I adhere to the theory that chocolate is a vital food group…at least for women, and certainly for me. I’m astonished that I have had NO CHOCOLATE in five days!! Just not craving it at the moment.
But…I couldn’t resist looking at it. It’s okay, this post is not scratch and sniff, so you can look, but the temptation is all visual.
I’ve had a fascination with aquariums from way back. Perhaps it’s having traces (okay, traits) of adult ADD or that I can be a worrier, but I’ve never found anything as peaceful or calming as the sight of fish swimming in their watery world. I’ve kept various tanks over the years, but my current 55 gallon sits empty and has since I took my current job. Just not enough energy or hours in the day.
Recently, Crooked Brains did several posts with photos of incredible aquariums. Any photos without attribution can be found in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of his aquarium posts. I don’t have comments for most of these, though I do prefer natural aquariums as seen in the second photo, and I think the aquarium bathroom fixtures are flat out funny.
So this is why I go to bed early every night! And to think I thought it was the hours, lol.
I’ve sat on this article from USA Today since July 8. I guess I was kind of hoping it would go away. As one of those chronic pain patients who can’t take narcotics and still hold a job, I am dependent on over the counter meds to take the edge off or at least let me get through the day.
I will state up front that I don’t take a lot of straight Tylenol because it doesn’t even touch pain. I might to reduce a fever, but for pain? Nope. However, I really like Excedrin for pain control and take much more than the recommended dosage of Aleve each day. My liver already hates me and my stomach is already ruined.
So here’s an article in USA Today’s Life section (Wednesday, July 8, 2009, page 6D) advising readers that acetaminophen has a high rate of liver failure attached to it.
The Food and Drug Administration joint advisory committee spent two days in discussion of the safety questions. Their recommendations were to lower the maximum daily dosage, strengthen labeling and remove it as an ingredient from some prescription drugs. They have yet to take action.
Acetaminophen is an ingredient in Vicodin, Percocet, Darvocet, NyQuil, Exedrin, and several cold and flu medications.
The FDA reports an estimated 110,000 emergency room visits a year are related to the drug and linked cases of acute liver failure are also reported.
This is the medicine most of us give to our children!
I think I’m glad it doesn’t work that well for me, but now I have to watch everything else I might take to make sure it doesn’t creep in. My liver isn’t in great shape as it is.
In related news (as in prescription drugs used for pain control being dangerous), propoxyphene painkillers are being phased out of all European markets. Darvocet, Darvon and other painkillers that contain the narcotic propoxyphene will, however, be staying on the US Market with stronger warning labels.
The European Medicines Agency concluded that the risks of propoxyphen medicines, particularly for the potentially fatal overdose, outweigh their benefits and recommend the European Union gradually withdraw them.
This drug, apparently, kills, though the article doesn’t give specifics. It does quote Sidney Wolfe, Public Citizens’ Health Research Group’s acting director to say “I have never seen a drug with a more unfavorable ratio of risk to benefit.”
I’ve been prescribed Darvon several times throughout my young adulthood before percodan and percocet became more available. This short article cleared up part of my curiosity over what happened to a drug that seemed to work well on pain.
So I’m stuck with Aleve for daytime and my standing prescriptions for Tramadol (Ultram) or Demoral for nights I just can’t take it. I’m half afraid the FDA is going to come out with something bad for Aleve, also, in which case I’ll be sitting on a street corner promising a song or poem for food.
The Golden Rule as it SHOULD be. I agree!! I can’t say it better, so check out the original.
I came across two interesting studies on PsyBlog.
The first explains why images moving from left to right seem more powerful. I find that interesting and a bit disconcerting.
The second is regarding persuasion and the direction from which you are approached. Now, I believe the study is accurate for most people, but not for me. I favore my left ear and my left side, and would have an easier time letting someone into my personal bubble if they approached me from the left. Just another symptom of my weirdness, I suppose.
I ran across an interesting challenge this week. I suppose you’ve figured out I’m into simple living, downsizing and making life work for you instead of the other way around. Because of that, I find this challenge especially interesting on a personal level. I’ve included an excerpt below.
What is the 100 Thing Challenge? David Bruno explains it: The 100 Thing Challenge is my little way to personalize my efforts to fight consumerism.
What would possess people to eliminate such a large chunk of their belongings? It’s the same motivation found here in a comment from Time:
Living small is hardly a new concept. Henry Thoreau tucked himself into a 150-sq.-ft. house on Walden Pond in the 1840s, and the city of San Francisco built some 5,600 earthquake cottages for survivors of the 1906 temblor. But over the past decade, dozens of architects and builders have begun specializing in tiny-house designs. And home buyers–motivated by the desire to simplify their lives, use fewer resources and save money–are falling in love with the little things.
I think the 100 Thing Challenge would be a prerequisite for anyone considering microhousing. Also, I would have to lump my books together under one thing called a library just as David did. Books are not optional for me, and many of them are related to my goals on the internet. However, just looking around my study, I can see where benefits might be clear.
I’ve often thought about microhousing. Indeed, if I were single, it would be a done deal. However, my husband is a large man and the idea of the two of us in 150 square feet is quite painful and humorous. Still, we have curbed our desire for “bigger and better,” content with our 1187 square feet, and we are careful about what we add to that space. It’s a start for him, and normal for me.
This following quote sums up David Bruno’s purpose for the challenge:
Well, I am just an average person. Yet sometimes I have listened to the siren-craft of branding consultants and imagined myself to be someone very special. And I have sometimes behaved and consumed as if that were true, as if I were a celebrity and a genius and rich and sophisticated. Which is another way of saying that I have worn certain clothing brands and expected the world to listen to all I think and gotten myself into debt and made a fool of myself.
Then also, I have been a critic of American-style consumerism. I have become indignant with the cheapness of Wal-Mart and Costco, whose prices are slashed on the backs of labor, manufacturers, and suppliers. Equally, I have become offended by the sumptuousness of Nordstrom and Banana Republic, whose expense is visible on strapless prom dresses, thousand-dollar shoes, and always-changing fashions that demand always-purchasing humans.
But I have shopped at all those places. (Except Wal-Mart, yuck!) Even in the midst of my 100 Thing Challenge, I have ducked into a Banana Republic store to browse the sale racks, but sneak peeks at the full-priced extravagance. Perhaps American-style consumerism has been and in many ways still is my problem.
I just do not see any solution to any problem until I am willing to ask myself and ask others to honestly assess me, “Am I the one responsible for this?”
The 100 Thing Challenge is many things. I have some hopes and fears for what I might accomplish before it is all done. At its most fundamental level, though, the 100 Thing Challenge is an attempt to answer the question about my role in American-style consumerism.
I know the new theme is jarring if you are expecting the old one. I got really tired of the small print and never could get it to enlarge. Forgive me, I’m getting older and small print is no fun. I think this theme will work better for those of us getting “up there.”
I hadn’t heard the term Photobombers before Johnny Truant, but I have to admit they made me laugh. He has two posts with a collection of photobombers: Photobombers and Photobombers 2. Here’s an example to the right.
Working All Day is for Wimps explores our work culture in light of solid research on the benefits of a 20 minute snooze right after lunch. I’m all for the Protestant Work Ethic, but I do think I’d be the first to sign up for the modern version of a siesta. I KNOW it makes a difference.
Freedom and Fear of Loneliness is thought provoking (Mindblink). I rarely struggle with lonliness. In fact, I tend to think of freedom as the absence of other people…not as a lifestyle, but as moments frozen in time. I like being alone as much or more as I like being with friends, family, and the rest of the world.
Why Motivation Doesn’t Really Matter, from Zen Habits, came at a good time for me as I struggle with where my time should be going.
To Be or Not to Be Normal from Lone Wolf Howling made me smile because, while I am considered crazy by a lot of people, and am definitely not normal, I never thought of myself as weird.
Ya know, I’m going to stick my neck out here and give a personal opinion. I know, I know, you probably won’t like this opinion, but I have to get this off my chest.
I was recently (two days ago) doing some research for a character in my current WIP. I asked my favorite deputy and my favorite bomb squad Staff Sgt a few questions, then got on the internet. Now, I’m thinking that an AR-15 might be the right rifle for my character to carry, so I hit Google and then click images.
Wow. Yeaaahhhh. No, I don’t think so. In fact, I was struck speechless, horrified, and terribly embarrassed. What had me so upset?
A pink Hello Kitty rifle. Let that sink in for a minute. Yes, read it again. A PINK rifle with Hello Kitty and flowers on it. Oh, I see, you doubt me. I had a hard time believing it also. Here’s proof:
Now, I found the man who says he customized this gun for his wife. I even found the comments interesting. And yet, despite my love for Calvin & Hobbes, I would never them put on a weapon. That…that’s like eating jello with onions.
Listen, He customized it, she loves it, it’s all good. But here is why you will never see one in my house.
A gun is a deadly weapon. A deadly weapon might get personalized, even cherished, but to make a gun CUTE?? Really? It can be fun to practice and improve skill with a gun, make them less scary or you more confident. There are plenty of acceptable reasons for wanting to know how to shoot one well and to stay in practice. However, my respect for a weapon’s potential in human hands does not allow me to risk any part of that respect…even by making it more attractive.
A gun is also a weapon with the potential to kill anything it is pointed at. Truly deadly things are often fascinating or beguiling (think tornados and brightly colored frogs), but deadly is not cute. I cannot, in good conscience, allow something as serious as a gun to be cute or pretty lest I lose even a milimeter of the respect it deserves.
Also, if you work hard to be competent in a gun world still ruled by men, are you going to handicap yourself with Hello Kitty? The Easter Bunny might take you seriously. I won’t.
So, just what if you ended up in a “situation,” and you grab your Hello Kitty pink assault rifle to defend yourself or your property. Do you really want your intruder to think you are holding a TOY and have no respect for it as a weapon? Now, true, he might be laughing so hard you can drop him easily, but he might just think that your toy gun is in the way and grab it away from you. If he thinks it is a toy, he will have no fear of it. If you have never been in a real situation, don’t assume you would keep the upper hand and shoot first. You have no idea how you will react. You freeze for the wrong microsecond, Hello Kitty is warming your enemy’s palm and turned on you.
If I am ever in a situation to draw a gun against another human being, he had better be afraid of it, because I won’t do it unless I am prepared to kill. I sure as hell won’t be drawing anything pink if I must defend myself with deadly force. I am sadly out of practice, but I know how to clean, load, aim and fire. I was also raised to believe that pointing that chunk of steel at anything, from a paper target to another human being is serious as a heart attack.
I’m sitting here shaking my head. This is not about gun control or the second ammendment. This is about making something used for hunting, sport or defense look so innocent, sweet, appealing, attractive, benign, and “cute.” To me it is making a gun look less like a gun, not for tactical advantage, but as a preference. Deadly things can be attractive, but I am not comfortable with the idea of deadly things being cute, cuddly, or appealing. These are weapons! I don’t have any other words for it, just a deep heavy feeling that it is wrong, I couldn’t do it, wouldn’t own it, and fear anyone handling a gun because it is cute. If Hello Kitty on the side changes your attitude from “meh” to “omgihavetohavethatgungetitiwilllearntoshoot,” please don’t ever pick up a gun. Ever.
I could write a thousand words to explain why this bothers me so much, but I think the core issue is the most important… Respect your weapon. Respect your skill. The potential to end a life is not cute and it is not pretty.
Hello Kitty indeed.
