Triple Eleven: The Day of Magic

Say hello to the old font which seems easier to read.

Today is a magical day for those who actually care that today's date is made up of a single number (this day would have been more impressive in the year 1111 instead of 2011, but I suppose I'll refrain from raining on too many parades). Weddings, movie releases both in theaters and DVD/Blu-ray, video-game releases, concerts, celebrations, parties, induced labor, pagan rituals, the moon refraining from waning (thus altering its faze-cycle), cats and dogs living together, etc. are events taking place on this day to immortalize the three elevens that make up the date for those who don't include the full year when they write it. I, personally, will be attending a wedding reception and a celebration of the day that will involve good friends, good food, and Martinelli's Sparkling Cider. The other way I'm celebrating the day is by treating it like any other day and attending my classes and doing homework (plus this blog) before the festivities (the first 5 seconds are all you need to watch, it just gets annoying after that).

In reality, though, the day is actually set apart to remember those who have served in our nation's armed forces. It's Veteran's Day and let's not forget it! Remember those who have fought and died for our country and the cause of freedom. Their sacrifice has been great in many instances. We're indebted to them for what they have done for us-honor them.
In the way of my perfectly ordinary life (at least it's ordinary for me), life has been a-okay. Tithing Settlement has come upon the ward. At first it seemed nightmarish, being the one responsible for making sure the Bishop met with every ward member, but having two assistants has been a tremendous blessing. I owe those two guys a lot. We tackled that monster and have come out on top thus far. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes as smoothly as it has!
Anatomy and Physiology is a crazy blast, as it usually is. We've been going over the respiratory system and are now diving headlong into the digestive system. There's so much to learn about our body, it's crazy. It's even more-so when you think about all the things in the body that we still don't know about, which is still a vast "black box" despite the advances we make. Something interesting about the digestive system: It has more neurons in it than the spinal cord. In fact, it can be a stand-alone system if needs be. That's why when someone is paralyzed from the neck down or something like that, they can still eat and get nutrition.
Anyway, I'm still working on that research paper, so I'd best get on that! I have one week before it's due!

Happy Hallow-...Dia de la...What Day is it?

Oh drat, it's been a while since I last posted. Life has gone a little to the crazy side these last couple of weeks: I've had midterms. It hasn't even been that bad though. The worst of it has been my research paper for my English class. The teacher is making us do it in a specific way that is taking me a really long time; it will be miraculous if I get it finished on time. It might not be so bad if it was my only class, but since my Anatomy and Physiology class and Exercise Physiology class also have homework that I can't slack on, it's killer. It also doesn't help that I found out I had been doing the research wrong from day one and had to start it all over again the other day.  Like I said, it might be a miracle to get it done on time.

At any rate, the picture up top there is an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG). It happens to be my ECG taken in lab a couple of weeks ago via placing sticky electrodes on my wrists and ankles (I had a bald-patch on my right leg from ripping the electrodes off)-which explains why it's so rough in nature instead of having nice, smooth lines. The machine has a little to do with that as well. For those who aren't familiar with an ECG, prepare yourselves for a little education! It's a measurement of the electrical impulses traveling across your heart. It's the little machine that goes "beep! beep! beep!" It has a baseline (which is not easily seen in mine) and the deviations signify an impulse: an upward wave is typically going "down" the heart and a downward wave is typically going "up" the heart. The waves are given letters: P is the one right before the big wave (atrial contraction), the big wave is called the QRS Complex (essentially ventricular contraction) (Q is the small dip, R is the big spike upward, S is the spike downward), and the T wave is the one right after the QRS Complex (ventricular "re-polarization" to get ready for next contraction). When the heart speeds up, the P and T waves get closer together, or "You get a little P in your T" (Bro. Shaw) as you can see to the far right of the above picture. There is also a way to use the diagram to figure out roughly what angle your heart sits at in your chest, but I'll spare you the details.

 I found a little something the other night. I was heading off the library to deprive myself of a social life and ensure that I maintain a healthy grade in English when I ran across this little kitten. Someone had accidentally dropped a jar of spaghetti sauce on the sidewalk and this little gal came out and started licking up the mess, obviously starving. The guy who dropped the jar, along with his brother, started dumping water to wash the sauce off the sidewalk, which the cat immediately started lapping up as if it was the only wet stuff she had seen all day. She was comfortable around people and had no problem with me coming up to her. Turns out she's a major snuggle-bug. I decided she needs a good home and a warm place to stay for the night, since it has been getting progressively colder, so I was going to keep her in our apartment, but my roommate's allergic to cats. That wouldn't have worked out so well. Fortunately, I found someone who could give her shelter and took her over there. This morning she was taken to the animal shelter and hopefully she'll have a good home soon.
In other news, Fictionist came to town in a celebratory tour of signing on with Atlantic Records. They played at Sammy's and had two warm-up bands, Tighty Willis and Moth and the Flame, which were both pretty good. I enjoyed their performances for the most part. If I had one critique for Tighty Willis, I would say that they could stand a little lyrical work for some songs and for them to either get rid of the saxophone or make the saxophonist actually play it. It seemed more like he was trying to hurt himself with it rather than get music out of it. As for Moth and the Flame, what I heard I liked. It was during their performance that I got a little lesson in how to be blind, but more on that in a little bit. Fictionist was fantastic last night. I thoroughly enjoyed their show before I had to leave for another commitment. I made sure to buy their EP though, and here it is:

I have a friend who is going blind from the peripherals-in. In other words, she has tunnel vision that will get worse until she's totally blind. She went to blind school to learn how to cope with it and be independent. Part of that was being given a special mask that blocks out all sight and learning to use a cane. Her and my roommate (he had just been learning for fun) came to the show and it was during Moth and the Flame that they decided to have me give a whirl. It was fun, I crossed the intersection nearby in all four crosswalks without trouble (even though it was really scary) and I was even able to find my own way back to where the band was playing. Funny story time. So I crossed the first sidewalk and heard someone say "Hello Steve!" It turned out to be a good friend named Charlie, so I reached out my hand toward him and said, "Come to me." Then I heard a different voice saying, "Uh, no thanks." That voice belonged to a complete stranger, one of about five guys, who happened to be walking between Charlie and me at the moment and ended up sidling around my outstretched had.
Anyway, starting last night, winter has begun to set in officially. That's right, Rexburg has been bedded down in the cold sleep of snow and ice. If anyone loves the snow and related sports/activities, this place is a dream come true. I grew up in a place where having a few inches of snow meant school was cancelled. I'm not too keen on anything but sledding, really. Ask some of my friends who have taken me snowboarding. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go hibernate or something.