RE: This Chick is Bendy

Check out this link on Musings of a High School Teacher. It's pretty cool.

Many Angry Men???

It seems to me that this author is trying to sell a book rather than research science. After looking at the possible reasons for this "disorder" it seems that anyone would probably be grumpy if they had the issues that are outlined as possible reasons for this disorder. I'm not convinced after looking at the findings of his study, "A total of 40 percent of the overall survey said they were often or always irritable. Many of those who reported feeling the negative emotions, he discovered, were also experiencing certain hormonal fluctuations namely, a drop in testosterone as well as changes in brain chemistry, increased stress and a loss of male identity." Doesn't look real convincing to me as a psych major I would question the physical aspect because separating that from the external issues in this study would be next to impossible. Now if you show me a study of males who are typically "affected" by this disorder 15-28 and 40-55 who are not having an increase in stress or loss of male identity and then tell me that they are experiencing abnormal irritability when there is a drop in testosterone now we are talking. I wouldn't be surprised at this finding; however, my question would then be how significant are the effects and how long does it last? I found it interesting that the first group of males started at age 15 - duh, these kids are going through hormonal and identity issues simply because they are adolescents it's part of growing up not a disorder.

Anyway I think it would be fun to say to a man "are you IMSing is that why you are being such a bitch today?" Why not give men an excuse to be grumpy and irritable. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's ok for women and not men. I'm not a fan of the PMS excuse either-I'm not saying it doesn't exist just that too many women use it as an excuse to be angry or disrespectful. What it boils down to we all make choices during the day with regards to our attitude and the way we treat people. Maybe it's time we actuality responsibility for our actions despite the physical emotional factors that are going on inside our mind and body.

To Sum It Up...Dublin

Well I'm home and here is a brief consideration of my recent trip to Dublin. The Irish people are people who make the choice to live life to the fullest. They travel and make their friends and family a priority in their life. This is a idea that I think we try to uphold in America, but it seems for most that a career seems to get in the way. The Irish people work to live whereas we live to work. It's something that most people I know understand because it is always a struggle to have a true balance between your work life and your home life. It is impossible to move up in the corporate world without making sacrifices and most people in the states are willing to make those sacrifices to find fulfillment or meet their personal career goals. This isn't a good or bad thing it just is what it is. It was refreshing to see an environment where the expectations were still there, but there was also plenty of time for fun. I suppose if we had 4 or 5 weeks of vacation every year maybe we would take more "holiday's" as well.

It was difficult for me to get used to the pub environment being a catch all for friends and family. I was raised in a household where my parents never drank, so to be in a pub at 7 o'clock at night and see children running around will never seem normal to me. It is a culture that is centered on drinking and it seems to work ok for them-except that they do have a seriously high rate of alcoholism in their country and that was apparent.

Overall it was a good trip I learned a few new things about myself and got to meet some great people. It's a beautiful country that is definitely worth seeing if you ever get the chance. Now that I have been there twice I can't say that I'm itching to go back any time soon. I have plenty of places in the states that are on my to see list. I think I've been out of the country enough this year it's time to start traveling around the good old US of A. Next month the girls and I are headed to Chicago to visit a good friend.