iPad Art

I got an app for my iPad called Brushes. It's a painting program that uses your finger as a paint brush! It's like finger painting, but not quite as great, since you aren't covered in sticky paint when you are all done. I have tried a few "paintings" and it's much harder than it looks. But since it's just for fun I am taking my time getting used to it. Here are a few of my preliminary creations. 

Tree Envy

I am sure everyone has them. You know, those restless days at work when you feel trapped and have to battle against the overwhelming urge to escape. Where you want to scream "Freedom!!!" like Mel Gibson did in Braveheart and race out the door into the sunshine....and back into life. You know what I'm talking about right?
Well, I am having one of those days today, and for no particular reason that I can think of either. It's just another regular day. Almost every time I feel this way I find myself gazing out my office window at the tree across the street. It's not the prettiest tree. It is wedged behind a restaurant and some garbage cans, and has been hit by delivery trucks at least three times that I've seen. But for some reason on days when I'm feeling restless and trapped indoors, I find myself watching it's leaves shimmer in the sun, and can't help but feel a certain amount of envy.
Like I said, I don't think this is a particularly fortunate tree, but at the same time it will never have a day "at the office" in all it's life. When it's sunny and cheerful outside, it gets to be a part of it. When it's crisp and windy out, it's branches get to dance in the breeze. When it's stormy and gray, it gets to soak it all in. Sometimes (but not always) I wish I could really enjoy every day like that, and be a part of the weather the way plants are.
Don't get me wrong. I am not saying I'd prefer to be a tree over human being. I'm just saying that sometimes, on days like today, I feel a little anthropomorphic jealousy towards them that's all.

What in the Google?

I was just typing the question "Why are we supposed to drink 8 glasses of water a day?" into Google, and was amused by it's attempts to anticipate my question as I proceeded though each of the first few words. Are these really the most popularly asked questions? If so I fear for humanity. I really do. 

My Cocotte

My cocotte. A gift from my Aunt in France.

While visiting my Aunt in France this past winter I was treated to delicious home cooked meals every day! I picked up a few recipes and have been experimenting with them since I've returned home. But crucial to this process was the purchase (a gift from my Aunt!) of a cocotte. A cocotte is a cast iron pot and lid that is wonderful for cooking so many things. My first taste of rabbit was cooked in one! I think it's the predecessor of the crock pot.
Anyway, I've never bought one because the are so expensive (around $250-$300), but my Aunt gave me money to get one for myself when I got home!  My mom found the perfect one when she was in Michigan, and brought it back for me and I love it. Not only is it great for cooking, but it also looks beautiful sitting on my stove top, and it reminds me of my Aunt if France every time I see it!
My recipes aren't coming out as well as hers did, but I'm still getting the hang of it. I guess there is no hurry since this pretty pot should last me the rest of my life!

Donald Driver DWTS

Click here to see dance!

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver is a participant on this years Dancing With The Stars show. LOL. So funny. I don't watch the show, but I saw his cha-cha on YouTube and was pretty impressed. Check it out and see for yourself by clicking on the image!

(OK I'm done with football posts for a while;)

From One Horse to Another

I can't believe I'm saying this but Peyton Manning will no longer be an Indianapolis Colt. His brief free agency had him interviewing in San Fran, Tennessee and Denver, and for whatever reason he signed with the latter, a horse of a different color if you will. I have no idea why, but if I were him (with several vertebrate in my neck fused together) I'd be going with the team with the best O-line.
I am a little disappointed though because I've never really liked the Broncos. I think the John Elway era was OK, but in the last couple of years there has just been so much drama there, it's annoying. Jeff McDaniels/Brandon Marshall/ Kyle Orton/ Tebow etc. And I don't like Brandon Lloyd either (although now he's a Ram).
Anyway, Peyton seemed to like it just fine, and so he'll be the starting QB come fall. I also heard that Denver is looking to trade Tim Tebow now. I can't blame them there. While I'll admit the kid has enthusiasm, I don't think he's a good football player, and I find him obnoxious. But who will want him? I don't think he'll get a start anywhere, except maybe if he goes to Miami. And that's not because I think he is starter material, rather I think they would use him as a PR stunt to get the Florida fans (remember Tebow went to the University of Florida) back on the Dolphins bandwagon. They have been so terrible the last few years it seems like nobody wants to play there. I heard David Gerrard (used to QB for Jacksonville) signed with the Dolphins already, but I think if they got Tebow too, he'd have a shot at starting. Otherwise, I think he's done, or a back up for the rest of his career.
But WOW, can you believe it? Peyton Manning a Denver Bronco? I always thought he would retire a Colt. And I am really curious why he still wants to play, especially when you consider the severity of his injury. He could be paralyzed if he gets hurt again. Why risk it when he has plenty of money and a family to look after? I love football too, but...not that much. I think he should have stayed with the Colts and become their quarterback coach. Now that would have been something! Train up the new QB in the "Peyton-Style" of play, so the offense could stick to their normal scheme (which was pretty successful the past few years). Oh well. Anyway, hopefully he has more success than Favre did.

So Long Matt Flynn

Matt Flynn. Photo borrowed from seahawks.com

It's official. Matt Flynn is no longer a Green Bay Packer :( super sad face). He signed a 3 year 27 million dollar contract with the Seattle Seahawks this week. And while I am very sorry to see him go, I am also happy for him too. He is a great quarterback and deserves a starting position. Anyway, so long Matt. And good luck.

The Lorax

I haven't been this disappointed in a movie since...The Clash of the Titans came out (and ironically, I just saw a preview for a sequel....Who knows, maybe this is where they actually introduce the Titans?).
I'm a huge animated movie fan. I got Despicable ME and Monsters Inc. for Christmas and was excited about it.  Horton Hears a Who is my go to movie when I am sick in bed, or feeling blue, and so I was pretty stoked to go see The Lorax over the weekend and...what a disappointment! We were about 20 minutes into the movie when I actually whispered to my BF "Wow. This is really boring. This is not funny at all." And it was true. The one minute preview of Despicable Me 2 was funnier than the whole feature we went to see.
The Lorax is a thinly veiled "save the trees/ socialist/weirdly religious/sexist" affair, with  horrible music, disturbing LSD-like montages, and no humor what so ever. I almost got up and left half way through, it was that bad.
The movie is about a young inventor with a bright idea and a twinkle in his eye who goes out and tries to make these things called thneads. He uses the leaves from trees (which don't look anything like trees) to make them, and as his company becomes more successful, the more trees he chops. He bribes the creepy woodland creatures (who remind me of something off a Greatful Dead bumper sticker) with marshmallows until he can't anymore, and then he just ignores them and buys himself a ridiculous Flava-Flav suit and dances around singing about how he's done "nothing wrong", with dollar signs dancing behind him.

Eventually of course the trees are gone, air quality starts going down, the Lorax ascends into heaven, and the would-be inventor locks himself away in guilty exile, but does nothing to fix the problem. Years pass, and then some other cliched-corporate A-hole starts selling manufactured "fresh air" (which reminds me of Spaceballs) to the wholly oblivious town of Thneadville.
In Thneadville there is a little boy who had the hots for the slightly older neighbor girl. She wishes she could see a real tree, so he goes out to find one for her. Why she can't go out and find her own tree is beyond me. But apparently she is either not creative enough to think if it on her own, or smart enough to...who knows.
So then the boy goes to see the inventor who tells him the whole story of how he's responsible for all the trees being gone and gives the boy a seed to plant a tree (why he didn't plant it himself is one of the many obvious questions that the writers didn't bother to ask) and then suddenly there are trees everywhere (never mind that there was only ONE seed left) and everyone is happy, and the little boy is a hero and gets a kiss from the girl, and the Lorax descends from the sky like Jesus on the day of glory, and the Inventor is redeemed. The end.
The credits started rolling and I was like...WTF?!
It is my opinion that this movie is a total waste of money. I wouldn't even recommend it on Netflix because you still won't be able to get that hour and a half of your life back. In fact, if someone were to walk up to me and offer me a free copy of this movie I would say "No thanks." and move on. You can, of course, go see it if you want to. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

Alps Railway Tunnel

I was perusing an issue of National Geographic at the library the other day when I stumbled upon this photo (or one really close to this, I found this one on the internet). I was quite amazed. It looked like something out of the latest Transformers movie. I've never seen such a large drill! And to think it's been tunneling for years, under the Alps, an astonishing 2 km below the surface is even more impressive. I won't go into all the details since the Nat Geo folks are much better writers than I am, but here is the article if you'd like to know more.
It definitely puts a new spin on the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" doesn't it?

Christmas List 2012: French Village

I just read an article about a town in France for sale! And I want it.  I know what you are thinking...I have such expensive taste, but it's really quite a steal. For a little more than I could spend on my 600 sq ft 1/1 apartment, I could have a whole town in France! There are 19 buildings, a town hall, old church, pool and tennis courts! I'll admit it could use a little work, but I've never been the type afraid of getting my hands a little dirty. I'd even be willing to share if you want in. You could be the mayor, and I'll be the sheriff. So, who's with me?

Meet My DNA

I know I've already written several posts today, but you are going to have to humor me with one more. I'd post it tomorrow, but it's so exciting I just can't wait.
It's weird how much of ourselves we've never seen. I'm not talking about that freckle on you left shoulder blade, I'm talking about your brain or heart for example, or a white blood cell or your DNA. In the case of the latter, sure we've heard about it, and we know basically what it is, and we know that we have millions of copies in our bodies, but have you ever actually seen DNA, in "the flesh" so to speak?
Well, I have! And not just any old DNA either, I've actually seen my DNA! I extracted it just a half hour ago, and right in my own kitchen as a matter of fact! It only took the simplest tools and method, and surprisingly it is the same procedure (more or less) that professionals use. Isn't that something?
With nothing more than some salt water, soap, a little alcohol and a few drops of spit, I was able to collect, unwind and view my very own DNA! *sigh* Ain't science grand?
Here are a few pictures of one of the better "strands" that I saw. They are really small, and so quite difficult to photograph. I had to use a combination of hand lens at 10x magnification, and my awesome camera, and even so it is still a little tough to make out. (It wasn't as difficult in real life.) But basically my DNA is the thing that looks like a little piece of string suspended in the liquid inside the circle of the lens. I also have a picture of the entire jar over a light, where you can see much more DNA, but it didn't unwind as well, so it looks like little white specks.  Enjoy!

An Interesting Question

What do you think is the most astounding fact about the universe? I can think of all kinds of cool facts, but the "most" astounding one? That's tough. But not for everybody. Neil deGrasse Tyson was recently asked and, at least in my opinion, his answer lived up to it's alpha status among astounding truths. I especially like the part where he says that "...Many people feel small, because they are small and the universe is big, but I feel big." That is exactly how I feel when I think about myself in the cosmos. If you have three minutes, I highly recommend you take a look at the video (click on the image above for the link). It might just improve your day. No need to thank me;)

Afterward (if you want) take a minute to think about what the most astounding thing in the universe is to you, and after that maybe take an extra minute or two to really enjoy it;)

Here Higgsy-Higgsy

In the issue of Science (December 2011) I read, there was a tiny blurb on the Higgs-boson. Remember the blog I posted last month about  the book The God Particle?
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting little follow up, especially since the writer claimed (and I sensed a little exasperation between the lines) that "Next year, particle physicists will either find the long-sought Higgs boson, or prove it doesn't exist..." He goes on to claim "It's not so much a prediction as a matter of fact." and concludes that "It's all but a mathematical certainty." (And from what I understand  "mathematical certainty" translates to "pretty damn sure" in the vernacular.)
The Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland is on the hunt, and producing so much data, so rapidly, that scientists believe if the Higgs is out there, it will soon have no place left to hide.
Either way I think it's exciting. If they do find it, it will vindicate the Standard Model theory and be one of the (maybe the?) greatest achievements in modern physics. If they don't find it, then they will have to start from scratch and come up with a whole new theory. And that would be really interesting too.

Who's Your Great-Great-Grand-Daddy?

The other day at the gym I was surprised to see an issue of the journal Science among the normal fitness/body building ones in a basket in the lobby. I was a little early for yoga, so I sat down for a quick read. As I thumbed through some of the shorter articles I came across one discussing the recently-complicated family tree of we humans that was pretty neat.
For the past 100,000 years or so we have been tooling around the earth doing our "thing" which involved learning, creating culture, reproducing and all that fun stuff. But many of us forget (or maybe never realized to begin with) that we weren't the only folks around at that time. In the past 35,000 years there were Neandertals for one, and archaic humans called the Denisova hominin in addition to ourselves. And if you go back to the beginning of that 100,00 years when Homo sapiens emerged there were probably a few of our older ancestors still running around, like Australopithecus sediba and so on.
Anyway, for almost the entire history of anthropology it was thought that we humans never mated with any of our  early neighbors. But DNA sequencing is turning that idea on it's head. Recent study comparing modern human DNA to Neandertal and Denisovan DNA has produced the following results:

• Eastern Europeans and Asian people have inherited 2%-6% of their DNA from Neadertals.
• Peoples of Southwest Asia have inherited about 5% of their DNA from the Denisovans, and another 4-6% from Neandertals. (Another study found this same distribution in people in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Melanesia.) (That's about 10% total!!!)
• Denisovan DNA was found in Australian aboriginals
• Three isolated African groups inherited DNA from an unknown archaic people, long after modern humans arose.
• It has been discovered that over half of the human genes that code for leukocyte antigen proteins, (i.e.the ones that help detect pathogens in the blood) came from some or another "archaic" human.

I guess maybe I should point out before closing what is meant by archaic humans. They were still Homo but their DNA shows them to be distinct from us modern humans. They appear to have evolved from the same ancestors as Neandertals, but were closely enough related to humans to be able to reproduce.

Note: You may notice that I spell Neandertal with a "t" rather than a "th". I believe the "th" is the American version, but in all of my readings (both in school, and in scientific journals) always uses the "t" version, and I figured if it's good enough for Science it's good enough for me.

You have Beautiful...Eye.

Water flea
http://discovermagazine.com/2012/mar/30-heres-looking-at-you-kid

I saw this photo in the most recent edition of Discover Magazine at the local library, and then I searched it out on their website (which by the was is fantastic,and totally one of my favorite Internet haunts). The image is of a water flea. Yep. Can you believe that? I sat there for at least five minutes trying to figure out if it was some kind of joke or something, but it's not. It's the real deal. And I think this little guy/gal...whatever, is pretty awesome (and I'm invoking the original sense of the word here, not the modern day meaning). The article is short, but definitely worth the one minute it will take to read it. The other highlight the author points out is that these transparent little specks have about 5,000 more genes than we do! I don't know how that's possible, but there you have it. I swear that every single day I am more amazed by what life is, and how life does. It reminds me of that quote by the late Carl Sagan. "I find it elevating and exhilarating to discover that we live in a Universe which permits the evolution of molecular machines as intricate and subtle as we." Although just for today I might replace the "we" with "a water flea".

On a slightly more humorous note for some reason the water flea photo instantly reminded me of this seedy plankton character that I saw on Sponge Bob. I looked it up and his name is Sheldon J. Plankton...LOL...

The second thing I thought of was Mike Wazowski. 

Photo: The Sunday Market

These two little boys didn't know what to make of the black-and-white leotard wearing hallucigenia impostor that was playing the accordion at the Sunday market this week. To tell you the truth I didn't either.

Crepes A-la-Moi

I had a wonderful weekend full of reading, exercising, cooking, enjoying the great outdoors, shopping and gardening! Yesterday morning I was inspired to experiment with breakfast and ended up with what I consider to be an instant classic! And it's got me written all over it!
It combines some of my favorite food items from local eats with the Mexican fusion style of food (common in California) that has become my culinary medium of late. And to really make it unique I substituted in a little French flair as both a nod to my Aunt (in France who showed me how to make crepes) and to my French heritage.
I made savory crepes stuffed with eggs, chili-lime chicken breast, and breakfast potatoes from the Los Gatos Cafe (which are, in my opinion the very best breakfast potatoes in the universe (or at least our galaxy)), and a little bit of cheese.
Then I topped it off with avocado, and the infamous La Victoria, "orange" sauce, which can only be found at that local taqueria chain here in the Bay area.
 Not only did it look nice, but it was....well, pretty darn good. I can only take credit for the idea though, since I didn't actually make half of it, but oh sweet deliciousness! I think I might make it my go-to recipe for when I have house guests from now on. It would be a nice little "tour-d'Bay" for my visitors all rolled into breakfast!

Ladies, What Do You Think?

I was cruising the internet yesterday looking for some cool tights and I was disappointed by the selection. It seems that most websites/stores only carry designs of flowers (roses especially), lip prints, hearts, butterflies etc, that I find obnoxious. I usually go for the patterns since they are the least annoying, but even those are somewhat overused and boring.
That set me thinking of a business idea. I thought to myself wouldn't it be cool if there was a brand of hosiery that was dedicated to both style and substance? You know, not only something pretty to look at, but also reflecting on who we are as women and what our interests are. I'm not trying to sound all feminist or anything, and I don't have anything against butterflies or lipstick, but at the same time I wouldn't say they represent me as a person. And I think a lot of us (well, that wear tights anyway:) would much rather wear something that was a little more..."us" if we had the option. Just as clothing style speaks to who you are as an individual, the idea would be so can the prints you choose to wear! If you have no idea what I am getting at check out the quick proto-types I put together below and the descriptions. Afterward I'd love to know what you think. (I guess boys can weigh in too if you want:) ANd be honest. Even if you think it's hokey (hooky?hoky?).


1.) This design is for a lawyer. The text is the actual Lawyer code of ethics for the state of New York.

Lawyer

Close up of print

2.) This design is for a doctor or any medical reasearch/field. The graphic is of a cell, a brain cell or neuron to be precise.

Doctor/Medical

Close up of print

3.) This design is for a naturalist/botanist. The leaf patters are ones that everyone should know. They are the triple threat of Poison Oak, Poison Ivy, and Poison Sumac

Science/ Botany/Nature

Close up of print

Cathedral de Metz (Saint Etienne de Metz) Portrait

Cathedral de Metz (Saint Etienne de Metz) Landscape

I am winding up on my posts from my trip to France. I only have a couple left. I've decided to do my photo's from the Cathedral in Metz in two posts, since some of my photos are landscape, and some are portrait. Saint Etienne (Saint Stephen) holds the world record for the largest expanse of stained glass windows, with approximately 70,000 sq. ft. of them. It is also the third highest cathedral in France, and let me tell you something, it absolutely looks like it. I've seen higher buildings of course, but the way it towers over every other building in the Centre Ville (it's at least twice as high) makes it seem like it could possibly reach all the way to heaven. The other thing to consider when admiring it's height is that it was built in the 1500's, during a time when flying butresses were all the rage because architects didn't know any other way to support high walls without having them topple over. It's really a remarkable feat. And beautiful too.
I'm also including a few photo's from the crypt beneath the church. Thankfully there aren't any bodies down there anymore!  I guess my only "complaint" if I could even have one, is that all of those beautiful stained glass windows are so high up, it's hard to really appreciate their design and craftsmanship from the ground. Anyway, hope you enjoy!