Life Out of Balance

I have been searching for weeks to find this video (see end of blog) after we watched a clip from Coppola's "Koyaanisqatsi." Several of the class members said that the cars moving on the video with their headlights and taillights looked like blood going through the body. Ever since Dr. Pace told us that the title meant "life out of balance," I've been thinking about it. I've thought about how our urban sprawl on the movie did look like the vascular system of our bodies, and it made me wonder if humans are the newest heart of the Earth, pumping populations, pollution, and technology instead of blood. Being a "tree hugger" as one of my high school teachers affectionately named me, I tend to think pessimistically when I consider how out of balance we are. If we are the heart and veins on the planet, then we're probably a cancerous organ. Maybe we're the enlarged heart which will eventually destroy itself. This makes me think of Edward Abbey's quote: "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell."



After watching "The Virus Hunters: It's Alive!" on the National Geographic Channel, I wonder if another species could have taken our place in some ways. The documentary is all about how viruses have altered life and actually sped up the process of evolution. Some findings of theirs were sheep which were not able to carry offspring to term without a certain virus, and rodents that were promiscuous and which happen to be just one virus away from behaving exactly like their monogamous cousins. The researches found that the males in one species of vole would mate until they killed themselves. Animal Plant actually has footage from "Animals Behaving Badly"of the little exhausted critters falling out of the trees and twitching on the ground, then going stiff-legged on their tiny backs. The cousin mated for life. The difference was a virus enabling receptors in the brain to function similar to the human brain in terms of its complex emotions. By giving the virus to the ever-mating vole, he became like the monogamous vole.



So, if another species had developed a different virus, would they in fact have been more emotional, devoted, and moody than humans? Maybe. I just wonder if an evolutionary virus gave us the privilege of being the Earth's heart and veins. Since it may have been a virus that developed us into what we are, then maybe we are indeed also the disease.



My point is that I hope we can find balance, because I do not feel like we have balance in the world. Maybe technology will allow us to find ways to achieve a better harmony with the planet and all its inhabitants. Maybe the next genetically mutating virus will actually make us care that we have life out of balance.

(DNA image from: www.3dscience.com)
(Vole image from: www.bio.davidson.edu)
(Brian scan from: www.nyas.org)
(Virus image from: www.guardian.co.uk)


Check out the viral/genetically altered playboy rats:

Dixie Talk

This is Dixie. Dixie is my 9 year old Yorkie who hates my talking alarm clock. She seems to especially hate it on weekends-- I guess she agrees with me that sleeping in is a good thing on Saturday and Sunday.

My Mom named her Delta Dixie Jo Marshall, the first three names having to do with the show Designing Women. So, in character with the actress, Dixie Carter, my Dixie is a southern diva. And like all southern divas she needs her rest, lots of tasty treats, plenty of pillows, a full coordinating wardrobe, and some attitude. This attitude I speak of is what makes her hate all other animals, because she is not an animal. How dare those vermin sniff her-- especially there! She chases the neighbor's 60 pound dog, and tends to pick fights with cats, even her own cat, Lucy (we got Lucy to keep the other dog company, but Lucy hates him so we say she's Dixie's kitty). They really have cheerleader style fights, though. There's a lot of fussing, swatting in the air, nasty looks, and grudges held.

Dixie is my "head nurse" as my husband says. She has that great doggie sense when something is wrong. She sleeps next to me, or on me, and makes sure that everything is OK. Whether it's migraine headaches, tummy aches, or post-surgery, she is right there with me and ready to make it all better.

So, this is Dixie, doing one of the adorable things she does, which is telling that obnoxious alarm clock just what she thinks (if I can make the video work).

This is a fun site about Yorkie astrology. Dixie is a Pisces.

Teach Your Baby to Read... Or In My Case, Bribe

I love how Dr. Pace and LeErin wanted to read to be able to have the same power that others around them had, or because there was a competitive spirit involved. My husband said he wanted to learn to read so that he could see and understand all the cool stuff that his parents and others were able to. When he did learn to read, he didn't want to read any of the "kiddie" stories or comics. I asked him why-- especially since that's still some of my favorite stuff. He said that since his parents wanted him to read the kiddie stuff, he knew that there must be some really cool, forbidden writing out there. Why would he want to read some stupid comic book when Hemingway was sitting around the house, and his parents were trying to distract him from it. I think that explains why he doesn't like fantasy, sci-fi, and comic book based movies.

I learned to read when I was about four years old. I liked the idea of reading and wanted to learn, but my mom is an overachiever, and was going to put me on the accelerated path to literacy. Even as a kid I loved art. And to a four year old, stickers were the best art I could buy. My mom knew this, and for every book that I could read out loud from start to finish, I got some really awesome sticker to put in my sticker album. One of my favorites that I got for a book was a fuzzy gorilla and a separate fuzzy banana sticker that went with it.

I guess that's where my love for the visual mixed with text began. The illustrations in the books were nice, but the stickers were better-- sort of like print compared to electronic media. There's a different kind of sensory experience and it is more interactive. I got a sticker about the size of a drivers license that had penguins on it. On top of the penguins was a blue liquid that I could squish around on the picture. The fall was a good season for stickers because there were lots of Halloween glow-in-the-dark stickers.

Then there came the holographic stickers that looked animated. The birds now flapped their wings, the pony bent down and ate the grass, the lion ran, and Spiderman swung on his web. Who wouldn't read for that? To make the sticker frenzy even better, scratch-n-sniff came onto the scene. There were stickers that smelled like different soft drinks. Strawberry Shortcake smelled like strawberry shortcake. Stickers with beautiful chocolate frosted cupcakes with sprinkles smelled like the real thing. There were even stickers where I could make my own scene with them, and put a picture together like the interactive-build your own- e-cards today.

I still like reading for the sake of reading and I like the idea of my mind creating the scenes from the book. But I really do like reading on the Internet where I can have the various sensory and interactive experiences along with the words.

(Liquid Disney sticker image from: http://www.scrapbookdiscountconnection.com)

(All other sticker images from http://smilemakers.com)

Cyborgs, Explants & Hybrids

When we were discussing Hayles today, we spent a bit of the discussion on the last page which is about hybrids, implants, and explants. I remembered a segment from 60 Minutes on April 12, 2009 about prosthetic arms that are so technologically advanced, they move like real arms and even use the nerves in what's left of the arm to "think."
This technology is being developed for the soldiers returning from war who are amputees. If you have the time to watch it, watch all the way till the end. It will completely amaze you to see such a true-- and in this case, wonderful "cyborg" development. This is a great example of not hurdling into a cyborg infested future in which we will all be destroyed or plugged into the "Matrix" (although, if I were plugged into the Matrix I'm not sure I would know the difference). If the future is anything like this report, then I'm thrilled to live in a time where man and machine intertwine. I wonder if Turing ever imagined something like this!
I've cried every time I've watched it. I hope you enjoy it as well.


Watch CBS Videos Online

My Space Friends

This is a video of Demetri Martin singing about his My Space friends. I thought it might be appropriate for our social networking talks in class.



I understand this song because I can't keep up with the 20 friends I have on Facebook. I am a Facebook failure. How do we know when someone is writing on our wall and not someone else's? The email notifiers about people writing on the wall is sort of a band aid for me. It doesn't fix the problem of me being confused.

How do people have enough time to create My Space pages that play songs, play videos, display awful poetry, and allow the creator to argue with people making comments? How can anyone keep up with the chatter on Facebook? I am not the best time manager, but seriously, anyone who has an answer-- please let me know what I'm doing wrong. I haven't hung up clothes for 2 weeks; I still have fencing not attached to fence posts; I'm running on 5 to 6 hours of sleep when I need 9; I haven't cooked anything since Christmas; I haven't had enough time to get a haircut in about 8 months; and I still have a mini-Christmas tree from early December that I haven't planted. I have no idea how it's surviving in its tiny plastic cup. I am completely amazed at how people are able to use these networking systems to such a great extent.

But really, anyone out there who works, goes to school, has a non-computer based social life, yet still has time to do My Space, Twitter, and Facebook, please let me know your secret. The laundry is piling up and I'm wearing the same 5 outfits all the time; the fence is unstable; I'm constantly irritated from lack of sleep; my hair is heavy; my husband is hungry; and my tree is going to die.