Giant box of olpcs arrived
Giant box of olpcs arrived, originally uploaded by Br3nda.
The OLPC XO 2.somethings have arrived from America-land. These are for the Saturday morning "Friends in Testing" group.
-->Things i have learned about baby clothes
if you wear these, people conclude baby is a girl:
* flowers
* butterflies
* fairies
* anything pink
* most bows and lace.
if you wear these, people conclude baby is a boy:
* cars
* dinosaurs
* sailboats
* robots
* construction machinery
* airplanes
* monsters
some neutral things
* smiley faces
* bunny rabbits
* giraffes
* anything white, yellow or green
special note for pink: wear pink *anywhere*, it's a girl.. wear no pink at all, it's a boy.
but why? Girls don't drive cars? Girls don't dig up dinosaurs? (dinosaurs are awesome btw). Boys don't catch butterflies? Boys don't like flowers?
Exhibit A:
the girls' sock department:
http://www.jk.co.nz/category/girls1to6.accessories.1
Exhibit B:
the boys' sock department:
http://www.jk.co.nz/category/boys7to12.accessories.1
What have i missed? What else is gendered other than colours?
-->Seriously cute hat Jan made.
Seriously cute hat Jan made., originally uploaded by Br3nda.
Nope, still no birth.
I suppose you can sense that I have had a few questions about this during the recent days ;-)
Over the past week I have done the usual stuff: baked apple cake, cooked a healthy homemade dinner every day, made sure there are always less than one load of dirty laundry in the laundry room, dusted the changing table and the bed room about every other day, vacumed all the house at least once, cleaned the stairs twice, made raspberry jam from some berries we had in the freezer, mounted a shelf and new lamps in the hall and cleaned some snow while hoping to provoke a birth. No luck so far.
While I'm waiting, please enjoy the Norwegian comedian Dagfinn Lyngbø "giving birth". It's part of a new show by him and another comedian, they are asking their expert panel more or less random popular science questions - the kind of things we've been wondering about since childhood, like what's the use of the uvula. They are also doing practical research on some of the questions, and the video above is about birth pains: how much does birth actually hurt? The experiment is done in a hospital. First the instrument is calibrated by a three-child mother, ranging from "cramps" at 20 mA, through pre-birth at 40 mA and "this HURTS" at 60 mA, which was also maximum. Afterwards they simulate the phases of the birth on Dagfinn Lyngbø, whose final comment is that this hurts almost as much as getting a kick in his balls...
I guess I am having a slight problem since I was collapsing in laughter while watching the video. Not once, but three times. Hello, reality check!
Lemony vinaigrette & fennel/celery salad
Whipped this up last night for a fennel & celery salad (pretty much my favourite salad).
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced or grated (a microplane grater is a wonder here)
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest (see above re: microplane grater)
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp honey (or brown sugar, mirin, etc…something sweet)
- Dash salt
Directions are simple: put everything into a bowl, bottle, or jar and whisk or shake to combine.
The fennel & celery salad is insanely simple:
- 2 bulbs of fresh fennel (aka: anise), sliced as thinly as you can manage
- Roughly the same amount of thinly sliced celery
- An ounce or so of parmagiana cheese strips (make these by using a vegetable peeler on a hunk of the cheese — long, thin strips)
Toss these with the vinaigrette. Ta dah.
The Master Cleanse experiment
As many of you probably already know from twitter and facebook, I recently tried out the Master Cleanse.
I didn’t believe any of the pseudo-scientific ‘toxin’ jargon… but I did think it was plausible that a short term stress to the system like the cleanse could put the body into a more efficient “get-things-done-don’t-starve” mode, and that such a thing may be beneficial to one’s health.
I’ll admit that besides curiosity of the health claims, the promise of weight loss had a lot of appeal. Over the last several months I’ve lost 20 pounds by re-adopting more moderate eating habits- not cutting anything out entirely, just eating less unhealthy things and more healthy things. A permanent (hopefully) change like that means that your progress will probably be pretty slow (mine certainly felt that way!). That, in combination with my recent return to work after several weeks of medical leave really messing with my meals and setting me back a few weeks weight-wise, meant that if I wanted to be able to reach my goal weight (losing another 25 lbs) by my target date (still a few months off), I needed to try something new. It seemed like the cleanse would be a good kick start in the right direction, and that after a successful cleanse I would almost certainly be better equipped to handle cravings and would have a much clearer idea of how much sustenance my body really needs (i.e., Eat to live, don’t live to eat).
Hey, I figured it was worth a shot! It’s only 14 days, and then I’d be able to make an informed opinion! Also, it’s a personal challenge- mind over matter and all that. Can my stupid meat brain overpower my stupid meat stomach? At worst, I’ll learn it’s a waste of time as anything but a crash diet, at best I’ll become an elite superhuman lemon-churning health MACHINE. Either way, I’ll end up being much more aware of my self, and my limits, and will be able to say definitively that I’d given it a shot. Experiences are precious things.
-
Lead-in Day 1 (living foods, salad)
I cheated a little to try and get rid of a horrible onion aftertaste- chewing a few pieces of sugarfree gum, and adding a bit of raspberry vinaigrette to my dinner salad. That seemed to work.
Feeling: okay ◦ Craving: coffee, chocolate, french fries ◦ Weight loss: 0 lbs -
Lead-in Day 2 (liquid foods, soup)
Woke up feeling okay, but felt very achy while doing yoga, as if I had overexerted myself the day before. Butt flab was cramping on my way to work. Learned that flab can cramp.
Feeling: achy, hungry ◦ Craving: coffee, eggs ◦ Weight loss: 2 lbs -
Lead-in Day 3 (orange juice)
Making 2 liters worth of fresh squeezed orange juice is hard, and takes a lot of oranges. Is this day really worth it? I feel like going straight to the lemonade.
Feeling: ravenous ◦ Craving: lo mein, anything fried ◦ Weight loss: 3 lbs -
MC Day 1
I’m having sensory hallucinations! I keep smelling delicious pastries (cinnamon buns, pumpkin pie, banana bread) where there certainly are none to be smelled. Another side effect that has developed is that my tongue has developed a white coating, which is gross but not unexpected. One beneficial side effect is that it is much easier to get up in the mornings- this may be because I’m no longer getting any caffeine.
My first experience with the spicy lemonade was today. I was a bit underwhelmed at first, but it grows on you, and does a terrific job of getting rid of hunger (that’s probably on account of the capsaicin). Also, I think I figured out the purpose of the orange juice day- to perfect your juicing technique. Juicing lemons is easy in comparison.
Feeling: fine ◦ Craving: pumpkin pie, eggs ◦ Weight loss: 5 lbs -
MC Day 2
First day of the salt water flush! Drinking this isn’t as bad as some people make it out to be. If you use grey celtic sea salt and warm up the water it’s nearly exactly like drinking soup brine. My h2go bottle is only 750 mL, so I drank that much instead of a liter (same concentration).
The post-SWF process is lengthy, and it takes much longer than you might expect. Don’t do this if you have to be anywhere within a few hours. Don’t do this if you only have one bathroom that you are sharing with other people.
As for the fasting, I’m not actually hungry, but I do really miss the comfort of eating. Same with caffeine- I don’t actually feel like I need it at all, but I miss going out for coffee. I am already much more aware of how little my normal consumption actually has to do with biological needs.
Feeling: energetic ◦ Craving: n/a ◦ Weight loss: 5.4 lbs -
MC Day 3
My sense of smell has definitely improved; I walked past some candles that haven’t been burned in several months, and smelled them clearly. This never happens.
I have actually gained half a pound since yesterday. I think it’s because I’m absorbing a lot of the SWF. That, or I’m having too much maple syrup. I doubt that is the case, however, because I am following the spicy lemonade recipe exactly (2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp dark maple syrup, 8 oz water / serving) and am having 7-8 servings a day (recommended is 6-12).
Feeling: productive ◦ Craving: a smoothie ◦ Weight loss: 5 lbs -
MC Day 4
I’m really beginning to feel disillusioned with the cleanse. After the lead-in period I stopped seeing results in terms of weight loss, and I’m pretty certain the definite benefits I have seen of the cleanse (much easier to get up in the morning, increased sense of smell, increased energy) are not worth the downsides (2-3 hours each morning taken up with SWF related things, disgusting white tongue, not eating). I will still try to carry on for the duration to see if my feelings change.
Feeling: foolish ◦ Craving: a donut ◦ Weight loss: 5 lbs -
MC Day 5
I increased the amount of the SWF I’m taking from 750mL (the size of my h2go bottle), to the recommended 1L. It’s not appreciably harder to chug, and I wanted to see if a greater quantity of the stuff prompts less absorption of it. So far, it may be working, as I’ve lost a half pound since yesterday.
Feeling: fine ◦ Craving: n/a ◦ Weight loss: 5.6 lbs -
MC Day 6
I’ve determined that doing the SWF in the morning (and its aftermath) take too long to allow me to get to work at a reasonable time. To work around this, I am now getting up at 5 (instead of 6), and doing my daily yoga after drinking the SWF, but before it does its thing (the waiting takes around an hour for me). At least there’s only 6 more days of getting up at 5! And, lucky for me, the MC (or at least the lack of caffeine) still makes it really easy to get up in the morning, even at 5 (I used to push snooze several times when my alarm went off at 8).
Feeling: okay ◦ Craving: sushi, white castle ◦ Weight loss: 6.8 lbs -
MC Day 7
Halfway there!
As if the SWF and its effects weren’t enough, sometimes I wake up in the morning with stomach cramps from the nightly laxative tea, meaning I have two excuses to use up / waste lots of time in the morning.
Feeling: fine ◦ Craving: buckwheat ◦ Weight loss: 7.4 lbs -
MC Day 8
I’m being as productive as I can be around/in between the SWF nuisances, which I’ve grown accustomed to. I fee like I’m wasting less time now, but still will be happy to be done with this. Only 4 more workdays left!
Feeling: productive ◦ Craving: n/a ◦ Weight loss: 8.4 lbs -
MC Day 9
This getting up at five or six in the morning to chug a liter of salt water thing is much more trying than the not eating thing. I miss food, but I could probably keep that up indefinitely without going insane; while I can only take a few more mornings like this. Luckily, only 3 more workdays!
Feeling: tired ◦ Craving: coffee ◦ Weight loss: 8.8 lbs -
MC Day 10
This is something you might not hear regarding the cleanse as it seems that most people who do it live in California, but recently I am cold all the time. Even though it’s been relatively warm recently (0°C as opposed to the -5°C it has been), I’m still freezing. I didn’t feel this cold when it was actually colder outside.
Feeling: cold ◦ Craving: bread ◦ Weight loss: 9.6 lbs -
MC Day 11
I miss experiencing different flavors. I’m not hungry. I’m looking forward to finishing this. I’m already looking forward to cheating on soup day with copious amounts of seasoning, and cheating on salad day by (gasp!) cooking my food.
Feeling: bored ◦ Craving: rice ◦ Weight loss: 9.6 lbs -
MC Day 12
Only two more days… REALLY miss chewing things.
Feeling: nearly done ◦ Craving: n/a ◦ Weight loss: 9.8 lbs -
MC Day 13
As I lay awake last night I couldn’t stop thinking of all the wonderful vegetables I’m going to cook come lead-out day 3.
Feeling: anxious ◦ Craving: bread ◦ Weight loss: 10.0 lbs -
MC Day 14
I did it! Well, except for the lead-out… but I am totally done with the SWF. Yay! I get to wake up an hour later from now on, and will hopefully get to work an hour earlier :D
Overall I’ve noticed I’m feeling very, I don’t know, ALIVE, recently. I don’t know how to explain it… I haven’t felt like this since I was a kid, and I hadn’t even noticed that anything was missing until the feeling started coming back a few days ago. Of course, it’s also been getting warmer out recently, and because of this I’ve been walking around outside more often; so my vigor may not be solely because of the cleanse.
Feeling: great ◦ Craving: n/a ◦ Weight loss: 10.8 lbs -
Lead-out Day 1 (orange juice)
I am done with juicing things for now, so instead of juicing more oranges (which was horribly inefficient), I’ve simply bought some organic orange juice for today. Orange juice sure does taste weird after all that spicy lemonade! The orange juice day is STILL harder than the lemonade days (though watching shows about food on the History Channel probably didn’t help…). Still feeling pretty good overall.
Feeling: good ◦ Craving: fried potatoes ◦ Weight loss: 12.2 lbs -
Lead-out Day 2 (liquid foods, soup)
Feeling really good. Invigorated.
Feeling: good ◦ Craving: bread ◦ Weight loss: 13 lbs -
Lead-out Day 3 (living foods, salad)
I did it! Cheating a bit today by actually cooking food, but it’s all still vegan :)
Meal one was Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts served with baby spinach and arugula, because I’d never had brussels sprouts before and was curious. It was pretty good overall, but I think it came out a bit overcooked and hence some bits were overly bitter.
Meal two was Zoetica’s roasted beet recipe with steamed broccoli. Delicious!
Eating food seems so novel :)
Feeling: accomplished ◦ Craving: n/a ◦ Weight loss: 13.4 lbs
- Research first! Find all the information (good and bad, dismissive scientific and ridiculous homeopathic) on it that you can. Make sure it’s something you really want to do. Make sure you know why you want to do it. Be realistic. 10-14 days of lemonade and salt water is not going to cure all disease or turn you into a supermodel.
- To make the process easier (and more likely to happen), plan to do the cleanse well in advance. Put it on your calendar. In the weeks leading up to it, use up some of the food in your house and don’t replace it. Slowly ease off caffeine or other drugs you are taking. Tell people you are planning on doing it.
- During the cleanse, try not to hang out with people who are eating or drinking coffee or booze. It’s easiest to resist temptation by avoiding it.
- Some people make the SWF out to be the worst thing ever. Pfft. If you like salty soups, it’s really just about as salty as that. While the quantity certainly seems daunting in advance, if I (who can’t even chug a beer) can do it, you certainly can.
- Do things (I did yoga) after drinking the SWF but before it takes effect. It seems to make the whole process go much quicker, so instead of wasting two or more hours of your morning in the bathroom, you are only wasting one.
- Every time you feel like quitting, think of all the time you’ve already committed to it. Is it really worth throwing all that away? Think of all the people you told you were going to do it. Is it really worth making you a liar?
| Before | After |
|---|---|
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 |
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Will I keep this weight off? Only time will tell, but I’d like to think I’ll be able to continue the healthier eating habits I’ve been trying to adopt for the long term. If I can do that, there’s no reason that I wouldn’t keep this weight off, and lose more besides.
Of course, weight loss is only one part of the Master Cleanse. Die-hard fans of the cleanse make all sorts of extravagant claims about its efficacy, up to and including it being able to cure cancer and eradicate allergies. I can’t say anything about the cancer claim (other than I don’t believe a word of it), but I believe that the allergy claim is exaggerated- I bought some soy milk specifically to check if my allergies are still there, and while they may possibly be diminished, I think they are. It is very hard to tell for certain, as it’s been years since I’ve had soy milk, and I am unwilling to drink a large amount of something I’ve been known to have reactions to (even relatively mild reactions).
However, having actually completed the cleanse, I can verify that some of the more modest effects claimed are in fact true.
- Despite not eating, I wasn’t that hungry through the duration of the cleanse. I still missed food, but it was more of the taste and texture I missed than the fact that I felt I physically needed it.
- I did develop a super sense of smell and an intense feeling of invigoration. That latter bit is hard to explain, as there’s really no better way to put it than feeling more alive and healthy than I had been used to. Of course, the feeling could have just as well been a result of the more pleasant weather we’ve been having, as well as my trying to walk around more. I can’t really say for certain, but in previous years I seem to remember cabin fever being a bigger result of nice weather than invigoration :) I don’t think the cleanse hurt, anyway.
- Proponents of the cleanse argue that without having to worry about digestion, your body concentrates on healing older wounds. Any really old wounds I have seem to remain unchanged, but I do think there is a difference in newer ones. Some relatively new scars I have seem to have accelerated their disappearing act, or even developed new scabs where there had been none for months.
After the cleanse I definitely feel like I know my own body better than I did before. I also think I have a clearer idea of the differences between craving and hunger, and hope I will be able to retain this knowledge for future use.
Would I recommend the cleanse to anyone else? At this point, probably. I think that even if it isn’t a magical cure for anything, it is certainly an experience worth having at least once, if only for the educational value of better knowing your own body. We’ll see how I feel about it when I update this post with my long-term impressions in a few months, but at this point I’m thinking I may make this an annual (or possibly even semi-annual) occurrence to reboot after the holidays. Of course, if I do it again I think I will only do 10 days instead of 14, as by the end I was really missing the social aspects of eating.
learning in public
In my most recent talk on humanities computing, one of the issues that I raised, and that others asked about, was how humanities computing projects are evaluated in a way that can contribute to career advancement, especially for those of us who do not hold traditional research positions but are some kind of hybrid developer/research assistant. The time that I spend developing a database and website (what our end-users see) is time that I don't spend writing scholarly articles (which would be better for my career).
Transmissions from 2010-03-13
- I think Nyx may need a larger tank… looks like he's nearly 2x longer than his 40 long! http://bit.ly/aJ8uY3 #
- I just watched The Science of Sleep and my main reaction is that the main character is a ticking time bomb of psychosis. #
- @eigentourist He wasn't sleep deprived, he was a step away from attacking her with a hammer in her sleep. in reply to eigentourist #
- Visit @zoneperfect's #livecreate lounge at #SxSW for free bars and giveaways. Learn more http://bit.ly/zoneperfect #
- @eigentourist No, a psuedo-homicidal awake person. in reply to eigentourist #
CUBA Festival
CUBA Festival, originally uploaded by Br3nda.
<3 Wellington
My Home Dyeing Video
Made this vid this morning on my mobile phone. You may need to turn your sound up quite high to hear it.
why you should wear a helmet
I've always worn a helmet, but have still been sort of sympathetic to those who say that it's not necessary and won't necessarily help you that much in an accident. Maybe. Depends on the accident.
A couple weeks ago I slid on some black ice making a turn onto the street where I live and BAM, pavement-kissing time. It had been rainy that day and the night temperatures had fallen just below freezing, making it prime weather for unexpected ice.
This poor helmet's been retired now after a job well-done. Note the crack in the foam and the road-imprint above it. I had a headache the next day, but was back up to 100% normal within 36 hours. One of those things that could have been way worse.
If I wasn't a helmet evangelist before, I am now.
A “cave walk”, you say!?
Yesterday, I joined some of my colleagues on a cave walk. Having previously experienced Ailwee Cave in the Burren, I was expecting a leisurely walk through some beautiful geological features. In retrospect, the name of the cave–Hölloch, or Hell Hole–should perhaps have provided a clue.
Switzerland’s wonderful public transport got us easily to Muotathal, where the cave is situated. Four-minute connections between Swiss trains are a solid guarantee that you’ll get there on time – unlike Ireland, where they’d be a pretty good guarantee that you’ll miss your connecting journey and have to re-route via the furthest point on the island.
The first clue should perhaps have been when we got to the caving center, and they asked for name, address and phone number – specifying that they didn’t want our mobile numbers, but a number that could be used in case of emergency 
Next clue, had I been watching, might have been the welly boots, full suit overalls, heavy gardening gloves, and good solid helmets. But I wasn’t watching, and once we were all suited up, we headed off happily up the mountain to the cave entrance.
We crossed a few small bridges on the way up the mountain, which I found a bit terrifying – but I pressed on, assuming that once we got to the cave, all would be well. Our guide stopped for a moment along the way, and asked if anyone had asthma, was afraid of heights, or narrow spaces. Thinking back to the last time I was asked that latter question, in Newgrange, I thought “well, yeah, I am petrified of truly narrow spaces, but the spaces in Newgrange weren’t so bad, so maybe this will be fine.”
I am, I will readily admit, an idiot.
So, we walked in to the cave, it’s not nearly as beautiful as Ailwee (and we’re all on headlamps – no artistically arranged electric lighting here!), but that’s ok, we’re only at the entrance. Next up, the guide warns us, is a little bit of scrambling. I’m mostly ok with that – I’m afraid of real climbing, and heights, but this is more just low ceilings and craggy floors.
Mild terror sets in when we come to a bit where you have to lie down and wiggle through the crack, but it’s a very short stretch, and I can see that it opens up to standing-room on the other side, so it’s fine. We all get through, and the guide takes a photo of us from way above, down through a fairly narrow gap. He had gone around the other way, and I’m assuming we all now go back the way we came, and on the way he had gone. But no. Now we’re meant to climb up there!?
With a bit of a boost to get me up as far as the first foothold, and plenty of encouragement from those who’ve done it, I manage to get up. Argh! Scary!, but I’ve made it. We get everyone out, and start walking down further into the cave. As we walk along, I’m thinking “y’know, he asked about heights and claustrophobia, but he never asked about fear of the dark. It’s pretty dark in here. I’m kinda scared”. I try not to be a scaredy-cat, but heights, narrow spaces, climbing, and the dark are all things that will set me off.
Next stop, whaddaya know, it’s time to turn the lights off. There is no place darker than a cave with all the lights off, unless it’s a few hundred meters into the cave, and several hundred meters down, and even if there were cracks to the air above, they’re all filled in with an alpine winter’s worth of snow… And now he wants us to walk along like this!?
I put my left hand on the shoulder of the guy in front, and the guy behind me puts his left hand on my shoulder. Right hands are on the rock face, and off we go. The guy in front races ahead, and I’ve lost him within seconds – the guy behind keeps gently pushing me forward. I didn’t scream, but only because my breathing was far too panicked to get enough power into my lungs. I’m sure we can’t have gone too far, but it was horrific.
We spent about 3hrs exploring the cave, and I’d estimate less than half an hour of that was in spaces where I could stand straight. We climbed and crawled across sharp rocks, wedged ourselves into spaces to keep from slipping back on sandy spots, and at one stage traversed a two-foot-deep pool across a space that can’t have been more than 3′6″ before the water came. I was crying by the time I made it across – and I would never have made it at all if it weren’t for a colleague holding my hand, coaching me, telling me to breathe, keeping my balance right! Thank you Matthias!!
Two-thirds of the way through, we stopped for a rest, and an optional side tour. Stephen, Pierre and I opted out, and sat down on the rocks. Then, it started to get cold. So Steve and I found the one spot where we could stand mostly-upright, and broke into the Charleston With a bit of encouragement, he even managed to do a swing-out, although I had to be careful where I stepped, as we had a “slot” just wide enough for one foot at a time between the rocks!
The break, and the dancing, did me good. When the guide returned with the others, he suggested that I stick straight behind him – keeping the whole group at the pace of the slowest member. I would have felt bad at doing so earlier, but I was getting tired and sore, and I was glad of his help. With lots of grit, and plenty of help from my friends, I made it through to the last hurdle.
“There’s a ladder”, he said. “You should go last, so I can help you”, he said. We got to the spot, a ravine with a ladder stretched over it. Hard to see what was on the other side. The guide went over, then the first of our gang. Across the ladder, and then somehow “up”. Rocks in the way, no way to know what happened next. Sitting beside the chasm, petrified of the ladder. Everyone else goes across. The guide tells the other person who’s afraid of heights “just look at me, don’t look down”.
I can do that. I have to, to get out of the cave. I crawl across to the ladder, fix my eyes on the flame of the guide’s lamp, and slowly make my way across. Hang on, it’s a dead end. Where now? Up!?
The way out of the cave is a 50m climb, straight up. Through a narrow crack. In the dark.
I can’t even get my foot to the first foothold. I climb up on the guide’s knee, and make it from there. I have never been so afraid. There are metal rungs sticking out of the rock. Some of them, I can get. Most of them are a few inches too high. Sometimes, the guide can push my foot up, and I make it. Other times, I just have to wedge my back against the wall behind me and make that leap of faith. It was, without exaggeration, the scariest thing I’ve ever done. It seemed to go on forever. Towards the end, the rungs turn into a ladder. There’s more space, but there’s also a ladder in the way And it’s offset, a couple of feet to the left of the rungs I’ve been relying on.
I’ve screamed a couple of times along the way, and cried once. But it’s nothing to this ascent, which is punctuated by a stream of terrified invective against the cave, the ladder, and my slippery wellingtons! By the time I make it to the top, I’m barely breathing, and shaking from head to toe.
In the finest Swiss tradition, we finish with an Apéro. Beautiful plates of cold cuts are laid out, with fresh bread, and delicious wine. I go straight for the bottle of water, fill my cup, pass it on, take it back to refill my cup, and repeat until I’m almost calm. I’m still shaking, but the food helps a little. My lungs are full of cave dust – it’s a solid eighteen hours before I can breathe properly again. We head out of the cave, and back down the valley, where the wonderful Swiss transport system conveys us safely home.
Yesterday, every muscle in my body was jelly. I could barely stand (although I did an almost-convincing Charleston a couple of times on railway platforms to keep warm!). Every movement felt like fire. My legs were constantly threatening to cramp.
And yet, amazingly, today, I’m generally alright. By some miracle, I can move, I can walk, I’m not a solid mass of stiffness. My right shoulder is oh-so-sore, and my neck is beyond painful. My knees are skinned, and bruised to halfway down my shins. My back is blue and purple, my left forearm is yellow and blue, my right upperarm is just solid purple. But overall, I’m just thrilled that I made it out alive!
Lessons learned:
- When someone suggests an offsite, do some research before signing up.
- When someone suggests an offsite outdoors, be doubly careful.
- When someone suggests an offsite in a cave, just say no.
- When in doubt, Charleston! It’ll keep you warm if you’re cold, take your mind off the cave if you’re panicked, loosen your muscles if they’re threatening to get stiff (A swing-out is an acceptable alternative, but requires slightly more space, and should perhaps be avoided on busy train platforms.)
Does anyone have some arnica?
First of all, refreshed the tessen icon
(Read more ...)
Transmissions from 2010-03-12
- RT @cherryrae: Being screwed over by on-spec contests is no longer exclusive to designers New photography climate is scary http://tr.im/RxoH #
- RT @DavidForbes: "Walkable urbanism is illegal in most of the country" http://bit.ly/9U42G9 #
- In a very springtimey mood, despite the grey skies today. Compensating by making all of the themes on my computer lighter :) #
- @Nemo_Bion Sorry, I don't have access to #Cornell #039;s weather machine! in reply to Nemo_Bion #
- Buying eyeglasses online… let's see how this works out, shall we? #
- What's worse? The wasted reference, or the fact that someone actually paid money for this? http://bit.ly/azshIR #
- RT @PopArt: Awesome video telling you how to take a good profile pic, and yes there is a Medusa in it: http://bit.ly/dgqOty #
Ricotta polenta
Straightforward polenta with a bit of added cheese. This is not a low fat recipe, by any stretch of the imagination.
Ingredients
- 4 c chicken stock or water
- 1/2 c milk
- 1 c polenta (corn meal)
- 1/2 c ricotta cheese
- 2 oz shredded parmagiana cheese
- 3 tbsp butter
Directions
- Bring chicken stock to a low boil in a medium sauce pan.
- When boiling, whisk in the polenta, pouring it into the stock a little at a time and whisking well — do this slowly to avoid lumps. Note: it will thicken quickly…do not be alarmed.
- Once the polenta is all stirred into the chicken stock, turn down to low (pretty much as low as your burner will go), and cover. Whisk vigorously every 10 mins.
- After 20 mins, whisk in the milk. Continue to cook on low, stirring every 10 mins for another 20 mins.
- At this point, grab a spoon and taste the polenta. Depending on how coarsely ground your cornmeal is, it could be done now, or you might need to keep cooking it. If it’s grainy, keep cooking. It should be soft and creamy.
- Stir in the ricotta cheese, then, once that’s well blended, stir in the parmagiana cheese. After that’s all incorporated, stir in the butter.
- That’s it. Fantastic as a bed for braised meat, sliced steak, mushroom ragu, etc etc etc. Keeps well, and solidifies (like jello!) when cool so it can be sliced and fried or grilled. Yum!
Insanely yummy short rib recipe
It’s not mine, I just made it exactly according to the recipe which lives over here on Robert Love’s website: Okinawan-style braised beef short ribs. Seriously, I wouldn’t change a thing. Eat them.
Carleton Celebration of Women in Science and Engineering
The idea with this event is to bring together Carleton women who are studying or working in any science or engineering discipline, and share with each other and the rest of the Carleton community what we've been up to. After the talks, the idea is to get the speakers together for dinner on us. The Celebration will be a wonderful opportunity to network and to socialize. It is important to show ourselves that we are not alone and that we do amazing things!
So take a look at our Call for Proposals, and consider being a speaker! You don't need to be an expert - you just have to share something interesting you've been doing lately. Only a short description of what you want to talk about it required, so what do you have to lose?
Carleton Celebration of Women in Computing
The idea with this event is to bring together Carleton women who are studying or working in any science or engineering discipline, and share with each other and the rest of the Carleton community what we've been up to. After the talks, the idea is to get the speakers together for dinner on us. The Celebration will be a wonderful opportunity to network and to socialize. It is important to show ourselves that we are not alone and that we do amazing things!
So take a look at our Call for Proposals, and consider being a speaker! You don't need to be an expert - you just have to share something interesting you've been doing lately. Only a short description of what you want to talk about it required, so what do you have to lose?
The truth about your ISP
My ISP is Telstra, cable. It's pretty darn good for most everything. Except youtube. The performance of youtube streaming video is really really shit.
There are people complaining about youtube on telstra in Wellington here and here and here and here and here and here and ......
Earlier this year youtube added a neat section where you can see the data speeds from your ISP, compared to others in your city, your country and the world: http://www.youtube.com/my_speed
It shows my ISP, telstra, sitting at between 30% and 70% of the average wellington speed. in other words, telstra with their superior cable network technology is being beaten by people with DSL, and being beaten a LONG way..but only for youtube. Telstra have done something to make youtube perform like shit for their customers.
