Potassium

Here are some selected, pertinent facts about potassium courtesy of Wikipedia.

With a density less than that of water, potassium is the second least dense metal after lithium. It is a soft, low-melting solid that can easily be cut with a knife. Freshly cut potassium is silvery in appearance, but in air it begins to tarnish toward gray visibly and immediately. Potassium must be protected from air for storage to prevent disintegration of the metal from oxide and hydroxide corrosion. Often samples are maintained under an inert medium such as kerosene.

It has the symbol K (Arabic: al qalja‎ → Latin: kalium), and atomic number 19. The name "potassium" comes from the word "potash", as potassium was first isolated from potash. Potassium is a soft silvery-white metallic alkali metal that occurs naturally bound to other elements in seawater and many minerals. It oxidizes rapidly in air and is very reactive, especially towards water. In many respects, potassium and sodium are chemically similar, although organisms in general, and animal cells in particular, treat them very differently.

• Potassium is an essential element for all living organisms.
• Potassium and its compounds emit a violet color in a flame. This fact is the basis of the flame test for the presence of potassium in a sample.
• Potassium compounds generally have excellent water solubility, due to the high hydration energy of the K+ ion. The potassium ion is colorless in water.
• Potassium may be detected by taste because it triggers all the types of tastebuds, according to concentration. Dilute solutions of potassium ion taste sweet (allowing moderate concentrations in milk and juices), while higher concentrations become increasingly bitter/alkaline, and finally also salty to the taste. The combined bitterness and saltiness of high potassium content solutions makes high-dose potassium supplementation by liquid drinks a palatability challenge.

• It is primarily used in fertilizer as either the chloride, sulfate or carbonate - not as the oxide.
• Potassium hydroxide is an important industrial chemical used as a strong base.
• Potassium nitrate is used in gunpowder (black powder). An older term for KNO3 is saltpeter.
• Potassium carbonate, known as potash, is used in glass manufacturing.
• Glass treated with liquid potassium is much stronger than regular glass.
• NaK, pronounced "nack", an alloy of sodium and potassium which is liquid at room temperature, is used as a heat-transfer medium. It can also be used as a desiccant for producing dry and air-free solvents.
• Potassium is an essential component needed in plant growth and is found in most soil types. In animal cells potassium ions are vital to keeping cells alive (see Na-K pump)
• Potassium chloride is used as a substitute for table salt and is also used to stop the heart, e.g. in cardiac surgery and in executions by lethal injection in solution.
• The superoxide KO2 is used as a portable source of oxygen and as a carbon dioxide absorber. It is useful in portable respiration systems.
• Many potassium salts are very important, and include: potassium bromide, potassium carbonate, potassium chlorate, potassium chloride, potassium chromate, potassium cyanide, potassium dichromate, potassium iodide, potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate.

Solid potassium reacts violently with water, and should therefore be kept under a mineral oil such as kerosene and handled with care. Unlike lithium and sodium however, potassium cannot be stored under oil indefinitely. If stored longer than 6 months to a year, dangerous shock-sensitive peroxides can form on the metal and under the lid of the container, which can detonate upon opening. DO NOT store potassium, rubidium or caesium for longer than a year unless stored in an inert (argon) atmosphere or in a vacuum.

The extremely alkaline potassium hydroxide (KOH) residue on the surface of potassium which has been exposed to moisture, is a caustic hazard. As with sodium metal, the "soapy" feel of potassium metal on skin is due to caustic breakdown of the fats in skin into crude soft potassium soap, and represents the beginning of an alkali burn. Potassium should obviously be handled only with careful skin and eye protection.

Potassium fires are exacerbated by water, and only a few dry chemicals are effective for them. For a fire discussion which applies to alkali metals in general, see the precaution section for sodium.

Potassium is an essential mineral micronutrient in human nutrition; it is the major cation (positive ion) inside animal cells, and it is thus important in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in the body. Potassium is also important in allowing muscle contraction and the sending of all nerve impulses in animals. See action potential for an explanation of the interplay of sodium and potassium in all excitable animal cells. Because of the interaction of the charge on a potassium ion and its surrounding water molecules, K+ ions are actually a little smaller than Na+ ions, and ion channels and pumps in cell membranes can easily distinguish between the two types of ions, actively pumping or passively allowing one of the two ions to pass, while blocking the other.

A shortage of potassium in body fluids may cause a potentially fatal condition known as hypokalemia (see article for detail), typically resulting from diarrhea, increased diuresis and vomiting. Deficiency symptoms include muscle weakness, paralytic ileus, ECG abnormalities, decreased reflex response and (in severe cases) respiratory paralysis, alkalosis and arrhythmia.
Eating a variety of foods that contain potassium is the best way to get an adequate amount. Healthy individuals who eat a balanced diet rarely need supplements. Foods with high sources of potassium include orange juice, potatoes, bananas, avocados, apricots, parsnips and turnips, although many other fruits, vegetables, and meats contain potassium. Research has indicated that diets high in potassium can reduce the risk of hypertension.

The 2004 guidelines of the Institute of Medicine specify an RDA of 4,700 mg of potassium. However, it is thought that most Americans consume only half that amount per day. Similarly, in the European Union, particularly in Germany and Italy, insufficient potassium intake is widespread. Supplements of potassium in medicine are most widely used in conjunction with the most powerful classes of diuretics, which rid the body of sodium and water, but have the side effect of also causing potassium loss in urine. A variety of medical supplements are available.

Some people with kidney disease are advised to avoid large quantities of dietary potassium. End stage renal failure patients undergoing therapy by renal dialysis must observe strict dietary limits on potassium intake, since the kidneys control potassium excretion, and buildup of blood concentrations of potassium may trigger fatal heart dysrhythmias.

"I like philosophy as an anonymous job"

Zizek circumnavigates one ideology within this short-yet-inspiring documentary. It is a document, yes, of Zizek going from one speaking engagement to another, decrying the attendance to his lectures by students and budding philosophers alike and observing his son as essence: the natural form of un-love.

It is a deception, this idea of love. What we do not know about Zizek is all we need to know. It is his exigence: this idea of anonymity combined with the idea of utterance pronouncing existence.

Not being one who clearly understands the Marxist bent/Lacanian analysis, but one who intends to further my study, I took away from this documentary:

1. "anti-metaphysics, [that is] the absurdity to theorize the All, because something will always remain un-theorized."

2. Pleasure with constraint, i.e. his example of the Dostoevsky model: "If God doesn't exist, everything permitted. If God doesn't exist, everything is prohibited."

I must return to my surrealist domain, I must further study his philosophies as these are but small representations of the ironic "whole" which he denounces. I like the idea of an anonymous philosophy, that is, one that shifts its position for proper metaphysical suicide and Uber-Freudian submersion. If I am a woman who comprehends parallel universes, I at least understand that a non-revolution occurring in another dimension is my anonymous revolution for mankind.

Zizek
Lacan

Slim Goodbody, Chef Brockett, and Doug Henning

These three men are of mystical realms, they have magic prowess and, of course, peanut butter balls. Let's not forget sutra magic love, new age theme park plans, and a tight body-stocking with huge intestines painted upon it.

I remember in grade school we all went to the Robert Crown Health center to learn about puberty. A clear plastic woman, probably related to the CPR dummy, Annie, lit her breasts up and discussed "mammary glands". The boys punched some girl's boobs to test her "mammaries".

The Premise of "Krull": Peter Yates' Psyche

After watching BULLITT from way back when, I have come to the conclusion that I have great admiration for a director that commands presence with silence, utilizes an emotional climax with only subtlety...the undertow of intensity. Wind-blown wisps of hair across porcelain foreheads and glazed horse-eyed gazes on the beach.

Like Jacqueline Bissett, I discover he is living in a crazy law-enforcement world of violence and our worlds have collided. Dialogue is moot in this instance.

I'm Sick of Symmetry

Viewed Buñel's 1974 classic, "Phantom Of Liberty". Have to note that I did the bougeoise thing and twice rewound a scene in which a police academy professor turns around only to reveal the age-old prank of having a piece of paper pinned to his back. Buñel masterfully weaves several subplots into one another, illustrating the artful statement of societal sublimation via the repressed mind. ***1/2

The Peacock Skirt, by Aubrey Beardsley

Safia Ama Jan

Who would I choose as my Woman of the Year?

Immediately I began trying to NOT think of Hillary. Not that I don't respect her strong will and attack on Rumsfeld on the Hill a few weeks back, but I saw her speak on CSPAN for Ann Richards' memorial service and I wasn' t the thrightest bit impressed. (I enjoy inventing superlatives). She seems bent on situationally creating herself. Richards was the real deal. To have HRC transform her midwestern accent to a southern twang to suit her purposes in the public light really made me question her sincerity. HRC is a smart, determined woman. She's just not my WOTY.

The first real candidate who then crossed my mind was Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Al Franken features her daily on his Air America talk show. Prior to starting CREW, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia, where, from 1998-2003, she successfully tried cases before dozens of judges and juries. Before becoming a prosecutor, Sloan served as Minority Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, working for Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) and specializing in crime issues. Basically, she demands accountability, up to the prosecution of, those bi-partisan crooks and liars in Washington...which makes her job an indefinite, permanent position for as long as we exist & operate under a "free" democracy.

Then there's Cindy Sheehan, another wonderful choice. Sheehan has done so much to put a face on this war. She was chosen by tragedy, not because she wanted to be in this position. She is a powerful diplomat and is an inspiration. I grieve for her loss and all the mothers', sisters', fathers'...families' losses. Our young men and women deserve to come home. They are in harm's way, and our presence is creating and continuing to fuel radicalist, violent acts. They are in the crossfire of a completely unneccessary "war". A war fabricated for war profits and declared upon an abstraction.

However, after seeing this story, Safia Ama Jan has my respect and heart. This is why she is my Woman Of The Year.

From "Song of Zazen" by Hakuin Zenji

"All beings by nature are Buddha,
as ice by nature is water.
Apart from water there is no ice;
apart from beings, no Buddha."

Villaurrutia

Mind-Binder

Saw "Veronika Voss" by Fassbinder. The film offers two themes: the dichotomous "Jeckyll And Hyde" metaphor and the idea of life imitating art. This realistic post-war Germany piece is stunning. Though filmed in 1982, the film's setting and cinematography is authentic to the period, believeable in its stark representation of Germany's identity crisis, post-Nazi era. It is as if Veronika herself, an aging film star, a Monroe-equivalent in her heyday, is Germany, struggling to come out from under an oppressive regime. In this case, the propaganda is morphine, and the death of old Germany and the emergence of a new one have a battle via Veronika herself--it's a conflict between her ties to the past/delusions of grandeur and her present, drugged and controlled state by her puppetmaster, a Nazi-esque neurologist, Dr. Marianne Katz.

There was a quasi-lesbian theme between Dr. Katz and Veronika, in fact, even a menage: Katz, Voss, and a reporter's girlfriend (a young innocent) all of them indirectly connected through the same man in one capacity or another. There is a pervading theme: the characters want commonality/simplicity to set them free, yet find no solace in being the controlled or controllers. It is the young woman in this trio who becomes the victim in this battle of nationalism, dying for an unknown German future.

Užupis Mano Akis

Daugau (more, volume)
baltas (white, veins)

Karsta (hot, sound)
Zinosti (I know, your inertia)

Vandiens (water, a bruised beach)
Ausra (dawn, a chanteuse planet)

Kojes (feet, werewolf machines)
Smeles (sand, B positive)

Ateik (come closer, monument lover)

Gayne-ing Momentum

Many, many of you may remember the honorable George Gaynes as the bumbling-yet-useful-and-lovable Commandant Lassard from the illustrious Police Academy series. Or perhaps you remember him as endearing old Henry, Punky Brewster's adopted father.

In other news...

I heard on the radio that they were reviewing a book called "Watching TV".

Morgaloni

You never saw them together. Like Dom DeLuise and James Coco.

Do You Believe in Rapture?

Sonic Youth. Private show at Double Door Sat. night. We were on Thurston's guest list. Conceptual, controlled chaos. Rawk on.

****
An older gent I work with had a boss named Milo Starns. Milo Starns with smoker's lung. He's my new anti-hero in my next tome, NOVEL #48.

He'll be the casting couch agent with a penchant for Boggle.

The Jesus Lightbox

We have a paint-by-numbers lightbox of The Last Supper at work where I lay my sweater or coat every day, as if piously leaving a warm offering. The Jesus Lightbox resides atop an old, dusty file cabinet, facing another old, dusty cabinet that houses plastic dinnerware, a glue bottle that dons a Post-It note reading "Sniff me to forget about work", and wicker organizational baskets filled with chili sauce, soy, and Sweet 'N Low packets.

My horoscope said to take some time out and free-write about what direction I want my life to go in. According to Feng Sui, south is a great way to lay your head at night to maintain harmony in relationships. We have water in the southest corner, but little can be done to help this due to the fact that it is a large body of water called Lake Michigan.

I would love to work freelance jobs writing and then start auditioning for films/shows. I'd love to make some of my own 8mm films (I have a great, old camera from my grandfather purchased at Corvette's in the '60s) publish some books, cut my spoken word CD.

How do I find the time to do these things? A healthy lifestyle that's balanced (part of this nutritious breakfast!)
Plenty of fiber. Look at Slim Goodbody. He looks pretty self-actualized.