An old-school chess attack

This is terrific.

Seasonal affective disorder and its treatment

In the northern hemisphere, we are moving into the time of short days and long nights, and the scourge of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) begins to affect some people. The Mayo Clinic has a useful article that begins:

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that typically occurs each year during fall and winter. Use of a light box can offer relief. But for some people, light therapy may be more effective when combined with another SAD treatment, such as an antidepressant or psychotherapy, also called talk therapy.

Light boxes are designed to deliver a therapeutic dose of bright light to treat symptoms of SAD. There are many different types of light boxes. All light boxes for SAD treatment are designed do the same thing, but one may work better for you than another.

Talk with your health care provider first

It’s best to talk with your health care provider about choosing and using a light box. If you’re experiencing both SAD and bipolar disorder, the advisability and timing of using a light box should be carefully reviewed with your health care provider. Increasing exposure too fast or using the light box for too long each time may induce manic symptoms if you have bipolar disorder.

If you have past or current eye problems such as glaucoma, cataracts or eye damage from diabetes, get advice from your eye specialist before starting light therapy.

Understanding a light box

A light therapy box mimics outdoor light. It’s thought that this type of light may cause a chemical change in the brain that lifts your mood and eases other symptoms of SAD, such as being tired most of the time and sleeping too much.

Generally, the light box should:

• Provide an exposure to 10,000 lux of light
• Produce as little UV light as possible

Typical recommendations include using the light box:

• Within the first hour of waking up in the morning
• For about 20 to 30 minutes
• About 16 to 24 inches (41 to 61 centimeters) from your face, but follow the manufacturer’s instructions about distance
• With eyes open, but not looking directly at the light

Light boxes aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for SAD treatment, so it’s important to understand your options.

You can buy a light box without a prescription, but  . . .

Continue reading.

Above the Tie’s R (now R1), with Barrister & Mann Lavanille

I have now really tuned in to Lavanille and like it a lot. It’s odd how it can take some time to grasp what a particular fragrance offers because we don’t think of a fragrance as being something to be learned — it’s supposed to be immediate. And yet we do know that a particular piece of music — a song, a sonata, a symphony — may require multiple listenings before we can truly like it and appreciate what it offers. Back when LP albums were the rule, I had someone tell me that they would listen to the entire album ten times before attempting to decide whether they liked it or not.

And certain we understand that when we first see a painting we may not grasp it. In the words of Sherlock Holmes, we may see but not observe. Consider this painting:

If you walk into the room where it is displayed, you cannot take a single look at it and be done, even though your eyes have seen the full canvas.

And the sense of taste is the same: the first time you taste a new food, you may not understand what your taste buds are telling you. For example, when The Wife first tasted tung ho, she really did not like it and immediately started thinking about what to say and wondering how she could finish it. Then she took a second bite, and suddenly realized that it was delicious. It was simply that it did not taste as she expected, or like other greens. She had to learn the taste, though in this case the learning was rapidly done.

The sense of smell is closely related to taste, so of course the same progression happens with odors: something that initially smells repugnant can, on better acquaintance, smell attractive. That was Lavanille for me. Though it never smelled repugnant, it did not have much appeal — until, one day, I got it.

And the same process of learning occurs in many areas — in razors, for example. My Above the Tie R seemed a good razor from the outset, but now it strikes me as an outstanding razor — and it has a good backstory, related at the link in Craftsmanship magazine.

The razor’s outstanding performance this morning was, of course, built on the secure foundation of Grooming Dept Moisturizing Pre-Shave and the exquisite lather my 22mm Maggard synthetic generated from the puck of Lavanille. I added just a smidgen of water during the loading — very little indeed — and was rewarded with a burst of lather.

Three passes left my face perfectly smooth, and a splash of Lavanille aftershave, augmented with a couple of squirts of Grooming Dept Hydrating Gel, finished the job.

The tea this morning is Murchie’s Library Blend: “This blend of Ceylon, Jasmine, Keemun, and Gunpowder teas has a rich, full base with the sparkle of aromatic Jasmine.”