My balls and my word

VIRTUAL BODY

Go to that site. Go to the Spanish section. Listen to the man's voice.

If you know Spanish, or at least have heard it a lot before, you probably know that most "universal" Spanish voices have usually some sort of neutral Mexican accents. At times you'll get a pure Castillian accent in there. But do you hear this one?

IT'S CUBAN!

IT'S AMAZING!

I've always been a supporter of the Cuban accent, cos its the one that is most similar to ours, the Andaluz accent. We cut off more of the words than Cubans do, & Cubans tend to sound like they are eating soup. Plus, it's hard to beat our accent, especially the Sevilla capital accent, cos we're the best & sexiest & most original & lovely. But Cubans have this mastery of the Spanish language unlike other Latin Americans. I love how they use, work & play with the language. But Cubans have this mastery of the Spanish language unlike other Latin Americans. Sure, people think Mexicans speak better, but I can't stand their accents. If I want to hear it, I'll just watch Speedy Gonzalez. The Argentinian accent at times is wonderful, as well as the close Uruguayan accent, but they don't come close to the Cuban accent in my book.

It's so unusual to hear this sort of thing on some official translation. But maybe its cos Cuba has that reputation for producing the best doctors on Earth. Whatever it is, I'm in agreeance of letting people hear it & get to know different accents. It's so easy to understand for me, so it makes me feel better about learning anatomy in Spanish little by little. This makes me happy.

Oh, & everyone should check out the site in general. It's a virtual, interactive showcase of certain parts of the body, with a narrator, illustrations, & such. Even includes puzzles! It's so fun!

Although I'm only on Unit Two: Tissues of the Body, & more specifically Lesson Two: Connective Tissues in that section, I think I might enjoy bones & blood most of all. I'm going to explore all sections of anatomy, but these absolutely FASCINATE me.


BONES

"BONES ARE SO INTERESTING", I wrote on my notes for Module 2-11: Bone Connective Tissue. Bones have so many facets! I love them because they both destroy themselves & repair themselves, with the osteoblasts & the osteoclasts. Did you know that bone "is continually being re-modelled as a person lives" & that "re-modelling is in direct response to stresses placed on the bone"? Bone has hard parts & spongy parts. Bones can be seen as organs cos they are made from cells which make up tissues, & those tissues work together to form a structure which performs functions. I'm going to leave exploration of bone connective tissues for when I get to Unit 4: The Human Skeletal System so that I can keep it all together. I know I'm going to dedicate a long time to it, & want to be organized about it.

When I was little, I was obsessed with this poster in my house of a skeleton with a white tee shirt on depicting a Jack-O-Lantern. On the back of the poster is the song "The Ghost of John" which I taught myself to play on clarinet cos it has the music to it as well. It's also one of my favorite songs to sing. Also, that kids' song that goes "head bone's connected to the neck bone, etc etc" is one of my favorites. I've always wondered how bones can take all the wear & tear, especially after I broke my leg at age 10 by falling off of my bike. I stared at my leg for hours wondering how it was the same thing on the X-ray & how on Earth it was going to heal.


BLOOD

Blood is amazing as well. It sometimes can be considered as connective tissue. Did you know that blood enters the bones through vessels & some of those enter nutrient canals & spread throughout the marrow? The cardiovascular system is so fascinating, & I already know that the heart is my favorite organ. I like how it has to do two things at once, or it all breaks down, like the engine of a car. I also like everything that goes along with the heart outside of anatomy, like the history of the heart symbol & it's different meanings. My mom always said my heart was bigger than my feet, & that's probably the best compliment I've ever gotten in my life (maybe cos it's true in its context). I <3 the heart!


ANATOMY AS ART

Radiographic anatomy is the best realization of Gray's Anatomy cos it remains an art. I've always been obsessed with medical books, body atlases & such, but Gray's Anatomy has always been at the top of my list. My two copies are in the States, so I'm going to bring one here as soon as I can. The illustrations in it are the best in history. It's a map of the human body. On cardiovascular illustrations & on angiograms you can put arrows to know which direction the blood flows. From radiography you can know what's wrong with what, you can look inside someone without breaking them open. It's like finding out an anatomical secret without the mess. Just imagine if the artists way back when had these powers, then they wouldn't have had to dig up & open those stinky dead bodies ....

I've always been drawn to Xrays. Doctors will never let me keep mine, but next time I'm going to steal it & adorn my window with it. What? IT'S MINE.



X-ray of the Lower Leg, NetAnatomy.com


This looks like some sort of surreal painting, doesn't it? It's an X-ray of the lower leg, I do believe I had some sort of fracture on my tibia, the bigger bone on the right-hand side. I was 10 years old but the doctor said it was commonly found in adolescent girls. During the healing period is when my "period" came, so I suppose it all is related, maybe. The soft tissue of the leg, also known as "the meat & all that" in VR Anatomy, appear like a ghost in the background. It's all so pretty.

I think my favorite type of photography is now the angiogram, which is basically an X-ray of veins & arteries.



Cartoid Angiogram, NetAnatomy.com


The above is an angiogram of the cartoid arteries, which supply blood to the head & neck. An iodine contrast was injected into the aorta, the the largest & most important artery of the body which originates in the left ventricle of the heart & brings oxygenated blood to all parts of the body. The bones are removed from the angiogram by subtraction.

It's all so inspiring artistically. I am definitely going to delve into that inspiration soon.

I am now independently studying anatomy, so I will probably be writing a lot about it. It's fascinating.

Did you know that in seven years the human body replaces the equivalent of an entire skeleton?

I love this stuff.

Next I hope to study physiology, & then biology. Maybe afterwards I'll get into more scientific things, but I'm not sure. All's I know is that right now it's basic anatomy & I'm thrilled.

Absolutely tickled pink!