Sherry's AIMC Blog

(biology / wk 13) The Science of Life - CLASS QUIZ

2008-07-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

"For these animals to survive, we've got to save the dwindling forests where they live" (Discovered: new species of parrot and mouse) What steps might we take to save these species?
I couldn't find the article that this question could have referred to directly so I'll speak from a more general point। There are new species arriving everyday and this planet is as much theirs as it is ours. We need to recognize that we are here to share this place we call home as we are yet just another species inhabiting it. We should live with what we need and take from those who are weaker, smaller or who may seem insignificant to us and level of evolution. There is enough for everyone if we don't over-consume and take care of what we do have. Consciousness, overall.

Have we discovered how and where humans first might have developed the use of tools? (Chimps make wood spears, kill smaller animals for food)
I'd have to agree that I believe this to be a strong link to proving that us humans were once like the chimps using simple tools of wood। That one day those chips will evolve into another species of humans। How exciting is that!!! If we can't look backward to find our proof for our existence well about evolution putting right smack in our very existence today!! Wow! Stranger things have happened।

How significant would you call "Spicy food could provide compound to fight cancers"?
Very significant। I'm a big believer that diet can effect health greatly so I'd say that would have me believe that spicy food aiding in our survival of cancer would be very probable। Many cultures have spicy foods in their diet, many used to kill bacteria like wasabi on sushi or kimchi with it's powerfully spicy chili pepper pasty sauce, so why wouldn't it help battle cancer causers within our system. Sounds perfectly sensible to me. Mmmm, now I'm craving salsa! Taco anyone?

(biology / wk 13) Biology - the Science of Life

2008-07-29T17:48:00.000-07:00

What significance would you attribute to chimps "making tools"?
Well I'd say that this is a positive sign of great intelligence that which most closely mirrors ours. It seems to show what we were probably like billions of years ago dare I say further proving that they our ancestors. I feel that such confirming information will only further our awareness that we are but merely another species on this planet who developed over the ages to what we are today, also on OUR mission to better ourselves and the world we live in.

Giant toads and Colossal squid - whatever next?
Oh I must say I get quite excited at the information we gather from our deep deep seas. There is so much unknown. More is known about space than the oceans of our own home planet!!! As time moves forward we are astonished at what we find and from what I've seen from some documentaries it's amazing and very humbling to see how well life can exist without sun, and without us!!

Here is the video I'd mentioned in class...The Blue Planet: Seas of Life: Open Oceans / The Deep. It's part of the BBX The Blue Planet series. You can rent it from Netflix or they have it on Amazon as well.

Another great series that I heard mentioned in my Physics class and have seen one disc of so far and think it's great is the BBC Planet Earth series.

My aura photo 072208

2008-07-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

(physics / wk 10) Life & Living Systems

2008-07-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

I know I’m a “living system” because…….
Let's see, I know I'm a living system because I'm in three dimensional space, move in a world of time, rely on the sun for energy, live on a rotating planet with a protective shield around it with an atmosphere within it, I require and enjoy water and I require carbon. Most basically I see myself as a living being in that I do need the sunshine, fresh water and fresh air...those most immediately make me a living being.

Biophysics and Oriental Medicine
Well I'd have to say that if OM is like Biophysics it too has many different "groups" within that make it a mass collective of body, mind, spirit medicine, like the use of herbs and the use of acupuncture, TCM and Five Element Acupuncture।

Rose petal molecules from Sondra Barrett

(physics / wk 9) Towards a New Synthesis

2008-07-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

My E-Prime Day - describe your day, only using English Prime

The air on the drive up north two weekends ago appeared smokey from the forest fires just west of highway 101. Prairie Creek National Redwood park did not have any of the smoke from the forest fires that were still burning further south. Despite my body experiencing physical pain after a visit to the chiropractor I felt elated while hiking in the redwoods of Prairie Creek.

Can I synthesize East and West?
I'm not sure what this question is asking exactly. Can I come to a combined thought and reality of East and West? Hmmm, well I'd have to say yes I can and I try to do it quite often. Taking the reality and the physical realm of things for their face value and then turning on the what if and greater and deeper thoughts of situations in my day to day life. Overall it leads for a much more interesting way of life, more balanced, and thus makes me happier.

(biology / wk 9) Ecosystems and Deep Ecologyosystems and Deep Ecology

2008-07-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

What do you think about the “eight-point Deep Ecology Platform”?
Wow. That sounds like quite an intense delivery of the current path we are on and what needs to be done in order to not take over the world as we are killing it as it knows best to thrive. Parts of it sounds like the demands in some sci fi take over movie...guess they saw it coming too. Seriously though, I agree with many of these points, however some strong leadership and a serious plan are in dire need. I feel I try to do my part and they say all change starts with one person...yourself!

Can you explain why “Ecosystems are both strong and fragile”?
As with TCM in balancing the system that is our body, mind, spirit so is an ecosystem. All of its parts are connected, the land, the water, the air and animals. Change anyone ONE of those things and will effect the system, tearing it apart or killing it. However, keep it connected, in balance, and it will thrive with life on its own birthing, growing and developing in its beautiful nature.

How would you assess the “end goals” of Social Ecology?
Both the political and social institutions we follow and use along with technology used to reap nature all need to change in order to preserve and responsibly work with nature rather than just strip it of it's abundance for our own lavish survival. We need serious rules and regulations set in order from the top down. There needs to be an overall shift in the direction of where we are going and that needs to be in the preservation of the Earth, period!

(biology / wk 8) Cell Biology: HIV and AIDs

2008-07-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

How do you feel about western approaches to HIV/AIDS?
They appear very effective in figuring out how HIV/AIDS develops in the human body however I do not yet feel satisfied on how and why it affects so many differently. Some can live WITH it and others are conquered by it. Also many of the methods of treatment are probably quite harsh on the body compared to some other possible natural remedies including things like herbs and acupuncture.

Can TCM strengthen our immune systems?
Yes. Qi can built up using herbs and or acupuncture and balancing the body's physical system will strengthen to keep healthy. Also, treating the spirit as acupuncture, particularly Five Element acupuncture, does will keep integrated one's spirit with the body thus an overall better balanced homeostasis for the person.

What do you think of “the deal that saved the whale”?
Wow, only 1800 left। I had no idea। They are a cherished creature of mine and I am happy to hear that some finally looked out for them and saved their beloved Laguna San Ignacio। I'm worried about the impeding threat of run off though from the new villas and don't think the 120,000 acres are enough. Can't we find another beautiful place to inhabit as human beings?! I hope they continue to NOT develop this land and keep the whales safe.

(physics / wk 8) Classical Physics

2008-06-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Newton’s Three Laws and me
Newton's three laws for me, very strictly explain my everyday interaction with moving vehicles. They are everywhere and moving at such great velocities and sometimes not at all. Newton's laws really give some very clear reminders of just how much power these moving vehicles have in them taking into account their velocity plus their massive mass. Vehicles are something to be respected probably more than they are, especially if you are a pedestrian, which I tend to see a lot who use their own bodies to fight for their "right of way". I'd rather be alive than "right" in that situation and will choose to just let the car go ahead. Thanks Newton for the reminder.

Our “Energy Efficient” Culture
To some degree it seems we've been intelligent on conserving some energies, such as heat. We wear clothing to keep out body heat in, use things such as insulated windows to keep the heat in our homes and some even use solar panels to collect the heat from the sun already hitting their roof to later use as energy in their home instead of going to the wasteful trouble of producing such heat and energy from scratch again. All of these are good examples of efficiently using "waste" heat.

Descartes has a lot to answer for!
Ah Decartes, a true Westerner to his very core. As he suggested that all of nature could be described via mathematical precision....Oops! However, thank goodness for those who decided to think outside the box in the earlier 20th century more or less blowing the roof off these previously overly perfectionistic explanations of the wonderful chaos that is nature and life. Some examples are the consciousness making us socially functioning beings instead of just a brain hooked up to a battery, or that we are forever perpetuating living beings making the universe alive instead of dead. One could go on as we have come a long way since the days of believing math could explain it all. It can't and I know I, and I'd think many do, prefer it that way.

(physics / mid-term) Synchronicity, In the West and In the East

2008-06-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my mid-term paper for Physics. The topic is Eastern and Western views of Synchronicity.
-----------
Sherry Mosley
Physics East & West
June 19th, 2008

Synchronicity, In the West and In the East

Synchronicity is defined in the dictionary as (1) The state or fact of being simultaneous, (2) coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related, and (3) the relation that exists when things occur at the same time. This definitely sounds like a phenomenon that could go in two directions or views, say a Western view, holding a more scientific explanation of such events, and an Eastern view, holding a more naturalistic, almost spiritual, view. Let’s take a look.

In the West synchronicity could be explained by the EPR Paradox using quantum mechanics through a theory called quantum entanglement which basically states that “measurements performed on spatially separated parts of a quantum system can apparently have an instantaneous influence on one another”. This is known as “non-local behavior” or my favorite “quantum weirdness”. It is merely a thought experiment demonstrating that if one measures one part of a quantum system this will have an instantaneous effect of a measurement taken on the other part, regardless of distance. However, this goes against special relativity because it states that information just cannot be transmitted faster than the speed of light, which is exactly what is being inferred by this scientific explanation of synchronicity. This creates a certain paradox however it is not seen as an inconsistency in quantum mechanics itself but merely of the conditions, thus the fundamentals of quantum mechanics remain intact and synchronicity goes on doing what it does, leaving one unable to ignore the fact that it would appear everything is connected and one thing will inevitably affect another. Thus, this takes us to the Eastern view of things.

In the Eastern view, synchronicity would be the existence of balance. Since all is connected nothing can just do something on its own without having an effect on something else. One example of this could be when you think of someone and then the phone rings and it is they. Just your energy with the thought of them tapped into the universal energy tugged on their energy to pull them to you, thus calling you. Or, the energy they put out in thinking of you and then into dialing the phone sends across any distance faster than the phone on your end ringing, thus you suddenly think of that person because the energy they put out in contacting you traveled through space and time and the greater balanced system of everything being connected before you could even pick up the phone. Wow! That is some fast moving energy, faster that the speed of light, or so it would appear, just don’t tell Einstein. It would appear that because everything is indeed connected one thing will affect another, instantaneously, making synchronicity.

So, either way you look at synchronicity it appears indisputable that there is definitely something going on that is just out of the grasp of full scientific explanation and which is accepted in other worlds of view as part of the connected system of life at large. It seems synchronicity is here, leading the way to the next event, weather we are aware of it or not, so best to keep a tab on what we are putting out there as it may just very well be creating the very next event to happen to us or someone else.

(biology / wk ७) Cell Biology & Cancer

2008-06-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

How sophisticated is our understanding of cancer?
There seems to have been MUCH research done on how cancer exists in us, lives in us, how it births in us, how it can kill us and how to alleviate the pain it brings and sometimes even kill it. However, the question of possible prevention does not yet seem to have been inquired in any great depth. This may be the key in "curing" cancer, not getting to the point where one actually gets it to begin with or find what is truly causing it to happen in each individual as some of those answers will be globally the same while others will patient specific.

How does a TCM approach to cancer differ?
The TCM approach to cancer would address the current pain and relief from such pain but would also go to a deeper level asking why has this person gotten this cancer? What was happening before this cancer? So as to prevent it from happening again by keeping the body better balanced so that it does not get so out of balance and so sick with something like cancer.

Are our genes still being shaped by natural selection?
Yes. It actually does appear we are still being updated to newer and improved versions. No wonder we keep doing this do our own surroundings, it's in our genes! But no, seriously, it has been shown that our evolution continues updating our senses of taste and smell, digestion, bone structure, skin color and brain function. I mean can you imagine a 5,000 year old style brain trying to keep up with the pace of our brains now on the Internet digesting information in monstrous loads. No really, on a deeper level, sometimes these changes are just needed to adapt to a new living environment, like skin color in proportion to the amount of sunlight a body will be receiving. It only makes sense that we grow to what we are surviving, or TO SURVIVE.

(biology / wk ६) The Nature of Life

2008-06-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

How do you distinguish between living and nonliving systems?
There was a movie, Serendipity, where towards the end the best friend is supposed to write his best man speech for the wedding but he ends up writing the obituary for his friend. In it he mentions that the Greeks asked when someone dies "did he/she have passion?". I find this to a very indicator for something that is living. In general all living beings, creatures, animals will exhert some sort of "passion", be it love, lust, chase, kill, protect. Something that pushes something to the edge of there most basic inner feelings, where their body, mind and soul become one in one single action or moment in time. To me, that is a living system or being or entity.

What do you feel is the significance of the use of language and tools in chimps?
The significance of these things is so they can live their lives as efficiently as they can. They are social type creatures, capable of communicating verbally, and, wanting to have lunch together is a reasonable enough reason to have a lunch call so everyone can gather around and enjoy eating together. It makes sense they can communicate together to keep each other company, reproduce, learn better ways of surviving, protect each other etc. It is suitable to the level of consciousness they have. Most animals do have some level of "language" in order to communicate with their species, and even other species for that matter. We generally know what a dog growl means for example. Tools, it seems natural that some creatures have a high enough intelligence to try something else if the first way isn't working, even going so far as to use a tool. I'd say most living systems/creatures have this built in proportionately to the level/size of creature they are. It's a part of survival and leads to an evolution of sorts. I'd say the bigger question is just how smart are other creatures? Seems we've been giving them the short end of the stick for a long long time.

"Chinese Medicine Gaining Respectability in West"?
Yes, Chinese Medicine is gaining respect in the West. Slowly but surely. The fact that the present ways of health care and "healing" are not working at all or at their best means other answers are being sought out. Also, as we become a more conscious species we learn about prevention and taking care of not just ourselves but our planet and as this connection grows it will bring us back to a lot more natural means for healing and health. I'd have to say the general public in the U.S. is still at it's very early stages of learning about classical healing methods such as Chinese Medicine, Reiki, Naturopathy....etc. It is exciting to know that I am part of a new awakening and I look forward to helping those on their paths.

(physics / wk 5) Symmetry and Sacred Geometry

2008-06-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

My (a)symmetrical world
Symmetry and Beauty
I did some further research on symmetry and the body. It appears that this is a great part of what makes us find others attractive and what makes us see certain people as perfectly beautiful...it's all just symmetry! This also applies to animals saying that this zebra finch will choose a mate with more symmetrical colorings. It went so far as to say that this symmetry or beauty is related to genes that also include a strong immune system. It also said we choose a mate of similar symmetry/attractiveness....so maybe that explains why some couples really do "look" good together, perfect together. Hmmmm.

Just what does this "CP violation" really mean?
That there is some energy doing something in a place we can not exactly see. Which in all honesty is not really any surprise to me after the energy work and shaman journeying I've experienced through reiki. It is very possible for energy to be doing things we just can't see or detect.

Are there connections between Sacred Geometry and Physics?
Yes as it would appear the answers scientists have found in Physics these days have been known by many other cultures centuries ago in their art and structural design. Like the Egyptian Pyramids and the fact that similar structural designs existed in many places around the world without major communication.

I also found it very interesting that on Wikipedia they applied sacred mathematics to how music was formed and what gave it healing powers "as it could "harmonize" the out-of-balance body"!!!

I also found "sacred jewelry" where they seem to have combined sacred science, art and spirit/religion.

(biology / wk 5) The Complexity of Life

2008-06-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

Can diversification save species?
Yes I believe diversification can save a species as the more options there are the less room there is for failure. If one gene is not getting the job done it can be replaced by another. Also, diversification provides for variety thus less strain then if there were only species. There can be more crossing of efficient evolutionary bits and pieces which not only provide well for survival but also make the world much more interesting. There is thus also less competition as there are less species that are the same looking for the same thing. It is better on the environment. Just imagine if everyone wanted to grow up and do the same thing for a career?! There would be no balance to the world, to the eco system.

Do you vote for the chicken or the egg?
I totally vote for the egg. I believe the version that the original "chicken" had it's DNA at the very first in it's egg form before it hatched and grew up to be the very first chicken.

“I always eat my broccoli!”
Yes, actually broccoli used to be a serious staple in my diet until this year when I got my food allergies and food rotation became the name of the game. I love the flavor of broccoli and how the leafy part holds in whatever sauce you put on it. Mmmmm mmmm! Oh yeah and the fact that it helps fight cancer is always a lovely bonus.

(physics / wk 4) Energy, Matter & the Four Forces

2008-05-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

How has e=mc²affected you?
It has really shown me what energy is a more "logical" thinking manner which helps me more deeply understand my beliefs in energetics at large. How we all hold energy and thus are constantly affecting those around us and even those farther away as well as our environment. I like the idea that the factor of the speed of light is included as it proves the power energy really holds. No wonder it moves so fast. No wonder I know when someone is going to call or I can decide I really want something and it happens so quickly. There is some serious speed involved.

How would you compare the four “forces”?
I would say they compare as any different entities in the world. Each set to do what it does best and be what it is. All in all they balance each other out. Strong nuclear force being the strong, extreme, maybe most masculine. Gravity the force that which keeps us grounded and close to our mother earth thus the most feminine. Weak nuclear force a step up from the super feminine as it is stronger and can spread further. And electromagnetic force a younger masculine, not as strong as strong nuclear yet this allows it to be more in touch with it's feminine side and so it can travel further than the strong nuclear force.

What is the function of gravity?
Well it would appear it's function is to hold us together, keep us grounded. Just enough force to keep us with the ability to walk around and function on earth, yet not so strong it can cause any harm.

(biology / wk 4) The Pattern of Life

2008-05-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Is there a drug around for just about everything?
Well it would certainly appear so. However, because whatever the drugs are for keep mutating we seem to be in a losing battle, not too surprising though when it comes to mother nature. It's like an endless race with no real winner. If we'd stop competing with mother nature and learn to work with her and understand her we wouldn't need all these drugs.

Can we raise our levels of dopamine ourselves?
Yes, we actually just went over this in A&P class. Activities such as sex which bring in oxytocin (the cuddle horomone) can be comforting. On the bigger scale dopamine is made by our nervous tissue and the medulla of the adrenal glands. There is more info on Wikipedia. I'm actually presently on a neurotransmitter repair program because all of mine were off balance thus I was feeling tired, stressed and drained all the time. My acupuncturist gave me the test. So far much better.

How do you think chimps and humans diverged as species?
Well I'm very interested in this new idea that we are a spin off of a hybrid of the hominid and chimp, a fertile spin off. Talk about evolution! Looking at us now! That would certainly make us an evolutionary leep taking two species to make one new species, roughly stating. A mut. This would have given humans a combination of genetics to choose from to survive while giving us the ability to be stronger, faster, smarter, especially with time.

(physics / wk 3) Synchronicity

2008-05-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

Lynxylulu mentioned on their blog about the Celestine Prophecy and I just wanted to add that yes indeed these books seriously touched and went into great detail about these ideas of synchronicity and connection. I read the entire series and find them very applicable to not just synchronicity but connectivity as well....

What evidence can you find for synchronicity?
Well, for me personally I'd have to say for my evidence of synchronicity is my experience with it. That when I need something it shows up or when I think of someone they call..those times when I really listen to the inner feelings I'm having instead of what I "think" I should be doing and then something else happens, that I was really wanting to happen, because I followed my gut instinct/inner voice to do the initial thing. Just the mere energy of wanting something or thinking of something calls out as a most primal call to that other thing/being/person to make it so.

Based on what you know, how would you explain connectivity?
Well, I'd have to say that it is (1) because we as living beings part of a living planet are connected via living energy to everything else living here with us and even beyond our everyday interactions. We are bits of energy and can sense other energy around us as if it is a common language amongst anything living. Some say it is from the Big Bang and we are all family from the same star dust while others say we know each other from other lives and past experiences as we are souls who have been around far longer than we think. (2) Life requires balance as between night and day and masculine and feminine, thus as one goes way it pulls the other with it as to keep the world, the universe in energetic/life force balance. It is how life exists and is able to grow as it lets go here in order to go forward there, a cycle between connected bits constantly staying in balance, effecting everything. I'm curious what the originating energies were...where did the cycle begin and does that lead to a hypothesis of where we are going?

(biology / wk3 / homework) Genetic Evolution

2008-05-19T10:24:00.000-07:00

“99.4% of the most critical DNA sites are identical in human and chimp genes” What do you make of this?
Well it would seem that yes indeed we do have a species very close to us who inhabits this world. But should that be any surprise when we've found fossils of the remains of other earlier species of ourselves buried deep in the earth from thousands of years ago? I'd think it would be a comfort and a possible answer to where we may have come from, though I've not yet decided where I personally stand on this issue.

Prokaryotes, Eukaryotes, & Viruses Tutorial
Hmm, seems the bacteria have been pulling one over on us then. Though not surprising to find out that our Western medicine has gone and done something only to antagonize nature. On the upside it's exciting to know that new life is more or less being found in the Archaea DNA analysis.

Human Genetic Evolution

I greatly enjoy reading all the many different and very creative creation stories. They are so diverse. I know we had great similarity to the chimpanzee (90%) but that we are 70% similar to yeast, ha, now that is interesting. However, not too surprising if we all did come from the same star dust of the big bang.

Cybernetics
When I saw the title "cybernetics" I thought these articles were going to be about combing human and machine, like in The Terminator. However, they didn't quite go in that direction...or did they? I suppose the terminator would be an example of Autopoeisis, since he's not "alive" as a human is yet is a self sustaining entity remaining alive in it's environment and able to "self heal", generate necessary "living" parts to maintain it's structure while learning and surviving in it's environment. All in all, these articles were a bit heady and technical and I'm not sure I'm fully grasping their depth through reading them. I look forward to discussions in class.

(biology / wk2 / homework) How Does Darwinism Matter to Me?

2008-05-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

In terms of evolution and the idea that whatever behavior survives must be an evolutioary advantage is interesting in terms of the topic of women in the work place. We are presently in a world with so many woman in that position that we are now starting to see the effects quite strongly. However, I can't tell if evolution will approve. Being a woman who has been in the present working world I can see how this new freedom is liberating yet it really gets confusing on roles and how we are biologically built. This is a topic I know that could be a heated and length debate and still wouldn't be resolved or satisfied, and thus as it also remains in my mind from my present day living experience.

(biology / wk2 / class feedback) Evo-Devo

2008-05-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

This week I found it extremely interesting to find out that as humans began walking upright which lead to a smaller pelvis which lead to a smaller brain. Thus this is why we are so much more helpless upon coming out of the womb. I had never really stopped to think about this but upon reflection I'm glad I know. I know in psychological terms that it is said the first year of development is VERY important. Well this would certainly back it up as we still have a lot of development to do in that first year out of the womb. I even found a month by month description of development on the American Pregnancy Association website. Wow, interesting....

(physics / wk1 / reflections) The Meaning of Time

2008-05-07T12:43:00.000-07:00

The article "Astronomers Say Pluto is Not a Planet" was a surprise. First thing I thought was, well how is this going to affect the school of astrology? I believe there are newer schools of thought who did indeed include this planet but now obviously it shouldn't really be included because it doesn't have a big enough effect our planet thus upon us...or does it? I did a quick search online and found an article on Astro.com (a fairly well known astrological resource).

"Pluto no longer a planet? What are the implications for astrology?" They say "There is no reason for being concerned. The understanding which astrologers have gained about the astrological effect of Pluto since its discovery in 1930 is not changed by the new astronomical definition. The meaning of Pluto in the horoscope remains the same. The horoscope reports by Astrodienst remain as valid as they were before."

I'm not sure I'm convinced either way but I will keep it in mind in reading my future horoscopes!

(physics / wk1 / quiz) The Meaning of Time

2008-05-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

What attracts me to Chinese Medicine?
I am attracted to Chinese Medicine as it treats the whole person, body, mind and spirit, particularly Five Element theory which I am partial to. I'd say most particularly that Chinese Medicine addresses the spirit as I find this to be a key element in our health and well being. I enjoy the aspect of keeping the body in balance accepting that it is created in a way that will always be changing and will always need to be rebalanced as we grow and experience life.

What do I think of Physics really?
Well to be honest this is my FIRST physics class. I took earth sciences in high school and never took it in college so I don't have much to form an opinion on. In general I'm curious to what falls under the title "physics". I interested in theories on time, space and energetics more so than the more mathematical parts of physics. I've done some reiki with shamanism (shamanic journeying) and am interested in "dream" time and how how much can happen in that world of time and be understood compared to here in the waking world.

Now that I think about it, have I ever experienced time "slowing down"?
I'd have to say I have that feeling when the clocks get set forward. I always catch myself in those first few weeks saying "what, it's only ––o'clock? i can't believe it, i got so much done today...". The feeling of the sun still being up when it's time to eat dinner makes everything feel like I'm on vacation and I have so much more time. Days seem lazier and easier, though my stomach says otherwise as eating times change.

(biology / wk 1 / homework links feedback) Evolution links

2008-05-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

These links provided some interesting information on evolution. I was particularly interested in the quick videos on the PBS website, particularly the one on evolution and extinction. Are we facing the beginning of our own extinction? Can we control it? Can we fix it? Can we adapt? If so, for how long? And the information on the microbe in Russia which I'd never even heard about till now...is it TB? or something else? Hmmmm....I could loose sleep over this. Thank goodness for the warm fuzzies on the mating chapter. There is hope. And the chapter on the human mind, the video of the cave drawings that are 34,000 years old, wow! I'd like to see more. The Origins of Humans flash piece was interesting too. According to it the first "human" was alive 6 million years ago in Kenya!

This all really puts an interesting perspective on trying to just figure out what kind of curtains to get for the windows in the new apartment.

I was glad to see that they did include a chapter on greater powers, "God", and their possibilities for involvement in evolution, however it seemed to have a bit of a Christianity skew.

(biology / wk1 / class feedback) Cravings discussion

2008-05-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

Looking back on the discussion we had in class in regards to cravings I'm not totally convinced. I mean, just yesterday I had a massive craving for one of Barney's Western Turkey burgers. All that wonderful bacon, deliciously grilled turkey patty with smoked cheddar and grilled onions. Let me tell you, once I ate it I felt MUCH better. I believe my craving was indeed for meat which I seriously needed in order to balance out my blood sugar levels which were low from working all day cleaning my old apartment in SF. I craved meat because I needed protein because I was VERY hungry. So I believe some cravings are due to what our bodies need. Others can indeed be emotional attachments and comforts but not all.

Sherry's Short Introductory Bio

2008-05-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I'm Sherry. This is my second trimester at AIMC. I transfered from a very brief false start at ACTCM who promptly denied me once they found out I wanted to do a Five Element tutorial program. It made for a rough start for this new life changing venture but I'm VERY happy to finally be doing this. I'm presently set-up to learn Five Element acupuncture from Shirley Nicholas who practices in San Mateo at her Gate of Life acupuncture clinic.

I've had a long time passion for having a "career" in natural health. I've worked as a graphic designer for over 10 years so being online is familiar territory for me. My portfolio and resume are here: http://www.slm2dp.com. I'm presently on disability for anxiety caused health issues which started over a year ago and of which I'm doing much better with now but which have sent me on a very interesting path of healing.

Along side being a designer I was also a DJ/Producer for a good solid 5+ years which allowed me to travel the U.S. and internationally on someone elses dollar. This was also a great experience in running my own business not to mention great fun playing with music. My performance name then was Madame Mercury. I retired July of 2006.

I'm an SF Bay Area local. Grew up in different neighborhoods of San Francisco including the Outer Sunset and Duboce Park areas. Later we moved to a house in the Oakland Hills which was when Berkeley and Oakland areas became a home to me, that I now gladly return to as I move back to the east bay with my boyfriend. I attended UCSC for 2 years and graduated from SFSU with a BA in Industrial Arts/Computer Graphics.

Happy to be on my way to becoming an acupuncturist and embracing my inner healer.