![Epazote: secret ingredient](http://radified.com/gfx2/epazote.jpg)
The Neck (6 weeks later)
Tilting » right-ear toward right-shoulder .. is the movement I now find most difficult. Feels like a steel cable (tendon?) connects my left shoulder to the base of my skull (on left side), restricting this (right-ward ») motion.
Forcing this movement causes swelling (the next day) where my neck (left-side) connects to my torso. The swelling (raised ~2 inches) looks scarier than it feels. Nevertheless, I'm hesitant to stretch very far in that direction (.. like they want me to).
The Doc says swelling is a sign muscles are still healing. So does that mean I am re-injuring them?
I'd say my neck has improved from severely jacked-up to (plain ol') "jacked-up." Severely jacked-up is defined as » difficult to deal with. Slightly jacked-up would be » easy-to-deal-with .. (tho, I'm not there yet).
The Doc suggested I wear a scarf around my neck (to keep the muscles warm). Altho this sounds stupid (and looks gay), I've found it helps better than anything else I've tried.
Web Master Skills
In more-technical news, I couldn't resist playing with my new XHTML/CSS skills .. and re-created the site's splash page (a 7-second timer will automatically kick you back here). This is my first-ever web page using XHTML 1.0 Strict standards. I created it from scratch with Dreamweaver CS3.
••• today's entry continues below •••
Altho the new splash page looks similar to the previous version, the underlying code is quite different, and utilizes sophisticated CSS <style> techniques, such as descendant selectors in conjunction with pseudo-classes .. tho the page itself is obviously very simple.
In the past, I kept pushing HTML-buttons and pulling CSS-levers until the desired effect was obtained (cuz I didn't know wtf I was doing). Now I proceed deliberately and confidently, using the smorgasbord of skills added to my webmaster toolbox. (Much more enjoyable when you know what you're doing.)
BTW - if you're looking for a good online tutorial to learn XHTML/CSS, the best I've found is the one at » HTML Dog. W3Schools is also excellent, and addresses more topics than just XHTML & CSS.
If I'm gonna play with my new skills, where better to start than at the beginning? » the main index page. Now I feel like 86'ing the whole site and starting over from scratch. (This homepage will be next.) But I need to maintain my focus on learning, while I'm in the groove.
Of all the topics I've been eye-balling lately, the one that interests me most is » databases .. perhaps because they seem more complicated. That's what originally intrigued me about nuclear power. (Powerful technolgies are often complex.) Perhaps I'll pick up a book on SQL.
Holy Frijoles! (A First)
And lastly » I made my first-ever pot of homemade beans yesterday. ("Frijoles" they're called in Mexican/Spanish.) Soaked them over-night first. If you've ever fixed homemade beans, you know how tasty they are. Compared to canned beans, it's like the difference between canned tuna fish and tuna steaks cooked on the grille. (No comparison.)
I slow-cooked mine (in a crock pot) .. in chicken stock, with an onion, some garlic, a bay leaf and a few other secret ingredients. Served over rice. Yummy. I'll be eating them for days. (Best keep your distance, amigo.)
Comments (1)
test, commenting anti-spam feature.
Posted by Rad | November 20, 2007 4:52 PM
Posted on November 20, 2007 16:52