Well, here I am, at long last. I suppose now that I am officially a published journalist (my first published story EVER was in last Thursday's paper!) its time for me to get going on this blog. So todays topic? Well lets start with something light, seeing as how its my first real entry. So, I just got done reading an article about how the order in which a person is born may actually affect their physical health. Crazy! Now I realize that a lot of people talk about how a persons place in the family can have an effect on their emotional health - the whole first child having to follow the strictest rules, the middle child being largely ignored and the baby being the favorite - that topic has been talked about incessently for years (of course I am the yougest so I think its a bit much). But the physical health of an individual being affected by their birth order, now thats a whole new ball game. Apparently, firstborn children are more likely than their younger siblings to suffer from such ailments as allergies, or testicular cancer in men. Middle children are more likely to suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome, but have a lower risk of developing gum disease. As far as the youngest children are concerned, well, it looks pretty good for us. Apparently there is a lower risk of developing allergies and a lower risk of getting Hodgkins disease for the younger siblings than for the older ones, and, besides hitting puberty a little sooner than older siblings, (which apparently leads to more "risky behavior") there isnt too much of a downside - the favorite, and physically speaking, probably the healthiest of the bunch. Now, I realize that this data is slightly questionable in that it doesn't make complete sense, especially if you dont have three or more children, but it is interesting to think about none the less. Keeping in mind that at this point it is a statistical correlation, and not completely factual, it will be an interesting theory to test. So, Does this remind you of your family?