grace_poppy: Dispensary, finished! I have more or less finished Stephen Maturin's dispensary! There are still a few things I need to make and add, but I'm ready to reveal pictures. First, some of the newest furnishings. A shelf with bottles. I made the shelf, made the small bottles, and filled the larger ones. And a cabinet, inspired by cabinets in the HMS Victory dispensary. And I even did something I swore not to do for a long long time - used real hinges with real nails. And a rack for drying plant specimens. And now, the dispensary itself! And here's one more picture with a mechanical pencil on top of the roombox to show its scale. linked at doll_houses , little_world , hms_surprise , perfect_duet and anything_aos .
Seeing in the Dark Credit: cliff1066tm. Patient TN was, by his own account, completely blind. Two consecutive strokes had destroyed the visual cortex of his brain, and consequently, his ability to see. It is not uncommon for stroke patients to suffer brain damage, but the case of TN — referenced by his initials, the general practice in such studies — was peculiar. Known as selective bilateral occipital damage, TN’s unusual injury made him the subject of much interest while recovering at a hospital in Geneva. To further test the extent of TN’s abilities, researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands devised a simple yet decisive experiment: an obstacle course. TN’s rare condition is known as blindsight. The researchers explained that TN’s success indicates that “humans can sustain sophisticated visuo-spacial skills in the absence of perceptual awareness.”
Natural Bias | Health, Fitness & Perspective by Vin Miller Catlanta Drops Kittens Like They’re Hot - PURGE When I met up with Catlanta at Esther Peachy Lefevre Park in Cabbagetown on a recent Saturday morning, he looked like he’d been on the losing end of well, a cat fight. Faded purple and yellow bruises marbled the left side of his face, and a spider web of scabs snaked alongside his eye like misplaced mascara. But I quickly came to find out that this street artist ain’t no street brawler. He had face planted off a fixed-gear recently, barely escaping the spill without stitches. “It’s kind of like meditation,” Catlanta says. That day, we shuffled our way toward Reynoldstown on one of his kitten drops. “I enjoy making them, but it’s the interactive part that’s the real draw for me,” he says. Although the Catlanta project got started as a spray paint tag he tossed up along Dekalb and Wylie to kill time during January’s Snowpocalypse, he’s abandoned the graffiti and now focuses full-time on the magnetic and cardboard kittens he sprinkles around the city. Awesome indeed. Recommended:
The Unexpected Reason Facebook May Be Good For Older Adults Spending time on Facebook has been shown to reduce stress levels, slow down heart rates and -- generally speaking -- just simply relax people. Now new research suggests that learning to use Facebook may have an additional benefit for adults over 65: a sharpening of mental abilities. Janelle Wohltmann, a graduate student in the University of Arizona department of psychology, set out to see whether teaching older adults to use the popular social networking site could give a boost to their cognitive performance and make them feel more socially connected. Her preliminary findings, which she shared this month at the International Neuropsychological Society Annual Meeting in Hawaii, reveal that older adults, after learning to use Facebook, performed about 25 percent better on memory tasks. During her study, Wohltmann helped train 14 older adults who had never before -- or who had rarely used -- Facebook so that they ultimately amassed new online friends while posting daily on the site.
Spirit Vaults : Meditation - Essay - StumbleUpon It seems everyone is interested in meditation...talking about the wonderful benefits, recommending classes and discussing the different ways to "do it". But, for a beginner, just what is "it"? And how do you do "it"? Our busy, hectic, lifestyles may seem to prohibit this peaceful practice, or provide a convenient "excuse" not to begin, or continue, to meditate...but, the happy news is, you CAN successfully benefit even if you practice for short periods. Sit comfortably, preferably upright and alert. To sit on a mat, cushion or pillow, sit cross-legged, half or full lotus, depending on your ability. You may close your eyes (unless this causes you to fall asleep) or gaze with almost-closed eyes as if looking downward and inward. Traditionally, the best times to practice are upon arising and in the evening or before bedtime. Meditation is a cultivation process --- be patient and natural, enjoy each moment, do not "try hard"...just allow and everything will naturally fall-into-place.
Portaledges - scary hanging tents Posted on January 28, 2011 in Bizarre If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook or Twitter . Thanks for visiting! Rate this Post Loading ... So... Check this out on our Partner Network Creating False Memories Elizabeth F. Loftus In 1986 Nadean Cool, a nurse's aide in Wisconsin, sought therapy from a psychiatrist to help her cope with her reaction to a traumatic event experienced by her daughter. When Cool finally realized that false memories had been planted, she sued the psychiatrist for malpractice. About a year earlier two juries returned verdicts against a Minnesota psychiatrist accused of planting false memories by former patients Vynnette Hamanne and Elizabeth Carlson, who under hypnosis and sodium amytal, and after being fed misinformation about the workings of memory, had come to remember horrific abuse by family members. In all four cases, the women developed memories about childhood abuse in therapy and then later denied their authenticity. My own research into memory distortion goes back to the early 1970s, when I began studies of the "misinformation effect." False Childhood Memories My research associate, Jacqueline E. Imagination Inflation Studies by Lyn Giff and Henry L.
"One Good Thing" by Jillee: Wash Your Face With Oil....I Dare You! Let’s try this again…shall we? Despite being distracted by the couch-burning episode yesterday…I’m still excited to talk about Washing Your Face With Oil. (I have moved all couches out of the vicinity…just in case!) So let’s see where were we? Oh yes…washing your face with oil. Sounds like it makes about as much sense as brushing your teeth with sugar….or washing your hands with mud! For example: when my chef friend Heather told me to run my store-bought sourdough baguette under the kitchen faucet before putting it in the oven to warm up...I thought maybe she’d been sampling the cooking sherry. ;-) But sure enough…it came out perfectly. So when I first heard about this “Oil Cleansing Method” I tried to keep an open mind. But despite my disgust over the high price of all the so-called skin “care” stuff we spend billions on annually on as a country…the more I read about this…the less hostile I felt and the more amazed I was. Your skin NATURALLY produces oil for a reason. From acne.org:
A Mother’s Prayer for Its Child By Tina Fey | Write In Color “First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches. May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty. When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer. Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age. Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance.
Scientists capture the first image of memories being made The ability to learn and to establish new memories is essential to our daily existence and identity; enabling us to navigate through the world. A new study by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro), McGill University and University of California, Los Angeles has captured an image for the first time of a mechanism, specifically protein translation, which underlies long-term memory formation. The finding provides the first visual evidence that when a new memory is formed new proteins are made locally at the synapse - the connection between nerve cells - increasing the strength of the synaptic connection and reinforcing the memory. The study published in Science, is important for understanding how memory traces are created and the ability to monitor it in real time will allow a detailed understanding of how memories are formed. (Photo Credit: Science)
"One Good Thing" by Jillee: Get Rid of Armpit Stains FOR GOOD! Make Your Own Deodorant Once again…I am taking my blog inspiration from one of your comments. Karen left a comment today on my post “Whitening Whites…” saying that ever since she started making her own all-natural deodorant, she hasn’t had any problem with armpit stains! Well, that was enlightening…to me! Since we put in all that effort to get those pit stains out….makes sense we should try and KEEP them out! Becca and Mrs. Karen’s recipe for all-natural deodorant is as follows: 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 cup baking soda 10 drops tea tree oil Shake it up real good, then just apply to clean armpits. Since I didn’t have any Tea Tree Oil on hand (I gave all mine to my daughter for our Oil Cleansing Method Challenge. Natural Deodorant 2-3 Tbsp Coconut Oil 1/8 Cup Baking Soda 1/8 Cup Arrowroot Powder or Cornstarch I actually doubled this recipe. Warm the coconut oil in the microwave for :30 seconds (or less), or just until it liquifies. I decided to just keep mine in a half pint mason jar and use in this lotion-y state.
365 tomorrows » I Bet You Say That To All The Girls : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day by submissionFebruary 17th, 2009 Author : Ian Rennie I give Annabeth one last lingering kiss at the door. “I’ll see you next week?” “Count on it.” she says grinning. I close the door as she turns, my heart fluttering. Annabeth is a client, and starting a relationship with a client is the big no-no. I always knew she was special. This is it, then. I just need to take my pill, get a shower, and get ready for her. I take the pill with a glass of water then step in the shower. The warm water is so soothing, like rain during monsoon season. To be honest, I don’t know if I’ll be here much longer. There’s just something about her that makes my heart skip when I know she’s coming. I think she may be the one.
The biology of dreaming o one would normally consider David Maurice, Ph.D., professor of ocular physiology in the Department of Ophthalmology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, a revolutionary. Nevertheless, he has reignited a decades-long controversy that could spark a revolutionary re-evaluation of an entire field of behavioral research. Dr. Maurice has developed a startling new line of scientific inquiry that, when added to other findings, could change our understanding of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and the nature of dreams. What Maurice has done is to suggest an alternative explanation for the phenomenon known as REM sleep, the stage in which the eyes rapidly move and most dreams occur. Dr. "Without REM," Maurice told 21stC, "our corneas would starve and suffocate while we are asleep with our eyes closed." Maurice's interest in REM began a few years ago. "What is at stake here is a theory of dreams that is scientifically valid," Dr. Interpretation vs. observation Drs. No final answer in sight 1.