Good Bloggin'

Wired's wire listed this story to me apropos Morgan Spurlock's new book, the one I christened DETB. Apparently, researchers @ the University of Pennsylvania believe mapping food traps around schools may provide a better, more accurate picture of why children are overweight even obese in a given target area. Take a look @ part of what has been documented thus far:

One place they're studying is Southwark School, at Ninth and Mifflin
Streets in South Philadelphia. A map drawn by the cartographic lab shows three
stars indicating "recreational opportunities." There are 25 squares of various
colors -- all "food opportunities" within a half-mile radius of the
school. Within a block of the school are a pizza shop selling cheese
fries, a hoagie shop with jumbo 50-cent sodas, and a Chinese takeout with a big
selection of candy and chips. Researchers surveyed 600 students at Southwark and
other schools. About half of them bought food on the way to school, spending on
average $2 a day.(...) The pattern repeated on the way home. (emphasis mine, you can see that food dwarfs recreation 8.33:1)

The latest acquisition for my husband's library (he carries library-building genes, his late father assembled 7,000 legal books, creating one of the largest private collections in Puerto Rico). Also a good professor, he's going to read DETB out loud to me because I need to get reading glasses.

This idea just occurred to me: a search engine in which you can search by image after uploading a .jpg or any other image file -- the engine would give all it could find on the Web tied to the image uploaded.

Recommended: Mix equal parts of chilled Lotus Piña unsweetened, carton juice (not the canned kind) w. chilled Bolthouse Farms Passion Fruit, Apple and Carrot juice and add a couple of ice cubes. That's my drink of choice this steamy Memorial Day weekend.

Now that the Princeton Class of '05 graduates next Tuesday, two members of the Class of '25 (1925, not 2025) are slated to lead P-rade, as part of the "Old Guard", today. If I make it to be the same age those two hardy souls are now, I'll be parading with the "Old Guard" of 2067! If you're wondering how old I'll be then, 101 is the answer - my birthday always falls after P-rade, my youngest niece will be 66 (she's the daughter of a Princeton alumnus Class of '97). Who knows who else will be marching w. us!

Today, knowing that my four-year old niece would meet us for dinner @ Longhorn, I took her organic ketchup in my Tribeca Sportsac (a roomy purse). Why not create smaller purse-size servings for health-conscious parents and relatives to carry to be put on, say, chicken tenders & fries? A busy father, like my brother is, could run out the door with some organic ketchup in his pocket! If the thought that my niece would be taken to the awful fare-providing McDollars crossed anyone's mind, please think again! I've boycotted McDollars for more than a year now.

This idea occurred to me as I packed organic grape Stretch Island fruit leather for my four-year old niece, I know it would cost a fortune, but why not have customized fruit leather that a health-conscious aunt, grandmother, relative or parent (after meeting all obligations) could buy for children? Messages such as "good for you!" or "you're the best" or even "happy 5th birthday" could be inscribed in a different fruit leather flavor to create, say, a strawberry-kiwi treat.

Latest idea: Letters of the alphabet could be printed on organic fruit leather too.

I loved this story; too bad I don't have children to read the book to so that they can learn how to be "tigers" the Princeton University mascot. Sample a bit here:

... I want to see tigers now!” (says the young character, named
Freddie)

At that, Freddie’s mother slips a shirt over his head, draws on his
face with makeup and fusses behind him, then shows Freddie what she has done.
The orange and black shirt, the whiskers on his face and the fuzzy tail have
transformed Freddie into a tiger. He joins his parents in the P-rade, declaring
“I’m a tiger too!”

All of the sudden my mind is going back to its usual, apolitical, complacent state. Why? because my friend the webmaster of Ars Politica has taken the past seven days off.

Yahoo! 360 is proving worthwhile, I've built a new social network of interesting people, here I'd like to introduce you to a few:

Gaby de Wilde, a talented web designer who is passionate about his hometown of Enkhuizen, the Netherlands. In Blogger, you can find his Enkhuizen Blog and in Yahoo ! 360, more photos and fine bloggin' -- Flickr holds his photographs.

"Magic" Mike, an amateur web designer, who has an unassuming but powerful personality, this is his Yahoo! 360 page.

"Mr. E.", a Chicago-based fellow Puerto Rican blogger, who presents us with some tough riddles and lighthearted posts. Here's his Yahoo! 360 page.

Some people may say "this woman is onto something", which I know is big, after reading this (make sure you follow that underlined link!).

Nature is one of the world's most reputable scientific journals, I should know, in a previous life I worked w. one of the most cited and respected scientists in his field, molecular oncologist Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD.

That said (sometimes feed-reading I come across some hokey-looking stories!), I'd like to invite you to read the latest report in Nature News (a free service) that documents the destruction us humans have wrought in our eco-systems. Sobering reading, but as an eternal optimist, I hope there is still time to undo the damage. For one I've seen what appears as a new breed of "indoor" wild, small lizards that seem to have moved inside in response to damage outside! Those "indoor" lizards, lighter skinned than their outdoor counterparts, co-exist peacefully w. us, they seem feed on any insects that may wander into our home without looking @ us as prey.

My much admired Quaker friend, Elke, has sent me this guide to buying a hybrid car, very useful.

Aptly named, "Nuclear Fallout" is Ars Politica's response to my question about what would happen if the "Nuclear Option" is pursued by the Senate, kiling the minority filibuster against judicial nominations. Cleverly, humorously pointing out the obvious first consequence, Ars Politica goes on to present several disturbing effects, including greater control over all three branches of government going into the hands of lobbyists/corporate interests. Take a deep breath, then go over there to read the whole posting if you'd like.

A group of Princeton students has gone to Washington DC to protest "the nuclear option" in the Senate's current filibuster struggle. I'd like to form the "Bella Villa N." filibuster support group.

My college friend, Christian "Xian" Crumlish, who I admiringly refer to as "Xianman" (all one word, pronounced "Chi-an-man"; his super powers: writing, networking, art and music, etc.) has introduced me yet again to an amazing web resource, Scott Chacon's "Join the Conversation" .

I've volunteered to help Scott and his people develop Spanish language materials to reach Spanish-speaking voters (that's one thing I can do long-distance from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Northern California!). I've also pay-paled a micro-contribution, I know my husband will be pleased we opened our wallet for this cause!

What do you think you could do to help "Join the Conversation"?

This story shows how what was once considered fictional becomes real with the passage of time and accompanying advances in technology. Would I be thrilled to see lymphatic fluid creatively referred to as "second to blood," adding power to the nervous system, which perhaps could lead to the scientific discovery that I'm trying to spur through Missing Lymph.org. Or, maybe I should allow myself to label "Second to Blood" a work of fiction, which in reality it isn't.

If any tonsillectomized people out there reading this feel less than healthy, please get in touch w. me! Missing Lymph was founded for you.

Awhile after I started collaborating w. Ars Politica, the idea of having "hers and his" blogs on the same page occurred to me. The blogs could complement each other and give readers a wide perspective w/o too much feed-reading or surfing.

My friend, the original Diva Latina, knows exactly the type of stories that interest me, that's so evident in her response to the birth of the Diva Latina blog:

Thanks! So let me tell you - you are going to be so *proud* of me! I signed up the kids for a class at the Botanical Gardens and tomorrow is the second day. We are going to learn how to make our own compost! YEAH! I am so clueless. For "homework" the kids had to collect the parts of the fruit about to be thrown out to bring to class. Another assignment was to plant some lima beans. Also, they had to watch their grass (which they planted in class) grow . The grass seeds were planted in a cup decorated as a face so when the grass grows too high the kids can give it a "hair cut" So J. gave his a haircut today- he couldn't wait!

All that and tomorrow is just the "second day," I am very proud!

In San Juan, capital of Puerto Rico, where I live, any point further than then next town is referred to as "La Isla". Today, my husband had yet another legal fight to lead in Mayagüez, a town known as "La Sultana del Oeste" o la "Ciudad del Mangó" which is quite remote within "La Isla" territory.

My mother-in-law, instrumental in sealing the deal that scored my husband his client in Mayagüez, lives atop a hill overlooking the Mayagüez Bay; her breathtaking-view house is where my husband is always welcome to crash and bring me along. So, after inhaling the purest of air there, the Diva Latina blog has been set up in Blogger, now it needs informative, inspiring, and inciting content! Good news: my friend, the original diva latina/lawyer, is visiting Puerto Rico with her husband, children and mother this summer, we'll have a chance to meet and brainstorm.

I need to switch skin and don my diva-thinking cap. Sugerencias welcome!

P.S. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go on the new ferry to the Dominican Republic but my husband has been on it taking pictures for a different case of his.

Wal-mart free is me for as long as I have been shopping online for many of the little things I used to buy there (shampoo, toothpaste... and if you're thinking about what I did w. my feminine monthly needs, visit Lunapads to see my "resuelve").

Tonight, coming home after an afternoon and evening visiting my elderly uncle who I love but whose passion for TV and movies I don't share, I was happily reading blogs when through what in my mind I refer to as "the Kos Madhouse" I found Wake-Up Wal-Mart. Daily Kos shone a well-deserved harsh light on Wal-Mart's latest act of despicability: an ad w. a book-burning pyre built by Nazi fanatics photo.

I'm not the only one who thinks Geoff's opinions matter, InstaPundit himself put in an appearance @ Ars Politica to comment twice about how a well-worn phrase of his, "democratization is not an event, it's a process," could have come out Condoleeza Rice's mouth recently. Or did Rice & co. put that phrase in InstaPundit's mouth? I doubt it, Geoff was just teasing pointing out that possibility!

Scientists @ Duke University have discovered how monkeys make robotic arms their own as if they'd grown a third arm. Imagine how useful a third limb would be for busy humans and how acquiring one would increase one's productivity. I'd be in the market for the wireless, alternative-powered version along with the possibility of acquiring pairs of limbs to complete repetitive tasks (like doing dishes or running errands).

Via Biology News

That's my Italian phrase for ahead of his time... today, rooting around the National Library of Medicine, I came across a solid ally for Missing Lymph, Guido Calderoli, an Italian scientist who in 1956 publicly proclaimed tonsillectomized children were sadder than their tonsils-intact counterparts and in 1970 authored a study that demonstrated tonsillectomized children had higher rates of antisocial disorder. Now, sadness and antisocial disorder are non-immunological, right? So, in essence, Dr. Calderoli supports Missing Lymph's theory that lymph within tonsils adds power to the nervous system, that lymph is "second to blood" in ways unknown to medicine now, and that w/o tonsils, lymphatic flow disruption may lead to a very unhappy brain. The search for Dr. Calderoli's students and supporters is on.

How could I make sure every lunchbox throughout Puerto Rico, the U.S. and abroad has one of these?

Sending you off to Ars Politica to read interesting science postings (most recent one first):

1. Stem Cells Can Grow Human Eggs: I'd like to see cells that help people unnecessarily tonsillectomized as children regrow their palatine tonsils.

2. Fat Bacteria: I'd never thought bacteria would be the possible culprits for excessive body fat.

3. Mirror Neurons: could be the key to telepathy.

4. Sort of Milk: necessary or not, this could go the way of genetically-modified food.

5. Mind-Reading Computers: Geoff knows I love this kind of story, standard "misuse of technology" consequences apply.

6. Remote Controlled Rats: forcible "harat-kiri"?

7. Mice in Suspended Animation from Stink Gas: how can a body subsist w/o food or water?

8. Mom’s Mitochondria Cause Prostate Cancer: Mitochondria a cell's power supply -- the cell renewal agents that regrew my tonsils are known to act on mitochondria.... but more about that later.

Simple recipe:

Pour one, chilled 7 oz. bottle of Malta into tall glass, then add the same amt. of real, whole milk.

The original "Benefactor" posting was not clear... so I'm going to attempt to explain the idea once again:

Benefactor would be a non-profit organization set up to enable people to do what
they love to achieve financial well-being.

British scientists have availed themselves to the large neurons of pond snails to further memory research. Apparently, humans and snails share a protein which is easily studied in snails. Maybe guinea escargot will help one remember, say, all passwords, in old age...

Geoff, thank you! I found this on the Moreover RSS (Really Simple Syndication - for those who didn't know) human sciences news feed you so kindly recommended.

To our readers: Geoff has been swamped w. work so sending copies of his science news postings here has proven cumbersome -- something I never intended our collaboration to be! So, the smartest thing to do, is to eliminate duplication and needless additional burden on Geoff (he knows how much we value him and his web presence!) -- in the future, I'm going to post links here to interesting postings over @ ArsPolitica.info .

Talented singer, webmaster, blogger, and environmentalist, Heidi Allen and I exchanged email while I was doing research on a story posted @ Ars Politica.

Impressed by Heidi's work, I asked her to answer my "meet the blogger" questions, which she did with candor, humor and originality. See for yourself:

1. Why did you start "HeidiAllen.com"?

It's a repository for my music, my writing, my projects, my activism, my compulsively organized links and miscellaneous thoughts and media mentions. In essence, it pulls together the bits of me that are scattered around the web.

2. What do you like best about blogging?

It's a great way to get ideas out to people in a rapid and simple manner.

3. What do you like least about it?

The inevitable discovery that a post didn't convey things as well as I thought they did when I wrote it!

4. What tips do you have for people who want to start their own blog?

Well, I'm no master at this, but convey something meaningful in every post... humor, information, perspective, ideas, excitement, questions,creativity and so on. I see way too many blog posts that say, "Today, nothing happened." Also, unless the blog is intended solely for friends and family, avoidposts that assume the reader knows all your friends. I occasionally see posts like, "Sally called and wanted to talk about Nick. Corey and John won't believe this!". Ok, I'm lost.

5. What do you see for yourself and "HeidiAllen.com" in the future?

For myself, I want to finish my CD, get my other websites up to snuff, finish the thousands of projects that I'm always in the middle of and, uh, save the world. Not much, really.

For HeidiAllen.com, I want to post more frequently, get new music samples up, add more to the Problems & Solutions Matrix, add more of my writings and get the rest of my Drink O' Links online.

Following Daniel's advice, I opened a Flickr.com free account. Now, after uploading some of my original files, I can simply paste the HTML Flickr provides into Blogger to share some of my work. Here & above is "Rigid & Flexi" a drawing I made last year.

I invite you to discover Daniel, like I did one day after reading his comment on Evhead. I felt as if I'd encountered Xian's youngest brother: talent, intellect, passion for music, creativity and humor all in one!!! His photography will make you muse "this young man is bound for the Guggenheim or MoMA." I've uploaded my favorite shot of an old gas can already. Enjoy!

When a talented young man named Dan finds an old gas can in his house, stunning shots like this one result.