I'm a Google whack! A helpful reader (or random googlewhacker, I don't know) has informed me that my site is apparently the only one on the Net to contain the words "Gladware" and "Pleistocene".

I think that says something, though I'm not sure what.

# : 11:09 AM : :

High Prices: How to think about prescription drugs

Throughout the current debate over prescription-drug costs--as seniors have gone on drug-buying bus trips to Canada, as state Medicaid programs and employers have become increasingly angry over rising health-care costs, and as John Kerry has made reining in the pharmaceutical industry a central theme of his Presidential campaign--the common assumption has been that the rise of drugs like Nexium [ed: which is only slightly different from its far cheaper, now off-patent, predecessor Prilosec, yet is one of the highest-selling drugs in the country] is entirely the fault of the pharmaceutical industry. Is it? If doctors routinely prescribe drugs like Nexium and insurers routinely pay for them, after all, there is surely more than one culprit in the prescription-drug mess.

This article is really excellent, and points out quite a few things I didn't know before. For example, though the US has high prices for new brand-name drugs, our generic prices are just about the lowest in the world, due to (big surprise) competition.

My favorite quote from the article was this:

The core problem in bringing drug spending under control, in other words, is persuading the users and buyers and prescribers of drugs to behave rationally

Hahahaha! Good luck with that.

Seriously, though, this is actually good news for individuals. In most cases, you needn't be scared by stories of rising drug costs, because the fact that others stupidly spend their money on the latest greatest drug doesn't affect you overmuch. You can feel free to educate yourself and choose a cheap option, like ibuprofen instead of Celebrex.

Among the costliest drug categories, for instance, is the new class of antiinflammatory drugs known as cox-2 inhibitors. The leading brand, Celebrex, has been heavily advertised, and many patients suffering from arthritis or similar conditions ask for Celebrex when they see their physician, believing that a cox-2 inhibitor is a superior alternative to the previous generation of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (known as NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen. (The second leading cox-2 inhibitor, Merck's Vioxx, has just been taken off the market because of links to an elevated risk of heart attacks and strokes.) The clinical evidence, however, suggests that the cox-2s aren't any better at relieving pain than the nsaids. It's just that in a very select group of patients they have a lower risk of side effects like ulcers or bleeding.

Of course, there is a societal interest in encouraging people to act rationally, since, for example, all the people taking Nexium will drive up insurance policy prices as they plan to pay for that rather than Maalox.

I remember being a little kid and watching TV with my parents. When ads came on for toys, my parents would point out the small print that said "not actual size" or ask me if I really thought the fairy wings would let me fly. They even subscribed to a newsletter that was designed to help parents monitor their children's media exposure. (I'm still mad at the newsletter for keeping me from watching The Simpsons, but that's neither here nor there.)

So I think we should encourage the same sort of thing with drug ads. It would be great. The Prozac ad comes on, and Mom says "Jenny, that ad is trying to make you think the drug will make you happier. What kinds of things could you do to be happy? Right, playing outside, talking to your friends, making presents for Grandma! Those are all good ideas. Sometimes people get a sickness that makes them always sad, and this drug could help them, but most people don't need it." There could even be a newsletter, targeted at the general public, that points out the fact that, for example, generic NSAIDs work for most people. I think people would make more rational decisions if they were armed with the information necessary to see through drug ad hype.

# : 9:41 AM : :

Lots of new pictures in the gallery. In addition to kittons, there's quite a lot of our Christmas-tree-cutting adventure and the truffle party. Many of them suck to some extent. I could say that I go for quantity over quality, or that I didn't take the majority of them, or that I'm just too lazy to delete the duds. All would be true.

# : 1:52 AM : :

Thai elephants stop, rob trucks

Elephants in a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Thailand are using their oversize bodies as road blocks, ambushing vehicles transporting sugar cane, tapioca and fruit, the sanctuary's chief says.

The estimated 200 elephants in the Khao-Ang Rue-Ni sanctuary turn desperate — and wily — in the dry season, when water and food supplies shrink. It's then that the animals stage their heists, Yuo Senatham said.

The elephants, who have never hurt a motorist, sound a general retreat when wildlife officials arrive to scare them away with spotlights.

I'm still disappointed that I didn't see any elephants when I was in Thailand. I guess I'll know how to find them if I ever go back!

# : 1:45 PM : :

After thinking more about the cell phone issue, it occurred to me that a lot of the complaints about cell phone use seem to focus on the banality of the conversations. "Hi, I'm on the train, be there in 5 minutes!" is interesting to the caller and callee, but awfully boring to listeners because they're also on the train, 5 minutes from the destination.

For someone like me, who is snobbish enough to find most overheard conversations banal, this is not a big deal. You get lots of frivolous conversations - "Oh my god, did you hear about Ben and J-Lo?" - and lots of uninformed ones - "Did you hear people are getting hooked on hookahs?" "Yeah! It's something about how the water makes it more dangerous?" In contrast to those, I find announcements about physical location and discussions about groceries positively comforting.

(Actually, I am often fascinated by what I can hear by eavesdropping. Juicy gossip is still juicy, and out-of-context portions - "and there was applesauce everywhere!" - are frequently hilarious.)

# : 9:03 PM : :

I'm sick of hearing people complain about cell phone users. Yes, I am.

What, exactly, is wrong with me pulling out my cell phone in the grocery store to ask my roommate if we need more Kleenex? How is that different from us going shopping together and discussing which paper products to buy? Of course, I shouldn't block traffic while doing this, and it would probably be rude to loudly discuss whether we need anything from the P&G "paper products division" (aka Tampax*), but that applies whether my conversation partner is physically with me in the store or not.

And why the heck shouldn't I talk on my cell phone while I'm stuck in traffic on the Beltway? Even if I am actually moving, I cannot believe that it's any more dangerous than eating dinner in the car, and I don't hear many people complaining about that. (If they did, I wouldn't listen. Take away my turkey sandwich and Coke at your peril. At least I don't eat salad with a fork while driving, like some people I've seen.) When I introduced my car to a parking garage pillar last week, it was because I was talking to my passenger. Absolutely, crusade against driver inattention, but don't blame it all on cell phones. Anyone I regularly call from the car can attest that I drop the phone at the first sign of traffic issues.

People shouldn't talk on cell phones during movies, in church, or at the theater, but that's because you shouldn't talk at all in those places. Similarly, it's rude to conduct a phone call at dinner, but it's always rude to conduct a private conversation in front of people you're socializing with unless you first excuse yourself.

It is not rude to conduct a private conversation in front of strangers, as long as you're not talking about them or inconveniencing them (e.g. by blocking their way - sidewalk-standers, I'm looking at you! - or being obnoxiously loud). I guarantee that all of these cell-phone complainers regularly have the same sort of boring conversations they complain about. It's just that their friends or spouses are there with them.

There is zero difference between me calling my mom from the post office to discuss Christmas dinner, and Mr. and Mrs. Luddite standing in line debating chestnut versus sage stuffing. Just as unnecessary, just as boring to listen to, and just as pleasant for the people participating.

I don't know why people are so against cell phones, but I have four theories.

(1) They're nosy. It's harder to listen in on a conversation when you can only hear one side of it.

(2) They fear technology. These are probably the same people who think the internet is only for perverts and credit-card thieves.

(3) They are annoyed by "clever" ring tones. This one, I can sympathize with. The vibrate function is your friend.

(4) Cell phone users tend to be loud. I think this is true, actually, though not an inherent property of cell phones. People haven't realized that those little mics are fairly powerful, and there's no need to shout to be heard across the vast distances separating you from Aunt Minnie in Tacoma. (Isn't technology great?) But I think I'm more often annoyed by loud talkers who aren't on cell phones. Inside voices, people! So yeah, people should modulate their voices, but you shouldn't blame jerkiness on cell phones.

I'm absolutely in favor of allowing cell phone use on airplanes. You can tell noisy people to shut up, you know. In fact, the flight attendants do so now during overnight flights. It makes no difference whether they're being noisy with a seatmate or with Bob in San Jose. Amtrak also has a good solution to this: provide a quiet area where bright lights and loud conversation are both discouraged. (As you might imagine, this is my favorite place to sit.)

ADDENDUM: In fact, I'm appalled that people would even consider lobbying the FCC to keep an old rule that is not scientifically necessary, because they would be annoyed by the consequences. Maybe we should outlaw the showing of bad movies on airplanes, too. (I'm still scarred from watching What Women Want on the way back from Munich.)

* I had a college friend who went to work for this division. She used to bring home samples, which freaked out the guys. (The girls were pleased, since more consumer feedback in that sector is always a good thing. They recently came out with a much-improved product, and I like to think that my opinions were helpful.)

# : 2:18 PM : :

Sentences I have uttered today:

"What happened to my sticky notes?"

"Who keeps taking my stuff?"

"Where are my floppy disks? I know I had a fresh box on Friday!"

"How come all my office supplies keep wandering off?"

Um, has anyone seen a red Swingline stapler?

# : 2:38 PM : :

I'll be in Cleveland the 24th through 28th. So will the kittens.

I'm coming to Cleveland again January 14-17th, for those who'll be out of town next weekend. I don't think the kittens will be coming along, though, unless they show an unexpected love of road trips.

# : 9:58 AM : :

I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday. While I was out, it started to snow, and that made me happy! Even if people here throw all their driving knowledge out the window as soon as they see white flakes. (Folks, whether it's snowing or not, someone turning left has to cede the right-of-way to someone going straight.)

I'm almost done with my truffles. I would be farther along, except the power went out last night as I was forming the orange-chocolate centers. So I had to stop and light candles to continue, but I couldn't do anything else after I was done rolling balls, because I needed to either get things out of the refrigerator or boil water. Instead, I just went to bed.

The power didn't come back on until 8:15 this morning, at which point it was pretty freaking cold in my apartment. The kittens came and slept in a little pile on me sometime during the wee hours - I guess they were cold too!

Then I went to get in my car and the door was frozen shut. I had to climb in the back - I seem to be doing that a lot this month!

# : 9:52 AM : :

I got two acceptances this week - Eastern Virginia and Wash U. I'm thrilled, because I loved both of those schools when I went to visit.

Now my eventual decision, being a choice among multiple schools, will be more difficult. What a fantastic early Christmas present!

# : 9:37 PM : :

When I was a kid, I used to hide at parties. I went and played with my friends or cousins and had an OK time, but eventually I'd get overwhelmed and find a quiet room with some reading material, where I'd hang out for half an hour or so (or until someone came to drag me back to the party).

These days, I actually really do enjoy talking to people, and I can keep it up for a whole party. Sometimes I have to step outside for a breath of fresh air, but that only takes five minutes or so, and I generally leave parties feeling energized and happy that I've gotten to have some interesting conversations and meet cool people.

It does still take a fair amount of energy for me to socialize, though it's definitely worth it. I know this is an introvert thing, so I'm not alone.

I'm also occasionally overwhelmed by loud noises - I enjoy loud music at concerts, and I like to play my 80s metal loud when I drive fast (that's a different story), but large amounts of ambient noise sometimes make it tough for me to concentrate, and sudden loud noises make me jump more easily than they seem to do for most people.

What REALLY takes a lot of energy is following conversations over loud music. This is really quite difficult for me - I have to look at the person and use most of my concentration. I don't know if my slight hearing loss is just in the exact wrong frequencies, or I'm too easily distracted, or what. But I don't think that I'm actually hard of hearing; I seem to hear as well as most people do, and generally if I concentrate on things I can do them.

So although I know I'm weird because talking to people I don't know that well is hard, and because I'm not a huge fan of loud noises in general, it still seems like conversing over loud music must be difficult for the average person.

And what I want to know is why people do it! I'm told that in bars, you're not actually supposed to talk much, just kind of nod at each other, so that explains why the music can be really loud. And for dancing, loud music is good; I have no issue with that. But at cocktail parties and the like, where you're supposed to be meeting people and mingling and talking, why do they play the music so loudly that people can't hear each other?

Do normal people really not have any difficulty carrying on conversations despite loud music? Or do they just like loud music so much that it doesn't matter? Or maybe it's actually easier to talk to someone if you can't quite hear everything they're saying? Or are there like two people who fit into one of the above categories, and they pick the music, and no one else bothers to complain?

I really want to know. So any extraverts who happen to read my blog (are there any?), please enlighten me. It's very frustrating to want to talk to people, and see other people talking to each other, but not be able to.

(I'm not actually as borderline-autistic as this entry makes me sound. Many people think I'm quite normal, in fact.)

# : 2:27 PM : :

Ala. Judge Wears Ten Commandments on Robe

A judge refused to delay a trial Tuesday when an attorney objected to his wearing a judicial robe with the Ten Commandments embroidered on the front in gold.

Circuit Judge Ashley McKathan showed up Monday at his Covington County courtroom in southern Alabama wearing the robe. Attorneys who try cases at the courthouse said they had not seen him wearing it before. The commandments were described as being big enough to read by anyone near the judge.

But did it have any fuzzy snowmen, or Christmas trees with actual ornaments?

# : 11:20 PM : :

Adrienne has a great post on Social Security. You should read it, because I don't think I can say anything better.

# : 3:59 PM : :

My photo gallery is now up. I ended up going with Gallery because my web host provided helpful instructions on setting it up. So for all you kitty-photo lovers, it's going to be a lot easier to find them now.

# : 1:24 PM : :

Every Monday evening I volunteer at a hospital. I'm what used to be known as a candy-striper; I wheel patients around, carry charts, and run various errands. And I do it all in an extraordinarily unflattering blue jacket.

One motivation for volunteerism is to feel good about oneself; it's nice to feel like you're making a difference. What surprised me when I started this position is how good it makes me feel about other people. If anyone has an excuse to be rude, surly, or touchy, it's someone who's in the hospital (or whose loved one is). But I can't think of a single patient or family member who's been at all unpleasant.

When I started, I wasn't that great with a wheelchair and I occasionally bumped into walls or doorways. No one ever complained, and usually they'd joke with me about my reckless driving. Last night there was a small wheelchair collision (not my fault!) due to the wheelchair ahead of us deciding to back up. I expected the patients to be unhappy, but they both thought it was the funniest thing they'd seen in days.

Then there was a gentleman who jumped out of his wheelchair to flag down his physician to say thanks. I think the doctor was tickled, although he did support me in trying to make the patient sit back down! This happens a lot - even in their rush to get out of the hospital (which many describe as "jail"), they insist on stopping to thank the nurses and other caretakers.

The last discharge of the evening was a newborn, her parents' first baby. They mentioned that they had had trouble feeding her, she wouldn't stop yelling (I don't think she liked looking at the ceiling), and they couldn't get her into the car seat (her sleeper was way too big, so the straps wouldn't fit properly), but they kept smiling when they looked at her. And they were worried that the other volunteer and I wouldn't get to leave on time!

I don't know why we have such awesome patients, but I'm really happy that we do.

# : 1:09 PM : :

I had a wonderful Christmasy weekend. On Saturday, we drove far away to cut a Christmas tree. Tying it to the roof of my car was an interesting challenge, since I chose to save $300 when I bought the car by not having a luggage rack installed. We ended up running twine through the front windows, which meant the doors couldn't open (I didn't want to shut the doors on the twine out of concern for my weatherstripping). So we had to climb in and out of the windows for the remainder of the outing.

On the way back, we stopped at Tarara Winery to have a tour and some wine tasting. I was impressed at the quality of the wine, especially considering the very reasonable prices.

The next challenge was to actually put the tree up in my apartment. This necessitated a trip to the old man hardware store to buy a bow saw. Other than that, getting the tree vertical was much easier than I expected. (Of course, I wasn't the one who did most of the work.)

Feeling that we hadn't done nearly enough for the day, we braved Tysons Corner for Christmas shopping. It took probably 20 minutes to find a parking spot. Please, if you're in a busy garage with narrow lanes and you see someone walking toward their car, don't wait for them. You're going to spend more time waiting than you would just driving up to the top level where there are hundreds of free spaces, plus you're inconveniencing everyone who has to wait in line behind you while the person arranges her bags in the trunk, adjusts her mirrors, takes her coat off, and finally decides that now might be a good time to drive away.

For once in my life, I tired of shopping first, and we headed over to Borders for some more low-key shopping. Tim pointed out, when we saw two calendars on the subject of porch photography, that we live in a tremendously rich country. I was reminded of that when I visited my beloved science section. I remember going to the 500 aisle in the county library when I was growing up, and there would be maybe a dozen books that I really wanted to read. I always had a tough time choosing, but it didn't take me too long to work through the especially interesting ones. Now I have access to three whole shelving units of science books, and more keep coming out all the time. That makes me happy.

After a brief altercation between my car and a pillar in the parking garage (don't ask) I was pretty shaken but decided to suck it up and go to two parties. The first one was disco-themed, so there were some pretty crazy costumes. And lots of good conversation. The second, once we finally found it (after a detour into Maryland, which we didn't realize until I noticed all the parked cars had MD plates) had excellent food and drinks, but there's only so much you can do in one day, so I couldn't stay long.

On Sunday I had my truffle-making party. I was sleepy and didn't start the ganache early, as I should have, so there was a little too much sitting around waiting for chocolate to harden, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I had a good mix of people from work, Case, and DC, and I think everyone had a good time.

By the time people left, I was sick of chocolate, so I have three batches done and three more sitting in my freezer. I know what I'm doing in my spare time this week.

Instead of finishing the truffles, we decorated my tree instead. My dad would be shocked at the haphazard application of lights (he insists on carefully lighting each individual branch; we did more of a wrap-and-shove method) but I think he'd appreciate the engineering talent I showed in turning paper clips into ornament hangers.

When I bought my ornaments last year, I apparently didn't get a tree topper. My tree is currently wearing a lampshade as a hat. I should do something about that. (Maybe a tinfoil sculpture?)

# : 3:49 PM : :

If you're lucky enough to be in Cleveland tomorrow, you should go down to the Great Lakes Science Center and watch what may be the last Egg Hunt ever (and almost certainly the last one with Rich Drushel at the helm).

LEGO 375/Lego Lab (officially named BIOL/EECS 375/473: Autonomous Robotics) was the single coolest course I took in college. We built autonomous robots which competed in an egg hunt - two teams, four robots, two nests (goals), positive points for pastel eggs, negative points for black ones. You can begin to imagine some of the engineering and strategy issues involved. My team, which consisted of computer (me), mechanical, and biomedical/imaging engineers, took first place with our robot, The Brain.

It doesn't appear that tomorrow's competition will feature a video feed, though you could always watch our Lab Rats team win the Spring 2002 competition!

Lego Lab was a great experience. I worked extraordinarily hard (class took up 5.5 hours/week not counting extra sessions and design work outside of class) and built something really cool. The class taught me what engineering, at its best, is all about. I'll be sad to see it go.

# : 7:20 PM : :

The Daily WTF. Now, I'm really not supposed to read this at work, because it's so funny that I can't keep from laughing. But today's offering is hilarious, and I think accessible to non-1337 programmers.

The code:

Friend ReadOnly Property CheckUserRole() As Boolean
   Get
     Dim user As SystemUser = SystemUser.CurrentUser
     If user.AssertRole(RoleTypes.Admin) Then
       Return 0
     Else
       If user.AssertRole(RoleTypes.Training) Then
        Return 1
       Else
         If user.AssertRole(RoleTypes.Supervisor) Then
           Return 2
         End If
       End If
     End If
   End Get
 End Property 

For those who don't love reading code, this function promises to return a Boolean (Booleans can have only two values, such as 0 and 1), then tries to return values ranging from 0 to 2.

An anonymous commenter remarks:

I don't know why you non-VBers like to mock VB programmers so much. Just deal with your jealousy. Our booleans go up to 2 and our amplifiers go up to 11.

That's classic.

# : 5:04 PM : :

I really need to install a photo album instead of just dumping my pictures on the server and relying on directory listings. I really have no idea what's out there - in college I just rolled my own photo pages, but now I'm both lazy and in possession of a heck of a lot more pictures.

Obviously, I want something that lets me put in captions and lets people browse by thumbnails, a clean interface, and quick loads (no slower than they have to be for the pictures, I mean).

Additionally, I would like the photo album to have a web-based upload feature (since the Windows FTP utility is rather lacking, and I can't go around installing FTP programs on all the computers I have occasion to use). And, I'd rather not have to do anything with the hundreds of photos I've already uploaded other than put in captions. (Specifically, I don't want to have to move or rename stuff and break links.)

So, I'm requesting suggestions. I'm aware of the existence of good photo album hosting options (e.g. Flickr) but would prefer to host my pictures on my own space, if for no other reason than that I'm already paying for it!

# : 3:58 PM : :

I took my camera home over Thanksgiving to take pictures of all my family's cats. Links go to the rest of the pictures from each photo shoot.

My sister's kitten Tigger



My other sister's fluffy cat Ricky



My parents' cat Ashes



Then I came home and took more pictures.

This is what happens when I let my boyfriend use the camera. (And he says I spoil the kittens!)



And here's Tess listening to Rammstein. She was not a fan.

# : 9:02 AM : :

More Americans Getting Hooked on Hookahs

The practice of smoking tobacco through elaborate water pipes called hookahs emerged centuries ago, in the palaces and harems of the Middle East. But experts say hookahs are now almost as popular in Denver as they are in Damascus, with the current fad for water-pipe use growing among U.S. college students.

The actual facts presented in this article are all correct, as far as I know. (They're a little behind the times though; this reminds me of reading articles like "Instant Messaging Popular on College Campuses" in 2001.)

But the headline is completely unsupported. There is zero evidence presented in the article that anyone is getting hooked on hookahs.

A couple of my friends in college had hookahs, and we would get together to smoke every now and then. It was a lot of fun; as the article mentions, it's a very social activity, and it tastes good (I was partial to the strawberry flavor). After moving here, I was happy to find that some restaurants rent hookahs, since it reminds me of my fun college days.

"In fact, carcinogen exposure in hookah smoke is equal to, or more than, that found in cigarettes," said Eissenberg, who has published research on the health dangers of the hookah fad in numerous medical journals.

I'm sure that's true, and the point that hookah smoke isn't safer than cigarette smoke is a good one. However, I don't think any college students smoke hookahs in the same way people smoke cigarettes. It's a rare occasion, not something you do every day. I don't think people who smoke three times a year need to be particularly worried about lung cancer.

"Water pipes aren't convenient to use," Eissenberg pointed out. "So if somebody begins to find a water pipe and tobacco pleasurable, but they don't have a lot of time, what are they going to do? They're going to pick up cigarettes. So hookahs are, unfortunately, a potential gateway to smoking for young adults, and we certainly don't need a new gateway to tobacco use."

Unlikely. Because water pipes aren't convenient to use, they're a special occasion thing. And the enjoyment factor comes from the socializing and the yummy strawberry taste, not the nicotine. I have never met a single person who took up cigarettes after using a hookah, and I doubt that Eissenberg has either. He certainly doesn't mention any.

(HT: Totalitarianism Today)

# : 11:59 AM : :

When you buy a coat or blazer, it usually has a back vent, as seen in this photo of a cute coat from Old Navy:



Most of the time, this is tacked shut, meaning they've put a few stitches at the very bottom to hold it together so it doesn't flap around as it's doing in that picture. This is so it will hang nicely on the rack. However, the reason the vent is there in the first place is so it will hang nicely on a non-flat, walking, bending person. You are supposed to remove those stitches so that the vent can work as designed.

I keep seeing people walking around with their coats tacked shut on the bottom. Since most of the vent is still open, this makes the coat hang very oddly - it gapes and closes as they walk. The most unfortunate situation is when the vent starts just below the small of the back and ends at the thighs - this means that, if you haven't removed the stitches, your ass sticks out through the resultant slit when you bend over, and you look ridiculous. When you allow the coat to work as designed, the two flaps drape gracefully over your rear and no one thinks "Hey, that person's ass is sticking out!"

So, scissors are your friend. This also applies to pants that have actual pockets that are tacked shut - that's so they stay flat in the store, and you're allowed to cut the thread and use your pockets once you get them home. Also, when they attach tags to the outside of your clothing with just a few loops of thread, you're supposed to remove those too. And take the price stickers off the soles of your shoes.

# : 11:15 AM : :

After a lengthy hiatus due to med school applications and interviews, being sick a few times, and lots of traveling, I started back to the gym this weekend. It felt pretty good, although looking at my lifting record of Friday compared to that of last time I went was kind of depressing.

Yesterday I went to yoga. My old Hatha yoga class was cancelled a long time ago, and there's a relatively new class led by a different teacher now. It's much more advanced than my old class, so it pretty well kicks my ass. I'm really sore today. I enjoyed the workout though, and I learned a lot about using core muscles rather than gravity and propping-up. I miss the reflectiveness of my old class; it was often pretty meditative, and I usually left feeling much more centered.

But I'm now convinced that yoga gives me migraines. It's definitely happened the last half-dozen or so times I've done it. This seems unfair, since yoga is supposed to be relaxing and realign your body and all that stuff. Doing pilates also gives me headaches, but that involves lots of neck tension so I wasn't surprised. And strangely, I'm pretty sure that professional massages - also obviously supposed to be relaxing - are another culprit.

I'm pretty interested in this phenomenon in a detached sort of way - I'm guessing that there is some connection between TMJ and migraines, and some of the more difficult yoga poses encourage me to tighten my jaw when I shouldn't. But what to do about it is the question. I'm thinking that if I did a modified practice, without those poses (and probably skipping inversions as well) it might work. I'll have to do that on my own, I think, because I would be bowing out of a large portion of my class. Maybe if I'm setting my own pace I can bring in more of the reflection that I miss as well.

# : 11:58 AM : :

Lots more linkage over to the left. I finally went through and added most of the blogs that I read pretty regularly (or mean to read regularly and keep forgetting), though I'm sure I missed a few. If you want a link, let me know. Also, I need some more good techy blogs to read. I find Slashdot annoying for some reason; I want an interesting and funny person telling me about tech. Suggestions?

I should probably categorize my link list, but there aren't firm boundaries. This tempts me to classify by the Dewey Decimal System or similar (as I did for my nonfiction bookshelf at home) but alphabetical order is probably simpler.

# : 2:39 PM : :

Atul Gawande has a new article out in the 2004-12-06 New Yorker. I've read a lot of his stuff, and it's excellent - he has a talent for looking at medicine objectively and yet lovingly.

The Bell Curve: What happens when patients find out how good their doctors really are?

It turns out that there's a pretty wide range of results between the very best teams and the mediocre ones. The article argues for openness about where doctors and hospitals stand, not just so that patients can choose but so that the providers will get better.

He answers my title question thus:

Someone’s got to be average. If the bell curve is a fact, then so is the reality that most doctors are going to be average. There is no shame in being one of them, right?

Except, of course, there is. Somehow, what troubles people isn’t so much being average as settling for it.

You should read the whole thing.

UPDATE: The link is now permanent.

# : 10:16 AM : :

Remember when I threatened to blog about porn? I was kidding. But this article is so funny that I can't not pass it on.

Internet Porn: Worse than Crack?

Internet pornography is the new crack cocaine, leading to addiction, misogyny, pedophilia, boob jobs and erectile dysfunction, according to clinicians and researchers testifying before a Senate committee Thursday.
[...]
"Pornography really does, unlike other addictions, biologically cause direct release of the most perfect addictive substance," Satinover said. "That is, it causes masturbation, which causes release of the naturally occurring opioids. It does what heroin can't do, in effect."

First of all, you can't call something "direct" when the causation has that many steps, especially when they're backwards.

Second, doesn't this make everyone who regularly has sex an addict?

Finally, I guess they'll be outlawing kissing, backrubs, and chocolate next. Those endorphins are dangerous!

The campaign should combat the messages of pornography by putting signs on buses saying sex with children is not OK, said Layden.

Also, killing people is bad. Just in case no one realized that.

# : 4:44 PM : :

Today wasn't looking so great. I woke up with a migraine and got stuck in traffic on the way to work, meaning I was quite a bit later than I'd planned to be and didn't have time to stop for a bagel even though I was starving.

Luckily, once I got to work I found out that some coworkers had provided breakfast, and the bagels had been delayed, getting there about 5 minutes before I did. So I got to eat 1.5 bagels with three different kinds of cream cheese. Even though I didn't see the bagel slicer and hacked mine up with a plastic knife, and dropped the other half-bagel on the floor, it made me happy.

Then I went to CVS at lunch and found Hershey's Cookies & Mint Nuggets. When I was little, we'd hang out at the pool and pad across the street to Marc's during breaks. I always got a Cookies & Mint bar, and I was very sad when they were discontinued. Now they're back! (If only Chocolicious snack cakes and Eagle brand barbecue potato chips would come back...)

And best of all, my migraine is gone thanks to the wonderful, wonderful people who created Relpax. I think I'm going to send them a Christmas card.

# : 3:06 PM : :

I think the hardest thing about having two jobs might be the clothing. Both my jobs are business casual, but at my real job I sit down all day in a chilly lab, and at the other one I stand up and teach for three hours. So I have built up a wardrobe with a lot of long-sleeved shirts and sweaters and uncomfortable shoes, not worrying much about stuff like range of motion. Now when I teach, I have to wear short sleeves (it gets warm in front of a class!) and my shirt has to be long enough (and my pants high enough) so my stomach doesn't show when I reach up to write on the board. I own very few shirts that fit that description.

So getting dressed to teach is pretty hard already. It's worse when, like yesterday and today, I'm going straight from the office to the classroom. Yesterday I wore teaching clothes and just put on a jacket for the office. Today I have on a turtleneck sweater with a short-sleeved shirt hidden under it. And the stupid high-rise pants and sensible shoes again.

I'm happy with having two jobs though. Teaching is fun, and it's nice to have some variety. Plus, people are so impressed when I tell them I teach physics.

# : 11:03 AM : :