A Jazzy Christmas Eve

Jazz (Running Scared) has a heatfelt Christmas Eve post in which he talks about his neighbor, Bill, and contrasts Bill's Christmas Eve with his own:

[N]o matter how much I keep myself embroiled in politics and social bickering on a daily basis, it never for a moment crossed my mind to think that someone would chastise Bill for being politically incorrect, or for not saying "Happy Holidays" instead of invoking the dreaded "C Word." Bill is celebrating Christmas as best he knows how and was just wishing a Merry Christmas to anyone who passed his door. Here I am on Christmas eve day. Between fits of dashing around trying to clean the house for company who are coming on Tuesday, I was running back to my computer to check CNN and run through my blogroll for any late breaking political news about which I might be able to rant. What kind of way is that to spend Christmas Eve? It occurs to me that Bill probably knows a lot more about Christmas than I do. It's going to give me a lot to think about on my way to the in-laws.

That's pretty much the payoff, but you really should read the whole long and poingnant post, just to get a better picture of Bill. I don't know the man, and I've never been in Jazz's neighborhood, but I feel like I could walk down my street and find Bill's house right around the corner. And I want to.

The Devil Made Me Post This

Tim Boucher, of the Gnostically inclined Pop Occulture, has posted an interesting riff on The Role of Satan in Universalism. Sample quote:

[T]his is a rather more nuanced view of Satan’s purpose than simply “evil incarnate.” Rather than just saying he’s evil, it asks us what the purpose of evil could be. And it suggests that perhaps the purpose of evil is simply to challenge us to become better, rather than to simply drag us down into the muck. We might even go so far as to consider Satan as the “house player” in a casino, or “playing against the computer” in a video game. In order to enjoy a game and learn from it, we need someone to pit ourselves against. If there is no opponent, then there is no challenge to overcome and no opportunity for growth.

Hmmmm. Satan as a self-help guru or life coach. There are stranger things!

Friday Pet Blogging | Sigh

Great start to the weekend. Milo is not feeling well. He's not exactly blocked, but he was having enough trouble that we felt the need to take him to the Emergency Vet ... and then to our regular Vet. Hopefully, he will get some, *ahem*, relief this afternoon and so won't have to spend more than a few hours there. Alone. If you can spare a moment, please think some good, healthy thoughts for our boy, Milo:

Milo Feels Kind of Yucky. :(

More Pet Blogging See the Friday Ark, featuring a compilation of today's pet blogging posts, over at The Modulator. Check the M&O Archives for previous Milo & Otis appearances. Carnival of the Cats, coming at you every Sunday.

Friday Pet Blogging | Substitution

I prepared this on Thursday night. Hopefully I will remember to publish it Friday morning. During my hospital stay for an emergency appendectomy last week, Mrs. Brainwise made sure that I had a little companionship. The boyz (Milo and Otis) could not come to me, nor I to them, so Mrs. Brainwise purchased a substitute kitty from the hospital gift shop. He now resides on our Yule Tree, which is also my recovery tree this year:

My Hospital Buddy ... My Yule Tree Decoration

More Pet Blogging See the Friday Ark, featuring a compilation of today's pet blogging posts, over at The Modulator. Check the M&O Archives for previous Milo & Otis appearances. Carnival of the Cats, coming at you every Sunday.

Recuperating

Hello Prophets and Mad(wo)men. I returned from my "guest" stay at the local hospital on Friday afternoon. I have quite a bit of catch-up to play now -- and, of course, I need to recuperate from the surgery -- but I wanted to make a quick post to let folks know that I am at home. I will work on posting a summary of my appendiventure, but for now I want to thank the following folks:

1. First and formost, I thank my wife for her tireless help and support during the whole ordeal. And for all she continues to do now that I am at home.
2. I thank my family and friends for their concern, prayers, and support.
3. I thank my blogosphere friends for all the well wishes.
4. And last, but certainly not least, I thank the folks at Sky View Medical as well as the staff at Grandview Hospital for their fine work.

Appendix B

From Mrs. Brainwise: A blogger I will never be ... but I must tell you all that Mr. Brainwise had his appendics removed in emergency surgery on Tuesday night (12-13-05). He is recovering just fine now but computer work will be put off for a bit. Thank you

Piled Higher and Deeper

Nope, I'm not referring to the standard joke about a Ph.D. I'm talking about all the snow we got on Friday. In my latest cat blogging entry, I promised to post some "snowy pics ." Well, I've grouped some of the best on my Flickr account:

Click for photos from Dec 9, 2005 storm

Let me know what ya think.

Trust Me

From Science Daily (with original release here):

Trust Building Hormone Short-Circuits Fear in Humans [snipped from news release] A brain chemical recently found to boost trust appears to work by reducing activity and weakening connections in fear-processing circuitry, a brain imaging study at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has discovered. Scans of the hormone oxytocin's effect on human brain function reveal that it quells the brain's fear hub, the amygdala, and its brainstem relay stations in response to fearful stimuli. The work at NIMH and a collaborating site in Germany suggests new approaches to treating diseases thought to involve amygdala dysfunction and social fear, such as social phobia, autism, and possibly schizophrenia, report Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, M.D., Ph.D., NIMH Genes Cognition and Psychosis Program, and colleagues, in the December 7, 2005 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. "Studies in animals, pioneered by now NIMH director Dr. Thomas Insel, have shown that oxytocin plays a key role in complex emotional and social behaviors, such as attachment, social recognition and aggression," noted NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D.. "Now, for the first time, we can literally see these same mechanisms at work in the human brain." ... [Read Full Article]

I don't know what to make of this. Oxytocin certainly seems to be a workhorse in the body, especially in women -- natural Oxytocin influences activities related to birth and lactation (and it has even been linked to establishing maternal behavior). At least, according to this Bowen person at the Colorado State University. And some folks are advocating Oxytocin's role in maintaining relationships, calling it a hormone of love. That might lend some credence to the idea that this hormone can affect a person's trust level (willingness to trust someone, not the level of trustworthiness he inspires in others). I am certainly uncomfortable with scientists mucking about in this area. I guess you could say I don't trust them (heh). But think about it ... if chemists can synthesize a compound that inclines anyone who ingests it to be more trusting, then how long will it be before said compound is abused? I'm not typically prone to conspiracy theorizing, but imagine for just a moment, if you will, another five or so years down the road. Administering certain levels of Oxytocin to the general public has been approved and found to be "safe." Perhaps Oxytocin -- or a manufactured derivative -- will be added to a regularly consumed product, much like Flouride in toothpaste. Or it could be released into the air in confined spaces, such as cublicles and fast food restaurants (refer to the snif test in the news release). People feel OK. They trust the media and their elected officials. They don't question what is going on in the world. Goodness me. Could this already be happening? More about Oxytocin:

• Wikipedia
• Britannica
• Colorado State University

Note: Oxytocin should not be confused with the unrelated drug OxyContin (a pain-killer).

Monkey See, Monkey Do, so what?

From Knight Ridder Newspapers:

Monkeys show gender differences in toy preferences [snips from the article] Just like human boys and girls, male monkeys like to play with toy cars while female monkeys prefer dolls, a research project has shown... ..."Human evolution has created two different types of brains designed for equally intelligent behavior," Richard Haier, a neuroscientist at the University of California in Irvine, wrote in the journal NeuroImage. In the monkey experiment, researchers put a variety of toys in front of 44 male and 44 female vervets, a breed of small African monkeys, and measured the amount of time they spent with each object. Like little boys, some male monkeys moved a toy car along the ground. Like little girls, female monkeys closely inspected a doll's bottom. Males also played with balls while females fancied cooking pots. Both were equally interested in neutral objects such as a picture book and a stuffed dog. People used to think that boys and girls played differently because of the way they were brought up. Now scientists such as Alexander say a creature's genetic inheritance also plays an important role. "Vervet monkeys, like human beings, show sex differences in toy preferences," Alexander wrote in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. "Sex-related object preference appeared early in human evolution," she said... [Read Full Article]

That's great work folks. Now, can someone tell me exactly why they were compelled to do this research (and if any of my tax dollars went for it)? And can any of these scientists explain why my 6-year-old niece enjoys playing with trains, cars and Barbie© dolls?! And does any of it really matter one freaking iota in the grand scheme of things??? I personally do like research about children and thinking/playing. But I like research that shows how children learn. Why they mimic. And how we can help them reach their full potentials. I could care less about gender differences and children (although I have seen research that shows a child knows his/her gender -- and some of the societal rules and roles for that gender -- by age three and that saddens me). Let children be children. Let them gravitate to toys and activities in their own way and time. And for the gods' sakes, don't be freaked out if a child does not conform to your notions of what a good little boy or girl should want to play with. Me? I am waiting for my niece to be old enough for a chemistry set, which is "traditionally" a boy's toy. I don't care. My niece is intelligent and curious, and I can hardly wait to introduce her to fun home chemistry stuff. (And, no, if it turns out that she does not like chemistry, then I won't push it on her.)

Friday Pet Blogging | Curl

I prepared this last night, so I could publish it bright and early this morning. But then, with shoveling out and such (for the last three hours or so), I forgot to change it from "draft" to "publish". So, despite my efforts to post a cat blogging photo first thing this morning, once again, I am posting after 10am. I'll post some snowy pics after I upload them to Flickr. Needless to say, this guy didn't help with clearing the driveway at all:

Otis ... Recharging

More Pet Blogging See the Friday Ark, featuring a compilation of today's pet blogging posts, over at The Modulator. Check the M&O Archives for previous Milo & Otis appearances. Carnival of the Cats, coming at you every Sunday.