Glenn McDavid

( Saturday night )

( Sunday )

Incense is psychoactive: Scientists identify the biology behind the ceremony

New study in The FASEB Journal shows how and why molecules released from burning incense in religious ceremonies alleviate anxiety and depression

Sadly, in general the Episcopal churches in Minnesota do not use incense nearly as much as those in Chicagoland.

By way of Dvorak Uncensored and this post in episcopal.

( Read more... )

Walked the skyway over lunch hour both yesterday and today. The usual--from Government Center to the Hyatt Regency and back. I am looking forward to warmer weather so I can go outside. There is essentially one way to walk much more than a mile on the skyway and I need a change of scenery.

I started out from Government Center in the Skyway, but after a short time realized that the weather outside was not bad at all (50^oF/10^oC and fair), so I went outside and walked southwest along 3^rd Ave, around the far side of the Convention Center, then northeast on LaSalle for most of the return trip.

I stopped at the downtown Barnes & Noble before going back to the office. This had the useful result that I was able to look at a few books that had interested me when I read their listings at Amazon.com. A few minutes of browsing convinced me that they were not worth buying after all.

Lunch itself was a bag of raw vegetables at my desk. Fear not that I becoming overly virtuous: I had blue cheese dressing with them. Also, last night Mia made Chicago-style pizza for our dinner.

After too-long a hiatus, I am finally doing something resembling exercise again. Both Monday and today I went out for walks on the downtown Minneapolis skyway system, going from Government Center to the Hyatt Regency on Nicollet Mall and back again. I think it is about two miles on the map, but the twists and turns of the Skyway must lengthen it considerably. I need to get a better measure of the distance I actually cover.

Because of the snowstorm I stayed inside for the entire trip on Monday, but today I ducked outside for a few blocks on the return trip. This was not too bad, even though I did not bring a coat. The cold (41^oF/5^oC) weather kept me moving fast.

From our host in Albert Lea this past weekend:

It's winter in Minnesota
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minnesota
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Minnesota
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!

Late last week at work was difficult, and when I got home Friday night I was in something of a funk about all I had to do. However, I settled down to what had to be done, did it (insert Powdermilk Biscuits commercial) and had a good time.
( Read more... )

This morning I got a call from someone in the Atlanta area, clearly not a native English speaker (quite common in my line of work). He pronounced "Minneapolis" like "menopause".

The Larry Craig toilet stall

On a previous visit to northern Minnesota I had noticed a building with a sign as Gaeilge ("in Irish") in Cloquet. I saw it again as I drove home from Deer River Sunday evening. It is the Cailín Deas ("pretty girl") hair salon. I told my fellow Irish students about this in class last night, as Gaeilge, and everybody was pleased.