 1 tablespoon psyllium husks in 8 oz of water followed by another pint sized glass of water 1x a day (I did and it was helpful, to say the least)

http://www.amazon.com/Foods-Psyllium-Husk-Powder-Ounces/dp/B001F0R70A/ref=sr_1_10?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337891666&sr=1-10 (this link is to a 3 pack. Don't buy it)

SPCleanse 

http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Process-SP-Cleanse-150/dp/B0019G0EVY/ref=sr_1_11?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337891403&sr=1-11

Green Food (get 2 of these)

http://www.amazon.com/green-food-capsules-standard-process/dp/B0019FYDDU/ref=sr_1_17?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1337891403&sr=1-17

Basic morning smoothie

3-4 strawberries

1/2 banana

1/2 C frozen blueberries

1 tablespoon of flax oil

2 scoops of protein powder

Cover with fresh apple juice or water – apple juice is more delicious, but has more sugar obviously. You can also split the difference.

You can double the recipe, drink half for breakfast and half for lunch of a snack.

If you bring a smoothie, a piece of fruit and a jar of soup in – you will be fine for the whole day

I also put 1/2 an avocado on the soup + a bit of fresh cilantro, more filling and satisfying

You can eat at Delessio if you forget food. Lots of veg options.

Green smoothie

1. Add these thing to the blender

Peeled cored pear or apple

1/2 peeled cucumber

Sprouts (sunflower, pea shoots, mung bean)

Flat leaf parsley

Handful of dulse (seaweed) (optional)

Cover with filtered water or carrot juice

2. Blend

3. Add these things to the blender

Green leaf lettuce 1/4 head 

Big hand full of spinach leaves

2 scoops of protein powder

2 tablespoons of flax oil

1/2 or full avocado

Sea salt

More water or carrot juice to get the consistency you like. I like this one a bit more watery than the fruit one.

4.Blend again.

This one is also good to do 1/2 for breakfast 1/2 for lunch. Or bring a whole large mason jar full of it in and drink it in 2 meals.

Newspapers for West Marin / Pt Reyes

Pt Reyes Light - http://www.ptreyeslight.com/

West Marin Citizen - http://www.westmarincitizen.com/

Pt Reyes - Guided activities

Today I found two terrific resources for learning about and getting involved in all things West Marin.

1. Pt Reyes Field Institute Offers Guided tours such as Full Moon Walks, Bioluminescence Beach Guided tour, Kayak wildlife viewing and more! Very exciting. Some even allow children from 7 up.
2. MALT - Marin Agricultural Land Trust. These folks have events such as Picnics in the Field and Hike up Black Mountain. Their gaol is to keep family farms as family farms in the future. 

I'll keep looking and learning.