15 Thursday Nov 2007
Posted in friends, life stuff, love, musings, nablopomo
This is in response to comment 6 on this post.
It was suggested by nursemyra that I could tell about how Nog & I met as part of NaBloPoMo , and then I thought that it would be fun if other people also shared their ‘how we met’ stories. So here is mine and I look forward to reading yours . . .
10 Saturday Nov 2007
Posted in health & happiness, life stuff, nablopomo
Simple therapy ‘best for backs’
Paracetamol and keeping active are the best cures for back pain, according to Australian researchers who warn that other treatments do not work.
A Lancet study of 240 back pain sufferers found anti-inflammatory drugs and spinal manipulation did not make any difference to recovery time.
I love this study because it backs up (no pun intended) what I’ve known for about 25 years. That the best thing for lower back pain is just continuous gentle movement and occasional painkillers, though I do sometimes take an anti-inflammatory for the first day or two.
And that’s it! No muscle relaxants, no bone-crackers, no nuthin else is necessary.
It’s kind of like having a cold. If you rest in bed, drink plenty of fluids and take aspirin your cold will last for about 7 days. If you do none of those things it’ll last a week.
06 Tuesday Nov 2007
Posted in home, life stuff, miscellany, nablopomo, retail therapy
Mmmm . . . there’s nuthin like a plump new duvet.
Almost turns needing to use one into a desirable situation. I usually experience duvet denial this time of year, forgetting to take the thing to the cleaners in time and ending up suffering through a few chilly nights before I get it back. But the other day when Nog & I were out shopping we stopped in at Corte Inglés to see if there were any good deals on duvets (ours was looking decidedly unplump). And as luck would have it there was a fab 25% off special offer happening, so we made our purchase and just two days later (last night) needed to use it.
And it’s great because it’s still not really cold and, for example, I can sit here typing this in bed with a hot mug of coffee on the night table and feel quite cosy and warm, covered in cats (they love it too) and mounds of lightweight pillowy softness. But next month needing the duvet will become a less pleasant, more needy, experience.
But why think about that now? Indeed, ‘carping the diem’ is becoming more and more frequent here at casa az.
Oh, and I had 
and digestive biscuits for breakfast. 😉
05 Monday Nov 2007
Posted in books & writing, computers, life stuff, nablopomo, photos
This is very cool – check out Blurb Book Publishing
Blurb is a publishing company that allows you to publish your own books using their free BookSmart software. You can then print your book to sell, or just for yourself, and you only pay when you actually print the book.
I first saw this over on Ashish’s blog and he had this to say after trying out the software…
Blurb is essentially a book publisher, a marketplace, a community of author’s like you and a company providing tools for said author’s to create books all rolled into one. The highlight of Blurb is of course the free BookSmart software, which is available for free download. You just need to register, which is also free. The software is easy to learn and use, but make sure you do have the resources [which many modern computer’s will fulfill in a jiffy] needed to run the application. I might say that I barely meet the minimum requirements when it comes to memory but I had no problem. As for the creation process, a very helpful wizard will get you making your book before long.
Maybe I’ll dust off that old unfinished novel of mine (once again) and give this a go . . .
04 Sunday Nov 2007
Posted in life stuff, music, nablopomo, philosophy, religion, video
This is a ‘bonus post’ because I reckon that just posting videos during NaBloPoMo does seem a bit like cheating (and so, apologies for yesterday).
Anyhow, I am currently reading The Man Called Cash by Steve Turner (that was given to me by Sara & Steve) and this morning I got to the part where it talks about making this video. As I had never seen it I decided to have a look on Youtube, and it is so wonderful and moving that I thought I’d share it here too.
Enjoy! 
casa azahar 