Oh, From the Mouth of Babes…

Get your blog writing style analyzed here.
Yes, I write like an old woman.

blueollie.wordpress.com is probably written by a female somewhere between 66-100 years old. The writing style is personal and upset most of the time.

Other blog:

collegemathteaching.wordpress.com is probably written by a male somewhere between 66-100 years old. The writing style is academic and happy most of the time.

11 September 2010 posts

I am in Chicago. The afternoon has seen pretty weather but my feet were frozen from this morning; hence I’ve been taking it easy.

I’ve watched the first half of the Michigan-Notre Dame game. Right now it is a rout; ND scored on the first series and then their quarterback got hurt. Since then, all Michigan; 21 straight points. The Wolverine quarterback is something else; he lead them on a 96 yard touchdown drive and broke open a 70 plus yard scoring run. As an ND fan I hope that he goes pro very quickly. He is just a freshman and is already one of the best college football players I’ve seen in my life.

Posts
This was a recommended Wodrpess post; I see why. It is called “Five Reasons Why Astronomy is So Cool”. Read it.

Speaking of astronomy and cosmology: Sean Carroll reviews the new Stephen Hawking-Leonard Mlodinow book called The Grand Design. It is on my reading list.

Of course, some have their underwear in a bind over Hawking saying that no deity is required for the universe to exist. What is interesting is the cry from the clergy about scientists not being humble. How is this lack of humility manifested? Well, it appears that it shows up every time a scientists asks a theologian for evidence to support their claims (for the existence of their deity or the existence of a deity at all). In other words, when you demand evidence, you are being arrogant.

Economics
Paul Krugman lays out the economic benefits for the HCR bill.

Big Shoulders 5K Swim 2010

My rotator cuff made me a DNS as of a month or so ago. But we were in Chicago anyway so I decided to walk to the site and snap some photos.
My photos are here; down load whatever you like.

Update: there are better photos with a link to a pdf file with results here.

It was brutal; windy, rainy and the water was choppy. It was so brutal that the elite wave took 35 minutes to finish it’s first loop (28-29 is more the norm for these swimmers). Many (including some from the elite wave) dropped at the end of the first loop; several took lifeboats back and a few swam to the seawall and walked/ran it in. I’d never seen so many drops in a swim.

So, if you finished, you did well!

I didn’t catch the results and they aren’t up yet.

Note on my DNS: I have finished this swim 3 times: 2001 (1:43), 2006 (2:03) and 2008 (1:36) and had swam 1:34 for 5500 yards early this year; my last 5K plus swim was on April 28. But by mid May my rotator cuff had flared up and it was gone by May 19. Since then I had tried to rehab it with weights on my own; no avail. So I saw a doctor about a month ago and am doing supervised PT.

Why my rotator cuff went: in April I switched to pull buoy swimming because a knee ache, which had plagued me since September of 2009, was getting worse even when I quit running and walking and was only swimming.

It turns out that I had a torn meniscus in the right knee (surgery in July).
So torn meniscus (knee) —> swim with a pull buoy but didn’t decrease yardage —-> biffed rotator cuff. Let that be a lesson to you.
Symptoms of the rotator cuff injury: night pain; I’ve frequently lost 1-2 hours of sleep due to shoulder pain, even when i didn’t lay on it.

So, I had PB’s in the 5K and 4 mile swim but only in the pool (no flip turns). That will have to do for 2010.

From the Past:

This Scientific American article is about how events in early childhood can affect one’s sexuality; they aren’t so much talking about “gay/straight” but rather “what turns you on”. Controlled experiments with mice are discussed; in particular mice that had fed from mothers who had lemon scent added to their teats ended up being aroused by the same scent.

It also talks about a human history; basically this guy who has a “rubber fetish” remembers seeing his mother’s white rubber swim suit hanging up (when put out to dry).

I don’t remember that far back in life, but I do remember a couple of things from my young adulthood.

One was a case where I was at Barton Springs pool; it was just after my freshman year in college. Some young women were wearing very small bikini swim suits and doing deep bending stretches like this or this. What I also remember is that their hair was pinned up; you could see their neck. Also the song by Exile called “Kiss You all Over” was on in the background.

So, every time I hear this song or when I see a woman with her hair pinned up in that manner…I “feel” it.
One time my wife was in the garden, bending over…and yes, had her hair pinned up in that manner. She didn’t seem to understand why I reacted the way that I did.

I saw something similar when the Led Zeppelin song Kashmir came on and I still have that association.