Half-demolished Kitchen of the Soul

Music Video Monday: Oingo Boingo

The 80's still haunt me.

Los hermanos de noticias

Friday Photo

"Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal" on Friday

Happy Song of the Week

Party Out of Bounds / The B-52's

Ancient Technology of the Week

Back before video, everything was film. Before there were camcorders, serious hobbiests used 16 mm cameras like this. Alas, because of a small dent in the case that causes a light leak, this one is just for show. Also, getting 16 mm film processed here, far from the country's film centers, is too much of an ordeal. But it looks cool.

Music Video Monday: k. d. lang

This reminds me of the time Ceebs and I saw her in Los Angeles.

It's enough to make my head spin

About six months ago I had a couple of days of dizzy spells. I'd get a head rush and the room would spin when I'd lay down. And it would happen when I'd change postions in bed. When I'd get up, there would be no head rush, but I'd be wobbly. I'd sit on the bed and wait for the worst of it to pass, then I'd hold onto the walls for a few seconds until I returned to normal.

It started happening again Friday evening, so I went online to see what I could learn. It seems Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo fits my symptoms almost exactly. From the Mayo Clinic site:

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of vertigo — the sudden sensation that you're spinning or that your head is spinning inside.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is characterized by brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. Symptoms of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo are triggered by specific changes in the position of your head, such as tipping your head up or down, and by lying down, turning over or sitting up in bed. You may also feel out of balance when standing or walking.

Although benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can be a bothersome problem, it's rarely serious except when it increases the chance of falls. You can receive effective treatment for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo during a doctor's office visit.

The signs and symptoms of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) may include:

- Dizziness
- A sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving (vertigo)
- Lightheadedness
- Unsteadiness
- A loss of balance
- Blurred vision associated with the sensation of vertigo
- Nausea
- Vomiting

The signs and symptoms of BPPV can come and go, with symptoms commonly lasting less than one minute. Episodes of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo and other forms of vertigo can disappear for some time and then recur.

Except for the nausea and vomiting, that's me. The good thing is the benign part. By itself, it's mostly an annoyance (though the head rush can be euphoric when I'm not worried about falling down).  But it could be part of something far more serious.

Generally, see your doctor if you experience any unexplained dizziness or vertigo that recurs periodically for more than one week. Although it's uncommon for dizziness to signal a serious illness, see your doctor immediately if you experience dizziness or vertigo along with any of the following:

- A new, different or severe headache
- A fever of 101 F (38 C) or higher
- Double vision or loss of vision
- Hearing loss
- Trouble speaking
- Leg or arm weakness
- Loss of consciousness
- Falling or difficulty walking
- Numbness or tingling
- Chest pain, or rapid or slow heart rate

The signs and symptoms listed above may signal a more serious problem, such as stroke or a cardiac condition.

Okay, none of the above for me. I have a regular appointment with my doctor in a few weeks anyway. I'll mention it to her.

Fear vs. Facts, Part 2

After writing on this subject the other day, this article appears:

It seems as if violence is everywhere, but it's really on the run.

Yes, thousands of people have died in bloody unrest from Africa to Pakistan, while terrorists plot bombings and kidnappings. Wars drag on in Iraq and Afghanistan. In peaceful Norway, a man massacred 69 youths in July. In Mexico, headless bodies turn up, victims of drug cartels. This month eight people died in a shooting in a California hair salon.

Yet, historically, we've never had it this peaceful.

That's the thesis of three new books, including one by prominent Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. Statistics reveal dramatic reductions in war deaths, family violence, racism, rape, murder and all sorts of mayhem.

In his book, Pinker writes: "The decline of violence may be the most significant and least appreciated development in the history of our species."

And it runs counter to what the mass media is reporting and essentially what we feel in our guts.

Pinker and other experts say the reality is not painted in bloody anecdotes, but demonstrated in the black and white of spreadsheets and historical documents. They tell a story of a world moving away from violence.

The article then cites statistics. Percentage of the world population killed in wars, down. Genocide, down. Murder, down. Rape, down. Number of totalitarian government, down. And so on.

Fear vs. Facts

Southern US border states, and some that aren't on the border, continue to cry about the flood of illegal immigration, demanding stricter enforcement, more walls, etc.

But the fact is, illegal immigration has been in decline for years. And a get-tough attitude is only part of the story.

The extraordinary Mexican migration that delivered millions of illegal immigrants to the United States over the past 30 years has sputtered to a trickle, and research points to a surprising cause: unheralded changes in Mexico that have made staying home more attractive.

A growing body of evidence suggests that a mix of developments — expanding economic and educational opportunities, rising border crime and shrinking families — are suppressing illegal traffic as much as economic slowdowns or immigrant crackdowns in the United States.

Why do the fear, rhetoric and politics not match reality? It's crazy.

Douglas S. Massey, co-director of the Mexican Migration Project at Princeton, an extensive, long-term survey in Mexican emigration hubs, said his research showed that interest in heading to the United States for the first time had fallen to its lowest level since at least the 1950s. “No one wants to hear it, but the flow has already stopped,” Mr. Massey said, referring to illegal traffic. “For the first time in 60 years, the net traffic has gone to zero and is probably a little bit negative.”

The decline in illegal immigration, from a country responsible for roughly 6 of every 10 illegal immigrants in the United States, is stark. The Mexican census recently discovered four million more people in Mexico than had been projected, which officials attributed to a sharp decline in emigration.

Mexicans, Hondurans, Salvadorans and such just want to come here and either take our jobs or not work and sponge off the system. (Which is it, folks?) But what we're seeing is that most of them would rather stay home. The ones sneaking into the country now are mostly those with spouses and children left behind in the US, or they're criminals.

Illegal immigration isn't the only thing about which Americans have a warped perception. Most people believe crime is on the rise when, in fact, it has been in decline for at least two decades. We're at about the same levels as the 1970s.

In the month of December 2010 FBI released data for the first six months of 2010, which revealed an ongoing dip in almost all categories of violent as well as property crime. It feels great to know that the crime in the United States continues a 20-year decline despite the huge budget cuts which has affected the criminal justice system and the economy as a whole.

It seems some people have some kind of twisted need to be afraid. And, or course, there are those who profit from making us more afraid than we need to be. Want to feel safer? Instead of buying more guns and attack dogs and alarms, just cut back on the amount of news you watch.

Carry that weight

I bought this house—my first one—sixteen years ago.

I had spent the previous 19 years in California where as my income rose, the prices of homes skyrocketed. My ability to buy was always behind the curve. Correction: my ability to buy someplace that wasn't a two hour commute to my job was always behind the curve. Meanwhile, I could easily rent in a good location.

Everyone told me, Dude, you're throwing away that rent money. If you had a house you'd get a tax deduction and be earning equity. It's more than shelter, it's an investment.

Ummm, but I was living near the So Cal beaches, or in the heart of San Francisco. And a mortgage seemed like such a burden. Not to mention maintaining a house and yard. And all those times I wanted or needed to move? No problem. Give notice, collect my deposit, and go.

But when I waved goodbye to California (without needing to sell a house first) and came to Charlotte, the housing prices were a fraction of California and lenders were competing for business. So I took the plunge. And I was glad I did—for the first fifteen years. Now renting is looking very attractive.

Except there's this mortgage thing. And a horrible housing market. I'm not upside down, but I'd like to end up with some equity. If I were to try to sell now, the net would be almost like I'd been renting—from the bank instead of a landlord.

The mortgage limits my options. At least for now. I'm here until the market gets healthier. In the meantime I try to focus on the benefits. Ahhh, a garage to make a mess in and no shared walls. But I could have that if I were renting a house. Sigh.

Friday Photo

Rubber chicken and a bronze

Tonight I went to my first marketing awards banquet in, ummmmm, fourteen years? Ad industry awards used to mean a lot to me, with all the validation, status and other ego salve. Now? Eh, no big deal. But the people I've been doing a lot of work for invited me to come for a small moment of glory. And a bit of networking.

Using an iPhone panorama camera app in a low light situation creates a fractured image reminiscent of Duchamp's Nude Descending a Staircase.

Happy Song of the Week

Persuasion / Santana

I should have been an oneirologist

I've always been curious about dreams. If only someone had come to career day and told me I could study them for a living.

The brain works (or doesn't work) in strange ways

I noticed there's a candy shop where my old wireless carrier used to be. But I couldn't remember the name of the wireless company, only that it had been subsumed into AT&T, that it had an orange X-shaped thing for a logo and that it started with a C. Centrex? Cintel? No.

The name would be on my old phone which was in one of my desk drawers. Just as I found the correct drawer and saw the phone sticking out from under some papers, but before I could see the name, I remembered. Ah. Cingular. Brains are weird.

Music Video Monday: Offspring

Not knowing

I just watched a video of a puppy encountering and ice cube for the first time. It made me think of humans who have never seen ice, much less neatly cubed ice in a non-frozen environment. It made me think of all the eons of human existence when beverages could only be the ambient temperature. Or maybe as cool as a stream running out of the mountains. Of as cool as rain.

I get a wave of anxiety when I think of living without ice or refrigeration, like if I were to live somewhere far from elecricity, snow and mountains. I could never have a really cold drink again. Ever. Just kill me now.

Yet people who have never known ice in their drinks don't miss it. They don't expect cold drinks. They don't even know such a thing exists. And, so, they're happy just to have something to wet their whistle. I'll tell you, though, I've had air temperature water on a hot day. It's not gratifying at all, except to know my body needs it to keep from dehydrating. My cells might be happy, but I'm not. I need a bit of brain freeze to reach liquid nirvana.

So, when civilization and the power grid collapse, I'll need to head to the land of permafrost. Unless another ice age strikes first, in which case it will come to me.

Friday Photo

Don't wanna pay for that

So, the House passed a bill that's supposed to keep government money from going to insurers that cover abortions. The idea is that people who oppose abortion won't have their tax dollars helping to fund it. Fair enough.

But let's extend that line of thought into other areas. For example, how about no federal money to states that have the death penalty, so that people who oppose capital punishment won't have their tax dollars helping to fund it? That would be fair, right? And a huge savings for the federal government.

The right foreign accent can buy one so much

Happy Song of the Week

Play that Funky Music, White Boy / Wild Cherry

Ancient Technology of the Week

The microcassette recorder used to be just the thing for dictating your thoughts, documenting meetings or lectures, and making awful bootleg concert tapes. Now it's all digital, of course, and it's on your smart phone. Everything is on your smart phone.

Impatience and laziness lead to a discovery

I'm a loner. I can happily spend a whole day, a whole week, without interacting with my fellow humans. I'm not antisocial, just asocial.

A side effect of the loner life is that when I do go out in public I have the false expectation things should run as smoothly as they do for me in my solitary routine. Reality has a way of bringing me back to, well, reality, which is filled with people who do not exist for the sole purpose of making my little expeditions hassle-free. Quelle surprise, huh?

So, there I am in the grocery store, waiting for two people who are probably just as self-absorbed as I am to get themselves and their carts the hell out of the way so I can grab a case of Coke Zero. C'mon, people.

I could back up, use the next aisle, and come down the beverage aisle from the other end, but that would be like going around the planet to get the the next room. Or so it seemed. C'mon!

While tapping my foot, rolling my eyes and otherwise exhibiting my repertoire of put-upon body language, I spotted the store brand of diet cola. Hmmmm. I did the mental math. Is the inconvenience of schlepping all the way around to the other end of the aisle greater than or less than the potential for taste bud disappointment? And if there were to be disappointment, would it be offset by the lower price?

When another shopper entered the far end of the aisle, I grabbed the store brand, spun the cart around, and went to get eggs.

Back at home, after the low-status diet cola had chilled, I gave it a taste. Oh. It was good. Not that it tasted exactly like any of the major brand equivalents, simply a little different, and pleasant. And it was cheaper.

Does this mean I'm obliged to thank the people who clogged the aisle?

Music Video Monday: Status Quo