C Twiggs Run

A short message intended for my current online students - Welcome to Week 5! No, I don't have your papers yet, so I can't give you your grades :-)

Years ago when I was teaching Utopia to a class of freshmen at Furman University, I had a clever student use the Mona Lisa as the starting point for her essay. To this day, I use that paper as an example of creating an engaging hook to draw a reader into an essay he or she would otherwise skip. What's so interesting about the Mona Lisa? Click through for one part of the story.

Did Leonardo paint himself as "Mona Lisa"? Read More Here

@mistymorningk submitted this link.

So I was sitting on the runway about to take off for a trip to Atlanta last weekend when this story was brought to my attention. Is this good news, or is Skynet now one step closer?

Air today, what tomorrow? Read More Here

@ziatia submitted this link.

Anyone who has followed me on Twitter for very long has gotten a glimpse now and then of my life as the father of a middle school boy. Unlike some professors, I don't separate my online life into different identities. For better or for worse, my students, family, running buddies, and anyone else who happens to keep track of me for one reason or another gets all of me - at least until they decide they would rather have none of me, which is okay. Today my little guy walks into school for the first time having a girlfriend. (She asked him at a Superbowl party last night.) He also has a good chance to make the track team at try-outs this afternoon. Since he hasn't had the easiest time in school socially (bullies, etc.) this is a real step forward for all of us.

How tragic, then, to read a story such as the one linked here. May none of us ever have to experience what this poor family and school are going through.

Teen Dies in Ala. Middle School Shooting Read More Here

@Allyd90 submitted this link.

I just may have to start using ketchup again!

(No, this isn't the most serious new story of the day, but not everything needs to be serious, I hope.)

New ketchup packet allows for dunking or squeezing Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

We have a rule in our house that if a cat is sitting on your lap, you are excused from any household duty. The exception is when the cat clawing at you to get down but you're holding on for dear life because you want to avoid a chore.

If THIS cat, sits on your lap, though, you may never get up again.

Doctor casts new light on cat that can predict death Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

Out of the blue, my mother asked me to pick my favorite color. The other day. This isn't something I had given a great deal of thought to as a grown-up, but I quickly said, "green." Green was the color of my room when I was a kid, and those many years ago I certainly thought about favorite colors and other such stuff - whatever other such stuff there was I have clearly forgotten.

"Green?" she asked, clearly surprised for some reason I still can't fathom. After all, it was she who had to paint my room that color, right?

Likewise taken aback, now by her reaction to what I thought was a simple, probably meaningless question, I was forced to think. "Pink," I finally said, giving it some thought. After all, I've dedicated a good portion of my life and energy to training people for 26.2 with Donna, the National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer, so my lapse to the green of my childhood now made me feel guilty.

What does this say about me? Does a conscious decision to adopt a favorite color carry the same weight as a childhood attachment? Moreover, why did my mother want to know?

Well, perhaps she had read this article:

Favorite colors test shows CEOs are different; take the test Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

I never used to read labels.

"You can eat anything you want. You'll just run it off!" I hear this all the time, and for a good portion of my adult life I believed it. Then, right before Thanksgiving, it occurred to me to get on a scale. Was I fat? Not by anyone else's standards, but I wasn't running as fast as I wanted to. This is one of those things that happens with age: we slow down. I know that, but just like every other runner around, I'm not quick to accept it, so I looked for a different answer than "you're getting older."

What that scale told me was that I was at least 10lbs over my ideal body weight, which could translate into several minutes in a marathon, the distance I really wanted to focus on over those next six or eight weeks.

Fortunately for me, my wife also chose that time period to get a bit more fit, so together we started counting calories and carbs, and together we have made good progress. In fact, I've gotten to what I think is that ambiguous "ideal" weight. More importantly, I've learned to pay better attention to what goes in my body.

Two resources, I highly recommend are the Lose It! App for the iPhone and iPod Touch and the Eat This, Not That! series of books, which also have an App.

One Bowl = 2 Servings. F.D.A. May Fix That Read More Here

@MandySecrest submitted this link.

The Obama administration has announced a major agreement to arm Taiwan with 60 Black Hawk helicopters, 114 Patriot missiles, and much more. Why is this news? Well, there's the little matter of China (and Washington!) not recognizing Taiwan as an independent state.

U.S. anounces $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan Read More Here

@ziatia submitted this link.

My favorite film is L.A. Story. Unlike my favorite color, there's no hesitation when I say that. One of the shots in that film that flies by the first time you see it has Harris K. Telemacher writing on his window: Bored Beyond Belief. Fortunately for our hero, a woman comes into his life to shake things up and make his life exciting again. If she had not, perhaps poor Harris would have died of boredom. It can happen, it seems.

Being bored to death is no joke: Chronic boredom is a killer, study finds Read More Here

In a highly unusual move, The Lancet has issued a retraction of the 1998 study that caused mothers around the world much anxiety over whether to vaccinate their children. Parents of autistic children, including celebrities Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, must now look for something else to blame.

Journal Retracts Controversial Study Linking MMR Vaccine, Autism Read More Here

Carrey and McCarthy's indignant response can be found HERE

Research out today sheds new light on the death of Egypt's most famous boy king.

King Tut Was Disabled, Malarial, and Inbred, DNA ShowsRead More Here

Checking back through the archives of this blog, I find pretty much every winter there's an article worth looking at that makes us all wonder where that global warming thing is supposed to be. Now that some of the research on which the global warming scare is based has been discredited and shown to have been downright made up, the term Climate Change has become more popular.

"Snowmageddon slams mid-Atlantic; utilities race to restore power Read More Here

@ziatia submitted this link

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I'm hooked on The Biggest Loser. Nonetheless, I'll admit the show has its problems. For one, at least twice I've seen participants on the show run marathons, but they never do it the way they should, the safe and smart way. Apparently, though, the problems I notice are just the tip of the iceberg.

The Biggest Loser Has Big Problems Read More Here

@jotrekas submitted this link.

I am all for social networks. I love Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc., but I don't have the money to buy the real things I want - much less virtual land!

The World's Most Expensive Island - Online Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

I remember my family's first remote control. It came with our first VCR and was attached with a cord. Yes, that makes me ancient!

Television Will Soon Watch You Read More Here

@ziatia submitted this link.

Times are definitely tough. I can't pretend to understand what it would be like to go months without work. Unfortunately, many who now find themselves in that situation don't understand either.

The New Poor Read More Here

@mistymorningk submitted this link.

It is impossible, I believe, to say anything about a child's death that doesn't sound ridiculous. I am certain everyone quoted in this article had the best intentions, but "She's had an early graduation" and "He sent for His angel" are comments that, if we really think about them, either praise death as preferable to life or convict God as an evil overlord. Perhaps the best thing to say at a time like this is nothing at all.

Hundreds crown funeral Read More Here

@seniorof2010 submitted this link.

When we talk about extinctions, particularly within our own species, we think of long ago occurrences - the loss of the Aztecs or the Incas, for example. How mush sadder it is to learn that such a loss can happen in our own time.

Ancient Tribe Goes Extinct Read More Here

@TGwynRN submitted this link.

Much of what draws an audience to a trained animal show is our knowledge that this isn't what the animal is supposed to do. It is as impossible to guarantee good behavior from a trained tiger or whale as it is to guarantee obedience from a dog. Many are better at it than others, but they all still have their own abilities to make decisions, and sometimes the results are tragic.

Whale Kills Trainer Read More Here

@Mama_Crazy submitted this link.

Last week, movie maker Kevin Smith was bumped off a Southwest Airlines flight allegedly for being too large. What rights do larger citizens have when it comes to flying? Please! If they can make us take off our shoes to get through security, you know they're not going to let us carry an extra 150lbs onto the plane - even if it is stuck to our thighs.

Excuse me, is this seat taken? Read More Here

@steve_vandergriff submitted this link.