The sting is worse than the bite

It was so quick that I didn't even feel the attackers leave their mark on me. It's the aftershock. The burning sensation in your skin that makes you look down. But you only see the swollen, red skin. They have already moved on.

Yesterday I was foolishly standing near a fire ant hill, when they found me. Now, I lay in bed trying not to itch the burning sensation that covers my right foot, but I eventually give in to the most glorious scratching-fest. I can't help it. When I have a scratch, I itch it. Bad move. Because after that one give-in, that one scratch, it's like Pringles: Once you pop, the fun don't stop.

After reading up on an article from the Medical University of South Carolina, I learned to process of the fire ant attack and why the sting is the worse part.

The ants will swarm onto a foot, for example, and after a signal the female ants will bite your skin, insert their stinger and inject the venom in, and quickly leave to a different spot to attack.
It is done so quickly that there is little pain, but the burn comes from the venom that is now flowing through your veins.

The article leaves some tips on how to treat fire ant bites, with the most important one : Don't scratch, because it can lead to infection and a slower healing process.

I wish I had stronger will power to resist the itch.

Almost Doesn't Count

Well, I tried. But trying doesn't always end up with the best results. I also tried on my finance test and got a D, with the curve, but that's besides the point.

I had plans to workout today, to finally break my standstill. To get back into the routine. I put on my workout clothes and gym shoes and had to make a stop at the store before.

During my time in the store I received a text from my boyfriend to come and cat-nap. From waking up for an early class, I was feeling pretty tired and decided to go nap. Three hours later I wake up and it's time for TutoringZone, and no time for my planned workout at the gym.

Lesson learned for the day: I can have good intentions, but it's actually going through with them that makes them count. Don't let distractions lead you off the path. Maybe if I would have gone to the gym before going to the store, I would feel a little bit better.

Rock Bottom

I'm officially at my slump. I made it to the peak, but instead of staying there and keeping pace, I've rolled down the hill. Not forward toward my next challenge--I've rolled backward.

I was doing so well at my routine of working out. Cycling four days a week and weights either before or after. Then it came. My first finance test. I was a slave to the library for a week before the test, and had no time to work out. After the test came, it was time for catching up on sleep from my sleepless nights studying.

It has now been a week since my test, and two weeks since I haven't worked out. Along with my workouts went my healthy eating habits- right out the window.

Having no time to workout during test-crunch time also means no time to go to the grocery store to buy healthy foods. This means late night runs to Mother's Pub for some fried goodness, or to the local Taco Hell. It doesn't help when I'm studying at my boyfriend's apartment and his whole freezer is stuffed with pizza rolls and taquitos. I swear it really is harder to resist when the food is right in front of you.

During these stressful times, I believe it's best to keep with your routine- working out and eating healthy- instead of letting it all go.

In an article from Fitness Magazine called Why You Stress and How to Stop, it talks about how stress can make a person slow, lose the ability to think coherently and to calm down. Now these are all pretty important things when it comes to test time.

So for my next exam date, I'm going to continue to work out, as we all know that working out is a great stress reliever. A little break from a 12-hour study session would probably do my body good- let my brain de-fry and re-energize for my next study session.

Monkey THINK.. Monkey Do...

Researchers have planted an implant in a monkey's brain, which allows them to control their arm actions just by THINKING about it.

In the video from Nature.com, a monkey is able to move his robotic arm to grab a marshmallow from a pin at different locations.

Andrew Schwartz led the team by first having the monkeys use a joystick to move the arm, but then placed their arm into a robotic arm, which is then controlled by brain cells.


According to the article at Nature.com, tiny electrodes were implanted into the motor cortex of the brain, which is the part controlling movement. The electrodes read the commands to move from the brain cells and then converts them into actual movement in the robotic arm.

Schwartz and his other team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh say that in the future it is possible for this technique to be applied to humans to have the ability to generate movement in their prosthetic limbs.

Researchers have shown that humans have the ability to control computer cursors using only brain signals, which shows that " the brain is capable of creating a stable, mental representation of a disembodied device so that it can be controlled with little effort," according to this sciencedaily.com news article.

A human example is Matthew Nagle, who was left paralyzed from the neck down, and was the first person to have the chip planted in his brain, which now allows his thoughts and commands to be sent to a computer.

Now Nagle can turn on the TV, move a computer cursor, and alter volume, among other things.

Imagine what this means for the future and those who have lost limbs or are confined to a wheelchair due to paralysis.

I think it's something beautiful. Restoring life to something that was lost.

Models Don't Eat

In the modeling world appearance is everything. A model has to be a certain height and size in order to make it in the cut-throat industry.

And if a model makes it, a stereotype immediately is attached.

"She must not eat. If she does, she must have an eating disorder."

Many models do have the mentality of being the skinniest girl on the runway, and in turn, this will effect their health by trying to accomplish this perfection.

However, to other models, it is just a stereotype.

I was recently cast as a model in Gainesville Fashion Week, which is a weeklong event of runway shows. Everyday when we would be getting our hair and makeup done at a salon, a local Gainesville restaurant would cater food for the models. One day, Ben and Jerry's catered the food, which was only desserts. I was curious to see how this would go over.

My friend Colleen turned down the chocolate chip cookies and double fudge brownies and said, "I probably shouldn't eat this when the runway show is in four hours."

Janice, another model, grabbed three of the cookies and said, "Screw that! I'll eat whatever. I even had donuts for breakfast!"

I would say that about 98 percent of the models ate right before the runway show. Granted, this isn't New York's fashion week, but sometimes stereotypes are pushed just a little too far.

New technology for workouts

As the iPhone revolutionizes the way we communicate, it also changes the way people workout.

In this New York Times article, it explores how new apps for iPhones, Blackberrys and Android phones have been created to give users a virtual personal trainer, calorie tracker and heart moniter, among many other useful tools for getting your fitness on.

Workout routines to do at home or in the gym are easily downloaded to create a personal workout.

Will this virtual workout App eventually effect jobs of personal trainers or nutricionists? Well, when you have the world at your fingertips, there is no need to go see a professional to figure out that the cheesecake you ate was unhealthy or the need to spend $60 an hour on a personal trainer.

Because, there is an App for everything.

Nothing happens by chance

"In the news and entertainment industry, nothing happens by chance."

In Paul Doering's guest appearance in class, he opened and closed lecture with this quote. In today's world, nothing seems to hold more true.

What we read about in the newspaper, or hear about on TV, is only a fraction of what is really going on in the world. The media only tells us what they want us to hear.

Doering said that the media will receive about 650 press releases per week, averaging about 100 per day Monday through Friday,

Of these press releases recieved, about five a week make it to air, four to eight make it to video internet or ABC News Now, about a dozen make it to ABC radio and two or three make it to ABCNews.com.

Of the press releases that don't make it to air, what is the public missing out on? We only hear about which ones are chosen. And this is why nothing happens by chance. It is all planned out.

So what diseases or epidemics are out that the public doesn't know about. What medications that could save lives haven't been talked about yet? Only the news industry will know...