Abstract Art Vs. Talk Radio

The February issue of Psychology Today had an article on the more inherent differences found in people who call themselves conservative and people who call themselves liberal. Apparently it goes beyond simple views and values to include underlying differences in temperament.

Several studies have been done on different aspects of this phenomenon. Home decor, travel and education experience, personalities as children, and of course, some sneaky priming are all clues in determining whether a person calls himself conservative or liberal.

In one study done on home decor, it was shown that typically conservatives are neater, their rooms are cleaner, better organized, more brightly lit, and more conventional. Liberals have more books which cover a greater variety of topics and more color in their homes. Conservatives are more likely to be religious while liberals are more likely to like classical music and jazz. Conservatives tend to prefer country music (deal breaker for me right there). So far, all of these seem pretty obvious and stereotypical.

Interestingly though, in 1969, a couple of professors from Berkely went on a child personality study asking nursery school teachers to rate the temperaments of the children in their classes (three year olds). The children that grew up to be conservatives were indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited, and vulnerable. Those that grew up to be liberals were described as children as having close relationships with peers, were self-reliant, impulsive, and resilient. Researchers hypothesized that the insecure children most needed the reassurance of tradition and authority which they found in conservative politics. Interestingly, later in life, conservatives are more typically very decisive with less tolerance for ambiguity and are also typically less vulnerable seeming.

The article sort of loses its focus and starts talking about scare tactics and priming which is easy to get people to change their focus and priorities temporarily. But, we all know about this type of psychological manipulation. It is old news.

And now I have started losing focus.

Check out Pandora.com. It is a website that allows you to put in favorite artists and the site will then put together a sort of radio playlist for you with similar sounds. I have been listening to it all morning. For this new addition to my daily aural experience I would like to thank Mike, the comic book shop guy (I do actually learn something while my husband is browsing!), and Doug, who reminded me of it this weekend in between drinks, rich food, and games.

In other news: Dutch Blitz is fucking rad (oops! excuse my language! it is an Amish game!), the UN clears Serbia of genocide in the 1990 Bosnian war, and Jessica Biel doesn't need a bra.

How I Became Stupid

I just finished the book How I Became Stupid by Martin Page. A very cute, short french novel about a young man going through a bit of a spiritual crisis. The book gets ridiculously silly in some parts while the author maintains a very grave tone.



Twenty-five year old Antoine is burdened by his intelligence. It permeates every aspect of life leaving him in a constant state of worry and depression. After trying, and failing at various apparent panaceas (alcoholism, suicide), Antoine decides to become stupid. He deliberately rids his apartment of every reminder of the worthwhile and sets on a quest to study all the well-adjusted stupid people he encounters. He gives his friends a time limit of six months...... if he is an absolute jerk by that time, they need to bring him back.



A fun, quick read, that scarcely got me thinking at all. But for its very judgemental separation of all the author deems intelligent and worthwhile from what he assumes to be stupid, inane, and therefore evil, the book was innocuously cute.

In other news: Britney Spears is in rehab, Chimpanzees make wooden spears for hunting, and a 'bat demon' is blamed for sex attacks on Tanzanian men.

Environmentally Conscious

According to some source I recently encountered but don't recall, Fiji water, one of the best tasting and coolest packaged bottled waters (my opinions) is not worth its price to the environment.



Apparently, taking into account the true cost of producing and transporting it, it takes 26 times more water than is actually in the bottle to get it to us here in the states. And according to Treehugger, the the manufacture and transport of that one kilogram bottle of Fiji water consumed 7.1 gallons of water, .26 gallons of fossil fuel and emitted 1.2 pounds of Greenhouse Gases.



For more information on the study, click here..


In other news: Paris Hilton has no friends and throws weird parties, I just found out that Newt Gingrich is a novelist, and ineluctable means not to be avoided, changed or resisted.

What else are weekends for?!

Carbohydrate squalor, and proof that I have a friend in town.

..... and that I didn't eat all of that on my own.

Happy Valentine's Day

My Backyard This Morning

A Spot of Bother - by Mark Haddon

I just finished A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon this morning. It was a lot of fun to read. Stressful and funny. While Jean has been having an affair with David and Katie is having cold feet and Jamie is desperately trying to get Tony back, the wedding is being planned and George is losing his mind quite properly.

The book focuses on one family and all the separate but connected issues they are dealing with in their personal lives. Haddon does such a good job of making his characters real and quirky and interesting. Each chapter is thoughtfully told from a different family member's point of view, sometime with action overlapping making it extremely urgent that the reader continue. (And of course, not everybody's reality is the same).

"And she could see them turning slowly into the people they were pretending to be, the problem they were meant to solve drifting slowly into the background, the two of them turning into a team whose job it was to bring up a child and run a household despite the fact that they had nothing in common, having conversations about what was needed from Tesco and waht they were going to do at the weekend, going to bed and putting out the light and rolling away from each other and trying not to dream about the lives they could have led."

"It seemed so obvious what he felt. But when he tried to put it into words it sounded clumsy and unconvincing and semtimental. If only y ou could lift a lid on the top of your head and say, 'Look.'"

"Seven or Fifty-seven, they needed their projects. Bringing something dead back to the cave. Setting up the W---- franchise. A solid lunch, 20 minutes of playtime and gold stars to show that someone was taking notice."

Enjoyable. Perfect for the two days I spent with the flu. If you have the flu, e-mail me and I'll send you the book to read!

The Female Brain

I just finished the book The Female Brain by Louanne Brizendine. Unless I spelled her name wrong. Then it is by somebody else.


First, let me tell you, that research involving rats piques my interest much more than any other kind. I think I have more sympathy for rats than I do for humans. Especially those on cocaine and those with research instigated brain issues.


But, some things I learned from this book about humans: (a) In some societies, anthropologists have found that the presence of a grandmother improves a child's prospect for survival much more than the presence of a father. (b) After menopause, a woman's drive to tend and care, as well as her urge to avoid conflict at all costs is significantly lessened. (c) The female's brain is only half as likely to be wired for same-sex attraction as is the male brain. (d) Young girls are better at mirroring than boys and are thus able to understand others' emotions more easily.


I don't know how all this applies to rats, which is a question of more concern, but from this research, we can probably gather enough information to see an improvement in their quality of life!



In other news: I think I have the flu, The Superficial is less compelling since Anna Nicole Smith died, all of my students received superior markings in the piano festival this weekend, and Reverand Ted Haggard is cured of homosexuality and is being urged to leave Colorado Springs.



(Pictured above, Hamlin is the dark rat, and Shortbread is the light one. The have their own bedroom and would have smiled for the camera, but I woke them up from a nap. You know how that is).

The Importance of Macaroni and Cheese

After a hard day of teaching and being in Colorado, sometimes what I need is not a martini or a glass of wine (though if you were to pour me one and place it in my hand I'm sure I'd polish it off out of politeness). Sometimes what I need is macaroni and cheese.

Now, there are several ways of eating macaroni and cheese. First is the basic: Kraft out of the box? Frozen and very cheesy? At a restaurant? (IHOP, Village Inn, and Perkins do not count as restaurants) Or as a base for the rest of the meal (chili mac, tuna mac, etc).

I choose Frozen and cheesy. And if you order macaroni and cheese in a restaurant, well. Don't get me started. Of the frozen and cheesy macaroni and cheeses out there, I particularly choose Amy's Kitchen Macaroni and Cheese.

Once this initial choice has been made, there is yet another step in how one eats macaroni and cheese. I know people who eat it plain, with salt, with garlic salt, with tabasco sauce, with chili sauce, with ketchup!

If you know me, you will know that I have been a staunch supporter of ketchup on my macaroni and cheese all of my life. And I have never wavered. It has been an important aspect of my general self-identity. Until tonight. Tonight I actually preferred my macroni and cheese with garlic salt. Preferred it. Not just tried it. I suddenly feel like I have no ground to stand on! I no longer know what is right and what is wrong! Is this a sudden change? Or have I been this way all along and just not known it?! Am I suddenly obligated to try all the different options when it comes to macaroni and cheese? Has ketchup been my friend not out of real likeness but only out of tradition?

Sigh.

Tomorrow I am likely to go absolutely crazy and try raspberry sorbet with gummy bears!

After 145, bad things start to happen

Today I finished the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

It is a book about intuition, first impressions, and quick decisions. We all make decisions based on information we have inside us that we aren't even aware of accessing. We do this all the time, and a good portion of the time, our instincts are helpful. They keep us out of dangerous situations; they tell us when something is not quite right; they tell us when someone is lying. However, there are times when the biases we have cultivated inside us lead us astray.


Gladwell explores the quick decisions and gut feelings made and had by emergency room doctors, police officers, interviewers, and other experts in various fields. He talks about the physical symptoms and the intellectual process that takes place. And interestingly, he discusses how people are hurt by, helped by, exploit, and develop these habits.


While the book was very interesting (it led me to the fascinating Implicit Association Test) I wanted a lot more from Gladwell. He presented his topic well, and had all of the examples to explain it. However, I felt like he never really got past the examples. I'm not exactly sure what more I wanted. I'll have to think about it; maybe I wanted him to take a more quantitative approach to his research. I am going to recommend this book though to those who want a quick and easy read that gets you thinking.



In other news: I cooked with quinoa for the first time today. Quinoa is cross between a grain and a cereal and is known for its nutritional content high in protein and amino acids (thank you Wikipedia) and is very tasty baked with tomato sauce, corn, spices and cheese and stuffed into green peppers (thank you Aubrey's taste buds).



Anything else of importance going on today? Nope! I didn't think so!

Mango Custard

If you thought from the title that this blog is about food - you're right!

My husband is away in Chicago to watch the Superbowl with other Bears fans. I do not qualify because though I am from Chicago as well, watching football really only leaves me with intense interest in floorboards….. ceiling tiles…. split ends.

But so, regardless of reason …… my husband is away and I had chocolate cake for breakfast. I had a stir fry for lunch fifteen minutes later. I had mussels in a white wine garlic butter sauce for dinner. Garlic butter sauce? Ah yes…. You know what my breath is going to be like tomorrow and also why I only eat like this when he is away!

But wait!

There’s more!

Hehehe. For supper I had an entire bud of garlic, roasted and spread on toasted French bread. And a glass of Strathisla.

Now, you may recall the foodgasm I had over the Strathisla vintage I had over the holidays out of my dad’s cabinet to soothe my poor Laphroaig-abuse tongue. Well, THIS….. is not the same. Not quite. It is very fresh, just like the one I first tasted. And the aroma….. ahhhhh – very much like dried fruit I think. It is spicy and cedary (my words…. So take them with a grain of salt)…. and the author of my scotch book gives it an 80 on his scale. I give it a burgundy heart-shaped medallion. But my scale isn’t based on numbers, and is thus less helpful.

Cheers! And enjoy the Superbowl tomorrow!

Important Inventions that Were Not Mentioned in the President's Speech

Please check out my friend's blog on this very topic at: http://elizabetherin.blogspot.com/.

There are a few inventions however, that she failed to incorporate that I think our President might have bothered to mention:

The cross-nationality noodle steam reducer! Now you can start eating your hot meal RIGHT AWAY!

Our calorie deficit is getting out of control! Now we can apply butter to our toast without the hassle of using a butter knife and spreading!

And in other news: Lindsay Lohan has a healthy appetite, Brandy is getting super sued (with lasers!), and lo and behold...... the earth's climate change is 'very likely' due to human activities.

I don't think he wants to have his meat cut at all

Always one to listen to my mother, I hereby terminate the weekly Gilmore Girls blog. In the words of this mother I've mentioned, "Oh yay. I get to read another annoying blog on Gilmore Girls" I detected a bit of disdain..... anybody get that too?

Happy Wednesday and last day of January! (I'm celebrating with a blueberry scone and some steamed almond milk at Barnes and Noble this morning).

Raw Foods Reassessment Take 2

A friend said it would be hit or miss, but I'll have you know, that brownies made of walnuts, raisins, carob chips, and honey are WONDERFUL.

Oh, my goodness. Everybody behave naturally.

Since it is Tuesday, and I am currently still in my pajamas being obviously very productive, I made myself French Toast for breakfast. I never take advantage of the fact that I'm at home in the mornings! Why not? And so today..... splurging gluttonously, I made some amazing and fattening and delicious french toast. I would supply you with a picture but a) I can't find my camera battery charger, b) I ate it way to fast anyway, and c) you're probably not interested.

In other news that has nothing to do with me:

1. Wolves are being taken off the endagered species list in three states and might be removed in three more in the next year! Isn't that cool? I think its cool. (To clarify the reasoning (kindly pointed out to me), it is because they are no longer endangered).

An Idaho Wolf. Soon to be taken off the endangered species list!

2. Japanese opposition parties tell the health minister to resign for calling women "birth-giving machines". Haha. Go brilliant men in politics!

The Tokyo Domes lit up. Much more interesting to look at than a picture of the Japanese health minister.

3. Archaeologists say they have found a huge ancient settlement used by the people who built Stonehenge. Real news. Fascinating news.

4. Malta is the only place in Europe where abortion is completely banned. Even to save the life of the mother, which is silly, because most of the time, if she dies, she takes the baby along with her. Ireland is the next most strict country.

5. Am I boring you with the news? Two more.

6. Three ex-ministers of Nepal's King are arrested on suspicion of conspiring to encourage violence in Southern Nepal. Brilliant! Suspicion of conspiring to encourage violence.

One of the Malta Ministers in the back of a police car! Conspiring to encourage violence!

7. And in England, the euphemism for drunk used for the press (since it is considered slander if you actually say drunk, plastered, inebriated, etc) is "tired and emotional." What my English friends must think of me!

Colin Firth. He's English. You can tell by the wallpaper.

The State of the Union

Last night was the state of the union address
I wasn't excited to watch it unless
I learned something new
That wasn't untrue
And didn't leave me with feelings of distress. (BAH!)

NCLB isn't working however
It hasn't been given the chance
Immigration is a concern
We want illegal workers to earn
A temporary worker program we must finance. (Wow. This is terrible!)

Health Insurance still must be privatized
Is privatized even a word?
Another tax break
Designed just to make
A problem today to tomorrow deferred.

A Diversified fuel supply is a must
But does "clean coal" even exist?
A half hour of this depression
And he's on to the bigger question
How long in Iraq will we persist??

We have a new strategy this time.
America has to give it a chance!
This time we won't fail
It's down to detail
Twenty thousand more troops to advance!

Iran is a problem once again
We fear they might be going nuclear
Some crap about diplomacy
Nothing rhymes with diplomacy
Bush still mispronounces it nucyoolur. (which doesn't rhyme)

The thing that really upsets me
Is the genocide going on in Darfur
With our sense of responsibility
Isn't it just hostility
To ignore it and let it occur?

Finally, the speech started to bore me.
Everybody falsely seemed to agree
I started to daydream
Because this address didn't seem
Like anything that would have an effect on me.

Time then to turn to Gilmore Girls:
My typical Tuesday communion.
A fantasy town
To successfully drown
My despair over the state of our union.

This is the worst poem I've ever written. In fact, I can't call it a poem. It is a mess. And if you read this far, well...... WOW! You must really love me!

Some Of The Best Company Was Had Today

Though I am a tidy person and keep things straight, clean, and organized; though I love to cook, and don't mind yard work, I hate HATE HATE folding and putting away clean laundry. Below is a mess of clean laundry just a couple of feet away from my closet. I actually step over it to get to the closet! It is all clean..... half of it is folded...... I just can't bring myself to put it away. Help!

And just so you didn't think my obsession with food had disappeared, I have a comment or two to add about my recent food experiences. Though my food cravings typically tend toward the gourmet, or the really healthy (at least usually the complicated), I have recently been craving the stuff that resembles food.

Does anyone remember handisnacks? Those delightful little packages with four rectangular crackers, a little tub of orange spread that resembles cheese, and the tiny little red plastic spreader that makes it all worthwhile?

Well, they STILL EXIST! Even now that I am an adult..... they still exist! I don't remember how I got these as a child...... my mom always made sure we ate REAL food. It seems like the kind of thing my sister and I might have bought at the White Hen with my babysitting money while we were skipping a music class one Saturday, but I don't really remember. It is cheese and crackers for dinner for me! However, my dinner is actually going to be halfway between foodstuff and food...... Olive Oil and Cracked Pepper Triscuts and Port Wine Cheese Spread. Does that go better with red wine or a martini? Anyone?

I'd far rather be happy than right

It's kind of early to be up and blogging on a Sunday morning, but now I have proof that I'm not weird! (Well, in this circumstance at least). According to Louann Brizendine, author of The Female Brain, due to hormones, women are naturally inclined to rise and retire approximately an hour earlier than men. And this typically lasts from puberty to menopause. So, there's my excuse! Goodmorning ladies! (Since we got Curry a new bed, it is hard to get her up in the morning.... if she were up, I'd be cuddling with her!)



Also, in Colonial America, women were occasionally put in the town stocks with wooden clips on their tongues for talking too much! Can this be true???


In other exciting news, the world has now taken my advice and is putting wine in juice boxes. That's right moms! When you're the refreshment mom for your child's sporting event, pack a little extra for you!




And now for the news that I don't care about! It has been snowing all weekend. The Bears are playing today and will probably lose. Lindsay Lohan is in rehab.

Cheers!

Raw Foods Reassessment

Not to jump OFF the raw foods bandwagon here, but I have a complaint/concern/addendum. I'm sure some of you thought I was a little ridiculous in my enthusiasm for eating raw. [Roll eyes... there she goes again].

But, just so you don't think I'm still overboard on the raw foods, I tried today, a Karyn's Raw Cranberry Cookie. It was made of (I should say, IS, because it still exists since I didn't finish it) cranberries, cashews, almond butter, dates, and honey. It had a weird pasty taste to it. I didn't finish. I put it away and got myself something COOKED to eat. I think I'd rather eat all the ingredients separately. Why try to make raw food look/taste/behave like cooked food? I don't understand. What are we trying to hide by forming cookies out of it?? Let it be what it is. (clearly at this point, I've lost my sense of who I'm talking to).

So this blog wasn't a waste, in more important news, Britney Spears buys the love of men, and Miss Nevada turns down Girls Gone Wild for Playboy.

Implicit Association Test

As a curiousity, I checked out the http://www.implicit.harvard.edu (Implicit Association Test) to find out what would happen. These tests are created to find out how our unconscious attitudes might be incompatible with our stated conscious values. It is a powerful predictor of how each of us might act in certain unpredictable situations. Not what we would say or do, but our more subtle reactions that we don't realize we're having. The tests change all the time (there are apparently 100 of them).

I was given pictures of two people (Reemolap and Vabbenif) follwed by statements about their actions. I was then asked to categorize them into right and left columns along with words that fit under the categories "good" and "bad." The combinations changed and I was asked to respond to each as quickly as possible (it measures the time it takes you to hit the correct key). These are my results:

"In this study, we are investigating the formation of preferences for different groups. By having you read positive and negative statements about two social groups, and then measuring your automatic associations, we are hoping to better understand how information that occurs in the environment leads to automatic associations. We used fictitious social groups in this study because we wanted to see how new automatic associations form; we could only do so by using groups about which people have no preexisting attitudes. You may have noticed one behavior that seemed very strong compared to the others that you read ('burned a flag at a soldier's funeral' or 'beat a man to death for being gay'). The addition of strong statements allows us to test whether the quantity or strength of information has a bigger impact on implicit attitude formation.

Your data suggests little or no association between Vabbenif and Reemolap with bad and good.

Depending on the magnitude of your result, your automatic associations may be described as 'slight', 'moderate', 'strong', or 'little to no preference'. How implicit associations affect our judgments and behaviors is not well understood and may be influenced by a number of variables. As such, the score should serve as an opportunity for self-reflection, not as a definitive assessment of your implicit thoughts or feelings. This and future research will clarify the way in which implicit thinking and feelings affects our perception, judgment, and action."

Hmmmm. So, even though I was told that Reemolap beat a man to death for being gay, I didn't automatically and unconsciously associate him with the words that fit under the category of "bad." From what I've read, that means that my unconscious isn't working like it ought to or that I think too carefully with my conscious. I'm going to go back and take other tests like these and find out if there are ideas I have that I don't realize might affect my reactions.
This was fun! I encourage all of you to participate!