First Baptist Church - Senior Adult Choir

Seriously...Sad People Watch More TV

By Jeanna Bryner

Unhappy people glue themselves to the television 30 percent more than happy people.

The finding, announced on Thursday, comes from a survey of nearly 30,000 American adults conducted between 1975 and 2006 as part of the General Social Survey.

While happy people reported watching an average of 19 hours of television per week, unhappy people reported 25 hours a week. The results held even after taking into account education, income, age and marital status.

In addition, happy individuals were more socially active, attended more religious services, voted more and read a newspaper more often than their less-chipper counterparts.

The researchers are not sure, though, whether unhappiness leads to more television-watching or more viewing leads to unhappiness.

In fact, people say they like watching television: Past research has shown that when people watch television they enjoy it. In these studies, participants reported that on a scale from 0 (dislike) to 10 (greatly enjoy), TV-watching was nearly an 8.

But perhaps the high from watching television doesn't last.

Short-term pleasure, long-term malaise
"These conflicting data suggest that TV may provide viewers with short-run pleasure, but at the expense of long-term malaise," said researcher John Robinson, a sociologist at the University of Maryland, College Park.

In this scenario, even the happiest campers could turn into Debbie-downers if they continue to stare at the boob-tube. The researchers suggest that over time, television-viewing could push out other activities that do have more lasting benefits. Exercise and sex come to mind, as do parties and other forms of socialization known to have psychological benefits.

Or, maybe television is simply a refuge for people who are already unhappy.

"TV is not judgmental nor difficult, so people with few social skills or resources for other activities can engage in it," Robinson and UM colleague Steven Martin write in the December issue of the journal Social Indicators Research.

source: msnbc.com

My Mornings...

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Seriously...Good Chesterton Quote

"Whenever one meets modern thinkers (as one often does) progressing towards a madhouse, one always finds, on inquiry, that they have just had a splendid escape from another madhouse. Thus, hundreds of people become Socialists, not because they have tried Socialism and found it nice, but because they have tried Individualism and found it particularly nasty. Thus, many embrace Christian Science solely because they are quite sick of heathen science; they are so tired of believing that everything is matter that they will even take refuge in the revolting fable that everything is mind. Man ought to march somewhere. But modern man (in his sick reaction) is ready to march nowhere-- so long as it is the Other End of Nowhere."
-G.K. Chesterton, Alarms and Discursions

Serious Moment...Enjoying the Fall Season

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Check out my TV viewing options for election night!

"Hmm...so let me see here...its either Barack Obama, John McCain, or...Nash Bridges!"

Maybe a Mistake ... Maybe NOT?

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What is the longest English word you can spell using only one row of letters on a typewriter?
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Its TYPEWRITER!

link

gocomics.com

Its That Time of Year Again...

Here is another set of hideous halloween costumes...

Reading From the Greats!!!

I was reading a post this morning which gave advice about how to be inspired.
It suggested that I read quotes from some of the greatest people of all time.
I figured maybe...oh...I don't know... Jesus?...Ghandi?...Buddha?

Nope! ROSS PEROT!!






Honestly...I had no idea he was ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE OF ALL TIME!!!

gocomics.com

Russ Pflasterer to Speak at Union University!

This should be tremendous, worth a special trip!

Russ is a friend (and hero) of mine from my old college days, don't miss it!

"On Wednesday, October 22 (10:00 am), Union University's special chapel guest is Russ Pflasterer, a Union graduate, and Pastor of City Fellowship Baptist Church in Jackson, a church seeking to minister intentionally and faithfully across racial and socioeconomic lines. Russ will be speaking on "Economics for the Hard-hearted"."

---------------UPDATE------------

It was fantastic!
I'll link to the audio when it is available.

Serious Moment...Missionary Killed in Afghanistan

Christian missionary killed by Taliban in Kabul

Associate Press - Oct 20, 2008

Gayle Williams, a 34-year-old dual British-South African national who helped handicapped Afghans, was shot to death as she was walking to work about 8 a.m., said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary.

A spokesman for the militants said the Taliban ordered her killed because she was accused of proselytizing.

"This woman came to Afghanistan to teach Christianity to the people of Afghanistan," Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press. "Our (leaders) issued a decree to kill this woman."

read more here

Lobsters in my Pants!

A friend of mine, Brett Smith, told me that this news story made him think of me!
I'm hoping he meant it made him think of my blog.



Man Accused of Tucking 6 Lobsters in His Pants

updated 12:17 a.m. CT, Sun., Oct. 12, 2008

SAN DIEGO - A San Diego man accused of poaching lobsters allegedly was caught with six of the creatures stuffed down his pants.

Thirty-three-year-old Binh Quang Chau, who has been cited four times for poaching, allegedly took the lobsters from the La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area.

Department of Fish and Game warden Daryl Simmons says wardens arrested Chau when they noticed "odd bulges" in his pants. All six of the lobsters were still alive and were returned to the ocean.

via msnbc

Puberty Pookie!

Melody Whaley Wheat (an old friend of mine from my middle-school years) posted this old photo of me on facebook.

It really took me back.
Back to the days when I had red hair.
Back to the days when I had...hair!

Check out the cow-lick and the butt-cut!

"You stay classy, Paducah."

Study Shows Paper and Pen, Not Computers, Boosts Intelligence

Paper, pencil and books are the key to developing one's creativity and maximizing one's intelligence, says Dutch psychologist Christof van Nimwegen.

The Dutch researcher recently completed a PhD dissertation at the University of Utrecht about the effects of software on the functioning of the human brain.

Van Nimwegen asked two groups to perform the same tasks.

The first was allowed use a computer; the second group only got a pen and pencil.

The second group executed all tasks faster and performed substantially better. In addition, their solutions to complicated problems were more creative.

Van Nimwegen says much software turns us into passive beings, subjected to the whims of computers, randomly clicking on icons and menu options. In the long run, this hinders our creativity and memory, he says.

Van Nimwegen says his study demonstrates people may benefit if they continue to study new information by using books and the spoken word.

"Listening to someone is the best guarantee to absorb information and store it permanently in one's memory," van Nimwegen says.

"Subconsciously, many of us know that computers can make our brains lazy," van Nimwegen says.

"Sometimes, if computers take over too much from people, their brains get lazy and people become less attentive. They miss out on problems. Sometimes the consequences can be enormous," he warned.

via scientific commons

Peanut Butter Slices ???...

Actual Product!

For those times when you just don't have time to make it the old fashioned way!

gocomics.com

Seriously...Great Article on Getting Out of Debt!

--excerpt--

"I cut up every single credit card except one for emergencies.
I actually put my remaining credit card in a big plastic cup full of water
and stuck it in the freezer.
That way, I'd really have to work at it to get that card..."

read the entire article here

Unicorn-y

via chuck's

I'm Speechless...