I watch trash

I just finished watching the "Real housewives of Orange County." Daniel humorously stated that it's kind of like porn. For about an hour we watched a bunch of over indulged middle aged women act like teenagers, getting drunk and throwing their artificial body parts around. People in LA refuse to grow up.

After watching one of them get botox injections, I decided to look up something I had heard a long time ago--that it's some kind of virus. Well, not exactly, but here's what I found.

You can read the clip below from howstuffworks.com. I'm definitely not a science person so bear with me. From what I can tell it's a neurotoxin. In other words, it's a substance that blocks the neurotransmitters that tell you muscles to move. That's why it only works on wrinkles caused by muscle movements--brow lines and smile lines, not on wrinkles caused by aging. It's basically a poison that causes the muscles in your face to freeze. It seems a little primitive to me--like drinking snake venom or something.


What is Botox?Botox® is a trade name for botulinum toxin A. In this way, Botox® is related to botulism. Botulism is a form of food poisoning that occurs when someone eats something containing a neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulinum toxin A is one of the neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum.
The most serious symptom of botulism is paralysis, which in some cases has proven to be fatal. The botulinum toxins (there are seven -- types are A through G) attach themselves to nerve endings. Once this happens, acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter responsible for triggering muscle contractions, cannot be released. A series of proteins, VAMP, syntaxin and SNAP-25, are essential for the release of acetylcholine. Certain botulinum toxins attack these proteins. Botulinum toxin A (Botox) affects the SNAP-25.
Basically, the botulinum toxins block the signals that would normally tell your muscles to contract. Say, for example, it attacks the muscles in your chest -- this could have a profound impact on your breathing. When people die from botulism, this is often the cause -- the respiratory muscles are paralyzed so it’s impossible to breathe

Environment slide show

Environment Slideshow

Barbarism

Japanese fleet plans to Kill 50 humpback whales, 935 minke whales and up to 50 fin whales.

From the article...

"Alleged cover for commercial whaling
While scientific whale hunts are allowed by the International Whaling Commission, or IWC, critics say Japan is simply using science as a cover for commercial whaling.

Ken Findlay, a whale biologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, said the humpback population was recovering but said he was worried Japan would kill whales from vulnerable breeding grounds like those off New Zealand.

He also said Japan’s hunting methods were unnecessarily cruel. Japanese whalers sometimes chase wounded animals for hours, he said.

“I don’t think firing a harpoon at a whale and then dragging it next to the ship is ethical,” Findlay said. “You question the necessity of that. It’s not research.”

Japanese fleet heads off to hunt for humpbacks

CSS: CANSEI DE SER SEXY

Cansei de Ser Sexy - Off the Hook

Sorry...boring blog

I am going down to Virginia tonight and staying for two nights. I have to go to Fairfax high tomorrow for some more classroom observation hours. On Wednesday I have to give a presentation on classroom teaching methods. After that, I have 3 big projects to get done in the next 3 weeks. I hope I live to see the end of the month.

On a more interesting note, last night I was reading a blog that my old friend Viranda started to accompany a monthly music mix he releases with some friends (Foundtrack). He wrote about the latest ipod commercial that features music by this cool Brazilian band called Cansei de Ser Sexy (I think it's funny that they named their band after something Beyonce apparently said--I'm tired of being sexy. Who could get tired of that, right?)

Anyway, I decided to steal the idea from his blog and follow up by posting some of their music videos. Check them out....they are super cute:) They sing in English with the occasional rant in Portuguese.

Ugh...

I feel gross.

My mom has recently been trying to get me to eat more balanced meals. About 2 weeks ago I ate only granola bars for over a week. I wasn't trying to lose weight, I was just lazy.

It's a bit of a paradox, but I avoid carbs in the form of pasta, sodas, bread etc. but I absolutely love sweets. I feel I shouldn't waste the calories on things that aren't really worth it. Here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: 2 mini reese's peanut butter cups & 1 mini dove dark chocolate
Lunch: 3 mini reese's peanut butter cups and 1 1/2 blueberry scones
Dinner: 1/2 chipotle burrito and 1 weight watchers ice cream.

Anyway, a few months back my in-laws were generous enough to buy us a zero gravity chair. We had been looking for a chair and couldn't find anything that worked for me. I usually had to lie on the day bed on the other side of the room while D & I watched TV. Now that we have this chair, which becomes completely horizontal when reclined, I can actually see the TV. Here are some pics.

Now, if only I could take it to class with me, I'd be in a lot less pain after 3 hours of lectures.