How to Eat a Cupcake, with Frosting in Every Bite!

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, leftover day at this house and probably plenty of others, and I want to share something I learned (and am thankful for also) at our Thanksgiving meal yesterday, how to eat a cupcake with frosting in every bite. I guess it’s a good thing there’s a cupcake leftover for the photo. I must give credit to one of our dinner guests, Ashley, for this ingenious cupcake eating method and let her know that her technique has taken off like wildfire, well maybe not exactly wildfire but taken off nevertheless, among my grandchildren, several of whom will (like me) never eat a cupcake the old way again. The steps are pretty simple. First look over the entire tray of cupcakes for the one with the most frosting, if you are a frosting fanatic or an adequate amount of frosting if you are not. Next, after choosing the cupcake, peel the cupcake paper off and discard. Then tear or cut the bottom half of the cake off and place it on top of the frosting to create a lovely little cupcake sandwich with the delectable frosting in the middle. After that all that’s left is to open wide to enjoy that first frosting filled bite and repeat until you have enjoyed eating all of your cupcake, yep, with frosting in every bite.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s a good day to count your blessings, I am counting mine, and thinking how important it is not to take them for granted. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families from me and mine!
-Jo

Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving

Twas the night before Thanksgiving, when all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The turkey was thawing in the fridge with care,

For the next day’s feast and all who’d be there.

The potatoes were peeled, in the fridge, in a pot,

While they wait to be boiled, mashed, and served hot.

With Poppa away, and I in my bed,

Thanksgiving’s menu kept cycling through my head.

When out in the front room came a bark from our pup,

I sprang from my bed to see what was up.

Down the dark hallway to the window to peek,

I pulled back the drape to see what made the dog speak.

Clouds hid the moon, grey fog shrouded the night,

Fallen leaf clutter camouflaged the dog’s fright.

I remembered once marshmallows dotted the leaves like snow,

The marshmallow gun Christmas, a few years ago.

Grandkids, cousins, uncles, aunts, all had fun,

Hiding all around in hopes of ambushing someone.

Thinking of the early start for cooking I would need,

I let go the drape, back to bed to proceed.

The holiday season tomorrow would begin,

With family, friends, all loved ones stopping by and dropping in.

I bowed my head to give my thanks for all of it in advance,

Knowing this quiet moment might be my only chance.

And as dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

Came a thought of marshmallows for the sweet potato soufflé,

That’s what I’d forgotten and would need the next day!

Then I thought of future blessings and remembered the past,

And my Mom’s sweet potatoes, no marshmallows, yet eaten just as fast.

So I slipped back into my bed, by now I was yawning,

And wondering what new memories would begin with Thanksgiving’s dawning. 

I’m Thankful

Two more busy days until Thanksgiving and then the holidays will really be upon us. To me it feels like the rush has begun early like Black Friday coming a day early this year. So before I start peeling the potatoes I’m taking some time to reflect on the things I am thankful for, including the potatoes and the rest of the things that nourish our families physically, not just on turkey day, but all year long. I am also thankful for grandchildren because they create their own special niches in the hearts of their grandparents. Ours are growing up and I marvel at the way they impact this world and how well they have made it their own. Somehow they are managing to navigate through the same stages as their parents, yet in much more interesting and, unlike their parents (my adult children), less exasperating ways. It’s interesting to watch their parents now too and how everything that comes around goes around again. Though I once warned that they would deserve to have kids that were just like them and I meant put them through the things that made me want to pull my hair out, I am thankful to see that their kids, my grandkids, are growing up resilient with the best of their parents’ character reflected in their personalities. I am thankful. 

Thanksgiving Favorites, Mon Petit Chou!

So this morning I was looking at the What do you think? survey on MSN where readers vote, or like me, skip to the results. Today’s question asked what is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal and the choices included, turkey, stuffing, bread or rolls, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, Brussels sprouts, and pie. Two things on the list were requested by two of my grandkids, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, and my sister offered to bring another, sweet potatoes. My favorite would be the Brussels sprouts or as my husband and I like to call them, mon petit chou, my favorite French term of endearment roughly translated to mean my little cabbage head, unlike my husband’s favorite French term, soup du jour, Pierre, (soup of the day). But back to the survey, I skipped to the results and after fully expecting macaroni and cheese to be the favorite was surprised to find that the stuffing had the highest percentage of votes. Not surprisingly, Brussels sprouts didn’t have enough votes to garner a single percentage point but that’s okay, mon petit chou, you are still my favorite.

Oil, Emu versus Turkey

A friend gave my husband some emu oil to massage on his achy arthritic joints so I figured I’d look up some info on it. Let me qualify this one thing about the emu oil, actual emu oil was not very high on the ingredient list in 100% Emu Oil by Thunder Ridge Emu Products. Anyway some people swear by emu oil for its rejuvenating anti-inflammatory properties since on the bottle it suggests ‘intensive pain relief.’ Some people ingest it though the stuff given to my husband warns against it, for that product anyway. The jury (my husband in this case) is still out on the benefits of emu oil. The emu is a pretty big bird as is the turkey so I figure they would both render a good bit of oil. 

Now for turkey oil, my search brought up production of oil in Turkey but that wasn't the turkey oil I was looking for. I was thinking more along the lines of the oil that the Thanksgiving turkey floats in in the roasting pan. I don’t eat it as an entrée but it helps make good gravy for the mashed potatoes and if your turkey isn't too dry, I figure it is a big part of what keeps it moist and delicious. I also came across lots of different oils for frying turkeys and the fryers. We did deep fry a turkey once and the same set up (with water and Old Bay seasoning instead of cooking oil) makes for a really good low country boil. I have also seen an advertisement for a candle that smells like fried chicken so perhaps a fried turkey candle isn't far behind. On the other hand, I have set the timer on my oven and cooked the bird overnight before (to make room in the oven for the ham and other Thanksgiving feast parts that require oven space) and I doubt any candle could hold a candle to the aroma we awakened to in the morning. 

Eating Tofurkey with a Spork

I’m in a portmanteau kind of mood with this year having Thanksgivukkah in it, since the first day of Hanukkah falls on Thanksgiving Day. A portmanteau is a fusion of two words and their meanings, not to be confusioned with compound words, to make a new word, like Thanksgivukkah. Spork, of course, is also a portmanteau, the KFC’s famous dining utensil and combination of spoon and fork, with tiny tines for stabbing at the edge of the spoon section for scooping. Tofurkey is the vegetarian portmanteau for a faux turkey, with all the seasonings of the traditional bird but none of the actual animal product. Instead tofurkey is made up mostly of tofu. This year Black Friday seems to be moving to Thanksgiving Day Thursday so I've been thinking we might just need  another portmanteau for this. I might start call Thanksgiving Day Grey Thursday this year since so many retailers are staying open and then after midnight Grey Thursday fades to Black Friday. Not exactly a portmanteau, but I welcome any suggestions.

I’I've never tried tofurkey before either but this year I just might put it to the test alongside the traditional turkey turkey. And I may opt for foam plates too but sporks are definitely out. 

Feral Turkeys

I caught a short story on MSN about feral turkeys taking over Manhattan, or there abouts in New York. In truth, I worry more about these two feral cats I've rescued taking over my Thanksgiving turkey, because as I found out this morning, even my oatmeal isn't safe if left unattended on the dining room table. Be that as it may, I was once followed around by a feral turkey. No, not my husband, if that’s what you are guessing. This turkey latched on to me and shadowed my every move one day when I was at the end of Harriet's Bluff Road in Camden County where there was at one time a Thiokol Chemical plant turned Union Carbide pesticide plant, 4,000 acres unused now, most currently being considered as a site for an aero-spaceport facility. I was there looking at the tabby remains of an anchor shaped civil war era house, the Bellevue Plantation, when I was befriended by this particular feral turkey. It was a pretty big bird, I might add, and try as I might to keep my distance every time I turned around until I finally retreated to the safety of my car this new found feathered friend could be found nearly at my heels. I’m not sure to this day what this turkey was looking to me for but the turkeys in New York apparently are making a nuisance of themselves, leaving droppings and causing car accidents. New Yorkers don’t want them killed yet their numbers have increased a lot and their meat may not be suitable for human consumption until it’s been tested for pesticides and the like. I’m thinking the same for my friendly follower up at Harriet’s Bluff since it lived its life on Union Carbide’s, Bayer CropScience’s facility. The problem with trapping and relocating the New York turkeys is that they may not be entirely feral but perhaps a mix of wild and domesticated turkey. Yep, there I go thinking of my husband again. It would sure be nice to relocate him home for the holidays.

Ernie Banks

Yesterday Ernie Banks was one of the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Washington D. C. and I don’t think it could have happened to a nicer guy. Ernie Banks, AKA Mr. Cub of baseball’s Chicago Cubs was twice named Most Valuable Player, won a Gold Glove Award, was named to more than a dozen All-Star teams, was inducted into the Hall of Fame and has one of the most recognizable smiles in baseball. He went from a 7-dollar-day player in the Negro Leagues to the first African-American to play for the Cubs. He hit 512 homeruns during his career. Jack Brickhouse who announced for the Cubs back when I went to Wrigley Field and Ernie Banks wore the number 14, was known for his catch phrase, “Hey-hey!” when the Cubs scored and Ernie Banks for saying, “Let’s play two.” My Mom met Ernie Banks years later when she worked at Motorola but one of my best memories from my Wrigley Field days involved getting an autograph from Ernie Banks. We went to lots of games there and always sat along the third baseline. As the game progressed it would become obvious that not all the box seats (closer to the field) were going to be occupied so one thing my twin brother and I did was sneak into them, choose a couple of seats to sit in, and try to act like we belonged there. Sometimes we were escorted back to our mother but sometimes not. Sometimes when we didn’t have money for the ticket into the park we stayed out on Waveland Avenue with a transistor radio listening to the game, waiting to hear “Hey-hey!” while watching for a homerun ball to come out of the park so we could make a scramble for it. After the game we sometimes waited there for the players to come out after the game and head home. That was a good place to try for an autograph too. But the best autograph place and the time most vivid in my memory was once before the game started. My brother and I scooted on our bellies on top of the dugout waving our program and a pen, hoping it would get snatched for an autograph before we were run out of the box seats one more time. And as you might expect we did get returned to the grandstand, but that time with Ernie Banks’ autograph. I loved the foot long hot dogs and the frosties, and the vendors singing about peanuts and cold beer here, bottle of beer, but I loved number fourteen the most.  

Turkey Shortage

Butterball announces turkey shortage, fresh ones over 16 lbs. anyway. And I am just recently reading about this when the big day is just around the corner, next week? There are plenty of frozen or lower weight fresh turkeys to go around. Did I mention that turkey day is looming? Well I need to be sure I have enough time to thaw the main entrée, and everyone that’s ever cooked a turkey knows that’s complicated. I guess I could get two eight pounders dress them up identically and serve them as twins. Or I could go completely off the reservation and serve something else. Years ago we took a family camping trip in the Smoky Mountains and we cooked individual Cornish game hens (9 of them and we were really packed in the tent like sardines too, food is definitely on my mind) over a campfire but even that took prior planning. Apparently Americans serve roughly 46 million turkeys on Thanksgiving, with 88 percent of all Americans feasting on the bird. There are more than 248 million turkeys raised each year in the U.S. except, perhaps this year with its shortage of fresh 16 pounders. Maybe someone should just announce that the market has been flooded with a bunch of stale, frozen underweight or obese turkeys, nothing in between because the sixteen pounders have all been photo shopped, or do like a lot of retailers seem to be doing this year, and skip Thanksgiving all together.

50 Years Later

Where were you when you heard President Kennedy had been shot? I was in school with my classmates, now fellow baby boomers. I looked to my teacher when we heard the announcement and saw emotions and fear in her face that I had never seen before. I read this week that the baby boomers, school aged 50 years ago, are the ones who have shaped the national memories of this event. The assassination of John F. Kennedy was the watershed event that defined our generation, the generation that defines how we look at the world today. The world wasn't what it appeared to be. The Kennedy assassination ripped away the veneer and the devastating tragedy struck us down and touched us all. The ugly side of reality blindsided us.

Where was I when the twin towers fell? I was once again in school. No announcement was made to our students this time. The news came to me in a call from my daughter-in-law and the photos on the internet and the large numbers of panicked parents suddenly picking up their kids brought the unreality home. Although we were instructed to remain professional and not tell the students what was happening (like when they watched the Challenger explode after launch) the stunning news of this tragedy couldn't be kept from our hearts and faces. Already this watershed event has impacted and influenced our culture. Another watershed event defining the next generation, the generation that will define how future generations look at the world.  

Demographic Transition

Demographic transition is, simply put, the shifting age structure of a population, as increasing numbers of infants reach adulthood, middle, and old age. Along with demographic transition come different developments in infrastructure, education, and urbanization. At the root of demographic transition are developments in medical care which affect the population from the bottom up. Where child mortality is high population structure has the shape of a pyramid with progressively fewer people in each older age group. But these days because of better public health initiatives that protect young children there is a bulge of greater numbers in the younger categories moving up through the pyramid. Baby boomers, we were part of a bulge too.

Some political scientists think that if a government doesn't meet the needs of the surge in young adults the demographic transition can lead to widespread discontent, mass unemployment, and alienated youth. Some political scientists point to the rise of Hitler as influenced by this sort of demographic transition and more currently the formation of paramilitary groups in countries like Afghanistan where young adults make up more than 50% of the population, prime recruits for the Taliban.

The youth bulge can also foster fast economic growth as young people fuel the future economy. They can be the biggest part of a strong workforce and tend to be high consumers. I think about how frequently they get new high tech devices like phones and tablets.

But back to the bulge I belong to, the one with older people who used to be those young restless adults, the ones who kept our nation economically dynamic in our youth. We must continue to be a valued resource and not a burden in order to keep our nation strong and successful.

Huh? A Universal Word Found in Almost Every Language?

There is a word found in almost every language and it isn't mama or dada, baby’s first words. It isn't baby’s later words, like no or mine either, but those were also my guesses. Next I figured it might be a word that expresses great emotion, like love or its antithesis, hate, but those aren't right either. With Thanksgiving on my mind I next guessed yum. I am also writing this before a meal, any meal yet yum is still wrong even if my tummy disagrees. Yawns don’t have a word, so that’s not it. Yes, I just yawned and my stomach growled for emphasis but if I had a buzzer it would sound to let you know that yawns and stomach noises are not the universally understood and uttered word. I know hola and hello are close but definitely not the same so it isn't a word of greeting and besides Spanish and English are just two languages. This universal word found in almost every language is used in a lot more than just two languages. Huh? Give up yet? I did. The universal word is huh, (Duh!).

Cut and Run

Some fish do, cut (bite, actually) one of their pals and run to avoid being eaten by a predator. Hence, here is a snippet about them from this morning’s SKYPE discussion with my husband over coffee.

[7:59 AM] Jo Mount: I am thinking of blogging about these fish called astyanax.

[7:59 AM] Jo Mount: They are found near hydroelectric plants, and when confronted by a predator they bite one of their pals and run, I mean swim away.

[8:01 AM] A. Mount: Sounds like divers when confronted with a shark, think about stabbing their dive buddy and swimming like hell.

[8:01 AM] Jo Mount: Except I hope the divers are just joking. I was when I told you that’s what I would cut you and swim for it if we were confronted by sharks in a feeding frenzy the next time we go snorkeling.  These astyanax fish aren't joking!

[8:02 AM] A. Mount: I know when the Indianapolis went down and there were 300 plus guys in the water, they used the bodies of their shipmates to keep the sharks at bay.

[8:04 AM] Jo Mount: I hope the guys on the Indianapolis were fending off the sharks with their shipmates that were already dead meat, so to speak, from explosion or the elements.

[8:04 AM] A. Mount: That's what they were doing.

[8:05 AM] Jo Mount: That was about survival then as it appears to be with these callous little fish called astyanax. Only their little fish pal isn't dead, just almost so the predator can eat him while the others get away. Sacrificial surprise!

[8:06 AM] A. Mount: Yep. Not like the wildebeest or other animals that gather around the young to protect them.

[8:08 AM] Jo Mount: I was thinking something more Spock like..What’s that line you like from the Star Trek movie?

[8:08 AM] A. Mount: The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one?

[8:09 AM] Jo Mount: That’s the one. At least for Spock it was a choice. All kinds of strategies for survival out there, I guess.

[8:13 AM] A. Mount: How did they discover those fish?

[8:14 AM] Jo Mount: Some guy in the UK was trying to find ways to keep them away from the machinery in these plants hydroelectric plants in South America.

[8:14 AM] A. Mount: I've never heard of them before.

[8:15 AM] Jo Mount: Now you have! The astyanax is a South American fish that lives in small groups. And their cut and run strategy was just an observation made while looking for ways to keep them from swimming in and damaging the plant machinery.

Women’s Breasts Age More Quickly than the Rest of the Human Body

Wow! Gravity isn't the culprit after all? Apparently not, since some parts of the body age at different rates and this was determined by identifying the age of different tissue samples within the human body. Steve Horvath and his team from the University of California, Los Angeles analyzed more than seven thousand tissue samples to create an algorithm to identify the age of tissue samples and used this to discover that female breasts are often older than their owners. Other parts of the body that age at different rates include the heart and cancerous tissues. The heart tissue appeared to be younger (as much as nine years younger) than the owner’s actual age possibly due to being constantly regenerated by stem cells and the breast tissue older (up to three years older) possibly because of the constant exposure to hormones in the breast. Cancerous tissues aged prematurely and appeared up to 36 years older than a person’s actual age. Perhaps Horvath and his team’s work on identifying the ages of different tissue within the human body will someday soon help in the research in diagnosing and finding a cure for cancer. 

2 New Bomb Detectors Find Bombs in Different Ways

Two kinds of bomb detectors, the first inspired by dolphin sonar is the size of a coin and can sense hidden electronics. It can be used to find surveillance bugs, bomb triggers, and even people buried in the rubble of an earthquake if they have their phone or IPod with them. Dolphins use bubble nets from their blowholes to corral fish and are able to detect the difference between the fish and the bubbles with their sonar. Timothy Leighton took this idea further and developed a prototype radar system that could distinguish a wide range of materials, specifically wires and semiconductors that might pinpoint a bomb circuit or other hidden electronics.

Next a European program called Emphasis has figured a way to place chemical sensors in sewer systems that find telltale traces of home brewed explosives as they leak from sinks, bathtubs, toilets, windows or even skylights and find their way to the sensors. The sensors are designed to pick up signs of explosives precursors like chemical reagents and reaction breakdown byproducts. Each sensor is made up clusters of ten centimeter long ion selective electrodes that are submerged in the waste flow. Software then looks for patterns in the concentration of the telltale ions using these electrodes and sounds an alarm when it finds traces of home brewed explosives. Another use for the sewer sensor system would be its ability to monitor illicit drugs by the byproducts of their production present in the metabolites of users.

Yesterday Was That Lucky Number, 11-12-13, Day

Bahama Snowman!

Frequently I find myself a day behind on events posted on Facebook and yesterday was that lucky number, 11-12-13, day so I expected to find some memes about that and it was mentioned a couple of times. Checking my newsfeed for yesterday’s news this morning I took note of several posts about the cold weather in St. Marys, folks there said it was freezing in the 40’s, and I saw the cold air dipping down into the south from the north mentioned on MSN too. On FB there were several mentions and photos among my more northern friends and family of the first appearance of the season’s white stuff. It, like many of the retailers in the news, decided not to wait till after Thanksgiving (or even Thanksgiving week, let alone day) to blanket them and maybe attempt to get them in the holiday shopping spirit or at least the snowman making and snowball throwing spirit. I guess I was too busy getting into the spirit of the white stuff too, the kind I found yesterday. Yesterday was my day for good fortune.

There’s Gold in Them …Trees?

I always wished money grew on trees so maybe I could consider the determination that gold, not exactly 24 carat though I am talking actual gold, can be found in Australian eucalyptus trees leaves a wish come true. Gold, though toxic to trees and plants, has been found in the leaves of some eucalyptus trees in Australia. These trees, complete with gold in their leaves, are found growing above actual gold deposits up to 40 meters deep in the earth below them. Apparently some of the gold in these deposits dissolves as ions in water and are sucked up by the trees roots. The gold ions are then trapped in calcium oxalate crystals to render them harmless to the tree and stored in the tree’s leaves and bark in as many as 100 parts per billion, enough to make using trees to find gold in areas where exploratory drilling and other methods is too difficult the way to go. Perhaps this answers the age old question, Why did the chicken cross the road, I mean prospector climb the tree? And gives a new meaning to the words gold leaf.

Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty

This quote and variations of it has been attributed to a few people and in the case of Thomas Jefferson, disputed, but the provenance of this quote doesn't matter to me on Veterans’ Day. Its meaning is what matters on this day in which we celebrate and thank all our nation’s heroes, present and past, here and abroad, for their service, vigilance, and commitment to preserving our freedom. They have been an integral part of the fabric of our nation from its humble beginning and no matter what your individual political leanings (they protect our right to have them) they deserve our respect, support, and gratitude. I wish for them the sense of peace and security they have so selflessly given me.  

I would also mention and recommend that you check out another blog at http://www.serviceandhope.com/ that describes the travels of a good friend, Mark Feine. It’s a good one.

Happy Veterans Day!  

Law of Urination

Here I am in the Bahamas reading about the physics behind what happens when you just gotta go and of course the answer comes from some folks back in my home state (not the state of confusion, though I am there a lot too) but instead Georgia, the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, to be specific. They did research into which mammals empty their bladders fastest, cows, elephants, or dogs. When I saw cows I immediately thought about cows pissing on a flat rock- something I’d heard used to describe a down pouring of rain. Then I thought elephants should have gravity as an advantage, but from my days teaching science in Kindergarten, I knew what gravity has to do with the speed of different masses falling to earth and in the case of urination I figured it wouldn't make much difference. Dogs were the next animal considered and I thought I could easily have tested how long it takes a dog to empty its bladder by timing my own dog, Fred, but he is back in GA, and I am not. I could time him over and over again on any given walk. Of course I also thought of my husband’s lyric mangling versions of the songs in his repertoire that include, changing It was just my ‘magination to It was just my urination, or It was urination I know..yada, yada the golden flow..I don’t really know what the original lyrics are on that one anymore. But back to the Law of Urination, cows, elephants, and dogs, despite the differences in the sizes of their bladders and the lengths of their urethras, all manage to empty their bladders in roughly 21 seconds. There are some limitations to the law of urination as one might expect, including the times it takes for smaller mammals like rats and bats to empty their bladders. But there you have it..The Law of Urination!

Weathering the DUI

When you see an all too familiar face in the local mug shots for DUI, well it’s disappointing yet human, I guess. And in looking at the mug shots each week on FCN’s (my local news favorite) website, I sometimes subscribe my own ideas to their expressions. The knitted eyebrows on one young woman made me think she was worrying what her dad would say when he found out. Others give an arrogant glare that might if it was allowed be accompanied by a one finger salute. And then you have my favorite meteorologist and eternal surfer boy, Tim Deegan, he just looks resigned to fate in his DUI shot. Maybe that’s because he’s had a lot of experience in front of the cameras, albeit not in an orange jailhouse suit. He looks head on at the camera, at least there is that. I’m glad he got stopped before hurting anyone else while driving under the influence. Despite the fact that he didn’t injure his car or any telephone poles, he did manage to hurt himself, at least his image. I haven’t seen him on the news in his usual weather segment and I miss him. I hope his boss there can be as forgiving as I am because no matter how knowledgeable he may be about the science of meteorology he’s only human and he’s still my favorite weather guy.

Reversing Some Symptoms of Down’s

Can some symptoms of Down’s syndrome be reversed? There is hope for this based on a gene called XIST that has a silencing function normally found on the X chromosome where it is needed to suppress one of the two X chromosomes found in females. People with Down’s syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21 that changes the way they develop. XIST when activated appears to be able to silence chromosome 21. It also has ramifications in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease by preventing the expression of an APP gene on the extra chromosome that makes the beta-amyloid linked to Alzheimer’s, a protein that also hastens the progression of Down’s syndrome. Down’s is complicated and there are varying degrees of symptoms and characteristics involved with individuals that have it. Although XIST is not likely to be used to intervene in a living embryo’s development it may be able to be used to switch off the chromosome at different times and locations in people with Down’s in the near future.

Embouchure

The word embouchure has more than one meaning like most words we use. It can be the mouth of a river and it is defined also as the use of facial muscles and the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece of woodwind instruments or the mouthpiece of the brass instruments. The word is of French origin and is related to the root word bouche, French for mouth. The proper embouchure allows the instrumentalist to play the instrument at its full range with a full, clear tone and without strain or damage to one's muscles, perhaps allowing the music to flow like a river’s water might flow, metaphorically speaking. After all music is so much more than sound or tone and a river is so much more than just flowing water.

After nearly tripping over one of my grandson, Jonas’ forgotten shoes, I thought of this word. Two cats continue to conspire to trip me up by pulling it out from under the bench and into my path by a shoelace. Like the shoe in my path the word embouchure keeps popping into my thoughts. The shoe forgetter is 11 now and his dream instrument, he claims, is the French horn. He’s learning to play music with a small tuba, what the band instructor had available. He reads music better than me and if he stays with it, I wonder how embouchure will mark his features as he grows up and where his music will take him. 

Gorilla by Bruno Mars?

I’m not sure why but I took offense at the lyrics for Gorilla by Bruno Mars from the first time I heard it on the radio. Maybe Bruno himself looks wrong for the part in my mind’s eye and I am not planning on watching the video so that won’t change, I can’t see the thirty feet tall part. It was probably that I understood some of the lyrics because I usually don’t, yet I already knew that sex takes Bruno to paradise, so why not gorilla sex too? I did like his song Treasure so I looked up those lyrics and I've decided maybe I have been listening to the I Heart Radio sanitized version because I don’t remember it beginning with-Baby squirrel, you’s a sexy m***f***. After that line the rest of the song doesn't seem so offensive and it has a throwback kind of vibe that appeals to me. The thing about gorillas’ (the primate variety found in the wild) sexual preferences is that gorilla social groups usually contain just one sexually active male and several females. This is not mentioned in the song of course, but could be implied. Evolutionarily speaking, humans are closer (by a few million years) to chimps and chimps, researchers have found, are more into experimental sex. Within their groups several sexually active males breed with the group’s active females and vice versa. The chimps’ semen also coagulates into a plug in the female’s genital tract in order to increase the chances that a male will fertilize the female’s eggs. These same researchers then studied semen of humans, chimps, and gorillas for ACPP, an anticoagulating enzyme and found (to make a long story shorter) that gorillas regulate ACPP in the same way humans do, so maybe our lineage, in this regard at least, has reverted to a more gorilla like condition. Maybe Bruno is on to something.  

The Ross Sea

The Ross Sea is the southernmost body of water in the world. It’s located southwest of New Zealand and gouges a chunk out of Antarctica. The Commission for the Conservation of Arctic Marine Living Resources asked 24 governments to come together and turn the Ross Sea into a protected area last July but it didn’t happen. The process was derailed by Russia, one of the countries that fishes in those waters. Last month the commission met again in hopes of establishing a protected area because the Ross Sea is one of the most pristine ecosystems on our planet. With the current rate of ocean acidification occurring it is the ideal place for scientists to study a healthy ocean ecosystem and it needs protection. It’s dominated by all the great ocean hunters and plankton. Along with the abundant water bound marine life, the Ross Sea is also home to a quarter of the world’s population of Adelie and emperor penguins. In October at the commission meeting the plan to protect the Ross Sea was once again thwarted, this time by China, Russia, and Ukraine. But members of CCAMLR aren't giving up because they realize how difficult it is to bring to agreement so many countries with diverse ideas and cultures. The message of conservation isn't getting through but maybe the fourth time the group meets, in 2014, will be lucky. The penguins, whales, seals, orcas, and other carnivorous fish are counting on it.

Tim Tebow, PDQ

Tim Tebow has helped bankroll a new restaurant that has just opened in Jacksonville called PDQ. I think the Jags could use Tim PDQ too, but that subject has been worn pretty thin and this post is really about Tim’s restaurant. PDQ used to stand for pretty darn quick and the food served at PDQ is just that. The PDQ in this restaurant’s title, however, stands for People Dedicated to Quality and they serve some tasty high quality chicken as tenders, sandwiches, and on salads with fries, fruit, and slaw. They also have that fancy soda machine that lets the grandkids create their own combination soft drink from all the choices Coca Cola provides. I prefer a root beer to the (what I call) mop water that they fix, but back to PDQ. The PDQ restaurant chain originated in Tampa and our family has frequented the PDQ on 4^th Street in St. Petersburg on a regular basis. The first time we ate there they gave all the grandkids free PDQ t-shirts and wished them all a happy spring break. I have tried several of the sandwiches including the turkey seasoned with sage and complete with a slice of cranberry sauce between the meat and the bun and I have never been disappointed. Another of my personal favorites is the coleslaw with blueberries. The prices are reasonable and for more details you can check out their menu on their website at www.eatpdq.com where you can also get the info on their newest location.

Made in the USA

Remember the controversy about the Olympic USA Team uniforms being made in China a couple of years back? They US Olympic organizers say our team’s uniforms will be made in the USA for the upcoming winter games in February. Well it appears that another iconic symbol of the USA is also made mostly in China and making of this item and our government purchasing it from outside our country should bring even more concern. It is the symbol of our nation, the red, white, and blue, the American flag Old Glory, itself. Some students in Florida have brought this information to the forefront and are encouraging our government leaders to buy flags that are made in the USA through a bill recently introduced in Tallahassee called the All-American Flag Act. Representative Ritch Workman, a Republican from Melbourne, introduced the bill last month. If approved, it would require state, county and city agencies to purchase federal and state flags made in the United States. I think this is a good idea and hope it catches on in the rest of the USA too. 

No Shave November, Thanks

This is the month I have been seeing people counting blessings, things they are thankful for on Face Book every day. I am thankful for Noshavember because last year I didn’t shave my legs for the entire month and I liked it so much that I was looking forward to another no shave month this year. That’s until I heard that No-shave-vember isn't about unshaved legs or Duck Dynasty. It’s not even about Jaguar owner, Shad Khan’s mustache. It is a month dedicated to raising cancer awareness and growing hair in to honor those undergoing chemo that can’t. Well I am for this cause too because I haven’t met anyone whose family hasn't been touched by the cancer in some way. This disease, cancer, has become so insidious and such a joy stealer that I hope in time it can be eradicated. I know people tire of fighting the good fight but research into weapons against cancer must continue. In the meantime, I mustache you if you’re looking forward to saying no thanks to shaving this November, like I am.

Islands Considered Nearly Heaven on Earth

The top ten were featured in an MSN headline from Conde Nast Traveler’s 2013 Readers’ Choice Awards. Some of the islands named were ones I considered no brainers and some were islands I have visited so I (even though not among the surveyed) heartily agree with them as choices. Maui, one of several Hawaiian Islands topped the list, and Sea Island, located in my home state, Georgia, was on the list too. There was one island on the Conde Nast Travelers list that I was not familiar with, the island of Moorea. It is a heart shaped island and honeymoon destination adjacent to Tahiti. According to the voters it has great restaurants and lush tropical beauty with a French flair. I also found that it is surrounded by barrier reefs which must make for great snorkeling and diving. Of course the top ten didn’t include the island I am heading toward soon, but that’s okay because it ranks highly among my personal favorites since it is the current home of my husband and many friends. Before the necessity of passports for travel there all my children visited and some very good memories were made there, on Andros Island in the Bahamas. None of the Bahamas’ Islands made the Conde Nast Traveler list, but not for their lack of nearly heavenly beaches, I figure. The islands listed were more about tourist amenities than the blessings of natural beauty, fishing abundance, and family.