Perseverance

Perfectionism is the persistence of will in obtaining the optimal quality of spiritual, mental, physical, and material being. The perfectionist does not believe that one can attain a perfect life or state of living. Rather, a perfectionist practices steadfast perseverance in obtaining the best possible life or state of living.

There are no universal parameters of perfection. Individuals and cultures choose those values that, for them, represent the ideal of perfection. For example, one individual may view education as leading perfection, while to another beauty is the highest ideal.

The idea of perfectionism is that there is an unattained but attainable self that one can strive to reach. Perfectionists believe that the ancient question of living as one is supposed to make all the difference in the world, and they describe a commitment in ways that seem, but are not, impossibly demanding. They do so because it is only in keeping such an impossible view in mind that one can strive for one’s unattained but attainable self.

Certain properties constitute human nature or are definitive of humanity. They make humans human. A good life develops these properties to a high degree and realizes what is central to human nature. Different versions of the theory may disagree about what the relevant properties are and so disagree about the content of a good life. But they share the foundational idea that what is good, ultimately, is the development of human nature.

Addition

Mexican Clover or Richardia grandiflora is a persistent groundcover that can make area lawns in southern Florida appear to be dusted with snow. The viney ground cover plant has flowers about 0.8 inch long and forms thick mats, spreading by seeds.

Although Mexican Clover is not in the clover family, the flower heads remind one of spent red clover seed heads. The flowers form in a terminal cluster from a four leaf bract. Each flower consists of six narrow lobes joined at the base to form a tube. The petals are white with shades of pink or lavender and are funnel-shaped.

The range is continuous from the Carribean through Mexico and Central America and it blooms in any month that lacks frost. It is grown as forage and a cover crop in the southern states, responds well to mowing, minimizes the need to irrigate and fertilize, spreads quickly and adds color.

Each flower typically produces three nutlets which function as a food source for small animals and insects. In addition, Mexican clover serves as a significant nectar source for butterflies and bees.

Calculation

The geostrophic wind is the theoretical wind that would result from an exact balance between the Coriolis effect and the pressure gradient force. This condition is called geostrophic balance. The geostrophic wind is directed parallel to isobars or lines of constant pressure at a given height.

Air naturally moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, due to the pressure gradient force. As soon as the air starts to move, however, the Coriolis force deflects it. The deflection is to the right in the northern hemisphere, and to the left in the southern hemisphere.

As the air moves from the high pressure area, its speed increases, and so does its Coriolis deflection. The deflection increases until the Coriolis and pressure gradient forces are in geostrophic balance, At this point, the air flow is no longer moving from high to low pressure, but instead moves along an isobar.

Flow of ocean water is also largely geostrophic. Measurements of density as a function of depth in the ocean are used to infer geostrophic currents. Satellite altimeters are also used to measure sea surface height anomaly, which permits a calculation of the geostrophic current at the surface.

Value

Quality time is an informal reference to time spent with loved ones, close family, partners or friends. The time spent is in some way important, special, productive or profitable. It is time that is set aside for paying full and undivided attention to the person and matter at hand.

It may also refer to time spent performing some favored activity such a hobby or packing suitcases to move across the world with loved ones. The opportunity to experience quality time, or the actual time available to enjoy quality time, is often limited. However, this is outweighed by the importance, intensity or value attached to events or interactions which occur during quality time.

Quality time therefore has a degree of emotional or social quality which other aspects of personal life may lack. Busy parents may also use the term to justify the limited amount of overall time they spend with their children.

In terms of critique, it is occasionally pointed out that true quality time cannot be rigidly scheduled, but that quality moments can happen if there are sufficient opportunities for sharing and that each adapts to the other’s needs and interests.

Openness

Philosophical realism is the belief that our reality is completely independent of our conceptual schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs and intellectual constructs. Those who profess philosophical realism also typically believe that truth consists of a belief’s correspondence to reality.

Philosophical realists tend to believe that whatever we believe now is only an approximation of reality and that every new observation brings us closer to understanding reality. It functions as an opposite to idealism and anti-realism.

This type of realism may be thought of with respect to other minds, the past, the future, universals, mathematical entities, moral categories, the material world, or even thought.

The philosophy is often relative to a specific area. One might, for example, be a realist about physical matter but an idealist about ethics. The high necessity of specifying the area in which a realist debate is made has been increasingly acknowledged.

Bounty

The Florida stone crab is a crab found in the western North Atlantic, from Connecticut to Belize, including Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas. It is widely caught as a source of food.

It is brownish red with gray spots and a tan underside, and has large unequally-sized claws with black tips. The claws are hinged, very dark, and banded with red and yellow. It measures about 6.5 inches in length.

They make burrows in mud or sand below the low tide line, lying in wait for prey, prefering to feed on oysters and other small mollusks, polychaete worms, and other crustaceans. They will also occasionally eat seagrass.

The Florida stone crab is usually fished near jetties, oyster reefs or other rocky areas. The bodies are relatively small and are rarely eaten, but the claws are considered a delicacy.

The popularity of the Florida stone crab has grown again in recent years and is considered to be one of the best varieties to eat, as well as one of the more expensive.

Phrase

“Elephant in the room” is an English idiom for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.

It is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook. Thus, people in the room who pretend the elephant is not there have made a choice. They are choosing to concern themselves with tangential or small and irrelevant issues rather than deal with a larger one.

The term refers to a question, problem, solution, or controversial issue that is obvious, but which is ignored by a group of people, generally because it causes embarrassment or is taboo. The idiom can imply a value judgment that the issue ought to be discussed openly, or it can simply be an acknowledgment that the issue is there and not going to go away by itself.

The phrase “800 lb gorilla in the room” is a similar idiomatic expression. However, it refers to a large, unstoppable individual or organization that can exert its will as it desires, even if people do their best to ignore it.

Binder

Tragacanth is a natural gum obtained from the dried sap of several species of legumes of the genus Astragalus. Some of these species’ common names include Milk Vetch or Goat’s Thorn. The gum is sometimes called Shiraz Gum or Gum Dragon.

The sap is an odorless, tasteless, water-soluble mixture of polysaccharides obtained by draining from the root of the plant. It seeps from the plant in twisted ribbons or flakes which can be powdered. It absorbs water to become a gel, which can be stirred into a paste.

It is used in incense as a binder to hold powdered herbs together. It is also the traditional binder used in the making of artist’s pastels, as it does not adhere to itself the same way gum arabic does when dry. In addition, it is used to make a paste used in patisseries to create life-like flowers as decorations for cakes.

Tragacanth contains an alkaloid that has historically been used as an herbal remedy for such conditions as cough and diarrhea. As a mucilage or paste it has been used as a topical treatment for burns, as a cast to prohibit mobility for healing bones, and is used in pharmaceuticals and foods as an emulsifier, thickener, stabilizer, and texturant additive.

Gum tragacanth is less common in products than other gums, such as gum arabic or guar gum, largely because most Tragacanth is grown in Middle Eastern countries which have shaky trade relations. Commercial cultivation of tragacanth plants has generally not proved economically worthwhile in the west.

Magnetism

The Odic force is the name given in the mid-19th century to a hypothetical vital energy or life force by Baron Carl von Reichenbach. Von Reichenbach coined the name from that of the Norse god Odin in 1845.

As von Reichenbach was investigating the manner in which the human nervous system could be affected by various substances, he conceived the existence of a new force allied to electricity, magnetism, and heat, a force which he thought was radiated by most substances, and to the influence of which different persons are variously sensitive. He named this vitalist concept Odic force.

Believers in Odic force said that it is visible in total darkness as colored auras surrounding living things, crystals, and magnets, but that viewing it requires hours first spent in total darkness. They also said that it resembles the eastern concepts prana and qi. However, they regarded the Odic force not as associated with breath, but rather with biological electromagnetic fields.

Reichenbach stated that through experimentation possibly one third of the population could view the phenomenon. Colleagues who were medical doctors in England claimed to have witnessed it, and discussion on the subject matter continues into the present day, with some claiming to be able to see it on sunny days with clear skies.

Abundant

Ludwigia arcuata, or Long-Stalked Seedbox, is a species native to the southeastern United States, where it grows creeping or submersed in swampy environments and along the edges of rivers and ponds.

It is a reddish stemmed plant that has a strong tendency to branch. Easily grown emersed in damp soils, it produces a stunning flower. The beautiful yellow flowers have four comparatively large petals and are a distinguishing characteristic of the species

Though it is one of the most delicate Ludwigia species, Ludwigia arcuata is somewhat of a mainstay among aquatic plant hobbyists. It is normally available as “Needle Leaf Ludwigia” and can be procured through most internet aquatic plant retailers.

The pollen grains are loosely held together by viscin threads, meaning that only bees that are morphologically specialized to gather this pollen can effectively pollinate the flowers. It is easily propagated from the seeds as well as from cuttings.