Make it smooth to the groove like sandwich bread.

It was 1991. I was 11 and living in Honolulu. It was a time of awkward growth and secret crushes on surfers. Braces were my enemy. Sand and bugs pervaded any and all surfaces. My breasts had reached A cups, but aside from that, I still looked like an 8 year old. I found a love for running by making a habit of following the Ala Wai Canal from our apartment to the city library. But most importantly, this song defined my life:

A Paler Shade of Pee

Weekend Fun Pee Pee Facts!

Did you know the normal bladder can hold 250-500mL of urine?
That is roughly 8-16oz.
Seems reasonable.

Hospital patients' bladders have been known to hold up to 1L of urine.
Damn them and their big bladders!

This is the kicker though, our fellow US citizens coming home from their tours in the Middle East have been found to have bladders that can hold 2L. Ahem, that is 2 f*#&ing liters man!

This is not something that is helpful. It causes problems with the bladders tonicity, which in turn causes it to stretch even more since it can't squeeze the pee out like it used to. These fellows are exactly the types of sorry saps that end up having to be catheterized for life. That is right, my friends, think pee bags velcro'd to legs.

Just a little something to chew on next time you buy that 2L of pop.

Do you know what you're eating?

omg, omg.

In our social marketing section of my public health nursing class, we were dazzled by the creative likes of this:



And this:

http://www.themeatrix1.com/

(sorry, I can't repost this one - but Moopheus is a must see!)

And WTF?

I don't wanna go to the dentist!!!

Don't make me do it!!! AHHH!!!
OK, I have never before been afraid of the dentist. I actually used to get excited about the dentist. As a kid, I really liked all the personal attention. Not to mention the delicious flavors of fluoride and toothpaste. Plus the toothbrush always tickled, so that was fun. Then there was the fascination of getting to look up hairy and not-so-hairy noses - endlessly entertaining.

So what gives?

Well, it is my new dentist. For one thing, he is old. VERY OLD. On my first visit to him a short 6 months ago, I couldn't help but wonder if he shouldn't have already retired. Honestly, he appeared to have one foot in the nursing home door. He was obese to the point where he had to walk very slowly. I would call it more of a limp-shuffle really. And when he finally arrived at a stool near my head, he was out of breath and wheezing.

This I could all very well deal with. Except his age and physical appearance are not the end of it. He also seemed to be from the old school mentality of health care professionals that treated their patients paternalistically. He knew what was best for me, he didn't expect me to understand, and he didn't think it was necessary to explain. It is hard not to find this kind of behavior annoying at best, insulting at worst. He was also the kind of person that would cut me off half way through a question and start rambling on, never addressing the question he didn't listen to.

The clincher though, was the flossing. Now as many of you may know, I am a religious flosser. I feel best at twice a day. I know I will sound like a nerd when I say this, but what those dental hygienists say is true: flossing can feel like a relaxing gum massage. mmmm.

But not with this guy! (Why did he insist on flossing me while his hygienist watched? Who knows.) He made my gums hurt like never before. I bled from between almost every tooth! He immediately claimed it was because I do not floss. Then he made a reference to that sorry excuse for a dental patient whose flossing lies are revealed by blood and pain. It was after this that he glanced at my chart and noticed I said I floss daily. I felt like I was on trial pleading my innocence. Since I insisted I floss, he left it at my not flossing hard enough. OW! Not hard enough? I have never had a complaint before from any dentist. Quite the opposite, they usually are praising my dental hygiene.

I left his office that day with a throbbing mouth. Quite frankly, I am afraid to go back. But what choice do I have? Now that my work doesn't give me health coverage I am lucky enough to qualify for MN Care. The only problem is this guy was the only dentist willing to (a) see me at all and (b) not make me wait 10 months for my first appointment. Damn. I miss my fancy bourgeois dentist.

the cate-copying, slog-reposting blog edition!

I love tap dancing. Even more so since this I saw this.

why god, why?

I don't remember the last bits of my evening. I don't remember how I got home. I don't remember hearing the zombie song! NOOOOOOO!!!!! In short, I hurt.

And in other news, here is some stuff I found WAY earlier and never posted:



On the topic of dementia:
There is growing evidence that aerobic exercise can delay (not prevent) dementia-specifically Alzheimer's disease. Four observational studies have shown a 30-40% reduction in Alzheimer's disease when people get regular exercise. It appears that aerobic exercise contributes to frontal, parietal, and temporal lobe tissue density which indicates less age related loss (Kirn, T., (July, 2007). Exercise may delay the onset of dementia, Caring for the Ages, p. 11).

go people, do.

BRAIINNNNSSSS