Back Here Again

Vivienne Foley

Is it just me, or is it that these Vivienne Foley pieces look like Battlestar Galactica base stars hugging?

Balance

My brother-in-law finds my deafness hilarious. Really, he finds that my entire family is rather freakishly hilarious. Last weekend he amused himself with an app that plays out sound at different frequencies from the bottom to the top of the spectrum. Off and on he would turn the program on to watch my (or occasionally his wife) drop whatever we had in hand to hold our ears and yell at him to turn the app off.

Over the years, I've gone deaf. Kind of. Last time I had my hearing checked, the doctor told me that due to my attention to detail, diction and enunciation, I was above the threshold of needing a hearing aid, however, I have around a 20% loss in normal levels of sound.

However, I can hear dog whistles. Growing up, my sisters and I would scream and throw tantrums when our mother would take us to Sears or the Post Office, as she seemed to think we just had an aversion to those very specific places of business rather than to the reason behind our complaints. In reality, both locations had computer equipment that sent out a high pitched noise that drove us nuts. It was like a pre-Mosquito alarm system.

So today, I read an article that says hearing loss may be an early indicator of dementia. Then I read another that alcohol may deter dementia.

What I am understanding from all of this is simple. If I drink, my likelihood of dementia goes down; however, being in the normal loud places that decreases ability to sound/increases deafness increases the likelihood.

If I just equal the two, I should be safe, right?

I Like Eating

This mandarin took me over 45 minutes to eat. After meticulously plucking off all strings from the peel side, I then am compelled to break each slice open, peel the skin off and eat each individual cell.

This is why I can't have nice things.

Hence, the above picture. This is why I hate frozen vegetables. I bought these brussel sprouts less than a month ago and they have a buy-date for sometime in May, yet upon opening, they were yellow, mushy and rotting. During the ice storm I lost power, but never for long enough to turn one bag of vegetables bad and leave everything else in my freezer edible. This picture is from right before they faced a short death in the disposal.

This is the downfall of healthy eating. The options out there are Twinkies, which despite the lack of nutrition and full of some really nasty stuff, will last for a disturbingly long time; or you spend way too long eating a simple fruit or face disgusting farm habits when trying to eat worthwhile foods.

VIA Institute on Character: Take Two

Character Strength #1: Perspective [wisdom] (+10)
Character Strength #2: Bravery [valor] (+15)
Character Strength #3: Integrity [authenticity, honesty] (+4)
Character Strength #4: Self-regulation [self-control] (+17)
Character Strength #5: Social Intelligence [emotional intelligence, personal intelligence] (+3)
Character Strength #6: Appreciation of beauty and excellence [awe, wonder, elevation] (-4)
Character Strength #7: Creativity [originality, ingenuity] (+9)
Character Strength #8: Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Character Strength #9: Love of Learning (-4)
Character Strength #10: Capacity to love and be loved (+2)
Character Strength #11: Curiosity and interest in the world (-8)
Character Strength #12: Hope, optimism, and future-mindedness (+10)
Character Strength #13: Fairness, equity, and justice (-4)
Character Strength #14: Leadership (-13)
Character Strength #15: Industry, diligence, and perseverance (-9)
Character Strength #16: Caution, prudence, and discretion (+4)
Character Strength #17: Forgiveness and mercy (+6)
Character Strength #18: Zest, enthusiasm, and energy (0)
Character Strength #19: Gratitude (-9)
Character Strength #20: Humor and playfulness (-5)
Character Strength #21: Citizenship, teamwork, and loyalty (-8)
Character Strength #22: Modesty and humility (-8)
Character Strength #23: Kindness and generosity (-4)
Character Strength #24: Spirituality [religiousness, faith, purpose] (0)

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So back in 2009 I took this assessment, and was curious the difference how much almost 2 years can make in a personality. From my results, I have gained a new insight into how the world works and have become more adept to dealing with situations. Perhaps that is due to living on my own and being forced to deal. I am much more in control of myself, creativity has increased, but seemingly at the cost of a love of learning. Leadership has decreased to a dismal amount, as evidenced by anyone who has seen me at work since being thrown into Oracle implementation. Gratitude, loyalty, modesty and kindness have all taken a downward turn, indicating, that in the last 2 years I have become mean, more egocentric and proud of that. Hmm.

Interestingly, my vitality and spirituality have stayed exactly the same.

Daleks. For Kids

With 10 phrases available, such as "Exterminate" and "Seek, locate, annihilate" what parent wouldn't want to give this Doctor Who toy to a child that is at most 66 pounds? And why don't they make any of the fun toys for adults??

..via Gamma Squad

Inertia Creeps

Sculpture by Ronit Baranga. Some of the most impressive clay and porcelain sculpture I have seen in a long time. The coloring, the abstract placement making everything just slightly surreal combined with the fineness of the material makes it absolutely beautiful. And yes, I totally want cups with fingers.

Dear Weather

Dear Weather,

I see no need to complain about how cold you are, since this is not a Texas-related occurrence. Your icy blast has engulfed everywhere but Florida and Seattle (hate you Ben and Ja') so our freakishly dropped weather is not that big of a deal.

However, two points:

1. When I finish running 4.5 miles and leave the gym sweaty and only have about 500 feet to walk to my apartment (I made that second number up, I totally can't tell distance. The first one was valid according to Landice 7), please don't blow (feels like according to Weather.com) -1° gusts of wind at me. It's just mean.

2. You ruined Tuesday. It had so much potential this week, and you brought it all to shit.

Unhappily,

Nicole

P.S. I spent most of the day on conference calls sitting in bed as it was the warmest place I could find. Beds are not made for work. You destroyed the comfort of my super-comfy bed. Add it to the bottom of thelist of things you ruined today.