RoughNightForLulu

Because verbs matter…I am tempted to start a compilation...

Thu, 02 May 2013 20:31:23 -0700

Because verbs matter…I am tempted to start a compilation of poorly abbreviated headlines whose fumbling phraseologies actually contradict their stories. Journalists, please.

Sigh.

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 22:25:06 -0800

Sigh.

Obsessive-Compulsive Cooking, a Step-by- (check-that-) step Process

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 14:54:00 -0800

Select a recipe that you can prepare ahead of time, because the time noted on the recipe will have to be doubled or tripled to be safe. You do not want to keep anyone waiting. And day-of preparation is way too much pressure.

Read the recipe 80 times all the way through.

Question the recommended amount and serving size, compared against what you think your guests can eat, what they weigh, what else they might eat that day. Update numbers accordingly.

Convert all the measurements to other systems of measurement, just to have them on hand.

Make a shopping list on your phone. Make that list somewhere else, too. You’ll need a paper version because you never know.

Write on your list of items the measurements needed so you make sure to buy enough.

Mid-shopping trip, override the numbers you came up with before and decide on what your multiplier will be for increasing the amount of each ingredient your recipe calls for. The multipliers will be different according to how you think the dish will taste with that ratio. X 2 if you really like nuts. X 1.25 if you link it might need just a smidgen more ginger.

Look at the numbers you have calculated and then buy more than that in case you mess it up or decide midway through that it’d be a good idea to double what you were planning on making.

Read the original recipe a few more times while you are in the store. Adjust numbers accordingly. Doubling seems smart at this point.

Consider buying ingredients for something else completely different in case you mess up this recipe.

Check out (not in a self-check-out line, for God’s sake - too much pressure) and head home (not via a route that you’ve taken anytime recently), worried that you forgot something and you should have read the list better.

Stop someplace safe on your way home to go back to the original recipe to check.

Get home and line up all your ingredients.

Expel all other humans from the kitchen. There will be no talking.

Stand there and read the recipe a few more times.

Get your tools ready.

Get a beverage. Pretend you’re relaxing.

Start what the recipe indicates is the first step.

Question that the recipe may be wrong or may not be written well, so go through the steps in your mind to see what you think the real order of the steps should be. Consider your trust in the recipe-writer.

Proceed to step two and so on, but make sure to read the recipe again after each new step because you may have missed something.

Set ingredient packages aside but not away as you use them, so you have a clear visual of what you have used…because you will most definitely forget and need to check several times.

Start actually relaxing, kind of.

Re-read the recipe, aloud this time. Nod as you read.

Be very happy that no one has witnessed this process and that they will only be aware of your end product, which will indeed be scrumptious. It always is. But…the stress remains unseen. Regardless, you and your ulcer did it.

Beautiful pairing. “From the Greek word phthí, meaning...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 06:32:16 -0700

Beautiful pairing.
“From the Greek word phthí, meaning “to decay”…’

Message in a Bottle: Chemicals (Stop buying bottled water, damn it)

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:13:00 -0700

I finally sat down and watched Tapped, a documentary by Stephanie Soechtig, and it made me promise myself never to buy bottled water again. (The argument against bottled water, I’m sure, is old news to most of you, but if for some reason you haven’t sworn off the stuff yet, please read on.)

Some years ago, coincidentally right around the time concerned scientists and news services were alerting the public to the presence of BPA (Bisphenol-A) and similarly harmful chemicals in the purportedly “pure” bottled water, I had made the decision to get a metal water bottle for the gym. My reason for switching to metal, however, was more of a concerted effort not to throw away so many things, it just didn’t seem right to produce so much waste, recyclable or no, when my demand for such a product was causing the supply of more stuff that simply didn’t need to be, so that was the end of that. At the same time, out went paper napkins and those little yogurt containers, I stocked up on canvas grocery bags, started buying earth-friendlier cleaning products, and yes, I sent my parents biodegradable doggie poo bags. It was a massive and awesome green overhaul. (No comment on the unopened Diva Cup.)

In the case of plastic water bottles, in addition to their sheer wastefulness, there arose another reason to stop using them. It seems that more often than not, the plastics used to create these bottles break down, enter the water, then in turn enter the thirsty well-intentioned albeit naive consumer, and cause a variety of health problems (many of them quite serious and thyroid-related) for the individual (and his or her offspring…when even applicable, because one of the effects of these chemicals is reduced potency/fertility…). And the kicker is that studies suggest that even the smallest trace is harmful - it doesn’t take continued use, as one would think.

On top of that, we add the matters of the little-to-no quality regulations (no FDA tests are required if the product doesn’t cross state lines, and 70% of bottled water is sourced and bottled in-state; and even if bottled water does cross state lines, it is checked periodically at best; compared to the rigorous daily testing of municipal tap water); and questionable sourcing (often simply tap water, sometimes taken before the local need for it is met, and even throughout droughts), and we arrive at a well-supported case to drink from the tap and to switch to stainless steel containers.

[Side note: Upon finishing the documentary I decided to buy some extra bottles from Klean Kanteen. They make a variety of colors and sizes (I went with the 27 oz. - I’m a woman who can drink), including baby bottles and insulated bottles - all very cool - not to mention, a more responsible, heathy choice all around.]

Visualizing Emancipation Project

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:28:02 -0700

A neat visualization of data project from the Digital Scholarship Lab at the University of Richmond.

“Looking at the map, there’s no single event that you can point to and say, ‘Emancipation happened here,’” Mr. Ayers said. “But in the absence of the defining moment, you start to see patterns of how African-Americans helped the Union and followed the paths of the armies and fought for their own emancipation. Here, the emancipated people appear as key players in their own stories, not told through the eyes of someone else.” - The Chronicle of Higher Education

"Having been blessed with the wealth there is no better way of using it than education."

Tue, 29 May 2012 22:06:25 -0700

“Having been blessed with the wealth there is no better way of using it than education.”

- Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, a member of Qatar’s ruling family and a former university professor

-“Why is Qatar investing so much in education?”

KS Pharmacists May Refuse to Fill Birth Control Prescriptions

Wed, 16 May 2012 16:44:00 -0700

‘Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) signed a bill yesterday that will allow pharmacists in the state to refuse to fill a prescription they think could be used to induce abortion. But since the “conscience” measure says they cannot be required to provide a drug or devise that they think “may result in the termination of a pregnancy” — but does not define which drug in particular — the law’s opponents say it could allow a pharmacist to interfere with a woman’s health care by refusing to distribute birth control or emergency contraception.’ - Think Progress

I am so fuming with rage that I can hardly type. WHY are we allowing our nation to even suggest such a regression for women’s rights? This is an asinine misogynistic movement disguised in pro-life garb. Women *are* life. We think, we speak, we create, we love, we learn, we have glorious sex, and we change the world. We decide. We will not lose the ground we have fought for. We will not stand for this.

Ladies.

Patterns: Subway formations and human self-organization (In the...

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:11:00 -0700

Patterns: Subway formations and human self-organization

(In the image: Metros of Shanghai, Madrid, Moscow, Tokyo, Seoul and Barcelona)

“With equations used to study two-dimensional spatial networks, the class of network to which subways belong, the researchers turned stations and lines to a mathematics of nodes and branches. They repeated their analyses with data from each decade of a subway system’s history, and looked for underlying trends.

Patterns emerged: The core-and-branch topology, of course, and patterns more fine-grained. Roughly half the stations in any subway will be found on its outer branches rather than the core. The distance from a city’s center to its farthest terminus station is twice the diameter of the subway system’s core. This happens again and again.” - Wired

Beastie Boys' References, Explained

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:47:00 -0700

Beastie Boys' References, Explained:

What Happens to a DREAM Act Disturbed...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:08:00 -0700

“The original DREAM Act would grant young people who were brought illegally to the U.S. as children a path to citizenship provided that they attend college or serve in the military.

Rubio’s plan, which is still in the works, would provide not a path to citizenship but rather non-immigrant visas, the Florida Republican says.”

Democratic Senate candidate (AZ), Puerto Rican American, and former U.S. Surgeon General, Richard Carmona counters: “Why do you think they’re reworking their initial vitriolic, far-right, ‘deport everybody’ (message)?” he asked. “Why? Do you think that all of a sudden there’s an epiphany and their hearts have opened up to people who are struggling? I don’t think so. I think it’s a political calculation – that they recognized they cannot win their races and stay in office unless they embrace the Hispanic community. So, I really feel it’s very disingenuous. […] Do you think it just popped up at this time – six, seven months before the election – and everybody goes, ‘Oh gee, let’s embrace these people now’? … So, it’s crazy. The fact of the matter is these are political calculations and the public is fed up with it.”

Washington Post

Afghan schoolgirls poisoned in anti-education attack

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:38:00 -0700

Afghan schoolgirls poisoned in anti-education attack :

It blows my mind that people could behave this fearful, hateful way towards other human beings, and towards children, no less.

To correct ignorant and violent behavior, we must educate more.

"Police in Brazil have arrested three people for allegedly killing at least two women, eating parts..."

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:22:00 -0700

“Police in Brazil have arrested three people for allegedly killing at least two women, eating parts of their bodies and using their flesh to make stuffed pastries known as empanadas which they sold to their neighbours.”

- The Independent filed under “empanadas,” “cannibalism,” “the importance of knowing who sources your meat”

Healing

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:18:00 -0700

Spent 8.5 weeks in an immobilization boot.

Now, relegated to doctor-selected sneakers for 4 weeks.

Yesterday I signed up for 6 weeks of physical therapy.

And today I wish-listed some adorable little blue heels.

We shall see.

The Beverage of the Internet

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:42:16 -0700

The Beverage of the Internet

Trash for Fruit

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:35:52 -0800

Mexico City, one of the world’s largest trash producers, has launched a new exchange program in an effort to manage their abundance of refuse. People may bring their used paper, carton, glass bottles, and cans to a determined market site the first Sunday of every month and use them as currency to acquire fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese, plants, and sweets. According to the capital city’s Environmental Commission, the goal of the program is to show citizens in a direct and tangible way that many waste items still have a market value if sorted correctly.

Beautiful. Here’s hoping.

Partially translated from BBC Mundo

Usually I read the first round of news while still in bed, often...

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:41:42 -0800

Usually I read the first round of news while still in bed, often bleary-eyed. This practice often brings me double-takes, as did reading this as “IKEA” inspectors, for example.

One Man's Struggle to Change a Sentence

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0800

History, bombs, a riot…and combative Wikipedia editing

“For the past 10 years I’ve immersed myself in the details of one of the most famous events in American labor history, the Haymarket riot and trial of 1886. Along the way I’ve written two books and a couple of articles about the episode. In some circles that affords me a presumption of expertise on the subject. Not, however, on Wikipedia.”

- “The Undue Weight of Truth on Wikipedia” by Timothy Messer-Kruse

This sounds like a Borges’ story to me. Historian Messer-Kruse describes his battle with Wikipedia editors, and raises questions about the site’s terms, veracity, and “weight of argument.”

The United States Department of Agriculture has reworked the...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:01:00 -0800

The United States Department of Agriculture has reworked the Plant Hardiness Zone Map for the first time since 1990. For over two decades gardeners and farmers have used this regional map to determine which plants will successfully grow in their region and when to sow (and the government, in turn, to determine crop insurance risk, etc.).

The revised map, developed by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate Group is for the first time interactive (albeit it, mildly) in that users can isolate a state or search by zip code. That’s a step in the right direction.

But the most interesting change may be the shift in growing zones:

“Compared to the 1990 version, zone boundaries in this edition of the map have shifted in many areas. The new map is generally one 5-degree Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the United States. This is mostly a result of using temperature data from a longer [now 30-year versus previous 13-year records] and more recent time period […]” but also more sophisticated measurement systems. - USDA Press Release

Noteworthy in this press release is the absence of any mention of rising temperatures as a possible cause for these growing region shifts, and an explicit reference to the fact that some of the zones have gotten cooler, as if to silence global warming alarms before they sound.

When an Entire Village Wins the Lottery

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:53:00 -0800

This is so great. A northern Spanish village of struggling farmers chipped in and bought lottery tickets through their homemakers’ association and won millions.

Initial reactions of the townspeople, each having won hundreds of thousands of dollars include, ‘“Some of the ladies talked about going to the hairdresser,” Mayor Pons said. “But the hairdresser won, too. And she said, ‘I’m not working today.’ So that ended that.”’ and my personal favorite, “People are going to invest in the fields and maybe a sofa.”

These villagers - and Spain as a whole - have faced exceptionally terrible economic conditions in the past few years. Their lottery winnings will help them rebuild, equip their farms with the necessary materials to be productive, and as one winner explains, simply breathe again.

- NYT