Digestion

Down subjects and Oriental population share several specific attitudes and characteristics

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:45:15 -0500

Down subjects and Oriental population share several specific attitudes and characteristics:

Hilarious that junk like this gets published (discovered via http://www.ncbirofl.com):

“Down persons during waiting periods, when they get tired of standing up straight, crouch, squatting down… this position is the same taken by the Vietnamese, the Thai, the Cambodian, the Chinese, while they are waiting at a the bus stop, for instance, or while they are chatting.

The tendencies of Down subjects to carry out recreative–reabilitative activities, such as embroidery, wicker-working ceramics, book-binding, etc., that is renowned, remind the Chinese hand-crafts, which need a notable ability, such as Chinese vases or the use of chop-sticks employed for eating by Asiatic populations.

Perhaps the explanation for their capacities resides in the monkey-like cast of the hand or rather in the single transversal solcus that replaces the normal creases of the flexion of the hand, and their laxity of ligaments. Also this characteristic of the Down syndrome may be considered a point in common with oriental populations.”

btw

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:45:08 -0500

Had front row tickets to see Wicked (again) last night.

Re-inspired to sing, dance, and tell stories on the stage.

Pippin!

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 10:12:23 -0500

I’m gonna be in a musical!!! A member of the “ensemble”: http://footlighters.case.edu/

Can’t wait.

Kicking myself

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:07:51 -0500

I turned my phone off and went to bed last night…. waking up this morning to find 3 missed calls from the Pippin directors saying they want to offer me a part (a part of the “ensemble” - these 8-10 supporting characters).

Shit. I hope they didn’t give away all the parts at 1 am in a flurry of activity.

(Fingers crossed)

Racism

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:48:30 -0500

Racism:

“He’s 96% Dark Matter!” hahaha… it’ll never end.

Holy crap! I don’t know if I’d dress my kid up like...

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:04:59 -0500

Holy crap! I don’t know if I’d dress my kid up like that.

femmedelamayhem:

lookatthisfrakkinggeekster:

juliasegal:

oscillate-wildley:

Badass flautist

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:22:05 -0500

Badass flautist

First Audition

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:08:48 -0500

Just auditioned for the campus production of “Pippin.” Sang “Moondance” (by Jim Morrison)…

Totally bombed it. Not only did I wear out my voice practicing too much beforehand, but I found out that auditions make me so nervous I forget my lines (and pitches)… dammit.

And I also heard the competition while I was awaiting my turn: geez, I got a long way to go.

I’m 0 for 1. Looking forward to trying again.

Progression

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:39:53 -0500

Doc Opera 4 years ago: I submitted 2 half-written song ideas (medical parodies of Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson” and Beck’s “Loser”). To my surprise, the director’s loved them and asked me to finish the songs. I tried out as a rapper and didn’t get any part… until someone backed out. I ended up rapping in 2 songs.

Doc Opera’s 2007, 2008: I wrote 3-5 songs each year, rapping 1-2 songs each year.

Doc Opera this year: held at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. Wrote 2 songs (medical parodies of Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” and the Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”), rapped in a Black Eyed Peas song, sang backup in a Queen parody, and sang a Jem song as part of Docappella. First time I’ve ever done a choreographed dance on stage.

Today: saw ‘Wicked’ at Playhouse Square (at another theater in the same venue where I performed the night before). Blown away by: the story, the songs, the emotion that can be conveyed by musical theater. I had no friggin’ clue. The only other musicals I’ve ever seen before this were “Jersey Boys” and “Lion King.” Wicked dealt with some complex issues (discrimination, racism, envy, etc.) within the retelling of the Wizard of Oz. Wicked also tries to convey how friends or loved ones can influence each other…. with the recent passing of my grandfather, I’ve had to own up to the fact that I am deeply influenced by my friends and family. Let me rephrase that: I’m starting to own up to that fact. I’ve spent the last decade (and then some) trying to emotionally isolate myself everyone else… not sure why… maybe because I was so lonely and insecure when I was younger… it seemed safer to create ideological frameworks for my growth and success that did not depend upon anyone else. Anyway, so as all my defenses are beginning to crumble, the final scenes of ‘Wicked’ - as cheesy as they may be - really tugged on the ol’ heart-strings because I was able to connect with the characters. I was deeply moved.

Now: I want to try my hand at musical theater. I’ve spent so much time writing lyrics (for medical parodies, for my own rap songs), but I’ve gotten frustrated because I’ve recently felt that the ideas I want to convey cannot be fully captured through this medium alone. I want to be able to sing like those folks on the stage. And, after doing a little choreographed dancing this year, I want to see if I can take that to the next level, as well.

Any suggestions?

Dinner! Beef & black bean curry + sweet potatoes

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:06:00 -0500

Dinner! Beef & black bean curry + sweet potatoes

Discovery - Insane. Wicked cool. Like experimental d&b mixed...

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:36:11 -0500

Discovery - Insane.

Wicked cool. Like experimental d&b mixed with 80s vocal tracks.

To do:

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:42:18 -0500

summarize my thoughts on diet (sat. fat, PUFAs, grains, meat vs. vegetarian, dental health, exercise). wholehealthsource.blogspot.com got me thinking about everything, but now my head is spinning with loosely connected ideas.

It’s a deal. I’ll put it on my dormant medicine-related blog: http://toughpill.wordpress.com/

Does it matter?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:58:05 -0500

Yea, I’m beginning to see that: what’s the use - really - of detaching myself from the way I feel in certain situations? Protecting myself… from some force I’m not even aware of. Refusing to acknowledge how connected I really am to people in my life… until there’s a death in my family, and then I’m overwhelmed by how much I mean to others, overwhelmed by the significance of my life. Awestruck and rattled that I mean something to other people simply because I exist, not because of anything I have done.

None of this jives with the constructs I’ve built over the years of self-reliance, of independence: that I am the one who gives meaning to my life.

*sigh* Defense mechanisms gradually stockpiled to combat years of solitude and loneliness….

msintensity:

“Why not live knowing that letting someone know that you love them is not an obligation, it’s a privilege and a gift. What’s the use of holding feelings and emotions inside to waste away… Who are we to think that all of life is in our hands alone? Shall we grasp so tightly that no one around us can share the joy of living with us.”

...which led me to this book that they cite

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:18:58 -0500

...which led me to this book that they cite:

In the end, they try and attribute our high rate of osteoporosis to our protein-rich diet. And the author laughably infers a cause-and-effect relationship between the two from a graph. The studies contributing to their 2D graph are based on worldwide data, so simply looking at “protein intake” is a gross oversimplification of what diet really is.

Long story short: day by day, I’m beginning to see the paleolithic point of view. That it’s the (over)consumption of grains that contributes most to the diseases of civilization that plague us out here in the West. Eating too many grains would contribute to acidity, but I don’t think boiling it down to acidity explains everything. It’s not like eating Tums all day is gonna save your life.

However, I don’t think all grains are harmful. I’ll get to that later….

Close, but not quite...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:06:31 -0500

Close, but not quite...:

I started reading this NYTimes article that tries to attribute osteoporosis in America to the pH of our diet….

Really? - The Claim - Vinegar Can Help Lower Blood Sugar Levels.

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:55:07 -0500

Really? - The Claim - Vinegar Can Help Lower Blood Sugar Levels.:

Could be the rationale behind eating pickled things with meals

http://www.beastskills.com/OneArmPull.htm

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:14:52 -0500

http://www.beastskills.com/OneArmPull.htm:

Doing pull-ups with a towel

NCBI ROFL: Does garlic protect against vampires? An experimental study.

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:29:05 -0500

NCBI ROFL: Does garlic protect against vampires? An experimental study.:

“Owing to the lack of vampires, we used leeches instead.”

HAHAHA!

Cooperation and individuality among man-eating lions.

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:31:33 -0500

Cooperation and individuality among man-eating lions.:

“human predation… is also assiociated with craniodental infirmities” = Eating people is bad for your teeth

Lion’s, you have been warned.

I just came back from my grandfather’s funeral. It was...

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:46:00 -0500

I just came back from my grandfather’s funeral. It was strange seeing his body knowing that he had donated his eyes.

This comic resounds with my perception of things.

femmedelamayhem:

4:30am comic. Should evoke the following:

existential crisis

nihilistic despair

an urge to wear sunglasses and listen to miles davis on the subway

the need to wear a beret and play saxophone

the desire for a squiggle of french mustard on the hot dog of banal observation

—-

the caption read: “dad, where is grandpa?”