Week of 2007-02-17 17:00 to 2007-02-24 16:59

A few weeks ago, I noticed that I was approaching Node #1414 for this site (nodes being Drupal parlance for page or story IDs), which wouldn’t really be a milestone for anybody except this site. ;) I pondered some possibilities to mark the occasion but hadn’t reached any conclusions.

Then, three weeks ago tomorrow, I got, ah, interrupted. ;)

So here I’ve been, stuck at the house for three weeks straight, apart from a few errands starting this week. I’ve been pushing my impatient self probably quicker than I should be doing things, but there’s only so much daytime television I can take. (Thank God for the FOX Soccer Channel.) Coincidentally, a couple of folks way more famous than I am have had shoulder injuries — Laker Vladimir Radmanovic and Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade.

No outdoors make Robert a grouchy patient.

At the moment, I am feeling better — I’m able to type more with both hands now, which is a relief, though I do have to take breaks. Except first thing in the morning or late in the day, the shoulder feels much better, as do the ribs. In fact, my shoulder seems “normal” when I don’t move it around. When I bend forward, though, it shifts as if my arm is falling off my body. Shudder!

I am now engaged in the usual crap with the medical field. My doctor is awesome, love her like crazy, but most of her office staff is just awful when it comes to paperwork, communication, and other bureaucrap. I was allegedly supposed to see her this week, but then got a referral to an orthopedic doctor and when I called my doctor’s office, I couldn’t get an appointment till next week. Gah! Anyhow, I’m hoping to get in on Monday if at all possible.

Anyhow, despite that and despite the cabin fever, I’m doing more or less okay. About ready to be talking to a physical therapist. I’m going to try a mile or so walk later.

More news after the weekend.

A new genetics study has found that schizophrenia and other mental disorders might be a result of humanity’s evolution, a “price some people pay” for the mental advancements we’ve achieved.

This common version of the gene appears to make the brain’s most sophisticated thinking region more efficient, the researchers found.

It improves the way information is exchanged between the striatum, a brain region that processes reward, and the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive hub that manages thoughts and actions.

When this circuit works efficiently, the normal outcome is more flexible thinking and better memory.

But the circuit has been linked to brain functions that go wrong in patients with schizophrenia.

Via Mind Hacks

Seeing as how music is a sort of soundtrack for my life-movie, this Real Simple story by Gail Blanke on how particular songs can affect your mood, or even your identity, caught my fancy. Seems reasonable to me, considering how ingrained music is in my everyday consciousness.

Beyond the “self-helpy” nature of this activity, there’s something to be said for purposefully creating a soundtrack for day-to-day living that isn’t just another random mix from thousands of MP3s in your library.

Via lifehack.org.

1972 was thoroughly eventful by any measure, not least musically. Elton John’s Honky Château came out that year and included the hit song “Rocket Man”

The song was apparently based on the Ray Bradbury short story “The Rocket Man”, from his Illustrated Man collection.

Whatever the origin, it is one of several Lonely Guy in Space songs from the period (e.g. “Space Oddity”). There’s probably a dissertation waiting to be written on what this niche signifies as a cultural reaction to the Space Age’s failure to solve all of society’s problems. ;) No matter what academic value the song has, though, it’s a horribly effective earworm, particularly when the chorus kicks in:

And i think it’s gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find

I’m not the man they think i am at home
Oh no no no I’m a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Ever wonder what happened next? A selection from McSweeney’s gives the full story in “A Letter to Elton John from the Office of the NASA Administrator”:

Dear Mr. John,

This letter is to inform you of your termination from the NASA astronaut program. Our decision comes after a great deal of deliberation, and while we take no pleasure in terminating you, we felt it was the only choice we had….