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Just some off-the-cuff observations, and whatnot. Welcome, and enjoy your stay.
Friday, February 01, 2002
What's the connection between the human menstrual cycle and the moon? Do cycles last exactly one lunar month for a reason, or is it just a coincidence?It looks like it's coincidence. In Science and the Paranormal (1983), astronomer George O. Abell writes, "The moon's cycle of phases is 29.53 days, while the human female menstrual cycle averages 28 days (although it varies among women and from time to time with individual women); this is hardly even a good coincidence! The corresponding estrus cycles of some other mammals are 28 days for opossums, 11 days for guinea pigs, 16 to 17 days for sheep, 20 to 22 days for sows, 21 days for cows and mares, 24 to 26 days for macaque monkeys, 37 days for chimpanzees, and only 5 days for rats and mice. One could argue, I suppose, that the human female, being more intelligent and perhaps aware of her environment, adapted to a cycle close to that of the moon, while lower animals did not. But then the 28-day period for the opossum must be a coincidence, and if it is a coincidence for opossums, why not for humans?"
Then again, who knows? People have figured there was a connection between the lunar month and menstruation for as long as women have been getting the monthlies. Moon, month, and menstruation are all related etymologically. No less an authority than Charles Darwin believed that menstruation was linked to the moon's influence on tidal rhythms, a legacy of our origin in the sea. The coincidence between the lunar and menstrual cycles is closer than George Abell would have us believe--studies have found the average menstrual period is 29 days and change. At least some critters' biologies are linked to the lunar cycle; in the lemur, for example, estrus and sex tend to occur around the time of the full moon.
Efforts to turn up similar patterns in humans have had unimpressive results, however. Several researchers over the years have claimed to detect lunar rhythms in menstrual onset and such; others see nothing. Biologist Winnifred Cutler, in a 1980 paper, found that 40 percent of women in a random sample showed "a preponderance of menses onsets in the light half-cycle of the month" (the two weeks centered on the full moon). To me this suggests 60 percent of the women didn't show any coincidence. If there really is a moon-menstruation link, it hasn't been convincingly proven yet.
Called back the camera people.... the gal there says it'll be refunded today.... I certainly hope so. :) I submitted my negative review to C-net, and got a lovely form letter back. I'll call the bank at 3 today, and make sure it's all back to where it needs to be.
woke up late this morning, had a memorable dream last night. I was in a prison break and got hold of a machine gun. I was pinned down behind a concrete wall, but was getting some pop-up fire in. I saw my pal Dave was one of the guards, and tossed down my weapon, not wanting to hurt him. I lay down on my face, and put hands on my head. something happened, and we flash forwarded to an escape method... some sort of tunnel built into a soda machine. I was too big to make it through... I made sure Dave got out, and somehow my sweetie and Newt were there, and needed help escaping too. It spun off into some sort of vacation place...some sort of portal that allowed you to travel to a location stored on video. I ran off with my buddies to the Amazon, and then stole the machine so nobody could follow us. It turned out that the movie we hopped into was made in 1999, so we were three years in the past, give or take. I woke up amidst trying to call myself in the then to get myself to flee.elephant talk - neat! thanks to sweetalyssm for having me look into it. Fascinating stuff.
Some piccies of my mom and dad from the wedding album.forgive the quality, they're in an album that's a year older than I am.
newt pic o' the day.. in my amazon box from sweetie.. note ancient birks in the background.
Newt album is here.
Thursday, January 31, 2002
Dexter at the office... he dares to Challenge Newton's throne as Cutest Quadruped at FMM! Since I couldn't bring Newt in on Friday, here are some piccies of him playing in my laundry basket this morning.
Nice Try, Dex, but Newtie's still got my vote. (I may be biased... I'm Newt's mom, after all)
Newt loves hanging out in my laundry... silly tunnelling kitty. note in the background... godzilla slipper in the closet, wrapping paper (comic books), the yellow is a bus schedule, and a headset with mic (mic is dead thanks to *someone* chewing on the cord..but the earphones work well) on the floor in front of Newt, and the top of my CPAP device in the forground, along with my dresser. (image taken from my bed) also in the closet, you may be able to make out a flashlight, a few old storage boxes, hanging shirts, and a box of kitty litter.
Profile Shot... he looks like a hood ornament, or a periscope to me.
feel free to tell me if these are ruining your friend's page's size.
Ok...Sunday. A new week has begun.Breakfast today: Warm Croissants with Strawberry Preserves, tea, orange juice and a small bowl of lucky charms. (I start on golden grahams tomorrow, for those of you keeping score)
Tenative plan for the week -
Monday, get together with Dan, Dave & Busters, Coffee, man of la mancha
Tuesday - general purpose: get a towel-bar, finish and send off treats in the mail, send off stories to magazine. Rollercoaster? Coral Castle?
Wednesday, Get together with Derek at about noonish, IMAX- antarctica riverwalk, museums, buy a bicycle?
Thursday, big trip to the keys? Disney? Maybe. cheap air/bus fares. will know more by tuesday.
Friday, Rest, slack time. (rent paying day) Perhaps go see monsters inc?
Saturday - Birthday! Ratdog is in concert at the ampitheatre... maybe open the windows, and tune in.Walkies were not too shabby this morning...sun was high in the sky and the air was breezy. I went to the groves, but they don't open until 9... so a-home I went. I've spent most of the last hour or two cat-wrestling and reading before breakfast.
These guys aren't kidding about the best orange juice.. .crazy good. :)
Newtie playing sphinx on the entertainment center...my first attempt at removing flash-eye
lazy newt on my dresser with shell lamp
Bob Ross has a baby squirrel named peapod in his pocket today...Watching him paint on PBS is very soothing. has a calm voice, and gentle demeanor. they're showing him feeding a Peapod, wrapped in a towel. such a cool guy.
He's the sort of guy that I could see hanging out near the beach, drawing a crowd of kids and their keepers, and just teaching there. so much patience and peace. Talking about a place he's painting... making up a story, and forming an image in his mind... making up stories about the world, happy trees and little cabins with open windows (the builder having a toddy or two on the job, speaking with a smirk).
It makes me happy to know that folks like him exist. I can think of maybe a pair of folks I know in person like that... I wish that there were more, but I'm happy to have the ones I do.
Well, isn't that just precious. A dried-out, long-dead alligator, all dressed up like the belle of the ball.
She's all set to offer her hand in marriage to a dashing suitor. That is, if she had hands, and not just stumps.I hope there's an afterlife, so that this alligator can have a long discussion with whoever did this to her mortal remains.
more viewable at http://www.disturbingauctions.com
Behold! it's Mr Mole, the happy drilling machine.
My brother came by tonight as a surprise visit! (he was interviewing up her for a job, and missed the last bus home.... rode his bike a few miles to here.) We got to gab for a bit before his taxi arrived. It's a shame he's allergic to Newt, as the cat loves him to pieces... loves to snuggle up to him, and headbutt. I'm really looking forward to getting together with him on Wednesday... we're going to have a good time.
Tomorrow... Dan. Morning. bright and early, about 9 am, everyone else is in bedski, so I think I'm going to grab a nice book, and curl up into the beddles.
Tax tip for writers: This could save you a bundle. Since the IRS allows you to deduct expenses incurred while writing a book, make your next one an autobiographical novel. By all rights, you should be able to deduct your living, travel, and entertainment expenses going right back to the day of your birth.
Walkies went fine, little time to trim and tweak the pictures, but more will be forthcoming later upon my return.I dreamed I saw myself shaving in the mirror last night, and I seem to remember being older. There was a fire-barrel outside, and I am sure I recall the strong scent of cedar wood burning. I was in a similar bathroom to my own, but I feel that it was more North.
Sitting tight now, watching the tube, waiting for Danny to get here. I expect he'll be along in another 20 minutes or so. He's running late, because he was up until 2am grading papers.
Following the war, Patton was questioned about the "push button bombs" and the technological advances made in weaponry. He declares adamantly that there is no glory, no heroes, and no cowards in that kind of battle. He expresses thanks that he wouldn't live to see that kind of warfare. You know... we still haven't gotten to that point yet, and I'm glad. A war is an awful enough thing without removing the last vestige of humanity from it.
want to see some pictures from my day today? You can click on the thumbnails to see them get bigger. :)Danny and I went out to Breakfast, Costco, Dave & Busters, and Whispering Pines Cemetary. The Cemetary is recent... no real sense of history, but still lovely as far as a boneyard goes. many fountains, carvings, mausoleums and tombs of current day. I'll upload more later....I want to play with sepias, black and white... filter-boy. I want to work out how
simplifies some of his shots so beautifully.
From this morning... this is what I see on my chest upon waking.
Stephen King is going to retire from horror writing? Hm.. I'm proud of him for moving on, and admitting when a well is dry. Plenty of other genres to write for.My brother can't make it tomorrow... change of plans.
Looks like my trip to los olas is going to be either postponed or solo. A rework is on order. Perhaps schedule a meeting with Robyn and talk about the website... tag a few contacts. Maybe hit a few museums, and a movie.
going to lay down for a little nap...
May joy and innocence prevail.
Today's rounds... some pics.Made all my required footpath travel in record time. I roamed up and down Federal highway to get my mail sent off, picked up sundries for the house, and got a yummy bag of apples. (I ate two on the walk home. goo-ood.)
sometimes words fail me
but beauty is ever near
her love fills my heart
Today was for the birds, literally. The only pics of interest I got by the lake were of seagulls circling overhead... hordes of them. A sweet little crane crossing the street, and a eh picture of a duck on the water. I sort of like the one of the lake rocks... the wind dies down, and the water was very clear. not my best photo-day, but some of these can be tweaked, I think.I just meandered today. Walked to the lake near Sample road, and read my book in the sun, on the grass under a tree. High quality. :)
and, of course, The Newton picture of the day...orange kitty on a tan cardboard packing box. one of his fave places to be, so I'm loathe to open and unpack it. No need yet, so he has his space.
Bigger, and more pictures are available here.
This is a true story. I don't know what relevance it might have, other than how memes get started, but...When I was in college, I had a friend named Rick. Rick was quite a character: terminally depressed engineering student with a quirky grin who dressed like a stoner. He had only one leg, and had a sense of humor about it. He got me into GWAR. We did Warhammer 40K together. I wish I knew where he landed.
Well, one night I wanted to call him up and see what he was up to, and I was in a silly mood. The phone at his place rang, and the answering machine went on. So I left the following message:
"Hello, WORM! This is mistress Scorpia! Every night you call me, begging me to sodomize you over the phone... but NO MORE! From now on, if you want to get me hot, it's going to have to be decapitation..."
"Uh, Scotto...?" came this voice from the line.
It was Rick. He'd been taking a nap when I'd called, and had been rudely woken up my the sound of my voice coming from the machine. We laughed about it and made plans for the next day, and then he went back to sleep.
Well, the day after that, Rick had a funny thought. He played the tape of what I'd left into the mic on his machine, and then, right when he'd cut me off, he said (pimp voice) "Woah! I think our gal's getting a little touchy there... why don't you leave a message and we'll call you back when she calms down?"
He goes out. He comes back, there's a message from a lab partner, laughing his head off.
The next day, he comes home, and there's twenty messages on his machine. Twenty. Rick was the sort of person who never gets called... a few friends or family, and there's never been more than 3 on the line.
Call 1: "(silence) (click)"
Call 2: (female voice) "You're sick! (click)"
Call 3: (female voice) "Hi! I was just calling to hear your message... n'bye!"
And so on, and so on, and so on.
Next day, he goes to class. On a desk next to his is written "For a good time call (Rick's number)"
This continued on for about a week, and then petered out. But I still laugh about it, years later. And just to think, there's lots of people who went to FAU who might, if asked about "Mistress Scorpia," start laughing.
Happiness is having a cat walk right up to you, hopping on the counter to headbutt you hello, and then going to the floor to snuggle at your feet to sleep, purring.
oops... I added 2 tablespoons of sugar instead of one. (2 tablespoons was if it was liquid)I hope it doesn't wreck the bread... change the texture too much. We'll see!
welcome to the ghettoI'm trying to decide if posting online test results are more annoying than seeing folks complain about online test results. both are generally non-content entries that causes my brain to flick off and skip the rest of the entry.
Another uprising is complaints about privacy in journals. this has been going on for years now (this first time for me being when a person I knew at the time outed another member of our gaming group... the silly thing is, I introduced her to livejournal)... if you don't want folks to read what you have to say, the only way around it is not to write it. the internet is indexed fairly well, and with sites like http://web.archive.org , even deleting what you said later isn't always an option.
This is the information age, folks. if you have a secret and publish it where other people can see it, be it online or the local laundry bulletin board... it stops being a secret. If you're writing in public, there's odds that someone will brush over it, sooner or later. Friend's only and private posts are available. double-check that entry about enjoying broken glass in your rectum for privacy, if you don't want your dad or younger sister discovering it.
As far as "well, how will I get readers / find good journals if all the spicy stuff is friend's only" is concerned... I think that the best writers I've found have been through other friends or well-written observations left in public... Random is less than worthless, unless you want to find a 16 year old girl that's having trouble in math class, with her boyfriend or is into cutting. The interests list is better, and one day, when the LJ-fairies decide to sprinkle pixie dust on the servers... we'll have a decent location index among the other good features.
I write for myself, and filter a bit. some things, everyone can see, some are only things that lj-readers can get to, others are sweetheart only posts, and some are "my eyes only".
In other Scotto news-
marine park is the worst online sales place I've ever dealt with... I ordered something online and they refused to ship it to my address (different than the billing address)... so I told them fine, cancel my order, and found my digital camera elsewhere. I get a statement back today, and they charged me for the camera! Never shipped, mind you. I called them this morning at 11am and was assured that I would be called back with a confirmation number. No reply until now. [5 hours later] I call back, and they have no record of any money being refunded. I ask again for a refund, and will wait until tomorrow morning to call them again. I got the name of the place via c-net and will be submitting a negative review of the store there shortly. The telephone folks were generally rude and uncooperative. Intolerable hold times, as well.
In other, other Scotto News... 3 hours until my peanut butter bread is ready. yum! I love bread machines! some fresh strawberry preserves on there will be my dinner.
