Junkill's New Writeups

Urination (idea)

2009-11-22T00:11:35Z

Suggested titles:
"To Sit or Not to Sit—that is the Question"
"A Cleaner Bathroom"
"Boycott Macho Bullshit: Pee Sitting Down"
"A Myth about Peeing? (How not to Myth)"

It seems that there is a lot of misinformation and folklore circulating about how men should urinate. In an internet article (now removed) one author contended that it was impossible for a man to completely empty his bladder while he is in a sitting position. The article went on to contend that this was the single biggest cause of prostatitis.

Since the article gave no references (and the author simply cited "my doctor told me"), I thought it would be useful to research this.

I discussed this physiological conundrum with no fewer than nine nurses, four physicians, two pre-medical students and an anatomist.…

pectoralis minor (thing)

2009-09-06T22:52:57Z

The pectoralis minor (TA: musculus pectoralis minor) is a broad, flat muscle which lies underneath (deep to) the large chest muscles (pectoralis major). It runs from the upper front of the shoulder (insertion: medial border upper surface of the coracoid process of the scapula) to make a diagonal downward and inward toward the breastbone (origin: outer surfaces of 3-5 ribs near the costal cartilage.

This muscle helps to bring the shoulder blade downward, forward, and toward the middle of the body (depression and rotation). It stabilizes the shoulder blade when the arms are pushing against a load. To a small extent, the pectoralis minor muscle also assists breathing.

The pectoralis minor muscle acts in concert or in opposition with a number of major muscles of the upper body, most notably the pectoralis major, intercostal, deltoid, upper trapezius, and levator scapula.

The pectoralis minor muscles are attached to the pectoral branch…

June 12, 2009 (log)

2009-06-12T03:43:27Z

I love my job. Back in my days of working 60+ hour weeks at the world's worst print service bureau, or faking it as a graphic artist, I never thought I'd be typing those words. At least, I never thought I would be saying them without sarcasm.

Massage therapy has been a very rewarding career for me. Not financially, well, I mean, I pay my bills on time and never lack for things, but I'm not making the big bucks by a long shot. In terms of personal satisfaction, however, it just can't be beaten! People come in to see me with soreness, tight muscles, tension headaches, insomnia, and a host of other problems. I work with them and they feel better. The praise I receive makes me feel like a hero, and knowing how effective massage makes me feel as though my job is actually making a difference.

Doing massage, even 20-30 hour…

White Lady (person)

2009-04-29T18:59:54Z

The White Lady of Fonte' River: Local Ghostly Apparition (Guamanian/Chamorro)

The island of Guam is a tropical paradise, with lush vegetation, and glorious beaches where water as clear as glass laps upon pristine white sand. The indigenous Chamorro people tell of a chilling apparition that sometimes walks this beautiful landscape as the sun is dipping below the horizon of the Phillipine Sea. Their stories are of a ghostly woman in a flowing white dress, her silver hair caught in the last rays of dusk, her red eyes sad and weary.

In life, the White Lady of Guam was the Chamorro wife of one of the Spanish officers garrisoned there in the seventeenth century. The couple lived in the tranquil little town of Maina. Their life together was far from idyllic, however, as her dashing groom quickly turned into…

Ellen McLain (person)

2009-02-28T23:11:32Z

When the team at Valve described the character voice they had in mind for the insane artificial intelligence GLaDOS for their game Portal, voice actress Ellen McLain knew she had a challenge on her hands.

McLain, an actress and trained operatic soprano, was no stranger to the people at Valve. She was the announcer in the game Team Fortress Two and also the voice of the Combine overwatch in Half-Life 2. One of the producers for Portal described McLain as "A great mimic, a terrific actor, and a classically trained operatic singer."

Every role has its specific challenges, and to portray the mad computer, McLain had to match her voice to a computer text reader, doing multiple takes with different emotional content. Despite the challenge, she says directing was "excellent" and that she enjoyed all of her sessions working on GLaDOS' voice. She also sang the song Still Alive, featured in the end credits of the game. For her work, Ms. McLain was…

Gnarly (thing)

2009-02-25T21:34:09Z

Gnarly: (adjective) (also gnarlier, gnarliest) DEF 1. Disgusting, horrid, or ugly (particularly used of something which, despite its ugliness, somehow manages to be 'wicked cool'). Dude! Where did you get that totally gnarly scar?

A lot of words enter our popular lexicon meaning one thing, only to shift radically within a few years; consider the odd case of the word gnarly. This strange term seems to have entered the popular imagination in the early 80s.

DEF 2. Bad, nasty. So, while the garbage men were on strike the streets smelled totally gnarly!

DEF 3. Something difficult, anything which presents an extreme challenge. Man, you thought Organic was bad? Wait'll you get to Biochem, it's completely gnarly!

The word obviously derives from the English word gnarl, which refers to twists…