Side-Effects of Strong Emotions

These are both older articles (March 2006 and Feb 2005), but I only came across them today, and they caught my interest. They discuss how maritial fighting and broken hearts can cause health problems. Other situations that tend to involve high negative emotional investment are also mentioned.

Possible effects include slower healing of wounds, hardened/clogged arteries, and heart attack symptoms (without actually having the heart attack, and people recover quickly).

So there's another secret to living a longer life: be happy!

As Long As They're Not Painting Snowflakes

I present to you the wonderful art of Ann Arbor.

Completely unrelated, I've been at a new job since Monday. It's not new new - I'm still working for the same people, but on a special project in a different office. It is at a warehouse that is closing, so I'm in a tiny office surrounded on three sides by large empty garage and random conference rooms and the very few people who still actually work here. We have windows that look out into the garages, and the temperature is kept cold enough that I constantly wear a coat, my version of a coat, in order to keep from freezing. I'm not actually sure yet who I'm working for or what I'm doing. Still, how bad can it be at a place where they give me free food and let me take whatever time off I want? I'm expecting an interesting next month.

Yes, I am breaking one of my own initial rules and writing about Real Things, in fact, writing about them in a way that would be recognizable to the general public as something more significant than whatever random thing I've found that day. At the moment, I care not. It's nearly July, I will only be working here another month, I have a few trips to look forward to, a few days off, and just finished a surprisingly good potluck lunch meeting new people here and hanging out with others I used to work with. And for the first time in ages, I woke up easy and alert instead of having to drag myself out of bed at the fifth "snooze" of the alarm. It's a rare sometimes, but I can be a morning person on occasion.

Today is a good day.

God Gave to Me a Child in Part

GOD gave to me a child in part,
Yet wholly gave the father's heart:
Child of my soul, O whither now,
Unborn, unmothered, goest thou?

You came, you went, and no man wist;
Hapless, my child, no breast you kist;
On no dear knees, a privileged babbler, clomb,
Nor knew the kindly feel of home.

My voice may reach you, O my dear-
A father's voice perhaps the child may hear;
And, pitying, you may turn your view
On that poor father whom you never knew.

Alas! alone he sits, who then,
Immortal among mortal men,
Sat hand in hand with love, and all day through
With your dear mother wondered over you.
---Robert Louis Stevenson

Frankenmuth, MI

Germaninity

With a bit of pushiness, an extreme amount of stubbornness, and a dash of good old-fashioned charm (are girls allowed to be charming?), I convinced my mother and grandmother to accompany me to Frankenmuth, MI, on Sunday. Frankenmuth is a sweet middle-of-nowhere town that used to be German but is now Tourist. After planning to go for such a long time and hearing so much about it, my expectations were perhaps a bit too high. Still, overall, it was an enjoyable trip.

Our first stop, Bronner's Christmas Wonderland would have been a shop of dreams when I was a kid; now, I still found myself enchanted by some of the moving displays and quite a few of the village layouts, despite my situation as an adult visiting in June. There was a whole European village layout, complete with a castle on the top of the hill, the sea at the bottom with a towered bridge and boats, and on the other side the cathedral standing out. Near that was a layout resembling Israel, which, when followed in a proper circle around the table, depicted everything from the Nativity up through Easter day. There was also a very clever Halloween village, though how that and the multiple other non-Christmas items I saw throughout the store fit in remains something of a mystery to me. The villages were only a small part of the whole shop, a shop we spent a total of two hours in without walking through even half. If they missed any possible Christmas-related item, I missed their missing it.

Our next stop was in Frankenmuth proper, where we found free long-term parking at the visitor center on Main Street. From there we went straight to the Bavarian Inn for dinner. The building itself is nice, and with hardly any wait we were seated in the edelweiss room. The costumes of the waiters and waitresses were not something I recall seeing anyone at all wear in either Germany or Austria, outside of one particular dance, but they didn't seem to mind and the staff were all very friendly. And the menu! My joy at seeing Munich's Hafbrau on the menu was so great that fond memories quickly won out over my initial intent to sample the local beer and I instead relished a glass of liquid imported straight from Germany. The meals seemed expensive - until we realized just what was included in a meal and how wonderful the food was. There was the requisite bread, of two types, with jam, as well as three types of salads, a cranberry sauce, and soup for appetizers, all of which were included in the meal. Delivered with the meals, we also received dressing, potato cakes, noodles, sauerkraut, and green beans. And every single bite of it was delicious.

From there, of course, we proceeded to walk around the town, and this is where I was disappointed. Every available surface proclaimed the fact that you were indeed in Frankenmuth, just in case one managed to forget inbetween buildings. And every other building was not only geared toward tourists but was decorated with everything from surprisingly well-done murals on the buildings to ten-feet-tall-with-cheese mice next to them to catch your attention. We were too full to actually stop in the candy, fudge, or ice cream shops, and you can forget about the coffee and cheese bar. The debate about whether to stop in St. Julian's winery was non-existent because the winery was closed - that part was completely our fault for the day and time we chose to visit. Had I been able, I would have liked to stop, as I have previously enjoyed a few of their wines. In fact, I've a bit of cream sherry still in my cupboard.

Not to sound completely down, some of the architecture and even the designs painted onto the buildings were definitely worth seeing, as well as the occasional fountain and a lot of gardens and flowers. The horse-drawn carriages might have been generic tourist-city features, but were also familiar features, and not unwelcome. We also made a side journey a couple blocks off Main Street to find a park and rose garden. The rose garden was unfortunately tiny, but the park was huge, very family friendly, and contained a large band shell complete with a band playing (I heard alternating country and loud - Mom, however, claims it was all old Eagles songs, and I assume she's right) and a large crowd including everyone from babies to grandparents sitting on the hillside listening.

I wouldn't recommend driving from Minnesota to see the town. But if you happen to be in the right part of Michigan... it might be worth a visit. The three of us had a very pleasant afternoon and evening.

A Society of Individuals

Americans Lose Touch, Report Fewer Close Friends

"People who said they had no one with whom to discuss [important] matters more than doubled, to nearly 25 percent."

“'This change indicates something that’s not good for our society,' Smith-Lovin said. 'Ties with a close network of people create a safety net. These ties also lead to civic engagement and local political action.'"

I agree; there's something wrong here. We move a lot, we work in cities that aren't our own, we ignore our neighbors, we're just so spread out. Everything we do, from the stores we shop at to the churches we're members at to the events we attend, so little is really local. This doesn't explain the change between 1985 and 2004. We were already spread out in 1985. There's something still present, or still becoming less present, something we're still losing that's still pulling people apart. There's less trust - there are exceptions - but less trust among many people. More people just looking out for themselves and, dare I say it, not willing to "get into other people's business" or resenting it when other people show concern about theirs. A pulling back, perhaps, because we've lost boundaries, and people do become too nosy or else find out what's going on with others only to become hostile and look down on them instead of helping. No sense of community, of the idea that you help out your neighbors and turn to them for help. Perhaps along with more frequent movement between houses, jobs, states, people aren't willing to put in the effort to keep the friends that move off. Perhaps it's the technology; more communication with people all over the world leading to less with those at home.

I don't know how much of that is true. Any of it, all of it, none of it. I've done no study. But doesn't it - wouldn't it - make sense? Twenty-five percent of people have no one to discuss things with. I'm not surprised. We're so good at superficial relationships these days. The people I work with, they're my friends, we talk about our job and our pets and various things about what we're doing after work or at home, who's having a baby and who's sick of their husband. Too much information with too little real connection. There's a loss of privacy where you discuss intimate details with everyone and it means nothing to anyone. Who is the close friend who's going to look past the details you tell and care about what it means to you? And if you tell everything to everyone, what do you tell your close friend? There's a line between never speaking to people about anything, and being open, and being far too open and sharing too much, and wherever that line is we're missing it.

Real relationships take work. They take time and effort.. and love. Love out of which the time and effort are freely given. It's not a resentful act, nothing done grudgingly, rather it's a set of actions and words and thoughts that are gladly taken up because you care about the other person and want a continuing and close relationship with them. It takes trust and making certain choices in a way I fear I'd falter, now, if I tried to figure out and explain.

It also needs an initial action, a beginning, someone to begin communication and decide to get to know another person at least a little bit. If neither person takes a step, no one will move any closer. Someone has to be willing to move first. There are too many people out there who have been retreating for so long that their first step is backward, and when this is the problem, of course we're going to be isolated. If the people who have learned not to walk backward take the next step and reach out, if we can find a way to make things more local and bring a sense of community back to our neighborhoods, if we can start treating others with respect and regain a sense of what is and is not appropriate, and remember what it means to have a real relationship - and I'm not going to venture on how all of this could get started, not this post - but perhaps that twenty-five percent would drop again. If any of my speculations here are right, then what will it take to turn around and bring back what we seem to have lost?

The Coasts of Sanity

From a few days ago. This is the one comic strip I follow with much dedication, but it's rare that Bucky says anything I can identify with... And I found this one particularly frightening.

It's in the 'Fridge, Honey!

Magnetic Fields Nudge Matter into Black Holes

I bet we could use a generated magnetic force of our own to guide future ships through rotating black holes. With enough testing, we could consistently alter the magnetic force to avoid hitting the singularity and emerge from the black hole at the destination of our choice. Or the time of our choice; but that would take a lot longer to record. "NASA, it's 2010, we've just successfully sent the craft into the black hole and it's on it's way..." A million years later... "Err, hi, People of the Future! We've recorded the path we took.. um.. you're not NASA are you?" "Sam?" "Hmm?" "I think they're speaking a version of Russian."

Then again, someone's probably written about this in some book I haven't read yet. I'll have to try and find it sometime.

**edit - Yeah.. the title. My original idea, clearly extravagantly modified between the time I wrote the title and actually wrote the post (I think fast!), was to use generated magnetic force to suspend objects in a rotating black hole, placing them in a container that contained both the magnetic generators and navigation units in order to avoid colliding with the singularity, and find a way to pull the container out again when you wanted to retrieve the object. A brilliant form of storage where the object itself would hardly change/age at all! Hence, a refrigerator. But without the mold.

Blake's 7

Time to give up, me thinks. The quotations listed in the post titled "I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going" all came from various Blake's 7 episodes.

This was/is a delightful old-fashioned British science fiction show, something I was introduced to while visiting a friend in England (along with Terry Pratchett's Discworld books) and which we spent many of our "at home" hours watching. Fortunately, the videos of the episodes are obtainable within the USA. Unfortunately, I only have four of them, a total of eight episodes. And they are only on video, not DVD, unless you happen to live in Europe where those DVDs are watchable.

Oh, and the books mentioned are also good. And much easier to find in my country.

A Whole New Me

This originally started as a compilation of a few of the best baby name sites out there. Because names are always good and useful, right? I don't know what I'd do for character names if I couldn't look up specific origins/meanings/beginning letters. Those will be added later.

What I have found in the meantime is, however, much more interesting. It is the thoughts of the Kabalarian Philosophy in regards to my name. The act of giving me a name attached certain qualities to me from the start. Here, for example, is the list of qualities this name causes me to have:

• Although the name Bronwyn creates the urge to be reliable and responsible, we emphasize that it frustrates you through a scattered and emotional nature.
• 
  This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the liver, bloodstream, and through worry and mental tension.
• 
  Your first name of Bronwyn has given you a responsible, expressive, inspirational, and friendly personality.
• 
  Expression comes naturally to you and you are rarely at a loss for words; in fact, you have to put forth effort at times to curb an over-active tongue.
• 
  Self-confidence has made it easy for you to meet people and you are well-liked for your spontaneous, happy ways.
• 
  You sincerely like people and do not often experience loneliness; your work and home-life are likely filled with association

I had a conversation just last night about how certain names have certain things associated with them now, things that will come to other people's minds when they hear the name. I can see this affecting the child's personality in cases where the connotation is so strong and so much a part of culture that everyone else already thinks that of the child and the child simply conforms. What this is talking about is something a bit different though.

I will leave it up to anyone who knows me and feels like commenting to dissect just how much like me this analysis actually is. I will say, however, that I don't think I'll spend the $35 to get my full name analyzed along with my birthdate.

Have some of your own fun; go here.

This Present Evil

There are times when the world does its absolute best to unite all forces against me. This time, the culprit is the cell phone companies. Just on the verge of buying a family plan to be shared amongst myself and the folks at home (but luckily not after buying said plan), I made the discovery of a long lost and ancient, but much more detailed than those previously known, map. This map declared that while the intersections on either side of my dad's house receive coverage, while even much of the surrounding land between those intersections receives coverage, my dad's house does not receive coverage. It exists within a narrow strip of land neglected by the towers on either side and left to fend for itself, a lone island in the midst of civilization.

After finding this map of T-Mobile's coverage, I searched in vain for a until-now lost yet detailed map from the only other phone company I had any interest in. They, unfortunately, are much better at hiding their weak points and tricking their enemies into believing there is false profit to be gained. They have no detailed map. I can only imagine my dad's house exists somewhere in the middle of what, on their best map, was a large blank spot somewhere west of Ann Arbor.

At this point I must call the retreat and end the battle.. ah, but not the war. I will yet find a way to defeat these raging armies and claim what is rightfully mine - my own unexpensive cell phone.

Post Apocalyptic Gold

What sort of items would be most sought-after in a post-disaster world, really? Food could become extremely important, possibly gas if there were generators that needed running. Soap, clothes, items more easily obtained by looting stores and fighting for them at least until making them is again possible. Books? Maybe, depending on who is alive. More likely later on, once things are at least partially rebuilt, when people can worry about education and pleasure and such instead of just immediate survival. Unless there was a book on survival, how to build things or what plants to eat or natural ways to treat various illnesses. Guns, possibly, if conditions are such that you and your family and your belongings need defending. Lucifer's Hammer has a bartering system involving high demand for alcohol and cigarettes - possibly those and other niceties that people can't get any other way.

In Norway, however, seeds from today's crop plants will become the new gold for anyone who reaches the agricultural age again. They're building a vault in the far northern part of the country in order to freeze seeds which could then last for thousands of years, ready to retrieve in case of any disaster. Unlike current seed banks, this one will be global and because of the specific area it's being created in, more likely to survive a major disaster and still be of use after. Of course, the real winners will be whoever is able to become sea-faring quickest and find the island, as the actual location is quite a ways off the mainland.

I think I'll keep a map and a book on boat-building near at hand from now on.

Anti-Digital Devices

Perhaps this is why I've kept my regular camera as well as getting a digital. I can still take pictures of my own kids with Santa without The White Light stopping me. Though, if it comes to it, I'm sure I have friends I could force to dress up for an hour... (I'll provide a costume and lots of pillows! And the cookies.)

The video part will be more difficult to manage, but I'm not in the habit of taking them in movie theaters anyway. Or regular stores. Funny how with the more general use of technology comes better ways to protect against acts that couldn't be stopped easily before.

Whatever future group decides to passively resist the government and do things all their own way will have to give up all modern technology to avoid being a) discovered b) forcefully stopped or c) rendered unable to continue due to machines detecting and blocking unauthorized use of technological items. I wonder if they could manage at that point without going back to a "basics only" community, and find a way to keep using at least some more modern items. They'd have to have older devices, or some way to alter the (in their time) current ones.. perhaps just a technology/electronics/along those lines wiz would be able to handle it, depending on security within the items themselves, otherwise a hacker as well. Hmm.....

Are You Hungry?

Or in other words, more on genetic testing, for both the born and unborn.

In this article, a whole bunch of cousins have their stomachs removed. The debate about who/when/is it worth it in regards to who should be tested for what possible diseases is interesting. Naturally there are a lot of things to be considered. For instance, it would do no good (we hope!) for me to be tested for certain types of cancer; judging by the rest of my family, I am probably not genetically disposed to any, and can at least hope I'll avoid them. But I do feel sorry for the person who is, by these decisions, left out of the screening and not given the chance to live without a stomach.

And in this, fertility clinics are... well... no, I shall hold my name calling. Given that they're not going anywhere quickly, however, I am curious what other sorts of less threatening things they may start to look for. It'll happen. "Time to test.. oh look, this one has OCD! DESTROY!" ...Err, right, the article. They've developed a new type of genetic testing that has so far been used to weed out Cystic Fybrosis as well as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

At least I understood the biological aspect of it? I always did well in that class, shame if I lost it now.

*edit - Here's a thought. If they're doing something they shouldn't be doing in the first place, are they also wrong to do their best at it?

Faster Than A Speeding Space Shuttle...

http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-061306a.html

And in honor of the upcoming Shuttle Launch July 1st, a NASA engineer draws the launch comic book style. See the above link for an article and picture.

The actual launch window extends through July 19th. The decision to launch was not without dissent...

Lucky Southerners

How cool would it be to live in Corpus Christi? Imagine telling someone where you live. The others go around announcing that they're from Detroit, Seattle, Tampa, Little Rock, whatever random city they happen to reside in. And then you get to announce, "Well, I live in the Body of Christ."

Perfect evangelization opportunity, hmm? Of course, the rest of the people might follow up with a particularly strange look and just walk away - you've hardly entered a real conversation at that point.
I would almost try it, if Corpus Christi wasn't too far south and far, far too hot for my tastes. Which completely explains why I've accepted a job in Fort Worth instead. The couple hours north makes all the difference. -- You can accept this as an official announcement, and take from now until August to tell me what I'll need to bring to survive down there (the cowboy, sorry, cowgirl boots and gun are already taken care of).

Anyway, the diocese of Lansing celebrates this feast on Sunday instead of Thursday, so there will be Masses and processions tomorrow. Happy Feast of Corpus Christi everyone!

(Had I bothered sleeping for the past week instead of finishing all episodes of Fruits Basket, I'd write a more theological reflection. Perhaps I'll be brilliant tomorrow.)

Next Stop: Mars

Both the Russians and Europeans are planning unmanned missions to Mars within the next six years.

Also, "Nikolai Sevastyanov, the head of Russia's space construction company RKK Energia, said earlier that Russia could carry out a manned flight to Mars by 2030."

And not to make this completely reminiscent of the past, but suddenly my competitive side is rearing up a bit. We have to be there before them. Otherwise, my convincing NASA to send a completely unskilled, untrained, half-blind theology major along on their first manned mission won't help me at all in my quest to become the first person to walk on Mars. And that would be tragic.

Canadians Create New Instrument

String Trio: Novel Instrument Strums Like Guitar, Rings Like Bell.

They've gone and made a tritare, something that looks like a guitar except for a few extra parts and weird string patterns. The article links to sound clips (on this page) of the instrument being played.

Personally I think it just sounds like someone in the process of tuning their instrument, or sometimes an airplane (the example with the bow). The short composition that is linked to does produce a few interesting sounds, mainly something I think could make good sound effects or, used very minimally, even appropriate music for science fiction films. Of course I'm biased toward science fiction anyway. This isn't something I'd willingly just sit around and listen to... though admittedly I have a rather inexpert opinion and there could be some wonderful quality I'm missing. Still, it's my opinion I get to write here, and I don't like it.

Shakespeare Online

Who will believe my verse in time to come,
If it were fill'd with your most high deserts?
Though yet, heaven knows, it is but as a tomb
Which hides your life and shows not half your parts.
If I could write the beauty of your eyes
And in fresh numbers number all your graces,
The age to come would say, 'This poet lies;
Such heavenly touches ne'er touch'd earthly faces.'
So should my papers, yellow'd with their age,
Be scorn'd, like old men of less truth than tongue,
And your true rights be term'd a poet's rage
And stretched metre of an antique song:
But were some child of yours alive that time,
You should live twice,—in it and in my rhyme.
---Shakespeare Sonnet XVII

If anyone happens to feel the need to read Shakespeare while sitting around on the computer, or to look up anything related, http://absoluteshakespeare.com/ is a good site for that. It has far more than I felt like looking at today, including texts of sonnets and plays.

Alternatively, http://wild-turkey.mit.edu/Shakespeare/ has the text of the plays in a format I like better.. at the least, I appreciate the ability to view the whole play on one page if I so choose.

"I am not expendable, I'm not stupid, and I'm not going."

Major points to anyone who knows where that quotation came from. I know I'm not the only person in the US who has watched this.

While I'm at it, a few other choice selections..:

"I've got this shocking pain right behind the eyes."
"Have you considered amputation?"

"I'm entitled to my opinion."
"It is your assumption that we are entitled to it as well that is irritating.”

"Easy! Take it easy! I hate personal violence, especially when I'm the person.”

"I'm a thief. Other people's property comes naturally to me!"

“That's immoral. The cold-hearted murdering -- let's kill him now before he can do it.”

"Hello there. How are you? Excuse me wandering about your premises but I wonder if you can help me. I'm an escaped prisoner. I was a thief but recently I've become interested in sabotage, in a small way you understand, nothing too ambitious, I hate vulgarity, don't you? Anyway, I've come to blow something up. What do you think will be most suitable?”

“Strategic withdrawal is running away, but with dignity.”

“Everyone's entitled to one really bad mistake.”

"This is stupid."
"When did that ever stop us?"

"None of us showed conspicuous intelligence on this occasion.”

Spacefaring Becomes Trendy

After spending a decent amount of time seriously considering the effects of clothes and culture and the human person and so on, and how there might truly be more to consider than simple modesty, my barely beginning thoughts have once again become jaded as I came across this article tonight: Space Inspires Fashion Show. Because, honestly, we don't need any more money put toward actually exploring or getting into space.. what's the point of being up there if we can't wear fashionable clothes while doing it?

I've been dreaming about going into space since I was five, but I think I'll have to pass it up if they don't have my new designer outfit ready for me when I get the chance.

...Sorry, sarcasm over now. I'm willing to accept that worrying about wearing nice looking clothes has its place, if only because of the impression we leave with other people depending partially on how they physically see us, including what we wear. But to my current knowledge (this article excluded), no one expects a space suit to look like anything more than a space suit. Once we're living up there, sure, give us options. But is this really a necessary effort and use of money and time right now?

More On Cincinnati

A couple pictures from Cincinnati:





And a couple remarks and moments that don’t necessarily go with them:

The bride’s littlest sister trying to start a dance party at the rehearsal dinner. Hanging out in that room was so much fun.

When You Say Nothing At All is an awesome song. This is nothing new, but might as well be reinforced.

On any future trips I will do my best to avoid the Super 8 Hotel in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. Between the broken lights, the shower falling out of the wall, and the perfectly innocent and non-threatening hotel location and exterior, I’m still not sure what to make of the place. Sort of fun in one of those, “ten years ago I once stayed..” story ways.

Irish car bombs.

I dislike big cities. No one tried to kill me, but there’s still a conspiracy.

“He killed me with a sword!” Err, hold up. They cut the cake with a sword. Were I ever going to get married I would so do that. Just.. cool. Very cool.

The Important Things In Life

The Physics of Glass Just Got Blurry

Apparently the line between liquid and solid within glass is not as clear as scientists were hoping.

I'm sure I could come up with a storyline for that if I wanted. But what really grabbed my attention was something completely different. Can anyone explain to me, out of all the possible and likely important uses, why golf is the one worth mentioning?

How Boaring

Having been recently introduced to Fruits Basket, I couldn't go for long without actually looking up the description of the boar, which is my birth year.

I had to make sure it didn't fit me. I was hoping it wouldn't. I was really, really hoping it wouldn't.

Naturally, it does. Knowing this, I have only one comment to make on the matter; woe to those who dare become that close to me. It appears rather painful.

..For all of that, I couldn't figure out which description was supposed to be the Real one, so below are the three most common:

People born in the Year of the Pig are chivalrous and gallant. Whatever they do, they do with all their strength. For Boar Year people, there is no left or right and there is no retreat. They have tremendous fortitude and great honesty. They don't make many friends but they make them for life, and anyone having a Boar Year friend is fortunate for they are extremely loyal. They don't talk much but have a great thirst for knowledge. They study a great deal and are generally well informed. Boar people are quick tempered, yet they hate arguments and quarreling. They are kind to their loved ones. No matter how bad problems seem to be, Boar people try to work them out, honestly if sometimes impulsively. They are most compatible with Rabbits and Sheep.

Boars are self-reliant, very sociable, dependable,and extremely determined. Boars are peace lovers and don't hold grudges. They hate arguments, tense situations, and try to bring both sides together. In life they make deep and long-lasting friendships. Boars enjoy social gatherings of all kinds, and look for parties to attend. In fact, Boars must watch themselves so that their incessant pursuit of pleasure doesn't interfere with other aspects of their lives. Boars belong to clubs and they make terrific fund raisers. They have a real knack for charity and social work. Boars always listen to problems. They won't mind getting involved and try to help. Boars have big hearts. A problem that Boars have is that they are too innocent and naive. Being honest and trustworthy themselves, they have a hard time understanding the motives of those with less scruples.
Boars do not dazzle or shimmer. They possess the old-fashioned chivalry that grows on you until you totally depend on it. It is so easy to trust Boars. They have a calm expression and a sincere manner. They are blessed with endurance and work steadily at tasks with great patience until completion.
Once Boars arrive at a decision nothing stops them. Of course, before they reach that decision they weigh all the pros and cons. They definitely want to avoid complications. Sometimes they ponder so long they miss the opportunity altogether. But never mind, Boars always believe in miracles, and miracles always happen to them. Fortune favors Boars. They always find someone to help them without having to beg.
In romance, if not careful, Boars may be taken advantage of. Boars trust everyone and believe everything they hear. They are unselfish and enjoy helping their friends. Although they are gullible, they are actually quite intelligent and know how to take care of their own. If you hurt their feelings, Boars often carry the pain for years. They have a hard time saying no to those of concern. Often they wish they had said no.
Boars will always be looking for ways to work off all their extra energy. They work and play hard. Even if they lose everything, Boars manage to bounce back. Their life path supply them with all they need. The Chinese believe Boars own the Horn of Plenty.

You are a splendid companion, an intellectual with a very strong need to set difficult goals and carry them out. You are sincere, tolerant, and honest but by expecting the same from others, you are incredibly naive. Your quest for material goods could be your downfall. The Pig would be best in the arts as an entertainer, or possible a lawyer.


I do take issue with the lawyer bit and the material goods in the third. I want no material goods but books. Tons and tons of books. Then let me spend all my money on traveling.

Comparing Airline Fares

In case anyone else is curious - I decided to compare different airfare finders, and figured I might as well post it, both for easy reference in the future and in case it could be of use to other people. Therefore, below is a list of what I came up with as far as prices. All prices were found during my lunchtime on Wednesday, June 7th. The test-flight I used was for three adults, from Detroit, MI, USA to Shannon, Ireland, leaving on August 9 2006 and returning on August 22 2006, no specified time of day. Prices shown are per person.

http://www.cheapair.com - $812 with taxes, on American Airlines
http://www.travelnow.com - $812 with taxes, on American
http://re2.farechase.yahoo.com - $814 with taxes, on American
http://www.mobissimo.com - $814 with taxes, on American
http://flycheapabroad.com - $824 with taxes, on American
http://www.cheapseats.com - $826 with taxes, on American
https://www.orbitz.com - $843 with taxes, on combination US Airways and Northwest
http://travel.travelocity.com - $891 with taxes, combination US Airways and Northwest
http://www.lowestfare.com - $910 with taxes, on Delta
http://www.cheapoair.com - $930 with taxes, on Delta
http://www.bookairlinetickets.com - $930 with taxes, on US Airways
https://travel.ultimatefares.com - $990 with tax, on Air Canada
https://www.air-gorilla.com - $1003 with tax, on Air Canada

Hotwire found the $812 price but insisted it was sold out the second I tried to buy it (I could still go back to the other search engines as well as American's own website and get the $812 price). Cheaptickets.com could not find a flight between these two locations, but was willing to take me to Dublin for $900-something. I tried a couple other search engines as well, most of which are not noted because they either were the exact same as a listed engine or came back with an extremely high price of high $1000s through almost $3000 per ticket.

All of these and many, many more can be reached through http://www.bookingbuddy.com/.

Also, http://www.kayak.com/h/buzz is useful for comparing flight prices that other people recently purchased in case you want to see whether what you've come up with is reasonable. Of course, so many factors go into this that you're not likely to come up with the same price as someone else.. whether cheaper or more expensive. Also, August is not the cheapest time to travel to Ireland. By far not the worst, however - that would be earlier in the summer. Best would, of course, involve winter and freezing and rain. And people don't want to go?

For My Philosophy-Minded Friends

Back in Town; Mapping Programs

I am back in town once more, having returned last night and finally slept if still not fully recovered. The week was lovely, the wedding was gorgeous, and there was an unexpected but extremely enjoyable highlight of Music at the end of it all. Namely, singing. So my friend is now happily married, and I have returned, what's more, recovered from all the usual end-of-trips things such as too little sleep, long drives, another round of goodbyes, 'oops I forgot...'s, and first days back at work, as well as minor but nowhere near complete car cleaning.

This trip was also my test run for the Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006 mapping program, this being my first real trip since receiving the software at Christmas. Overall, it's good. It beats mapquest easily, sending me on no wrong turns or fruitless paths wereas mapquest gave me two wrong turns and a wrongly named road just trying to get to my hotel within the city. It's detailed, perhaps too detailed if you're used to directions that only give the turns - this tells you each road split and with side of it to take, and other similar details that are not wrong yet can be confusing if you're expecting an actual turn somewhere. However, the directions were all accurate and the details did not prove problematic for me once I figured out that it was giving them. If you're someone who is very worried about getting lost, the details might be very useful; on the other hand, if you're very worried but going to panic at seeing directions such as "take local roads for --- feet" or a simple "take ramp on right" without further explanation this might not be the program to go with. Still, I only had these directions twice, and in each case they turned out to be completely accurate and needed no more explanation. I would rank it about equal to AAA, the difference being in the detail. I like AAA and always, until this trip, used their directions. If the details will confuse you, use AAA instead.

The good thing about this program, something I was completely unable to make use of due to certain broken pieces of my car, is the fact that you don't need to be online to use it and can keep it in the car to get directions to any particular place you want to go at the moment. This would have been very useful had my car's cigarette lighter been fixed in time. It comes with a list of where restraunts are all over the US as well as other major landmarks and certain minor landmarks within cities. Unlike AAA, it does leave out some fairly major tourist points, and may not be quite as useful for planning a whole trip instead of just getting driving directions. Also, a good majority of the landmarks involve car dealerships. Not somewhere I generally travel too.. but potentially useful if you need help finding the right road to turn on in a city.

I do like the option to enter a departing time and schedule stops, and the fact that any directions show the time between each new direction as well as the number of miles. I also like the ability to calculate total gas expenses as long as you enter a gas price - it won't find these by itself or change the price by refueling location.

While it comes with complete maps of other countries, I attempted looking up directions to/from various points in Europe to others, and also various points in Asia to/from each other, and the program was unable to give me any driving directions or landmarks. While I won't go through and check every single country, it does give directions for Canada and Mexico.