Got Bugs?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/73357

So, I love Newsweek. Maybe not love, but I like it better than Time. Just slightly. Just because of the fonts, really. I like the content better most of the time too; I’m not all about looks. Newsweek is just easier to digest than Time.

Speaking of digesting, the above link is an interesting story about how we are basically just a huge host for microscopic bugs in our small and large intestines, our stomachs, and a few other places (guys are so lucky). Ahem. Pretty damn nasty, eh? I already spend enough time thinking about the bugs I share my bed with, the ones that party on my eyelashes, and now I have to think about the bugs in my gut? (And, yes, I do have to think about it. They’re a part of me!) We have over one trillion critters in our body helping us break down toxins, make some vitamins and tell our immune system what’s going on. (So why am I “tsk-tsked” when I tell my doctor I don’t take vitamins when I’ve got critters makin’ ‘em for me?)

Many species of microbes live in the gut and some of them are “energy extractors” (Firmicutes) and another group are “gas guzzlers” (Bacteroidetes). Obese volunteers in a study had more Firmicutes than Bacteroidetes in their guts than lean volunteers acting as controls. So, basically once these obese volunteers started to lose weight, their balance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes changed to look more like the lean volunteers. Weight loss, not diet or exercise is what changed the balance. So, scientists are pondering, if you can change this balance without having to lose weight, maybe you’ll lose weight without having to do anything. Obviously, everything is still in research stages, but probiotics (Dannon yogurt crap and other nasty yogurt products; disclosure: I don’t like yogurt) could possibly be used for weight loss if the probiotics can alter the environment in your gut. Again, just pondering. So this is another way for overweight people to lose weight without having to work for it. Brilliant? I don’t know. It is awfully tempting. I’m not overweight, but I’m close (overweight Body Mass Index (BMI) = 25; my BMI = 24). If I could let little microbes do my work for me, that would be wonderful! I could spend that time I would have been exercising on the couch, where I belong!

So, humans are basically hosts for colonies of nastiness. I think anything en masse is gross, and having things en masse in my body is just plain wrong. And gross. But, these little boogers help us and there’s nothing we can do to get them out of our bodies. I suppose we could try to throw up our stomachs and clean them off and swallow them again like frogs do, but I hate throwing up – that’s pretty gross too.

Acceptance and Rejection (all in the same week!)

I've been rejected and accepted all in the same week! I submitted a short piece to Marriage Partnership, a Christian magazine, and got my rejection email Thursday. Yesterday, I received an acceptance email from Fountain Pen, an e-zine. Granted, MP is bigger than Fountain Pen, but you know what? It doesn't seem to matter to my little heart - I felt the same amount of emotion with both emails. Utter despair ("I'll never be a writer!") and utter felicity ("Woo hoo! Someone likes what I wrote!").

I've been rejected plenty of times, writer-wise, so I reasoned with myself that it's just another war scar - the life of a writer. But, my self-esteem plummeted for an afternoon, all because of an email someone I don't know wrote to me, rejecting me with an industry-speak form letter. Then I thought, why am I being so reactive? So what if that piece didn't get accepted? I can submit it elsewhere if I so choose, and I think I will. It's amazing how someone else's reaction, or action, can affect me so much. This is my life, I should choose my emotions. I shouldn't just act on other people's emotions. (I didn't come up with these thoughts on my own -- they're partly Buddhist philosophy.) So, instead of equating myself with being a writing loser, I realize I just learned a lesson - now I know what MP doesn't like, and I can try again, learning from my mistake.

Oh, and if you'd like, you can read Fountain Pen by clicking on the link to the right. I think it's a good Web site that will continue to grow.

Nicknames

Why do we give nicknames? To people, places, animals? This morning I called my dog Hazy-Boo. I don’t even know where that came from, it just slipped out of my mouth. I also call her Hazel-Basil, Big Bear, Hazy-Badazy and the list goes on. I guess we do it just to show that we know a person or an animal better? To show our relationship with them? My friend from elementary school, Laura, goes by Tabby, Ruesel, and a whole host of other nicknames (mostly given by her mom). Her mom calls Laura’s oldest sister Heiffer. Not too endearing.

My nickname from my husband is Sweet Pea (no explanation needed there, since I’m so sweet, right?). I call him Sweetie. My friend Adrienne (whose nickname is Addy), calls me Wee Wee, based off of my color guard nickname: Lee Lee. Adrienne also calls me Stinky Cheese, and I have no idea how or why that started. Let me reiterate: I do NOT smell like stinky cheese!

In 8th grade, my friend Wade and I decided we would give each other the longest nicknames we could think of. I was Leeannderthalpooster; he was Waderthaleethea. How the heck have I remembered those? I guess because nicknames are important to our identity over the years, and to our different social groups. Or, maybe because they are just fun.

Square Watermelons

Here’s a good example of thinking “in the box” to solve a problem. Nothing is impossible!

http://www.financialhack.com/2007/12/04/10145_lessons-of-the-square-watermelon.html

Even if God created something one way, it appears that people can alter his creation. Is this genius or blasphemous? Did God even create watermelons, or were the previous two sentences a moot point? (or, a “moo point,” according to Joey on Friends?)

Meet Hazel

My baby, Hazel.

She always has something in her mouth!

Hello and Welcome

Hello there,

My first post as an "official" blogger, just because I say so! Who says who's "official" anyway? People that we pay to tell us that?
Anyway, my plan is to share with the world my deep thoughts, and not-so-deep thoughts. Hopefully someone will find this interesting, and if not, that's okay. I'll feel better, getting everything out in the open, and aren't we all just looking to feel a little bit better anyway?