Diagram Prize…continued, Epicurus, and Rome

how to pooDiagram Prize

The 2014 Diagram Prize has been awarded once again to purveyors of scatological titles.

How to Poo on a Date: The Lovers’ Guide to Toilet Etiquette” was the hands-down winner with “The Origin of Feces” close on its tail, squeezing out a second place. To get to the bottom of this story, check here.

Wolrdcat gives only 5 locations for the winner; but the runner-up gets over 300 locations and yes, we have a copy.

Epicurus

Having recently read Daniel Klein’s Travels with Epicurus : a journey to a Greek island in search of a fulfilled life, here are some of the things I learned:

epicurusEpicurus said:

Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.

Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little

Eating without a friend is the life of the lion or the wolf.

I also learned that “prefa” is a Greek card game and “Ossa” is the Greek goddess of rumour and gossip, a great name for a blog.

Happy Birthday, Rome

rome 2And finally, on 21st of April (Easter Monday) I celebrated Parilia (the name given to the annual festival celebrating the founding of Rome) by looking at some guidebooks and maps to the city daydreaming about when I would return. And because it wasn’t built in day, Rome is 2767 years old.

 

Therapy dogs in the library: take a “paws” from exam stress

Back by popular demand, we will once again welcome therapy dogs in the Redpath Library Building. The dogs will visit us on Tuesday, April 15th from noon-2pm.

Come to meet people (who are just as stressed out as you are, btw) and engage a bit of collective ooh-ing and ahh-ing over these gorgeous beasts, but also come for the anti-stress benefits that result from interaction with animals. The benefits run deep: check out this study that found that contact with a cat or dog led to a drop in blood pressure for male and female college students. The hypothesis was that there would be differences between the way the male and female students reacted to a dog versus a cat. However, not only was there a correlation between handling cat or dog and a drop in blood pressure, but whether the animal was a cat or a dog did not matter. Everybody wins: female students, male students, cats, and dogs! (Also: does this mean we can finally put the age old cats versus dogs debate to rest?)

Somervill, J. W., Kruglikova, Y. A., Robertson, R. L., Hanson, L. M., & MacLin, O. H. (2008). Physiological responses by college students to a dog and a cat: Implications for pet therapy. North American Journal of Psychology, 10, 3, 519-528.Dog Visit 2014