Umami

Umami is a beefy flavor (which is of little interest to me), according to Chapter 2 of our National Geographic Special, Your Brain: A User's Guide. It is the fifth basic taste that has been added to sweet, sour, salty and bitter.

Chapter 2 is about perception, or the five senses. Aside from (or perhaps because of) umami, I kind of think National Geographic is making stuff up now. Is there really, for example, a "gustatory cortex?" I am certainly not going to claim that something does NOT exist just because I haven't heard of it. However, if I the reader am unlikely to have heard of it, the least the booklet could have done is link it to another cortex of which I have already heard.

Speaking of hearing, I am tuned in to the hydration station today because I have self-diagnosed an adult ear infection thanks to the absolute bombardment of my otherwise-iron immune system by stealthy tweenage germs during exam week. This is embarrassing because ear infections are for children.
:(
I am also surfing the "temporary avoidance of antibiotics" wave. According to Where There is no Doctor, earaches can be taken care of with water and vinegar. I'll let you all know how that goes. (Yes, I know. There *are* doctors here in Las Vegas, and good ones. I don't know where this hatred of visiting doctors comes from, but I feel like it's culturally appropriate. It may not be the doctor visit itself that I dread, but the waiting-room accouterments of hacking fellow patients and small wailing children.)

Chapter 2 also dedicates an entire little sidebar to synesthesia, otherwise known as, "I can see the music" syndrome, or seeing music as color. This reminds me of 1960s Grateful Dead followers, and although studies have shown that it does exist, I suspect that there may be something else going on besides just innocently listening to music. Be that as it may.

Late to the party, I only finished season 2 of The Walking Dead just last night. True to the mores of our time, during which many of us watch entire seasons of tv in just a few sittings, I am devastated that I will now have to find a new show with which to fill my time until season 3 pops up as available on netflix.

As to the activities to keep up with according to our 2013 disaster preparedness calendar, last Friday we were to have purchased an additional gallon of water, and a can of fruit. For our planning, we were to identify and discuss what kinds of disasters are most likely to occur and how they will affect our families and property.

Thursday: "The Subconscious Brain," your Friday shopping list, and a review of the vinegar technique. (If it doesn't work I'm going to try tea tree oil and if THAT doesn't work...)

In the meantime, I am doing a self-help thing. That's not like me, and it's rather embarrassing. I'll tell you all about it in the springtime, probably in May.

Happy healing!