dying of boredom

Boredom could lead to an early death

Updated: Wednesday, 10 Feb 2010, 11:40 AM ESTPublished : Wednesday, 10 Feb 2010, 10:45 AM EST
Marie Cheng

LONDON (AP) - Can you really be bored to death? In a commentary to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in April, experts say there's a possibility that the more bored you are, the more likely you are to die early.

Annie Britton and Martin Shipley of University College London caution that boredom alone isn't likely to kill you — but it could be a symptom of other risky behavior like drinking, smoking, taking drugs or having a psychological problem.

The researchers analyzed questionnaires completed between 1985 and 1988 by more than 7,500 London civil servants ages 35 to 55. The civil servants were asked if they had felt bored at work during the previous month.

Britton and Shipley then tracked down how many of the participants had died by April 2009. Those who reported they had been very bored were two and a half times more likely to die of a heart problem than those who hadn't reported being bored.

But when the authors made a statistical adjustment for other potential risk factors, like physical activity levels and employment grade, the effect was reduced.

Other experts said while the research was preliminary, the link between boredom and increased heart problems was possible — if not direct.

"Someone who is bored may not be motivated to eat well, exercise, and have a heart-healthy lifestyle. That may make them more likely to have a cardiovascular event," said Dr. Christopher Cannon, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard University and spokesman for the American College of Cardiology.

He also said if people's boredom was ultimately linked to depression, it wouldn't be surprising if they were more susceptible to heart attacks; depression has long been recognized as a risk factor for heart disease.

Cannon also said it was possible that when people are bored, dangerous hormones are released in the body that stress the heart. Britton and Shipley said boredom was probably not in itself that deadly.

"The state of boredom is almost certainly a proxy for other risk factors," they wrote. "It is likely that those who were bored were also in poor health."

Others said boredom was potentially as dangerous as stress.

"Boredom is not innocuous," said Sandi Mann, a senior lecturer in occupational psychology at the University of Central Lancashire who studies boredom.

She said boredom is linked to anger suppression, which can raise blood pressure and suppress the body's natural immunity.

"People who are bored also tend to eat and drink more, and they're probably not eating carrots and celery sticks," she said. Still, Mann said it was only people who were chronically bored who should be worried.

"Everybody is bored from time to time," she said.

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do dinosaurs still exist?

Are there dinosaurs still alive on the earth? I guess it may depend on the definition of dinosaur. But I don't care about the definition. I prefer to put the etymology on here:

1841, coined by Sir Richard Owen, from Gk. deinos "terrible" + sauros "lizard,"
of unknown origin. Fig. sense of "person or institution not adapting to change"
is from 1952.

So of course most dinosaurs went extinct many millions of years ago, and people didn't inhabit the earth until may fewer millions of years ago. (I personally kind of wonder if the fossils of people and dinosaurs may have come from bits of other planets, thus their extreme old age, but that is the subject of another blog post.) That makes people want to say that people and dinosaurs have never inhabited the earth at the same time. But did every single living thing classified as "dinosaur" go extinct, or are there still some that have survived millions of years of changes on the earth?

This is what the great oracle Wikipedia has to say about it:

Living dinosaurs is a term sometimes used to denote birds, which are the only
clade [branch] of dinosaurs, other than a controversial group of fossils
known as Paleocene dinosaurs [which might have lived into the Paleocene age], to have
survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event. The term is also used for
extinct species of dinosaurs that are claimed to exist today, a belief which is
unsupported by scientific research.

The belief in surviving non-avian dinosaurs is called cryptozoology. Some people claim that the following are dinosaurs alive today (info taken from various Wikipedia and tangential pages):

• Kasai rex is supposedly a carnivorous dinosaur living in Africa. It is said to look like a larger version of this:
  
• Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu (my favorite name) is reported from the Republic of the Congo. Apparently herbivorous, it is described as "the animal with planks growing out of its back." It appears to be aquatic, and has mostly green algal growth covering the "planks".


• Muhuru is an alleged relict non-avian dinosaur that has been reported from the jungles of Kenya.It is described as a heavily-armoured beast with thick bone plates on its back and tail spikes.
  
  
• According to the traditions of the Congo River basin the Mokèlé-mbèmbé is a large territorial herbivore, approximately the size of a small elephant or a large hippopotamus. It is said to dwell in Lake Télé and the surrounding area, with a preference for deep water, and with local folklore holding that its haunts of choice are river bends.



• The Emela-ntouka is claimed to be around the size of an African Bush Elephant, brownish to gray in color, with a heavy tail, and with a body of similar shape and appearance to a rhinoceros, including one long horn on its snout. Keeping its massive bulky body above ground level supposedly requires four short, stump-like legs. It is described as having no frills or ridges along the neck. The animal is alleged to be semi-aquatic and feeds on Malombo and other leafy plants. The Emela-ntouka is claimed to utter a vocalization, described as a snort, rumble or growl.
  

skim milk is yucky

The Mind Side

Here is an article that Jerry wrote recently:

“Sports was the closest thing in America to a pure
meritocracy, the one avenue of ambition widely thought to be open to all.
(Pity the kid inside Hurt Village [Memphis’ most dilapidated housing project]
who was born to play the piano, or manage people, or trade in bonds.)” -
Michael Lewis, author The Blind Side

The Mind Side

How the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation creates access to the finest
education systems for hundreds of disadvantaged academic “Freaks”

An unbelievable true story chronicled in the book The Blind Side has recently been made into a movie that is creating Oscar buzz. Sandra Bullock was terrific in her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a white southern Christian belle that, with the help of her family, saved a very special black child from devastating life circumstances and paved the way for his success. Predictably, the movie is like Cliff’s notes that are sorely deficient in explaining all of the moving parts that propelled the Baltimore Ravens starting left Tackle, Michael Oher from zero to hero. You really do need to read the book.

While pouring through Michael Lewis’ account of Oher’s improbable journey I marveled at how history, economics, religion, sociology, and individual will, all conspired to help a destitute child labeled a “freak of nature” achieve ultimate success in the NFL. But as this complex and wonderful story was unfolding before my eyes it occurred to me that I have seen this story before: in my own house.

My daughter is not 6’ 9”, 340 lbs, with a wide butt, huge hands and freakishly nimble feet for someone that size. She is, however, bright … very, very bright and talented at art, music, science, math, and language and she achieved a college qualifying SAT score in the eighth grade. What these two “freaks of nature” have in common is that they grew up very poor, with difficult family circumstances. Both their paths to success would prove to be a winding labyrinth of traps and obstacles where guides would be necessary to lead them to their respective promised lands: the NFL in Michael’s case; a quality university education and full magnification of talents in my daughter’s.

The people that fatefully plucked Michael Oher from the most desperate circumstances imaginable knew what was required for him to eventually play in the NFL and correctly assessed that it would be a Herculean effort to help him meet those requirements. They took on the task and the miracle is – they did it! But the reason they succeeded is that Michael himself was a very special individual and the type of person willing to think big, work hard, and follow the path to success that was opened up to him.

Think Big, Work Hard, Achieve… This is the motto of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation that, like the Touhy family, plucked my daughter from desperate circumstances and engaged themselves in the effort to help her reach her awesome potential.

When we applied to the JKC Foundation’s Young Scholar Program we thought it was just a scholarship that would make it possible for her to participate in an expensive academic summer program - John’s Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth. What we later found out is that the Young Scholars Program is much, much more.

In my daughter’s acceptance packet into the Program was a biography of Jack Kent Cooke. I eagerly sat down to read about the man whose vision lead to our family’s recent good fortune.

It was a magnificent success story about a poor Canadian boy that grew up to be one of the wealthiest men in America. An avid student, talented in music and athletics, his dream of pursuing a formal education was cut short by the Great Depression. He left high school to support his family by selling encyclopedias door-to-door. Applying the innate talents at business that he developed as a young man, he went on to be a media mogul running radio stations and newspapers. A tenacious work ethic, keen eye for detail, and a good judge of character created the circumstances for him to achieve not only massive wealth but multiple World Championships as a team owner in both the NBA and NFL. He remained a passionate student his entire life, well versed in diverse areas such as music, literature, sports and architecture.

In short: Mr. Cooke was a man of exceptional promise that through optimism, focus, and hard work, overcame financial obstacles to achieve tremendous success. The Foundation he would leave behind as his legacy was tasked to give talented, high achieving, like minded individuals without the hope or means of going to college, the chance he never had.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation opened its doors in 2000 in Lansdowne, Virginia with high hopes of achieving Mr. Cooke’s lofty goal. Dr. Mathew Quinn, Founding Executive Director, assembled his staff and set out to do the daunting work of actually implementing the mission that had been tasked to them. They started out identifying promising Community College applicants and giving them the resources needed to help transfer to and pay for attendance at elite universities. It became apparent, however, that the individuals that they best wanted to serve were never getting into the higher education pipeline in the first place. Thus, the Young Scholars Program was born.

A key hire to develop and direct this program was Rebecca Stover. I first met Ms. Stover when she interviewed me, my wife and my 8th grade daughter, an applicant finalist in 2005. After my daughter’s interview they called my wife and me into the room. As my daughter waited outside, I remember being a little nervous and wanting to say the right things. But as the interview went on I realized that she was not interested in platitudes. This wasn’t a job interview.

I quickly realized that what she really wanted was to get to know us and our situation. Her caring demeanor helped us let our guard down. My bout with mental illness was no secret. My diagnosis was nearly a decade old and our financials revealed my disability payments. We explained that our health and employment status made it difficult to live in affluent Northern Virginia but we were scraping by. Ms Stover sincerely thanked us for our candor and told us that we would be informed of their final decision in a few weeks.

The next time I saw Rebecca Stover was at the luncheon welcoming the 2005 class of Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars. It was here that the full reality of what just happened to us began to sink in. They explained that my daughter was one of nearly 80 children across the country that the Foundation determined best exemplified the type of individuals they wanted to work with throughout their high school years, with the ultimate goal of attending and graduating from the best college available to them.

Each Young Scholar would be assigned an Educational Advisor employed by the Foundation to help them identify and develop their talents, provide meaningful summer activities, determine the best educational environment, and serve as an academic resource and counselor. Each year, Scholar and Advisor would come up with an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) clearly listing all goals and activities for the upcoming year. The Foundation would then carefully allocate resources to best accomplish those goals. All of this would then culminate in a Scholar Reunion Weekend the summer before their senior year to reconnect with their peers and develop strategies to get into college.

Participation in the Program required commitments on our part too: mandatory attendance at the Welcome Weekend and Reunion weekend events, submission of yearly renewal papers, weekly contact between Scholar and Advisor, official grade reports sent in each quarter, a pledge to be ethical in all of our dealings and to not engage in any behavior that would be detrimental to the Foundation. We all gratefully signed on the dotted line.

Our covenant with the Foundation set in motion what I can only describe as the single greatest thing that ever happened to our family. Doors that normally were closed to my daughter swung wide open: art lessons, piano lessons, summer programs in Science Investigations, Cryptology, Archeology, and a trip to study Architecture in Spain, summer internship programs, books and magazine subscriptions, local Young Scholar events in D.C. at the Kennedy Center, Ford Theatre, and Smithsonian Institutions. But more importantly, a trusted Educational Advisor that truly cares for the well being of my daughter, is always one phone call or email away.

This support has also had residual benefits for our family. My younger daughter is every bit as gifted and talented as her older sister. Because of the assistance my oldest has received from the Foundation, my wife and I have been better able to provide for the needs of her “Freak” sister as well: summer CTY programs, synchronized swimming, and her own vacation to Europe to meet her cousins in Finland.

I take you back to a quote from Leigh Anne Touhy from The Blind Side. When pondering if she could do for other kids what she did for Michael, Ms. Touhy exclaimed, “I want a building. We are going to open a foundation…” Unlike Michael, my daughter’s worth isn’t her ability to protect a million dollar quarterback’s blind side. But thank God there IS a foundation out there that protects her “mind side.”

separate beds, please

I was just almost on the radio (HOT 99.5, the Kane Show). I was next up, but they had to cut to a commercial. I am still shaking and have sweaty palms.

Kane said that 12% of couples don't sleep in the same bed. He couldn't believe that number was so high, and said that surely we are no longer a society where ANY couple sleeps separately like on I Love Lucy. I called in right away, because I have been married 18 years and have never slept in the same bed with Jerry. Ok, when we were first married we tried it with no success: Jerry "wiggles" about every 15 seconds in his sleep, and it is like trying to sleep on a small boat in a storm. And there is no bed in existence that won't succumb to his "wiggling". I have tried them all out in stores. We even tried sleeping on the floor, but then there's the awful snoring. Plus he is just a lump that gets in the way when I wish to sprawl. I think people must generally sleep better when they are alone in bed.

Right now I sleep in our bedroom bed, and Jerry sleeps on the couch. He doesn't mind. Someday I would like to get two gorgeous extra long twin beds and put them side-by-side in our bedroom, and force Jerry to use his anti-snoring CPAP machine, but in the mean time we are perfectly content with our arrangement. I recommend it, even.

A Bit of A Bit of Fry and Laurie

This video is especially for Christa, who enjoys House but has never seen all of the other incredible stuff Hugh Laurie has done. The clip is from A Bit of Fry and Laurie. I also love his "colleague" (so they call each other), Stephen Fry.

deer meat

My coworker told me all about the virtues of deer meat yesterday. Did you know that when your son kills a deer, it costs only $60 to have it slaughtered (extra to get jerky made). This deer will yield about 50 pounds of meat, which means you will have to keep half in your freezer, and half in your mother's freezer. You can have bologna (pronounced "baloney" or "bal-oh'-na", alternately) made from it, even. Delish by all accounts. This meat is very lean (ever see a fat deer?). And if you didn't tell your husband it was ground deer, he would have eaten it for sure. But it reportedly IS an acquired taste.

Here are a few more pictures of Aubrey, taken by Rebekah.