The absolute best is the following exercise which I got from brother-in-law who actually is a Hospital of Special Surgery trained orthopedic surgeon specializing in joint replacement (and a great guy--my sister did well). It is pretty simple:

After you stretch, put on ankle weights on both ankles, start with 2-3 pounds and you can eventually move up to 5 pounds or higher as needed. Then lie flat on your back with both heels on the floor. Raise your right leg about 6 inches off the ground and draw the alphabet. Draw the letter A, the B, etc. with your foot. See how far you can go. Once you can't go any further drop your right leg and do the same with your left. Do this three times with for each leg. After several days you should be able to go through the whole alphabet and at that point increase the weight and start again.

Why the alphabet? Well your quads (which support the patella) are made up of multiple muscles and the up, down, lateral and twisting movement in drawing the letters strengthens each muscle. This has side benefits for core strength as well.

The Chinese are like raging barbarians.


"I pray that my aspirations will be fulfilled. If you are your mother’s son - rise up. Sons of the Land of Snows - rise up. Singers of the Snow Land - rise up. May His Holiness the Dalai Lama live for thousands of aeons. My respect to the white snow lion (symbol of Tibet). My prayers for happiness in Tibet."
"Father and mother, it is my hope that you will take care of yourselves. You are the most loving people in this world. I will repay your kindness in my next life."


[Jigjey Kyab]
He made an attempt to self-immolate but he apparently died before he could set himself on fire

Mother to Son
BY LANGSTON HUGHES

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Nothing had ever obliged him to do anything. He had spent his childhood alone. He never joined any group. He never pursued a course of study. He never belonged to a crowd. The circumstances of his life were marked by that strange but rather common phenomenon – [perhaps, in fact, it’s true for all lives] – of being tailored to the image and likeness of his instincts, which tended towards inertia and withdrawal.


The Book of Disquiet

“I’m nothing.
I’ll always be nothing.
I can’t want to be something.
But I have in me all the dreams of the world.”

Pessoa

It is important in life to conclude things properly.
Only then can you let go.
Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did,
and your heart is heavy with remorse.

| Pi

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