sixty two

pineapples can help heal bruising faster. and creamy shampoos help winterize your hair better than clear shampoos (which strip your hair of all it's built-in protection). thanks again, dr. oz!

sixty one

there are people out there who will never except your point of view, no matter what, because they are so entrenched in theirs (and society's) that they can't possibly consider other opinions. and there's nothing you can do about, so don't bother trying.

sixty

during my architectural walking tour, learned all about art deco. it was during this era that skyscrapers started popping up (prior to this time, the highest building in the world was 16 stories) - this was due in part to advances in technology, including the use of steel, reinforced concrete, the invention of elevators & plastic. it was also during this time that the mayan ruins and king tut's tomb were discovered, which provided much inspiration for the arts and architecture. art deco emphasizes verticality and strength, and streamed modern lines. gone were the classical influences of greco-roman columns and cornices. we visited 7 buildings in seattle that were built during this time of opulence and abundance. but the great depression soon followed, and after 1933, not another skyscraper was built in seattle until 1959.

fifty nine

i now know the steps it takes to apply for and be accepted into the military academy in india (courtesy of my friend CP). you know. in case i ever want to join the indian army.

fifty eight

you can major in the beatles (read here). as much as i love them, i can't imagine spending thousands of dollars to get a master's degree in it. and, what do you do with it after?

fifty seven

money can buy happiness, but only up to a point. according to oprah's happiness show today, for a family of 4, earning more than $75K/yr does not increase your happiness.

also, joining a club (to increase social interaction) will impact your happiness equal to doubling your income.

and, giving is better than receiving when it comes to happiness. BUT the impact of giving a "thing" only lasts about 9 months, whereas giving an "experience" will last a lifetime.

fifty six

not all lentils are created equal. black and green tend to keep their shapes after cooking while brown and red tend to get a bit mushy.

fifty five

both teams will be wearing yellow pants in the super bowl this year. while there have been many years were both sides have worn white (1969, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1987, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2007), yellow has happened only once before - in 1980.

fifty four

most soy sauces contain gluten. so might blue cheese, drinking chocolate & even toothpaste. my oh my.

fifty three

i am fortunate to have met my soul mate, many are not as lucky. but one of my patient's seems even more blessed than me.

while working with him today (he's known for his humor and sarcasm), we were discussing how everything in life has it's ups and downs, pros and cons, good and bad sides. he stopped for a minute then said: "no, i don't think that's true". i asked him what he thought didn't fit the mold. he stated: "my marriage". i jokingly asked if it was all good or all bad. he replied, quite seriously: "all good. there was no bad at all. she was the love of my life." he's 94 years old, cute as a button, and had been married to his wife for 68 years before she passed away from alzheimers. even though i'm not necessarily a marriage advocate in today's society, that's still pretty remarkable.

fifty two

hickeys can paralyze you. at least when given by a kiwi ;o) yikes! (read here).

fifty one

while performing ankle pumps, one of my elderly patients informed me that she used to dance "the camel walk". i didn't know what the heck she was talking about it, but she attempted to demonstrate it to me while seated. she then laughed for a good minute at the memory and also that "michael jackson stole it from us - but he did the camel walk backward and called it the moonwalk".

fifty

seattle is america's #16th rudest city (read here then click the slideshow). at least it wasn't all in my head!

forty nine

apparently, "naturally speaking" - per my trivia host, all of santa's reindeer are female. reason? males have usually shed their antlers by late december, while females typically retain them. hmm. interesting. although, according to snopes.com - it's not necessarily true. read here. also, in the claymation movie rudolph the red nosed reindeer, they are very clearly male. i think i want credit for my "male" answer, trivia guy!

forty eight

martin luther king jr.'s favorite pie was pecan.

forty seven

soldier field is heated. they run heated glycol in pipes under the grass to keep the roots at a 50 degree F temp so it stays green all year (read here). and here are some other facts about soldier field that i didn't know. too bad the seahawks lost today, but.... J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

forty six

condoms are ESSENTIAL, and should be made readily available. abstinence only education is DUMB. this is why - it doesn't work!

forty five

so enough hubbub about changing astronomical signs. i found this far more interesting: the days are getting longer, thanks to the earth's rotation slowing. billions of years ago a day was a mere 6 hours long. and it was less than 23 hrs long when the dinos were here. and "leap seconds" are added periodically to keep atomic clocks in sync.

also, gravity is totally unevenly distributed. so you'll weigh less in india than you do in indonesia. weird. read more interesting facts here.

forty four

"lassie come home", with elizabeth taylor, was filmed in lake chelan national recreation area, part of the north cascades, right here in washington.

forty three

i think president obama is a SK6ers fan.. in his speech last night at the tucson memorial, he said:

"i believe we can be better. those who died here, those who saved lives here - they help me believe. we may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but i know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. i believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us."

sounds a bit like this line from milwaukee:

"the way you treat each other is up to you."

i'd love it if our president was a SK6ers fan! on a more serious note, his speech definitely made me choke up a bit - and i'm not normally a crier. i hope everyone, no matter what political association he aligns himself with, had a chance to listen and reflect (and if you didn't, here's the video and transcript). it's sad that it takes such a tragedy to make us realize we're all in this together. i'll end with my other favorite part of his speech:

"what matters is not wealth, or status, or power, or fame - but rather, how well we have loved, and what small part we have played in bettering the lives of others."

may we never forget..

forty two

when the snow does fall in seattle, it's quite lovely. but enjoy it while you can, b/c by morning it'll be all mush. bleh.

forty one

i cooked with tofu for the first time today. it came out pretty darn good, if i do say so myself.

i also learned a new word: ursty. according to urban dictionary, it means either (1) clingy or (2) related to unresolved sexual tension. hmmm....

forty

there's reason to believe i might live longer than most of my friends (read).

thirty nine

crazy, inexplicable things happen every day.

thirty eight

so, i saw a commercial on tv for champion, claiming that they "invented the sports bra". and i got to wondering.. did they really? so to google i went. turns out - they didn't. well, not exactly. in 1977 a university of vermont student, an avid runner, noted her bras weren't holding up. with 2 others students, she sewed together 2 jock straps and the sports bra was born. they then founded a company called "jogbra" the next year (read here). it seems in the 1990s playtex purchased jogbra (read here). and now champion has a line called jogbra, and does indeed claim that they invented it "more than 20 years ago" (read here).

so i'm not really sure.

what i do know is that sports bras aren't really all that comfortable for most people. and at least according to some researchers, the perfect one has yet to be invented (read here). well.. get on that people!

thirty seven

apparently there is a trend in the art world of combining animal and human parts into one body. and i don't like it.

thirty six

although it's from an old article (money magazine, 2009), i learned today from a clipping posted at my work that - at least according to one survey - PTs have the 2nd least stressful job. SLPs and OTs also make the list. interesting.. to note, PTs were also mentioned in the "job growth" and "job security" categories, but not in the "benefit to society" category. haha.

thirty five

so i wrote an email today, but after i pressed send, this warning popped up. the google mail thingy is apparently smart enough to not only proofread my email but to also UNDERSTAND my email. "big brother" much? it was actually kinda creepy..

thirty four

today began my actual new years resolution. which, for those of you who don't know what my final decision was - it's that i will cook one new meal a week for a year. rules: (1) it cannot include baking and (2) it must have some sort of nutritional value. i've already built in some flexibility so that if i miss one week - no big deal. thanks to cass-hole for suggesting that. it really helps take the pressure off. i'm so afraid of failure (in general) that i was worried, what if i fail to make a meal a week? cass suggested i allow that flexibility so i can instead focus on the purpose of the goal, which is not to achieve some magical 52 dishes. but to familiarize myself with different foods, learn to experiment without fear, and hopefully grow to enjoy preparing meals as much as i love eating.

so (drumroll......) i learned how to cook orange-scented couscous salad with chicken, almonds, cilantro and cucumber. i also learned what coriander tastes like. AND i learned that there are 3,033 counties in the USA (thanks to jos for that last one).

thirty three

it is possible to get into the playoffs with a losing record. (seattle seahawks, first NFL team with a losing record to win its division, 2011. read here).

to note: tonight i also felt my first disappointment of 2011, which is that b/c i have to work 3 saturdays a month, i will not be attending the 8 january 2011 game of seahawks vs saints. i almost want to cry, b/c when else am i going to have an opportunity to see a playoffs game, cheap, involving 1 of the 4 teams i actually care about? on the bright side, at least i realized this before i pressed "purchase" on the ticketmaster website..

thirty two

"sentimental dramas featuring a strong female lead" is actually a movie category on netflix.