Queasy at the Sight

Do you ever get queasy at the sight of blood? I'm talking about queasy to the point where you feel like you're either going to pass out or throw up - not just being grossed out by blood. I don't get grossed out by blood, but it has made me queasy on a few rare occasions in my lifetime. Up until this weekend, I only got queasy at the sight of real blood. I was watching a televised C-section once and had to lay on the ground to keep from passing out. There was once a reality show where they made multiple piercings in a contestant's arm that made me feel sick to my stomach. The only other times I remember being sick at the sight of blood are when I've donated blood and watched the needle stick into my arm.

As I said, this weekend was the first time I have ever been queasy at the sight of fake blood. And I'm not the only one. I watched the movie 127 Hours with some friends. I knew it was rated R, and I fully expected it to be because of the graphic nature of the main character cutting off his arm (with a potential for offensive language). Yes, there was offensive language. And yes, the arm scene is incredibly graphic. I'm not the only one who had an involuntary physical reaction to the sight of blood. Several theater patrons left the theater because they felt sick, including one of my friends. When the movie ended and we left the theater, we found out that the paramedics had been called (apparently someone did pass out). So if you're thinking of watching this movie, consider yourself warned. You may not make it to the end.

Bah Humbug!

It happened again! Christmas fanatics have outdone themselves, just like last year. And once again, I've lost the Christmas spirit before the season has even begun! Listen, I get the fact that it might be your favorite holiday. But when was it ever appropriate to celebrate a holiday for 3 months straight??? I know for a fact I'm not the only one who thinks people start decorating for Christmas WAY TOO EARLY. Not only do I have to put blinders on when I go shopping, and avoid certain radio stations. I have to completely avoid State Street in Murray thanks to whichever local government officials think it's time to line the road with bright red and green Christmas lights.

What happened to the brown, yellow, and orange that's synonymous with November? Do these people even remember the point of Thanksgiving?

The big excuse someone gave me this year was "Thanksgiving - what better time to be grateful for Christ's birth?" My response to that is this: What does an 8-foot tall evergreen in your living room have to do with Christ's birth, anyways?

So until next year, Bah Humbug!

Composite Faces

I just recently discovered how much fun composite faces can be to play with. A composite face is exactly what the name implies - it's a combination of multiple faces. In my humble internet research, I've discovered that composite faces tend to be more attractive than the individual faces that were used to make up the composite. This is because average is considered attractive. But that's not all - anthropologists have done many studies with composite faces, revealing some interesting facts. For example, one scientist presented people with a series of faces, and asked them to identify those they considered to be dominant. When he made composites separating the faces based on his survey, he found that those faces considered to be dominant all had similar characteristics (large jaw, thick eyebrows, etc), while the remaining pictures exhibited more passive looks.

I decided to do my own experiment - for fun - and see what the average guy and girl in my ward look like. I just used the ward directory, so there were several factors that contributed to fuzziness. But it turned out clear enough, so I'm posting the pictures. Here are the results based on the combination of 35 girls and 32 guys:

The girls

The guys

As you can see, they're quite beautiful. It was actually fun to combine just a few faces at a time - I could pick out individual faces in the composite face.

Best Horoscope Ever

I'm a big fan of horoscopes and fortune cookies. I don't put much stock into what they say, but I still enjoy reading them. I mean, there's something exciting about pretending - just for a moment - that the stars have aligned to dictate what's in store for you. Just for a moment, the central focus of the universe is you - and you can predict your future by simply reading the stars correctly.

As fun as that is, I am even more entertained by misfortune cookies, horrorscopes, and any horoscope that doesn't take astrology too seriously.

While I was hanging out with a friend this weekend, we picked up a City Weekly magazine. While we were flipping through it, we found the horoscopes. We're both Libras, so we enjoy reading our horoscopes together. City Weekly publishes horoscopes from a source that takes astrology seriously. So imagine my surprise, and utter amusement, when I read this:

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Check out this haiku by Mizuhara Shuoshi, translated from the Japanese by William J. Higginson: “stuck in a vase/ deep mountain magnolia/ blossoms open.” Does that remind you of anyone? It should. I think it pretty much sums up your current situation. More accurately, it captures the best possible scenario you can strive to achieve, given your circumstances. Yes, there are limitations you have to deal with right now: being in the vase. And yet there’s no reason you can’t bloom like a deep mountain magnolia.

This is by far the best horoscope I've ever had. We were laughing so hard my stomach hurt!

How Much Do You Care?

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the deterioration of the English language? I'm not talking about slang and internet lingo - they actually add words to our language (lol has become the common courtesy laugh of the day). What I'm talking about is how people don't seem to care about what they say, as long as the general idea comes across.

For example, I always hear people say, "I could care less," when they really mean "I couldn't care less." Logically, if you were to look at a scale from 1 to 10 on how much you care, saying "I could care less" means you are ANYWHERE on the scale except the bottom. Yet, while both phrases have completely opposite meanings, they're generally accepted to mean the same thing.


Speaking of language nuances, it used to bug me when people tried to compliment me on a "wonderful gift" I had, when I considered it to be a talent. The way I see it, a talent is something you have to work hard at, like singing (I was pretty much tone deaf when I was 12); whereas, a gift is something that comes naturally, like my ability to creep people out. Eventually I figured out that it doesn't matter whether people see something as a gift or a talent.