HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year Everyone.
May this year be a good one for all of us. A year full of activities, fun, and learning as well as laughter and empathy. A year filled with intimate hugs and kisses from our loved ones, a year where our longings are fullfilled and our dreams finally coming true.

Bizarre Sex Laws

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my tooth hurts

my tooth really hurts right now. huhu! and i haven't indulged in chocolates and sweets yet. I think i need to have it pulled out...but i don't want to. I've had one of my upper molar pulled out years ago, and it became the reason as to why i have a little gap between my two front teeth...the kind that madonna has...but hers is much bigger. I remember someone saying she did it purposely, it was the "in thing" in her place. My dentist also said the same thing, that somewhere in the US, people with gaps in their two front teeth are considered beautiful and thus some americans really do pull their frotn teeth apart. "uso daw". waaahhh...but i don't live there!!! and i don't want to never say the letter "F" the normal way again-e.g. less air, less hiss. huhuhu!

musings on a certain motorcycle

the streets are empty and its raining outside. I can hear the few cars passing by and sooner or later, i'll hear my brother's motorcyle (along iwth his friends'), loud enough to signal everyone within range that they have arrived at last. I find it funny how my brother came to love his motorcycle...He, who gets bored about everything, came to cherish an object that can neither respond to his careful touch nor love him back. inanimate objects do have that capability to extract love from its owner and even maintain it while doing nothing. A feeling of protectiveness comes upon my brother everytime his motorcycle is put up for scrutiny and comments. If the motorcycle sounds different, he checks it. If it looks ragged, he gives it a bath, if it's just stunningly beautiful after putting a new accessory, he adores it even more...now, im just waiting for him to give it a name...

Its not as if his motorcycle is unique...sheesh, all of his friends got their own too...same style, same brand...but each loves its own...each is as protective...and each is as crazy about it.

oh well...if only taking care of people is as simple as taking care of a motorcycle...maybe the world would be less complicated. Ownership is based upon one's possessive feeling over the other. But of course this would mean that the world would be divided into two. The one who will own the other and the other who becomes "inanimate". The "owner" then can practice possesion over the other the way he/she deems it right. The owner can be gentle, abusive, be jealous, and be whatever...without the risk of having the other person acquiring an "opinion" ...or worst...have that opinion said to his/her face. The inanimate partner will just stay there. Will nod, smile, and just basically do whatever is expected without the difficulty of having to compromise anything because, for starters, being inanimate means being an "object"...and being an object is being without identity except for that character which the "owner" expects one to have. NO fights, no arguments, no misunderstandings...and best of all...no real expectations...if th eowner discards the "object"...there is nothing the object can do. if the owner leaves the object for abuse...the "object" stays to bear the suffering. If the owner wants the "object" back...object is not even obliged to answer...it is expected that he'll be in the owner's custody again. NO shameful revelations of one's flaws...no slaps...no episodes...no tantrums...none...there is no place for that.

what's the catch...

neither the owner nor the object achieves the total gratification one gets in a relationship. The relationship doesnt have to be founded in love (crap! i dont even think that thing exists)...no...mutual understanding and respect can be an example. But the point is...a thinking being needs to relate to a thinking being. a subject to a subject. That's why...my brother, no matter how much he loves his motorcycle, leaves his motorcycle in the garage. He doesnt bring it to his room...he doesnt engage it in conversations...and he doesnt praise it outside the category beauty and efficiency. It is not a relationship. it will never be. my brother will always be superior and hte motorcycle couldn't care less. You cant invest feelings into a machine. It's cold and it's lifespan is often shorter than yours.

A person is more complicated...hell...man is a being full of contradiction. Often, he acts differently from his belief. Often he says something and does another thing. He forgets promises. He fails to be on time sometimes. He has a knack for getting in trouble. He sometimes chooses irrationally regardless of the fact that he's supposed to be a rational being...You can't cure him of his bad habits with a visit at the motor shop. You can't overhaul him when he's starting to act funny. No oil can make him do whatever we want him to do..unless he wants to amuse you...yet he can be bribed, cheated, and even cajoled with the best of metaphors and sweet nothings. He hurts the one he loves the most, tends to discard what is significant...and can be just blindly stupid sometimes. He makes up fantasies and tends to believe in it. He dreams and can even believe his own lies. and worst of all..he can get jealous over nothing and thus, ruin everything in the process. He is unsatiable...until he finds his own match.It's as if he lives to argue and is even in constant battle of himself.

Life should be a constant adventure or he loses interest. Life should be quiet or he goes mad. Life should be difficult or he grows up to uncaring. Life should be easy or he loses it. LIfe should be according to fancies. Life should be a set of rules. Life should be a rollercoaster ride. Life should be...

hmmm...thank God for life's complications...

although sometimes...it comes to a certain point that you feel life just so sucks that you'd be happy to become a motorcycle...unfeeling...uncaring...and just totally cold.

But its not worth it...come to think of it...i think i heard my brother telling my mom he wants a new motorcyle...a faster one...Now, it would really suck to live in a junk shop, aight?

hmm...i wonder if boggs' brought me a donut, just as he promised... ^.^

Two babies in the same pregnancy - and no - NOT TWINS

It's called SUPERFOETATION.

I've read that women can get pregnant the second time, even when she's already a few weeks pregnant. ok...let me digest that first.

It seems that women have the capability to still ovulate even when she's a few weeks pregnant. So, if a women gets pregnant and is still active sexually, it can likely, though these cases are rare, that she can get pregnant again. Her uterus having a fetus acquires another fetus, resulting to two babies but not twins. Which means, fetuses will age differently and most likely be in different sacs.

Hmmm...so it is fairly possible that a woman, who've had multiple partners can give birth to two different babies with two different fathers. Thank God for DNA testing....sheeesh

This phenomena happens to animals too.

below is an article from the Telegraph, a UK paper.

Mother in double pregnancy gives birth to daughter
By Bruce Johnston in Rome

Last Updated: 12:56pm GMT 18/12/2001

AN Italian woman who became pregnant with one child and then concieved triplets three months later
given birth to a daughter.

Flavia D'Angelo, 20, whose condition was said to be caused by ovulation continuing after her first conception, is now expected to return to the same private clinic in Rome in March - this time to have another girl and two boys.

Providing that there are no complications, she is expected to become the first woman to be pregnant continuously for 12 months. Specialists say she is a rare case of superfoetation - the presence in the uterus of two foetuses caused by fertilisation at different times.

Flavia's parents, anxious to avoid the media, avoided making any official statement about the birth on Saturday of their granddaughter, Denise.

Instead, they announced the event in Italian tradition by hanging a pink ribbon in the window of their grocery shop in the town of Ascoli Piceno, 20 miles inland from the Adriatic.

"The baby is fine, and so is my daughter," said Giuseppe D'Angelo, Flavia's father, adding: "You can rest assured, soon the others will be coming into the world as well."

His comments came in response to media speculation that Flavia's condition - first announced on Italian state television before millions of viewers nearly six weeks ago - might have been invented.

Her husband, Riccardo Tarquini, said at the weekend: "The baby is bellissima, she weighs 3.4 kilos, but for the moment you will not be able to see her."

He denied reports that there were exclusive pictures of Denise with her still-pregnant mother. "There are no photos. Later on we'll see, but for now we want to be left in peace. It was a natural birth, handled by our trusted doctor, whose name we won't reveal."

Prof Giovanbattista Serra, head of the obstetrics and gynaecology unit at Rome's Cristo Re Hospital, said that while there had been some precedents, Flavia's case was highly unusual, and was due to break records.

"There have been other cases of superfoetation, but usually the time distance between the two fertilisations is one of just a few days," he explained.

"Instead, Flavia's case is the one in which the distance between the two conceptions is the longest ever."

The professor, who was not treating Flavia but who appeared on television with her, confirmed that there had been speculation that she had taken hormones, but said she had denied this. "I think she was telling the truth," he said. "She seems credible."

Speaking about her pregnancy last month, Flavia said she was in awe of her condition, both "overjoyed" and "scared" about the outcome. "I still don't know how the births will work out," she told the popular Domenica In programme.

She and Riccardo, a 25-year-old marketing consultant, met in a centre for the blind in Ascoli Piceno. Training to be a teacher, she was doing volunteer work and he was working as an alternative to military service.

They married, and soon Flavia was pregnant. It was only later during tests that they learnt of her condition.

"My first reaction when we realised what had happened - maybe it was a case of nerves - was to burst out laughing, while she burst into tears, and kept on asking the doctor to take a closer look," Riccardo said.

When the news broke in Italy the couple took a week's holiday to escape reporters.

** although this story has been refuted and reported that this report was a sham, there are really documented cases about this.

The 5 Questions Most Feared By Men

a mail i recieved. just wanna share ^.^

The 5 Questions Most Feared By Men

1. What are you thinking about?
2. Do you love me?
3. Do I look fat in this?
4. Do you think she is prettier than me?
5. What would you do if I died?

What makes these questions so difficult is that each one is guaranteed to explode into a major argument if the man answers incorrectly (i.e. tells the truth). Therefore, as a public service, each question is analyzed below, along with possible responses.

Question #1: What are you thinking about? The proper answer to this, of course, is: "I'm sorry if I've been pensive, dear. I was just reflecting on what a warm, wonderful, thoughtful, caring, intelligent woman you are, and how lucky I am to have met you."

This response obviously bears no resemblance to the true answer, which most likely is one of the following: a. "Football." b. "Golf." c. "How fat you are." d. "How I would spend the insurance money if you died."

Perhaps the best response to this question was offered by Al Bundy, who once told Peg, "If I wanted you to know what I was thinking, I would be talking to you!"

Question #2: Do you love me? The proper response is: "Yes!" or, if you feel a more detailed answer is in order, "Yes, dear."

Inappropriate responses include: a. "Oh yeah, sh*tloads." b. "Would it make you feel better if I said yes?" c. "That depends on what you mean by love." d. "Does it matter?" e. "Who, me?"

Question #3: Do I look fat? The correct answer is an emphatic: "Of course not!"

Incorrect answers are: a. "Compared to what?" b. "I wouldn't call you fat, but you're not exactly thin." c. "A little extra weight looks good on you." d. "I've seen fatter." e. "Sorry, what did you say? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died."

Question #4: Do you think she's prettier than me? Once again, the proper response is an emphatic: "Of course not!"

Incorrect responses include: a. "Yes, but you have a better personality." b. "Not prettier, but definitely thinner." c. "Not as pretty as you when you were her age." d. "Define pretty." e. "Sorry what did you say? I was just thinking about how I would spend the insurance money if you died."

Question #5: What would you do if I died? A definite no-win question. (The real answer, of course, is "Buy a Ferrari and a boat.")

No matter how you answer this, be prepared for at least an hour of follow-up questions, usually along these lines:

Woman: Would you get married again?
Man: Definitely not!
Woman: Why not -- don't you like being married?
Man: Of course I do.
Woman: Then why wouldn't you remarry?
Man: Okay, I'd get married again.
Woman: You would? (With a hurtful look on her face)
Man: (audible groan)
Woman: Would you sleep with her in our bed?
Man: Where else would we sleep?
Woman: Would you put away my pictures, and replace them with pictures of her?
Man: That would seem like the proper thing to do.
Woman: And would you let her use my golf clubs?
Man: She can't use them -- she's left-handed.
Woman: (silence)
Man: Sh*t.

7 Medical Myths Even Doctors Believe by Robert Britt

** a repost, i saw this on yahoo and thinks this is interesting.

7 Medical Myths Even Doctors
by Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience Managing Editor

Popular culture is loaded with myths and half-truths. Most are harmless. But when doctors start believing medical myths, perhaps it's time to worry.

In the British Medical Journal this week, researchers looked into several common misconceptions, from the belief that a person should drink eight glasses of water per day to the notion that reading in low light ruins your eyesight.

"We got fired up about this because we knew that physicians accepted these beliefs and were passing this information along to their patients," said Dr. Aaron Carroll, assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "And these beliefs are frequently cited in the popular media."

And so here they are, so that you can inform your doctor:

Myth: We use only 10 percent of our brains.

Fact: Physicians and comedians alike, including Jerry Seinfeld, love to cite this one. It's sometimes erroneously credited to Albert Einstein. But MRI scans, PET scans and other imaging studies show no dormant areas of the brain, and even viewing individual neurons or cells reveals no inactive areas, the new paper points out. Metabolic studies of how brain cells process chemicals show no nonfunctioning areas. The myth probably originated with self-improvement hucksters in the early 1900s who wanted to convince people that they had yet not reached their full potential, Carroll figures. It also doesn't jibe with the fact that our other organs run at full tilt.

Myth: You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day.

Fact: "There is no medical evidence to suggest that you need that much water," said Dr. Rachel Vreeman, a pediatrics research fellow at the university and co-author of the journal article. Vreeman thinks this myth can be traced back to a 1945 recommendation from the Nutrition Council that a person consume the equivalent of 8 glasses (64 ounces) of fluid a day. Over the years, "fluid" turned to water. But fruits and vegetables, plus coffee and other liquids, count.

Myth: Fingernails and hair grow after death.

Fact: Most physicians queried on this one initially thought it was true. Upon further reflection, they realized it's impossible. Here's what happens: "As the body’s skin is drying out, soft tissue, especially skin, is retracting," Vreeman said. "The nails appear much more prominent as the skin dries out. The same is true, but less obvious, with hair. As the skin is shrinking back, the hair looks more prominent or sticks up a bit."

Myth: Shaved hair grows back faster, coarser and darker.

Fact: A 1928 clinical trial compared hair growth in shaved patches to growth in non-shaved patches. The hair which replaced the shaved hair was no darker or thicker, and did not grow in faster. More recent studies have confirmed that one. Here's the deal: When hair first comes in after being shaved, it grows with a blunt edge on top, Carroll and Vreeman explain. Over time, the blunt edge gets worn so it may seem thicker than it actually is. Hair that's just emerging can be darker too, because it hasn't been bleached by the sun.

Myth: Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight.

Fact: The researchers found no evidence that reading in dim light causes permanent eye damage. It can cause eye strain and temporarily decreased acuity, which subsides after rest.

Myth: Eating turkey makes you drowsy.

Fact: Even Carroll and Vreeman believed this one until they researched it. The thing is, a chemical in turkey called tryptophan is known to cause drowsiness. But turkey doesn't contain any more of it than does chicken or beef. This myth is fueled by the fact that turkey is often eaten with a colossal holiday meal, often accompanied by alcohol — both things that will make you sleepy.

Myth: Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals.

Fact: There are no known cases of death related to this one. Cases of less-serious interference with hospital devices seem to be largely anecdotal, the researchers found. In one real study, mobile phones were found to interfere with 4 percent of devices, but only when the phone was within 3 feet of the device. A more recent study, this year, found no interference in 300 tests in 75 treatment rooms. To the contrary, when doctors use mobile phones, the improved communication means they make fewer mistakes.

"Whenever we talk about this work, doctors at first express disbelief that these things are not true," said Vreeman said. "But after we carefully lay out medical evidence, they are very willing to accept that these beliefs are actually false.

The art of start - Make meaning

I've had this book for many months now and only now did I try to read it -- ok ok, because I've been pushed to do so now. It's a book about starting something -- a business book. I know, I know...boooring...but it's really not. It's easy to read, inspiring, and most of all - easy to understand. There are some business books that are easy to read but you get to say "huh?" in the end. This one really relates. This one just boosted me out of boredom...read it.

Philosophical musings on Kawasaki's Art of the Start book
Part 1

The Art of Starting
In the first chapter of Guy Kawasaki’s book, The Art of Start, one must note three important points.Make meaning. Ask Women. Get going.

Make meaning.

Before we delve on the “make meaning” part, let us first define the word meaning. Meaning is a word too often used but never really quite understood. Oftentimes, it is associated with words and defined as significance, importance, worth, even value. In Kawasaki’s book, the word meaning was more associated with word, reason. Reason is used in a more active sense whereby it is used to describe a certain force to push you to initiate a change by which you yourself must believe in. Thus, to make meaning, is really to create a central force that you must first understand and internalize before anything else. A force you have to build and push until it is big enough to push you and the others involved. This is a very fitting form of the word meaning because when you start something, that something is not yet in its actual state but a potentiality. It has the potential to be a success and it has a potential to be a failure. Thus, the word meaning in the context of starting cannot be associated with the word value or worth or significance. You cannot find those when you are starting because you are still building a ‘worth’ and a ‘value’ for it to be something of significance. Thus, in the art of starting, it is often a mistake to ask one’s self the value of your start. It doesn’t have one. It cannot have one… So don’t ask if it’s worth it. It will never get you anywhere. It’s like writing and editing at the same time…In the end, you make no sense.

In view of Kant, people have this intrinsic worth in virtue of their capacity for autonomous choices that makes meaning a function of the exercise of this capacity. We all have the ability to create choices, and to start is a choice. So to make meaning is to exercise your capacity to decide. Make up your mind, only you can push yourself to start something.

So to make meaning is to push a force out of you. You must find a reason to start, a reason to focus on, a reason to ponder upon until it makes your head aches and makes your feet itch until you do something about it.

Some examples of Kawasaki’s meaning of meaning are:

· Make the world a better place.
· Increase the quality of life.
· Right a terrible wrong.
· Prevent the end of something good.

These may seem too universal, but I think, what he is driving at is that you have to find a reason -- build a force that will does not only involve you but rather would be a linking chain you can share with other individuals as well. On a deeper, I think Kawasaki wants to point out the fact that you must not be lost in existential meaninglessness. By this, I mean the sense of being ‘lost’ and considering it a state of being. For you to be able to come up with a strong force to begin with, you must first be able to embrace life. You must live and love it coz the journey to starting something is a journey where you might be relatively lost sometimes, and your embrace for life will put you back on your feet again. To be relatively lost is to be specifically confused and disappointed because of some discrepancy between established criteria and observable actualities and is based mostly on intellectual information. To put it simply, starting something doesn’t necessarily mean you can end it. You have to know what you want and you must fight for it. It’s a dog-eat-dog-world out there.

Be tough not only for yourself but for everyone concerned.