And we’re back.  With this blog now in its second year, I am resetting the counter for points of interest, my irregularly irregular romp through all things mind, body and soul on the internets.  I waited on this oune until the weekend when I have usually put these out and as such had too many great posts to include.  Sheesh, slow down bloggers.  If only my muse were so kind.  Anyway, without further delay, I present the best I could find-

Regarding the mind-

At the Prodigal, Dave Loveless shares his own personal experience with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in part of a courageous effort to get those affected by mental illness of all sorts to come out of the closet and battle stigma together.

At Mind Hacks, Vaughan straightens out some common misconceptions about borderline personality disorder, a problem that has been stigmatized  far too often.

At Psyblog, Jeremy relates a study that found going for a nature walk has serious memory enhancing effects, concluding that with all the new brain enhancing software out there, perhaps the best thing you can do for your mind is go old school and technology free.

Regarding the soul-

The Girl Who Cried Epiphany speaks truth to power, as she examines the way we all become invested in believing in and maintaining our own weaknesses.

At Times and Seasons, guest poster Sheldon Gilbert uses a chronology of pictures tell a sermon of a thousand words, as he chronicles the building of a Mormon Temple in Aba, Nigeria.

In a post that truly resonated with me, Edwin Leap, MD reflects on how, often times, acting as a doctor and scientist causes him to shed his spiritual self, as he shares the frightening power and human connection that can be found in those rare moments when his doctoring and his spirituality have met.

At Get Religion, Mollie shares the startling and undeniable fact that the transfer of civic power to our President truly constitutes a moment of civic religion, in a nation where the separation of church and state are gospel.

Regarding the body-

At The Scientific American. R. Douglas Fields shares the personal story of his noisy eyeballs, and how they lead to new understandings in the connections of the brain.

The Book of Joe has some sweet socks on display that would likely make you doctor’s eyes pop out of their head at your next office visit.

AtMusings of a Distractible Mind, Dr. Rob shares the next installment of his series on the physical exam, letting everyone know exactly what doctors are looking for when they mash on your belly.

Cake Wrecks has a display of  a variety of awe inspiring anatomical cakes including the one below, depicting exactly what eating too much cake will ultimately lead to. (HT-Braden at 20 out of 10)

or All the Above-

At Cognitive Daily, Dave Munger reports an intriguing experiment showing that the music we love is a clinically effective painkiller.

At Storied Mind, John D. reflects on his sudden insight that depression can alter who we are at our core, and that recovering from depression is a process of rediscovering our authentic selves.

At Edwin Leap, MD, the good doctor shares the real cost of parenthood, and of love in general, through the story of heartbreaking grief and tragedy at work that cuts a little too close to home.

At Rural Doc, Theresa Chan share a personal story of the courage and reward of filling the physician role of harbinger of doom, revealing to the world the magnificent doctor she is in the process.

and just because I Liked it-

At Other Things Amanzi, Bongi shares a own story about the rigid, hierarchical world or surgery turned upside down by a case of the student becoming the teacher.

Street Anatomy has the perfect gift for the biologist in your life, the most cuddly model of a rat dissection in history, knitted with care and attention to detail

Zooillogix shares some rare video footage from an extremely primitive venomous mammal related to the platypus, thought to be extinct,  made all the more fascinating by its uncanny resemblance to the R.O.U.S., legendary third hazard of the fireswamp in the cult classic movie, the Princess Bride.

That is it for this installment.  I will contine to scour the interwebs for anything I deem worthy of sharing.  I wanted to remind erveryone that the voting for the Wellsphere people’s health blogging awards is ongoing, now through the end of the month.  I did not realize my new sidebar button was made so you can advertise for me on your own blog.  Have at it if you are so inclined.  I now have buttons for both, or you can vote for me right here.  C ya next time.

Tagged: abdomen, abdominal exam, anatomy, authenticity, belly, biology, borderline, borderline personality, cake, dissection, doctoring, heart attack, hiking, inauguration, learning, love, memory, metaphor, MI, music, myocardial infarction, nature, obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD, pain, parenthood, parenting, princess bride, rats, ROUS, surgery, synesthesia, teaching, temples, weaknesses