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November 2006

 

November 30, 2006

I'm truly a geek about a lot of things: music, gadgets, Apple products, new software, TVs, stereos, science fiction stuff, cars, ... well, it's a big list. One thing that makes me completely jazzed on geekish glee, but which isn't your standard geekish area of interest, is archaeology and ancient civilizations. I could spend a lifetime visiting and learning about ancient Greece, unearthed Maya cities, sunken Viking longboats, the Sphinx , or any of a million such things.

So it should come as no surprise that I'm fascinated by these two (1 & 2) new news articles. The first one, about the ancient calculator, is fascinating not only on its own but because I have followed a number of earlier theories about what purpose this device might have served, and this latest theory and its support isn't so far off, just more exacting. The second story, about the old Roman burial site in London, follows on the heels of a number of recent finds in various parts of Britain over the last two years, almost all one burial site or another of over 1000 years of age. It's amazing stuff to me, and I wish I was there to learn more as these things are examined.

Ancient Astronomical Device Thrills Scholars

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- An ancient astronomical calculator made at the end of the 2nd century BC was amazingly accurate and more complex than any instrument for the next 1,000 years, scientists said on Wednesday.

The Antikythera Mechanism is the earliest known device to contain an intricate set of gear wheels. It was retrieved from a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901 but until now what it was used for has been a mystery.

Although the remains are fragmented in 82 brass pieces, scientists from Britain, Greece and the United States have reconstructed a model of it using high-resolution X-ray tomography.

They believe their findings could force a rethink of the technological potential of the ancient Greeks.

"It could be described as the first known calculator," said Professor Mike Edmunds, a professor of astrophysics at Cardiff University in Wales.

"Our recent work has applied very modern techniques that we believe have now revealed what its actual functions were."

The calculator could add, multiply, divide and subtract. It was also able to align the number of lunar months with years and display where the sun and the moon were in the zodiac.

Edmunds and his colleagues discovered it had a dial that predicted when there was likely to be a lunar or solar eclipse. It also took into account the elliptical orbit of the moon.

"The actual astronomy is perfect for the period," Edmunds told Reuters.

"What is extraordinary about the thing is that they were able to make such a sophisticated technological device and to be able to put that into metal," he added.

The model of the calculator shows 37 gear wheels housed in a wooden case with inscriptions on the cover that related to the planetary movements.

Francois Charette, of the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany, said the findings, reported in the journal Nature, provide a wealth of data for future research.

"Newly deciphered inscriptions that relate to the planetary movements make it plausible that the mechanism originally also had gearings to predict the motion of the planets," he said in a commentary.

Edmunds described the instrument as unique, saying there is nothing like it in the history of astronomy. Similar complicated mechanisms were not seen until the appearance of medieval cathedral clocks much later.

"What was not quite so apparent before was quite how beautifully designed this was," he said. "That beauty of design in this mechanical thing forces you to say 'Well gosh, if they can do that what else could they do?' "

Here's the other article:

1,600-year-old Roman Coffin Unearthed in London

LONDON, England (AP) -- Archaeologists discovered a rare Roman sarcophagus containing a headless skeleton at the site of London's historic St. Martin-in-the-Fields church, authorities said Friday.

The limestone coffin dates to about A.D. 410 and was 10 feet below the grounds of St. Martin-in-the-Fields near Central London's busy Trafalgar Square, outside the boundaries researchers had established for London's Roman city walls.

"The find has opened up an exciting new area of Roman London for study," said Taryn Nixon, director of the Museum of London Archaeology Service. "This gives us an extraordinary glimpse of parts of London we haven't seen before, particularly Roman London and Saxon London."

Excavators and archaeological teams discovered 24 medieval burial sites in the area above and around the Roman sarcophagus during work on the church grounds this summer. The discovery lies in view of the National Gallery art museum, Nelson's Column and the square, which is often congested with tourists.

The sarcophagus was made from a single piece of limestone from Oxfordshire or Northamptonshire, about 60 miles northwest of London, researchers said. The skeleton, headless and missing fingers, is a 5-foot-6-inch man who died in his 40s. Researchers speculated Victorian workmen building a sewer stumbled upon the sarcophagus and took the skull.

The site is about a mile west of the boundary of Roman London established by researchers, said Roman history expert Hedley Swain.

Archaeologists made two similar finds in London during the 1970s and once at Westminster Abbey during the 19th century.

It was unclear if the burial was Christian or held by pagans, who populated the area, Swain said.

A $71 million renovation and expansion project on the church began in January, and an entrance into a foyer and shop is planned for above the burial site, said architect Tim Lynch.

Other finds include a Roman tile kiln, Anglo-Saxon jewelry, false teeth, a copper bowl and a green-blue glass cup.

"I'm amazingly thrilled by the finds we have made and excruciatingly nervous we will find something so significant we will have to stop the (renovation) work altogether," said Rev. Nick Holtam, the vicar of St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

Posted at 1:13 AM

 

November 29, 2006

Neither rain nor wind nor dead of night ...or something like that.

I did a whole list of little things this morning and this evening, but the big works for the day were in the yard. I finally got out there to take care of things, despite a week's worth of delays from weather or my grandma's weakness or unexpected rescheduled appointments. As much as I hate yardwork I was fighting to get out there for most of a day so that I could trim back the last of the plants, clear up the last of the leaves, mow the lawn, and do the final wrapping up and putting away of things to be ready for winter. I stayed out there during a light rain, raked in gusting winds, and mowed the lawn as darkness took over. As a result, I ache in a lot of places, have a headache, and am desperate for a long night's sleep, but in the final analysis it was all worth it - it's finally done.

So now, with today's efforts, I don't have to deal with the lawn or plants or any of that stuff until Spring is well under way. Sure, I'll have to shovel snow now and again, but I'm ready for that, and I actually have far less of a problem with that than with yard work.

I'm drained, and I have a whole list of things to do in the next couple of days, but I feel like I've completed something and taken a step forward. One step at a time, slow as that may be, but that's what I'll have to do if that's what it takes.

Posted at 12:00 AM

 

November 28, 2006

..give me some of camera 3 ...

(this has to be more obscure than any of you could make sense of)

Posted at 11:26 PM

 

November 27, 2006

While most people are facing their busiest time of year - out shopping for presents and goodies, writing and sending holiday cards, coordinating get-togethers and parties, and making arrangements for extended family to stay with them - I am facing what has become my busiest time of year as well. The difference is that while I have been (and still need to be) out shopping, and while I hope to write and send holiday cards, I'm spending all sorts of time in other endeavors - researching and filling out insurance plans for my grandma, taking my grandma to all sorts of doctor visits, getting my grandma's clothing and goods sorted and packed for her time away in Maryland and Florida, trying to get various affairs of my grandmother's in order before she leaves, trying to work in the yard around all of those things and around the poor autumn weather, and a million other little annoyances and distractions, all of which seem to have to be completed within the thirteen days left before she leaves. And of course she makes none of this at all easy because she's always late, always reminiscing (which I don't mind in itself, but it eats away literally hours at a time that could and should be being put to better (or at least more urgent) use), and always finding some way (purposefully or inadvertently) to make things even more difficult to get completed.

'Tis the season to be jolly my ass.

Posted at 12:00 AM

 

November 26, 2006

Pickles!

Posted at 1:43 AM

 

November 25, 2006

Two weeks! Just two weeks to freedom! (...and not a moment too soon...)

Posted at 11:46 PM

 

November 24, 2006

I hate it that I never seem to get caught up with all of the things that need to get done. I could accept that some things - things that have to be done recurrently, like the lawn - keep needing to be done, and I could accept that some things will just come up and have to be done - like arranging new insurance for my grandma for next year since her retirement plan is changing things. It's the rest of the stuff that annoys me, the tasks I set myself or my grandma sets me. They're usually somewhat involved and take some time, patience, and/or thoughtfulness, but they are accomplishable - at least in theory.

Some things that should take some time but then be able to be finalized simply won't do so. The PowerBook Saga is one supreme example of what is now over a year's nightmare. More currently is my cleaning up of my iTunes library, a project which I had thought could be done in a few days and has now stretched past weeks into months.

The thing is that it's not that I let these projects languish, either failing to start them in the first place (although I do have a number of projects like that, admittedly) or starting the project but forgetting about it or turning to more important things (and I have my share of those things, too). These are projects that I start and keep working on and on and on and on. Granted, I'm not spending every waking minute on them, but seriously, I'm really getting frustrated and disappointed by the fact that I just can't seem to get anything but the simplest, smallest, least important tasks completed. Everything else is a work in project with no clear end in sight.

Is this something that happens as you get older? Is it the effect of time as it appears to go faster as you get older (not that it does, it just appears that way)? Or am I less efficient, less capable even? Is my depression affecting me in ways I'm not even fully appreciating? I just don't know. I truly don't understand it, and it's come to a point where it's seriously bothering me. I want to get a lot of these various projects done and out of the way so that I can get on to other things, things that I've made wait until I could focus solely upon them and nothing else. I don't know what to do about this except what I have been doing - keep trying to get the projects done - but it's starting to seem rather futile. But then life is futile for the most part, so why am I really surprised. Ugh. I need to go to sleep. All this is making my head hurt.

Posted at 12:03 AM

 

November 23, 2006

Gobble, gobble! Doesn't that say it all?

Posted at 12:59 AM

 

November 22, 2006

Taking care of a 92 year old woman is no fun. When she's not cantankerous, forgetful, cantankerous about being forgetful, and determined that whether she's right or wrong you can't ever be right - even when she's not those things, she's troublesome because she won't accept that she doesn't have a young body any more and just can't do some things. Usually that means that I have to stop her from trying to bend over and pull out some weeds in a flowerbed or stop her from trying to carry a bundle of clothes up from the basement, but it extends into all areas.

Today, after falling fairly hard in her bedroom just after getting out of bed, she couldn't get up from off of the floor. She doesn't fall very often, fortunately, and when she does fall she usually just sort of crumples down right where she's standing rather than just tipping over and crashing. As a result, most of the few times she falls cause no lasting problems. Today, though, after just having gotten up, where the blood would only have just gotten going in her legs, she didn't have the strength to get up from the floor, using the soft mattress and bed to try to lean against and pull up against. She apparently strained to get up from her kneeling position for fifteen or twenty minutes before calling out for me.

Strange as it is, even though I can sleep through tornados and cat fights and all sorts of things, I have a remarkable ability to wake up to certain important sounds, and the plaintive voice of my grandmother calling my name is one of those sounds. I woke from sleep wondering if I'd just been hearing things, but then I hear her voice softly calling my name again, and I quickly made my way downstairs to where she was kneeling.

I tried a number of ways to help her up, and she was rather resistant (as usual) to having me pick her up, but I managed to half lift her up with her pulling on me, up to sitting on the edge of the bed. Herein, however, is where this tale really starts.

Regardless of the fact that she was now off of the floor, she simply couldn't stand. We would try every few minutes with mixed success, but her legs would give out and she'd sit right back down on the edge of the bed. I suspect, having had the whole day to think about it, that she strained her legs as she strained to stand up on her own before I came downstairs (she later complained that her thighs felt very tight). In any case, I sat with her on the bed for the better part of an hour, trying every ten minutes or so to stand, and each time she'd stand for a little longer but then quickly sit down, having lost the strength in her legs. I spent more time trying to keep her from worrying about all of this that I did at anything else, because my grandma works herself up and exhausts herself with such concerns, and we didn't need that on top of everything else. Finally, after standing and having her just sort of shuffle side to side near the bed, we felt she was okay, and we got to walking over to the bathroom. Once that initial foray was done and her legs were in action, we had no other problems or even anything close for the rest of the day, so that was a relief.

I'm interested to see what happens tomorrow, and I certainly hope she's back to normal. I do still think that it was the shock of the fall and the stress of straining her legs that made her legs so weak for a little while, but I am still a bit concerned, so I'll wait and see. It could certainly have gone much worse, so I'm thankful that things worked out as they did. It's just one more of the fun things about caring for an elderly lady, though, and the fun just never seems to stop.

Posted at 12:07 AM

 

November 21, 2006

Brilliant! You must listen to this album now. NOW, I say!

Posted at 1:05 AM

 

November 20, 2006

In the middle of a very long and tedious day of tasks, I took a moment aside, on a lark, and stopped by the local Honda dealership, where I proceeded to drool all over the new 2007 Civic Si Coupes. In fact I drooled all over the Civic Si Sedan first, which is remarkable because I've never been a fan of four door cars for the most part.

The Civic is simply gorgeous this year, and I want one badly. Of course short of a lottery win or a new-found career as a bank robber - neither very likely - I won't be remotely able to afford even a Matchbox version of the Civic let alone the real thing.

But as we all know, I can dream ...

Posted at 11:51 PM

 

November 19, 2006

There was actually a time when Sundays were my day to completely relax and pamper myself - a pot of tea and toast smothered in honey, followed by another pot of tea, all after waking up late (that being 10 AM, which at the time was late since I generally awoke at 6:30 or 7 AM), and all of that while switching back and forth between the political news shows for the latest interests. Just me, maybe Simon, during the few years he was my roommate, but usually just me with no interruptions, no distractions from just relaxing deep into the couch and drifting into comfort and escape from work and family and stress.

Where the hell has all of that gone, anyhow? Damnit, I want back my relaxing Sundays! Right now!

Posted at 1:47 AM

 

November 18, 2006

This is a true example of charity ... and a true example of the spirit of Christmas (the season, not the religious event). As we now increasingly see gaudy displays everywhere with red and green and millions of lights; as we see Santa being made to promote capitalism and credit debt; and as we see frenzied people treating each other poorly in their harried rush to buy presents and arrange events, remember that none of these things is what Christmas is or should be about. Christmas is about charity, humanity, humility, and brotherly love and compassion. Take a cue from Secret Santa and see what Christmas really means.

Cancer-Stricken Secret Santa Comes Out of the Shadows

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- For 26 years, a man known only as Secret Santa has roamed the streets every December quietly giving people money.

He started with $5 and $10 bills. As his fortune grew, so did the gifts. In recent years, Secret Santa has been handing out $100 bills, sometimes two or three at a time, to people in thrift stores, diners and parking lots.

So far, he's anonymously given out about $1.3 million. It's been a long-held holiday mystery: Who is Secret Santa?

But now, weak from chemotherapy and armed with a desire to pass on his belief in random kindness, Secret Santa has decided it's time to reveal his identity. (Watch Secret Santa discover his own gifts -- 3:38 )

He is Larry Stewart, a 58-year-old businessman from the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit, Missouri, who made his millions in cable television and long-distance telephone service.

His holiday giving started in December 1979 when he was nursing his wounds at a drive-in restaurant after getting fired. It was the second year in a row he had been fired the week before Christmas.

"It was cold and this car hop didn't have on a very big jacket, and I thought to myself, 'I think I got it bad. She's out there in this cold making nickels and dimes,"' he said.

He gave her $20 and told her to keep the change.

"And suddenly I saw her lips begin to tremble and tears begin to flow down her cheeks. She said, 'Sir, you have no idea what this means to me."'

Stewart went to the bank that day and took out $200, then drove around looking for people who could use a lift. That was his "Christmas present to himself." He's hit the streets each December since.

While Stewart has also given money to other community causes in Kansas City and his hometown of Bruce, Mississippi, he offers the simple gifts of cash because it's something people don't have to "beg for, get in line for, or apply for."

That was a feeling he came to know in the early 70s when he was living out of his yellow Datsun 510. Hungry and tired, Stewart mustered the nerve to approach a woman at a church and ask for help.

The woman told him the person who could help was gone for the day, and Stewart would have to come back the next day.

"As I turned around, I knew I would never do that again," Stewart said.

New mission

Over the years, Stewart's giving as Secret Santa grew. He started a Web site. He allowed the news media to tag along, mostly because he wanted to hear about the people who received the money. Reporters had to agree to guard his identity and not name his company, which he still does not want revealed.

His entourage grew over the years, and he began traveling with special elves. People like the late Negro Leagues icon Buck O'Neil, who handed out hugs while Stewart doled out $100s. NFL Hall of Famer Dick Butkus will join Stewart this year in Chicago when Stewart hands out $100s in honor of O'Neil, the first African-American coach in the Major Leagues.

They'll give out $100,000 between Chicago and Kansas City. Four Secret Santas who Stewart "trained" will hand out an additional $65,000.

Doctors told Stewart in April that he had cancer of the esophagus and it had spread to his liver. He has been lucky, he says, to get into a clinical trial at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But the aggressive chemotherapy has stripped away his appetite and energy. He's lost about 100 pounds, but has held onto his white hair.

The treatment costs more than $16,000 a month, not including the cost of traveling to Houston every two weeks and staying there for five or six days. He now has two months off, but returns to treatment in February.

His insurance company won't cover the cost of the treatment, which has left him concerned about his finances and his family.

Now, his mission is bigger than handing out $100 bills. Stewart wants to speak to community groups about his devotion to kindness and to inspire others to donate their time and money.

"That's what we're here for," Stewart says, "to help other people out."

Posted at 9:21 PM

 

November 17, 2006

Steve stopped by tonight, since he had finished up work by coming to Sandusky to do some repairs in a local branch. We left immediately for food, as we were both famished, and chose Chili's, getting lots of yummy food in short order. We talked and talked, and when the food was gone we came back to the house and talked a good deal more. We showed each other a lot of interesting sites on the net, watched some of Star Trek II while making fun of it and quoting lines, and eventually watched the latest episode of Doctor Who. By the time that was all done it was well after 1 AM, and Steve still had a long trip back to Toledo.

It was a good visit, if short, and we talked about all sorts of things in a way we haven't had the chance to do for a very long time. I'm pretty exhausted now, but it was a decent day. Sleep should come easily tonight, and I'm all for that.

Posted at 3:02 AM

 

November 16, 2006

Will wonders never cease?

Public to Choose the New Seven Wonders of the World

GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- A global competition to name the new seven wonders of the world is attracting widespread interest, with more than 20 million people voting so far, organizers say.

The Egyptian pyramids are the only surviving structures from the original list of seven architectural marvels. Long gone are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos lighthouse off Alexandria. Those seven were deemed wonders in ancient times by observers of the Mediterranean and Middle East.

Candidates for the new list have been narrowed down to 21, including the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal and Peru's Machu Picchu. The public can vote until July 6, 2007, by Internet or phone. The seven winners will be announced July 7 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Choosing world wonders has been a continuing fascination over the centuries. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO, keeps updating its list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 830 places.

The "New 7 Wonders of the World" campaign was begun in 1999 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, with almost 200 nominations coming in from around the world.

Weber "felt it is time for something new to bring the world together" and to "symbolize a common pride in the global cultural heritage," said Tia B. Viering, spokeswoman for the campaign.

Weber's Switzerland-based foundation aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments. It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.

Nominations were whittled down by public votes to 77 last year. Then a panel of architectural experts, chaired by former UNESCO chief Federico Mayor, shortened the list to 21. Interest has grown as Weber and his 10-member team visit the 21 sites. Their final visit will be March 6 to New York's Statue of Liberty.

In addition to the Statue of Liberty, Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu, the finalists are the Acropolis; Turkey's Haghia Sophia; the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral; the Colosseum; Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle; Stonehenge; Spain's Alhambra; the Great Wall; Japan's Kiyomizu Temple; the Sydney Opera House; Cambodia's Angkor; Timbuktu; Petra, Jordan; Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer; Easter Island; and Chichen Itza, Mexico.

Posted at 12:10 AM

 

November 15, 2006

I don't have the energy for any of this.

Posted at 12:01 AM

 

November 14, 2006

Now, blessings light on him that first invented sleep! It covers a man all over, thoughts and all, like a cloak; it is meat for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold for the hot. It is the current coin that purchases all the pleasures of the world cheap, and the balance that sets the king and the shepherd, the fool and the wise man, even.

~Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, 1605

Posted at 1:43 AM

 

November 13, 2006

So tired ... so tired ...

Posted at 11:48 PM

 

November 12, 2006

Curses! Curses! Somebody always helps that girl!

- the Wicked Witch of the West

Curses! Curses! Those girls are always foiling my plans!

- Mojo JoJo

Curses! Curses! Foiled again, and I've lost the girl!

- Snidely Whiplash

Are these three alumni of the same villain's school?

Posted at 11:35 PM

 

November 11, 2006

... with thoughts of honor and gratitude for those who have given their very lives for our futures, remember on this Veterans' Day ...

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

Posted at 2:49 AM

 

November 10, 2006

What a crazy busy day, and tomorrow will be even worse, based on what needs to be done. I'm not getting nearly enough sleep to account for all of this, and I won't have any mornings to sleep in late until at least Thursday (and that's probably being optimistic). Damn, this sort of crap just really isn't worth it.

Posted at 11:23 PM

 

November 9, 2006

Ugh! I ache horribly in my arms - some in my neck and back and even my legs, too, but my arms feel horrible. I spent the whole day raking leaves and maple tree seed pods - AGAIN -, and while I'm pleased to say that I'm now quite done all around the yard, I'm not too excited about the price I've had to pay. I hadn't really fully recovered from my last day of yardwork just two days ago, and having a few more days of this aching is not something to look forward to.

Yes, I'm a whiny little bitch about this sort of thing, and I wouldn't have this problem if I weren't so out of shape. But I'd like to point out t6hat I also wouldn't have this problem if I didn't have to take care of this damned yardwork like I do. I'll survive, of course, but the aching makes me want to bitch about this a little bit. That's the only compensation I get, so you'll just have to bear with me on this.

Posted at 10:10 PM

 

November 8, 2006

Well, I'm happy to admit that it seems I wasn't enthusiastic enough last night. Not only does it appear that the Democrats have indeed secured the Senate (as well as the House, which was pretty clear last night) and not only did they increase their number of governors to 3/5 of all of those available positions, but it looks as though the Democrats made huge strides in state and local politics otherwise, all across the country, gaining 275 seats in various state legislatures and securing one-party control in 15 states.

The dumping of Rumsfeld by Bush this morning, along with Bush's rather petulant speech, was designed to refocus attention away from the Democrats and make it seem like Bush is full of a willingness to change and to make bipartisan efforts with this newly Democratic Congress, but I simply can't believe at this point that anyone saw the whole non-event as anything more than one of Bush's photo-op attempts to redirect attention and claim to be the all-knowing, beloved leader. Regardless of his claims that he accepts yesterday's Republican "trouncing" as his responsibility since he is the head of the party, I don't honestly feel like he really does believe any of that. He doesn't feel responsible, just angry that he lost his rubber-stamp Congress; and he doesn't have any intention of trying to pull together bi-partisan efforts in concert with the Congress, he's just trying to set the stage so that anytime he doesn't support bi-partisan efforts, he can claim that he offered cross=party support first but the Democrats wouldn't work with them.

Yes, I am still cynical of most everything, and Bush's intentions top the lists. Experience is a great teacher, and Bush has no credibility when he suggests he can change, work with Democrats, or do the right thing. Fortunately the Democrats have the power to work for change, regardless of Bush's intentions, opposition,m or even support. The new troops are finally in place in Congress, but the war to regain the honorable America has only just begun. I look forward to the gains we can make, and the new Congress can't start work soon enough as far as I'm concerned.

Posted at 11:10 PM

 

November 7, 2006

Even now, after Midnight, election results are still up in the air. The U.S. House looks pretty solidly to have swung to Democratic control, which is good, but they need a decent majority to better secure passage of legislation. The Senate is anybody's guess right now as the last three races are all extremely close, but even if the Dems secure control of the Senate, they will have just the barest majority, making it very tricky to pass any legislation without full bipartisan support, something I don't expect from the Republicans who already are showing disappointment and anger with the results of this election.

The Democrats have done well across the country in races for state governors, and I'm very pleased that Ohio not only has a Democratic governor (rather than the Republican evangelical homophobic freak Blackwell), but much of Ohio's elections have swung Democratic on a variety of levels: governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state administrative positions almost across the board, and state supreme court justices. Ohio has desperately needed a change for years from the entrenched Republican corruption machine, and now there may be a chance to turn around the myriad of things that are wrong with this state and which have made it quite a disappointment.

I can't say that I'm not disappointed that there wasn't more of "a wave" that would have made for a massive Democratic sweep, but I'm also not really surprised. I do hope that starting tomorrow, though, people will look closely at the elections across the country and see what was a very positive move forward for the Democrats in general. Even where they lost, Democrats held solid races with good numbers. Many races unseated long-standing Republican incumbents; many races were close, even if they were a loss; and even where losses were significant, the Democrats still had solid percentages in most cases. I think this shows the positive effect of Howard Dean's 50-state campaign, even after only two or three years of organization. If these foundational efforts continue to be supported heartily by the DNC and grass-roots Democrats then the Democrats will only continue to see much stronger voting results in each election to come from now on.

The way things stand now, I doubt I'll know any more before tomorrow morning or afternoon. These nail-biting final counts seem to be dragging out interminably, and I have no plans of staying up all night to find that they're still counting as the sun comes up. I still would like to hope for big things, but it's a rough call right now. It would be great if tomorrow turned out to be a bright new day.

Posted at 12:42 AM

 

November 6, 2006

I am tired and numb all over - and stiff in far too many places - but my neck isn't quite as badly painful as it has been over the past few days (although it may just be the numbness overwhelming things, perhaps). I spent most of the day using a leaf blower, a rake, and what were at the time functioning muscles, to clear up our front and back and side yard and the neighbor's front and back yard. The end result is lots of leaves, lots of maple tree seed pods, a number of little twigs, and a certain amount of grass, all formed into a massive mound that covers the entire boulevard (about 20' by 8' and 4' tall). I have no small worries that the whole thing will blow apart and refill most of the yard under the influences of one gust of wind, but there's not much to be done about it - there's too much stuff to bag up, and I can only hope that the city-wide leaf pick-up will clean through our street soon.

The saddest part is that even after overworking my body for many long hours, until darkness forced me inside, I'm still not done. I have more maple tree seed pods to rake up (which are a bitch, because they get stuck in the grass and won't move), and I still have to mow the lawn after all of that. I also have a number of plants that have to be cut back since they have passed their time as Autumn has hit. It looks like I'll have to spend most of yet another day to finish the whole mess; not tomorrow, as it is supposed to rain and as I have to take my grandma to a number of appointments; but probably Wednesday, much as I hate it. Hopefully I'll be better able to move by then. That would help.

Posted at 8:48 PM

 

November 5, 2006

Fuck Nietzsche, this neck pain and migraine may not kill me, but it sure as hell isn't doing anything to make me any stronger.

Posted at 8:39 PM

 

November 4, 2006

"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you,"

- Nietzsche

Posted at 10:52 PM

 

November 3, 2006

I've had this quite awful pain and stiffness in my neck for the past few days, giving me headaches but also pretty ugly pains in my neck in pretty much any position I'm in - standing, sitting, laying, whatever. I've used my migraine medication; I've tried Tylenols specifically for muscle pain; I've tried long, hot showers; I've tried to take it easy; I've tried to sleep longer; I've tried to eat better; I've tried stretching - I've tried a whole lot, and I'm not getting past this yet.

Today has been, in all fairness, much more bearable than the last two or three days by far, but I don't like this. I've wanted - no, wanted is certainly the wrong word - I've planned to rake up the massive amounts of leaves and maple tree seed pods from the yard and mow things so that my grandma will be content, and out big maple has dropped the huge majority of its leaves in the last two days, but I'm afraid I'll really screw up my neck and back if I push things, so I've put things off, waiting for some improvement.

I may be an idiot, but I think I may just try the raking tomorrow anyhow, because the work needs to be done, whether I want to or whether I feel physically up to doing it. I hate yardwork anyhow, but having no choice but to do it when I feel like hell is certainly not my idea of fun. But then again, my recent life is not really known for its fun, sad to say.

Posted at 10:21 PM

 

November 2, 2006

Today's Washington Post has a long overdue column about the negative effects suffered by overweight people due to teasing and jokes, regardless of how well-intentioned those jibes may be. For some crazy reason people seem to realize that it's not only tasteless and mean and potentially harmful to tease or joke about someone's anorexia or bulimia right to their face (or even behind their back for that matter), but people seem clueless to the damage they do by teasing or joking about people who are overweight.

The sadly prevalent opinion in this country is that people who are overweight are lazy, gluttonous fools with no concepts of discipline or self-restraint. I would contend that much of the obesity epidemic that has taken hold throughout America is a result of depression, anxiety and various forms of stress. To simply believe that 30% of the nation has become obese during the past decade or so only because one-third of the population has suddenly become excessively lazy and gluttonous is ridiculous. Today's article doesn't look at those root causes (which is a shame), but it does look at the psychological damage done by demeaning people for excessive weight, even if such criticism was intended to motivate someone to lose weight (as the article points out, the opposite effect is much more common).

So be nice to overweight people - be supportive. Ask if they want to go bike riding with you or play some hoops; praise them for the things they do well or the help they give; do something to lift their spirits rather than sink them - these are things that you can do to help.

Wrong Way to Fight Fat
By Rebecca M. Puhl & Kelly Brownell

"Post your favorite fat photo on your refrigerator."

This weight loss tip from a bodybuilding Web site reflects the widespread belief that making people feel bad about themselves is an acceptable -- and effective -- form of motivation to lose weight. It isn't. In fact, the effect of this sort of thing -- we call it weight stigma -- is likely to be just the opposite.

If the misconception were limited to a few Web sites it wouldn't be much of a problem. But in late September a sensitive and intelligent professional asked one of us, "Isn't there a danger that in fighting weight stigma you are glorifying obesity, actually discouraging people from a healthy lifestyle?"

The research says no. With colleagues, we recently completed a study of more than 2,000 people enrolled in a weight loss program. (It's in the October issue of the journal Obesity.) Participants told us that when they are stigmatized because of their weight they respond with such strategies as eating more food and just giving up on dieting. Eating more in response to discriminatory treatment was reported by 79 percent of the participants, and 75 percent refused to diet. A smaller number, 63 percent, said that they had at one time or another used dieting to cope with such discrimination, but dieting doesn't work very often.

Other studies have shown that overweight girls and boys who are teased because of their weight are more likely to engage in unhealthy weight control and binge eating than are overweight youth who are not teased. It has also been shown that overweight young people avoid physical activities in which peer victimization frequently occurs.

The data are quite clear: Stigmatizing overweight people contributes to unhealthy behavior that only adds to the problem of obesity. With two-thirds of American adults now overweight or obese, obesity is recognized as a pressing public health issue. Schools, health professionals and communities across the country are beginning to talk about what must be done to improve eating habits and encourage more physical activity. But these efforts, which are urgently needed, must expand to include the topic of weight stigma.

Weight stigma is more than indirect experiences -- for example, feeling inadequate compared with the size-zero celebrities who are everywhere in our culture. Derogatory comments, job discrimination and even physical aggression were all reported by study participants.

The personal stories that we have collected in years of studying this issue are heartbreaking: a mother joking in a crowded room that she takes her child to a tentmaker to buy back-to-school clothes. A doctor telling a patient that she is too fat to interest her husband sexually. A teacher announcing to a classroom that an absent child "probably stayed home to eat."

These stories reflect a viciousness long ago shunned in matters of race or gender. In the case of obesity, though, there is a perverse twist: The people inflicting the stigma are often convinced that they are actually helping the victim. Indelible harm is the more likely result.

The sources of weight stigmatization reported in the study were surprising, with family members being the most frequent perpetrators at 72 percent and physicians following closely at 69 percent. But doctors were not the only health-care professionals to make the list: 46 percent of respondents reported being stigmatized by nurses, 37 percent by dietitians or nutritionists, and 21 percent by mental health professionals.

The obvious question is: If even the health-care system is unwelcoming, where can an obese person turn for help? Health professionals are not biased more than others; they reflect society in general. We all need to change.

The first step is simple. We need to recognize that weight stigma is harmful, that it may well be contributing to obesity and that it is not legitimate. Obesity rates are increasing everywhere in the world, driven by worsening diets and declining physical activity (intersecting with human biology, which has evolved to crave foods high in sugar and fat). Time and effort spent ridiculing overweight people would be better used in advocating for a society in which better eating and more physical activity are encouraged, rather than one in which certain people are denigrated and discouraged.

It's hard to change attitudes, perhaps even harder than it is to lose weight. But the public health, not to mention fairness and humanity, demands nothing less.

Rebecca M. Puhl is coordinator of community and weight stigma initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. Kelly Brownell is director of the center and a psychology professor at Yale.

Posted at 10:48 PM

 

November 1, 2006

Why must people fuck with me for no reason at all? Is it really that amusing? Is it really that safe a bet that I won't kill them?

Posted at 11:49 PM

 


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Journal, by Paul Cales, © November 2006