Mary, many many Marys

I went off to Vic today with the Man to visit the Medieval market.  It was fine.  They sold a LOT of tcotchka, but it was still a very good day.  We went to the Vic Episcopal museum, which was really neat.  I think there have been a lot of moneyed people in Vic for some time, and when great grandpa died the family would give all the stuff in the attic to the museum, and they've got some very cool stuff!  They also have a lot of work that was (somewhat dubiously) removed from rural churches all over Catalunya. That's a whole other post.

A lot of the material dates from the early middle ages, like the 11th century, and it seems that there weren't such strong ideas about what Mary should look like, so there was quite a lot of variation......

see?

All of these are the classic Madonna with Jesus on her knee. 

This one below is my favourite I think....

I think these ladies are lovely and I adore the variation of expression and beauty.  They are not all teh same classic Madonna face and expression that became codified later, and they are charming.  When we get later into the Renaissance, things got a little creepy.....check these two out....These are statues to saints who hold, embedded in their chests, parts of their now dead bodies....

I am, however, somewhat suspicious, as one has a skull and no jaw, and the other a jaw and no skull....and those teeth!!!

Creepy.

Year of the brain, year of the brawn

Well, last year was really intense, a lot of work, finishing the Masters and it was all very very mental.  Last summer was also pretty intense with work, but I did almost no exercise.  I stopped doing any exercise at all more or less in March cause I just didn't have time, and I had barely done any before that anyway.....

Last summer I swam, which was marvelous but it was only 6 weeks, and ran a bit till I took a bad fall....

And my brain was w.e.a.r.y by the time September came around.  I am not studying anything.  Nothing.  I am reading detective novels, and doing a lot of physical exercise.  You see, I threw my back out in September because I hadn't done any exercise....I had to use a cane to get around for a few days.  Not fun.

So now?  I swim twice a week, I am doing weights twice a week, I do pilates once a week, I ride my bike three days a week and I wish I could get motivated for some yoga (unfortunately Chuck the dog wants to join me and it is not very successful) 

My back is just getting to the stage that I could think about running, but it is freaking freezing here.  Not by Canadian standards, I know, but still, we're sitting at about 6º most of the day and it is NOT motivating for going running.

However, this morning?  This morning I swam 3.2 km.  3.2!!!  In an hour and a half!!!  Ok, not exactly making Phelps worried, but still!  That's a lot of front crawl!!!!!  I've been working on technique, and I got that a lot better, then the breathing went down the toilet, but today it all came together and I just swam and swam and swam.  I could have kept going too! 

That said, my arms are a little weary, but I went to do weights and it went far better than I thought it would...so yeah!

In the New Year I'll introduce a little mental work.... maybe......