Tony in his new italian-by-way-of-Taiwan coat, a xmas gift from me. He says he feels couture, a word he learned from his new favorite show, America's Next Top Model.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Candy and Cigarettes
Tony and I are back from our adventure in Taiwan. We were surprised by a sneak attack wedding banquet. I had to go rent a wedding dress thirty minutes before the big shindig. I picked the prettiest dress in all of Meinong and got a matching wrap, necklace, gloves, and conical boobie pads. I felt like a big honking foreigner because they had to quickly alter the dress to fit my huge frame.
Once we got to the banquet, Tony and I were lead this way and that, not really understanding what was going on. It was good times, for sure. Lots of food, singing, and toasting. We had to say goodbye to everyone as they left and offer candy and cigarettes for the road. It's supposed to mean long life and happiness, but they should probably rethink that.
Once we got to the banquet, Tony and I were lead this way and that, not really understanding what was going on. It was good times, for sure. Lots of food, singing, and toasting. We had to say goodbye to everyone as they left and offer candy and cigarettes for the road. It's supposed to mean long life and happiness, but they should probably rethink that.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Geekdom
I've been cruising del.icio.us a lot lately and I have found myself keenly attracted to websites/pages about notetaking. Even though I am not a student. This page made me so excited today: http://lifehacker.com/software/note-taking/geek-to-live-take-studyworthy-lecture-notes-202418.php.
I actually don't use the Cornell method day to day. I use an indexing system like this guy: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/12/05/how-to-take-notes-like-an-alpha-geek-plus-my-2600-date-challenge/.
What a geek!
I actually don't use the Cornell method day to day. I use an indexing system like this guy: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/12/05/how-to-take-notes-like-an-alpha-geek-plus-my-2600-date-challenge/.
What a geek!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Cat Lady Syndrome
My dad used to tell me that I would grow up to live in apartment with a cat. That has always scared me because that meant that grownups could see something inside me that was a potential crazy cat lady.
This article in the New York Times increases my fear exponentially:
Cat Lady’ Conundrum, The
By REBECCA SKLOOT
Published: December 9, 2007
Here’s a little-known and slightly terrifying fact: According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 million people in the United States are infected with a parasite that may migrate into their brains and alter their behavior in a way that — among other things — may leave them more likely to be eaten by cats. New research into this common parasite — Toxoplasma gondii — may offer clues to the phenomenon known to the unscientifically-minded as “crazy cat lady” syndrome.
The basic facts: Toxo can infect many species, but it undergoes sexual reproduction only in cat digestive tracts. Once the parasite reproduces, the cat passes it in its feces, where the next unwitting host picks it up by digesting it (intentionally or unintentionally). Then the cycle starts again. In the long run, Toxo must find its way back to a cat’s stomach to survive. So the parasite has evolved a complicated system for taking over its hosts’ brains to increase the likelihood that they’ll be eaten by cats.
How? Scientists are still figuring that out. Research conducted this year by Toxo expert Robert Sapolsky of Stanford, and also by Joanne Webster, professor of parasite epidemiology at Imperial College London, has found that Toxo actually causes rats to become attracted to the smell of cat urine.
Might Toxo explain why some humans develop an unhealthful attraction to cats and apparently become immune to the smell of their urine? And might that explain the mystery of crazy cat ladies? “That idea doesn’t seem completely crazy,” Sapolsky says. “But there’s no data supporting it.”
Not yet. But Jaroslav Flegr, an evolutionary biologist at Charles University in the Czech Republic, is looking into it. He has spent years studying Toxo’s impact on human behavior. (He found, for example, that people infected with Toxo have slower reflexes and are 2.5 times as likely to get into car accidents.) He won’t have results of his study for a while and refuses to speculate. But Joanne Webster says the connection isn’t much of a stretch: “In our evolutionary past, perhaps we were eaten by cats, too,” she says.
This article in the New York Times increases my fear exponentially:
Cat Lady’ Conundrum, The By REBECCA SKLOOT
Published: December 9, 2007
Here’s a little-known and slightly terrifying fact: According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 60 million people in the United States are infected with a parasite that may migrate into their brains and alter their behavior in a way that — among other things — may leave them more likely to be eaten by cats. New research into this common parasite — Toxoplasma gondii — may offer clues to the phenomenon known to the unscientifically-minded as “crazy cat lady” syndrome.
The basic facts: Toxo can infect many species, but it undergoes sexual reproduction only in cat digestive tracts. Once the parasite reproduces, the cat passes it in its feces, where the next unwitting host picks it up by digesting it (intentionally or unintentionally). Then the cycle starts again. In the long run, Toxo must find its way back to a cat’s stomach to survive. So the parasite has evolved a complicated system for taking over its hosts’ brains to increase the likelihood that they’ll be eaten by cats.
How? Scientists are still figuring that out. Research conducted this year by Toxo expert Robert Sapolsky of Stanford, and also by Joanne Webster, professor of parasite epidemiology at Imperial College London, has found that Toxo actually causes rats to become attracted to the smell of cat urine.
Might Toxo explain why some humans develop an unhealthful attraction to cats and apparently become immune to the smell of their urine? And might that explain the mystery of crazy cat ladies? “That idea doesn’t seem completely crazy,” Sapolsky says. “But there’s no data supporting it.”
Not yet. But Jaroslav Flegr, an evolutionary biologist at Charles University in the Czech Republic, is looking into it. He has spent years studying Toxo’s impact on human behavior. (He found, for example, that people infected with Toxo have slower reflexes and are 2.5 times as likely to get into car accidents.) He won’t have results of his study for a while and refuses to speculate. But Joanne Webster says the connection isn’t much of a stretch: “In our evolutionary past, perhaps we were eaten by cats, too,” she says.
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