Wave Men

So Deb wanted to know where the hell everyone was. I suspect we have become Ronin or "wave men". Samurai who have lost their fractal master so now wander the internet aimlessly.

I've read some great books, vacationed, and found some sites to lurk on. But I haven't really found any place to regularly interact. I've considered some posts to create; its satisfying to write even if it goes unread.

I do hope you all are well; especially Dr. John with his gastric scourge.

Redefining Tolerable

I took a long weekend to a very isolated part of Washington state. The room at the inn didn't have a TV, phone, or even alarm clock. There wasn't any cell phone coverage.

What it did have was a group af about 35 guests and a very prepared staff. We ate dinner on a porch with long tables filled with great food and flowers. Small conversational groups formed and disbursed frequently as people wandered about taking walks or playing cards.

This simplicity would have made me insane when I was younger. It would have been prison. But now that I'm 40 it seemed like such a relief. No chasing pride or running from shame with ego-pursuits such as fashion. Just friendliness while standing next to rivers.

And with internet access and Fedex I could still indulge in the benefits of civilization if I lived there long term. It certainly gets the mind wandering with possibilities.

The Problem With High Fructose Corn Syrup, Part 2

Cancer cells slurp up fructose, US study finds

Aug 2 (Reuters) - Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that challenges the common wisdom that all sugars are the same.

Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways, the team at the University of California Los Angeles found.

They said their finding, published in the journal Cancer Research, may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types.

"These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation," Dr. Anthony Heaney of UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center and colleagues wrote.

...

U.S. consumption of high fructose corn syrup went up 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, researchers reported in 2004 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.