Whose Reality is This?

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-122266362011-12-12T10:56:09.627-06:00Whose Reality is This?Reality is the #1 cause of insanity among those who are in contact with it.Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.comBlogger731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-92105952944339415932011-11-11T14:27:00.000-06:002011-11-11T14:27:31.275-06:00Precious Proteins

There I was; leading a small team of scientists to save these precious proteins for the world. For the future. Ice cream proteins. We had two of these rare proteins that expressed smooth, creamy, flavorful ice cream. And recovered another from an evil group of industrial men. It had been stolen from a collaborator; this one expressed rich butterscotch ice cream. I had hidden these

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-22899546628273387852011-10-04T12:27:00.000-05:002011-10-04T12:27:05.539-05:00To mouse, or not to mouse. What is the question?

After many years in medical and veterinary biology, I always questioned the (rather blind) reliance on the mouse model by modern science. I was glad to see I am not the only one. Sometimes, there is a 800-pound silverback gorilla in the room and he is 'invisible'. This article exposes the gorilla and shows that the problem animal is not the gorilla but in fact a big fat rodent! An often

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-72335023690816901432011-06-21T11:16:00.000-05:002011-06-21T11:16:43.298-05:00Climate Changes: Interactive River Flow Map

Climate change cometh. This year (so far) has been one of extreme weather nationwide. Rivers are either flooding or drying up (exemplified here in Texas). The interactive map below is borrowed from Climate Central, a website with reliable information on global climate changes.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-33382889150327822002011-06-21T09:11:00.000-05:002011-06-21T09:11:09.623-05:00Word for Today: June 21, 2011.

Word for Today: thingification. The consideration of an abstraction or an object as if it had living existence and abilities; objectivication in social relations; modern Cartesian science. Reification.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-2004094634584424412011-05-20T13:07:00.000-05:002011-05-20T13:07:10.119-05:00Domestication Experiment with Silver Fox

I've known about Dr. Belyaev's experiment for many years, but this is the first (current) video of the foxes. The incredible fox domestication experiment in Novosibirsk, Russia from Tyler Cole on Vimeo. You can read more about Cole's visit to Russia and the Institute by following this link. An article about domestication of animals, in which the Novosibirsk foxes were featured, appeared in

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-27112048313089612532011-04-16T12:10:00.000-05:002011-04-16T12:10:21.219-05:00The Zeitgeist Movement

I have no words that can express the relevance and importance of this movie and it's content.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-58960111251086816712011-02-18T08:17:00.000-06:002011-02-18T08:17:04.314-06:00“What You Think, You Become.” Wow! Really? | Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers | PBS

“What You Think, You Become.” Wow! Really? | Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers | PBS

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-45719506323148654982011-02-17T20:47:00.000-06:002011-02-17T20:47:07.470-06:00Are we there now?

In The Demon-Haunted World, Carl Sagan wrote: Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-5254365815267301442011-02-09T15:58:00.001-06:002011-02-09T16:00:36.092-06:00Pronghorn Declines in Texas

The Pronghorn is one of the iconic mammals of the West in North America. Often referred to as 'antelope,' Antilocapra americana is the sole survivor of twelve species that roamed the North American continent before one of the Great Extinctions (Pleistocene) 10,000-12,000 years ago. (Unlike the pronghorn, true antelopes are a member of the cattle family and are not native to North America.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-15295628231980916942011-02-03T11:13:00.005-06:002011-02-08T14:59:36.462-06:00Climate Change Cometh

Loosely following the debate, discourse and arguments surrounding climate change, sometimes I just have to look away. Like watching a bad wreck. A very complex subject, where there are no accurate and reliable models and predictions. The projections fit into a very wide area under the curve and outliers will probably be shifting that range more than not. More than regional, even global, this is a

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-89462692845903491312010-12-07T07:38:00.000-06:002010-12-07T07:38:08.659-06:00When immune systems run amok

"...epidemiologist Thomas Reichert of the Entropy Research Institute in Lincoln, Massachusetts, finds Polack's hypothesis completely plausible. There's not much that could cause this kind of lung damage except an invasion of T lymphocytes (the immune system's "warrior cells"), he says, and Polack found no evidence of that. The immune system's overreaction, says Reichert, is "kind of a

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-47822827385151481132009-08-07T22:08:00.001-05:002009-08-07T22:10:50.594-05:00Crosses

How do I silenceThe tugging heart stringsthe tickling sadnessthe fleeting joy. How do I quietthe repressed longingthe remembered imagesthat play through my head.How do I mediatethis battle raging insidewhen I am both sides of the war.This lake of unspoken confusion and emotionsdamned by martyred morals and past experience.All threatening to overflowwith tidal waves.Crushing you and I below.Why

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-4988251924320354232007-08-01T17:22:00.001-05:002007-08-01T17:22:57.370-05:00Truth and Consequences

The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear. - Herbert Agar

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-23412547993945374312007-03-07T12:41:00.000-06:002007-03-07T12:43:28.131-06:00Loving Warriors We Are

"Some people mistake being loving for being a sap. Quite the contrary, the most loving people are often the most fierce and the most acutely armed for battle... for they care about preserving and protecting poetry, symphonic song, ideas, the elements, creatures, inventions, hopes and dreams, dances and holiness... those goodly endeavors that cannot be allowed to perish from this earth, else

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-44937954454230079472007-01-23T08:41:00.000-06:002007-01-23T09:06:34.154-06:00Relativity is Very Special

I have a love/hate relationship with fysiks (aka physics), that other 'f' word.I'm a 'conceptual physics lover', 'calculated fysiks hater'. I read 'Physics for Biologists' and the 'Tao of Physics'. But I hated my physics text book.Physicists are obsessed for finding the 'Theory of Everything'. As if there was 'one' theory for anything. To me, physics is modeling for probabilities. Not to be

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-7643312901526408722006-12-29T14:48:00.000-06:002006-12-29T14:50:17.858-06:00Finally......

Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd. - Edith Sitwell

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1142023706959943292006-12-13T21:48:00.000-06:002006-12-14T21:54:43.811-06:00

I was recently seduced to the Electronic Dark Side and bought an iPod.Now I have a direct circuit into my brain feeding me not only musicbut podcasts (and podbooks, ohmygodno!). I still want a flash drivefor my brain......I listened to a weekly update from SEED on the train this morningwhich included the excerpt below. I know this topic has surfacedbefore, so here's the 'latest':Go In With a

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1158203004178278852006-09-13T20:57:00.000-05:002006-11-30T09:52:31.745-06:00Storms Within

ComeTake meCauterize my bleeding heartCover my silence with your mouthMy breath is yoursYour taste is mineAs you lose yourselfInside me.CloseThe gapThe chasm widens deeperAlways reachingAnd pulling backAfraid to give each otherEchoes of yesterday foulOur todays.TouchingNot embracingFear dictates the tempestThe emptiness inside usFleeting whispersTentative wordsStorms reflected inour eyes.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1154030922892116372006-07-27T13:36:00.000-05:002006-11-30T09:53:15.597-06:00My First Law

A friend suggested I post my Laws. So I shall.First Law: Where there's a positive, there is a negative.Everything operates in systems; everything is a trade-off. My first law parallels one of the most basic laws of nature: the conservation of energy. It cannot be created or destroyed. It simply flows from one system to another in a variety of forms.As British scientist and author C. P. Snow

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1154023603404581572006-07-27T12:58:00.000-05:002006-07-27T13:25:16.960-05:00Know Thine Enemy.....

...and you will know yourself. Are we our worst enemy? We don't have to be.No, I think we are all bozos on this bus of life [1].“Imagine a universe in which your feelings, thoughts, and memories are not your enemy. They are your history brought into the current context, and your own history is not your enemy.”- Steven Hayes, psychologist [1] Referencing Firesign Theater's last (1971) 'early'

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1152199122134618692006-07-06T10:16:00.000-05:002006-07-06T10:18:42.160-05:00Who's Weird?

I never set out to be weird. It was always the other people who called me weird.-- Frank Zappa, to The Baltimore Sun, October 12, 1986

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1150742997276252422006-06-19T12:59:00.000-05:002006-06-19T13:51:06.640-05:00Darwin's Challenge on Sex and Selection

And a challenge for all of us to think outside our boxes.Joan Roughgarden, a Stanford University biologist, challenges classical Darwinian sexual selection theory with her book Evolution's Rainbow and paper, "Reproductive social behavior: cooperative games to replace sexual selection," published last February in Science. She and co-authors propose an alternative model based on game theory to

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1150474264847756372006-06-16T10:54:00.000-05:002006-06-16T11:11:05.156-05:00Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest

Here's your chance, all you budding cartoonists! The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) birthed a brainstorm for a contest to speak out. Using satire in the form of cartoons, contestants are invited to take meaningful pot shots at the current US administration's track record on science. Aptly named "Science Idol", contestants can make fun of the administration's attempts at control and

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1148822186404897992006-05-28T08:09:00.000-05:002006-05-28T08:22:32.890-05:00Blog cloning

In the spirit of yin and yang, I have two blog sites. Thinking back to little more than a year ago, this activity began reluctantly as an experiment recommended by a friend to help me overcome a bad case of writer's block. Being a freelance writer, such an obstruction can be deleterious to not only supplemental income but the mind. Writing is like singing, painting, dancing, and telling stories:

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1148569599563295712006-05-25T09:59:00.000-05:002006-05-25T10:06:39.686-05:00If I Were Head of State: Due Parte

I would proclaim and enforce a fee of a dime for every vehicle turning and not using their turn signal. I suspect the national deficit would be eliminated in one year.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1148070265763400162006-05-19T15:01:00.000-05:002006-05-19T15:31:27.073-05:00Snot Rockets

I have of late spent most of my rare time at home mowing the flora on my five acres of Solitude in Central Texas. Thanks to modern technology and Sears, a tractor with a 48" mowing deck is my saviour. Despite my raging torment of unattaching and removing the deck to extract a wayward rope that had entwined itself around the blades, and then putting it all back together, I love my mower. Mowing

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1148062573316936792006-05-19T13:03:00.000-05:002006-05-19T13:16:13.336-05:00...and A View to the Sky

For all you fellow astronomy nerds out there, especially those with telescopes, here's your chance: Comet 73P. In 1995 this comet unexpectantly broke up into at least 58 pieces. Earlier part of this week, many pieces will have passed within 12 million miles of our planet. This is only 30 times as far away as our moon, thus the closest comet within the last 20 years.A meteor shower is expected to

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1147314868099936412006-05-10T20:31:00.000-05:002006-05-10T21:34:52.403-05:00View From the Table

I am an outlier amongst my own gender.A bookstore-aholic, I often find solace in the bookstores amongst the book and magazine racks and the cafes. Once inside, like a lion scoping its prey, my focus is automatic and efficient, stratigically directed to those areas of the store that give me instant gratification. Gods forbid anyone who is in my way.I head first to the science magazine section and

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1146506234833755972006-05-01T12:52:00.000-05:002006-05-01T12:57:14.870-05:00Battles

"When a shepherd goes to kill a wolf, and takes his dog to see the sport, he should take care to avoid mistakes. The dog has certain relationships to the wolf the shepherd may have forgotten."- Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1146158599560520702006-04-27T12:20:00.000-05:002006-04-27T12:27:19.666-05:00We Are All Monkeys

Or more accurately, apes.One of the most brilliant media commentaries on just who we really are: The Monkeys..... are us."Attention! There are monkey boys in the facility!!"(anyone know this movie reference? )

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145983470543885822006-04-25T11:39:00.000-05:002006-04-25T11:46:30.193-05:00In the Age of Politically Correct

I watched with trepidation this Age blossom and pollinate over the last twenty-plus years. Now its seeds are growing all over the world. In several places, it has become a noxious weed. Even the term ‘Politically Correct’ has been deemed politically incorrect. It’s “offensive’. I still haven’t quite determined who is offended by it and why. But I am astute enough to note the furrowed eyebrows

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145980726732632592006-04-25T10:57:00.000-05:002006-04-25T14:36:10.656-05:00If I were Head of State.......

Everyone would be permitted to voice their opinions. That’s what they are: opinions. If they offend you, debate them intelligently, learn to filter them, or pull your head into your shell. Everyone will have the right to make wrong decisions. Learn from the consequences. Or be eliminated from the gene pool.Everyone is not created equal. We are not clones. Deal with

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145895426473851152006-04-24T11:16:00.000-05:002006-04-24T13:07:10.563-05:00Natural

Ending yesterday's ride, I rode up the ramp on Red into the shop, turned off the engine and sat in the saddle for a long moment.Removing my helmet, I told my friend Chris that I find more and more as I ride that I don't want to get off. His smiling eyes and face reflected a knowing understanding.While reading* on the train this morning, I came across a passage that explains it all:"Being on the

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145549952043134732006-04-20T11:18:00.000-05:002006-04-20T12:24:27.486-05:00Ghost Riders in the Sky

Nothing is as impressive and electrifying as, well, a Texas electrical storm. Lightening between the clouds on the horizon teases with a hint of impending powerful elements or titillates the visual senses with a tame lightshow. Close observation of the swiftly moving clouds may reveal the direction of the storm, but they can deceive as well as promise. Winds can suddenly shift, temperatures

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145463661101881482006-04-19T11:15:00.000-05:002006-04-19T11:21:01.130-05:00Buttology

First Scatology, now Buttology.What's next? Penisology? Hmm......Rear AdmirableDavid Holmes, a psychologist at Manchester Metropolitan University, insists that a good bum is key to attractiveness, and he's devised a formula that describes the ideal female buttocks. According to Holmes, maximizing (S + C) x (B + F)/T - V makes for gluteal greatness. S is overall shape of the bottom, C is

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145384384316826962006-04-19T07:04:00.000-05:002006-04-19T08:44:19.263-05:00The Honesty Meme

I came across a passage in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig that was an echo from my own past.A brief converstaion between Pirsig's son, Chris, and he:"Dad?""What?""What should I be when I grow up?"I don't know what to say. "Honest," I finally say.I recall asking my father the same question. I clearly remember his response:"Whatever you want to do, whatever you want to

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145377788976137902006-04-18T11:06:00.000-05:002006-04-18T11:31:26.923-05:00"Paranoia strikes deep.......

.....into your heart it will creep. Starts when you're always afraid. Step out of line, the Man comes and takes you away."A flashback from the '60's. Yet history has a nasty habit of repeating itself.The event of 911 evoked a rekindling of community, cooperation, altruism and cohesiveness amongst not only a city but a nation. It even expanded globally.For a short time.Then we 'reacted'. Since

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145368887427593252006-04-18T08:25:00.000-05:002006-04-18T11:03:09.546-05:00Mad Scientists and Coffee

Early (very early) morning coffee with a few colleagues in the departmental office can be enlightening. We pondered several hypotheses of the origins and transmission of prion diseases (also known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) for you pathologists) and how we can use that to control the deer overpopulation. We hypothesized that if deer cannibalize themselves a form of deer

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1145122929634528582006-04-15T12:31:00.000-05:002006-04-15T12:48:31.256-05:00My Zen of Motorcycle Riding

I have a motorcycle. I like to ride it. It takes me places in a way nothing else can, except for my horse. But my horse is getting old (like me), we can’t ride on public roads and he can’t travel as fast as a motorcycle. Similar to riding a horse, riding a bike is all about the journey; the destination is only one part of the whole. I often find that once I’m ‘there’, I want to get back on again

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1144939673320461202006-04-13T09:42:00.000-05:002006-04-13T09:48:58.356-05:00Walkabout

The truth knocks on the door and you say, “Go away, I’m looking for the truth,” and so it goes away. Puzzling. – Robert Pirsig* Time for a Walkabout Every so often we need a change. We become so caught up in our own small box of existence, hurrying most of our time away, losing grasp of what is important to each and all of us. We repeat the same day-to-day routine, a monotony that becomes

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1144344732060593102006-04-06T12:18:00.000-05:002006-04-06T14:37:28.860-05:00Mounting Evidence for the Noodly Appendage of Flying Spaghetti Monster

Debate continues on the validity of God, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Intelligent Design, and non-belief.Evidence for the existence of Flying Spaghetti Monster, or beings created in his image, were discovered last year. Long noodles were found under ten feet of sediment during an archeological dig in NW China. The noodles are believed to be 4,000 years old.Are these ancient noodles the ancestors of

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1144179133837014052006-04-04T14:16:00.000-05:002006-04-04T14:32:13.876-05:00Miss Information

If we reduce life, and nearly everything in existence, to the most common denominator, what do we have?Information.DNA information is transmitted through RNA, transferred to ..........proteins......cell signaling.....adaptation..... on and on. Read a paper, watch TV, bombardment by your fellow Infomation Perpetuators; we are all information carriers and transmitters. Some should be eliminated

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1144016249040485742006-04-01T09:10:00.000-06:002006-04-02T17:17:29.056-05:00April's Fool Day

I woke up this morning with a warm naked body next.....Oh wait, that was a dream.Got out of bed greeted by humid warm air blowing through all the window curtains, chirping birds outside the windows, the smell of moist Texas air. The sun hiding above the laden fog and clouds with a hint of later sunshine and heat. Wear a tank top under the jacket today; it's going to be a humid toaster.The smell

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1143661377340245252006-03-29T13:40:00.000-06:002006-03-30T09:38:00.140-06:00Wasabi Receptors Unite!

Woohoo!!!!! A ‘wasabi’ receptor!!! Harking back to a discussion with a colleague from India, we debated the merits and preferences for tasting ‘heat’. By that I mean hot peppers and wasabi. Our preferences were the converse: he preferred peppers and I, wasabi. We also agreed on a similar tendency in that while exhibiting a high tolerance for our preferred ‘heat’ generator, we had a relative

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1143655031830315052006-03-29T11:49:00.002-06:002006-03-29T11:57:11.830-06:00Dear Dairy (No. 3)

This has to be one of the most brilliantly created advertisements I have ever encountered:Brittleacticahttp://www.planetinneed.com/And if there is any question regarding the sleep-inducing power of milk? It is highly efficacious.(tryptophan + carbohydrates = serotonin -----> zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......... sleeeeep)I've also noticed an effect on dreams (or dream recall, perhaps both)Herocka!!

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1143209213098115012006-03-24T08:03:00.000-06:002006-03-24T08:20:03.630-06:00Friday

Solid phase water encased my windshield this morning,What planetary constant allows this absence of heat?Driving into the sunrise admiring hues of blues, violets, and redsResisting the urge to vaporize the car in front hogging the passing lane.Adhesions ripping apart while stretching my recovering left foot.Vision rudely disturbed by a large white splat deposited by a flying bird.My head is drawn

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1142817792932933132006-03-19T19:21:00.000-06:002006-03-19T19:23:12.950-06:00Time Machine: Journey One

During a visit to the National Museum of Natural History and Science (New York, NY) years ago, I was awestruck by the display of creatures that roamed this planet before we were ever a gleam in evolution’s eye. Always captivated by the giants who preceded us, I commented to my companion during that visit that if we had time travel I would be one of the first to volunteer to go back and be an ‘

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1142365923004408832006-03-14T13:34:00.001-06:002006-03-14T13:52:03.016-06:00Dear Dairy (No. 2)

A recent quote by Jose' Mourinho, manager of Chelsea Football Club, when explaining why the team's soccer pitch in London is 'not as bad as it looks':"Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains. Sometimes you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists."I am a scientist. Ergo, I am ugly. But I am intelligent and have a brain. Oh, woe is me.However, my contribution to the

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1140749521542559272006-02-23T20:48:00.000-06:002006-02-23T22:35:47.450-06:00Fun with Brains

Brainzzzz……I want to change my field and be a brain researcher. They get to do all the cool stuff. Like sticking the heads of five people into a machine (functional magnetic resonance, fMRI ) that scans their brains while they watch twenty commercials aired during the Super Bowl. The researchers’ intents were to gauge what type of a reaction they had, and the anatomical areas of the brain that

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1140317266382818812006-02-18T20:46:00.000-06:002006-02-18T20:47:46.400-06:00Music Movies

Putting my headphones on, I listen to Jeff Beck’s “Angel (Footsteps)” from his Who Else! CD, and all of a sudden……….. The road unfolds before and under me as I ride my motorcycle. I smell and taste the changes of scents in the air, the dry grass, the tarmac and the volatile phenols of the roadside shrubs, moisture from the creeks. Changes in temperature as I ride through shadows and sun

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1139787793507723212006-02-12T17:26:00.000-06:002006-02-12T17:43:13.533-06:00I Am a Lizard

I realized I am a lizard, a dog, a rabbit, a human, and a monkey, not necessarily in that order. What do all these vertebrates have in common? Parts of our brain that function the same and associated behaviors. An audible alarm on my computer announces incoming email. After months of email correspondence with a long-distance lover, with emails arriving throughout the day, I discovered that I

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1138939050057241852006-02-02T21:39:00.000-06:002006-05-28T09:08:43.606-05:00Full Face Helmets and Gills

I'm going riding this weekend. Dragged out the gear (where's my gloves?!?), shoved Left Big Foot into a boot (horse riding boot; won't fit into anything else) to test fit, made sure I can still fit into my HFD overpants (they're looser on me now than when I bought them), brushed off the leather jacket, and...... ohmygod: my helmet. I have a full face modular helmet. I'll be hypoxiated!!So I have

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1138239269224743092006-01-25T18:51:00.000-06:002006-01-25T19:44:04.436-06:00A Test of My Humanity

“By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void.”- Miyamoto Musashi To suffer a loss of spirit is a test of your humanity. Losing someone dear to you; a parent, a child, a spouse, a lover by betrayal - the emotions that tear through your being like a hurricane and leave you stranded on a desert in pain, every drop of life sucked out of you. Left on your

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1133376137657802872005-11-30T12:42:00.000-06:002005-11-30T17:00:49.503-06:00Fossil dung reveals dinosaurs did graze grass

Fossil dung reveals dinosaurs did graze grass: "One of the most common 'mistakes' in the prehistoric book is not wrong after all; dinosaurs did eat grass, and a surprisingly wide range of it"Merde'!!Again, scat teaches us history. Whether it be dung found on the driveway, forest floor, or among fossilized remains, it reveals what the excretor (aka the 'pooper') ate. The cliche "What goes in, must

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1131943271386870302005-11-13T22:41:00.000-06:002006-05-29T07:28:30.530-05:00

My other horse is a Honda; Shadow, that is.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1131924105667437302005-11-13T20:02:00.000-06:002005-11-13T17:49:04.593-06:00COJM Part Two: The Motorcycle Safety Course

Like a good responsible person I took the motorcycle safety course. And I’m glad I did. Although being a passenger can reveal the thrills of riding a bike, it won’t teach one how to synchronize hand and foot controls, to blend your body with the balance on two moving wheels, and the dynamics and counterintuitiveness of pushing away to turn, etc. Then again, the thrill of sitting on those two

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1131923450592661392005-11-13T19:04:00.000-06:002005-11-13T17:10:50.610-06:00Confessions of an Old Juvenile Motorcyclist: Part 1

This is a series of posts relating new discoveries. Remember everything in life is relative to the individual. Yes, all our individual realities overlap, influencing others’ realities and now we are only several degrees of separation from dolphins* (why are we all linked to Kevin Bacon?). Regardless, our lives are a journey of discoveries, of our selves, other selves, other living beings, and

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1131842396186462712005-11-12T20:31:00.000-06:002005-11-12T18:39:56.196-06:00Dear Dairy (No.1)

(The prattlings of foolishness or silliness are sometimes a route for the mind to vent and relax, especially when enduring a broken ankle encased in a fiberglass cast. Also with the aid of a glass of fine Australian red wine. Hence, the first post in a series dubbed "Dear Dairy".) Dear Dairy,If I could milk a cow right now, I would enjoy drinking the warm unadulterated milk. How did we discover

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1131838705028960202005-11-12T19:33:00.000-06:002005-11-12T17:38:25.043-06:00Anatomy of the Female Orgasm

Scientists recently proclaimed to discover the gene for the female orgasm. Ah, a perfect example of Darwinism. Thus the eminent battle of nature vs. nurture, and the many faces of sociobiology and culture.To Darwinians all sexual behaviour ultimately serves a procreational end, reminding me of Victorians with their utilitarian view of sex. Whereas, in contrast to Victorians, the Hindu perspective

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1131600365818686542005-11-09T23:25:00.000-06:002005-11-09T23:26:05.833-06:00Motorcycle Porn

Picked up Motorcycle Cruiser one night to read while enjoying a java at the cafe. Opened it up and lo.....I was captured and thrown into a world of awe and lust. I wrote this after visiting the website and with the advert in front of me.On the double-spread pages lies an ethereal vision of darkness and fog. I am drawn into that world with giant tree trunks with contorted naked limbs. A helmeted

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1124606995058357302005-08-21T01:45:00.000-05:002005-08-21T12:44:37.306-05:00Motocycle Face

Most of us take our anatomical structures for granted. Until we lose a limb or organ, our bodies are one united tangle of cells, bone, skin and senses. Even after losing a piece of our body, our central command system still ‘thinks’ it’s there. Phantom limbs are more a reality than a movie feature. I tend to think the same applies to our senses. Do we have Phantom senses?What does this have to do

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1117983893704152652005-06-05T10:01:00.000-05:002005-06-05T10:04:53.710-05:00My Reality

"Any path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you……Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try is as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question……Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't it is of no use." - Carlos Casteneda, The Teachings of

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1117152304741969212005-05-26T18:54:00.000-05:002005-05-26T19:05:04.746-05:00The Zen of Fencing

The biological science lab is a world of preciseness, detail, tedium and long thankless hours. Expensive equipment used to tease out complex patterns in molecular interactions, endless experiments, data sorting, charts and graphs. Composing the entire history convincingly to appease fickle reviewers is sometimes less than rewarding for that passionate idea that hatched over a glass of wine at

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1115327234245835522005-05-05T16:01:00.000-05:002005-05-05T16:07:14.250-05:00The Night Before Deadlift

(Introduction: I lift weights. It is a passion, not a past time. Some people have drugs, some have each other, I have The Iron. The following is a poem I wrote during a full moon, the night before before my deadlift session.)The Night Before Deadlifts The night is thick and the moon is full Tomorrow I deadlift I can feel the pull. On the floor like a woman in wait the long bar lays ready for her

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1115090919027426682005-05-02T22:21:00.000-05:002005-05-02T22:28:39.030-05:00The Language of Cells

“For all those who are fascinated by the magic of the infinitely small, hidden in the bosom of the living being are millions of palpitating cells whose only demand for the surrender of their secret, and with it the halo of fame, is a lucid and tenacious intelligence to contemplate them, to admire and to understand them.” -- from Cajal's autobiography, Recuerdos de mi vida: Historia de mi

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1114395371836669632005-04-24T21:11:00.000-05:002005-04-24T21:26:47.730-05:00Full Moon, Full Day

Full moons are magical. Moon light becomes a transition between daylight and darkness. Night shadows play surreal patterns on everything. The moon bathes surfaces in luminescence while the hidden surfaces are cloaked in empty darkness. The juxtaposition is breathtaking. The night animals prowl waiting, while day animals dare to tread into the false light. Owls taunt animals that otherwise cling

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1114275060684693132005-04-23T11:14:00.000-05:002005-04-23T11:51:00.686-05:00Anatomy of Life

A Canadian coldfront snuck in last night. It's windy and cold - in the 50's. I'm procrastinating starting work outside on the ranch by gazing out my window as I sit here caressing my hot coffee cup (ahhh, the elixir of coffee....)I'm watching the white egrets on the grass. There are dozens of them, several under my window. Their heads and necks bob back and forth and sideways. Suddenly the head

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1114012355527475912005-04-20T07:44:00.000-05:002005-04-20T10:57:47.503-05:00Doomed by DOMS!

(Introduction: The Blog Experiment is primarily to help me overcome my writer's block. I write free-lance articles on fitness, sports and biology and have been working on a book project. But I have suffered a serious case of the infamous Writer's Block (TM) over the last four months. I was inspired to write this recently.)Doomed by DOMSMy forearms ache; I can’t grip or squeeze. Typing makes me

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1113746188675256372005-04-17T08:56:00.000-05:002005-04-17T08:56:28.676-05:00

Mr. Bull with white cattle egrets.

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1113744451944567922005-04-17T07:56:00.000-05:002005-04-17T08:50:54.640-05:00Conversations With a Bull

Macrobe:"Hey, why don't you stay home? This isn't your home!"Bull: [looking up slowly, chewing]"There's green grass here. I like it here. You gotta problem with that?"Marcrobe: "Well, yes. You're leaving cow pies all over the place. They'll be petrified cow frisbees and smother the grass underneath."Bull: [still chewing]"So. What goes in, comes out eventually."Macrobe: [sighing] "Hey, you're

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1113704231833105992005-04-16T20:47:00.000-05:002005-04-16T21:26:29.636-05:00Macrobe and counting

What's in a name?“Speech is a form of human activity and, like every other human activity, is subject to change and modification. It is not more surprising to find changes in our speech than, let us say, in our fashions in dress or our method of dancing, which we can see developing new features from year to year. Speech, which reflects life, has to keep pace with life...." - Henry Alexander,

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1113701939520811912005-04-16T20:06:00.000-05:002005-04-16T20:38:59.523-05:00Merde!

Shit, scat, feces, frass, whatever you want to call it, everything has it. Why are we so fascinated with it?As the proud new parent of five acres in Rural Texas (versus Urban Texas, the 'other' habitat), and an ex-grandmother of a 20-A sheep/horse ranch in Oregon, I keep and eye out for..... yes, shit. Am I sick? No.An animal's feces reveals alot about the excreter (is that a new word?). Sheep

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12226636.post-1113699882545006352005-04-16T19:42:00.000-05:002007-02-04T09:34:13.961-06:00To Blog or Not to Blog....

what was the question??I'm a writer. I've had the dreaded writer's block, with a deadline looming. I sit there and look at the monitor and nothing happens. It's like "I have no mouth and I must scream." I don't know how to overcome this.I carry on a running dialogue in my head most of the time. When I'm asleep, I live another life. After recounting one of my recent 'in-house' dialogues to a

Macrobehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01612571749282257004noreply@blogger.com1