On game day Saturday Jack shared with the rest of us some results from research he's been doing into corn production and how cows are overfed corn as a method for making fattier, more tender meat.  Sadly, they aren't meant to eat that way and the corn creates a hugely over-acidic digestive environment which would actually kill the cows if they were allowed to live long enough.  With this diet they fatten up fast enough that they can be slaughtered at a young age.  Incidentaly, a cow's normal PH is neutral and they normally have e coli in their system which die off in our more acidic digestive systems.  With the acidity of cow's systems rising, which requires regular doses of antibiotics to keep them healthy from the damage this causes, e coli that can survive in that environment have been bred and thus we have a big problem that is only getting worse.  Thankfully, I try to stick with grass fed beef.  Poor gassy cows with the worst case of acid indigestion ever.

This got me thinking about how freaking dumb cows usually are, which made me wonder how much is genetics and how much is an incredibly poor social environment with a complete lack of a mature generation of elder cows that have lived long enough to gain some smarts.  Are cows in India smarter?  How about in Europe where they are allowed to live longer before slaughtering?  Plenty of people feel fine about eating farm animals because they're "stupid", but are repulsed by the idea of eating a dog.  If cows were perceived as being smart how might that impact our ideas of  how to treat them and our tolerance for abusive farming methods? 

Due to specific dietary needs I've re-introduced meat, but have been very picky about it.  I LOVE the taste of pork, but haven't been able to get into it again because pigs are really, really smart and the methods for slaughtering are too horrible for me to condone with my dollars.  I admit that cows are easier for me to consume because I see them as stupid.

It's a strange thing to feel death so close and yet impersonal.  Mischka was an amazing person who was central to a lot of what I love about the SCA.  I didn't know him well, but he was a part of the glue of my experience.  Every interaction with him created a comfortable familiarity that cemented him as an essential and dependable ingredient in the dynamics of our particular geek society.  I never knew him well, but he was as central to that part of my life as people I consider dear friends.

My heart goes out to his wife and family and tonight I'll nurse my own shock and sadness at the loss.  May he live richly on in the memories of more people than he may ever have realized that he touched.

ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car): Marah Legend

GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite kind of shoe): Chocolate Fluvog

HIPPY NAME: (what you ate for breakfast, favorite tree): Shake Cedar

SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Lafferty Seattle

STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Druel

SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink): Red Cirac

NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers/grandmothers): Mary Ruth

STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Coconut Truffle

TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 4th grade teacher’s last name, a city that starts with the same letter): I can't remember any of my elementary school teacher's names.

SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Autumn Iris

CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Berry Socks

Zanfur's party sadly had a very contagious sick person attending, and my roommate J caught the illness, which I have been trying to keep from catching.  However, after the healing crisis from my Candida detox I'm avoiding all my usual illness whackers because of trying to keep from triggering another toxic skin overload response.  I've been doing lots of vitamin C and echinacea, but it's really difficult to avoid illness in an overcrowded apartment without using garlic and silver. 

I'd like a few weeks of feeling great again. 

Universe, could you please arrange that for me?  Thanks.

Don't know if you've seen them, but they're weird and stupid.  I'm so tired of the political message of the two parties needing to set aside their differences and work together.  I'm tired of the dems getting more and more "moderate" to take votes from people who would otherwise vote republican.  Having only two parties is pretty pathetic.  What do they think we want?  One party?  Everyone can campaign on the same points with the same position so we get so dissolutioned we stop voting except for people who care deeply about single issues because they're not smart enough to look at the big picture?

Oh wait, I guess we're kind of already there. Grrrrr. 

This video demonstrates how just a few steps can be incredibly musical and fun!

Cuz I can't get enough of excellent tango dancers:

Great footwork

A friend of mine asked me to share with a woman he knows what I have researched about various factors that contribute to painful menstruation and what I've done to successfully turn that around.  It seemed after I wrote this out that maybe other folks would find this all useful and so I'm posting it here.  Keep in mind that I'm not a doctor, just an avid pursuer of health.  I believe our bodies are complicated systems and that self knowledge and awareness is our best ally in living healthily.  Our choices affect our bodies whether we are informed or not, so I try to understand and engage in a continual process of learning about things related to that.
 

I posted this in someone else's LJ in response to this article

I've been wanting to comment on Obama's race speech for a while and here it goes:

First, I LOVE NorwesCon. I go almost every year and have been very excited about this one. I have a room reserved and now have to make some tough choices. As some of you may be aware the Unite Here Local 8 hotel worker's union is in a stalemate with the Hilton and Doubletree hotels in Sea Tac over contract negotiations to raise wages, increase measures for injury protection, and provide discrimination protection for trans genders. I support these goals, the union action, and the convention.





Even if there is a picket line, as long as I take the above action I will feel good about crossing it because I will not burn the Con on the alter of change. It isn't necessary. I wish the Con would make the choice to take a stand with the workers, but I sympathize with it's reasons not to. To me the Con is a precious creation that I want to see survive long after I'm gone. Nor will I compromise my values as an American who supports workers rights. Hotel costs have been rising much faster than just keeping up with inflation. As those profits have escalated its workers have been kept below the poverty line. The money is there, but in a capitalist society the motivation isn't. This is not me making a moral judgment against big business. I just try to be realistic and take action based on that view.

For those of you wishing to go and facing similar choices I wish you luck. If you want to day trip and give up your room then maybe we can arrange a carpool. I'll look into this more thoroughly on Monday.

Possessing a rare combination of wisdom and humility, while serenely dominating your environment you selflessly use your powers to care for others.

Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

Galadriel is a character in the Middle-Earth universe. You can read more about her at the Galadriel Worshippers Army.

Today has been awesome.  I'm wearing new clothes thanks to a trip to the Rack Wednesday night and thanks to J.  The three of us went to lunch today and then shopped/looked around Greenwood.  I bought a fun looking book, The English Village, from a great used book store called Balderdash.  Then we went to a fantastic used CD and record store where I got some wonderful music.  I haven't bought a CD in a looong time and it was a blast to just grab stuff I'd never seen before and listen.  I got:

Acoustic Soul by India Airie
M People Testify (I think this is the name of the band and no album title is evident.  Electronica with a great front woman)
T.D.F. Retail Therapy (not sure which is the record title and which is the band, but Eric Clapton was involved in it's production and it's like blues meets trance)
Park Mi Kyung Volume 3 (It's all in what I think is Korean and is an amazing woman singer who looks goth but the music is trance)
House of Om    Groove Junkies (I think House of Om is the band?  It's a 2 disc set I've barely skimmed so far)
Boheme by Deep Forest  (Awesome trance with an East Indian influence.  One song was so beautiful I teared up in the store.)
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy by Sara McGlaughlan  (I loved it years ago and never owned it)
The Book of Secrets by Loreena McKennitt (Again, loved it years ago and never owned it)

A pretty great haul.  Now I have to get some work done.

for parlor_games

http://www.newsgroper.com/christopher-walken/2007/12/20/walken-christmas/

I'm sure the rest of you will like it, too

I came out deeply in the negative for Monk and Paladin classes and with very little law or evil in the alignment matrix. That makes me happy and fits how I see myself. The intelligence I expected to see come out higher, but I hated school and value self education over academia. I think that bent in answering the questions affected the intelligence outcome. Overall a fun test.




I Am A: Neutral Good Human Wizard (5th Level)


Ability Scores:

Strength-16

Dexterity-16

Constitution-13

Intelligence-15

Wisdom-16

Charisma-16


Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.


Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.


Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.


Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus</a></b> (e-mail)

You Are Subversion!
You are systematic and secretive. Sometimes even very calculating. Most everyone trusts you but they have no idea what really goes on in your head. You are capable of being nice or mean, whatever a situation calls for. You look out for #1.
What Naughty My Little Pony Are You?