Me and Pudgy, camping by the River in 2009.

This was the best dog I've ever known and he died suddenly and unexpectedly last week :( I hope there's a dog heaven and he's chasing squirrels while playing hard to get with the humans.

And now, Michael Jackson's dead. That makes three. Unreal and creepy.

I've spent the break moments at work today watching passers-by trip over a little shem at the intersection of our building.

That'll teach 'em for not looking where they're going. :>

The Scent of Sex

Her Nose Decides Whether He's Gonna Score!

By Rachel Herz, Ph.D. on February 3, 2009 - 11:55am in Smell Life
This is the month when we turn our hearts and minds to love. February 14, our calendar's date for romance, became connected with St. Valentine in the high middle ages, and has evolved to be celebrated with love notes, mass consumption of chocolate, and first or special dates. Valentine's Day was originally marked by a mutual exchange of love notes between men and women, but the US Greeting Card Association estimates that today 85% of Valentine's are bought by women. The fact that women do the majority of the "sending" to their would-be or current lovers reflects the biological orientation of our species-- women are the choosers of their suitors.

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A number of surveys examining how we rate the appeal of the opposite sex, have found that men place the highest importance on how physically attractive a woman is, while women find men of high status, power, resources and money most attractive. The contrast of "looks" with "status" between men and women makes evolutionary sense. Physical attractiveness in women is indicative of potential fertility and social status in men is indicative of being able to help a woman rear her children.

Though a warm house, hired help, and plenty of nutritious food will certainly support a woman's ability to raise a child, the most important factor in the evolutionary game is that the child herself be healthy enough to thrive and be reproductively successful. So for women, finding a man who can provide material benefits is good, but most importantly he should be able to sire physically healthy children. But what determines whether a particular man can produce healthy children? The answer lies in his immune system.

Our immune system determines what diseases we can defend against and how well, and what diseases we may carry as recessive traits. But even more important than the general robustness of a man's immune system is the complementarity of his immune system with the immune system of the particular woman he is having sex with. That is, how the number of possible pathogens the two of you can fight against and how unlikely you are to double up on nasty recessive disease traits measure up. So the goal for a woman is to find a healthy man who has a different immune system from her own. But how can a woman tell what a man's immune system is like?

Our immune systems are coded for by a cluster of genes called the major histocompatibilty complex (MHC), and everyone, except if you have an identical twin, has a unique set of MHC genes. Your unique string of MHC genes are the genotype for your immune system, and your phenotype, the external manifestation of the genes for your immune system, is your body-odor! And your odorprint is as unique as your fingerprint.

In the now famous "T-shirt" experiments it was shown that specific women chose as most sexy and pleasant smelling T-shirts belonging to men who had immune systems that were different from their own. Because we all possess different MHC genes (and body-odor), for every woman a different set of men will be delicious smelling and others won't be. There's no Brad Pitt of body odor! A woman's nose not only responds to a man's body-odor in terms of his biological suitability, women actually find how a man smells to be the most important factor in their sexual attraction.

In two large studies we conducted to examine how important various physical and social status factors were for men and women when choosing a sexual partner, we discovered that above all other physical characteristics, women ranked a man's scent as the most important feature for determining whether she would be sexually interested in him.* How a man smelled was also more much important than any social status factor. And of all physical characteristics women preferred a man to be "better than average" in his body-odor than anything else. Women also found men who smelled great due to the fragrance they wore irresistible. In the words of one respondent: "If I'm with a guy who smells really good, nothing else about him seems to matter." So listen up men, it's real chemistry between you and your love interest and her nose is going to decide whether she'll let you be her Valentine tonight.



*Men found how a woman looked to be the most important factor. For more information see references below.
Herz, R.S. & Cahill, E. D. (1997). Differential use of sensory information in sexual behavior as a function of gender. Human Nature, 8, 275-286.
Herz, R.S., & Inzlicht, M. (2002). Gender differences in response to physical and social signals involved in human mate selection: The importance of smell for women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23, 359-364.


Rachel Herz is the author of The Scent of Desire and on the faculty at Brown University.

I need to preface this by saying that I absolutely love both Cate Blanchett and Angelina Jolie. They're both beautiful, talented and pick just the right movies and characters.

But I've noticed through the years that if Angelina is married, Cate is ALWAYS the co-star of Angelina Jolie's husbands (Billy Bob and now Brad Pitt).

Anybody else ever think of that? I think the two chicks are great girlie pals and we just never hear about all that.

Umhm. :>

Happy father's day!!!

I hope it is every bit as wonderful as you deserve it to be! :)

The spawn's birthday is tomorrow. She's with her dad right now, but dang, I need to DO something. Eep.

Because Styx will be here at City Stages tonight on the Miller's Stage!! I'm parked RIGHT BY IT. I'm tempted to just chill out here downtown after work and wait on 'em. How can one resist seeing Tommy Shaw once again reunited with the rest of the band?

For those who've been asking, I've been suuuuuuuuuper busy working downtown in the financial district with ZERO personal time, whilst the spawnlette commences to get into legal trouble and then catches mono from her new boyfriend. Or so I think.

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa t. I'm not dead; just a little not here (moreso than usual). :>

Mkay...so I admit I play mafia wars and really like it. There are, however, some people who take it a llittttttttttle personal:

This Guy: you've tried to rob me, then put a hit on me. may i ask why? if i performed a hit on you, it was a job, it was not personal. the person you want is the one who paid the bounty. if you would like, you can send me a friend request & we can both grow stronger. are you just mean in real life or do you like kicking a guy when he's down?

Hahahahahaha. We're in each other's mafia now (since I explained to him that NO ONE gets away with either smacking me or putting a hit out on me - I'll kill the one who put the hit out and the one who does the hitting. Not only that, but I do put the wrath and force of my crew onto the offending parties to rob them blind and fight them until they die.

Maybe I AM vicious. *snort*

You Are Blue

You are a philosophical and often inspired person. You are the master of ideas. You are open to many points of view. You believe that it's important to communicate and not judge. You have a worldly perspective, and you're always looking to broaden it. You are a true people person, but you also value your solitude and personal space.

Ewwwww I'm blue.

Camping trip has officially begun. Packing's done, nesting done, and we're leaving to set up the site at 8. WOOHOO. No cell phones, no iPods, nothing electrical. We're roughing it :D

You Are Carefree in Life

You are the life of the party. You also are completely uninhibited and honest. You are the happiest when you are planning and dreaming. You like to live in the future. You are sensitive and considerate. You are always putting other people's needs before your own. You have found what you want in life and are quite content. You know a lot about yourself.

They're just too tempting. :> My life right now is an endless bit of sponge painting. The end. Camping trip is next week, however, but I'm NOT bringing a computer.

Toilet Wisdom...heh

ARRRRRRRRRRGH. I have been literally CRAWLING on LJ due to some seriously photo-heavy entries. That'll teach me to go to the next page where more await. Frustrating so I'll read tomorrow kthnx. I need my placeholders back, I'm thinking.

This one NAILS me. Weird. And if you're tired of my quizzes THEN LEAVE OR DON'T READ. Heh.

Lets101 Quizzes - Blog Quiz

You Need Success to Be Happy

You are a responsible and serious person. You like to do things well. Reaching your goals is very important to you, and you don't like getting sidetracked. You feel great when you are mastering new tasks and solving problems. You believe in hard work. Nothing makes you feel worse than feeling like you are doing a bad job.

Daaaaaaang. No wonder I feel like crap most of the time. Heh.

You Are the Library

You are very intellectual and well read. You tend to be absorbed in your own interests. You can seem a bit standoffish. To be honest, you're not that interested in other people. You are comforted by the things you own. You tend to be a pack rat. It's likely that you have many old possessions that you treasure. You rarely throw anything away.

This is RIGHT ON TARGET, and the quiz ganked from the lovely padiwack. I am SUCH a clutter freak. I confess.

It's been over 24 hours since I've had any sleep. Yesterday, I had an interview and testing, and then went to the law office to set up my area, and see what color I'm going to sponge paint the accent wall (green, in case yer wondering). Afterwhich, PhD and I went to Brookwood (I wanted him to destress), had Chinee foo and shopped around. We took gross advantage of two Brookstone setups side by side, and chilled while getting massages that were heated and awesome. :D I ran into my old apartment across the hall buddy, Jamie, who still works for Estee Lauder and says he has a bag full of goodies for me to pick up. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. We exchanged new information and are having dinner this week. I missed dinner with my Dallas buddy because of poor prior planning. Ah well. Things happen for a reason :) And I don't leave the house without a good one.

Am cosidering going to the matinee today solomente uno just to see State of Play before everybody else :D.

Need manicure/pedicure BADLYYYYYY but am sadly fundless.

Camping in two weeks and counting! Very excited about that.

Soooooo broke that it's scary.

I /really/ need a strapless bra *cough* even though a 32a really DOES exist despite what the spawnlette thinks.

So much more going on, but will stop here with this since I'm half crazy from no sleep last night.

The end.

Ganked shamefully from padiwack

Your result for The Brutally Honest Personality Test...

Dictator- ENTJ

Take The Brutally Honest Personality Test at HelloQuizzy

Er...sometimes I'm an INTJ, just as hateful based on reading it. lol

You Are Super Stylish

You've got style, no doubt about it. You always look your best. You are on top of trends, and you carefully pick what works for you. You dress for the occasion, and you never wear anything inappropriate. You only own the best clothing and accessories. You know how to make an impression.

Er...I'm not going to look so stylish later this week when I'm painting the office. But for today, I have an interview. Although I'm excited and latched on to this new business, realistically, if I can make that much money working a job this close to home, I'm going for it and will handle the start up in my free time. This week has been spent accumulating furniture (check), setting up the proper phone/fax/internet system (check) and discussing accent painting (check check). I look forward to the physical exercise of it all, even if what I mostly am required to paint is white. It feels good working on another start up. I can honestly say I've never worked on an unsuccessful one, and this should be no different.

I had something profound to say but decided to keep it to myself. It's too long and too personal.

Nothing feels better than an "I love you" from out of the blue :)



That is all.

Not really. But beginning next week, I'm going to have my hands full, setting up a new office, painting, rearranging newly-acquired office furniture, setting everything up and finally, getting down to work. I'm going into business with someone whom I worked with in the past. He's already gotten his law practice off to a great start and is slowly but surely building momentum. I'm going to help in any way I can, including research, general counsel when he needs it, and managing non-legal affairs. He's rented an awesome office on the southside of town (Highland Avenue) which is centrally located and rich in greenery, with a park across the street. I love that area of town. The flexibility of this job couldn't be better - I call my own hours, wear what I want (unless I appear with him in court) and can leave if the spawnlette needs me. I'm very excited about this, and hope the stress of it doesn't kill us.

So this past week, I've been gathering furniture, arranging meetings, and even doing a bit of research for (GREAAAAAAAAAAT) his first murder trial.

Didn't say it was gonna be purdy. It's work, after all.

And like /all/ my jobs, I'm not going to be at liberty to discuss any of the clients or situations as much as I'd probably like. I'll have to ask him about that when we talk next. The sweetest thing about this deal for him is that a girl who HE used to work with in California, just came into some serious estate money; and since he was so nice to her, she's offered to pay one year's rent, up front, so he won't have to worry about it.

Go figure. It pays to be nice.

We already have keys to the property, and I'm anxious to get in there and figure out how much painting I'll have to do. The ceilings are 12 feet, so it's going to be a major chore. I love to paint - but hate using white, which is precisely the color we're using. Or non-color. Anyyyyyway, the whole situation has been building and finally reached this point. I'm so excited :D :D

Hairs
My hair is at a weird point right now. For the first time since grammar school, I don't have real bangs. My hair is all about the same length. I feel I need to feather some around my face on one side, but keep chickening out, because I like how it falls in my face. It's not growing out as fast as I'd like, but it's now right below my shoulders.

Nails
Got the fingernails under control, as they'd grown WAY TOO long. Now they're nice and purdy, so I have a week before I have to worry about them again.

Skin
Great. So the spawnlette and I decided to take up the tanning salon on their free week special. Right now, the areas of my body which never get sun are so burnt the skin is cool but the flesh is bright red. THE PAIN. THE ITCHING. THE HORROR. The little bug bites? I have these little dots that make me feel like I have bug bites. Ewwwwwww. What bit me whilst I was tanning? Or is this cancer waiting to happen. I've decided I've tanned enough for all of us, and won't be returning. After all - staying out of dangerous UV rays is what's kept my skin wrinkle free. I need to stick with what works, right?

Wardrobe from hell
I've GOT TO GET RID of half my wardrobe. Every time I try, I find another reason to keep the items I want to rid myself of. I figure I'll eventually fit into both the smaller and larger stuff in the future, and don't want to have to go back and buy it all again. Yeahhh that's it.

Shoes
Same thing. Gads.

Camping
We're going camping the weekend of the 25th and are gonna rough it out by the lake. I can't wait! I haven't been camping in YEARS and this is the perfect time of year to do it. Campfires, and outdoor meals will be wunderbar, so I'm getting more excited the closer we get to the date. :D Already packing up equipment to take, and buying other necessities. *this is where I throw in a gratuitous /squee/*

Sleep
I've been up since 2 a.m., so guess what I'll be doing most of this morning? That'ssssss right. Or at least I'll try to be napping.

The best way to build your self-esteem
So lately, I've been participating in Yahoo's Questions. I'm at a level three now, with more than 3,000 points for having so many of my answers chosen as "best". There's nothing like that feeling of "best" when you get that mail :D I have a bunch of people (they're called fans) who've jumped on my profile, which means every time I answer a question, they get mail. Poor things! I answer at least 55 questions a day now. They've gotta be crazy to read all that. Everything from beauty to relationships, I jump in the fray, sleeves rolled up and ready to go. Somehow, I just end up being right about these things. Who'd a thunk it?

And this is where I end, because anything else I say can be held against me in some way, or I'd just rather not share all the deep stuff. :X

Why journaling has become such a chore (if I do it at all) is mystifying to me right now. So much is happening, yet I /dread/ journaling it. I've got to get to the root of this situation, so I can carry on as normal. I've been unusually busy as of late, but still have time for me. Go figure.

Instead of writing out a long diatribe about my life, I'll bullet issues going on:

Spawnlette and I got a free, one-week pass to tanning salon. We're both nice and toasty right now. :D Freckles in this house have grown exponentially.

The funmobile got a serious cleaning inside and out day before yesterday. It seems to run so much better when I clean it.

Thank GOD for Freecycle clubs. I'm setting up a new office right now, and need everything from chairs to desks to floor coverings. Crazy stuff, but it's my new job. And no, don't ask about it.

Took the girls out for Chinese on Sunday. Had to windowshop because we got there too early. Woo.

Did five loads (FIVE!) of laundry yesterday and am thanking God that's over with.

Have been spending so much more time with the spawnlette here recently for reasons unfathomable to me. I'm just glad she wants to be with me.

Today is house cleaning.

First, I have to go check out some stuff in Hueytown (yikeeeeees). That outta be fun. Not.

I formally have no bags left. It's alllllll longish hair in my face. I feel like Shaggy.

Weight fluctuates between 110-115. I figure that's the range I want to be in, and am cleaning out clothes both too small and too large.

Am, as usual, freaking out over bills right now. My cellphone got crazy, and not even Verizon could explain it. *sigh*

Was supposed to go to a military ball in Atlanta tonight. That ain't happening.

I spend WAY too much time on Yahoo's Answers helping out teenaged girls. lol Now I have a "fan list" of all these chicks who think I'm a beauty and relationship expert. *snorts*

My iPod has something wrong with it. It keeps getting frozen for no reason, so I'm REAL worried. I might need a new one and cannot afford that.

Getting a new keyboard for computer deux. Unreal.

Am actually leaving the house often. I know. It's a miracle.

Am getting happier with my friend's list, although I'm still not 100% satisfied. I'm about to do my 10 things-about-friends list to see who guesses who is who. The fun!

Gotta be through with all of today's crap by at least 6, and cannot take meds like I'm supposed to. Greaaaaaaaaa t.

Court for my parent's estate was yesterday. Still, no good news. No news at all. My cousin is treating my parents like they were worth no more to him than a gas station attendant. Unbelievable. Their time is coming. I'll MAKE karma happen.

The heater has been out for about a month. I'm getting more use out of that space heater than any other appliance in the crib.

Going camping I /think/ on the 25th. PRAY THAT IT'S WARM. :D :D We're staying for the whole weekend and gutting it out military style. That's what I'M talkin' about.

Finally found a bathing suit I think I like. We'll see when it comes in. I might send it back for another I found that I really REALLY liked.

That, I suppose, is all I feel comfortable about saying right now.

You Think Concretely

Your brain works best when you are able to see or visualize what you're thinking about. You have an both an eye for detail and for the big picture. You study things carefully. You are in tune with all of your senses, and you think better with a clean workspace. You are open to all sorts of input. You are a free thinker who lives in the now.

That's right, another one.

You Act Like You Are 22 Years Old

You are a twenty-something at heart. You feel like an adult, and you're optimistic about life. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. You're still figuring out your place in the world and how you want your life to shape up. The world is full of possibilities, and you can't wait to explore many of them.

Greaaaaaaat.

It's a shame I'm not journaling my life right now, because it's kind of exciting.

The end.

What the House Test Says About You

You consider yourself important, but no more important than anyone else. You love attention, but you don't feel like you deserve more of it than anyone else. You aren't against being community oriented, but it's not really your thing. You tend to prefer to focus on your family and not the neighborhood around you. You are a calm, contemplative, and smart person. You take ideas very seriously. You take good care of your physical appearance. You dress well, stay in shape, and do your best to look great. You are moved by the most simple of things. You can find pleasure from a small, perfect moment.

Yeah, yeah an update. I'm getting around to eeet. It'll be friend's only, however, so all you lurkers will just have to wait.

I'm a house. The end.

Eh?

You Are The Heart

You are very industrious. Working hard makes you feel good. You are powerful and strong. Some people may think you're fragile, but you're not in the least. You are steady and reliable. You keep going no matter what. However, you do tend to react to situations. Stress makes you speed up.

Ew. Gross.

Thank you, farranger. That was sweet.

*Fair warning that this is NOT a happy entry. Far from it, so read no further if you're looking for fun and kicks around this hood.
_____________________________________________

The mouse is still in the house.

Not only that, but it's not at all timid. It runs out into the center of my freakin' room with me, lying in wait with a baseball bat, emboldened and sneaking into its hideout totally not caring whether I see him or not.

This is the first time in my life that I've seen a mouse that wasn't in a cage. Something's gotta be done to it. I felt a little comforted, when someone else on my friend's list posted about having the same issues - bold mice.

I also find some sort of...comfort in knowing that I'm not the only one having trouble finding gainful employment. I hate it that a lot of friends and acquaintances are going through this, but I've been dealing with it intermittently for more than a year. It seems that I just can't gain footage necessary to crawl out from under this hole. A couple of agencies have told me that it's worse now than it was even in December of last year. That doesn't bode well for my future. I'm SO SICK of worrying every month, and on the verge of being forced to file bankruptcy. Never have I had so many concerns like this.

And the joy doesn't stop there. I feel lost in my life all of the sudden. I don't trust my judgment, and feel like a helium balloon that's been set free in the middle of the woods, not knowing my destination, but sure to fall eventually. I'm scared. I'm not sleeping at night, and can't even say that I have anything to look forward to. All of this keeps building up at a crescendo that's going to drive me mad if it continues at this rate.

What I get SO SICK of hearing is "it'll get better" and "you're so strong, you can handle it" and "think positive"!

I'M SORRY. BUT THAT'S JUST NOT HOW LIFE WORKS OUT, JACKASS. This /always/ comes from people who have it made and are sitting pretty, happily employed and confident about groceries next week. Never do you hear this pillow-case quips from someone in dire straights. It's hard to see the end of the tunnel when there isn't a light.

Isn't that what our friends are? Lights? I'm losing faith in humanity all the time I'm going through this stretch of my life. It's MARCH ALREADY, and I've not accomplished anything. It's no wonder I haven't been journaling, because /this/ might've come out sooner and much worse than it is right now. Hell, I'm actually calm at this moment. I don't feel like going through the motions of being "okay" when I'm not okay. I don't feel like trying to inspire other people feeling like this. It's not that I'd want to intentionally bring them down, thus the hermitism. I figure if I stay home, it won't rub off. I'd surely be horrible company right now, so any/all plans have been canceled. Unless it's a job interview, I'm going nowhere. This situation snowballs, and there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it.

No, it's absolutely impossible to "do" more than I am now. I hate those who give me "suggestions" or "ideas" if I even dare bring up my situation - it doesn't HELP. I've ALREADY thought about it, exhausted it, beat it to death, and stayed awake at night, then listening to their cracker-jack psychology on the fly. Grrr.

One thing. I really REALLY need just one good thing to happen right now. Something out of the blue, out of the ordinary. Something to at least make me smile, even if it's only for a little bit. Something that makes me stop making plans with my life insurance ... kidding, kidding. I do need a miracle, and have needed one for a good year.

I'm not alone in my feelings, as I've read similar whilst reading my list. Others are stuck in this situation, too, probably feeling as desperate as I am, but afraid to voice it in case some idiot on their list (or a passerby) decides to either give them suggestions (which we've again already thought of), or doesn't want to read because OH NO SHE'S NOT HAPPY SO I'M LEAVING HER JOURNAL. SO?

I'm here for /me/. Right now, this is really all I do have.

Nope, I don't want or need suggestions. I've already thought it up, I assure you, and either it didn't work out or I've exhausted it. I need a miracle, and I don't think anyone who reads this is a miracle worker.

If you don't like it, then don't read. I'm going past sad to angry and back again. Tread lightly if you approach me "out there" in IM land. I'm saying it up front, so you've been warned.

Having said all that, I hope the rest are all happy and secure in their worlds and that it STAYS that way. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy (or most horrible relative). And yes, I'm screening comments just in case someone didn't want to read AFTER being warned.

Still in search of that "YOU SUCK SO BAD THEY CAN HEAR YOU IN RUSSIA" quiz. One day, my friends, one day. lol :>

I might've found it!!! Hahahaha


And as always, there's simply too much going on to really update. I'd do a bulleted list, but it's so boring it'd put ME to sleep.

The spawnlette and two friends trashed the house so guess what I'm doing today? > : o

Interview went well with headhunter, but he said they just suffered their worst week in history. Meaning, there ARE no jobs right now. This sucks, too.

I drove past my cousin's and my aunt's and started mentally plotting my revenge. GOD PLEASE MAKE ME PUT DOWN THE GUN AND THE BOW AND ARROWS.

That is all.