First, I'm not that old.  But that's part of the point.  Oh, I suppose I'm kind of old in the same way that 6th graders were old when you were in 3rd.  I'm old to people in their 20's and 30's now.  Middle aged to the populace at large.  But even… Read full post »

This is a followup to my previous post - what blackjack is really about.

Blackjack is about hard, cold, unyielding mathematics.  If you want to win at it, there is little room for superstition.  The cards don't care what you want them to be, what you… Read full post »

Had an angioplasty lately, or maybe a stent placed in a coronary artery, and you are just feeling too good?  You miss that feeling of dizzyness when you stand, or that out of breath feeling after half a flight of stairs?  I've got the recipe for you.

 Asparagus!  Normally consider… Read full post »

I got yer photographic proof right here!

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The second blackjack post is coming for anyone who cares, but first for something completely different:

Little moments can be powerful.  They don't necesarily have to be life-changing powerful, but they can certainly be unforgettable.  In my concert-going life, a most memorable moment was a… Read full post »

I just got back from a totally kickin' weekend in Vegas with my brother.  I'd give it a 0.5 "Hangover" rating.  We didn't make the full score of "1.0", only because we did not marry a stipper, pull out one of our own teeth, or lose anyone.   For short, we had… Read full post »

Too many serious posts in a row!  Need some comic relief!

 I love chicken crossing the road jokes:

The original:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

To get to the other side

Some of my favorite variations:

 Why did the… Read full post »

When I was a kid, once a month, my mother would make the bean soup.  We'd eat it for dinner for four or five days.  While I did get a little sick of it by day 5, I loved when she made the soup, even more the day after, when the… Read full post »

I am posting this blog anonymously, under the nom de plume: Sir Sydney Fudd.  It seems a high-falutin' name, and I wonder if people think I chose it for agrandizment.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

Sir Sydney Fudd is a character in the Firesign Theater recording: "I Think… Read full post »

My Dad is dying.  Probably not right away, but he is definitely on the decline.  He had his first heart attack 20 years ago, in his 50's.  He's had at least two since then.  He was diagnosed with prostate cancer a little over a decade ago.  He has been undergoing treatment… Read full post »

So, in my previous post, I was asked: "Why would I want to be a friend to someone who was willing to commit a crime against a minor?"

 Fair question.  I don't know that I do.  That was the point of my previous post.  But I also don't know that I… Read full post »

Dave (not his real name) has been my best friend since Jr. High School. We have remained close although we have lived a thousand miles apart for many years.  As I suppose is the case with a lot of long-distance male friendships, we often go a long time without talking, but… Read full post »

I had one last night.  At the Buena Vista, right there at the foot of Hyde Street.  They are like the Grand Canyon in one sense.  Of course in many other senses, it is nothing at all like the Grand Canyon.  It is not dry or dusty.  It does not have… Read full post »

I don't know why this came into my head this morning, but I was letting my mind wander.... OK - that's a lie - I don't give it permission to wander - my mind is the jack-booted dictator of wandering - so let me rephrase:  my mind took me wandering.  One… Read full post »

Confession:  I’m Pro-life.

I’m also pro-choice.  I believe it would be better if there were few or no abortions.  I wish they were never necessary.  For the most part, I’d hope that people would choose that path as a last resort and only when necessary.  Bu… Read full post »

So, I'm a neuroscientist by trade.  I do research on how the brain works.    This story happened a few years ago when my daughter was in middle school.  They were studying (ta da!) neuroscience in their science class.  They were given a take-home test with the following… Read full post »

I was just reading a post by Reluctant Muse

http://opensalon.com/blog/reluctant_muse

 and, in particular the comments to that  it reminded me of an issue that always seems to come up.  People just have no idea what a college or university professor does for a living.

The first m… Read full post »

Looking at how often other's post, I think I may be suffering from the blog equivalent of verbal diarrhea.  I suppose that part of this is that its a new thing, and i'm excited about it, and part of it is that I'm at ,home sick with a cold that won't… Read full post »

The movie has given me a number of talking points to launch from.  One is the number that Stonehill throws out for the size of grant he needs to work on the disease: five hundred thousand dollars.  What went unsaid, was that this amount was for only about a year's worth… Read full post »

,,,and please forgive the awkward diction, grammar and speeling in the previos post.  I thumb typed it on my phone.

  Read full post »

Well, I did go see "Extraordinary Measures" Tonight.  I quite enjoyed it.  I think it is a pretty good movie.  I was watchful for scientific innaccuracies, and depictions of the lab environment that didn't ring true and I mostly didn't find them. There was one rather glaring innacuracy… Read full post »

Given that the world ends with a whimper - it doesn't seem entirely inappropriate that a blog should begin with a sigh.  Besides, it sums up fairly well how I feel about the whole enterprise at the moment.  I've wanted to jump into this blogging business for a while, but I… Read full post »