Sweet Link of the week

So, I was introduced to this website last night that is SO wonderful and fabulous and useful that I don't know how I've lived without it this long. It's called VideoJug - Life Explained. On Film.

Found out about it an interesting sort of way. A friend of mine's little sister has this boyfriend she is totally googly-eyed for, and was looking up info. online about, oh, how to french kiss and am I ready for sex? and such. It's all kind of cute and kind of scary at the same time. This is what middle- and high-schoolers are researching online people.

At any rate, this friend was browsing through the history and found these links her little sis had visited, visited them herself, and then had to share them when we were at another friend's house last night (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAEL!!!), and thus, our knowledge of VideoJug was born. Some of you may already know of its existence. Please, spread the word and enlighten the ignorant.

Some of them are actually supposed to be serious, but may I suggest "How to kiss someone passionately," "how to undo her bra with one hand," "how to give a homie handshake" to start with...

Without further ado, may I present http://www.videojug.com

Go forth. Learn. Laugh. And don't watch the above while consuming liquids unless your sinuses needed a flushing.

home again, home again

ahhhh - back in good ole Colorado. Don't get me wrong - I still love WA, but CO just feels comfortable - really does feel like home here. It doesn't hurt that I have amazing friends, amazing colleagues and professors, the horses, Juilie and Lonnie, school - an amazing opportunity in itself - and now, a boyfriend! =0) One that I really like and really like spending time with! Amazing, I know, but seriously, not that I haven't liked my previous boyfriends, but I also was plumb happy being alone. Now, I could step in here and start psychoanalyzing myself, but I won't. Suffice to say, I was perfectly comfortable being perfectly independent and "free," if you will.
And now there's Bart. I just realized that those of you NOT on facebook don't have access to Bart's profile. In fact, even those of you ON facebook don't...except Kristen =0). Well, allow me to fill you in on his innermost secrets... j/k babe! Just the basics!

At any rate, I met Bart in July at the Ray Hunt clinic in Wyoming. Hard to go wrong with a guy in a cowboy hat on a horse at a natural horsemanship clinic =0) In the traditional flirtatious manner, I stole his hat and filled it with fresh horse manure while we were cleaning the arena. And then he shoved it down my pants. Okay, maybe normal people don't flirt like that, but whatever. And, yes, I'm a cradle-robber. He's only 21...scandalous!!!

Anywhose, following the occasional e-mail, round abouts December, we started IMing and talking on the phone a lot, and then in January he came down to visit, and the rest is history. He's not perfect, but then, who/what is? I think I'd be more concerned if he DID seem perfect... He IS wonderful and funny and cute and sweet and good at keeping me in balance - keeping me from getting too serious. And understanding and supportive. And gives good hugs and is a good kisser (sorry Mom!). And he likes horses! And I'm totally afraid of falling for him, but I also don't want to let that keep me from forming a meaningful relationship. Hell, we even tell each other how much we miss each other and then make kissy noises over the phone, and then Mom makes fun of me - but that's okay, 'cause she's allowed, and, like she said, it's about time. And when I get to see him, I can totally jump into his arms. SO not like me, but it's fun! And it all started with Ray Hunt and horse poo. *mwah*

So, I'm home, and I'm happy with my life and the people in it, and thankful for them all. And I've really got to get to homework now, but just thought I'd fill y'all in a little...

Man Hands!?!

OhmyGod - I have man hands. Last week, we were talking about the digit ratio test. Our prof. had typical man-hands, most of the women had typical woman-hands. But two of us women had man hands, and the one male student had more feminin hands. And by man hands, I mean that, rather than my index finger being longer than or equal to my ring finger, my ring finger is longer than my index finger, which is generally a trait found in most males. Additionally, my ring finger is very close in length to my middle finger, which is associated with athleticism. So I'd make a great specimin of an athletic male - yay! Thought I'd share - more later...

tests and papers and presentations, oh my!

I HATE being sick! Hate it, hate it, hate it!!! And considering the fact that I have so much trouble dealing with the aches and pains of the common flu (or whatever the hell it is I have), remind me to never, ever get pregnant! Being sick = lower back and joint and head aches for a week (well, two, now), whereas pregnancy = 9 months (+) ! I love you, Mom!

And all on top of tests and papers and upcoming presentations, and the regular homework load that I need to get on top of, and research "stuff" (I LOVE cleaning test-tubes! and entering data!), and trying to get back to working the horses now that the weather is nice. But all that really matters is that I am feeling at least a little better by Wednesday morning when I leave for my conference. I am SOOOOO excited!!! I'm going to the EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association - http://www.eagala.org) conference in Ogden, UT from March 14-17, and I am super excited! Plus, I finally get to see Kristen live-and-in-person again!!! Yay!!! I can't really afford it, but I applied for some $$ from the Grad-Student Association, and I can't really afford to not go - I'm taking some workshops on research in the field, bringing mindfulness into the equation, etc. - all applicable information that will help me with my studies and with our own EFP project. And, who knows, by next year maybe I will have enough together to actually present...

And the conference is followed by Spring Break (yay!) - so maybe I can actually get on top of homework and research and my lit. review. AND, I can finally catch up on my correspondence - I always mean to write and call, especially family, and next thing you know, it's midnight, or I'm at home where I get practically zero cell-phone reception. Ahhh, so close.

Well, back to my paper for now (it's for my psych history and systems class - the one that we had a test in last Monday...yeah, 4 1/2 hours and 14 (single-sided) handwritten pages later, and I'm still really nervous about how I did). Anyways, it's on the early beginnings of music therapy - specifically, music as cause of and cure for melancholia in the late 16th - early 17th centuries. It's interesting that melancholia was an affliction reserved for intelligent (often wealthy) white males, whereas males of lower SES were thought to be overly effeminate, and women sporting similar symptoms were accused of witchery... gee Heidi, any thoughts on that topic?

sassafrass

and now, another puppy memorial to Sassy.

Sassy was lonnie's heeler - she actually died late Sunday/early Monday. At least she died of old age - she was happy and bouncy and actin' like a pup all the way up 'til Saturday night when she started getting sick. All sunday she didn't feel good, and then she just died that night.

Poor Sass - but, like I said, at least she was doin' great, and then just died in her sleep. Miss you.

Now, no more animals are allowed to die!!!

fun websites

So in my seminar in learning and cognition last night, we were talking about theory of mind and that lead to rumination on creativity and imagination, and that, of course, led to what is creativity? what is imagination? and how can/do we teach in and encourage them, and are they lacking in schools lately due to standardized testing, and are they lacking in society in general? Naturally, the whole modern-day versus back-in-the-day discussion came up. Ya' know the one - the days of old when kids read books, made up stories to play out, listened to the radio...and today when kids have t.v., movies, and computers and have no desire to create their own plotlines and patience with books (ESPECIALLY books with no pictures)!

That discussion aside (though I will throw in that I LOVE books!), the whole thing reminded me that I wanted to share some of my favorite websites - at the top of which are those where you can stream old-time radio shows. I LOVE old-time radio shows, like, a ridiculous amount. I stream them and do my homework while I listen. I find the local a.m. stations that play them on Sunday nights. I found a few radio stations that stream online that play them - all the classics like Jack Benny, Fibber McGee & Molly, My Favorite Husband, Father Knows Best, the Shadow, Lights Out, etc. Some even include old newsreels. AWESOME!!! They're fun to listen and paint an interesting picture of society at the time.

So, without further ado, some of Karen's favorite websites (the first four are radio. the rest...well...):

http://www.oldtimeradiofans.com/

http://www.radiolovers.com/

http://www.radiospirits.com/onradio/ontheradio.asp

http://yesterdayusa.com/streams.htm

http://www.peepresearch.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org

http://www.quizfarm.com

persnickity

Did any of you read the "Serendipity" books by Stephen Cosgrove? They're short little kid books that all have a moral lesson - Nitter Pitter, Bangalee, Serendipity, Leo the Lop, Little Mouse on the Prarie, etc. There's tons of 'em. Anyways, the one - Persnickity - is about this perfectly neat and tidy dragon that leaves the messy dragons to live on his own. He throws a "house-warming party" and invites all the other dragons. They show up and destroy his roses, because Persnickity took the time to pick all the thorns off each rose - making them, in his eyes, more perfect. Until the dragons ate them because there were no thorns to stop them...

I thought of Persnickity as I was studying for a test tomorrow. Going over my notes, I came across some of the questions of change vs. continuity, is God a higher being, in the more tangible sense - separate from man - or is God all, and all is one, and that one is God? And I began to think (dangerous!)... we didn't get to discuss Heraclitus' take on God in class, but we were wondering what he might say, particularly in response to Parmenides and Zeno. Parmenides and Zeno say all is permanent - the philosophy of being, if you will. we are all part of one permanent, unchanging, perfect being. There it is - that operative word. Perfect.

Throughout history history, God, or that higher being, has been equated with perfect. At the same time, perfect has been associated with unchanging - why change the perfect? Therefore, is Perfect = unchanging, and God = Perfect, than God = unchanging.

Heraclitus believed in change. Rather than being, Heraclitus purports we are all in a state of becoming. Well, what about God, then? If he didn't believe in any constant, than God must also be "becoming" - God must be changing, too. But how can you have a perfect, unchanging God and a changing God simultaneously exist?

BUT - what is "perfect?" Who says Perfect = unchanging? Perhaps this state of becoming is, in fact, "perfect," rather than the state of being. Don't get me wrong - it's necessary for us all to partake in moments of being (as in being mindful - living in the present, not the past or future). However, as far as overarching concepts - the world as permanent vs. the world in constant flux - what is "perfect?"

the joys of cognitive dissonance

What is creativity? For that matter, what is intelligence? Where in the brain are they located? What about motivation? And the emotions? And is there a difference between emotions and feelings - or Spinoza's passions, which, I have a feeling, are similar to Damasio and Reimer's notions of feelings - "feelingful experiences." Really, the way I interpret it, emotions and the passions, or the feelings, are seen as qualitatively different, and yet overlapping. Emotions, however, are capable of being labelled - anger, joy, sorrow, fear, contentment. Feelings are harder to label - I don't know if I can even explain it. But they transcend emotions - more than just a heightened state of emotions - related, but different. Oh, my brain hurts. Ain't it grand?

And even though neuropsychologists and other scientists might be able to map and highlight where emotions "occur," where motivation "occurs," where creativity "occurs," is it that simple, or is there a larger picture to consider?

And what of the mind-body connection?

I guess the overarching question is: is it really appropriate to segregate all of these factors? It obviously makes studying and describing such aspects easier, but can we truly separate them - treat them as separate elements? Or does it ultimately all work as one?