"Say What!?" Wednesday ElevenTwentysevenThirteen

It's still Wednesday so this post still counts, even though I didn't complete it this morning and then forgot about it the rest of the day... 

Welcome to the second edition of "Say What!?" Wednesday a compilation of current events, news, and things from the interwebs (mostly from a little bird that tweets on my computer screen) along with my commentary.

First up New Vocabulary:

While not necessarily a "current event" or "news article" I came across a "new word" and find this interesting from a cultural standpoint, especially since we already have "bling" in Websters Dictionary and have *Literally* destroyed the meaning of the word "literally."

Megan Washington @WASHINGTONx1m

Sapiosexuality: 1. (n.) A behavior of becoming attracted to or aroused by intelligence and its use. #bingo

According to http://www.collinsdictionary.com/submission/6304/Sapiosexual

Definition of Sapiosexual

One who finds intelligence the most sexually attractive feature; behaviour of becoming attracted to or aroused by intelligence and its use.

Additional Information

Sapiosexual is a neologism word (recently constructed word) that has come into common usage;, especially on social networking sites where some people are self-identifying as sapiosexual. Origins: From Latin root sapien, wise or intelligent, and Latin sexualis, relating to the sexes.

So I just don't get it. Why must this word exist? I'm guessing it's just riding the coattails of nerd-culture in the mainstream. But do we now have to define our entire identity over traits we find attractive? I think it's great to be smart and I do find intelligence quite an attractive quality in someone but don't most rational thinking people?  Wouldn't Darwin have something to say about this? (Speaking of which, apparently the frog named after Darwin might've gone extinct, can you say IRONIC???)

Also, the fact that it's a "neologism word." Anything "Neo" just no. You're trying to do something that already happened. I'm a much bigger fan of "post-" movements, because they actually draw upon and subsequently comment on the previous movement (usually through subversion) and actually add something new to the mix.

Next Up: Some Thanksgiving-Themed Knowledge!

The Turkey’s Turkey Connection

By MARK FORSYTH
Published: November 27, 2013

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/28/opinion/the-turkeys-turkey-connection.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1&

This article explains "why the bird you’re going to eat is named for a country on the Black Sea [even though it is native to America]. Other languages don’t make the same mistake. They make different ones. In France it’s called dinde, because they thought it was from India, or, in French, d’Inde. And in Turkey a lot of people thought that, too, so it’s called Hindi."

Basically, the traders from Turkey brought a bird from Madagascar (now known as the Helmeted Guinea Fowl) to England where people thought "This is great! we love those Turkey traders!" And then when the colonists got to the new world they were either lazy, uncreative, unobservant to the differences or just didn't have time to come up with new names so they were all "Hey, look at all these Turkeys!"

Cool story Hansel

And on that note: Happy Thabksgiving everyone! Enjoy your time of reflection with family & friends (and of we're honest, plenty of pigging out on delicious food)

Foto Friday: Fall Flowers

Foto Friday is back y'all! The following "fotos" are from my moms garden back in early October. All taken with an iPhone 4S & edited in Camera+

I love these flowers and berries and the purple & green combination that stands out right as the leaves begin to fall from the trees. These fall colors compliment each other and stand in stark contrast to the backdrop of oranges and browns. 

Seeing the butterfly lets me know I'm not the only one to appreciate these late bloomers :)

"Say What!?" Wednesday ElevenTwentyThirteen

Welcome to the first iteration of "Say What!?" Wednesday where I blog about random facts, news, topics happening in the world right now (or maybe old news that I'm fascinated be in particular this week), that made me say "What!?" followed by a brief sound-off of my thoughts/opinion/reaction.

So Away We Go:

First Up: Pregorexia: yup that's a thing. A little birdie (Twitter) told me so:

'Pregorexia': Extreme dieting while pregnant. http://t.co/uc0Nm4pKOc
— CNN (@CNN) November 20, 2013

According to the article:
"Pregorexia is not a formally recognized medial diagnosis. It is a term coined by the media, public and doctors in recent years to describe the eating disorder behaviors experienced by women while pregnant, which could include intense dieting and exercise, but also binging and purging.

While there are no known statistics on just how many pregnant women experience pregorexia, it is estimated that about 30% of American women don't gain enough weight during pregnancy, according to Dr. Ovidio Bermudez, the chief medical officer at the Eating Recovery Center in Denver, Colorado."

While I know the opposite approach to pregnancy, where a women eats whatever she wants (read: a lot of unhealthy food) because she is pregnant can lead to health concerns, I really think that when a woman's own body image issues put a life at risk, it's time to check in with ourselves as women and society as a whole. What do we believe "healthy" or "beautiful" look like, and do the two have to be mutually exclusive? Whether its photoshopped Victoria's Secret Models, every magazine cover in America (AIRBRUSHED), or our fellow women coworkers and friends, the images we allow ourselves to believe are normal and beautiful can be vastly different from what is actually healthy.  If anyone can figure out how to reconcile the two, let me know!

Next:

Typhoon Haiyan Relief, Great to See Support But How Effective Can That Support Be?

From a #Haiyan Twitter Search:

Avril Lavigne ‏@AvrilLavigne1h

Millions have been affected by Typhoon #Haiyan. Help survivors w/ @mercycorps & I’ll match your donation this week: http://bit.ly/17j0uWy 

•  
 

Expand

Intl Rescue Comm IRC ‏@theIRC1h

To help support the IRC's #Haiyan response, text REBUILD to 25383 to donate $10. Terms: http://mgive.org/t 

Followed by Za'atari Camp

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1. BBC News (World) ‏@BBCWorld12h

   IN PICTURES: A week in Philippine city of Tacloban, devastated by Typhoon #Haiyan http://bbc.in/1jlygN4  pic.twitter.com/39T16gfoqz

    Retweeted 243 times

    Expand

   

1. USA for UNHCR ‏@UNRefugeeAgency1h

   Watch: a new video from UNHCR's team in #Tacloban city, one of the areas hardest hit by #Haiyan http://owl.li/r0AZ9 

I think it's great that celebrities are matching donations and that it's as easy as a text message to donate to the clean-up, humanitarian, and relief efforts. However, the realist/cynic in me wonders just how much money actually results in effective aid.  One of the biggest issues with this particular situation is that immediately following the storm a lot of aid couldn't reach those in need because of the utter devastation wreaked upon the infrastructure by the typhoon, as well as the geographic challenges of the Phillipines itself. Much of the initial aid piled up at airports undeliverable until ways could be cleared. It's unfortunate that even the best intentions couldn't save lives immediately following the typhoon but hopefully those who have survived thus far can benefit from the aid soon.
Lastly:
Instead of the Porcelain Throne, Let's Call it the Golden Throne?

According to BBC News (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25013393)
"A stash of 24 gold bars worth more than $1.1m has been discovered in the toilet compartment of a commercial plane in eastern India."

"As gold import duties have risen in an effort to curb domestic demand, the incentive to smuggle gold has risen.

The plane on which the 1kg (2.2lb) gold bars were found on Tuesday had reportedly come from Bangkok, local media reported, before making stops in India.

"The cleaning staff of the airport were going though their routine duties and found two bags in the toilets of the plane," airport director BP Mishra told AFP news agency.

The gold has been valued at between 70m and 90m rupees (up to $1.4m or £890,000)."

This makes me wonder if $1.4 million would be enough of an incentive to start checking the toilets (or as Jay-Z and Kanye might say "watch the Throne") on my next flight. Unfortunately, it would be a fruitless search unless I can find a reason to fly to India. Maybe I can talk with my boss... just kidding.

Let me know your thoughts (either on the articles, reactions to my opinions, or something you'd be interested in reading about next week) in the comments or on twitter @itzbizr

11-12-13

So its been 2 months, almost to the day, since I last posted on my blog. I'd like to day it's just cause life got busy, which it did, but it also was because I succumbed to a sense of ennui that had been attacking my productivity, and this blog was a place where I felt little accountability to continue once my effort evaporated.  And like Newton's second(? or was it first?) law that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, blogging just fell out of my life.

Well I'm back! And while I can't guarantee any sort of schedule (I'm bad at those, remember the blogtember that never was?) I'll try to keep up with Musical Mondays and Foto Fridays and maybe instead throw in some "Say What!?" Wednesdays or Thinking Thursdays or some other alliterationally appropriately titled posts.

So at least for the moment, I'm back and while I'm here I'll point you to some of the music that's gotten me through the fall so far:

Great Music Finds of Fall 2013:

HAIM: Days Are Gone

One of their older songs but it's still one of my favorites on the album.
I've featured this sister act (plus one unrelated male drummer), currently touring Europe with Phoenix, numerous times here. You Me & Charlie has championed them from the beginning, and Rolling Stone has an article on them this month. The album is solid and anyone with a penchant for 80/90s era rock, pop, and R&B will like their sound, filled with guitar riffs and infused with a millennial smoothness enhancing the throwback sound.

Oh Land: Wish Bone (full album streaming below)

Oh Land is spectacular. The end. Also, Green Card is an AMAZING song.

Gossling: Never Expire

I discovered Gossling the way most people did, as the singer for the hook on 360s Boys Like You, but have become a fan through listening to the evolution of her own sound. This single is one of her latest and has a deeper, more electronic, heaveir sound than her previous work but it works well complementing her airy voice.