somnambulism

somnambulism som·nam·bu·lism [som-nam-byuh-liz-uhm, suhm-] noun

Also called: noctambulism, a condition that is characterized by walking while asleep or in a hypnotic trance

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I know people who do the same thing, only they're wide awake.

Daylight Savings Countdown

Breaking Bad Halloween

You may have already seen this photo; Aaron Paul posted it to his Twitter account and it's been discussed in several Breaking Bad message boards and other forums. Most people, such as myself, think it's cute and funny but as always is the case, *some* people were offended. "Dressing kids up as drug dealers? Horrible idea! Bad parents!" are the basic complaints. What I'd like to know is this:

Do these same people also complain when parents dress their kids up as Dracula, a witch, a zombie or the like? I asked that very question to someone who was up-in-arms over the photo and they said "But these parents are promoting drug use...and that's not cute!  People die every day from using or selling meth!!!"  I had to point out to them that vampires bite people, either killing them or, with the bite, sentencing them to an eternity of being a vampire as well, that witches in fairy tales captured and ate children and zombies...well, they just kill and then eat everyone, particularly their brains.

"But that's fiction!" came the reply.

Uh...and Breaking Bad wasn't?  Dressing your kids up as characters from a movie or TV show doesn't mean you condone whatever it was the FICTIONAL character did. 

Even with all the horrible things the characters in Breaking Bad did, that photo makes me smile.  *Some* people just want to go Breaking Butthurt and are more offensive than whatever it is they're protesting.

Growloween!

Keep Texas Wild: Panhandle

phrenology

phrenology phre·nol·o·gy[fri-nol-uh-jee, fre-]

noun

A psychological theory or analytical method based on the belief that certain mental faculties and character traits are indicated by the configurations of the skull.

More about phrenology at Wikipedia.

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Phrenology has always interested me (not quite "fascinated"). Seeing the word as today's Word of the Day reminded me of a friend I once had back when MSN Groups were up-and-running. We shared political views, but couldn't have been more different in religion, she being a Wiccan. We were in a chat room once, just the two of us and were discussing our belief systems and I said I wouldn't belittle how she believed, but there were some tenets to paganism that I would never trust, especially in foretelling the future, things such as palm reading.

Well, that upset her and I had to suffer through indignantly told stories of how her grandmother had read palms and how the palms of people she knew had predicted their future - their love life and life span, etc.   I didn't say anything until she ran out of steam and then remarked that palm reading was to science as phrenology was to psychology.  She was "silent" for a while, nothing being typed and I knew she had opened up another window and was researching the term.  After a minute or so, she exited the chat room and that was the end of our cyber-friendship.

Oh well.  I was getting tired of all that "Blessed Be!" crap, anyway.