For the Christmas Tree, Garry used IFL Labs software for the fractal and Jasc animation software for the animation.

Research Studies

Want to volunteer for a medical research study?

UT Soutwestern sent a press release about ResearchMatch where volunteers can be matched — online — to a scientific research project, or clinical trial, for which they might qualify. The National Institute of Health gave UT Southwestern a grant to help quickly move laboratory discoveries into actual therapies.

This new allows the medical community "to cast a wider net into a deeper pool of potential subjects.” Both healthy people and those with illnesses and conditions can take advantage of this opportunity!

Flag Day

Flag Day at our house.



While thinking about the view of my house, I also have to think about how much I enjoy the view from my window.

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Finally! Let's Look at Autism

It has been over a month(!!) since I posted! Wow. Well I couldn't let April pass without doing my part to to talk about autism. Autism touches the lives of so many people. That includes some people close to me, and one of those people is me.

April is National Autism Awareness Month. There are more than half a million children with some form of autism in this country alone. Autism is the second leading childhood development disorders, but most people do not even know what autism is. With so many autistic children in America, it would be a good idea to try Understanding Autism. For valuable information, check the National Autism Association.

Autism does not affect children exclusively. There is more than one kind of this dreaded disorder:

• Classic Autism
• Asperger's Syndrome
• Childhood Disintegrative Disorder
• Rett Syndrome
• Pervasive Developmental Disorder, not otherwise specified

Visit this site to learn more about these different types.

Pay special attention to Asperger's Syndrome. Although people who have Asperger's may have awkward social skills, they are often extremely intelligent and successful. Remember Mozart, Einstein, and Madame Curie had Asperger's. Let's look further at the author of our Declaration of Independence and our third president Thomas Jefferson -- yes, he had Asperger's, too.

technorati tags: autism, nationalautismawarenessmonth, asperger'ssyndrome, thomasjefferson, declarationofindependence, vicki'sblog

Butterflies

Today is Learn about Butterflies Day.*

One way to attract butterflies is to grow flowers in your yard. Garry took these pictures in our backyard. The light yellow one is a tiger swallowtail. The top right is a gorgone checkerspot, and the left is a checkerspot.

To learn more, see Learn about Butterflies and Moths.

Enjoy the day.

* I do not know the origin, but if someone can tell me, I will be glad to thank you for creating such a fun day and I will give you credit.

technorati tags: vicki'sblog, butterflies, learnaboutbutterfliesday

Bill Cullen, Game Show Master

I like game shows, and while watching quite a few different ones, I have found some game show hosts that I like more than others. One of my favorites is Bill Cullen (Feb, 18, 1920 - Nov. 7, 1990). Today is the anniversary of his birth.

Bill Cullen was usually positioned behind the podium as the show opened instead of running out in the beginning. He had a disability, a limp as the result of polio as a child, but he was not disabled. That was evident by his long career beginning with radio game shows in the 40's and ending in the 1980's. He hosted 23 game shows -- including the first Price Is Right -- served on panels and as a guest celebrity contestant.

Bill would sometimes laugh at a question if it was amusing or outrageous, but he demonstrated the utmost respect for contestants, the audience, both in-studio and at home TV viewers. He had fun, and he was fun to watch. He always had a smile, sometimes a laugh, and he was a master at making contestants comfortable. Games and game shows are supposed to be fun. Bill Cullen made sure they were.

The Game Show Congress, a nonprofit association that seeks to promote the game show industry, inaugurated the Bill Cullen Career Achievement Award with a posthumous honor to Bill in 2004.

Happy Birthday, Bill Cullen. Many of your programs showing on the Game Show Network continue to entertain us. Thank you.

Interesting Links:

wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Cullen

Bill Cullen Homepage

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Hearts Everywhere

The heart is the first feature of working minds.

~ Frank Lloyd Wright

We need to keep our hearts strong, so our bodies and minds can remain strong. February is American Heart Month. That's timely because we have just spent a couple of weeks preparing and culminating Saturday with the biggest commercial heart day of the year, Valentines Day. After the playful celebration with our thoughts occupied on candy hearts and romance, our minds turn to several serious observations surrounding the actual hearts in our chests.

One in four American women dies of heart disease. This is more than all cancers combined. February is National Women's Healthy Heart Campaign. Of course, National Wear Red Day, also known as Go Red For Women Day, is observed on the first Friday of February. The day recognizes that heart disease is a major killer of women, women are still more likely to experience delays in emergency medical response -- hinting that the threat for women is still not taken as seriously
as for men.

(read more)

technorati tags: DowntheMSPath, disability, health, healthcare, heartdisease, womenheartdisease,

January Health Observances

The month of January has important health observances and I want to talk abut two of them.

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month, sponsored by Prevent Blindness America.

Glaucoma? Many of us know people who have had glaucoma without having a disability. It cannot be cured, but it is often manageable. There are several treatments including eye drops, oral medication, and surgery. My uncle had surgery and has enjoyed good sight for years now. So if there are treatments, why is an awareness month needed?

(read more about glaucoma awareness
and preventing birth defects)

technorati tags: DownthMSPath, disability, health, healthcare, parenting, children, parents, Vicki'sblog, blindness, attitude, joyoflife, glaucoma, birthdefects, eyecare, vision,

Twittering Away

Twitter is a social network that makes use of micro-blogging and linking to highlight posts and articles you want to share. You can "follow" people with similar interests so you see what they want to share, and you might learn something kind of fun, rather interesting, or downright useful! Although I subscribed some time ago, I only recently began to learn to really use it. I still have a long way to go before becoming good at it, but I found a few posts that are helping me learn.

First is Garry's post listing 20+ Twitter Tools. Using one of the tools, Twubble, I found people I would not have found without it. This will allow me to create a more meaningful Twitter network.

Now that I see tools to make better use of Twitter, I still need to learn why I might like to subscribe. TwiTip is a blog that includes tips about Twitter. One post tells us specifically 5 ways I benefit from Twitter. It is worth browsing to learn more.

Another suggestion for making your network more useful to you is 7 Traits of Bad Twitter Follows. Meryl, found through a Twubble list, gives hints about selecting people to follow and what to write so you are followed by people who may be of interest to you.

Meryl's suggestions and Garry's list of tools will help you create a great Twitter network. I have found links for people interested in writing and marketing as well as fellow MSers!

technorati tags: vicki'sblog, twitter, socialnetwork,

Swindle, Swindle

Bernard Madoff has perpetrated the biggest Wall Street swindle in history (at least $50 billion). It is difficult to watch the news recently without hearing about him and his house arrest. Reporters refer to Madoff's particular type of swindle as a Ponzi scheme.

If Ponzi inspired Madoff, he must have made a bunch of money. Where is Ponzi now?

On this day in 1949, Charles Ponzi died destitute in the charity ward of a hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at age 66.

technorati tags: vicki'sblog, swindle, bernardmardoff, charlesponzi

Evolution of a Superhero

Batman's TV debut was on this date in 1966 starring Adam West. The series was cute, campy, a little funny, and really quite innocent. The series was short-lived, but popular, and probably not forgotten. There was also a Batman movie in 1966 using the same stars and the same quirky techniques that made he TV version work so well.

The Batman movies beginning in the 1980s started in the same style as Superman. My kids were excited to see the first one, and then more in the Batman film series as they were produced. He was definitely a superhero, though not as campy as the early TV version. At one time he was even .. well .. you know .. sexy (played by George Clooney!).

Over the last year he has been represented in darker, more serious film, The Dark Knight.

Batman has evolved and grown up over the last 40 years. The TV series that brought the comic hero life began 42 years ago on January 12.

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I Vow -- Do You?

Today I saw Deepak Chopra, founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (I tape them so I am usually a few days late to see the episodes). The Chopra Center for Wellbeing offers programs for physical healing, emotional freedom, and higher states of consciousness, and Chopra has an active schedule speaking around the world. He announced a new goal.

Deepak Chopra is trying to get 100 million people to take a "vow of non-violence in their words and in their deeds."

He said if one person vowed, the world would be "peaceful by one more person." His goal is 100 million people. That many people would change the world. He got me.

That's one.

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