Friday Fare
thusspakezuska | June 25, 2007It seems all the Science Bloggers are doing it...
...submitting their blogs for rating at this site.
I am so proud to say TSZ came up with an R rating.
Mingle2 - Online Dating
Bora has an NC-17 but he's the only one. He's the only one in lots of ways, though, you know?? (I mean that in a good way, Bora!)
My rating was based on the presence of the following words:
sex (8x) pain (3x) poop (2x) puke (1x)
Now, I am absolutely sure that the word "puke" appears more than one time on this blog, so maybe I really should have an NC-17. But, whatever. I'm no "G" blogger like PZ, Doc…
thusspakezuska | May 22, 2007Mr. Zuska and I spent a few days in Gettysburg at the Bluegrass Festival. I am a conflicted fan of bluegrass music. That is, I do love me some banjo. And hearing a good banjo, fiddle, bass, mandolin, and guitar together is, to me, a true aural delight.
The problem lies with some of the lyrics. As the Steep Canyon Rangers pointed out Thursday night, there are a lot of "mean woman songs" in bluegrass. Thursday I must have heard at least three whose story went along the lines of "you done me wrong and broke my heart; that's why I had to shoot you and him with my daddy's gun; you're layin…
thusspakezuska | May 22, 2007Dave at the World's Fair asks:
Can you show us your coffee cup?
Can you comment on it? Do you think it reflects on your personality?
Do you have any interesting anecdotes resulting from coffee cup commentary?
Can you try to get others to comment on it?
I'm a day late and a dollar short, as my dad used to say, in answering this, but I'll give it a try anyway. Most of my sciblings have already given it a go, with lots of nifty pictures of fab coffee mugs. Check out Dr. Free-Ride, Sandra Porter. Dr. Joan Bushwell, CR McClain, Chad Orzel, and Tara's lack-of-coffee lament.
When all this started…
thusspakezuska | May 10, 2007This post is for all who love plants...
I visited the Jenkins Arboretum yesterday. It's located in Devon, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia, on the "Main Line". This arboretum is a real jewel of biodiversity in the midst of a region that has been developed to the ultramax. It has a special focus on rhododendrons and azaleas, and right now the azaleas are in peak bloom.
The eponymous Mr. Jenkins established the arboretum as a living memorial to his wife, Elisabeth, "an avid gardener and wildlife enthusiast". He also stipulated in the terms of the foundation that admission to the arboretum…
thusspakezuska | May 10, 2007So, according to WT, I have minions.
This would be awesome, if it were true.
Alas, I fear it is not. Mr. Zuska and I still must fetch our own food and load the dishwasher, and last night we were forced to gather the trash and wheel the container to the curb ourselves. I am pretty sure if I had minions, I wouldn't be doing any of that. Especially the trash part, because that includes dealing with the kitty litter. Mr. Zuska being faint of heart when it comes to kitty poop, that duty generally falls to me.
I am for damn sure if I had minions, I would not be carrying kitty poop around…
thusspakezuska | May 1, 2007I needed something to lighten up my day today. Maybe you do, too. How about this picture from my garden?
See, even my garden knows I'm a bleeding heart liberal.
thusspakezuska | April 13, 2007Karmen at Chaotic Utopia has honored/saddled me with the Thinking Blogger Award/meme.
I rarely ever participate in memes. But since this one is disguised as a compliment I'll make an exception. Since this comes from Karmen, I do take it as a compliment - thank you, Karmen! It was nice to read what you wrote about me...especially this week, which is a bit of down week for me.
So, okay, here's the award/meme guidelines:
If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the…
thusspakezuska | February 15, 2007I have a friend who is always making up the most wonderful names for his female friends by adding the syllable "stress" to unusual words. My favorite was one he gave me after a nefarious piece of business: underminestress. Believe me, the person deserved it. Anyway, I say all this by way of explaining the word "geekstress" in my post title there. It's meant proudly and campily, the way my friend uses the modifier.
So: what does a true geekstress look like? We are in the process of finding out!
Kristin just posted this link to a contest on Inkling magazine:
In honor of all girl-geeks…
thusspakezuska | February 15, 2007It's Girl Scout cookie season, and maybe that's why this appeals to me even more than I thought it would. Scouts, badges - what's not to love?
Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique
Read the launch announcement over at the World's Fair.
It's open to anybody who considers themselves to be any sort of a science communicator, broadly defined:
For the propogation of an ideal where science communicators can meet firstly, for drinks; secondly, for communicating; and ultimately, for networking.
It's not yet clear how "Above Average Physique" is to be…
thusspakezuska | January 19, 2007I'm off to BlogTogether, the North Carolina Science Bloggers Conference, this weekend. And in a perversely un-blogger like move, I am NOT taking my laptop with me so that I can blog minute-by-minute from the conference. I plan to be unplugged from my computer from, oh, approximately now until I return Sunday afternoon. Hell, I may not blog until Monday.
Besides, Mr. Zuska wants the laptop to burn some cds from his old tape collection. I won't say from which famous jam band he has about a gazillion concert tapes he made himself and/or traded for. But if you know what a Betty Board is, I…
thusspakezuska | December 18, 2006Check out the Scienceblogger group portrait! It's clickable and it's cool! It also appears in the December/January issue of Seed Magazine, which you can get for free if you subscribe to Seed (thus getting 7 issues for the price of 6). Seed magazine is very nifty and it is not very expensive. And you know you want to own that portrait with my caricature in it.
thusspakezuska | December 15, 2006The weekend's entertainment slate is All-Darwin, All Weekend. Just in from Netflix is Inherit the Wind, which Mr. Zuska and I will view either this evening or Sunday evening. Saturday afternoon we are planning to visit the Darwin exhibit at the Franklin Institute here in Philadelphia. There are two Galapagos tortoises at the exhibit, and there is a live tortoise webcam at the exhibit website, but I can't manage to bring it up on my browser for some reason. Maybe you'll have better luck.
thusspakezuska | December 11, 2006The Chronicle of Higher Education published a little tongue-in-cheek holiday gift guide in the December 8 issue. I really liked this item: the Scientific Integrity Calendar, published by the Union of Concerned Scientists and available at their website.
In the summer of 2006, creative minds throughout America had the opportunity to show off their artistic and comedic talents in support of independent science by entering Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest. Artists of all skill levels submitted hundreds of entries dealing with political interference in science,…
thusspakezuska | December 10, 2006Negative geekhood stereotypes abound - geek boys have no social skills. Geek girls are ugly.
But The Onion has recently put forth a new, semi-positive geek stereotype. It seems that now, geekhood is a protection against addiction.
Thanks to my friend Cindy for sending this my way!
thusspakezuska | November 3, 2006Yes, it's November, and that means it's time to plant spring bulbs! Yay!
Okay, I already planted eighty bulbs last week:
10 Prinz Claus crocus
10 Pickwick Crocus
10 Chionodoxa Luciliae (Glory of the Snow)
10 Iris Reticulata 'Violet Beauty'
40 Galanthus (Snowdrops)
Now please note that while some of the above links will take you to sites that allow you to order bulbs, I do NOT necessarily endorse any of those sites for ordering bulbs. You have to be very, very careful about where you order your bulbs from.
I know this because of a course I took on Wednesday evening from the Morris…
thusspakezuska | October 20, 2006 So, I'm catching up on my Chronicle of Higher Education reading, and I come across this article (you need a subscription):
A Finger on the Pulse of Cool
Finding out what young adults consider cool is the key to success for advertisers and marketers. College students alone spend billions each year on electronics, entertainment, fashion, and food. So when companies like Nike, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft want to figure out how best to appeal to young consumers, they track down Carl Rohde.
Mr. Rohde, who teaches cultural sociology at the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, insists he is "…
thusspakezuska | October 13, 2006It's Friday, and I've had two whole days this week without migraine, plus one day with a headache that only lasted an hour. So far today (9:16 a.m. as I write) I do not have a headache and the sun is shining, which, as Zuskateers know, constitutes the makings of a perfect day for Zuska. In the spirit of Scienceblogs Fridays, I offer you this trifle.
Tuesday morning I woke up without a headache and the sun was shining. So out I went to enjoy a delightful brunch at one of my favorite Chestnut Hill spots, Roller's Expresso. While reading the Philadelphia Inquirer, I was reminded of a visit…