Tuesday, July 06, 2004
What would it be like to be invisible?
Yes, I watched that old Chevy Chase movie today, lol.
First of all, what do we mean by invisible? The standard idea is that every cell of your body has been made transparent, colorless and without any sheen to it, such that light just passes through you without reacting to anything.
The first problem with this is that you'd be BLIND; for your eyes to work, they have to be able to "project" the light that comes in through your pupils into a dark space where specialized cells "read" it, and if you were invisible there would of course be no dark space, and so no vision.
The next problem is with STAYING invisible; the first time you ate, or even took a drink of water, you'd start a process by which your entire digestive system would become visible because of its visible contents. As the food and water you consumed became incorporated into your cells, you'd quickly become vaguely visible all over, inside as well as on the surface, and, as soon as your upper layers of skin were replaced by new cells that had been formed from visible food elements, your exterior would be totally visible. The exceptions would be your hair (of body as well as head) and nails, which would take time for the invisible part to grow out and visible stuff to come in, and, eerily, your tooth enamel, which would gradually be remineralized by your saliva, creating some degree of visibility, but, since enamel isn't actually regrown, would presumably give you only patchy, partial opacity of your teeth, leaving your mouth looking freaky forever, especially when the live inner parts of the teeth became visible... you'd have to have veneers put on them to be able to talk to people without grossing them out.
During the time where you were only partially visible, your excretory functions would produce visible products as soon as the backlog of invisible stuff was used up; your sweat, body and hair oils, saliva, the layer of tears on your eyeballs, etc, would coat and give a patina of visibility to every surface of your body. As to your less, er, benign excretory functions... let's just say that you'd have to be pretty fanatical about your personal hygiene if you weren't wearing pants.
Let's pretend that your invisibility came instead from some sort of field or magic that surrounded you and prevented light from reacting to your molecules; scifi and fantasy stories are full of ideas like this. What would you DO? Even assuming that you'd actually want to do the sorts of things we joke about concerning invisibility, like sneak into the locker room of those of your gender of interest and ogle unnoticed, or into your boss's office or wherever else there might be things you'd want to look at unseen, after you've done those things, what then? Unless you want to commit crimes, or maybe fight crimes, what's the benefit of being invisible, or even in being able to become invisible by, say, putting on a cloak like in that Harry Potter movie? How well can you communicate when you're invisible, and people can't see your expressions, gestures and body language? How much trust would people put in you, knowing that you had the ability to see unseen at will, knowing that you're human and won't be able to resist misusing the invisibility forever?
Nothing on Earth could induce ME to become invisible permanently. If I could have the ability to become invisible at will, I'd take it, keep it secret to prevent people who know me from being scared off, and hold it in reserve until I was endangered, so that I could use it to escape.
And yes, I'd probably take the occasional side trip into the men's locker room. ;-)
First of all, what do we mean by invisible? The standard idea is that every cell of your body has been made transparent, colorless and without any sheen to it, such that light just passes through you without reacting to anything.
The first problem with this is that you'd be BLIND; for your eyes to work, they have to be able to "project" the light that comes in through your pupils into a dark space where specialized cells "read" it, and if you were invisible there would of course be no dark space, and so no vision.
The next problem is with STAYING invisible; the first time you ate, or even took a drink of water, you'd start a process by which your entire digestive system would become visible because of its visible contents. As the food and water you consumed became incorporated into your cells, you'd quickly become vaguely visible all over, inside as well as on the surface, and, as soon as your upper layers of skin were replaced by new cells that had been formed from visible food elements, your exterior would be totally visible. The exceptions would be your hair (of body as well as head) and nails, which would take time for the invisible part to grow out and visible stuff to come in, and, eerily, your tooth enamel, which would gradually be remineralized by your saliva, creating some degree of visibility, but, since enamel isn't actually regrown, would presumably give you only patchy, partial opacity of your teeth, leaving your mouth looking freaky forever, especially when the live inner parts of the teeth became visible... you'd have to have veneers put on them to be able to talk to people without grossing them out.
During the time where you were only partially visible, your excretory functions would produce visible products as soon as the backlog of invisible stuff was used up; your sweat, body and hair oils, saliva, the layer of tears on your eyeballs, etc, would coat and give a patina of visibility to every surface of your body. As to your less, er, benign excretory functions... let's just say that you'd have to be pretty fanatical about your personal hygiene if you weren't wearing pants.
Let's pretend that your invisibility came instead from some sort of field or magic that surrounded you and prevented light from reacting to your molecules; scifi and fantasy stories are full of ideas like this. What would you DO? Even assuming that you'd actually want to do the sorts of things we joke about concerning invisibility, like sneak into the locker room of those of your gender of interest and ogle unnoticed, or into your boss's office or wherever else there might be things you'd want to look at unseen, after you've done those things, what then? Unless you want to commit crimes, or maybe fight crimes, what's the benefit of being invisible, or even in being able to become invisible by, say, putting on a cloak like in that Harry Potter movie? How well can you communicate when you're invisible, and people can't see your expressions, gestures and body language? How much trust would people put in you, knowing that you had the ability to see unseen at will, knowing that you're human and won't be able to resist misusing the invisibility forever?
Nothing on Earth could induce ME to become invisible permanently. If I could have the ability to become invisible at will, I'd take it, keep it secret to prevent people who know me from being scared off, and hold it in reserve until I was endangered, so that I could use it to escape.
And yes, I'd probably take the occasional side trip into the men's locker room. ;-)
Monday, July 05, 2004
Does beauty really come from within?
Of course not.
I wish it DID, that real life was like the movie "Shallow Hal," where the hero, who all of his life has lived up to the title of the movie, starts seeing people as looking on the outside the way they are on the inside, such that he sees a hot babe who's a bitch as an ugly hag, and an obese girl who's an extraordinarily good person as a beauty (Gwyneth Paltrow, to be exact). Imagine how different meeting new people would be if we all had "Hal vision": job interviews, first dates, picking people to hang out with... we would always KNOW what sort of person we were dealing with (as opposed to being fooled as most of us are most of the time), and those who "deserved" to be beautiful would be seen that way.
The sad reality is that, although we subconsciously assume that beautiful people are smarter, nicer, funnier, better in bed, etc, there's no genetic link between looks and inner qualities, and, worse, beautiful people often don't fully develop humor, compassion and other virtues because they don't HAVE to-when we find someone attractive, we invent whatever personality pleases us for them, and forgive them pretty much anything.
While it's true that we can PERCEIVE someone to be more or less attractive than they objectively are based on how we feel about their "inner beauty" or "inner ugliness," nothing that they think, feel or have on the inside alters the contours of their face, the color of their eyes, the clearness of their complexion, or any of the other aspects of facial appearance that add up to beauty to us.
Beauty is a matter of genetics, and, increasingly, surgery, and can be enhanced by hair dye, makeup, the right clothes, etc, but nothing you do to become a better person will make you one bit better looking.
Sucks, doesn't it?
I wish it DID, that real life was like the movie "Shallow Hal," where the hero, who all of his life has lived up to the title of the movie, starts seeing people as looking on the outside the way they are on the inside, such that he sees a hot babe who's a bitch as an ugly hag, and an obese girl who's an extraordinarily good person as a beauty (Gwyneth Paltrow, to be exact). Imagine how different meeting new people would be if we all had "Hal vision": job interviews, first dates, picking people to hang out with... we would always KNOW what sort of person we were dealing with (as opposed to being fooled as most of us are most of the time), and those who "deserved" to be beautiful would be seen that way.
The sad reality is that, although we subconsciously assume that beautiful people are smarter, nicer, funnier, better in bed, etc, there's no genetic link between looks and inner qualities, and, worse, beautiful people often don't fully develop humor, compassion and other virtues because they don't HAVE to-when we find someone attractive, we invent whatever personality pleases us for them, and forgive them pretty much anything.
While it's true that we can PERCEIVE someone to be more or less attractive than they objectively are based on how we feel about their "inner beauty" or "inner ugliness," nothing that they think, feel or have on the inside alters the contours of their face, the color of their eyes, the clearness of their complexion, or any of the other aspects of facial appearance that add up to beauty to us.
Beauty is a matter of genetics, and, increasingly, surgery, and can be enhanced by hair dye, makeup, the right clothes, etc, but nothing you do to become a better person will make you one bit better looking.
Sucks, doesn't it?
Assorted comments from "1776"
No matter how many times I watch this stunning movie, it never ceases to move me, and to get me thinking about the people and events of those days.
The religious wrong, I mean "right," tries to make an issue of the founding fathers being religious, and they for the most part were, as was everyone in those days... but did you know that the Declaration of Independence as originally written contained NO mentions of God other than the phrase "the laws of nature & of nature's God entitle them," and thus that the much pointed to phrase "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence" in the final line was added on later? Why do you suppose Jefferson made that choice? He DID believe in God; specifically, he was a Deist, and thus believed in the "clockwork universe" idea, that God created everything, set it in motion, and then went away, never involving Himself in earthly matters... is there cause and effect there?
Speaking of Jefferson; people who make an issue of him being a slaveowner dismay and disgust me-no person is to blame for being born into whatever circumstances their family is in, or whatever culture they live in. When we think about Jefferson and slavery we need to remember, not only that he tried to end slavery in the Declaration, as I've already mentioned, but that he FREED his slaves, even though he knew it would ruin him financially... and it DID ruin him, he lost everything. Luckily, a grateful nation bought back Monticello and gave it back to him; how's THAT for karma?
George Washington arranged to have HIS slaves freed once he and his wife passed away; he also refused the offer to make him KING, saying that we needed to get away from monarchy forever, AND he insisted on a limit to the presidential term of office-we owe him for far more than his services as general.
Back to slavery; we think of it as something to blame the southern states for, but what is often overlooked is that the slaves were brought to this country by, guess what, ships from the northern states. Shipping slaves makes you as much to blame for slavery as owning them, to my mind, especially since you have to own them while you're shipping them; if you then fingerpoint at those who end up with the slaves, you're a hypocrite too.
The movie shows a certain degree of friction between Jefferson and Adams, and they DID have their battles over the years, but they were both such brilliant and important men that they ended up as friends in spite of themselves, and wrote countless letters to each other over their long lives; they were so in synch that they died on the same day... July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration. How's THAT for a synchronicity?
One of the most impactful moments of "1776" was the song that referred to what the women related to the men and boys who were fighting the British had to endure. In those days, it would often be a local militia that was fighting, and at the end of the day they went back home to their families; as the sun dropped in the sky each day, the women and girls would start watching the road, looking for their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers to come home from the battle. As it got dark, they'd become afraid, thinking of the worst; when too much time had passed, they knew it was time for them to head for the battlefield and look for their loved ones, who might be too injured to go home without help... or, who might be dead. Imagine their terror as they went down the road, not knowing what they would find. Imagine them searching through the bodies on the battlefield, seeing the gory remains of men they knew, and the agony of those who were still breathing. Imagine them seeing their husband, son or brother laying there, covered in blood, and that last bit of hope flickering as they reached out to see if there was still breath in their loved one's body.
Part of the song is a mortally-wounded boy calling out for his mother to find him before he dies; what makes this even more heart-rending is a dispatch from General Washington pointing out that many of his troops are boys under the age of 15... that's right, CHILDREN, who were willing to have their lives end before they'd even begun because even at their young ages they believed that freedom was THAT important. Even though they were wildly outnumbered, even though they were often dressed in rags and didn't eat for days at a time, even though they were up against well-funded, well-trained British troops and German mercenaries, even though it seemed impossible for them to win, they risked, and often sacrificed, their lives to create the first free country to ever exist on this Earth.
Don't ever take America for granted.
The religious wrong, I mean "right," tries to make an issue of the founding fathers being religious, and they for the most part were, as was everyone in those days... but did you know that the Declaration of Independence as originally written contained NO mentions of God other than the phrase "the laws of nature & of nature's God entitle them," and thus that the much pointed to phrase "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence" in the final line was added on later? Why do you suppose Jefferson made that choice? He DID believe in God; specifically, he was a Deist, and thus believed in the "clockwork universe" idea, that God created everything, set it in motion, and then went away, never involving Himself in earthly matters... is there cause and effect there?
Speaking of Jefferson; people who make an issue of him being a slaveowner dismay and disgust me-no person is to blame for being born into whatever circumstances their family is in, or whatever culture they live in. When we think about Jefferson and slavery we need to remember, not only that he tried to end slavery in the Declaration, as I've already mentioned, but that he FREED his slaves, even though he knew it would ruin him financially... and it DID ruin him, he lost everything. Luckily, a grateful nation bought back Monticello and gave it back to him; how's THAT for karma?
George Washington arranged to have HIS slaves freed once he and his wife passed away; he also refused the offer to make him KING, saying that we needed to get away from monarchy forever, AND he insisted on a limit to the presidential term of office-we owe him for far more than his services as general.
Back to slavery; we think of it as something to blame the southern states for, but what is often overlooked is that the slaves were brought to this country by, guess what, ships from the northern states. Shipping slaves makes you as much to blame for slavery as owning them, to my mind, especially since you have to own them while you're shipping them; if you then fingerpoint at those who end up with the slaves, you're a hypocrite too.
The movie shows a certain degree of friction between Jefferson and Adams, and they DID have their battles over the years, but they were both such brilliant and important men that they ended up as friends in spite of themselves, and wrote countless letters to each other over their long lives; they were so in synch that they died on the same day... July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration. How's THAT for a synchronicity?
One of the most impactful moments of "1776" was the song that referred to what the women related to the men and boys who were fighting the British had to endure. In those days, it would often be a local militia that was fighting, and at the end of the day they went back home to their families; as the sun dropped in the sky each day, the women and girls would start watching the road, looking for their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers to come home from the battle. As it got dark, they'd become afraid, thinking of the worst; when too much time had passed, they knew it was time for them to head for the battlefield and look for their loved ones, who might be too injured to go home without help... or, who might be dead. Imagine their terror as they went down the road, not knowing what they would find. Imagine them searching through the bodies on the battlefield, seeing the gory remains of men they knew, and the agony of those who were still breathing. Imagine them seeing their husband, son or brother laying there, covered in blood, and that last bit of hope flickering as they reached out to see if there was still breath in their loved one's body.
Part of the song is a mortally-wounded boy calling out for his mother to find him before he dies; what makes this even more heart-rending is a dispatch from General Washington pointing out that many of his troops are boys under the age of 15... that's right, CHILDREN, who were willing to have their lives end before they'd even begun because even at their young ages they believed that freedom was THAT important. Even though they were wildly outnumbered, even though they were often dressed in rags and didn't eat for days at a time, even though they were up against well-funded, well-trained British troops and German mercenaries, even though it seemed impossible for them to win, they risked, and often sacrificed, their lives to create the first free country to ever exist on this Earth.
Don't ever take America for granted.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Some thoughts for the 4th of July
People tend to treat the subject of our founding fathers with indifference, as if they got America handed to them by the British, who then simply walked away; the truth is that they were men of extraordinary vision and courage, who risked their lives by forming a congress and an army to rebel against what was then the greatest military force in the world... and remember, no other colony had EVER broken away from a parent country before, so they were flying blind, making it up as they went along.
To get the story of what is arguably the most important event of that era, the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence, rent the brilliant movie "1776," which is based on the actual records we have of that time, including the many writings of those involved. You'll discover that there were almost as many obstacles to be overcome in declaring independence as in fighting for it, that a man came off of his deathbed to cast a necessary vote, and that the Declaration as originally written would have ended slavery.
More important info is contained in the following essay (author unknown):
"Remembering The 56 Patriots Who Signed The Declaration of Independence
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Have you ever wondered what happened AFTER they signed the Declaration?
Five signers were captured by the British: George Walton, after being wounded while commanding militia at the Battle of Savannah in December 1778, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge at the Siege of Charleston in May in 1780, and Richard Stockton of New Jersey because of his status as a signatory to the Declaration.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons who were serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He had to sell his home and properties to pay the debts incurred by the loss.
Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Ellery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed, and the enemy jailed his wife for several months.
John Hart and his children fled for their lives when his New Jersey farm was looted. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste, and for more than a year he lived in forests and caves.
Lewis Morris and Philip Livingston lost homes and properties to the British; Morris eventually got his house back, but Livingston died in 1778, before the end of the war, and never recovered what he'd lost.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians, they were the leading men of their colonies, who had earned much and thus had a great deal to lose by challenging British rule. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:
"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. Some of us take these liberties totally for granted, but we shouldn't; take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!"
Do you suppose that for just one day, we could stop whining about the alleged imperfections of this great country, and just be grateful that the founding fathers were willing to risk, suffer and sacrifice so that we could HAVE a country?
To get the story of what is arguably the most important event of that era, the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence, rent the brilliant movie "1776," which is based on the actual records we have of that time, including the many writings of those involved. You'll discover that there were almost as many obstacles to be overcome in declaring independence as in fighting for it, that a man came off of his deathbed to cast a necessary vote, and that the Declaration as originally written would have ended slavery.
More important info is contained in the following essay (author unknown):
"Remembering The 56 Patriots Who Signed The Declaration of Independence
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Have you ever wondered what happened AFTER they signed the Declaration?
Five signers were captured by the British: George Walton, after being wounded while commanding militia at the Battle of Savannah in December 1778, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge at the Siege of Charleston in May in 1780, and Richard Stockton of New Jersey because of his status as a signatory to the Declaration.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons who were serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He had to sell his home and properties to pay the debts incurred by the loss.
Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Ellery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Rutledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed, and the enemy jailed his wife for several months.
John Hart and his children fled for their lives when his New Jersey farm was looted. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste, and for more than a year he lived in forests and caves.
Lewis Morris and Philip Livingston lost homes and properties to the British; Morris eventually got his house back, but Livingston died in 1778, before the end of the war, and never recovered what he'd lost.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians, they were the leading men of their colonies, who had earned much and thus had a great deal to lose by challenging British rule. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged:
"For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. Some of us take these liberties totally for granted, but we shouldn't; take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!"
Do you suppose that for just one day, we could stop whining about the alleged imperfections of this great country, and just be grateful that the founding fathers were willing to risk, suffer and sacrifice so that we could HAVE a country?
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Props for Bill Cosby
While many American blacks, especially those in the public eye, take the stance that the white race, and long-ago slavery, are to blame for all the ills of their community, Bill Cosby says what needs to be said, pointing out, even in the face of criticism, that many blacks in America have wasted their chances and made foolish choices, and that THIS has led to their poverty and lack of success:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/01/cosby.comments.ap/index.html
The best chance blacks have of achieving economic and social equality is to listen to these sorts of messages; you don't get anywhere in life by pointing the finger at everyone but yourself and making excuses, not even if you DO have valid grievances... you can't whine and complain your way to success, you can't demand endless handouts and special deals as a path to success, you have to focus all your energy on getting educated, getting a career launched and working hard, no matter WHAT your color is. Yes, it probably WILL be harder to succeed if you're non-white, or female, or gay, but your choices are to work harder or never succeed; EVERYONE, not just blacks, needs to stop seeing screaming about prejudice as a substitute for working for what you want in life.
But, don't we need to do something about prejudice? As Oprah Winfrey (who rose above being born the illegitimate child of an impoverished teenaged mother, in addition to being black and female, to become one of the most famous people in the world, with more $ than she can ever spend) has always pointed out, the way to counteract prejudice is with EXCELLENCE.
Bill Cosby helped the black community immeasurably by creating a popular TV show that portrayed blacks as intelligent, articulate, successful professionals; now, he's helping on a whole new level by telling some necessary truths... and I can't tell you how much respect I have for him, for taking this on instead of quietly enjoying his later years.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/01/cosby.comments.ap/index.html
The best chance blacks have of achieving economic and social equality is to listen to these sorts of messages; you don't get anywhere in life by pointing the finger at everyone but yourself and making excuses, not even if you DO have valid grievances... you can't whine and complain your way to success, you can't demand endless handouts and special deals as a path to success, you have to focus all your energy on getting educated, getting a career launched and working hard, no matter WHAT your color is. Yes, it probably WILL be harder to succeed if you're non-white, or female, or gay, but your choices are to work harder or never succeed; EVERYONE, not just blacks, needs to stop seeing screaming about prejudice as a substitute for working for what you want in life.
But, don't we need to do something about prejudice? As Oprah Winfrey (who rose above being born the illegitimate child of an impoverished teenaged mother, in addition to being black and female, to become one of the most famous people in the world, with more $ than she can ever spend) has always pointed out, the way to counteract prejudice is with EXCELLENCE.
Bill Cosby helped the black community immeasurably by creating a popular TV show that portrayed blacks as intelligent, articulate, successful professionals; now, he's helping on a whole new level by telling some necessary truths... and I can't tell you how much respect I have for him, for taking this on instead of quietly enjoying his later years.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Getting older can REALLY suck
Most aspects of aging are GOOD: the accumulation of knowledge, the development of wisdom, the steady stream of experiences had and new people met, and the growth of spiritual depth and understanding. The aging of the body, though, is of course uniformly dismaying; fortunately, I've been lucky, and, although I'm pushing middle age, I have no gray hair, a nearly unlined face, and have kept in decent shape, so I can pass for about a decade younger... and, more importantly, aside from comparatively minor things like some back pain and increased food sensitivities, my health is still perfect. There's ONE way that my biology is sticking it to me big time, though; my metabolism.
I've never been a big eater, and for the past 15 years or so my food intake has been VERY controlled to keep me trim; I've also done a steadily increasing amount of exercise throughout that time. Despite that, my metabolism has played some dirty tricks on me, and it does so in a weird way; I don't gradually gain weight, I get a sudden "growth spurt" in my hips that will literally put an inch on them within a couple of months (it's even happened when I've gained NO weight, go figure). My jeans will suddenly feel tight, and I'll get out the tape measure (I don't weigh myself, as I'm recovering eating disordered, and get absolutely psycho over those #'s), and look at the results with disbelief.... oh no, not AGAIN!!
I'll cut my food intake even more, although I already eat so little that you plain wouldn't believe it, and increase my exercising... and curse my mother's super-slow metabolism, that she has passed onto me undiluted by my father's more normal one. I'll try to imagine what I'll have to live on in 10 years, and 20, and 30, to keep from being obese... and hope fervently that they find some medical way to boost metabolism before then.
I wouldn't give up all that I've gained mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to have a younger body again, but it still bums me out that I can only eat a fraction of what other people eat, a fraction of what I myself ate as little as 5 years ago, to keep from getting too big. Perhaps my karmic path requires me to live on the sort of paltry rations attributed to Ghandi, Buddha and many other spiritual greats, in order for me to attain higher levels of spirituality? On the one hand, I sure hope not... but, on the other hand, it might not be so bad to have to eat less and less if I WERE gaining something to compensate me for the loss of my ability to eat remotely normal amounts of food. Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
I've never been a big eater, and for the past 15 years or so my food intake has been VERY controlled to keep me trim; I've also done a steadily increasing amount of exercise throughout that time. Despite that, my metabolism has played some dirty tricks on me, and it does so in a weird way; I don't gradually gain weight, I get a sudden "growth spurt" in my hips that will literally put an inch on them within a couple of months (it's even happened when I've gained NO weight, go figure). My jeans will suddenly feel tight, and I'll get out the tape measure (I don't weigh myself, as I'm recovering eating disordered, and get absolutely psycho over those #'s), and look at the results with disbelief.... oh no, not AGAIN!!
I'll cut my food intake even more, although I already eat so little that you plain wouldn't believe it, and increase my exercising... and curse my mother's super-slow metabolism, that she has passed onto me undiluted by my father's more normal one. I'll try to imagine what I'll have to live on in 10 years, and 20, and 30, to keep from being obese... and hope fervently that they find some medical way to boost metabolism before then.
I wouldn't give up all that I've gained mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to have a younger body again, but it still bums me out that I can only eat a fraction of what other people eat, a fraction of what I myself ate as little as 5 years ago, to keep from getting too big. Perhaps my karmic path requires me to live on the sort of paltry rations attributed to Ghandi, Buddha and many other spiritual greats, in order for me to attain higher levels of spirituality? On the one hand, I sure hope not... but, on the other hand, it might not be so bad to have to eat less and less if I WERE gaining something to compensate me for the loss of my ability to eat remotely normal amounts of food. Hmmmmmmmmmmm....
Thursday, July 01, 2004
"Cell Dogs"
There are so many goofy shows on TV these days that I almost never bother with any current series, but Animal Planet is one of the stations I'll flip on to be filler when I sit down to eat and nothing is getting started at that time, and I ended up seeing most of an episode of "Cell Dogs"... and it turns out to be a truly worthwhile program.
The premise is that dogs are rescued from the pound and taken to prisons, where chosen inmates train them to be service dogs for the disabled. It's a winning situation all around: The dogs get to LIVE, and to go to loving homes-even the ones that can't cut it in training get adopted out, NEVER put down. People who might not otherwise get service dogs can have them, with all the freedom and independence that goes with it. The prisons benefit, because the inmates/trainers have to behave themselves to gain the privilege of having a dog live with them. The trainers benefit enormously from having a loving animal in their lives, something to care for, a goal to work for, and the ability, often for the first time in their lives, to do something of value, that they can be proud of... and some of them have been so deeply affected by the experience that they've gone to work at animal hospitals upon their release.
The biggest benefit of these programs is to society; every criminal that has a change of heart makes all of us safer, and this evidence that it IS possible for even hard-core criminals to be, not just warehoused in prisons, but actually reformed, at least some of the time, should stimulate the penal system to come up with other ways to bring about attitude adjustments. With a little luck, this can lead to the fantasy of criminals becoming worthwhile members of society a reality... at least some of the time.
The premise is that dogs are rescued from the pound and taken to prisons, where chosen inmates train them to be service dogs for the disabled. It's a winning situation all around: The dogs get to LIVE, and to go to loving homes-even the ones that can't cut it in training get adopted out, NEVER put down. People who might not otherwise get service dogs can have them, with all the freedom and independence that goes with it. The prisons benefit, because the inmates/trainers have to behave themselves to gain the privilege of having a dog live with them. The trainers benefit enormously from having a loving animal in their lives, something to care for, a goal to work for, and the ability, often for the first time in their lives, to do something of value, that they can be proud of... and some of them have been so deeply affected by the experience that they've gone to work at animal hospitals upon their release.
The biggest benefit of these programs is to society; every criminal that has a change of heart makes all of us safer, and this evidence that it IS possible for even hard-core criminals to be, not just warehoused in prisons, but actually reformed, at least some of the time, should stimulate the penal system to come up with other ways to bring about attitude adjustments. With a little luck, this can lead to the fantasy of criminals becoming worthwhile members of society a reality... at least some of the time.
