Celebrate!

Hello! You made it!

Come on in and celebrate with me. This week, it has been 5 years since I strolled the hallways of OHSU during my journey to be rid of a brain tumor. (Did you know I named it "Barnabus" so I wouldn't have to say "brain tumor"?) Now, 5 MRI's later, I am still hearing the "all clear". I'll admit, I think about Barnabus almost everyday .... but often with Joy and Thanksgiving. It was definitely a time that God used my loved ones around me to carry me through, and a perfect reminder to appreciate and enjoy what I have. So get out there! Enjoy your families and friends! Take hikes, road trips, and get to the BEACH!!!! Plant things, rake leaves, bake cookies. Hug, laugh, be kind, and help out. Because we CAN!!!! (and we should .....)

In honor of this fine occasion, I invite you to dance in your kitchens (as I love to do, frequently) And eat blueberries. And avocados .... they are good for your brain! And I will now share with you some other silly things I have collected about brain trivia ....

Did you know ...

If you clench your fist, it will increase brain activity and improve your memory?
(I haven't actually tried this yet, because ironically, I keep forgetting to!)

Researchers observed that mice who had been fed the caffeine equivalent of five cups of coffee per day demonstrated recovery from induced Alzheimer’s disease.
(Study conducted at the University of South Florida)

The human brain produces in 30 seconds as much data as the Hubble Space Telescope has produced in its lifetime.
(Konrad Kording ~Nature, July 17, 2013)

Brain waves can power an electric train.
(from a Snapple Cap ~ fact #59)

Whenever you read a book or have a conversation, the experience causes physical changes in your brain. It's a little frightening to think that every time you walk away from an encounter, your brain has been altered, sometimes permanently.
(George Johnson ~ In the Palaces of Memory. How We Build the Worlds Inside Our Heads, 1991)

Brains in books and on screens .....

"Sports make you grunt and smell. Stay in school, use your brains. Be a thinker, not a stinker."
(Apollo Creed ~ character played by Carl Weathers in the movie Rocky, 1976)

“No brain at all, some of them [people], only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake, and they don't Think.” (A.A. Milne The House at Pooh Corner)

Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain .... only straw.
Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow: I don't know .... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking ... don't they?
Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.
(Conversation between the Scarecrow and Dorothy ~ The Wizard of Oz)

Blast medicine anyway! We've learned to tie into every organ in the human body but one. The brain! The brain is what life is all about.
(Dr. Leonard H. McCoy ~"Bones" ~ from Star Trek TV series, The Menagerie)

One of the stupidest episodes of Star Trek EVER was called "Spock's Brain". If you want a good nerdy laugh, be sure to watch it sometime in your lifetime!
(Becky Hawley Hilton's nerdy opinion)

Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain.
(Arthur Weasley ~ a character from the book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling, 1999)

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose."
(Dr. Seuss ~ Oh, the places you'll go!, 1990)

Brains in songs .....

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain."
(Jerry Lee Lewis ~ from the song Great Balls of Fire)

"If my heart could do my thinking,
would my brain begin to feel?"
(Van Morrison)

Brain Quotes that make me go Whoa ......

"A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist."
(Louis Nizer)

"It is in the brain that the poppy is red, that the apple is odorous, that the skylark sings."
(Oscar Wilde)

And my favorite all time brain quote ......

"You must keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out."
(James Oberg)

Thank you all for coming! And thanks for letting me share some tidbits that are ON MY MIND! (get it? on my MIND?) So sorry I am such a nerd ..... I really can't help it. At all.