Pre-Departure Blues: Saturday, June 29th

When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) 

Night Market, Chinatown, Vancouver!

Hi Sarge!

Great! I'm delighted to join you. I assume we will be going over Lions Gate and meeting them somewhere on Spirit Trail before making for HB. Is this correct? At any rate, I'll be ready at 8:50 am. Cheers, Patrizzio! That's the plan. Wayne

Hi Raymond!

Had a lovely meal with Kerry, Tia Maria and Whirlygig last evening before Jacob Two Two dropped us off at Bard. Enjoyed production of Hamlet immensely. Very modern, contemporary interpretation which, in my opinion worked extremely well: iPods and iPads are used to turn music on and off, used to show characters pictures of other characters; Claudius' court is depicted as a global, corporate office with courtiers as accountants, executive secretaries, security people and the like. Claudius, himself, is a dissolute, jet-setter playboy. Costumes are simply wonderful, designed, as it turns out by the partner, Nancy Bryant, of one of our Book Club members, Guy Riecken.

 Jonathon Young, as Hamlet, gives a very, very powerful performance, as do rest of entire crew. I thought that Laertes, Todd Thomson, was perhaps the weakest of the lot but seemed to "grow" as play proceeded. Some interesting casting choices as Horatio, Jennifer Lines, is played as a woman and Rosencrantz, Naomi Wright, and Guildenstern, Craifg Erickson, as a fawning, greedy, heterosexual couple. Polonius, Richard Newman, is remarkable and Ophelia, Rachel Cairns, makes us believe her descent into grief and suicide are inevitable. The stage management works like clockwork, with hotel staff re-arranging furniture for meetings, making beds, serving drinks at cocktail parties, etc.

As it turns out, I'll be riding to Horseshoe Bay with Sarge, Marvinator and Nicolina. Hello to Petros and enjoy the lattes in Steveston. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Thought that you might appreciate this quotation:

When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) 

Pat, Hope you had a great and safe ride. Pete and I did a leisurely ride to Steveston. It was hot even at 8:30 but as Rod wasn't there, we didn't stop for coffee etc.

    

Been working on the painting all afternoon and just finished watching some of the first leg of the Tour de France in Corsica.

    

Picked up 3 books from the library on return although the back pack required made me even hotter. Can't yet decide which of the 3 I will start :-

        Child 44

        Little Green, Walter Mosley.

        Tuesday's Gone, Nicci French (pseudonym for the writing partnership of Nicci Gerrard and Sean French Maybe the latter. Ray

Many thanks Pat & Corinne for the enjoyable evening on Thursday. Safe travels in the months ahead and we'll see you in the fall. Best Wishes....Paul & Joan

Hi Patrick and Corinne, See John's message.  I agree, it was a good quiet evening of bridge. Peter 

Hi Pete: Miranda and I enjoyed potluck and bridge with the Merry Band of men on Wednesday.  I didn't bring my hearing aids; but fortunately that was not a
problem.  We enjoyed everyone's enthusiasm for the game of bridge.  I don't
have Patrick or Corinne"s  e-mail.perhaps you will be able to tell them we
had fun. Regards, Cousin John 

Hi Janet! Is the preferred ride still on? Give me a shout. Cheers, Patrizzio!  

I was going to give you a shout before we left as requested by the Conductor!!  😊 I will now just show up at 420. J

Why Paper Cuts Hurt So @%^$@ Much

You probably don't need an explanation as to how the injury pictured above happens. And you probably don't need to be told how much they hurt -- so, so much, especially given the relatively tiny injury to a body part which is generally rather hardy. So, let's talk about why this happens.

First, why do we get paper cuts in the first place? How can a sheet of paper slice our skin in a way that a much sharper, otherwise more dangerous item never could?

The short answer is that the edges of paper are actually pretty sharp, even if the sheet as a whole isn't. Rub your finger slowly over the edge next time you get a chance (slowly! don't get a paper cut on my account!) and you'll intuitively understand the risk it entails. According to Wikipedia, when paper sheets are "strongly fashioned together" -- such as out of a fresh ream of paper -- they're more likely to cause you harm, so caveat paper-user. (There needs to be a good Latin word for that.)

The cause of the pain, though -- that's much less straightforward. There are a few theories.

One potential culprit is the location of the injury. Our hands (and in particular, our fingers) have a large number of nociceptors -- ABC News describes them as "the nerve fibers that send touch and pain messages to our brain" -- and a high density of nociceptors to boot. The paper cut stimulates a lot of nociceptors and therefore our brains get a disproportionately high indicator of pain. And really, that's what pain is -- a message from our brains telling us to freak out (and ideally, stop what we're doing or get help).
 
On top of that, the paper isn't a smooth edge like a razor blade is, as mental_floss observes. At a microscopic level, paper's edges are jagged and, therefore, act like a teeny-tiny buzz saw through a field of pain receptors, making a proportionally large number of similarly tiny cuts along the way. And then there's the question of the leave-behinds. Indiana Public Media's "A Moment of Science" points out that some of paper's component parts are often left behind within the cut (this isn't true when talking about a metal razor blade), and as the wound heals, these foreign objects jab and prod at the injury from within.

To make matters worse, paper cuts rarely bleed very much, because they're so shallow and our skin in that area is generally thick. The lack of blood means that there's little opportunity for a blood clot to form, protecting the wound. As we use the injured finger, there's a very large chance the the cut will re-open, exposing the same nociceptors to the air, and triggering the "ouch!" message once again.

But if it's any solace, the next time you cut your finger, you'll be able to go through the theories as to why it hurt so much -- a few seconds after you're done prattling off some expletives.

"Isolated for thousands of years deep in the western Amazon rain forests is the small tribe of the Cinta Larga. Though their technology is primitive, the Cinta Larga are masters of hunting, fishing, and trailblazing, with an extraordinary ability to see, hear and smell game. Cinta Larga men will take women to be their wives when they are eight to ten years old, and if there are none eligible, will take a wife from a man who already has three or more -- or take one from a neighboring village. And if a Cinta Larga woman is unhappy in her marriage she can dissolve it -- or stay in it and take a lover." Candice Millard, River of Doubt, Anchor Books, 2005