Friday Randoms.

source: unknown

I really like the middle one. I'll try my best to respond to formspring and comments over the weekend!

Words.

source: unknown

Arms

source: eme's flickr, unknown, unknown

Arm.

source: unknown

123. THIS is WHERE I LEAVE YOU

Jonathan Tropper 2009

The plot of this novel is simple enough, like a few others I have read to date: a recently separated man unsure of what to do next. However, none of them quite made me laugh like this book did. Although the humor and language is at times crude and explicit (some pushes the edge for me), it is still a book I enjoyed a lot. Soon after Judd Foxman catches his wife Jen ( he later finds out she is pregnant) sleeping with his boss (the funniest but raunchiest scene ever), his father dies with a request that the family sits shiva and stay for a whole week at their parents' house. The book is in essence his dysfunctional family's coming together over the next seven days, a roller-coaster ride of one-liners and emotions: sad, raw, hilarious, shocking, outrageous but also mostly tender, honest and moving.

"Dad's dead," Wendy says offhandedly, like it's happened before, like it happens every day. It can be grating, this act of hers, to be utterly unfazed at all times, even in the face of tragedy. "He died two hours ago."(opening lines)

'My marriage ended the way these things do: with paramedics and cheesecake.'(15)

'Mom is a shrink, obviously. But she's more than that. Twenty-five years ago she wrote a book called Cradle and all: A Mother's Guide to Enlightened Parenting. The book was a national phenomenon and turned my mother into something of a celebrity expert on parenting. Predictably, my siblings and I were screwed up beyond repair.'(35)

"Be quiet!" Paul hisses at us. Phillip winks at me. And here we stand at our father's grave, the three Foxman men, all roughed from the same template but put through different finishing process. We each have our father's dark curly hair and square, dimpled chin, but there would be no mistaking us for twins. Paul looks like me, only bigger, broader, and angrier; me on steroids. Phillip looks like me, only slimmer and much better-looking, his features rendered more gracefully, his smile wide and effortlessly seductive.'(37)

'If you've ever been in a failed marriage, and statistically speaking, it's a safe bet that you have, or if not, that you soon will be, then you'll know that the first thing you do at the end is reflect on the beginning. Maybe it's some form of reverse closure, or just the basic human impulse toward sentimentality, or masochism, but as you stand there shell-shocked in the charred ruins of your life, your mind will invariably go back to the time when it all started.'(51)

'I'm supposed to be decades away from this, supposed to be just starting my own family, but there's been a setback, a calamitous detour, and you wouldn't think you could get any more depressed while sitting shiva for your father, but you'd be wrong. Suddenly, I can't stop seeing the footprints of time on everyone in the room. The liver spots, the multiple chins, the sagging neck, the jowls, the flaps of skin over eyes, the spotted scalps, the frown lines etched into permanence, the stooped shoulders, the sagging man breasts, the bowed legs. When does it all happen? In increments, so you can't watch out for it, you can't fix it. One day you just wake up and discover that you got old while you were sleeping.'(66)

'I am going to be a father, just when I've lost my own. There are some who would see a certain divine balance in that, one soul departing to make room for another, but I'm not that guy. I don't believe in God when I'm in trouble, the way so many people do. But at times like this, when the irony seems too cruel and well crafted to be a coincidence, I can see God in the details. Due to some mental hiccup I can't explain, when I think of God, I picture Hugh Hefner: a thin, angular man with a prominent chin in a maroon smoking jacket.'(141)

'You never know when it will be the last time you'll see your father, or kiss your wife, or play with your little brother, but there's always a last time. If you could remember every last time, you'd never stop grieving.'(156)

'... the only thing you can ever really know about anyone is that you don't know anything about them at all.'(188)

'It's a sad moment when you come to understand how truly replaceable you are.'(215)

'There are tricks to paying a shiva call. You don't want to come during off-peak hours, or you risk being the only one there, face-to-face with five surly mourners who, but for your presence, would be off their low chairs, stretching their legs and their compressed spines, taking a bathroom break, or having a snack. Evenings are your safest bet, after seven, when everyone's eaten and the room is full. Weekday afternoons are a dead zone. Sunday is a crapshoot. Do a drive-by and count the park cars before you stop. If you're lucky, there will always be a conversation going on when you come in, so you won't have to sit there trying to start one of your own. It's hard to talk to the bereft. You never know what's off limits.'(234)

'Sometimes, contentment is a matter of will. You have to look at what you have right in front of you, at what it could be, and stop measuring it against what you've lost. I know this to be wise and true, just as I know that pretty much no one can do it.'(255)

'You can do everything right and still end up alone, watching time run off the clock.'(301)

___________________

Dutton First Edition

339 pages

Book owned

___________________

Personal Note: I read this book while waiting to be called for jury duty, trying not to laugh too loud in the waiting room of the court house. This book reminded me of Larry David's (creator of Seinfeld) sense of humor. If you are familiar with his show 'Curb your Enthusiasm' and you like it, you will probably enjoy this book!!

Selected readings 11/28/10

Interesting reading and news items.

Please leave some comments that indicate which articles you find most interesting or that identify topics you would like to read about, and I will try to include more articles of a similar nature in the future

These items are also bookmarked at my Diigo account.

Bad seeds, bad science, and fairly black cats?

Geneticists have failed to remind the public what the word “genetic” actually means. Heritability implies that gene and environment work, or might be persuaded to work, together. Why, after all, are taxpayers spending money on the double helix if there is no hope of an environmental intervention—a drug, a change in lifestyle, or cancer surgery after the early diagnosis of a somatic mutation—to help those at risk from what they inherit? Everyone in the trade knows this although they fail to mention it except to their first-year undergraduate classes. Transcripts of their lectures should be sent out with every press release. [The Lancet, 10/23/10]

Cancer’s little helpers

No one would have predicted a decade ago that these microRNAs, as the hairpins are called, were involved in cancer, because no one even knew that they existed in people. Mere snippets of RNA — DNA’s underappreciated cousin — these micromolecules are about 22 chemical letters long. But their size belies their power. [Science News, 8/28/10]

Hogan’s holometer: Testing the hypothesis of a holographic universe

In 2008, Fermilab particle astrophysicist Craig Hogan made waves with a mind-boggling proposition: The 3D universe in which we appear to live is no more than a hologram. Now he is building the most precise clock of all time to directly measure whether our reality is an illusion. [Symmetry Breaking, 10/20/10]

The Brain That Changed Everything

When a surgeon cut into Henry Molaison's skull to treat him for epilepsy, he inadvertently created the most important brain-research subject of our time — a man who could no longer remember, who taught us everything we know about memory. Six decades later, another daring researcher is cutting into Henry's brain. Another revolution in brain science is about to begin. [Esquire, 10/25/10]

How Big is the Unobservable Universe?

Based on what we currently think about inflation, this means that the Universe is at least 10^(1030) times the size of our observable Universe! And good luck living long enough to even write that number down. ... All that we know, see, and observe is just one tiny region that slid down that hill fast enough to end inflation, but most of it just keeps on inflating forever and ever. [Starts with a Bang!, 10/27/10]

Revealing the galaxy’s dark side

“In our paper, we discussed a number of astrophysical possibilities for the origin of the signal, including a population of pulsars, cosmic ray interactions and emission from our galaxy's supermassive black hole,” notes Hooper. “And in the end, no combination of any astrophysical sources could give us the signal we’re seeing,” he adds. “Eventually we just got fed up and concluded there doesn’t seem to be a way to explain the signal except for one thing — we tried dark matter and it fit beautifully without any special bells or whistles.” [Science News, 11/20/10]

When Muons Collide

A new type of particle collider known as a muon collider considered a wild idea a decade ago is winning over skeptics as scientists find solutions to the machine's many technological challenges. [Symmetry, 10/1/10]

We all need (a little bit of) sex

Sex costs amazing amounts of time and energy. Just take birds of paradise touting their tails, stags jousting with their antlers or singles spending their weekends in loud and sweaty bars. Is sex really worth all the effort that we, sexual species, collectively put into it? [Scientific American, 11/2/10]

Glia: The new frontier in brain science

Glia, in contrast to neurons, are brain cells that do not generate electrical impulses, and there are a lot of them—85 percent of the cells in the brain. Yet, these cells have been largely neglected for 100 years. I call this new frontier of neuroscience "The Other Brain," because we are only now beginning to explore it. The new findings are expanding our concept of information processing in the brain. They are leading rapidly to new treatments for diseases ranging from spinal cord injury to brain cancer to chronic pain, and Alzheimer's disease. [Scientific American, 11/4/10]

Extra neutrino flavor could be bitter end to Standard Model

What seems to have caught everyone's attention is the suggestion that this might be evidence of what are called sterile neutrinos. Although regular neutrinos barely interact with matter, sterile neutrinos can only interact via gravity, which (if they exist) is what has allowed them to escape our detection to date. Since they'd also be heavier than the regular neutrinos, they would make good dark matter candidates. [Nobel Intent, 11/2/10]

The Neanderthal Romeo and Human Juliet hypothesis

Scientists have had trouble reconciling data from analyses of human mitochondrial DNA and the male Y chromosome. Analyses of human mitochondrial DNA indicate that we all share a common female ancestor 170,000 years ago. Analyses of the Y chromosome indicate that we share a common male ancestor 59,000 years ago. How can we account for the idea that our common grandmother is 111,000 years older than our common grandfather? [Neuroanthropology, 10/26/10]

An idle brain may be the self's workshop

As neuroscientists study the idle brain, some believe they are exploring a central mystery in human psychology: where and how our concept of "self" is created, maintained, altered and renewed. After all, though our minds may wander when in this mode, they rarely wander far from ourselves, as Mrazek's mealtime introspection makes plain. [Los Angeles Times, 8/30/10]

Determining 500th Alien Planet Will Be a Tricky Task

At NASA's last count, astronomers had confirmed the discovery of 494 planets around alien suns. There are signs of dozens more, if not hundreds, but it will take time to weed out which of the detections are actual worlds and which are merely false alarms. [Space.com, 11/11/10]

Tracking Viruses Back in Time

How long have viruses been around? No one knows. Scientists at Portland State University have begun taking the first steps toward answering this question. [Astrobiology, 9/6/10]

Can a 1960s Approach Unify Gravity with the Rest of Physics?

In July mathematicians and physicists met at the Banff International Research Station in Alberta, Canada, to discuss a return to the golden age of particle physics. They were harking back to the 1960s, when physicist Murray Gell-Mann realized that elementary particles could be grouped according to their masses, charges and other properties, falling into patterns that matched complex symmetrical mathematical structures known as Lie groups. [Scientific American, 9/7/10]

Neuroscience: Settling the great glia debate

The consequences of this 'gliotransmission' could be profound. The human brain contains roughly equal numbers of glia and neurons (about 85 billion of each), and any given astrocyte can make as many as 30,000 connections with cells around it. If glia are involved in signalling, processing in the brain turns out to be an order of magnitude more complex than previously expected, says Andrea Volterra, who studies astrocytes at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Neuroscientists, who have long focused on the neuron, he says, would have to revise everything. [Nature News, 11/10/10]

This Is Your Brain on Metaphors

Symbols, metaphors, analogies, parables, synecdoche, figures of speech: we understand them. We understand that a captain wants more than just hands when he orders all of them on deck. We understand that Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” isn’t really about a cockroach. If we are of a certain theological ilk, we see bread and wine intertwined with body and blood. We grasp that the right piece of cloth can represent a nation and its values, and that setting fire to such a flag is a highly charged act. [New York Times, 11/14/10]

Tree or ring: the origin of complex cells

All complex life belongs to a single group called the eukaryotes, whose members, from humans to amoebas, share a common ancestry. Their cells are distinguished by having several internal compartments, including the nucleus, which shelters their precious DNA, and the mitochondria, which provide them with power. [Not Exactly Rocket Science, 9/12/10]

I am virus – animal genomes contain more fossil viruses than ever expected

Your closest fossils are inside you, scattered throughout your genome. They are the remains of ancient viruses, which shoved their genes among those of our ancestors. There they remained, turning into genetic fossils that still lurk in our genomes to this day. [Not Exactly Rocket Science, 11/18/10]

Effective Field Theory

"Effective field theory" is a technical term within quantum field theory, but it is associated with a more informal notion of extremely wide applicability. Namely: if we imagine dividing the world into "what happens at very short, microscopic distances" and "what happens at longer, macroscopic distances," then it is possible to consistently describe the macroscopic world without referring to (or even understanding) the microscopic world. [Cosmic Variance, 11/25/10]

Meet a superpartner at the LHC

Of the many ideas for new physics that can be tested at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), supersymmetry is one of the most promising. The theory proposes that each fundamental fermion particle has a heavier bosonic superpartner (and vice versa for each fundamental boson) and by doing so, offers an extension of the standard model of particle physics that fixes many of its problems. None of the known particles appear to be superpartners, however, which leads to the daunting conclusion that if supersymmetry is correct, there are more than twice as many fundamental particles as we thought, but we have only been left with the lightest partners; that is, supersymmetry is broken. [Physics, 11/22/10]

Mafia Wars

An increasing amount of data is showing that the cellular battle between pathogens and hosts needs much more than a simple military metaphor to describe it—think undercover infiltration, front organizations, and forced suicide. [The Scientist, 6/1/10]

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Ride the Cyclone!

In college we had a game room at the Student Union.

I claimed to be a master at Arkanoid, but would occasionally play pinball. Earthshaker was fun, but there was another, carnival-themed game that would often beckon, "Ride the Cyclone!" It was, naturally, called The Cyclone.

Fast forward ten years and I would be residing in Brooklyn, home to Coney Island and the original Cyclone.

Despite having been in close proximity a number of times, I've never gone for a ride.

I was reminded of this back in September when I met Matt at the top of the escalator at the Penn Plaza Borders store.

He shared this amazing tattoo:

This is, of course, the Cyclone.

Matt is working on a Coney Island/"Carnie" theme, having lived in Brooklyn most of his adult life. Thus, the Astroland tower behind the Cyclone in the tattoo. Next up: the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump, other Coney Island attractions.

He sent along a photo of the tattoo when it was initially finished:

Matt credits this tattoo to Ping at Village Rock Tattoo in Manhattan.

Thanks to Matt for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Finger Tattoo

source: unknown

Ribs.

source: unknown

Saturday Snapshot - November 27

A meme hosted by Alyce @ At Home with Books.

All you have to do is to "post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken and then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky" on her blog. "Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you." All she asks is that "you don't post random photos that you find online."

Male FRIGATE bird during mating season, taken at Galapagos Islands, May, 2007.

Something Girly This Way Comes

I met Nadya one afternoon in the beginning of October in Borders on Penn Plaza.

She shared this tattoo, which covered up a date she had initially inscribed on her arm:

Nadya told me that she wanted something "girly".

What I found most interesting about this tattoo is that when I asked her who the artist was, she told me it was her father. I can't imagine tattooing my own daughter. I would be too nervous!

Thanks to Nadya for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday.

Ladies Tattoos: Girls Tattoos

Love this lil design with the butterfly right in the middle, a cracking ladies tattoo.

An angel tattoo on a redhead angel, jeeez I have died and gone to heaven !

Loves this ladies tattoo on the back, for some reason this tattoo kinda grows on ya, doncha think?

Love these fairy tattoos on this chicks back, a must for yer coice of ladies tattoos.

Nice lil ladies tattoo sayin " I'm so Happy", jeeez lookin at her tattoo has made me happy for sure.

Nice lower back tribal tattoo and deff one of my fav ladies tattoos, looks really cool, " are you still sayin cool? "

Gotta say I love a nice butterfly display and these ladies tattoos are just perfection.

A snake designed as an anchor, I just love the imagination behind this ladies tattoo, love it !

Hands up if any of you ladies reading are a bit of a devil, hey no problem get yerself a few devils tattooed on yer feet.

Love this koi fish tattoo on the shoulder, jeeez tis one stunning ladies tattoo for sure, I almost feel like going fishing !

Nice blue butterfly on the foot is my next ladies tattoos pic and well I gotta keep my feet lovers happy ; )

Wowwwwww this is deff my fav ladies tattoo, just look at the artwork put into this dragon tattoo, totally stunning.

And for the last of my ladies tattoos this amazing tribal dragon tattoo, gotta say I love the tribal tattoos, I wud be a really cool tribesman.

New Chinese Tattoos For Girls Design

Especially when young women are not so sure about getting a tattoo (caveat: definitely think about it carefully), they often pick their ancle, as it can easily be covered and the tattoo is carefully hidden there.

The ancle can e.g. be the right place for a small flower or a beautiful and romantic little fairy.
Anyhow, be aware that getting a tattoo on your ancle can be a painful experience. As there is only very little fat (thank god) on your ancle, just plain skin covering the bone, getting a tattoo there may hurt a lot more than on any other part of your body.

Today the girl tattoo designs are being popular, The Tattoos used to be considered to be primarily a female sexiest things, and but more and more girls 're usually sporting star tattoo designs as the trends. They are really thought to be sexy and pretty enhancing, they seem to be under the impression that it looks sexy.

This article isn't internet tutorials but just a tatto design information , Anything it's just one of way to express themselves on their skin with any image they like, to be more look beauty.

tattoo fly

When I returned to the Tribulation booth, Tim Kern was working on a Transformers Decepticon chest panel, Liorcifer was tattooing a skull on a guys hand, and Dan Marshall was tattooing a half-sleeve of the Munsters onto a band member of Lacuna Coil.

I chugged some water, and decided that I was just too exhausted from the jet lag, partying, and the few miles of walking earlier that day. The heat was getting to me, and I didn’t want to be around the crowd any more. I figured, it was only 6pm, so I could go take a nap.

I headed upstairs, dumped all the photos off my camera to my computer and set my alarm for 8:30. That should give me an hour and a half of recuperation time, and leave plenty of time to head back down to do some more coverage.

The Best Arm Tattoos Shown Clearly

I have seen in my life and it’s my personal experience that Best Arm Tattoos are widely used all over the globe means if we compare in which body parts peoples creates more tattoos compares to any other part then simply you will get the answer.

Arm is the body part of our body where tattoos are drawn generally by numerous tattoo lovers, I am not only saying for this for peoples only I am also having various tattoos on my arm.

Best Arm Tattoos why widely used I don’t know but I have realized that it’s our body part generally uncover by our clothing means tattoos are displayed on arm very clearly I think for showing tattoos peoples mostly create tattoos on their arm.

New Tattoo Store

COLUMBIANA Walking through the front gate of New Image Art, the only clue that you’re in a tattoo store there is the stand of sample designs along one partition and the design books and magazines neatly load on the coffee table.

With its spotless, current decor, its display of ceramic and other art and its efficient arrangement, new picture Art isn’t your distinctive tattoo parlor. Owner and tattoo artistChris Holm said he’s delighted to set up a store that doesn’t fit most people’s suggestion of what a tattoo store is all about.

tattoo lettering styles

The grandness of selecting the right tattoo lettering styles can't be stressed sufficiency as they are pivotal for expressing yourself in and For time few years, the trends of getting Hebrew tattoos has evolved.

New Bali Tattoo

Erick island Tattoo A cobra is a malevolent snake, Art of Erick island Tattoo , which is a member of the family Elapidae (elapids). Erick island Tattoo make The name is short for cobra de capello (or cobra di capello), which is Portuguese for \"snake with hood,\" or \"hood-snake.\"Erick island Tattoo When disturbed, most of these snakes can rear up and spread their neck (or hood) in a characteristic threat display. However, not every snakes referred to as cobras are of the aforementioned genus, or modify of the aforementioned family. Erick island Tattoo more than just Tattoo

Tribal Zodiac Libra Tattoos

Libra is the seventh of the zodiac signs resembling the scales of balance as far as zodiac symbols are concerned. It corresponds to the constellation of its name though the activity of the equinoxes has misaligned it from this constellation in Hesperian astrology.

If you would same to intend a Libra tattoo then there a variety of ways you crapper design a tattoo to suit you and your tastes. Understanding what the Libra clew is associated with crapper help you opt a design for your Libra tattoo. Remember also that what you same and conceive looks pleasant is the prizewinning guide to choosing a great tattoo.

Beautiful Calourfull libra tattoos painted on woman breast

Calourfull tribal libra tattoos painted on back

Calourfull tribal libra tattoos painted on back

Beautiful libra tattoos painted on back body