Things seem to be looking up around here. Businesses were back up and running yesterday afternoon since the city’s water supply was found to not be contaminated by the flood water. It’s nice to be able to start edging toward normalcy.

I’ve been worried about my friends in Southern Iowa. How are you guys holding up?

I’m in shock. We’ve had a rash of bad storms and now a good portion of the town is under water. This photo is via the Globe Gazette.

Go here to see more photos. Derek and I have been extremely lucky. People were evacuated from their houses just a block or two from our place. So far there’s only a little bit of water in the basement. We were curious how a neighborhood fared where we almost bought a house last month, and it’s totally submerged. Wow. Just…wow. Thank goodness it didn’t work out. Right now, the entire city doesn’t have water for drinking, sinks or toilets. The water treatment plant is in a pretty low-lying area that was hit hard. I’ll post updates when more info is available.

This is incredibly sad…definitely a new low in internet hijinks…

Epilepsy Foundation Takes Action Against Hackers

Derek and I went to the hospital after a test to see the amazing Super Colon! It’s definitely one of those things you have to see for yourself.

Via my friend Stephanie. I must go and take pictures:

The Super Colon, an 8-foot tall, 20-foot long replica of a human colon, is headed to Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa, Mason City, Iowa, February 22-24, 2008. This FREE display, open to Mercy Associates, Medical Staff, and the public, raises awareness of the importance of colorectal cancer screening. The Super Colon has been zigzagging across the country creating awareness about colorectal cancer and teaching visitors how it is 90 percent preventable and successfully treated 90 percent of the time, when detected early, yet it remains a leading cause of cancer deaths.

WHAT: The Super Colon is an incredible, inflatable, interactive colon that teaches people about the risks, symptoms, prevention, early detection and treatment options for colorectal cancer. As visitors walk through the Super Colon, they get a close-up look at healthy tissue, tissue with non-malignant colorectal diseases, as well as tissue with various stages of colorectal cancer.

WHERE: Mercy Medical Center – North Iowa; Auditorium, 2nd Floor Mercy Cancer Center

WHEN: Friday, February 22 – 10:00 am to 7:00 pm; Saturday, February 23 – 10:00 am to 4:00 pm; Sunday, February 24 – 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

The national 2008 Super Colon Tour will land in Philadelphia, PA; Houston, TX; Chicago, IL; New York, NY; and Omaha, NE, among other cities during the year, including during March, as part of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. The Super Colon is graciously sponsored by sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC.

[In reference to a story on public radio about GM's massive loss over the
past year--as an answer to the question "how can they be optimistic?"]

Guy being interviewed: “What’s $39 billion among friends?”

And tightly keeping my fingers crossed for the nomination.

The Chicagoist has a feature on Obama-inspired art: click it.

Australia’s ABC News published their Year in Review of offbeat stories. I knew the end of the year was good for something.

JeebusholycrapI’mexcitedfortheseguys!

Aaron and Dawn had a baby last week, and I’m so incredibly happy for them. PHOTOS! The kid is ADORABLE, Dawn looked gorgeous for having just given birth, and I can tell from the photos that Aaron hasn’t been happier. Congrats guys. I know you’re going to make amazing parents.

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It’s been insanely foggy around here, and while driving this morning, I decided to take a photo. Don’t try this at home, kids.

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And completely unrelated, but here’s an interesting site highlighting odd psychological studies. I was especially fascinated by the one where a neuroscientist studied his own brain after having a stroke.