Physics and Philosophy, for the Kindergarten Set

So I've spent some quality time with my six-year-old niece the past two days. Since she's in first grade, she's into learning - which makes it much easier for me to relate to her; I'm self-consciously awkward around young children, and besides, learning is what I do best! Well, at least I like to think so. Anyhow, I'm glad she's moved out of the Let's Pretend! phase that really taxes whatever is left of my creativity. Making up a story about fairies? Not exactly my mileu. Now she's content to be drilled on subtraction questions or telling time or rhyming words. This I can do.

That said, a lot of my material would kill with other audiences, but I'm afraid it's lost on the youth. Maybe it's best we don't have children yet... So on the car ride home from Epcot this evening, she wanted to know whether we would beat the other car (containing my husband, parents-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew). I told her we could go faster in my little Civic, faster than their lumbering minivan. Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Why?

Because it's harder to get heavier things to move.

Why?

It's inertia.

What's inertia?

[slipping right into Physics Teacher Mode]
It's Isaac Newton's First Law -
things that are standing still will stay still
unless something pushes on them. So if...

But we're moving, what's pushing on us?

The car's engine.

What's pushing the engine?

Gasoline.

What's driving the gasoline?

Our money!

What drives the money?

Capitalism.

What drives capitalism?

Power.

What drives power?

Well, that's a good question.
There are a lot of people asking that very thing.

They should just look it up on the internet.

Indeed. Google gets 'em young, it seems.

Aside from Fun With Primary Schoolers, it was a beautiful evening. Perfect weather. Early spring in Florida is actually quite lovely. Not too humid. Clear. Pleasant for strolling around out-of-doors. I've been hungry for Japanese food for a few days. I met the group at Epcot, and I thought it would be nice to eat at the Japan pavilion; I figured I had no chance in convincing this group to go eat Japanese. As we tried to decide where to eat, my sister in law suggested either China or Japan. Sensing a vulnerability in the defenses, I took the opportunity to strike. Japan it was! Hooray for spicy tuna rolls, sukiyaki beef, vegetable tempura, and green tea! While we were waiting for fireworks at Epcot, I got creative with my camera's long exposures.

A Fine Fuss

I really love birthdays. There's a lot of joy in an excuse to make a fuss over someone. And there are few things I enjoy quite like a good fuss!

Plus, there's cake involved! Here are two I made this week. One for a friend (dark chocolate cake, mocha cream filling, coffee buttercream, and fondant):

One for my mother-in-law (vanilla bean cake, black raspberry filling, vanilla buttercream, fondant, and gumpaste leaves):

He is Risen

Isaiah 53.

Stuff Jen Likes

A quarterly (or perhaps monthly, I haven't decided) list of, well, stuff I like. It started as a list of "ordinary things in which I take inordinate delight" and has quickly ballooned. So, to stave off the firehose, I'll dish it out in regular installments.

In no particular order...


Bistro aprons.

John McPhee.
The man can write a book about anything - the citrus industry of Florida, the landscape of New Jersey, the geology of California, or even long-haul freighters - and make surprisingly compelling. One of my favorite non-fiction authors.

7-11 Slurpees.
Icees are just foul imitations.

Chiaroscuro.
Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi sure knew how to dramatically highlight a scene.

Mothballs.
The scent of napthalene (evocative of my grandparents' basement) preferable to paradichlorobenzene (evocative of a men's restroom).

Clutch purses.
More elegant than a shoulder bag, if inconvenient to carry.

Two-tone coins.
French ten-franc coins (pre-Euro), one- and two-Euro coins, Argentine pesos, etc.

Chik-Fil-A Polynesian Sauce.
It goes without saying that the nuggets are good. Better dipped in this stuff. Use it on your fries, too.

Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay.
My go-to white wine. Inexpensive, found everywhere, and not oaky plonk.

White Sands National Park.

Tulips.
Far better than overdone and out-of-season red roses for Valentine's Day.

Photoshop Elements 2.0.
Most of the functionality of spendy Photoshop, for a fraction of the cost. Better than later versions, too.

Hats.
Not baseball caps! Honest millinery, nobody-wears-em-anymore chapeaux. Pillboxes, particularly.

Prestige Waterproof Eyeliner pencils.
I can make it through weddings and funerals in this stuff - no easy feat.

Cornstarch.
My preferred thickening agent for sauces and pies, plus it keeps meringue pies from weeping. Doesn't need a lot of cooking, like flour, to get rid of the floury taste. And let's face it. The physics-defying paste you can make with cornstarch and just a touch of water can keep kids occupied for a while. Use the term "dilatant fluid" to impress your friends.

Hot pink.
It's not just for flamingos anymore. Plus, in combination with black, it has a sort of 1983-wannabe-punk-girl pastiche.

Ice cream soup.
Stir up ice cream (optional: add chocolate syrup) until it's the consistency of loose soft-serve. Instantly improves the texture of virtually any ice cream - it's sometimes the only way to make cheap ice cream palatable.

Postcards.
Sending and receiving. Next to pressed pennies, it's a cheap souvenir, a fun gift to give, and a great way to get attractive pictures of some destinations without a fancypants camera or fortuitous lighting/weather/views.

Turtlenecks.

Passion fruit.
Tic Tacs, Liliko'i chiffon pie, and shave ice syrup. This summer, I'm going to try making some passion fruit sherbet. Sephora's old passion fragrance was quite wonderful (though nothing compared to their blackberry scent).

Plain blank paper.
Lined paper just doesn't have the same flexibility. Fold in half the long way to make the perfect size paper for a grocery list.

Large mirrors.
There is one in one of the Wood Hall sitting rooms I have always coveted and tried to hatch a clandestine plot to cart it off. Fortunately, some are available at places like Ikea for a lot less physical labor under the cover of darkness.

Spelling it "grey" instead of "gray".

Ceylon Cinnamon.
Softer and more citrusy than canela cinnamons, which tend toward harsh.

Penzey's Spices.
The official spice purveyor to our household.

Levenger True Writer fountain pens.
Inexpensive, considering the quality of the pen. Good medium nib. Threaded caps. Not too masculine.

Curry ketchup.
I'm out of the stage in my life where french fries were just the vehicle for the ketchup, but I lapse whenever I have curry ketchup. Takes a trip to Europe to get it, though...

Sticky notes.
The explosion of shapes and sizes has brought me great delight, but there's something timeless about the original light-yellow Post-its.

Panel for Edwin R. Campbell No. 1-4. Vasily Kandinsky, 1914.
Saw these at MOMA last spring and was immediately taken by them. Never gave Kandinsky much regard until then.

Dave Matthews Band Crash.
This, along with U2's Achtung Baby, is always the answer to "what should I listen to?" Familiarity a bonus when you're trying to get meaningful work done but want some music on in the background.

Jellied cranberry sauce.
All the taste and shaped like the can! Not my husband's definition of a "sauce", but I don't care. It's not just for Thanksgiving anymore.

Uniforms.
It's true, men in uniform have a certain je ne sais quoi.

Desk Set.
It's wonderfully anachronistic film. Well, I guess it wasn't then. A delightful look at a time where dresses came in boxes, office drama involved efficiency experts, and people called a human for information instead of punching queries into google.

Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz.
A rare sparkling red that's well-balanced and just a little heady.

Orange County Public Library Home Delivery.
Responsible for soliciting more money in overdue fines from me...certainly exceeding their cost of delivery.

Easter Candy:
Cadbury Creme Eggs
Fondant yolk goo wins a couple authenticity points. As authenticity of chocolate eggs go...

Marshmallow Peeps
Only if they're uber-fresh. Prefer the chicks to the bunnies. No real color preference, but I tend towards the yellow.

Cadbury Mini Eggs.
Put on a paper plate and microwave for ten seconds, fifteen if you're feeling kicky. Eat. You won't be sorry.

Boeing 767s.
Smoothest planes on takeoff. Widebody but not ungainly.

TI-68 calculator.
My calculatron since high school; still the best. Displays the input in a string on the screen, no clearing or new lines between operations.

Pilot G2 pens.
Awesome gel pens - perfect for grading. Handy to have in the backpack, plus they come in navy blue, turquoise, and other great shades.

Walgreens EasySaver Rebates.
I haven't paid for toothpaste, a toothbrush, or cheap hair goo in years. Helpful for trying new foundations and lip glosses for free. New stuff every month.

Banana ice cream.
Ice cream, in general, is one of my favorite things. But banana ice cream is definitely my favorite flavor.

I Saw a Man Pursuing the Horizon

by Stephen Crane

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
"It is futile," I said,
"You can never —"

"You lie," he cried,
And ran on.

Spring Break

Though it feels as though I have squandered this break - in that I have not accomplished everything on my mile-long to-do list, and I didn't jet off to some spectacular destination - there have been some significant bright spots.

Yesterday, I finally went to Fresh Market, and I'm shocked and appalled I haven't been in this place before. It was only a few months ago that I heard about it at all, and since then, several friends have mentioned it. Much to my chagrin, I wish they'd said something to me before, but they all presumed I'd know all about it. Four years wandering this gourmet desert (okay, not really, but compared with what I had in CA...) It's similar to Whole Foods, but more affordable and without all the vegan angst. I mean, I don't feel like my dreadlocked co-shoppers are disdainfully eyeing my leather footwear. Fresh Market carries a lot of the same stuff as Whole Foods, but they're also not too proud to carry Peeps. This, therefore, is a store I can like - easily. Anyhow, a friend and I went shopping for party foods, but I came away with last night's dinner, this morning's book-club brunch, and other stuff with which to stock the pantry, plus tonight's comestibles. And the prices were not altogether unreasonable. Sure, I'll still buy my crackers at Publix, but I bought a marvelous take-and-bake pastry-wrapped chicken entree that was plenty for my husband and me to share for $5.99. Beautiful cakes for $8-14. Wines were comparable in price to most major outlets. Cheese and produce were a little pricey, but I have been ruined by Trader Joes.

It also provided an opportunity to drive through an area of town where I've really never been. That's not hard - with all the central-Florida sprawl, there is a lot of territory to cover. I know my main areas, but I resolve every break to go and investigate areas of town or the state I've not visited before. Even if it's as ordinary as driving around and popping into a shop or cafe as the mood strikes. I didn't do as much of this kind of thing this break as I wanted to. I also wanted to do a lot more reading than I did.

Well, for all the wanted-tos, I did enjoy just resting. School was continually in the front of my head all week, though, so it wasn't purely restful. I have a lot of work to do, for which I will sacrifice tomorrow. As much as I tried to suppress it, the thought of what needs to be done nagged at me most of the week. The end of school will be upon us swiftly. Rest will come later for the weary.

Night Launch

NASA is launching Space Shuttle Endeavour tonight at 228a. I'm staying up to watch, because from what I hear, it's pretty spectacular. I'm not going to drive out - instead, I'll just watch from our porch. But getting to 230a is going to be rough. I woke up early yesterday to work the coffee bar (plus Daylight Savings - grrr), and didn't get to nap like I wanted to. I woke up early this morning to go to St. Petersburg (I'll defer to Jess's bloggings about that), and now I'm trying very hard to stay awake for two more hours. I might just set my alarm and succumb to a nap.

I'm so sleeping in tomorrow. I had grand visions of getting up early to get some things done, but I'm thinking they can wait!


**Update**

Well, that was a bust. Overcast skies meant all I could see was a diffuse orange glow on the horizon for a few seconds. :-\

Musings Over Old Binders

Cleaning out the garage this evening, my husband and I came across some old academic work - thesis defense slides, class notes, labs, exams. Having been out of the meteorology business for a few years now, I was astounded to see just how many things I once knew and have since forgotten. And what we remembered remembering (as the grades on the papers could attest), but don't really remember until we're reminded. [apologies if you pulled a muscle that last sentence...]

This comes hot on the heels of a conversation with a friend about how much calculus I've forgotten since college. It does come back quickly, like when a student asks me about a question on their math homework, or I read it in a quiz-bowl question. There's that unnerving familiarity, without the immediate recall, that can be pretty frustrating until you read part of a textbook and it (mostly) makes sense again. The paths are there, I just have to hack my way through a dense jungle of overgrowth to find them again.

Conversely, some subjects, like one I now teach, gave me a certain amount of frustration when I was younger. I'm continually surprised to find I now love it; it comes so much more naturally and makes so much more sense. Admittedly, I have a couple degrees behind me now, plus the burden of the teacher: I have to understand the material or I have no hope of communicating it. I'm impressed with the ease by which my students pick up some concepts I teach. I often wonder how my high-school self would compare to them. It's interesting to consider that subjects can be more readily mastered under different circumstances. And how some subjects are merely vehicles for learning how to learn, in contrast to learning the pure material. I suppose this plays out in my own classroom - I know I teach more problem-solving skills than pure science.

I'm no neuroscientist, but perhaps that's the very distillate of education. Learning is not instant access to all one's files on the desktop of one's head, but is instead the cultivation of the ability to maintain and navigate the filing system. To rediscover what's been learned before with a bit of prompting or refreshing. The difference between trivia-recall and understanding. I suppose it's a corollary to the Curse of Knowledge: that which has been learned, some part of it, is always present - it just may take some work to find it and shake the dust from it. Or maybe it's just a lyric to a Paul Simon song: "It's easier to learn than unlearn."

Time Marches Ahead. ...or is it back?

[Insert Semi-Annual Rant on Daylight Savings Time Here]

The Art of [Blog] War

12.2007. Inspection teams denied access to facilities.

1.2008. Rounds of informal talks fail; facilities remain closed to inspectors.

2.26.2008. Pre-emptive strike: sternly-worded note delivered to head of state.

2.27.2008. Access to facilities granted. No material found.


Meanwhile, satellite reconnaissance indicated movement of material and personnel across borders.


3.4.2008. Limerick Tomahawk missiles launched in shock-and-awe campaign.

3.5.2008. Return fire proves existence of material and rapid accessibility thereof. Detente reached as parties await presentation of enriched, weapons-grade material for inspection.


Leaders advised that further resistance to sanction compliance shall be considered an act of escalation. Allied forces poised to exercise all means necessary, including - but not limited to - further assault from limerick stockpile.

A Limerick Intervention

There once was a man from Nantucket
who, regarding his posting, said ...
Eschewing the grid for Thoreau,
to the wind his blog he did throw;
is he reading How Full is Your Bucket?

Low Food, Part III

I'm pretty sure I said the following things today at lunch:

"I loves me my processed meats!"

"Better living through chemistry!"

and

"Mmmmm... nitrites!"

It was Hot Dog Day in the cafeteria.

And it's true. I do love the frankfurters. We get lunch every day in the cafeteria, so one of my favorite long-weekend-thus-I'm-actually-home-for-lunches indulgences is a batch of pigs in blankets. A Pig in a Blanket was my Very First School-Lunch Ever. In 6th grade. I used to buy milk in the cafeteria for lunch, but the rest of my meal always came from home; I was resistant to even entertain the idea of buying lunch at school (hey, my mom packed a pretty great lunch!). My principal finally convinced me I should give a school lunch a try. I still remember the contents of that first sectioned tray: Pig in a Blanket, some kind of cheesy sliced potato dish, sliced beets, and chocolate milk. It wasn't so bad (well, except the beets), and I became a daily buyer of school lunches, even through high school. If anyone knows where I can get my mitts on a Fiestada - a hexagonal Mexican pizza thing - contact me immediately.

Anyhow.

The lunch table seemed a bit incredulous that I would exult the lowly hot dog, but come on! They're good! Maybe not good for you, but they are tasty lil' tubes o' pig-parts. (To be eaten with mustard only; special provision for dill relish.) And if you like hot dogs, you should give them a try on pizza. Seriously.

My dad was never a major force in the kitchen - he does have his talents, though. He's the muscle behind cookie-baking operations, and the man makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich. The crown jewel in his repertoire, however, are his mini pizzas.

Dad's Miniature Pizzas
1 can cheap refrigerated biscuit dough
Pizza sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Toppings (my favorites: black olive and thinly sliced hot dog)

Separate biscuits and roll very thinly. Place on a baking sheet and top with a schmear of pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings of your choice. Bake at 400 degF until crust looks done and cheese is melted. Trust me on the hot dogs. Go on. Try it. You know you want to.

For what it's worth, my dinner tonight was some kind of nutritional atonement involving whole-wheat pasta and fresh vegetables. It's going to be a long four weeks until the next HDD, but it's a pretty safe bet what my upcoming spring break lunches will involve.

Race Car Cake

I spent my Friday evening making a race-car themed cake for a colleague's son's birthday party.

Lessons learned:

Buy red fondant. I bought pre-tinted black fondant, with which I was pleased, but all my attempts at tinting white fondant red looked like whoopie-cushion rubber. Ew. So the purple stripes were supposed to be red, and I think it would have looked far better as red. Oh well.

Dig out a well for buttercream. With fondant, you really want just a thin layer of buttercream as a crumb layer between the cake and the fondant. Too much between layers, and the cake settles, making the fondant all bulgy. So with fondant, you miss out on the buttercream frosting. Instead, I hollowed out a quarter-inch well between layers of the cake, filled them with buttercream, and topped them with the next layer. That will give every slice a decent amount of frosting, without all the buttercream on the outside that just squashes out everywhere when you smooth the fondant over it.

The artist is always most critical of her own work, but it's not my best cake, mostly because of the lack of red. It looks a lot more pastel in the pictures than it really was. I do like the checkered-flag effect with the black and white. And it was a nice opportunity to refine my fondant techniques.