The United Art of Individualization

Bombs bursting in air

Rift begets evolution

America is a complex system

What is to be American?

To have denounced a former self

To have become somebody anew



-MANGO

HANDS!

Paws, claws, and talons are merely the metaphorical Dee Dee of "Dexterity's" Laboratory. Only the mammalian order of primates have developed true grasping hands. Hands are our predominant tools for physical manipulation of the environment. Though many animals also have opposable thumbs, our thumbs enabled complex tool use and important fine motor skills, such as writing. The emergence of a writing system coincided with man's transition from hunting and gathering to an agrarian lifestyle (and we quickly recorded how to brew beer!). Writing facilitated commerce through token economies such as money, gave ideas permanence, standardized language and transferred information to further groups of people, and organized higher order symbolic thought. Hands are used to read Braille and to communicate through complete sign languages. A simple thumbs up, middle finger, or a wave good-bye are only a few of the hand gestures of which we all infer meaning. Across the globe, hands speak tremendous volumes through physiological changes and unconscious nonverbal communication (Great article), but you should be responsible for which rude hand signals you use while traveling!

About a quarter of the motor cortex is devoted to controlling the hands. Left or right handedness is controlled by the opposite side of the brain, and is indicative of individual brain functioning. Michelangelo painted with both hands. The lengths of the bones in our fingers approximate a Fibonacci sequence. Fingernails grow about as much as the continents move every year. Fingerprints are permanent and unique to each person, making them dependable for personal identification. Palmistry is the (less dependable) practice of reading someone's life - past, present and future - from their hands. Chirophobia is the fear of hands. Polydactyly is the presence of extra fingers or toes. There are 174 words beginning with, 324 words containing, and 22 words ending with "hand." Also check out these "50 handy expressions about hands."

A newborn's grip is surprisingly strong, and most can actually support their entire weight. Handshakes initiate the beginning of most relationships. Sergei Rachmaninov's long and slender fingers were said to span an octave and a half on a keyboard, necessitating Igudesman & Joo to invent a most entertaining way to perform his piano music. Parts models can earn their living with their hands; some hands are worth $1,200 a day. Reflexologists apply pressure to relax fight-or-flight all across the body, using each hand's 73 reflex points. Lovers may want to give a more intimate hand massage. Holding hands continues to be a very comforting form of physical contact for those near the end of life, or even 1,500 years after life!

Thank you for reading my handiwork, no applause is necessary!

"A Day In The Life," by the Beatles

Any sound repeated regularly between 1 and 15 pulsations per seconds is perceived as rhythm. When those impulses repeat more frequently than 15 times per second, they are actually perceived as a pitch!  Frequency is measured in Hertz, determined by the number of distinct sounds, or cycles each sound wave completes, within a single second. Musicians use the term pitch to describe how low or high a frequency sounds (Madsen & Madsen, 1997).

"[A Day In The Life] being the last song on the album, The Beatles found an interesting way to close it out. After the final note, Lennon had producer George Martin dub in a high pitched tone, which most humans can't hear, but drives dogs crazy. This was followed by a loop of incomprehensible studio noise, along with Paul McCartney saying "Never could see any other way," spliced together. It was put there so vinyl copies would play this continuously in the run-out groove, sounding like something went horribly wrong with the record. Kids, ask your parents about vinyl." -Annoymous comment on http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=129

The 15 kHz "dog whistle" is limited by sound recording and reproduction limitations. Humans can hear up to 20kHz, but lose that range with age and ear damage. Sounds above 10kHz normally must be cranked out at a high volume, or decibel level, for most humans to perceive the sound. Not only are dogs able to hear these frequencies at lesser volumes, they can actually hear up to 45kHz, well above our human threshold of hearing. (http://www.eeggs.com/items/38179.html)


Madsen, Charles H. & Madsen, Clifford K. (1997). experimental research in music. Raleigh, NC: Contemporary Publishing Company of Raleigh, Inc.

Money. Man. Machine.

Motorcycles are tempting. Muse on the money, the man, and the machine:

The Money - Costs will include a motorcycle course ($240), additional insurance ($20-$400+ per month), a helmet ($50-$100), and the purchase price of whichever bike chosen (average $14,491), not to mention taxes, appropriate clothing, accessories, tools, maintenance costs, etc. However a Master's student/young professional should very well spend less than $10,000 for the first year, gas included. My car's cost of gas will be about twice as much as an average bike's. Personally, I get around 20 mpg and still hope to drive 330 miles each week for work alone. Today's low $30 difference would take 333 weeks (6 16/39 years) to match the maximum (and preposterously high price of) $10,000. Higher gasoline prices will actually save more money per mile if riding a motorcycle rather than any car.

The Man - Safety is my biggest fear. And my girlfriend's gravest concern. And my mom's worst nightmare. Statistics across the web are sobering. Common sense (and heeding safety tips) such as sobriety, helmets and proper attire, daytime riding, valid license, and using safer roads/divided highways, are correlated with fewer accidents and fatalities. In my car I feel confident, aware of unpredictable drivers and my environment, and will be driving off highways on these gorgeous canopy roads.

The Machine - I don't know the first thing about clamps, gaskets, and carburetors, oh my! I've even tried twice just to finish Pirsig's novel. I "read" the technical sections the same way I skim over biblical genealogy. There are videos, articles, and books to study routine maintenance. Hopefully I won't need to do any major repair myself or drop it off somewhere for a long time. Pirsig didn't know much about how bikes worked before he did his research, so there's hope that my own dreams of philosophical musings while riding intimately amidst country roads can also be accompanied by such knowledgable care and obsessive upkeep.

Maybe there is no rush to decide. I suppose I can't see a bike outside my door anytime soon, though I do know I would proceed with a careful budget, immense caution, and enough attention to detail. Final conclusion for the time being: Jose Miguel, Stephen, and yeah, Dad, you too for this matter - Don't challenge my self-control. Surely I'd be quick to explore the local shops!

Southwestern State Hospital

I'm very excited to begin training at the 196 bed Southwestern State Hospital, located on a big - 211 acres big - and beautiful campus. The canopy roads to get there are gorgeous, and if you go just pass the hospital you'll see Harper's Seafood (which sells crawfish) and soon find yourself in the adorable little town of Thomasville, GA. I've fallen in love with their local coffee shop. Everyone is just as nice as can be, and I'm excited to join the other FSU alums. (And when there's some time also play piano, read selections from a wonderful library, and even shoot some pool now or then.)

The Mango Muse

Early in gestation, there was "Little Mango." An ultrasound later found "Little Mango" to be "Mango Man." Upon birth, a mango tree was gifted for the arrival of James (in case he became a doctor) "Jaime" (J'aime is to love... en français) Eaton (family name, common middle name with Dad) Riley (adapted Irish surname while historic family line lived in England). The magnificent genius of the genus Mangifera seemed to lay dormant for several years. In reality, and fiction and metafiction and surrealism and ismisms-galore... the creative juices kept swirling under various appellations. One day, Dad brought home a young mango tree, born and raised through childhood in Key West, FL. The mango tree was driven to the univeristy town of Tallahassee, FL and weathered a winter there, where the leaves fell off. The tree seemed to lay dead for several weeks. In late spring, and through this day forward, a renaissance of bright red leaves have bloomed and matured. The allonym associated with this blog, "Mango," resurfaced when a poetry teacher collected the first day's attendance, and it then sustained recognition throughtout the whole semester. Without further egocentric fuss, here begins an online collection which includes my interests and views, my poems and tunes, my foods and whatever I choose to peruse. This is The Mango Muse.