Mirthful Monday--music video style

Reminiscence from my childhood: My parents blocked MTV and VH1 from our house. In uber-Mormon land (and in over-achieving parent land, I might add), all TV is bad--cable channels are the worst. My brother (Hi TJ!), being a budding techno-genius, figured out how to work it so we got those channels through the VCR. He and my sister watched grainy, bootleg videos every afternoon all the while exulting in the fact that they were doing something sneaky. I was the youngest and, ahem, a nark, so I told on them--a fact which no one in my family has EVER let go of. My parents called the cable company and they sent a guy who snipped the literal-under-the-ground cable and the sinful, albeit sometimes soulful, channels were gone. So we all started sneaky around so we could watch Comedy Central.

The point: I don't get music videos. Now that I'm an old, over-sensitive mommy I can't figure out why anyone, anywhere would want to watch music videos. They are dirty. They are random. And they inspire weirdo rappers/singer dudes to interrupt lovely young country starlets who are getting awards they may or may not deserve (which is entirely beside the point, Kanye!).

Anyway, I finally found a video I get. Sort of. Well, okay, I don't get it. But at least it's funny!! Happy Monday!

Mirthful Monday: Where NOT to get your political views

There's been an awful lot of political chatter these days and it's making me nuts. Not because I agree or disagree, but because so much of it is the product of ridiculous, knee-jerk, reactionary thinking. To set the record straight: I won't judge you based on what you think about health care and insurance, President Obama's speech to school kids, or even if you think Obama is an antichrist. All I care about is whether or not you are well informed. So today I'm going to suggest a few places to NOT get your political eduction.

#1 Bumper Stickers




#2 T-shirts



#3 Taco joints in Pocatello, Idaho (really!)


So if we can't rely on pithy, inflammatory statements and graphics what are we to do? Maybe we should all start trying this:



Happy Monday!

But Not Unhappy Science Friday: Utah is NOT the most depressed!

That's right, people. You heard me. Utah is NOT the most depressed state in the nation--well, at least that's what a new phone-survey study says. In this study Utah ranked 21st out of 34 states.

Other interesting conclusions:

Persons with major depression were:

- 2.3 times more likely to be current smokers,
- 1.8 times more likely to report binge drinking,

Hmm. . . not to be rude, but those depressed people sure don't sound like Mormons!

This study didn't seek to explain why Utah continually ranks so high for antidepressant prescriptions--but it does add more specific information to the pot. Maybe the whole "mother in zion" theory doesn't hold as much water as the media wishes it did.

The best thing to come out of this study, in my mind, was this quote:

"In our health care system, we tend to disconnect physical and mental health, but this report demonstrates the strong relationship between the two and the need to address depression when working to prevent and manage chronic health conditions."

Now that something I can say amen to!