Daily Archives: August 25, 2004


Sit Up Straight

Apparently sitting back and relaxing is not as good for you as it feels:

Slumping in front of the television or computer could deactivate muscles that support and protect your spine, triggering many otherwise inexplicable cases of lower back pain.
It takes a bit of effort but, yes, you can sit up straight in the car, on the bus, and in your living room.
You know the mantra: just do it.


Merry Christmas

What? It is August 25th not December 25th.
Well, if you work in a National Park you are probably celebrating Christmas today in a tradition that begain in the 1930s1 in Yellowstone and has since spread to most if not all of the National Parks.
And a special Merry Christmas to the staff of Signal Mountain Lodge in Grand Teton National Park who, while celebrating this Christmas Day, continue to mourn the loss of their friend and companion Quiet Dave.
NB: On a more mundane level today is the 88th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service.
1 A write up that I recently saw on the wall of a National Park lodge said this tradition begain in Yellowstone in the summer of 1933 though this reference is much less specific.