Summer Time Reading
It is summer! Rejoice!
Despite the hectic pace that life has assumed recently in preparation for the wedding, I have been taking time here and there (like during the morning bath ritual) to do some light reading. I know I ought to be reading The Body Electric and other scientific books on on body's ability to produce and use electricity in preparation for my advanced kinesionics course. But alas, the summer sun calls me to play, so play I do.
I have been re-reading Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novels. (One of the advantages of creeping age, memory loss and senility is that you can read the same novels over and over and enjoy them as though you were reading them for the first time.) I love Dorothy Sayers' novels because they are intelligently written. And even if I don't get every literary and classical allusion she makes, I at least recognize when she is making it.
When I first started reading the Bertie and Jeeves books by P.G. Wodehouse, I had this feeling that I had met Bertie and his man somewhere before. It wasn't til later that I realized that Bertie and Jeeves were the comedic version of Wimsey and Bunter.
So, whenever I have the chance, I am going to kick back and enjoy a spot of mystery this summer. What is everyone else reading for fun?
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Let the Deluge Begin!
Well almost. Tonight the first of our guests are scheduled to arrive, and true to form, we are going to be ready for them by the skin of our teeth. Marc stayed home from a meeting last night to work on the bathroom vanity, but Elodie was disconsolate without mama and so the work was impeded. Hopefully he will be able to get everything installed tonight after work, but I won't be holding my breath because he also has a few business phone calls to take care of. As long as it is in by Wednesday night, I will be happy. That is when two more girls are arriving for one night before moving on to other accomodations.
Yesterday Trista came over and did a lot of cleaning for me; bless her. That allowed me to go out and pick up a few more supplies for the week. Today I have to bake some bread and muffins and put some finishing touches on cleaning some things. I have this morbid dread of not having enough food in the house, or that there won't be anything that they like.
Nathanael and Trahern will be deputized to pick people up from the airport later this evening and then deliver them to their destinations. I have a very large roast to go into the oven tomorrow and will be having a number of young people here for supper. The last of the company should be arriving on Thursday, and I think I'll have one or two showing up on Saturday, but that has yet to be confirmed. There is still a fair amount of musical houses going on with people switching where they are going to be and very few firmly settled. And still the cakes weigh heavy on my mind...
Well almost. Tonight the first of our guests are scheduled to arrive, and true to form, we are going to be ready for them by the skin of our teeth. Marc stayed home from a meeting last night to work on the bathroom vanity, but Elodie was disconsolate without mama and so the work was impeded. Hopefully he will be able to get everything installed tonight after work, but I won't be holding my breath because he also has a few business phone calls to take care of. As long as it is in by Wednesday night, I will be happy. That is when two more girls are arriving for one night before moving on to other accomodations.
Yesterday Trista came over and did a lot of cleaning for me; bless her. That allowed me to go out and pick up a few more supplies for the week. Today I have to bake some bread and muffins and put some finishing touches on cleaning some things. I have this morbid dread of not having enough food in the house, or that there won't be anything that they like.
Nathanael and Trahern will be deputized to pick people up from the airport later this evening and then deliver them to their destinations. I have a very large roast to go into the oven tomorrow and will be having a number of young people here for supper. The last of the company should be arriving on Thursday, and I think I'll have one or two showing up on Saturday, but that has yet to be confirmed. There is still a fair amount of musical houses going on with people switching where they are going to be and very few firmly settled. And still the cakes weigh heavy on my mind...
Friday, June 25, 2004
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Justification for a Favorite Pastime
"When I needed money, it justified itself. It was a job of work, and I did it as well as I could, and that was that. That was enough. But now, you see, it has no necessity except itself. And, of course, it's hard; it's always been hard, and it's getting harder. So when I'm stuck, I think, this isn't my livelihood, and it isn't great art, its' only detective stories. You read and write them for fun.'
'You underestimate yourself, Harriet. I never thought to hear you do that.'
'Normally I have the pride of the devil, you mean?'
'The pride of the craftsman, yes.'
'There can be intricate and admirable craft in entirely frivolous objects, Peter,' she said. 'Like those cufflinks, for instance.'
He was wearing jade cufflinks carved intaglio with the Wimsey mice. 'Frivoligy can give a good deal of pleasure,' he said, mildly. 'but I don't like to hear you call detective stories frivolous.'
'But aren't they? Compared to the real thing?'
'What do you call the real thing?'
'Great literature; Paradise Lost; novels like Great Expectations, or Crime and Punishment or War and Peace. Or on the other hand real detection with real crimes.
'You seem not to appreciate the importance of your special form,' he said. 'Detective stories contain a dream of justice. They project a vision of a world in which wrongs are righted, and villains are betrayed by clues that they did not know they were leaving. A world in which murderers are caught and hanged, and innocent victimes are avenged, and future murder is deterred.'
'But it is just a vision, Peter. The world we live in is not like that.'
'It sometimes is,' he said. 'Besides hasn't it occurred to you that to be beneficent, a vision does not have to be true?'
'What benefits could be conferred by falsehood?' she asked.
'Not falsehood, Harriet; idealism. Detective stories keep alive a view of the world which ought to be true. Of course people read them for fun, for diversion, as they do crossword puzzles. But underneath they feed a hunger for justice, and heaven help us if ordinary people cease to feel that.'
'You mean perhaps they work as fairy tales work, to caution stemothers against being wicked, and to comfort Cinderellas everywhere?'...
...'You have rather an exalted view of it, Peter.'
'I suppose very clever people can get their visions of justice from Dostoyevsky,' he said. 'But there aren't enough of them to make a climate of opinion. Ordinary people in large numbers read what you write.'
'But not for enlightenment. They are at their slackest. They only want a good story with a few thrills and reversals along the way.'
'You get under their guard,' he said. 'If they thought they were being preached at they would stop their ears. If they thought you were bent on improving their minds they would probably never pick up the book. But you offer to divert them, and you show them by stealth the orderly world in which we should all try to be living.'
'But are you serious?' she asked.
'Never more so, Domina. Your vocation seems no more frivolous to me than mine does to you. We are each, it seems, more weighty in each other's eyes than in our own. It's probably rather a good formula: self-respect without vanity.'
'Frivolity for ever?'
'For as long as possible.' he said, suddenly somber. 'I rather wish the Germans were addicted to your kind of light reading."
Excerpted from Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh
"When I needed money, it justified itself. It was a job of work, and I did it as well as I could, and that was that. That was enough. But now, you see, it has no necessity except itself. And, of course, it's hard; it's always been hard, and it's getting harder. So when I'm stuck, I think, this isn't my livelihood, and it isn't great art, its' only detective stories. You read and write them for fun.'
'You underestimate yourself, Harriet. I never thought to hear you do that.'
'Normally I have the pride of the devil, you mean?'
'The pride of the craftsman, yes.'
'There can be intricate and admirable craft in entirely frivolous objects, Peter,' she said. 'Like those cufflinks, for instance.'
He was wearing jade cufflinks carved intaglio with the Wimsey mice. 'Frivoligy can give a good deal of pleasure,' he said, mildly. 'but I don't like to hear you call detective stories frivolous.'
'But aren't they? Compared to the real thing?'
'What do you call the real thing?'
'Great literature; Paradise Lost; novels like Great Expectations, or Crime and Punishment or War and Peace. Or on the other hand real detection with real crimes.
'You seem not to appreciate the importance of your special form,' he said. 'Detective stories contain a dream of justice. They project a vision of a world in which wrongs are righted, and villains are betrayed by clues that they did not know they were leaving. A world in which murderers are caught and hanged, and innocent victimes are avenged, and future murder is deterred.'
'But it is just a vision, Peter. The world we live in is not like that.'
'It sometimes is,' he said. 'Besides hasn't it occurred to you that to be beneficent, a vision does not have to be true?'
'What benefits could be conferred by falsehood?' she asked.
'Not falsehood, Harriet; idealism. Detective stories keep alive a view of the world which ought to be true. Of course people read them for fun, for diversion, as they do crossword puzzles. But underneath they feed a hunger for justice, and heaven help us if ordinary people cease to feel that.'
'You mean perhaps they work as fairy tales work, to caution stemothers against being wicked, and to comfort Cinderellas everywhere?'...
...'You have rather an exalted view of it, Peter.'
'I suppose very clever people can get their visions of justice from Dostoyevsky,' he said. 'But there aren't enough of them to make a climate of opinion. Ordinary people in large numbers read what you write.'
'But not for enlightenment. They are at their slackest. They only want a good story with a few thrills and reversals along the way.'
'You get under their guard,' he said. 'If they thought they were being preached at they would stop their ears. If they thought you were bent on improving their minds they would probably never pick up the book. But you offer to divert them, and you show them by stealth the orderly world in which we should all try to be living.'
'But are you serious?' she asked.
'Never more so, Domina. Your vocation seems no more frivolous to me than mine does to you. We are each, it seems, more weighty in each other's eyes than in our own. It's probably rather a good formula: self-respect without vanity.'
'Frivolity for ever?'
'For as long as possible.' he said, suddenly somber. 'I rather wish the Germans were addicted to your kind of light reading."
Excerpted from Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Prostrated
I just spent the last hour reading various news articles on various websites. Without sin and disaster, there would be no news. The cumulative effect of reading this sort of thing is to make one feel impotent, finite, and helpless -- helpless to stem the tide of corruption and sin.
It makes one fall on one's face and cry, "God be merciful to us poor sinners."
Our only hope is in the cleansing bought by Christ.
I just spent the last hour reading various news articles on various websites. Without sin and disaster, there would be no news. The cumulative effect of reading this sort of thing is to make one feel impotent, finite, and helpless -- helpless to stem the tide of corruption and sin.
It makes one fall on one's face and cry, "God be merciful to us poor sinners."
Our only hope is in the cleansing bought by Christ.
Brain Stimulation and Beyond: An Emergent Mind/Brain Technology That Can be Either Used for Treatment, or Can Potentially be Abused
The above linked article is written by Nicholas Regush, an investigative medical journalist who has worked for the likes of Peter Jennings' 20/20 and the Fifth Estate.
This is an intriguing article because it delves into the complex issues that face humankind in its quest to overcome brain disease and dysfunction, as well as the potential for using some of the developing technology as a means of controlling people.
Says Regush: "On the dark side, of course, is the possibility that greater understanding of how the brain works and the emergence of far more precise technology may one day translate into more potential for not-so-nice manipulation of human behavior.
"And just keep in mind that neuroscience hardly existed as a field until the 1960s. You might say the road map is still very imprecise, but the mapping system is now in high gear. "
The above linked article is written by Nicholas Regush, an investigative medical journalist who has worked for the likes of Peter Jennings' 20/20 and the Fifth Estate.
This is an intriguing article because it delves into the complex issues that face humankind in its quest to overcome brain disease and dysfunction, as well as the potential for using some of the developing technology as a means of controlling people.
Says Regush: "On the dark side, of course, is the possibility that greater understanding of how the brain works and the emergence of far more precise technology may one day translate into more potential for not-so-nice manipulation of human behavior.
"And just keep in mind that neuroscience hardly existed as a field until the 1960s. You might say the road map is still very imprecise, but the mapping system is now in high gear. "
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Yesterday was a scorcher with the temps getting up to 33 degrees celcius. Yes, I know. Those of you who live in the US are likely used to temperatures much hotter. But hey, this is Canada and one of the reasons I live here is because I don't like the heat! It makes me feel ill. Thankfully, a thunder storm blew in and cooled things down so that it was tolerable to sleep.
Some of the kids got a bit too much sun yesterday and went to bed slathered in Emprizone, a hydrogel product with aloe polymannins in it as well as other healing agents, and this morning they are not sore, but they look nicely rosy and tanned.
Today is promising to be as warm as yesterday, but we are going to keep indoors with the curtains drawn, sheets over the top of some, and things kept as cool as possible.
We are definitely noticing a shift in the climate in these parts. In our first winter in Prince George, we had tons of snow and it even snowed right into May. In past years we haven't seen snow that stayed until the middle to end of December. Our summers are getting warmer and dryer and forest fires are already threatening some of our towns, villages and cities.
This article makes me very thankful to be living in the country, especially when it is so hot out.
Yesterday was a scorcher with the temps getting up to 33 degrees celcius. Yes, I know. Those of you who live in the US are likely used to temperatures much hotter. But hey, this is Canada and one of the reasons I live here is because I don't like the heat! It makes me feel ill. Thankfully, a thunder storm blew in and cooled things down so that it was tolerable to sleep.
Some of the kids got a bit too much sun yesterday and went to bed slathered in Emprizone, a hydrogel product with aloe polymannins in it as well as other healing agents, and this morning they are not sore, but they look nicely rosy and tanned.
Today is promising to be as warm as yesterday, but we are going to keep indoors with the curtains drawn, sheets over the top of some, and things kept as cool as possible.
We are definitely noticing a shift in the climate in these parts. In our first winter in Prince George, we had tons of snow and it even snowed right into May. In past years we haven't seen snow that stayed until the middle to end of December. Our summers are getting warmer and dryer and forest fires are already threatening some of our towns, villages and cities.
This article makes me very thankful to be living in the country, especially when it is so hot out.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Evidence that We Still Make New Brain Cells
I am no scientist, but I find all the new data that is coming out on how the brain functions to be extremely interesting.
Lately I have been listening to motivational type audio tapes on Neuro Linguistic Programming, and it is fascinating to me to see how you can change your emotional state just by how you think or even position your body, use your tone of voice, and use your facial muscles.
Here is a fascinating article on the NLP technique for building rapport with others rapidly. I have been experimenting with this and it actually works.
Of course, with any form of relationship-building techniques, it only really works if you are genuinely sincere and caring of the people you are practicing these on. People can spot a phoney so quickly.
I am no scientist, but I find all the new data that is coming out on how the brain functions to be extremely interesting.
Lately I have been listening to motivational type audio tapes on Neuro Linguistic Programming, and it is fascinating to me to see how you can change your emotional state just by how you think or even position your body, use your tone of voice, and use your facial muscles.
Here is a fascinating article on the NLP technique for building rapport with others rapidly. I have been experimenting with this and it actually works.
Of course, with any form of relationship-building techniques, it only really works if you are genuinely sincere and caring of the people you are practicing these on. People can spot a phoney so quickly.
Phooey!
Thanks to the utter stupidity, arbitrariness, and anal retentiveness of US Immigration people, one of my wedding cakes will not be needed for the reception. The couple in question filled out all the required paperwork, jumped through all the hoops, and then were told after they married in the US, that the bride cannot leave the US because they would deny her re-entry to the States if she comes back here for her wedding reception amongst family and friends in her home and native land.
Oh well. Doralynn and Jordan now will have not only a wedding cake, but a chocolate groom's cake for their wedding.
Thanks to the utter stupidity, arbitrariness, and anal retentiveness of US Immigration people, one of my wedding cakes will not be needed for the reception. The couple in question filled out all the required paperwork, jumped through all the hoops, and then were told after they married in the US, that the bride cannot leave the US because they would deny her re-entry to the States if she comes back here for her wedding reception amongst family and friends in her home and native land.
Oh well. Doralynn and Jordan now will have not only a wedding cake, but a chocolate groom's cake for their wedding.
Super Size Me
It looks like the fast food industry will be getting its come-uppance with the documentary "Super Size Me" featuring Morgan Spurlock.
"A few days into his grand experiment of eating all McDonald's, all the time, for 30 days straight, the New York film-maker Morgan Spurlock started complaining of headaches and other unpleasant side-effects: listlessness, depression, chest pains, shortness of breath, sexual dysfunction and more. His headaches, however, almost certainly pale in comparison to the giant, throbbing one his much-discussed documentary Super Size Me is causing the executives who run Ronald McDonald's global empire."
What kind of effect has the documentary had?
"The Australian distributor, Dendy Films, reacted to the McDonald's television advertising campaign by claiming that cinema managers were having to spend longer cleaning up auditoriums where Super Size Me has been showing because people alarmed by the dangers of bad eating presented on screen were leaving behind full cartons of popcorn and soda cups."
I wish I could be certain that this sort of junk-food abstention would be long lasting.
This documentary has had something of an effect on McDonald's because they are trying to sell what looks like, cosmetically, to be a healthier alternative. However...
"One of the most galling aspects of Super Size Me, from the company's viewpoint, must have been its illustration of the calorie and sugar content of even these new "healthy" items. The film demonstrates - using McDonald's own nutritional data - that some of the salad dressings are as bad as anything else on the menu. The Caesar salad with chicken première, for example, contains more fat than a cheeseburger."
"Another McDonald's announcement came on the very eve of Super Size Me's US release on 6 May: the introduction of the "Go Active Happy Meal", complete with salad, free exercise manual and a Stepometer for customers to monitor their daily walking regime. Again, the company insisted the timing was a coincidence."
And in case you read any articles or hear any spokesmen for scientific communities defending McDonald's and other fast food companies, consider the following:
"an outfit called the American Council on Science and Health started ripping into Super Size Me in a series of press releases, op-ed pieces and capsule opinions offered by purported dietary and health experts. Another organisation, called Tech Central Station, offered itself as a clearing house of opinion and factual evidence, condemning Spurlock's film as a scurrilous, misleading, "disgusting", "dangerous" and "dishonest" piece of work.
The American Council on Science and Health has not publicly disclosed its corporate donors since 1991, but in the past they have included crisp manufacturers, chocolate manufacturers, Burger King and Coca Cola (a business partner of McDonald's). Tech Central Station, meanwhile, is backed by the oil giant ExxonMobil, General Motors and, yes, McDonald's.
One op-ed piece, by the food industry lobbyist Jim Glassman, made its way into a couple of US papers, including the St Louis Post Dispatch, which apologised after it discovered his direct links to McDonald's."
Now if only someone would do an expose on Tim Horton's donuts and coffee.
It looks like the fast food industry will be getting its come-uppance with the documentary "Super Size Me" featuring Morgan Spurlock.
"A few days into his grand experiment of eating all McDonald's, all the time, for 30 days straight, the New York film-maker Morgan Spurlock started complaining of headaches and other unpleasant side-effects: listlessness, depression, chest pains, shortness of breath, sexual dysfunction and more. His headaches, however, almost certainly pale in comparison to the giant, throbbing one his much-discussed documentary Super Size Me is causing the executives who run Ronald McDonald's global empire."
What kind of effect has the documentary had?
"The Australian distributor, Dendy Films, reacted to the McDonald's television advertising campaign by claiming that cinema managers were having to spend longer cleaning up auditoriums where Super Size Me has been showing because people alarmed by the dangers of bad eating presented on screen were leaving behind full cartons of popcorn and soda cups."
I wish I could be certain that this sort of junk-food abstention would be long lasting.
This documentary has had something of an effect on McDonald's because they are trying to sell what looks like, cosmetically, to be a healthier alternative. However...
"One of the most galling aspects of Super Size Me, from the company's viewpoint, must have been its illustration of the calorie and sugar content of even these new "healthy" items. The film demonstrates - using McDonald's own nutritional data - that some of the salad dressings are as bad as anything else on the menu. The Caesar salad with chicken première, for example, contains more fat than a cheeseburger."
"Another McDonald's announcement came on the very eve of Super Size Me's US release on 6 May: the introduction of the "Go Active Happy Meal", complete with salad, free exercise manual and a Stepometer for customers to monitor their daily walking regime. Again, the company insisted the timing was a coincidence."
And in case you read any articles or hear any spokesmen for scientific communities defending McDonald's and other fast food companies, consider the following:
"an outfit called the American Council on Science and Health started ripping into Super Size Me in a series of press releases, op-ed pieces and capsule opinions offered by purported dietary and health experts. Another organisation, called Tech Central Station, offered itself as a clearing house of opinion and factual evidence, condemning Spurlock's film as a scurrilous, misleading, "disgusting", "dangerous" and "dishonest" piece of work.
The American Council on Science and Health has not publicly disclosed its corporate donors since 1991, but in the past they have included crisp manufacturers, chocolate manufacturers, Burger King and Coca Cola (a business partner of McDonald's). Tech Central Station, meanwhile, is backed by the oil giant ExxonMobil, General Motors and, yes, McDonald's.
One op-ed piece, by the food industry lobbyist Jim Glassman, made its way into a couple of US papers, including the St Louis Post Dispatch, which apologised after it discovered his direct links to McDonald's."
Now if only someone would do an expose on Tim Horton's donuts and coffee.
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Yet Another Reason...
...for keeping your kids out of public school. There are plans to screen the entire US with the help of public schools, to determine who is or who is not mentally ill. Those who qualify will be put on anti-depressants and psychotropic drugs to the delight of the multi-national pharmaceutical industry who promise to profit handsomely as a result.
The pilot project for this program was undertaken in Texas when Dubya was governor there. "The Texas project started in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. The project was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson grant—and by several drug companies."
Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health has commissioners who have served on advisory boards for the pharmaceutical companies that stand to profit. Moreover, there are intimate ties between Big Pharma and the Bush family. The political campaign contributions by Big Pharma to Bush are three times that which they gave to John Kerry.
Is it just me, or does something stink here?
...for keeping your kids out of public school. There are plans to screen the entire US with the help of public schools, to determine who is or who is not mentally ill. Those who qualify will be put on anti-depressants and psychotropic drugs to the delight of the multi-national pharmaceutical industry who promise to profit handsomely as a result.
The pilot project for this program was undertaken in Texas when Dubya was governor there. "The Texas project started in 1995 as an alliance of individuals from the pharmaceutical industry, the University of Texas, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. The project was funded by a Robert Wood Johnson grant—and by several drug companies."
Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health has commissioners who have served on advisory boards for the pharmaceutical companies that stand to profit. Moreover, there are intimate ties between Big Pharma and the Bush family. The political campaign contributions by Big Pharma to Bush are three times that which they gave to John Kerry.
Is it just me, or does something stink here?
Friday, June 18, 2004
The Beginning of the End?
It appears that I am now starting to shift gears physically. My body has started to do the strange things that are associated with the pre-menopausal stage. This likely means no more babies for me. Of course, it is still quite possible that a baby could happen, but the prospect just doesn't excite me the way it used to.
Of course, as a person with quiverfull convictions, I believe that God is the One who opens and shuts the womb. God is the author and finisher of all life. If another baby comes, I will welcome the baby and enjoy him/her. But I have lost the baby lust of former years and I guess that is ok. After all, there is a time for everything and it would be silly and unsanctified to practice discontentment when you knew that more babies would not be in your future.
It appears that I am now starting to shift gears physically. My body has started to do the strange things that are associated with the pre-menopausal stage. This likely means no more babies for me. Of course, it is still quite possible that a baby could happen, but the prospect just doesn't excite me the way it used to.
Of course, as a person with quiverfull convictions, I believe that God is the One who opens and shuts the womb. God is the author and finisher of all life. If another baby comes, I will welcome the baby and enjoy him/her. But I have lost the baby lust of former years and I guess that is ok. After all, there is a time for everything and it would be silly and unsanctified to practice discontentment when you knew that more babies would not be in your future.
Another Item Crossed Off My List
I have set myself Twelve Labors of Cheryl for the month of June. So far, four of the Labors have been completed:
~I baked and froze two wedding cakes with a total of six layers measuring from 14 inches down to 10 inches in diameter.
~I planted my flower bed out front.
~My oven and the oven drawer are now clean
~Today I extracted 20 pounds of dirt, cat hair and gravel from my carpets and living room furniture.
There is nothing like steam cleaning your carpets to convince you of how absolutely unhygenic and disgusting carpeting is. I wish now I had taken Don Aslett's advice in Make Your House Do the Housework and installed ceramic tile or wood floors through out the entire house. It costs more upfront, but it is easier to clean, wears for far longer and looks good indefinitely. If I am ever so dotty as to build another house again, I will NOT have carpeting in it. Carpets suck. I will also hire a carpenter to build my kitchen and bathroom cabinets. [Grumbles to self as she considers how she still does not have upper cabinets or cabinet doors on the lower cabinets in the kitchen or even a sink in one of the bathrooms after 13 years! I have wasted a good chunk of my life in wiping out the shelves on the lower cabinets daily because all the dirt falls in there and looks unsightly. The first thing you see in my kitchen is all the guts of my cupboards.]
Speaking of housecleaning, I wonder if some of the rules that we live by in this life will still be in operation in Heaven? For instance, in this life, it can take hours to clean a house well, depending on how thorough you want to be. It takes only minutes for a well rested toddler at the top of her form to trash it. Will things in heaven stay clean for as long as it took to clean them or longer? Will it work the other way instead? Five minutes to clean and weeks of results? Will we clean? Will we care?
I have set myself Twelve Labors of Cheryl for the month of June. So far, four of the Labors have been completed:
~I baked and froze two wedding cakes with a total of six layers measuring from 14 inches down to 10 inches in diameter.
~I planted my flower bed out front.
~My oven and the oven drawer are now clean
~Today I extracted 20 pounds of dirt, cat hair and gravel from my carpets and living room furniture.
There is nothing like steam cleaning your carpets to convince you of how absolutely unhygenic and disgusting carpeting is. I wish now I had taken Don Aslett's advice in Make Your House Do the Housework and installed ceramic tile or wood floors through out the entire house. It costs more upfront, but it is easier to clean, wears for far longer and looks good indefinitely. If I am ever so dotty as to build another house again, I will NOT have carpeting in it. Carpets suck. I will also hire a carpenter to build my kitchen and bathroom cabinets. [Grumbles to self as she considers how she still does not have upper cabinets or cabinet doors on the lower cabinets in the kitchen or even a sink in one of the bathrooms after 13 years! I have wasted a good chunk of my life in wiping out the shelves on the lower cabinets daily because all the dirt falls in there and looks unsightly. The first thing you see in my kitchen is all the guts of my cupboards.]
Speaking of housecleaning, I wonder if some of the rules that we live by in this life will still be in operation in Heaven? For instance, in this life, it can take hours to clean a house well, depending on how thorough you want to be. It takes only minutes for a well rested toddler at the top of her form to trash it. Will things in heaven stay clean for as long as it took to clean them or longer? Will it work the other way instead? Five minutes to clean and weeks of results? Will we clean? Will we care?
What are Stem Cells and Why Should You Care?
I have been posting a little bit about stem cells lately because embryonic stem cell therapy is a Frankensteinian quest to develop therapies for treating a variety of diseases. Embryonic stem cells are harvested from unborn babies and in the process destoys (murders) them. These babies are obtained in four different ways:
1)Fertility Clinics
During in-vitro fertilization, clinics routinely fuse more than one egg with sperm. That way, if implanting a fertilized egg doesn't work the first time, they can try again. This practice has left thousands of unwanted babies stored in clinic freezers. James Thomson, the first scientist to establish a human stem-cell line, used such babies.
2)Aborted Babies
John Gearhart, the Johns Hopkins biologist credited, along with Thomson, with first culturing stem cells, extracted his from babies donated by women (how generous of them -- pardon me while I puke) at a nearby abortion clinic.
3)Cloning
Advanced Cell Technology of Worcester, Mass., acknowledged last week that it is trying to create cloned human babies (euphemistically referred to as "entities") as sources for stem cells. The company has considered selling its stem cells to other researchers.
4)Made to Order
The Jones Institute in Virginia, where the first U.S. test-tube baby was conceived, has mixed sperm and eggs expressly to create babies as sources for stem cells.
Does anyone besides me see any sort of ethical problem with creating babies in order to murder them for their stem cells?
What are Stem Cells?
Some call them magic seeds, for their ability to replicate indefinitely and morph into any kind of tissue. Stem cells are nature's blank slates, capable of developing into any of nearly 220 cell types that make up the human body. Scientists believe they will lead to cures for diseases once thought untreatable.
Certain primitive cells found in the brain, blood and elsewhere in the body remain undeveloped enough even in adults that they can grow into a limited number of cell types.
Now, I think that stem cell therapy is definitely an exciting and viable field of research provided it is done ethically and breaks none of God's Laws! Through the providence of God, it now looks like this can be done.
What follows is a short summary, written by Noni Kaufman, of what Dr. Reg McDaniel is saying about how to activate Stem Cells in your body.
Dr. Reg McDaniel talked about first seeing new stem cells in the peripheral blood of clients using Glyconutrients many years ago and not recognizing these cells as stem cells. They were 10 times the size of white blood cells and they were given the name "Gee" cells for some time as that's what Dr. Reg said when he observed these new cells that no one could identify!
Now we have the tools to identify these cells appropriately as stem cells which can be used as "master keys" to move to places in the body as the body calls for. About a year ago there was an article in JAMA regarding the stem cells implants of male cells into female bodies of women with leukemia who had received a stem cell transplant. When these women died, male marked cells were found as neurons in the brain.
Reg realized that this might offer an explanation in the many children with fetal alcohol syndrome that were doing so well with the Glyconutrients and others who had advanced so far beyond their perceived genetic limitations. He told the story of several adopted aboriginal children in Canada who had fetal alcohol syndrome who have done remarkably well, improving from IQ's estimated to be around 50 to levels around 100. One girl who had difficulties with reading and numbers and was in remedial classes after 3 years with Glyconutrients was able to read a Harry Potter book in a week and discuss what she had read.
When they measure the before and after stem cell counts in the blood, virtually none are detectable prior to Glyconutrients. Within a week of giving Glyconutrients, there are 200-400 stem cells seen in a micro liter of blood with about 5-10 thousand white blood cells. If one extrapolates to the whole body, it is possible that there are 1.7-3 trillion new stem cells throughout our body as we add in Glyconutrients. We're at the beginning of understanding all of what is possible with stem cells.
There is an article in the June Scientific American if you want to read more about stem cells.
I have been posting a little bit about stem cells lately because embryonic stem cell therapy is a Frankensteinian quest to develop therapies for treating a variety of diseases. Embryonic stem cells are harvested from unborn babies and in the process destoys (murders) them. These babies are obtained in four different ways:
1)Fertility Clinics
During in-vitro fertilization, clinics routinely fuse more than one egg with sperm. That way, if implanting a fertilized egg doesn't work the first time, they can try again. This practice has left thousands of unwanted babies stored in clinic freezers. James Thomson, the first scientist to establish a human stem-cell line, used such babies.
2)Aborted Babies
John Gearhart, the Johns Hopkins biologist credited, along with Thomson, with first culturing stem cells, extracted his from babies donated by women (how generous of them -- pardon me while I puke) at a nearby abortion clinic.
3)Cloning
Advanced Cell Technology of Worcester, Mass., acknowledged last week that it is trying to create cloned human babies (euphemistically referred to as "entities") as sources for stem cells. The company has considered selling its stem cells to other researchers.
4)Made to Order
The Jones Institute in Virginia, where the first U.S. test-tube baby was conceived, has mixed sperm and eggs expressly to create babies as sources for stem cells.
Does anyone besides me see any sort of ethical problem with creating babies in order to murder them for their stem cells?
What are Stem Cells?
Some call them magic seeds, for their ability to replicate indefinitely and morph into any kind of tissue. Stem cells are nature's blank slates, capable of developing into any of nearly 220 cell types that make up the human body. Scientists believe they will lead to cures for diseases once thought untreatable.
Certain primitive cells found in the brain, blood and elsewhere in the body remain undeveloped enough even in adults that they can grow into a limited number of cell types.
Now, I think that stem cell therapy is definitely an exciting and viable field of research provided it is done ethically and breaks none of God's Laws! Through the providence of God, it now looks like this can be done.
What follows is a short summary, written by Noni Kaufman, of what Dr. Reg McDaniel is saying about how to activate Stem Cells in your body.
Dr. Reg McDaniel talked about first seeing new stem cells in the peripheral blood of clients using Glyconutrients many years ago and not recognizing these cells as stem cells. They were 10 times the size of white blood cells and they were given the name "Gee" cells for some time as that's what Dr. Reg said when he observed these new cells that no one could identify!
Now we have the tools to identify these cells appropriately as stem cells which can be used as "master keys" to move to places in the body as the body calls for. About a year ago there was an article in JAMA regarding the stem cells implants of male cells into female bodies of women with leukemia who had received a stem cell transplant. When these women died, male marked cells were found as neurons in the brain.
Reg realized that this might offer an explanation in the many children with fetal alcohol syndrome that were doing so well with the Glyconutrients and others who had advanced so far beyond their perceived genetic limitations. He told the story of several adopted aboriginal children in Canada who had fetal alcohol syndrome who have done remarkably well, improving from IQ's estimated to be around 50 to levels around 100. One girl who had difficulties with reading and numbers and was in remedial classes after 3 years with Glyconutrients was able to read a Harry Potter book in a week and discuss what she had read.
When they measure the before and after stem cell counts in the blood, virtually none are detectable prior to Glyconutrients. Within a week of giving Glyconutrients, there are 200-400 stem cells seen in a micro liter of blood with about 5-10 thousand white blood cells. If one extrapolates to the whole body, it is possible that there are 1.7-3 trillion new stem cells throughout our body as we add in Glyconutrients. We're at the beginning of understanding all of what is possible with stem cells.
There is an article in the June Scientific American if you want to read more about stem cells.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Astounding!
I should be used to this, but I am not -- seeing someone recover who was given up for by the medical community. This scenario is being played out more often in my life these days.
No, it isn't because I am such a great kinesionics practitioner, it is because people are adding things back into their diets that have been missing.
Call me thick and stupid if you will, but the lights came on for me the other day. Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy, heart disease, and other bad things. Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets and other health problems. Vitamin B deficiency causes pellegra and insanity and contributes to neurological problems like schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. We generally know this and most food is fortified to protect us from these diseases. So where does the "thick and stupid" part come in? I have been promoting glyconutrients for about 8 years now and it only occurred to me recently that the reason people develop chronic, debilitating and/or life-threatening auto-immune disorders like cancer, lupus, AIDS, and fibromyalgia, is because of a diet-related deficiency of glyconutrients which leads to a deficieny in the appropriate glycoproteins being made. I knew that glyconutrients were building blocks that the body used to repair itself, but for some reason I hadn't made the connection between why these worked on people who took them in sufficient quantity over a long enough period of tme and the deficiency aspect.
How critical are glycoproteins? You literally cannot live without them. Every cell in your body requires glycoproteins in order to communicate and live. When there is insufficient or defective glycoprotein synthesis, cells start to malfunction and miscommunicate. When the number of cells that are malfunctioning and miscommunicating are large enough, you have a disease, though it may take a long time for the symptoms of it to manifest. Cancer is a good example of this. Everyone has cancer cells being made in their body every day. If your immune system is functioning properly and your cells are communicating right, your immune system is able to destroy the cancer cells and take care of the problem. If the immune system is not communicating properly, it doesn't recognize the cancer cells and they are allowed to proliferate. Cancer is an evidence of an under-active immune system. Most cancers aren't discovered until you have had it for at least 15 years.
What about when the immune system is over active like in allergies and things like lupus? Again, lack of proper cell to cell communication is responsible. "Institute of Food Research experts found two types of cells critical for regulating the immune system stopped talking to each other.
This 'deafness' means certain cells continue to work when they would normally be programmed to switch off. "
The immune system turns on and forgets to shut off because the necessary components that allow communication to take place aren't there.
The relatively new information about glycobiology is beginning to trickle out to the mainstream now. For instance, Psychology Today recently published an article on the need of glyconutrients in the diet for proper cellular communication.
Expect to hear more and more about this in the near future. Mannarelief, a charitable organization that is dedicated to providing glyconutrients to sick, fragile and orphaned children around the world, will be taking part in 6 "Live Aid" concerts that will be telecast around the world. Mannarelief and glyconutrients were chosen as being one of the best means of assisting children born with AIDS to overcome their disease.
When I see people recovering from terminal cancer; when I see people who didn't have a life anymore because of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia being able to live a normal life, and when I see people with intractable and untreatable conditions recovering as a result of these supplements, it makes me rejoice that God brought them into my life and enables me to share them with others.
I should be used to this, but I am not -- seeing someone recover who was given up for by the medical community. This scenario is being played out more often in my life these days.
No, it isn't because I am such a great kinesionics practitioner, it is because people are adding things back into their diets that have been missing.
Call me thick and stupid if you will, but the lights came on for me the other day. Vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy, heart disease, and other bad things. Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets and other health problems. Vitamin B deficiency causes pellegra and insanity and contributes to neurological problems like schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. We generally know this and most food is fortified to protect us from these diseases. So where does the "thick and stupid" part come in? I have been promoting glyconutrients for about 8 years now and it only occurred to me recently that the reason people develop chronic, debilitating and/or life-threatening auto-immune disorders like cancer, lupus, AIDS, and fibromyalgia, is because of a diet-related deficiency of glyconutrients which leads to a deficieny in the appropriate glycoproteins being made. I knew that glyconutrients were building blocks that the body used to repair itself, but for some reason I hadn't made the connection between why these worked on people who took them in sufficient quantity over a long enough period of tme and the deficiency aspect.
How critical are glycoproteins? You literally cannot live without them. Every cell in your body requires glycoproteins in order to communicate and live. When there is insufficient or defective glycoprotein synthesis, cells start to malfunction and miscommunicate. When the number of cells that are malfunctioning and miscommunicating are large enough, you have a disease, though it may take a long time for the symptoms of it to manifest. Cancer is a good example of this. Everyone has cancer cells being made in their body every day. If your immune system is functioning properly and your cells are communicating right, your immune system is able to destroy the cancer cells and take care of the problem. If the immune system is not communicating properly, it doesn't recognize the cancer cells and they are allowed to proliferate. Cancer is an evidence of an under-active immune system. Most cancers aren't discovered until you have had it for at least 15 years.
What about when the immune system is over active like in allergies and things like lupus? Again, lack of proper cell to cell communication is responsible. "Institute of Food Research experts found two types of cells critical for regulating the immune system stopped talking to each other.
This 'deafness' means certain cells continue to work when they would normally be programmed to switch off. "
The immune system turns on and forgets to shut off because the necessary components that allow communication to take place aren't there.
The relatively new information about glycobiology is beginning to trickle out to the mainstream now. For instance, Psychology Today recently published an article on the need of glyconutrients in the diet for proper cellular communication.
Expect to hear more and more about this in the near future. Mannarelief, a charitable organization that is dedicated to providing glyconutrients to sick, fragile and orphaned children around the world, will be taking part in 6 "Live Aid" concerts that will be telecast around the world. Mannarelief and glyconutrients were chosen as being one of the best means of assisting children born with AIDS to overcome their disease.
When I see people recovering from terminal cancer; when I see people who didn't have a life anymore because of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia being able to live a normal life, and when I see people with intractable and untreatable conditions recovering as a result of these supplements, it makes me rejoice that God brought them into my life and enables me to share them with others.
A Time to Play
I have such a strong compelling need to be always busy with something that often I forget how important it is to play once in a while.
Yesterday was a gorgeously beautiful Canadian summer day. It was warm, the sky was blue with a few puffy clouds, and a lovely breeze was blowing to keep it from getting too hot. It was also the day of our homeschool association's end-of-the-year picnic, so I abandoned the house early, without even cleaning (!!)it for a day at the park.
It was glorious. The children played on the playground equipment or in the water at the spray park, and the mom's visited for several hours. We had lunch together, shared our goodies and talked some more and then laughed as the children participated in races or games.
There is nothing like a day out in the sunshine enjoying one's self and living in the moment to bring a kind of resting and quiet refreshment to life. I think I need to play more often.
I have such a strong compelling need to be always busy with something that often I forget how important it is to play once in a while.
Yesterday was a gorgeously beautiful Canadian summer day. It was warm, the sky was blue with a few puffy clouds, and a lovely breeze was blowing to keep it from getting too hot. It was also the day of our homeschool association's end-of-the-year picnic, so I abandoned the house early, without even cleaning (!!)it for a day at the park.
It was glorious. The children played on the playground equipment or in the water at the spray park, and the mom's visited for several hours. We had lunch together, shared our goodies and talked some more and then laughed as the children participated in races or games.
There is nothing like a day out in the sunshine enjoying one's self and living in the moment to bring a kind of resting and quiet refreshment to life. I think I need to play more often.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Getting There
Sometimes the anticipation of doing something is far worse than actually doing it. I have this bad habit of setting seemingly impossible goals for myself and then fretting myself to death as the deadline for the goal to be accomplished draws near. The latest goal has been that of making wedding cakes for two very dear girls.
Even as I type, the first 14" cake base for the white cake is baking in the oven and should be ready to come out in several minutes. I made one chocolate wedding cake yesterday that was only two layers and it is now frozen in a neighbor's freezer. There are three more layers to bake of a white cake today and then these too will go in the freezer. I have the bases that the cakes will rest on already bought. Now all I need is the dowling in order to hold each layer up from the other, and to figure out what I am going to do as far as decorating.
You can forget fancy scrollwork in icing. The chocolate cake will have a rich chocolate pudding type of filling and a chocolate glaze on the outside. I am also thinking of using chocolate shavings to decorate it. The white cake will have a rich, fluffy buttercream icing that is delicious and not too sweet and a vanilla cream type of filling. Both cakes will have either real or silk flowers for toppers, and I am thinking of making white chocolate leaves for the white cake. The only thing that is really troubling me now is the making of the icing for the white cake. I have no idea how much I will require. I have some made up in the freezer which I am going to thaw and try working with. If I can make it up ahead of time and it freezes or refrigerates well, that will relieve a lot of my anxiety. Then I have to decide on what type of sugar syrup to use on each cake. I am thinking creme de cacao for the chocolate one. Grand Marnier for the white? Or just plain sugar syrup? I have two weeks to decide.
Sometimes the anticipation of doing something is far worse than actually doing it. I have this bad habit of setting seemingly impossible goals for myself and then fretting myself to death as the deadline for the goal to be accomplished draws near. The latest goal has been that of making wedding cakes for two very dear girls.
Even as I type, the first 14" cake base for the white cake is baking in the oven and should be ready to come out in several minutes. I made one chocolate wedding cake yesterday that was only two layers and it is now frozen in a neighbor's freezer. There are three more layers to bake of a white cake today and then these too will go in the freezer. I have the bases that the cakes will rest on already bought. Now all I need is the dowling in order to hold each layer up from the other, and to figure out what I am going to do as far as decorating.
You can forget fancy scrollwork in icing. The chocolate cake will have a rich chocolate pudding type of filling and a chocolate glaze on the outside. I am also thinking of using chocolate shavings to decorate it. The white cake will have a rich, fluffy buttercream icing that is delicious and not too sweet and a vanilla cream type of filling. Both cakes will have either real or silk flowers for toppers, and I am thinking of making white chocolate leaves for the white cake. The only thing that is really troubling me now is the making of the icing for the white cake. I have no idea how much I will require. I have some made up in the freezer which I am going to thaw and try working with. If I can make it up ahead of time and it freezes or refrigerates well, that will relieve a lot of my anxiety. Then I have to decide on what type of sugar syrup to use on each cake. I am thinking creme de cacao for the chocolate one. Grand Marnier for the white? Or just plain sugar syrup? I have two weeks to decide.
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Some Days I Feel Like This...
"As the taxi lurched along the rainy Embankment, he felt for the first time the dull and angry helplessness which is the first warning stroke of the triumph of mutability. Like the poisoned Athulf in the Fool's Tragedy, he could have cried, "Oh, I am changing, changing, fearfully changing." Whether his present enterprise failed or succeeded, things would never be the same again. It was not that his heart would be broken by a disastrous love -- he had outlived the luxurious agonies of youthful blood, and in this very freedom from illusion he recognised the loss of something. From now on, every hour of light-heartedness would be, not a prerogative but an achievement -- one more axe or case-bottle or fowling pice, rescued, Crusoe-fashion, from a sinking ship."
Dorothy Sayers, Strong Poison
"As the taxi lurched along the rainy Embankment, he felt for the first time the dull and angry helplessness which is the first warning stroke of the triumph of mutability. Like the poisoned Athulf in the Fool's Tragedy, he could have cried, "Oh, I am changing, changing, fearfully changing." Whether his present enterprise failed or succeeded, things would never be the same again. It was not that his heart would be broken by a disastrous love -- he had outlived the luxurious agonies of youthful blood, and in this very freedom from illusion he recognised the loss of something. From now on, every hour of light-heartedness would be, not a prerogative but an achievement -- one more axe or case-bottle or fowling pice, rescued, Crusoe-fashion, from a sinking ship."
Dorothy Sayers, Strong Poison
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Happy Father's Day, Dad!
I was so proud of myself last week. I went to the store and found an appropriate Father's Day card that expressed my sentiments of you, my father. I then brought the card home and addressed it, thinking that for once in my life, I had got it done in plenty of time for you to receive it. Well guess what? It is still sitting on my desk.
[Bangs head on keyboard.]
So, Dad, I STILL intend to send you your card AND give you Father's Day greetings EARLY even if the card doesn't get there in time.
I was fooling around on the Kabalarian website and this is what came up with your name on it:
As James, you have a natural interest in the welfare of your fellow man, and a desire to help and serve others in a humanitarian way. You are responsible and generous, although somewhat scattering and disorganized at times. Any jobs requiring systematic and conscientious effort, or involving any form of drudgery, dismay you. In your work, you would seek a position offering self-expression through contact with people, such as sales or teaching, or a position giving scope to your creative, artistic talents. You are good-natured and likeable, and people tend to confide in you and seek your advice in personal problems. Others sense your sincere interest and desire to help, and you can always be counted on to see the bright side of any problem.
I think that is a pretty accurate description of you. For as long as I can remember, you have always wanted to help others and have loved people. And they love you back. As one of your brothers once said, "Walking through the mall with Jim is like walking around with Santa Claus. Everyone knows him and greets him."
One memory of you that stands out in my mind is the sight of you sitting in the front room of our house on Peck Street. You had your Bible in your lap, and your head was bowed in prayer. Iwillalways carry that picture with me.
I am blessed to be your daughter, and blessed that my sons want to emulate you. Thanks for being there for us all.
Love you lots,
Cheryl Ann
I was so proud of myself last week. I went to the store and found an appropriate Father's Day card that expressed my sentiments of you, my father. I then brought the card home and addressed it, thinking that for once in my life, I had got it done in plenty of time for you to receive it. Well guess what? It is still sitting on my desk.
[Bangs head on keyboard.]
So, Dad, I STILL intend to send you your card AND give you Father's Day greetings EARLY even if the card doesn't get there in time.
I was fooling around on the Kabalarian website and this is what came up with your name on it:
As James, you have a natural interest in the welfare of your fellow man, and a desire to help and serve others in a humanitarian way. You are responsible and generous, although somewhat scattering and disorganized at times. Any jobs requiring systematic and conscientious effort, or involving any form of drudgery, dismay you. In your work, you would seek a position offering self-expression through contact with people, such as sales or teaching, or a position giving scope to your creative, artistic talents. You are good-natured and likeable, and people tend to confide in you and seek your advice in personal problems. Others sense your sincere interest and desire to help, and you can always be counted on to see the bright side of any problem.
I think that is a pretty accurate description of you. For as long as I can remember, you have always wanted to help others and have loved people. And they love you back. As one of your brothers once said, "Walking through the mall with Jim is like walking around with Santa Claus. Everyone knows him and greets him."
One memory of you that stands out in my mind is the sight of you sitting in the front room of our house on Peck Street. You had your Bible in your lap, and your head was bowed in prayer. Iwillalways carry that picture with me.
I am blessed to be your daughter, and blessed that my sons want to emulate you. Thanks for being there for us all.
Love you lots,
Cheryl Ann
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)