Friday, June 26, 2009
Scrabble Masters!
Behold, our plastic cube lexicon. Daniel and I can play a mean game of scrabble (except we don't play for points, so they're usually pretty friendly games of scrabble.) I would like to point out that all of the long words such as "literate" and "envision" were mine and all of the the inappropriate words were put on the board by Daniel. Haha, I'm just kidding. It was mixed and any bad words (I think there are two) were formed out of necessity. During one of our games, I said we should come up with a game called scrabulous. Daniel said there already is a game with that name. Darn!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day from Siesta Key!
Here I am on our second night in Siesta Key Florida. We had a long day yesterday. In true Santa Rita style we got to the airport 2 hours early, which ultimately was good because I certainly was not up for any running. We got subs at Quiznos and were the first ones on the plane. Daniel was able to get a business class upgrade for only $69 dollars so we were able to sit together. Aside from a slightly jarring incident when I bashed my head on the overhead compartment and was accosted by an overly friendly steward who caused a bit of a scene trying to help me, the plane ride went very smoothly. We got our rental car and drove 30 minutes to our condo on Siesta Key. We haven't taken any siestas yet, but it's been very relaxing. Today we went to Turtle beach which is right across the street from out condo. It was in the 90's today and the water in the gulf was above 80 degrees. After swimming in the gulf we came back, swam in the pool, and went to an early dinner at turtles restaurant. We are hoping to get to the Mote Aquarium at the end of the week or maybe go on one of their boat tours. The aquarium is small but they say it is possible to see manatees, dolphins and loggerhead turtles on the boat tours.
Dinner at Turtles Restaurant
I know, Pete Doherty called. He wants his hat back. Haha. If only I were that cool.
Daniel, just chillin'. Despite my best efforts he did get slightly sunburned on his back but nothing major. (He has become rather obstinate about my attempts to cover him in SPF 100 so I've relaxed a bit) We brought enough sunscreen to cover an entire family of fair-skinned children perhaps contributing to the 8lbs excess weight in our luggage. We were not too happy when the taciturn counter clerk told us we had to pay $40 for 8 extra pounds.
In the kitchen getting our morning coffee
View of the lagoon from our room
Sunset on the first night
Dinner at Turtles Restaurant
I know, Pete Doherty called. He wants his hat back. Haha. If only I were that cool.
Daniel, just chillin'. Despite my best efforts he did get slightly sunburned on his back but nothing major. (He has become rather obstinate about my attempts to cover him in SPF 100 so I've relaxed a bit) We brought enough sunscreen to cover an entire family of fair-skinned children perhaps contributing to the 8lbs excess weight in our luggage. We were not too happy when the taciturn counter clerk told us we had to pay $40 for 8 extra pounds.
In the kitchen getting our morning coffee
View of the lagoon from our room
Sunset on the first night
Monday, June 15, 2009
Violent Rage Uncommon at Advanced Age
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/12/AR2009061203886.html?nav=rss_email/components
By Neely TuckerWashington Post Staff Writer Saturday, June 13, 2009
In some ways, the most striking thing about the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is the fact that the accused gunman is an octogenarian. The elderly are the least violent people in American society, federal crime statistics show, being just a little more likely to commit homicide than preteens.
There were 17,040 homicides listed by the FBI in 2007, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available. People 65 and older committed 156 of those slayings, or just under 1 percent. By contrast, teenagers ages 13 to 16 -- just a four-year bracket -- committed more than triple that amount. The only age group that committed fewer homicides than the elderly were children 12 and younger.
James Wenneker von Brunn, the 88-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed guard Stephen T. Johns at the Holocaust Museum, is the oldest homicide defendant in recent memory in the District, according to the U.S. attorney's office. The agency does not keep records of defendants based on age, but a spokesman said an informal poll of prosecutors and detectives did not turn up any defendants past their 70s.
"No one has heard of someone this age," said Benjamin Friedman, special counsel for the agency.
Criminologists said the shooting was so unusual that it is not even an area of study. "I don't know of any study of older offenders," said Louis B. Schlesinger, professor of forensic psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "There would be no reason to target older people as offenders" because they are such a minuscule part of the criminal population, he said.
It does happen, of course. Frank Spillman, 94, was charged last year with killing his landlord in Oakland, Calif. Lena Driskell was 79 in 2006 when she was charged with shooting her 85-year-old ex-boyfriend. Both were living in a senior citizens' high-rise in Atlanta when she discovered he was dating another woman.
But the FBI statistics bear out what psychologists and psychiatrists routinely say: Stereotypes about grumpy old men aside, men (and women, who commit about 10 percent of all homicides) become less violent for every year they live after age 25.
In men, surging testosterone levels, coupled with the relative immaturity of the brain's frontal lobes (the brain's executive center, which inhibits impulses), push homicidal violence to a peak between the ages of 17 to 24. Men in that age range were charged with 4,738 homicides in 2007. As in years past, this was by far the highest category.
For each five-year period thereafter, people committed fewer slayings, a steadily descending staircase of violence. By the senior years, a "wisdom of living" has settled in, said neuropsychiatrist Richard Restak, in which violence is rarely considered.
"The outbursts of anger, stemming from the amygdala, are fewer, and are more easily controlled by the frontal lobe," said Restak, a Washington-based researcher who has published 19 books on the inner workings of the brain. "There's a mellowing that usually takes place."
When impulse control is lost in later years, it's either very minor -- think of the elderly complaining loudly about poor service or waiting in line -- or is it often a sign of deterioration in the frontal lobe, said Naftali Berrill, director of the New York Center for Neuropsychology and Forensic Behavioral Science, a private consulting firm that often works on mental evaluations in criminal cases.
"There's also an evolutionary reason why people become less violent in their later years. Physical frailty makes it hard to engage in aggressive acts. You're more easily wounded. The elderly can't compete, physically, with the younger and stronger, so they don't," said Berrill.
Restak and Berrill were careful to say they were not speaking about von Brunn. But they noted that in general practice, the early stages of mental deterioration are first looked at as a cause for violent outbursts by the elderly. Restak notes that about 5 percent of the population shows signs of early-stage dementia at age 65, and that the percentage doubles every five years thereafter.
"The frontal lobe can be terribly compromised" by dementia-related illnesses, Berrill said. "They'll urinate on the wall, or lash out at someone for no real reason. They can't access the frontal lobe and reason things out anymore. Then you see much more aggressive, impulsive behavior."
By Neely TuckerWashington Post Staff Writer Saturday, June 13, 2009
In some ways, the most striking thing about the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is the fact that the accused gunman is an octogenarian. The elderly are the least violent people in American society, federal crime statistics show, being just a little more likely to commit homicide than preteens.
There were 17,040 homicides listed by the FBI in 2007, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available. People 65 and older committed 156 of those slayings, or just under 1 percent. By contrast, teenagers ages 13 to 16 -- just a four-year bracket -- committed more than triple that amount. The only age group that committed fewer homicides than the elderly were children 12 and younger.
James Wenneker von Brunn, the 88-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed guard Stephen T. Johns at the Holocaust Museum, is the oldest homicide defendant in recent memory in the District, according to the U.S. attorney's office. The agency does not keep records of defendants based on age, but a spokesman said an informal poll of prosecutors and detectives did not turn up any defendants past their 70s.
"No one has heard of someone this age," said Benjamin Friedman, special counsel for the agency.
Criminologists said the shooting was so unusual that it is not even an area of study. "I don't know of any study of older offenders," said Louis B. Schlesinger, professor of forensic psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "There would be no reason to target older people as offenders" because they are such a minuscule part of the criminal population, he said.
It does happen, of course. Frank Spillman, 94, was charged last year with killing his landlord in Oakland, Calif. Lena Driskell was 79 in 2006 when she was charged with shooting her 85-year-old ex-boyfriend. Both were living in a senior citizens' high-rise in Atlanta when she discovered he was dating another woman.
But the FBI statistics bear out what psychologists and psychiatrists routinely say: Stereotypes about grumpy old men aside, men (and women, who commit about 10 percent of all homicides) become less violent for every year they live after age 25.
In men, surging testosterone levels, coupled with the relative immaturity of the brain's frontal lobes (the brain's executive center, which inhibits impulses), push homicidal violence to a peak between the ages of 17 to 24. Men in that age range were charged with 4,738 homicides in 2007. As in years past, this was by far the highest category.
For each five-year period thereafter, people committed fewer slayings, a steadily descending staircase of violence. By the senior years, a "wisdom of living" has settled in, said neuropsychiatrist Richard Restak, in which violence is rarely considered.
"The outbursts of anger, stemming from the amygdala, are fewer, and are more easily controlled by the frontal lobe," said Restak, a Washington-based researcher who has published 19 books on the inner workings of the brain. "There's a mellowing that usually takes place."
When impulse control is lost in later years, it's either very minor -- think of the elderly complaining loudly about poor service or waiting in line -- or is it often a sign of deterioration in the frontal lobe, said Naftali Berrill, director of the New York Center for Neuropsychology and Forensic Behavioral Science, a private consulting firm that often works on mental evaluations in criminal cases.
"There's also an evolutionary reason why people become less violent in their later years. Physical frailty makes it hard to engage in aggressive acts. You're more easily wounded. The elderly can't compete, physically, with the younger and stronger, so they don't," said Berrill.
Restak and Berrill were careful to say they were not speaking about von Brunn. But they noted that in general practice, the early stages of mental deterioration are first looked at as a cause for violent outbursts by the elderly. Restak notes that about 5 percent of the population shows signs of early-stage dementia at age 65, and that the percentage doubles every five years thereafter.
"The frontal lobe can be terribly compromised" by dementia-related illnesses, Berrill said. "They'll urinate on the wall, or lash out at someone for no real reason. They can't access the frontal lobe and reason things out anymore. Then you see much more aggressive, impulsive behavior."
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Listen to the mouth on this one
Are women born this way? - Snotr: ""
The heading for this video is "Do all women come out this way?" My answer is obviously no!
It is thought though that baby girls develop slightly faster than boys. They talk more, are generally "busy" exploring and helping while boys are content to just sit and have things done for them.
The heading for this video is "Do all women come out this way?" My answer is obviously no!
It is thought though that baby girls develop slightly faster than boys. They talk more, are generally "busy" exploring and helping while boys are content to just sit and have things done for them.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Confessions, Ramblings and Recipes
**I kind of loathe romantic comedies and but sometimes I'll watch them anyway. I have seen Bridget Jones' Diary at least 10 times and a few weeks ago I watched The Nanny Diaries on Showtime. Awful.
**Sometimes I feed Sam and Frodo ice cream and yogurt with a spoon.
**I have seen Juno about 10 times as well. And EVERY time I see it I get a little verklempt at the end when Juno says "I think I'm in love with you. You're golden, man."
**I am trying to lose weight but every couple of weeks I go home and when I can't sleep, go upstairs and devour a peanut butter sandwich and mug of hot milk.
On this note, for a tasty pudding type of snack take 1/4 cup of fat free ricotta, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2 packets of Splenda. Delicious and under 50 calories. My other recent food addictions: Weight Watchers ice creams, Kashi cereal, and high fiber English muffins.
**My love-hate relationship with So You Think You Can Dance has started again.
What's with the weather recently? I feel like the Congolese Mountains have come to the mid-Atlantic and I'm living in Gorillas in the Mist.
Since spring arrived, a big family of deer have taken up residence in the wooded area across the street from our neighborhood. Traipsing down the hill, I've spotted them on our lawns contentedly munching on neighbors flowers and drinking water from the stream below. One day when I was out with the dogs, I stumbled upon two little box tortoises. Only one was out of its shell and it immediately withdrew when I tried to pick it up. I called Daniel and told him I was bringing them home. When I went back sans dogs to retrieve them, they were gone. Today as I drearily trudged along our grey, wet road I saw a crushed shell with two tiny legs squashed underneath, the creature's amphibian nails scratching the road in desperation. Someone had reversed their car onto it. I stood and stared at the dead animal and walked back home. The thought of my own death rarely phases me. I suppose I derive comfort from the spiritual aspect of my life. Something about seeing that dead, helpless creature shook me though.
Anyway....D's home so just one more confession.
** I haven't practised Spanish in months and it's gotten really crappy. Vocabulary=gone.
**Sometimes I feed Sam and Frodo ice cream and yogurt with a spoon.
**I have seen Juno about 10 times as well. And EVERY time I see it I get a little verklempt at the end when Juno says "I think I'm in love with you. You're golden, man."
**I am trying to lose weight but every couple of weeks I go home and when I can't sleep, go upstairs and devour a peanut butter sandwich and mug of hot milk.
On this note, for a tasty pudding type of snack take 1/4 cup of fat free ricotta, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2 packets of Splenda. Delicious and under 50 calories. My other recent food addictions: Weight Watchers ice creams, Kashi cereal, and high fiber English muffins.
**My love-hate relationship with So You Think You Can Dance has started again.
What's with the weather recently? I feel like the Congolese Mountains have come to the mid-Atlantic and I'm living in Gorillas in the Mist.
Since spring arrived, a big family of deer have taken up residence in the wooded area across the street from our neighborhood. Traipsing down the hill, I've spotted them on our lawns contentedly munching on neighbors flowers and drinking water from the stream below. One day when I was out with the dogs, I stumbled upon two little box tortoises. Only one was out of its shell and it immediately withdrew when I tried to pick it up. I called Daniel and told him I was bringing them home. When I went back sans dogs to retrieve them, they were gone. Today as I drearily trudged along our grey, wet road I saw a crushed shell with two tiny legs squashed underneath, the creature's amphibian nails scratching the road in desperation. Someone had reversed their car onto it. I stood and stared at the dead animal and walked back home. The thought of my own death rarely phases me. I suppose I derive comfort from the spiritual aspect of my life. Something about seeing that dead, helpless creature shook me though.
Anyway....D's home so just one more confession.
** I haven't practised Spanish in months and it's gotten really crappy. Vocabulary=gone.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Gathersburg Presbyterian Church
We are going to try a service at this church next Sunday. For a long time we had difficulty finding a church up here where we felt we fit in with the people and also liked the pastor. We tried the Church Upcounty and Church of the Redeemer. This church has a servce at 11am and is about 15 minutes away along Route 355. It would be nice to start going before the fall semester starts. It looks like they have an interim Pastor at the moment but hopefully he will be good.
http://www.gpchurch.org/
http://www.gpchurch.org/
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