MeeShell’s Neighborhood

Premature Enlightenment

Natalie
2 days ago
1 comment

Fight Club Typography

Implant-Based Cancer Vaccine Is First to Eliminate Tumors in Mice

dewitte
Nov 25, 2009
1 comment

Mice are so lucky! Doctors are always working hard on cures for them.

clipped from www.sciencedaily.com

ScienceDaily (Nov. 25, 2009) — A cancer vaccine carried into the body on a carefully engineered, fingernail-sized implant is the first to successfully eliminate tumors in mammals, scientists recently reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

The new approach, pioneered by bioengineers and immunologists at Harvard University, uses plastic disks impregnated with tumor-specific antigens and implanted under the skin to reprogram the mammalian immune system to attack tumors. The new paper describes the use of such implants to eradicate melanoma tumors in mice.

The slender implants developed by Mooney's group are 8.5 millimeters in diameter and made of an FDA-approved biodegradable polymer. Ninety percent air, the disks are highly permeable to immune cells and release cytokines, powerful recruiters of immune-system messengers called dendritic cells.

Daily Show - Things not to be Thankful for

dewitte
Nov 24, 2009
3 comments

You can fast-forward to about 4:05 if you are in a hurry.

Paula Deen Hit In Face With Ham

dewitte
Nov 23, 2009
8 comments

clipped from www.cbsatlanta.com

ATLANTA -- One celebrity chef is showing what it means lend a hand this holiday season.
Savannah's own Paula Deen is helping to deliver more than 25,000 lbs. of protein to Hosea Feed the Hungry.
Although the focus was on giving back, things took a quick turn when Deen got a serving of ham in a rather unique way.
While tossing hams and turkeys, a misguided thrown ham hit Deen in the face, but that didn’t sideline her from the topic at hand.

Related To Story
Paula Deen Ham Incident

Video: Raw Video: Paula Deen Hit In Face By Ham

Video: Deen's Reaction To Ham In Face

While Deen managed to escape visible injury, she did say the area around her nose hurt.
"I just got hit with a hog so what do I expect said Deen through laughter. "Ran head on to a hog."

They've gone plaid

dewitte
Nov 21, 2009
12 comments

Spaceballs

Barf: [Spaceball 1 roars by them, in a plaid colouration of speed] Aah!
Barf: What the hell was that?
Lonestar: Spaceball 1.
Barf: They've gone to plaid!

Or rather, "It's" gone plaid. That would be my electric meter. Since we moved in something has been bugging me. It's my hot water heater. I was outside raking leaves once or doing something and I was near the electric meter and it was spinning faster that some kids' toy top. I went through my breakers one by one until it stopped and the culprit turned out to the be hot water heater. Of course - you'd suppose this, but what killed me was I don't use all that much hot water, so for it to suddenly come on in the middle of the day when it really wasn't even that cold out - and not just on, but on with a vengeance. It's a quick recovery heater so it really kicks in to get to and maintain the temperature. Well - that hurt me and my pocketbook (if I carried a pocketbook - Jamie has a purse, but I don't think that's a pocketbook. You'd think a pocketbook would just be a book - maybe a paperback).

I probably forgot about it for a while, but my electric bills really are outrageous. I don't think they are until I'm talking to someone and they say "HOLY COW! THAT'S HIGH!" and then I go away shaking my head and I think "Hmm... Water Heater...!". Finally after a few years, I opened up the access covers and lowered the temperature from "ABSOLUTE MAX - 125 - DANGER!" which is what the previous owners had set it at down to about 115 - maybe 110. I mean, really - I always hated burning my hands anyway every time I turned on the hot water. This would be better. Believe it or not - it was, and it was practically unnoticeable in the shower as not many people need to blast off grime with a full 125 degrees.

My bill went down - noticeably. So here it is a few years later and I was paying the @%#$^ bill which included my August air-conditioner usage and I started thinking about that hot water heater again. I don't know why I thought of it, but I recalled that people used to put timers on them. I mean, why keep it crazy hot 24 hours a day when we only take a shower in the morning? 24 hours of hot water for 20 minutes of showers - ugh!

I looked them up on Amazon, and sure enough there is a nice one for about $35. I didn't order it because I was going to look nearby first. Lowes didn't have it and neither did Home Depot. I think Home Depot did have it on their web site, just not locally. I kept meaning to call my local hardware store, but just didn't get around to it. I kicked myself for that since if I had ordered it the day I found it, it would have already been here. Today we were running errands and I had to go to the hardware store (we have a kick-ass hardware store, btw - they've been around forever and they have just about everything I've ever gone in there to get), so while there I asked about water heater timers. "Oh, yep - they are right over here."

Crazy, really. There it was for only $29, and I didn't even have to pay shipping. I came home and put it right on (because I'm handy like that). What's ironically funny is the homeowners before me hooked up their water heater with just wire nuts and the wires were just hanging out like that all these years - so I solved two problems by adding the switch. Now there are no more wires hanging out - no more wire nuts sticking out - no covers missing. The covers are in place, the timer is in place and everything looks great. I set it to come on at 5:45am and go off at 8:30am - the other 21 hours and 15 minutes, it's on it's own.

Take that, power company.

Powerline

Imperfect for me

Nacwolin
Nov 21, 2009
2 comments

I am thankful that my spouse makes mistakes with our kids.

If he didn't, they might not learn humility; when he fails in what he says or does in the parenting department, he takes the time to go to them, admit he was wrong, and make it right.

I am thankful that my spouse doesn't always treat me like a princess.

I am sure it'd be nice – at least for a while – to be spoiled at every turn and always get my way. But there are times that, quite frankly, I am just being a brat, and I need him to stand up to me and tell me so.

I am thankful that my spouse doesn't always say the right thing.

If he did, I might not see Matthew 5:23-24 modeled.

I am thankful that my spouse doesn't always think I am beautiful – either inside or out.

If he did, he might not tell me about that chunk of food stuck in my teeth. I probably wouldn't care what I ate or if I ever ran another mile. And even more than that, I'd never have anything bigger and better to strive for in character, grace, and mercy.

He's not perfect, to be sure. But thank God, because neither am I!

And the truth is, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Mustard Seed Moments

Nacwolin
Nov 20, 2009
1 comment

We finished up our final One Month to Live small group session tonight. One member quipped that since it's been more than 6 weeks, which obviously equals a bit more than 30 days, we could at least be thankful to still be alive. That was good for some hearty chuckles.

The wrap-up of the series has me pondering my own take-aways. Sure, if I only had 30 days to live some big things would change. But what about the little things? Through this whole process, it's the little things that have begun to mean so much more.

Sitting next to one of the kids, watching a show they like
Taking a few extra minutes to snuggle up to Rob before starting my day
Letting that person with only an item or two go ahead of me in line
Saying thank you, even for the smallest things

There are many, many more.

We often don't realize what one act of kindness, one word of encouragement, one pause in our day to allow a "God-moment" to happen can do. The possibilities are endless! One group member shared tonight how a nun gave his mom a Good News Bible many years ago. She laughed it off and stuck it in a drawer. One day, while still a child, he found that Bible and asked if he could have it.

"It was in reading that Bible that I found God. Years later, I was able to lead my mom to the Lord. That nun probably has no idea."

One small gift changed several lives for eternity.

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.” -Matthew 13:31-32

God, please give me many mustard seed moments as I live out the rest of my days!

Flogging Molly

Natalie
Nov 20, 2009
2 comments

I just bought two tickets to see Flogging Molly at the Tabernacle in Atlanta for Valentine's. There's nothing that says, "I love you, honey!" quite like an awesome celtic band!

Flogging Molly - The Worst Day Since Yesterday

Lab creates fake DNA evidence

dewitte
Nov 20, 2009
5 comments

I heard about this on an episode of Law and Order this week. It's the first I'd heard about it.

clipped from www.scientificamerican.com

Unlike finicky fingerprints and frowned-upon fiber analysis, DNA evidence has been the most bulletproof evidence for forensic sciences in recent years. But staffers at a research firm in Israel have recently upended the presumed infallibility of this forensics golden child—by making it themselves.

Nucleix, a Tel-Aviv-based life sciences company, was able to create credible DNA evidence that could be used to finger the wrong person, proof that even genetic evidence can be manipulated (beyond planting a hair or used cigarette) just like other physical traces.

"You can just engineer a crime scene," Nucleix founder Dan Frumkin told The New York Times. "The current forensic procedure fails to distinguish between such samples of blood, saliva, and touched surfaces with artificial DNA, and corresponding samples with in vivo generated (natural) DNA," Frumkin and co-authors wrote in a recent Forensic Science International: Genetics study that announced the technological achievement.

The 7-Year-Old Sadist

Natalie
Nov 18, 2009
6 comments

When I walked into Madelyn's school yesterday, she was sitting in the office looking rather unhappy. When I asked the teacher what was up, she insisted that Mad tell me what she'd done.

Maddy: Well, mom, Cooper called me a pinhead, so I called him an asshole.

Me: You did what?

Maddy: I called him an asshole.

I quickly gathered up her things, along with Evie's, and shoved her out the door. In the car, we continued our conversation.

Me: Mad, you can't call Cooper an asshole.

Maddy: But he is one, mom. He's one of the meanest kids I know. I couldn't think of another word to describe him.

This goes on for a while, until her dad gets home and I tell him what she did. After some arguing about the proper form of punishment, we both explain to Madelyn why she can't go around calling kids "bad" names and explain what will happen next time she does it.

Today, when we all got home from school, I'm sitting with Madelyn at the kitchen table, helping her with homework. She's in a rotten mood.

Me: What's up kid? What's with the attitude?

Maddy: I had a bad day.

Me: Why?

Maddy: I couldn't be myself.

Me: Why couldn't you?

Maddy: Because you told me I couldn't be mean to anybody.