Scribal Terror

The door is open . . .

Come on in and talk.  Or drop off one of your random bursts of verbal energy -- poem, limerick, story, top ten list, clerihew, essay, alliterative poem, rant, Surrealist or Dadaist poem, parody, cento, dirty joke, amusing  syllepsis, haiku, dirty haiku . . . to share. 

St. Dympna and her coinage trail

According to the Little Book of Catholic Saints (quoted at Ireland's Eye), St. Dympna (or Dymphna)was a virgin-martyr with a difference -- she escaped from her persecutor (an incestuous father) only to be tracked down in a very modern way -- by her financial transactions:

This seventh century saint was supposedly the daughter of a pagan Celtic chieftain, probably Irish, and a Christian mother. After his wife's death the grieving chieftain conceived a passion for his daughter because she resembled her mother, and he sought to marry her.

Horrified, Dympna fled with her chaplain, Saint Gerebernus. They settled at Gheel, near the Belgian city of Antwerp, where Dympna devoted herself to helping the poor and the sick. They were discovered by her father, who had traced them through coins spent on their journey. When Dympna continued to reject the unnatural marriage, her father slew Gerebernus and severed her head.

Dympna is the patron saint of  the mentally ill, incest victims, epileptics, and runaways.

Eat Dutch babies

The Pragmatic Chef has the entirely non-Swiftian details.

The door is open . . .

Come on in and talk.  Or drop off one of your random bursts of verbal energy -- poem, limerick, story, top ten list, clerihew, essay, alliterative poem, rant, Surrealist or Dadaist poem, parody, cento, dirty joke, amusing  syllepsis, haiku, dirty haiku . . . to share. 

Morality quiz

What are your answers to the baby dilemma and the trolley dilemmas posed in this Time poll? My answers were "couldn't" all down the line although I admit I came very close to pulling the switch on 3a:

An out of control trolley is heading down a track toward five unsuspecting people and will surely kill them all. You could throw a switch diverting it to a siding, but an equally unsuspecting man is standing there and the train will kill him instead. Could you throw the switch, killing one to save five?

Maybe if there were fifteen or fifty instead of five, it would have made a difference as far as voting goes, but in fact I have no idea what I'd really do in such a situation.

Here's a previous ST post on the trolley dilemmas.

The door is open . . .

Come on in and talk.  Or drop off one of your random bursts of verbal energy -- poem, limerick, story, top ten list, clerihew, essay, alliterative poem, rant, Surrealist or Dadaist poem, parody, cento, dirty joke, amusing  syllepsis, haiku, dirty haiku . . . to share. 

The Basement of the Bargains

A new Manolo production, starring Twistie. Just in time for Christmas.

The door is open . . .

Come on in and talk.  Or drop off one of your random bursts of verbal energy -- poem, limerick, story, top ten list, clerihew, essay, alliterative poem, rant, Surrealist or Dadaist poem, parody, cento, dirty joke, amusing  syllepsis, haiku, dirty haiku . . . to share. 

Blue-blocking glasses for ADHD

Science Blog reports:

Scientists at John Carroll University, working in its Lighting Innovations Institute, have developed an affordable accessory that appears to reduce the symptoms of ADHD. Their discovery also has also been shown to improve sleep patterns among people who have difficulty falling asleep. The John Carroll researchers have created glasses designed to block blue light, therefore altering a person’s circadian rhythm, which leads to improvement in ADHD symptoms and sleep disorders. . . .

The individual puts on the glasses a couple of hours ahead of bedtime, advancing the circadian rhythm. The special glasses block the blue rays that cause a delay in the start of the flow of melatonin, the sleep hormone. Normally, melatonin flow doesn’t begin until after the individual goes into darkness.

Studies indicate that promoting the earlier release of melatonin results in a marked decline of ADHD symptoms.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What's cooking at your house? And how do you plan to stuff it?

• The Pragmatic Chef is planning an alliterative Southwestern-style stuffing, with peppers, pine nuts, prickly pears, and polenta.

Don't forget the napkins:

Via Spluch