Morbid Curiosity? Vistit the Mütter!
That’s the Mütter Museum at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Pronounced “mooter” – as if you’re oooing and ahhing at all the medical curiousities housed there.
My husband indulged my, uh, scientific side and took me to the museum today. Considering his aversion to bodily fluids, surgery, and other types of gore – he can’t even watch the midwife draw blood from my arm – it really was an act of love on his part. And I wandered about the exhibits, peering at body parts floating in jars and wax casts of dozens of eye ailments.
This is not a place for those who get queasy at the sight of 70-pound preserved ovarian tumors or gangrene feet. But, if you’re curious, some of the other “treasures” include:
- The plaster cast of the torso of world-famous Siamese Twins, Chang & Eng, and their conjoined livers
- Joseph Hyrtl’s collection of skulls
- Preserved body of the “Soap Lady”
- Collection of 2,000 objects extracted from people’s throats
- Cancerous growth removed from President Grover Cleveland
- Tallest skeleton on display in North America
According to the website, “the Mütter Museum was founded to educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies. Today, it serves as a valuable resource for educating and enlightening the public about our medical past and telling important stories about what it means to be human. The Mütter Museum embodies The College of Physicians of Philadelphia ’s mission to advance the cause of health, and uphold the ideals and heritage of medicine.”
For more information, visit www.muttermuseum.org
Happy Square Root Day
From the Associated Press:
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Dust off the slide rules and recharge the calculators. Square Root Day is upon us.
The math-buffs’ holiday, which only occurs nine times each century, falls on Tuesday — 3/3/09 (for the mathematically challenged, three is the square root of nine).
“These days are like calendar comets, you wait and wait and wait for them, then they brighten up your day — and poof — they’re gone,” said Ron Gordon, a Redwood City teacher who started a contest meant to get people excited about the event.
The winner gets, of course, $339 for having the biggest Square Root Day event.
Gordon’s daughter even set up a Facebook page — one of a half-dozen or so dedicated to the holiday — and hundreds of people had signed up with plans to celebrate in some way. Celebrations are as varied: Some cutroot vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol.
The last such day was five years ago, Feb. 2, 2004, which coincided with Groundhog Day. The next is seven years away, on April 4, 2016.
What I’ve Done – So Far
I saw this listed on Facebook, and thought I’d post it on my blog so my readers can get to know me a bit better – if they want to, that is! I’ve bolded my accomplishments:
*1. Started your own blog
*2. Slept under the stars
*3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
*5. Watched a meteor shower
*6. Given more than you can afford to charity
*7. Been to Disneyworld (and Disney World)
*8. Climbed a mountain
*9. Held a praying mantis
*10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
*12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
*14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
*16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
*18. Grown your own vegetables
*19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
*21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
*23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
*24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
*29. Seen a total eclipse
*30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
*31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
*33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
*35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
*37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
*39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
*41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
*43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
*45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
*46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
*48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
*50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
*51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
*52. Kissed in the rain
*53. Played in the mud
*54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
*57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
*60. Served at a soup kitchen
*61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
*62. Gone whale watching
*63. Got flowers for no reason
*64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
*69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
*73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired/laid off from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
*77. Broken a bone
*78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
*80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
*84. Had your picture in the newspaper
*85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
*88. Had chickenpox
*89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
*91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
*93. Lost a loved one
*94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
*98. Owned a cell phone
*99. Been stung by a bee
*100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person
*101. Learned to play an instrument
102. Kissed the Blarney Stone
*103. Ridden a camel
104. Walked on the Columbian Icefields in Canada
And I Say, “Hey…”
“…What a wonderful kind of day
If we can learn to work and play
And get along with each other…”
Our local public library reopened this weekend after a year-long renovation project. While I have mixed feelings about the results (yes, the space is beautiful, but are fireplaces really needed?), I am thrilled to live in a community that is so supportive of literacy, quality community programs, and its local artists.
“It’s my fourth,” he corrected me. ”You. Mrs. Kidder. Mr. Kidder, because he wrote a book with Mrs. Kidder. Then Marc Brown.”
Oh, right. He acted cool and unimpressed, but after Brown told Jacob two new seasons of Arthur shows were being created, and signed two books to him, he skipped out of the rooms saying, “Okay, now I’m excited. I just met Marc Brown.”
I remember the first author I met. Bruce Coville. I was 11, in sixth grade, and it was a trip for writing club. I had Coville sign books for me, too – two of his Nina Tanleven series, because I was very into ghost stories back then (actually, I read horror novels almost exclusively until I was about 15, and fancied myself the next Stephen King).
After Brown, Jacob and I borrowed some books and music from the library, had lunch at a little coffee shop, bought a few small gifts in the locally-owned downtown boutiques, and grabbed a really awesome science book at our independent bookstore. Then we waited in the below freezing temperature for the bus. Jacob loves to use public transportation; we sit in the back and play the alphabet game, each of us taking turns finding a word or object beginning with each letter. We rode to the mall to meet a friend (she needed a book signed) and, while there, listened to a tuba band play Christmas music. We hopped the next bus back to our car, and went home to decorate our Christmas tree with homemade salt dough ornaments and Jacob’s collection of ornaments (each year, I make or buy an ornament for him, and since he was 3, he’s also picked one out on his own). We still need to make our newspaper snowflakes and string popcorn and cranberries.
And I say, “Hey! What a wonderful kind of day…”
Hello, My Name is Christa, and I’m a Geek
Yes, I admit it. I am fascinated by all things science, by numbers and words (sometimes together), and by random tidbits of worthless information. I went to a college where my friends’ favorite activities included Star Wars marathons, medieval reenactments, translating messages into tlhIngan Hol, and watching the Wizard of Speed and Time. (I only participated in two of those four things. Okay, three. But I only went to one reenactment. Honestly!) And, in Watch Over Me, I pay tribute to all those high school “brains” who feel like being smart isn’t cool. It is in my world.
That said, one of my favorite blogs to satisfy my geekness is Mental Floss. There’s also a store with some of the funniest t-shirts, like:
Remember high school biology class and the famous monk-turned-geneticist? I remember copying YY GG allele charts from the blackboard, and the definitions of homozygous, heterozygous, phenotype, and genotype are forever ingrained in me.
Okay, I’m sorry, but I chuckled out loud when I saw this one. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are one of my favorite chocolate-craving extinguishers (they have to be frozen, though!), and while you may find munching on monkeys in bad taste, it is a delecacy in some places.
Fibonacci numbers are a sequence of integers mathematically defined as F(0) = 0; F(1) = 1; F(n) = F(n – 1) + F(n – 2) for n > 1. Each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34… Hence, the t-shirt. However, Fibonacci numbers are fascinating – they are closely related to the Golden Ratio, and they appear in everything from music, to financial market trading strategies, to the arrangement of pine cones. How can you not think, “Cool!” (If you can’t read the shirt, it says, It’s as easy as 1, 1, 2, 3.)
Here are a few more of my favorites:
The ENTROPY shirts reads, “It ain’t what it used to be.” And the yellow shirt with the pirate? ”When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade.” And, no, I’m not a Marxist. I just think the shirt is amusing.
Okay, I think I’ve gotten my fix for the week.
