Birth Control?

So Sister Smith had to use my computer today to print out some checks. While I was waiting, I went and sat with Elder Smith in the conference room and read the paper and watched some news. I felt very old fashioned, sitting at this big table with an old man, our noses in the paper. Every now and again bringing up another way the world is heading down the drain.

Anyway, I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about birth control with a touch of Darwin entitled "The tricky chemistry of attraction: taking birth-control pills may mask the signals that draw the sexes together." Birth control, apparently, "disrupts some chemical signals". It removes the natural attraction that women get to a certain kind of man during ovulation. Normally, a woman will gravitate towards more masculine men and men who have different immune system properties than she. Both of these things will produce superior stock (hence the Darwin) - babies with strong bodies and fabulous immune systems allowing for the greatest chance of survival. The same is true as far as men being attracted to women. Because birth control masks those hormones/pheromones, his body isn't alerted to the fact that a woman is ready to make babies. Normally, he would be particularly attracted to ovulating women.

It wasn't conclusive evidence to anything, and they weren't trying to say "don't use birth control," but it's interesting to note. I've also heard that two people who are compatible physically taste/smell good to each other. I never really realized how our bodies are really prepared to continue to populate the world. We unconsciously gravitate towards opportunities that allow for successful reproduction.

Speaking of saliva, do you ever wonder who the first people were to discover kissing? or Mono?

You Should Know

I'm going to start a new section of my blog called "You Should Know" (I'm probably going to change the title quite a few times until I come up with or someone suggests one that I Like). These posts are going to be about what I learn about hidden products or health effects of various things. Businesses try to hide a lot about their products. They get away with crap that is the reason the human race is having all kinds of problems.

Consider, for a moment, the Tobacco Industry. They knew the effects of smoking and still they did it, they just didn't tell anyone what they were doing and let millions of people die for it.

But today, we are talking about sulfates.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate(SLS) is a cheap chemical that produces a lot of foam, along with other, less pleasant things. In a report on the safety of SLS, the American College of Toxicity reported that "In absorption, metabolism and excretion studies Sodium Lauryl Sulfate had a degenerative effect on the cell membranes because of its protein denaturing properties. High levels of skin penetration may occur at even low use concentration." So remember, as I tell you what I've learned, that this all happens because it can get into your very cells. I don't know about you all, but I prefer to keep things that aren't meant to be there out of my cells, thank you very much.

They did tests on animals (another topic for another day) and found that at 15% there was skin irritation and by the time it got to 30% it was intense skin irritation. Itchy head = SULFATE SHAMPOO!!! I've looked at a bunch of shampoos and it's usually the second or third ingredient, which means that it's in high concentrations. It's cheap, so they use it as a filler. Also, it produces a lot of foam, which is what people believe cleans their hair/body. Not true. It does nothing good.

It affects development, so keep it away from your children. "Studies at Georgia Medical College indicated Sodium Lauryl Sulfate kept young eyes from developing properly by possibly denaturing the proteins and not allowing for proper structural formation. This damage was permanent." Remember that whole protein thing, and it getting in your cells, yeah. Now think about how many people wear glasses now as opposed to 50 years ago. While that could be due to better detection of poor eyesight, it probably has something to do with these sulfates in our cleansing products.

There are other studies that SLS enters (from skin contact) and maintains residual levels in the heart, the liver, the lungs and the brain. Alrighty, so lets put chemicals in our hearts! WHOOOHOOO that's exactly what I wake up hoping for every day.

Let's talk hormones. So the SLS gets into your system and attaches to estrogen receptors (which are present in both men and women, though not as many in men). The body can't tell the difference between the regular molecules and the SLS commandeered ones and so the hormone levels go crazy causing PMS, menopausal symptoms, infertility, breast enlargement (in males), and gender confusion. CRAZY!
Bro/Manzier anyone.

One last bit, remember how I said that it gets into our cells, well it completely disrupts the cell cycle. What does that mean? "Firstly, existing proteins are damaged, leading to an increase in the amount of healing required by the body. Secondly, new proteins can be damaged and cells disrupted while they are under construction. It is exactly this type of activity that can lead to the early stages of skin cancer." And, not only does SLS itself cause cancer, but the production of SLS also produces carcinogens.

Thats all for now. Has your world been turned upside-down? Do you look like this?


Works cited: http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/sls-health-implications.html

Celebration?

Osama is dead. Huzzah! He did some terrible things and murdered many people and it is a good thing that he can't continue what he was doing.

That being said, I don't know if we need to celebrate the fact that someone is dead. A few weeks, months, years from now whoever threw that bomb is going to have to deal with the fact that they killed a man and I don't know if the fact that he was evil will affect the way he feels. My sister's asked me if I would have celebrated Hitler's death (which, ironically enough, was announced on the same day, 1945). I honestly don't know. But I still think that if I were the person who may have killed either of these men, I would eventually only feel guilt for killing someone - even if they were the devil incarnate. And that is why I can never join the army.

I should also say that sometimes I think about the devil and if he regrets his doings.

How far is too far to take the whole 'love everyone' concept? Not that I love Osama or Hitler. I don't.

The Garden

I decided to start a garden this spring, since I'm home. It's not much and mostly in pots, but hopefully we will get some yummy things out of it. Here are the starting pictures.
Bell Peppers

The Window box outside the blue room - which is Ashley's office where my bed is for the summer.

Zucchini

Lavender

Mom's tomatos (the marigolds discourage slugs apparently?)

Dill and Rosemary

Basil

Strawberries on the Topsy Turvey. It's an experiment, but I think it will work.

Summer To Do List

As I was walking home from my last final today, I had a thought. I can read whatever I want to! I don't have to look at a Norton Anthology for four whole months.

First thing I'm going to do is finish reading Little Women. We had to read part I for a class, but I want to finish it. I have to start getting back into German, so I'm going to try to read in German for a few minutes every day. I have the first Lemony Snicket book in German. I really want to read some more Dickens. Then there's all the sequels that are coming out! So much reading. It's a good thing I really want to go to the beach :)

I want to plant some things. Maybe some herbs in little pots, or one of those hanging blueberry plants.

I'm considering following my sister's footsteps and doing some writing?

I want to sew another dress. But maybe this time I'll try something new. A blouse or pants or something interesting.

COOK!!! Cooking for one is no fun, now I have a family I can cook for and lots of recipes to try. Watching the Food Network has given me a lot of ideas.

Run a race. Perhaps a half marathon?

Any other ideas of fun things to accomplish?

Accomplished

So I should probably wait to write this post until AFTER finals, but I need a little mental break right now. I was chatting with one of my favorite professors the other day (we were walking the same way after class) and he asked me about my classes and how the year was going. I said that I'm just feeling so accomplished. I should mention that the reading list for his class was about 20 books long (no joke). Some were just excerpts, but we did read at least 5 full novels. Because his class was all about early American bestselling novels, we read a lot of stuff that people always talk about (but rarely have ever actually read). We read Pilgrims Progress, which I now can see in so many other things. If you've read Little Women (which we did), it's all over that book. We read Ben Franklin's Autobiography and Pamela and Robinson Crusoe and so many others. That was just one class. Add those books to the ones that I've read in my other English Classes and I am ready to go! Sticking with the English major was totally the right thing for me. Imagine reading the bible for the first time then looking around and seeing how it is EVERYWHERE! That's how I feel each time I read a new book.

Even though I don't exactly enjoy writing papers, I will do it if it means that I get to participate in these classes. I really love discussing literature.

A little side note on this professor. I had him for my advanced writing class last year, decided to take this class from him and worked my schedule for next semester around taking another class from him he's that awesome of a teacher. He showed up to class the first day wearing a bright yellow suit jacket and a sunflower tie. He is about 6'5" or taller and relatively young (I think he has two elementary aged daughters). His whole thing is Adam and Eve, so he always brings that up - reading East of Eden with him was a blast. He paces when he gets excited about something. So if you bring up something in the discussion and he gets loud and starts walking around, you know you are on to something good. He wears bow ties occasionally and his wife makes them for him (they are really fun, not just solid colors).

Summer Internship

I've been emailing back and forth with a friend of ours who works for the Public Affairs section of the Church about a summer internship. He was so nice trying to get me a paid position, but that didn't work out. However, I am still going to do it because it is going to be so much fun planning and working at events that will include getting to meet the Church Big Wigs. I'm not sure if I can say, but let's just say that perhaps my German will come in handy...