Fall Photos Accompany Record Temps and Vegan Verification

It has been over a year since I stopped being a vegan. Don't get me wrong. I still eat quinoa and edamame and fruit for lunch. I still have very low sugar cereal for breakfast. However, I am less stringent about my dinner. Last night, I came across an article that said "Some evidence suggests vegetarian dietary patterns may be associated with reduced mortality, but the relationship is not well established." According to the Huffington Post, the results of the endeavor found that mortality rates during the study's timeframe were 12% lower for vegetarians, compared to non-vegetarians, whereas vegans saw an even lower mortality rate during the timeframe, or a 15% reduced risk of death. Pesco-vegetarian, or vegetarians who make the exception to include fish in their diets, saw a 19% lower mortality rate as compared to non-vegetarians, according to the study, whereas lacto-ovo-vegetarians (vegetarians who eat eggs and non-vegetarian dairy products) saw a 9% lower mortality rate than non-vegetarians. And compared to meat-eaters, semi-vegetarians had an 8% lower risk of death during the study's timeframe. Makes you wonder, huh? Excuse me. I am eating pizza while I read this. Ha ha.

Where did Noah keep his bees? In the Ark hives. Well, it made me laugh. I'll have more of those bad jokes in future blog posts.

Apparently, the Chinese made a clock that physically rewrites the time every minute. It is a bit too large to carry on your wrist, though. Check out the video.

I reached back into my archives and found some shots I caught up in Northern California. We have set heat records the last two days, so I guess I am longing for the coolness of a Fall day, with the bright colors of aspen and maple. So, we will start today with the oranges and yellows of aspen changing color.

And maybe some snow on the hills and mountains. This shot comes from June Lake, CA, in 2011.

Also from June Lake is this chipmunk catching an afternoon snack. He was not too concerned with having us around, so he is obviously used to seeing people, and maybe begging from them.

And today's joke from my Page-A-Day calendar. I rate it as smile-worthy, but not guffaw-inducing.
Two political opponents were having a debate.
“There are many ways of making money,” said the first, “but there is only one honest way.”
“And what is that?” asked the second.
“I had a feeling you wouldn't know,” said the first.

I am not much of a dip-and-chips dude, but I know many of you are. I am even less of a cheese-eater, nor cream cheese, nor sour cream, but I know many of you are. So, I offer up a current Pinterest favorite, Texas Trash Warm Bean Dip. Yes, you may have surmised that it was the name that caught my attention. Look, it will only take you 33 seconds to click the link and look over the recipe, so go decide for yourself.

I just read that Mr. Magoo was in the first Christmas cartoon broadcast on TV.

What do these words bring to mind? Duplicity, fabrication, evasion, stringing someone along, inaccuracy, exaggeration, fudging, rationalization, falsehood, "whopper," deception, misrepresentation, dishonesty, putting someone on, putting up a front, and fibbing. If you recognize them as synonyms for lying, you are correct. Today's devotional is from Exodus 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. The author notes, "According to an article by Jan Mendenhall in the June/July 1997 issue of Aspire, college kids lie to their moms in 50% of conversations. Dating couples lie to each other a third of the time, and spouses deceive each other in about 10% of major conversations. Twelve percent of four million Americans lost their jobs for 'misrepresentation.' A November 1997 survey conducted by the publishers of Who's Who Among American High Schools Students reveals that 76% of the students listed in their publication (supposedly the elite achievers) admit having cheated. Two-thirds of these believe it is 'no big deal' to cheat to get a good test grade—and 65% of their parents agree." Sad, indeed.

Today's punchlines remind me of a story Steve Martin used to tell about getting a gasoline-powered turtleneck sweater for Christmas. Exactly, it makes no sense.

MBH noticed that, yesterday, I wished everyone a Wonderful Wednesday. Sorry, I forgot that it was Thursday. That means today is Friday, and the start of the weekend, so have a nice one and come back next week for more merriment.