New beginnings.

Before I start posting on the above topic, mum turned 81 today! Here's a pic.

I made the card in the middle by getting one with 18 on it and modifying it!

I never thought she'd make it to 81. I recently persuaded the nursing home to give her cooked breakfasts instead of Ready Brek or toast, both of which would send her into a compensatory hyperinsulinaemic stupor. She was relatively with-it today after having bacon, egg etc. Coincidence? I think not! I'm also switching her bread to Burgen Soya & Linseed as it's low in carbohydrate and very low GI. Anyway, on with the post.

I need to give another "Thank You" to Richard Nikoley. His blog rocks! A Little bit of everything including Food Porn, but mostly Roger Waters & The Wall made me really think. It occurred to me that, to ease the pain of seeing my mother go downhill with me rendered powerless to help, I had built a wall and was comfortably numb behind it.

As Robert Sapolsky pointed out in his lecture on Depression, never-ending stress and social isolation are very bad. So I am "getting it sorted". I have resumed social activities and am tackling things that need to be tackled. See also Polite Requests.

Robert Sapolsky lectures.

Firstly, thanks to Richard Nikoley for posting links to a couple of lectures by the above Stanford Professor. I've watched three of Sapolsky's lectures so far and they've all been very interesting. Here are links to five of them.

The Uniqueness of Humans (37 mins)

Depression (52 mins)

Stress, Neurodegeneration and Individual Differences (1 hour 19 mins)

Toxoplasmosis (37 mins)

The Origin of Religion (9 mins + 10 mins)

I may be gone some time.