This website— that serves as the home for blogs like this one—has a "Heroes, Villains, and Fools" theme. Part of the message of the site (and especially some of the pieces on the Paintings tab) is that total, unblemished heroes are a rarity.This week's news that Peyton Manning is ending his oft-heroic career in football reminds of this. The timing of his exit is curious since sportswriters have begun to re-examine a scandal that most had thought was put to rest long ago.Humans being human, … [Read more...]
QB Manning’s cleft palate: wonders on & off the field.
Cleft palate as an impetus to greatness.Struggles due to a cleft palate may be the key to understanding QB Peyton Manning's wonders off the football field . . . and maybe even on the field. Manning faces a titanic battle next Sunday against QB Cam Newton and his Carolina Panthers in the 50th Super Bowl in San Francisco. Manning's amazing football accomplishments might stem from a drive to compensate for his birth defect and the consequent bullying he experienced when young.Football Facts … [Read more...]
After cleft lip and palate surgeries, what happens?
Have you read about the cleft lip kid in Cleft Heart: Chasing Normal yet?If not, order the book from or Barnes and Noble now.Artful rendition of book cover.The inspiring story of a young man with a cleft lip and palate.You can read more about the book at the Facebook Fan Page for it.Also, see photos of the characters in Cleft Heart . You can learn more about these real people in the book . . . and in the sequel that's in the outline stage currently.Please consider giving a copy of Cleft Heart … [Read more...]
Holiday books about faces. Not all guilty of lookism.
Since coffee table books reign as popular gifts at holiday time, I thought I'd suggest a few that fit into the "faces" theme of this website. I've listed the most-recently published books first. Lookism rules in some cases (Lindbergh) but not in others (Arbus).Images of Women II, by Peter Lindbergh.Choosing images that span 2005 thru 2014, the German master photographer features his black and whites from the worlds of fashion, society, and film. He includes Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton, and … [Read more...]
Facebook gives $200K to study cyberbullying, dating violence.
This story is an important development, given that Facebook is clearly a major vehicle for cyberbullying. An Indian-American researcher is heading up the study.It's fitting, or karmic, to post this story since I've just finished visiting Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, and Jaipur in India. Wonderful country!"Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., a cyberbullying expert, co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center and a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Florida Atlantic University has received … [Read more...]
TV series makes cleft palate king a warrior. Fail!
The recent Spike miniseries, "Tut," takes considerable liberties with the science and limited knowledge we have of the Boy King. We know very little for sure about Tut. Here's what we do know:King Tutankhamun was born in 1341 B.C. and died in 1323 B.C. An Egyptian pharaoh from the 18th Dynasty, you can see from the dates Tut died young. He reigned for approximately nine years and was known during his reign for rejecting the religious changes instituted by Akhenaten, the pharaoh before him. … [Read more...]
What if your favorite celeb had a cleft lip?
Almost three weeks ago I pointed out that Angelina Jolie happens to have a “slightly asymmetrical chin.” A trait she shares, incidentally, with almost every other person in the world.However, as they say, "you ain't seen nothin' yet." I just found this image of Angelina among hundreds of others which show her face and body in creative ways most of us couldn't even imagine. I'm not quite sure why the artist gave poor Angie a black eye and a bloodshot eye as well as an abrasion or two. Maybe she … [Read more...]