Myioko

I'm learning about the various types of bodies of water. I'm very slowly going through the nature book I bought, but there's a lot to unpack. I've never studied nature much beyond an environment class I took years ago, and I like to understand the basics of how things work. I'm especially interested in nature. So I'll get through like one sentence or paragraph and then go deep down into the wikipedia rabbit hole. Ecotones An ecotone is a fancy word for (at least, I’ve never heard it before) transitional areas between two plant communities, where they gradually blend together and meet and integrate. It’s especially rich in life because oftentimes/usually both communities on plants and animals overlap within the ecotone, alongside additional specialized species living within the ecotone. So these overlaps creates a lot more plants and animals. Examples include grassland + forest, estuaries, freshwater + seawater, river + land, city/urban + non urban environments. (All are rich in lifeform except with the urban environment being different/unique. Only more hardy, specified animals survive there, such as coyotes, red fox, and deer.) The word ecotone comes from the combination of ecology + the greek word tone which means tension, so, a place where ecologies are in tension. A few different signs of ecotones: These mini environments can have sharp plant vegetation transitions, gradual, or inbetween. Physical appearance of the plants are also an indicator, like a transition from short to tall plants.Then, a change in species is an indicator as well. Changes in physical environment also create ecotones, whether manmade or not. Such as a forest clearing, or a mountain slope/edge. Plants are in competition within an ecotone. (Wouldn't it suck to be a sentient plant, if the plant had the ability to desire to survive!) Animals can take advantage of being mobile and traveling. Ecotone and ‘ecoline’ are similar yet different words. Ecotone is where two communities mix, and ecoline is a gradual change along a gradient, and is a spectrum of conditions: like moisture, temp, altitude, salinity. Like the changing of altitude. Some nice info here: https://earth.org/borderlands-of-wonder-how-ecotones-support-biodiversity-and-resilience/

This is where I'll share what I'll be learning, consuming, and things that interest me. I want to start prioritizing being more mindful when it comes to entertaining myself, and start using more active thinking when it comes to watching and reading things. I have a fuzzy memory when it comes to remembering things, so it would be great to slow down and remember things through being able to look back on notes so that I re-remember what stands out to me. I definitely am a more curiosity/exploring and having fun type of learner than a focused one, so I'll put in here anything and everything in the rabbit hole of whatever interests me. I feel I've been lacking in education/self education, so I'd love to be more active in discovering the inner and outer world around me.

Celiac disease I’ve been reading about celiac disease today, after waking up from a particularly groggy, unpleasant nap. It occurred to me that I likely felt this way as a reaction to eating bread, because it happens reoccuringly in the past year, which led me to wonder again why I have such adverse reactions to white bread. I used to think I felt that way because bread = a higher blood sugar spike as a type 1 diabetic. However, I began to notice that I still had that ‘getting hit by a truck and needing to have a nap coma’ feeling after eating bread when managing NOT to have any blood sugar spike. I felt soooo bad a while back the 24 hours after eating some heavenly, delightful, wonderful homemade sourdough bread. I felt incredibly tired and sick, and my blood sugar was off for that whole week afterwards. A month later, I tried it again - the bread was so good - I couldn't resist but test what would happen - and the same thing happened hehe, and it was so not worth it to eat again. I didn’t know anything about celiac disease til today; I had this assumption that it’s a transparent disease with severe symptoms. My cousin has it and she’s super careful about not eating gluten. Celiac disease is a long term autoimmune disease that affects primarily the small intestine. Those with it have an intolerance to gluten; when include wheat, rye, spelt, barley. I have some of the symptoms that go with it, but the symptoms are pretty vague/general, and what makes me doubtful that I have it is because my reaction towards white bread is much stronger than with wheat bread. But having diabetes makes the likelihood clear, and it would be pretty hopeful tbh to know where my fatigue nap spells come from. And a gluten free diet would not be much of an inconvenience - because I’m already t1 diabetic (avoid carbs) and vegan (cook my own food, bring my own food to social events). ~~~ ~1 percent of the population has this disease ~5-10 percent of type one diabetics have it ~80 percent of those with celiac disease go undiagnosed ~Symptoms include a wide variety of things, such as general fatigue, post meal fatigue, bloating, bowel symptoms, fertility problems, malabsorption, loss of appetite, weight loss/gain, headaches, brain fog, menstrual irregularities, early menopause, skin problems, etc. ~If you want to get tested, it’s important not to cut out gluten, otherwise the blood work test won’t work. Getting blood work done is simple, however it’s only 90% accurate. The not so fun way to confirm a test is to get an intestinal biopsy ~Symptoms in those diagnosed go away in 70-80% of the time within a year The basics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o-D6yrfnBg

Style Wars The style wars is a documentary, it's on youtube and it's either free or for rent for a couple dollars, I watched it for a class. It's about graffiti writers (they went by writers, not artists) in the 70s/80s, and 1973 was when it all really started. Graffiti, rap, and break dancing encompassed the hip hop sub culture. In listening to them describe why they did what they did, they seemed passionate/intent on ‘bombing’ trains - going to still or moving trains and writing down their name, for it to travel across cities for other graffiti writers to see. One teen said his reasoning in putting down his own name/graffiti was for other graffiti writers to see, and not so much for society to see or understand, I guess more of rebelling against society and not caring about opinions from outside their group/subculture. It was kinda funny seeing how confident they all were in their own views of each other, especially the older folk. I can see/imagine the appeal to that lifestyle for teens and young adults. I don’t know what graffiti culture is like today, but in the documentary it looked like a vibrant social hub with guys grouped together and talking expressively/openly about their opinions and interests in graffiti/break dance/or rap. The going-out to graffiti looked like fun in an exciting, half real-life adventure movie kind of way - not doing anything seriously dangerous, but running around New York city at night with their friends. I’m not sure if anything socially similar is structured like that in internet times today. I think the favorite part of the video was just seeing how the teens openly talked to each other and played around with each other in their down time, it was kind of wholesome even though they were technically vandalizing/breaking the law. They didn’t look worried/tense at all about being recorded, whether that was because things were different in the 80s, or they were a bunch of city extroverts. I’m not sure how much artistry went into the graffiti besides the excitement of getting their name and style out there into the world. I guess more than I'd just assume. After watching the documentary I felt like watching ‘Into the Spiderverse’. I’d never seen it before but had been meaning to, it looked like one of those movies I wouldnt love but should see at least once. The concept art or trailer behind it I saw the other year vaguely reminded me of graffiti. I kind of like the art style of Alberto Mielgo, it’s edgy, has good color and shape design, and I especially like the grainy nice texture. Even though some of his drawings lack a sensitivity I noticed, and his art is a little bit too sharp/actiony/lacks soulfullness for my taste, other than that I like seeing his art.