Yawn

Please cover your mouth when you yawn. There. I said it. ... And it needed to be said. That's the measure of a civilized society... "Do they cover their mouth when they yawn?" ... Ok, there are probably some better tools of measurement, but that's the one I'm going by.

Seriously, if you're a parent, teach your children well! I think there was a song about it. I'm not interested in seeing your uvula while you're pushing your shopping cart, driving your car, and certainly not when we are in some social setting together.

I'm a fan of the fist covered yawn, myself.... It just seems a little more masculine. You may prefer the full handed cover, or even the dainty three fingered yawn cover.... But for God's sake cover that trap!

Some folks literally unhinge their jaw and look like they're about to take your head off! - Scary.

So... Don't be part of the problem.

"Friends don't let friends yawn uncovered."

End rant.

-.-

Please don't kill all the Bees.

"The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East Coast......

As pesky as bees can be around the barbecue, I have a feeling that life on this planet is designed to have them around doing their "pollenating thing".

"Jochen Kuhn, a scientist at Landau University, Germany, recently found that bees do not return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby. Kuhn said this observation could provide a "hint" to a possible cause of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)."

Interesting... Bees are severely affected by electromagnetic fields... http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2007/04/are_cell_phones_killing_bees.php

Don't trash your Blackberry just yet,though...

What about the genetic changes we're making to our crops? Did we think we could play with this fire?... What a dangerous experiment, considering the subtle and important interrelationship of this "super Fly" of the Apoidea family, to our food supply.

We're a wonderfully advanced society....We can make a robot vaccuum cleaner, and that's nice... I have one.. But, We have no sufficient replacement for bees...

READ: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,473166,00.html "University of Jena from 2001 to 2004. The researchers examined the effects of pollen from a genetically modified maize variant called "Bt corn" on bees. A gene from a soil bacterium had been inserted into the corn that enabled the plant to produce an agent that is toxic to insect pests. The study concluded that there was no evidence of a "toxic effect of Bt corn on healthy honeybee populations." But when, by sheer chance, the bees used in the experiments were infested with a parasite, something eerie happened. According to the Jena study, a "significantly stronger decline in the number of bees" occurred among the insects that had been fed a highly concentrated Bt poison feed."

READ: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,477804,00.html

...Think about it.

Make the Call, Thus Saith the BLOG

Call somebody you just thought of ..... Let them know that you did (think of them, that is) ... It sends the message that "they matter" to you......Because they do. - Family member? ...Old friend? ... Don't know what to say? ... You'll figure it out. Afraid you'll get stuck on the phone and you don't have time? Is what you're wrapped up in really that important that you don't have time to make the call, or respond to that email.... or, God forbid, stop by, or schedule a lunch?

I'm preaching to myself here. things are things, stuff is stuff, but people are people... activities can be distractions. Relationships continue when WE continue them.

I have a lifelong friend that I speak to every year or so, now ... One of our jokes is that we always give each other a guilt trip about the other one never calling. Like a couple of old Jewish mothers. (He's Jewish,I'm not but he always asks me if I'm Jewish when I start riding him about it.) But we always seem to able to really relate to each other's current life experiences... and get a lot out of the talk. Anyway, it just started me thinking about how easily I can "opt out" of the human connection.

I've caught myself responding to phone messages by email. OK, sometimes it's necessary, but it shouldn't become the norm. So much is lost in the text. (as I type away to whoever you are, and lose 90% of the effectiveness of communication) Maybe I should speak.... Or video.. So you can see my eyebrows raise and hear my voice inflect! ... Don't dare me.

.... and make the call! It's not like you don't have a cell phone.

The lost art of "Flawless Execution"

I know any BLOG should be more than just links to other BLOGS ... But it's late, I'm tired, and I wanted to share this with you because I'm liking what Joseph Michelli has to say... (author The Starbucks Experience)