Monday, March 21, 2011

It's self-acceptance week here at NMU

Whether it's the fact that you wish you had blue eyes, the fact that you wish you were taller,  the fact that you wish you weren't so tall, or even the fact that you wish you were left-handed---> Sadly, we need to accept us for who we are... this week at least.


While there are plenty of blogs on being left-handed out there in cyberspace, there seems to be a lack of right-handed blogsin existence.  Surprised?  Eh, probably not.  It may be a little monotonous to post blogs about routines that have little difficulty because much of everything is adapted for the right-hander:  it's kind of a nice thing I suppose.

Holy Wah!

<--- What do you see this as?  That's the question of the century... or of the moment
If one goes to type in Google, "Left-handed blogs," one will be utterly amazed (Or, I suppose "amaze" isn't accurate for everyone) at all of them.  While I am certainly just a left-handed wannabe, there are Legitimate stories about the struggles of being a southpaw.  


 Are you a left-hander?  Don't doubt your capabilities!  Take the test.  Go ahead.  Do it.

http://www.beinglefthanded.com/Left-Handed-Test.html 

I just asked the left-handed classmate to my right (Dana) to draw a circle... I watched intently.  Next, was to find a right-handed person (Katrina) to draw a circle.  She too did it counter-clockwise.  Hmm.  Interesting. 

I can't attribute this information to research at Harvard or even Yale, but I did find that the chance of being a left-handed kiddo when your parents are right-handed is just 2%.  However, when one's parents are both left-handed, the kiddo's shot at being a southpaw jumps to 42%... still less than half.
"While being left handed isn’t a big deal anymore, once upon a time it was extremely frowned upon. For instance, in India and Indonesia, it is considered extremely impolite to eat with the left hand, as this is the hand that is used to “cleanse” oneself. Therefore, the left hand is considered dirty. In addition, teachers in America used to slap the wrists of students who attempted to write with their left hands.
Aside from past ridicule of society, lefties also face many other struggles when it comes to using scissors, knives, cameras, tools, watches, etc. Every one of these objects need the complete opposite design in order to accommodate the needs of a lefty. Fortunately, left handers of today are treated with much more consideration, and virtually any tool can be designed for left handed individuals.
Therefore, if you use your left hand over your right, or your child does, this is quite natural, and shouldn’t be something for you to worry about. Just make sure that you provide your child with all of the help they need to make the most of their abilities. Remember, there is nothing wrong about being left handed, event though it can sometimes prove to be difficult in a world with a predominant right handed population."

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Quotes


If you hold a four-leaf shamrock in your left hand at dawn on St. Patrick's Day you get what you want very much but haven't wished for.  ~Patricia Lynch


Today is St. Patrick's Day, so in celebration of that, Happy St. Patrick's Day.  This morning I was studying for a rather large test next week when a friend came out of his way to pinch me.  While I was wondering why he was so dressed in green, he quickly informed me of his day's activities.


While I tried to support my case that I indeed have a green backpack, he really didn't care.  Interestingly, he pinched my left arm.  Interesting.


So, apparently, there is some sort of connection between ole St. Pats Day and the left side of one's body, or not.  



Monday, March 14, 2011

Thirsty? What way will you tilt?

It seems that many of my stories I share with people involve either me running, or at running events.  This case is no different.  It was after the last race a couple of my teammates and I were cooling down.  For those of you who are not runners, cooling down means to release the lactic acid that has built up in the legs.  For those of you who don't like terms such as "lactic acid," it simply is getting rid of that tight feeling.  Good, that is cleared up.

We were jogging down this carpeted hallway, when this drinking fountain looked rather appealing.  I stopped.  The teammates I was running with stopped.  I bent over, and tilted my head to the left.

"Whoa!, it's on the left side!  Isn't the water spigot usually on the right?!"

I feel like the majority of water fountains I've used in my short lifetime have had the spigots on the right side, so I was rather excited to see this one accommodated for the left-handed thinkers. 

"Brittany!  Sarah!  Isn't this weird?"

They really didn't care about what side they tilted their head toward to get some water.  I walked away rather pleased not only because I was no longer thirsty, but because I realized the world is striving for equality in water bubblers.. kind of.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Update.

I have largely thrown in the towel to writing left-handed in many of my classes.  Why?, you may ask?  Well the answer is simple.  I lack the self-control.  However... here's some left-hand vs Right-hand pictures of notes.  They're not too shabby.  Enjoy the human communication notes.