As we age, and our children grow up, family structure changes in several ways – some subtle, some not so much.
When our children are young (typically) Mom’s focus is on them. A good father loves his children, works for them, provides for them, sacrifices his own wishes and wants for them, but there’s a matter of biology involved; across the world of mammals, mothers have a special focus on offspring, and humans are no exception.
Children grow up, though, and when they do, and develop lives of their own, that focus changes. It is during these years that Mom and Dad’s world begins to narrow back down so that, in a healthy marriage, the world seems to narrow back down to the two of them.
In some ways it seems to be like the beginning of a marriage, but with the added advantage of a lifetime’s worth of resources, the joys of grandchildren, and a lifetime of experience in dealing with the world’s difficulties.
It’s a pretty great time to be embarking on. For Mrs. Animal and yr. obdt., all we require is a big diesel pickup with a slide-in camper, a big boat, and a small house somewhere in southern Alaska, and those years will indeed be golden.
We will shortly be off to Colorado Springs (generally referred to locally simply as “The Springs”) to watch one of the cubs kicking other kids in the head, under the auspices of a state Tae Kwon Do tournament. Peanut is a second-degree black belt, and therefore rather competent at the whole “kick in the head” thing.
An interesting tidbit: Why Are Blondes Considered Dumb? As you’ll no doubt note, the article presents a convincing debunking of the Dumb Blonde stereotype, and then presents a photo of Paris Hilton – a real-life example of a young blonde woman who is, by any standard, dumb as a bag of hammers. Excerpt:
In one study, researchers showed a picture of a women wearing a platinum blonde, natural blonde, red, or brown wig. Subjects rated the platinum blonde as less intelligent. In another study, a model was seen as more approachable when her hair was blonde but more intelligent when her hair was brunette.
The stereotype isn’t just limited to social situations; it also carries over into the workplace. A 2006 study analyzed the hair color of 500 UK CEOs and found that blondes were underrepresented compared to the rest of the population. In a 1996 study, subjects read resumes that included head-shots of the supposed applicants. Although all the resumes
Sometimes the exception proves the rule.
were identical, the blonde applicants were rated as less competent.
We know plenty of intelligent blondes, including my oldest sister who is approaching retirement after a successful corporate career winding up with a position as Senior VP of a telecom outfit, so I never really ascribed to the whole Kelly Bundy stereotype. Interesting, nevertheless, to see so much actual science applied to the whole thing.
And on that note, we return you to your Saturday, already in progress.
Image: yr. obdt. and my all-time number one personal hero, the Old Man.
We are back from a family visit to the grand old Midwest, which was spent entirely in visiting with old friends, family, and playing with grandchildren. I reserved a few hours for some one-on-one grandpa/grandson man time with our little Widget, who is not quite a year and a half old. He loved the rack of expensive trap and skeet guns at the local firearms outlet, and spent a few moments pointing at the more pricey arms and going “Pow! Pow!”
There was not a shotgun in that rack with a price tag under two grand. At least he has good taste.
I see Tropical Storm Irene has her crosshairs on America’s own little Caribbean paradise. No matter to me, as I won’t be returning for a while yet. It’s nice to miss a major storm for once, although the last one just resulted in a few rainy days.
In other news, it seems PeTA is planning a porn site. If there were any lingering doubts that the frauds at PeTA were nothing more than attention-whores, this should settle it. Excerpt:
Aside from being an extortion scam, the .xxx extension is a bad idea for porn purveyors – Islamic nations can easily block the entire .xxx namespace (Saudi Arabia has already promised to do so) and so what is the purpose of it other than to generate more fees (annual fees for .xxx are ten times more expensive than .com registrations) to companies like ICANN and Go Daddy?
There is one non-porn company however, PETA, that appears ready to embrace “adult entertainment” in order to to further its cause.
At least we can count on PeTA and the other animal-rights groups for one thing: They are some of the most reliable purveyors of unintentional comedy around.
This mummy seems to be missing a brain and other vital organs, new images reveal, and the finding suggests the man held a high status when alive 2,500 years ago in ancient Egypt.
The images indicate that embalmers removed the man’s brain and major organs and replaced them with rolls of linen, a superior embalming method used only for those of high status, researchers at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History said in a statement.
When this mummy was transferred to the Smithsonian from the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia in the late 1950s, it was partially unwrapped, and very little was known about the individual, until now.
The new images suggest the mummy was a male who died at age 40 (a relatively mature age by ancient Egyptian standards), and who lived in Lower Egypt sometime between the 20th and 26th dynasties.
The images were taken with a CT scanner, which uses X-rays to generate three-dimensional images of the inside of an object, or mummy in this case.
That’s it for now. Have a superior Sunday, True Believers!
In some ways it seems to be like the beginning of a marriage, but with the added advantage of a lifetime’s worth of resources, the joys of grandchildren, and a lifetime of experience in dealing with the world’s difficulties.
