ephemeris_vivax

A couple of days ago, I had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
A poorly-written recounting of it follows.
I apologize in advance for the repetitions (in particular, the awful overuse of the word "so.")

NYTimes: The Hangover That Lasts

Go read it - you have to have a login to NYTimes.com but they're free and they've never hassled me with spam. It isn't very long.

I'm fascinated by the conclusions (from studies on rats) about rats which engaged in the laboratory equivalent of binge drinking during adolescence, and then stopped drinking. They're capable of learning - but they're not capable of relearning. They can't admit they were wrong. They show "a tendency to stay the course, a diminished capacity for relearning and maladaptive decision-making." They "fail to recognize the ultimate consequences of [their] actions." And all this is present even after a long period of sobriety.

The one good thing the study mentions is that, in "former alcohol-drinking mice", exercise clearly stimulates "the regrowth and development of normal neural tissue". So - exercise is good for the formerly drunken brain.

And neither I nor the article's author have ever mentioned the name you're thinking!

Now how do we explain Dick Cheney?

Or indeed do you seek your eternal salvation? Julien, burdened with his volumes, left the Palace, in great bewilderment, as midnight was striking.
In spite of herself Madame de Renal felt this tone of authority exert its influence over her heart.
The arm was then forgotten, and remained in the position that it had occupied.
I have taken leave of Monseigneur, the Bishop.
She thrust him from her with a force that was indeed extraordinary.
I have never left the Seminary alone in my life but once, to go and help M. Even if I break the glass, I must settle this business. I pity you, she told him, seeking to wound his pride which she knew to be so irritable.
The white phantom moved away; he seized it by the arms; it was a woman.
There, he ventured to broach the subject.
The Vicar-General wished to insinuate a few words as to the choice of a successor. A lackey, richly attired, passed rapidly through the room. There, he ventured to broach the subject.
At length the prelate could not refrain from paying the young seminarist a compliment.
Julien was summoned: I shall find myself trapped between two inquisitors, he thought.
It would be impossible to have studied to better advantage.
I prevent the spread of Jesuitry and idolatry, he used to say to himself. What a difference from the state of things fourteen months ago!
I do not know what he will do; but he has the sacred fire, he may go far. What a disgrace for me if I am shown the door! Or indeed do you seek your eternal salvation? But you will have to go through the servants room, said Julien with astonishment.
Who is that clever-looking seminarist, whom I seemed to see as I passed? Do you then wish me, he asked her, to retain no memory of having seen you? They stole the wood from his shed, they poisoned his dog, etc.
Although the gift is scarcely canonical, I should like to give you a set of Tacitus.
The remorse will be enough to poison my whole life, he said to himself, she will never write to me.
They could not see each other, so intense was the darkness, but the sound of their voices told all.
I shall leave the ladder in the corridor, call the man and send him on an errand. Some weeks later, Julien shuddered on receiving a letter; it bore the Paris postmark. How was the eminent lawyer to explain them to him, if he did not understand them himself?

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Fortuna:
A geo-political/wargame simulation of the Napoleonic Wars.
Part of MIT's SPLASH program this weekend.
Be there and be square.