I'm in Love with Bennett Cerf

For the last several months I've been on a nostalgia trip - ever since I discovered episodes of What's My Line on You Tube.

I remember watching the show on television when I was a kid. I also watched it when it went into syndication late in the 60s, but the original version - which ran from 1950-1967 is the best.

The regular moderator was John Daly. Regular panelists were Arlene Francis, Dorothy Kilgallen and Bennett Cerf. There was a rotating guest panelist every week: often Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs, or Tony Randall.

While everyone on the show was articulate, urbane and witty, by far the most adorable was Bennett Cerf. I love his impish grin.

Bennett Cerf was the founder of Random House. He was also an author. Know for his puns, he had a great sense of humor. There was constant teasing between Bennett and host John Daly.

Publisher, wit, theater goer, avid reader - what librarian wouldn't love him? Every few days I sit down at my computer and watch an episode (or two or three) of What's My Line.

An update on other aspects of my life: I just finished reading The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen. My stack of reading was getting low and this was on the New Book shelf at the library. While I'm generally not interested in books with a supernatural or paranormal theme, this one was gripping. I couldn't put it down! Not all of the "loose ends" were completely tied together, but I don't care. It was a totally absorbing read.

Writing down my intention of practicing Yoga regularly has worked - at least so far. I think maintaining the habit will be easier as I continue. I took the time twice last week and again today (it's only Tuesday) to listen to and work along with my favorite Yoga CD.

And at work, I'm still plugging away on the letter S. There are lots of words that begin with that letter, so this may take me a while. Yesterday I worked on merging duplicate records of items with titles that began with "Sigmund Freud", books and other media by and about Sigmund Freud, and any other record I happened to spot along the way. Then I began on the word "sign". MassCat has lots of books in its catalog on American Sign Language and baby signing.

I think the best part of my job is serendipitously learning about so many different things and being about to follow up by borrowing a book and learning more. I keep saying that this is the perfect job for me.

Yoga

Once upon a time, I got up  every morning (or so) and did a session of Yoga or Pilates. I'm not certain why I stopped, but likely it was because I've been leading (or attending) the senior exercise class three days each week.

The Yoga "class" was on several different audio cassettes. I would rotate among four different ones for a variety of exercises and stretches. The cassettes are getting very old and sometimes they'd get "eaten" by the player. I could usually extricate and rewind them but I began to get anxious about playing them.

I found some of them on CD (which I can play on my DVD player) so two of the sessions are now available worry free.

Today is a holiday and there is no senior exercise class. This morning, first thing, I pulled on my sweats and spent the next half hour stretching and strengthening my back using Yoga poses. I feel great.

About a year and a half ago, I strained by back. I don't know how. One day, my lower back was feeling stiff, but that usually goes away in a couple of days. This time it got worse so that I couldn't lean forward or backward without extreme pain. I also could not cough or sneeze without extreme pain. I could sit, stand, lean from side to side and lie down. My PCP prescribed an NSAID, recommended icing by lower back (fortunately it was summer; I refuse to ice any part of my body in winter) and the spasms eased.

My acupuncturist recommended some exercises which are some of the same ones included in the Yoga CDs.

Though I no longer have pain, my lower back still stiffens if I'm stationary for a long period of time. I often wake up during the night with a stiff back. In the morning, my back is stiff.

I really need to stretch more and strengthen those back muscles. Obviously senior exercise class is not enough. I often tell the participants in the class that Mother Nature is working against us and we need to keep active to offset the effects of aging. Clearly I need to take my own advice.

I'm hoping that 2-3 days each week when there is no senior exercise class, I'll pull on my sweats first thing in the morning and stretch and pose while listening to my Yoga CDs. Writing my intention down will help make it a reality.