Sick Day

I'm home sick today with a particularly bad head cold. It's gone down quite a lot since yesterday, but I'm definitely going to switch out my reeds.

Why, you ask? Why am I going to switch out my reeds for a mere head cold?

Because, the Science Olympiad team is going to Grand Rapids on Friday, and I can't afford to be sick then.

So, I'm sitting on my bed in my pj's with a roll of toilet paper listening to Chameleon Circuit.

We don't have any tissues.

Since I'm not at school today, I'm going to add some educational value to this post:

Effects of drugs on nervous system:

ALCOHOL - Alcohol is a depressant of the nervous system. Side effects: Altered speech, Hazy thinking, Slowed reaction time, Dulled hearing, Impaired vision, Weakened muscles, Foggy memory.

CAFFEINE - Stimulates nervous system. increase alertness, reduce fine motor coordination, cause insomnia, cause headaches, nervousness and dizziness. Large amounts (10g or more) are fatal... but that’s about 80-100 cups of coffee.

NICOTINE - increases blood pressure and heart rate, faster respiration, constriction of arteries, stimulation of central nervous system. Once addicted, attempting to stop results in depression, anxiety, headaches, and fatigue.

MARIJUANA - Low to medium doses: relaxation, reduced coordination, reduced blood pressure, sleepiness, disruption in attention, an altered sense of time and space. Large doses: hallucinations, delusions, impaired memory, disorientation.

Integumentary system: Main functions protection against UV light, bacteria, and dehydration; body temperature regulation; Sensation through nerve endings, receptors that detect pressure, temperature, and pain; removal of waste through sweat; vitamin D production.

EYES: Filled with Vitreous Humour to keep from collapsing. Colour part called iris, black center pupil, behind pupil lens. Cornea above all that, as a bubble, filled with Aqueous Humour. 

VISUAL PATHWAY: Eye sees image upside down. This information leaves chiasm via optic tract. Reorganized optic tract leaves optic chiasm, passes to lateral geniculate nucleus. There, information separated, organized, and relayed to different areas of visual cortex, different zones of visual cortex process the different aspects of vision...is processed and an image is perceived.

EARS: Pinna collects sound and funnels to auditory canal. Auditory canal connects outer ear with ear drum. Ear drum is beginning of middle ear and made of thin sheet of muscle and skin that vibrates to sounds, passed to Ossicles. Ossicles are malleus, incus, and stapese. Sound is amplified 30 times by time it gets to stapese. Stapese vibrates against oval window. Oval window is the boundary between middle and inner ear. Vibrations pass to cochlea. Fluid inside cochlea passes vibrations to tiny hairs on Auditory Nerves. Auditory nerves send messages to brain, then sounds.

TONGUE: Tongue has five kinds of taste receptors: Sweet, salty, bitter, sour, & MSG. Location of each is unclear - are taste buds. Tongue is a muscle.

NOSE/OLFACTORY SYSTEM: Taste comes from smell, or Olfactory system. Connects to taste buds and Hippocampus.

Yay education.
-Narwhal Sandkurt

Hacking

So, people have been trying to get into my Google account - one from Italy, another from Peru.

Why?

What is so special about my Google account that you felt the need to try and hack it?

Was it my blog? Are you trying to access this blog? Are you trying to access a different blog? Are you doing this for the shits and giggles? I'm very confused.

My Twitter was also hacked about a month ago. What is going on?

I'm easily confused and often times frustrated, please don't hack my account.
-Narwhal Sandkurt

Friendship

Ah, friendship. Like the majority of my friends, I only have a few really close ones and then a few acquaintances to talk to sometimes.

If I were to list those who were my friends, undoubtedly my friends, and I have such a strong enough "connection" with to know the friendship will last, it would be short.

Hell, I'll do it.

• Luke
• Nick
• Ryan
• Amanda
• Damion

There we go.

Is that the whole cult? No. Amanda isn't even in the cult. These are the people I have some bit of a "connection" with. By connection, I do mean either "emotional bond" or "playful hatred" of.

This is in response to Luke's post, which there should be a link to his blog in the top bar.
-Narwhal Sandkurt

Labeling and Defining

I haven't posted in quite a while, so I guess I'll start right off the bat by saying this: While I don't want other people to label me, I'm going to label myself in a way I deem fit.

No, don't let others label you. Hell, don't even call in "labeling." It's just you, defining yourself, and it requires educating yourself on all these different things, but mostly looking inside yourself. As cliche as that sounds, it's true.

No one else can define you. Some people don't like defining themselves, and just say they're human. That's fine. Other people, however, want to know who they are, and that's also fine. Don't tell someone they're wrong one way or another - that's not fine.

I am the kind of person to chose theory and chalk over blood and earth. I become uncomfortable when things go undefined, or when bits and pieces go unnoticed because no one can name them. My physical and mental state are subject to this thinking, as well - it all must be named. It all must be identified. Any orientation, any preference - all there, all labeled.

Does that mean you can tell me to stop thinking so much about who I am? No. You can't tell anyone that. That's not okay.

Everyone has different beliefs. As I said before, telling someone they're wrong one way or another is not okay.

I hope my approach to this hasn't offended anyone. Then again, should I care?
-Narwhal Sandkurt