The Danio Diaries

Since I probably shouldn't be blogging about my own benchtop misadventures research even though it's rather tempting, how about someone else's instead? Ergo, tomorrow morning Keith Cheng is giving Grand Rounds, speaking on "From Cancer Genetics to Surprise Insights into Human Pigmentation from Zebrafish." From the condensed descriptions of what they do:

In order to discover new vertebrate genes that control tissue differentiation, we have performed a screen for histological mutants using larval array technology developed in our laboratory. Both organ-specific and multi-organ mutations were found, including
one with cytological phenotypes highly reminiscent of cancer. We expect the mutations to affect key decision points in processes including cell polarity, cell proliferation, and cell-cell interaction.

Oooh, tissue differentiation! Most interesting, no? Dr. Cheng's most recent Big Splash is the identification of the gene causing the golden mutation in zebrafish, the putative cation exchanger slc24a5. Should be a good talk all around!

Tale of Two Driveways

Mr. Edwards' Builds His Dream House: the Saga Continues. Reminds me a bit of the days back in the 'Bunk & the 'Port. (Which, as an added bonus were practically the safest places to be during the Gulf War.)

So There!

I'm with Jim Geraghty:

Aw, heck, why don't they just introduce a resolution declaring, "We, the Senate, like all the good parts of the war and disapprove of all the bad parts. We demand all credit for anything that goes right, and reject any blame for anything that goes wrong"?

If only. Think how educational, how enlightening it would be for your constituencies--oh wait, no, so much for that idea.

(One Reason) Why I Love Nino

I'm generally not in the habit of laughing when reading for law classes. That goes for Admin as well even though I'm finding it interesting so far, but laugh out loud I just did. The passage responsible for such a phenomenon--? It's as follows, in what I hope is a fair use excerpt, with the amusing part bolded. (I know it's a bit long, but I prefer not to abridge substantially excerpts even more than they already are.) At any rate, I chuckled, though perhaps you mightn't.

In my view, the theoretical justification for Chevron is no different from the theoretical justification for those pre-Chevron cases that sometimes deferred to agency legal determinations. As the D.C. Circuit, quoting the First Circuit, expressed it: "The extent to which courts should defer to agency interpretations of law is ultimately 'a function of Congress' intent on the subject as revealed in the particular statutory scheme at issue.'" An ambiguity in a statute committed to agency implementation can be attributed to either of two congressional desires: (1) Congress intended a particular result, but was not clear about it; or (2) Congress had no particular intent on the subject, but meant to leave its resolution to the agency. When the former is the case, what we have is genuinely a question of law, properly to be resolved by the courts. When the latter is the case, what we have is the conferral of discretion upon the agency, and the only question of law presented to the courts is whether the agency has acted within the scope of its discretion-- i.e., whether its resolution of the ambiguity is reasonable. As I read the history of developments in this field, the pre-Chevron decisions sought to choose between (1) and (2) on a statute-by-statute basis. Hence the relevance of such frequently mentioned factors as the degree of the agency's expertise, the complexity of the question at issue, and the existence of rulemaking authority within the agency. All these factors make an intent to confer discretion upon the agency more likely. Chevron, however, if it is to be believed, replaced this statute-by-statute evaluation (which was assuredly a font of uncertainty and litigation) with an across-the-board presumption that, in the case of ambiguity, agency discretion is meant.

It is beyond the scope of these remarks to defend that presumption (I was not on the court, after all, when Chevron was decided). Surely, however, it is a more rational presumption today than it would have been thirty years ago-- which explains the change in the law. Broad delegation to the Executive is the hallmark of the modern administrative state; agency rulemaking powers are the rule rather than, as they once were, the exception; and as the sheer number of modern departments and agencies suggests, we are awash in agency "'expertise."' If the Chevron rule is not a 100% accurate estimation of modern congressional intent, the prior case-by-case evaluation was not so either--and was becoming less and less so, as the sheer volume of modern dockets made it less and less possible for the Supreme Court to police diverse application of an ineffable rule. And to tell the truth, the quest for the "genuine"' legislative intent is probably a wild-goose chase anyway. In the vast majority of cases I expect that Congress neither (1) intended a single result, nor (2) meant to confer discretion upon the agency, but rather (3) didn't think about the matter at all. If I am correct in that, then any rule adopted in this field represents merely a fictional, presumed intent, and operates principally as a background rule of law against which Congress can legislate.

If that is the principal function to be served, Chevron is unquestionably better than what preceded it. Congress now knows that the ambiguities it creates, whether intentionally or unintentionally, will be resolved, within the bounds of permissible interpretation, not by the courts but by a particular agency, whose policy biases will ordinarily be known. The legislative process becomes less of a sporting event when those supporting and opposing a particular disposition do not have to gamble upon whether, if they say nothing about it in the statute, the ultimate answer will be provided by the courts or rather by the Department of Labor.

Scalia, Judicial Deference to Agency Interpretation of Law, 1989 Duke L.J. 511, 516-517. Hmm. Perhaps you had to be there :)

Perks

Hmm. Perhaps I shouldn't have dismissed a career as a trial lawyer out of hand.

On the other hand, one worries about being disowned for such a thing ;)

Rising Star, Part the Second

Regular readers might remember my mentioning a young violinist several months ago. As it turns out, I recently happened across a flyer indicating that the talented Tai Murray will indeed be playing here in Minneapolis. How cool is that?

As you might imagine, I'm looking forward to the concert :)

"Pigs' Ears"

Since I'm taking Admin Law this semester*, I thought this was an interesting aside on earmarks (regarding the President's SOTU reference thereto), statues, agencies, and the business of enforcing the law:

"[O]ver 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate-they are dropped into committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You didn't vote them into law. I didn't sign
them into law. Yet, they're treated as if they have the force of law."

They're treated as if? That is to say, earmarks do not have the force of law, since "committee reports" are not part of the statutes passed. So who exactly treats them as though they were legal mandates? Why, the executive branch agencies whose funds Congress is appropriating in each spending bill. In other words, the officials who (in general) answer to the president in actually spending the money Congress appropriates-they're the ones who are treating nonstatutory earmarks "as if they have the force of law." Which they don't have.

Could the president then take unilateral action to ignore earmarks and spend the appropriated funds on other agency purposes consistent with each agency's statutory authorizations? It sure looks that way. What keeps presidents from doing this is not any constitutional principle supporting the earmarks practice (and by the way, when did "pork barrel" become "earmarks"? can we call them "pigs' ears"?). It's relationship maintenance between the branches of government, loftily called "comity," which presidents are loath to violate. And agency heads especially hate the idea of ticking off members of Congress.

[...]

"Pigs' ears!" Hmmm. Interesting. I'm only two weeks in, but that sounds all right to me. I admit that until the speech the other night, I was unaware that earmarking practice included extra-statutory insertions: I had oh-so-naively assumed Congress only sneaked them onto bills and the like. Silly me. Although--is extra-statutory placement of earmarks a constitutionally permissible practice?

Regardless, methinks Mr. Franck makes a good point with his final remark.

The end Bush seeks may be frustrated by the means he has recommended. If every earmark gets a vote in Congress, it gets put in the text of the spending bill, and henceforth has statutory protection from executive nullification, since there is no line-item veto, and there won't be one any time soon. If, on the other hand, the president
undertook to spend every dollar appropriated on executive-branch priorities in each agency, ignoring all nonstatutory earmarks, then after the howling died down we might well see some reduction in the magnitude of the practice.

Indeed :)


* If you're interested, my other courses are International Intellectual Property; Law, Biomedicine, and Bioethics; Advanced Human Genetics; and professional ethics for grad students/future researchers.

Welcome, Little One

A warm welcome into the larger world to the littlest Myers--who I hope didn't give his mom too hard a time of it--and a big congrats to his mom and dad!

Driving Dunaway

I don't watch The Apprentice, nor am I likely to do so this season even if it has moved to warmer climes, but I would definitely consider watching if the tasks were more like these (including the comments). Hehe.

I have a sneaking suspicion the Nomad Little Bro & Friends might line up to participate, too...

Ye Mighty

Is there any topic under the sun for which there is no blog or other species of website? One has to wonder. Just now, during a virtual foray regarding a completely different topic, I stumbled across an Egyptology Blog...oh, and there are others, The Eloquent Peasant, for example.

There was a time I wanted to be an Egyptologist, and like so many others, every encounter with the artifacts of that past civilization (including breathlessly narrated television programs) still tugs at my insides and probably always will. If you are also one of those folks, well, enjoy the links!

Snicker-snack

Cool. Alack, if only 'twere not so expensive.

Baby Tiger

Is it possible to be cuter than a baby tiger? Yes...if you're a sleepy baby tiger.



Thanks to CO, of course.

You don't say

Though I saw it here, I enjoyed Flea's "It is almost as if the press has inexplicably chosen not to hold them to account for their own clearly stated beliefs and convictions" so much on this cold, windy morning that I just wanted to add my own little bit of linky love.

Dear Congress, Please Go Home

I think the Nomad Little Bro, a certified econ and finance enthusiast, will find this item particularly interesting. Behold, investment returns from when Congress is in session compared with those from when Congress is out of session.

Hmmmm. Ouch. Surprising? Not very. I can't help but wish law students and law professors were clued into these sorts of things, though. I worry that all too often "regulate!" or "legislate!" is their very first impulse. So she says as she heads to day 1 of Admin Law...

Thoughts from a walk home

It's interesting, the things that pop into your head during a cold, late walk home as you try to ignore the fact that you can feel your face slowly freezing. For instance,

What would happen if a woman had absolutely nothing and no one to henpeck?

I can only imagine that to be an extremely frustrating state of affairs. :)

Those Benchtop Blues

Courtesy of KBee...not only do Ph.D. students have a comic strip to humorously depict our plight*, we apparently have an unofficial theme song as well (or perhaps an epic lament lacking only a hound dog): Ph.D. Blues.

Ph.D. Blues (Prins/Wilhelm)
I'm a Ph.D. student,
I'm working night and day.
I'm writing a dissertation,
and get a lousy pay.

I thought I'd be in business,
but I could not decide.
I waited and I waited,
and ended up in science.

Getting a degree.
If you don't know what to do.
I was looking for adventure
I was looking for the truth.

I started out with reading,
all pieces I could find.
Spent two months at the xerox,
till I was half blind. [Which is what I should be doing. -Ed.]

[...] RTWT

Happily, I'm not yet at jaded and bitter :) That seems to be a later stage of grad student development.

*Yes, yes, I know we chose it. Nevertheless...

For the billionaire, spelunking, BASE-jumping crowd...

...there will be more!! Probably the rest of the world knew this, but I didn't, so I'm going to bounce around enthusiastically anyway. However, memo to Absolutely Everyone Involved with Said Movie: please don't kill it, please? Batman Begins was almost uniformly good and it would be a shame if the sequels didn't live up to that standard, not to mention a waste of some excellent cast members as well. However, I do have faith...after all, Batman went to Princeton.

Speaking Truth to Gibberish

This pretty much sounds like the definition of "awesome," no? The Sokal Hoax. Damn...the reading list just never stops growing, does it?

Grow Your Own

Perhaps it's my science nut side speaking, but I think these are actually extremely cool, both artistically and experimentally: "Bone rings exchanged by couples."

Quizzie Time: These Boots Are Made for Rhapsodizing

How can a girl resist such a quiz, I ask you? Ha! Indeed she cannot...

You Are Bold Red Boots

You like to put your most outrageous foot forward!

What Kind of Boots Are You?

Most outrageous foot forward? I dunno about that--what says the readership? But, hello, would you look at those boots! Seriously. Does not their marriage of refined lines with the spark of color cause flutterings of the heart, shortness of breath, and assorted other symptoms of infatuation? They have this air of, oh...exuberance and self-possession, of... je ne sais quoi. I confess I do own a pair of red boots--not supremely fabulous heeled ones like those above, but red boots nonetheless.

The Manolo, he would be most pleased. :P


And on the house:

You Are White Wine

Breezy and casual, you know how to have fun when you're drinking. And even though you can kick back with a few drinks, you never let things get out of hand. Alcohol is not a social lubricant for you... it just enhances your already sparkling personality. You prefer to date a man who is optimistic, friendly, and funny.

What Alcoholic Drink Are You?

Quite so. Gerwurtz or Riesling, please. Although, I have learned to not to drink and translate.

"Bankers Do Models"

These are for the bankers out there who appreciate an inside joke, and for those who love them and take the inside jokes with an eye roll or two. My personal favorite is the "Suffer in Style" shirt.



Disclaimer: I make nothing from the plug. Although, *cough* I daresay it wouldn't hurt *cough*... ;)

"It would prevent much and complicated misery in the world..."

I could not help but be greatly amused by the following item (and also be somewhat reminded of this exchange):

"2874. There is no reason why the passion of love should be wrapped up in mystery. It would prevent much and complicated misery in the world, if all young persons understood it."

-from Inquire Within for Anything You Want to Know, or Over Three Thousand Seven Hundred Facts Worth Knowing (New York: Dick and Fitzgerald, 1856), excerpted at greater length here and here.

Oh, well, if you put it like that...!

In all seriousness, the excerpts are a charming read. If only today's society would reinstitute an expectation of gentlemanliness and respectability!

Monday, Monday

It's Monday, it's cold, finals are looming all too near...time for some puppy tongue.

Brrrr

According to the handy dandy Weather Channel temperature thingamajig on my computer, it is currently 9--no, wait, now it's 10--degrees outside in Minneapolis. Visual analysis indicates there is indeed ice on the inside of my windows. Taken together, this evidence can mean only one thing: winter has officially arrived and as soon as we pull out the down jackets and fur mittens (yay!) the region may be referred to as the "Frozen Taiga of the North," and the Little Bro may now call to let me know how warm it is in California. Just thought I'd share :)

The upside? "It's always summer in the fishroom!"^TM

Hot chocolate, anyone?

Tempest...

...in the Mondale Teapot.

I'm sure I've said this before, but...

The next time I think it's a good idea to leave something until the very last minute, please, well, please DO something drastic! (I once requested to be threatened with beets and it worked reasonably well.)

Will I never learn?

Goodbyes

RIP, Milton Freedman.

Out-tooled

Yes, it's true!

Some folks at Claremont McKenna have taken political junkyism to a Whole New Level with the creation of...Fantasy Congress! (Does Pomona wish they'd thought of it first?) The Nomad Little Bro, a proud CMC alum and government (and finance) junkie, mentioned this brilliant new development recently, and a scroll through the Corner just now reminded me of it. Very awesome.

I have a hunch at least a few friends out there could get very excited about Fantasy Congress ;) Maybe more than a few, even.

Now if only they'd add a "Bury that bill!" t-shirt, or perhaps "Step away from the purse strings!"...

----
Hey, Little Bro, have Pitney, Kesler, & Co. formed teams too? Oh, and Bernard Lewis is speaking at the Ath next Tuesday! Pity you're not still there. And yes, I *heart* my Claremont Review of Books, even though it didn't come until, like, October.

All Astonishment!

Go Tigers: it's a bonfire year!

8-1 on the year? Goodness, gents! I am pleasantly shocked indeed. And to everyone who can attend the bonfire, enjoy!

Oy

Oy. Sigh. I am but one little lass with one little vote, which I did wield, albeit to no avail; nor have I anything to say at the moment, for there's been quite a bit of worthwhile chattering by others recently. Do, however, remind me not to leave funding applications until the last minute: I'm not yet fully qualified as a professional mendicant, so writing this bloody stuff is going to take a while yet. Plus, I hate filling out applications in general. What I would like to say is:

"Hi! I'm cute (for a baby scientist, anyway) and bouncy and I love biology, especially the really cool biology our lab is doing. In fact, I love it so much I enlisted for a PhD, which will be totally awesome, I'm sure, but now I need money. Please fund me! Thanks!" ("Vote for Elle!")

Don't you think that would work?

Happy Halloween!

A happy Halloween to all!

Nostalgia

While reading an assigned paper for my grant writing class, I ran across this sentence: "Thus, in addition to reduced levels of intracellular p55Gag processing, rodent cells diplay a significant defect in viral egress."

I've been feeling particularly nostalgic of late for the Good Old Days, so you can imagine my pausing for a little amusement. Egress, by Jove! Why, I do believe that's the only other use of egress I've ever seen. Viral egress, eh? Quick, fine the little suckers! :)

Quizzie Time: Narnia and Hogwarts

Just the thing for a Sunday morning...

As Jill, you are confident, respectful, and a little bit bossy! You have an acquired taste for adventure, and love any challenge that you have to face.

As Minerva McGonagall, your strict facade is complimented by a warm heart, and you always do what is for the greater good.


Alas, I suspect that the greater good is probably well served by my shuffling off to do work...

There can be only one...

Courtesy of Ben:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 0 [other] people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Sweet! Sweet vidalia onions, even!

Assuming this result is in fact correct, the explanation is that although my familial name is not an uncommon one, our particular spelling is rather non-standard. When two of the most common spellings are used, the program indicates there are 25 or so other ladies out there pretending to be me. I’m told the non-standard spelling occurred on an ancestor’s army papers. Mind you, I have never in my 25 years of communicating my name to others had anyone manage to replicate that feat. But hey, who am I to argue?

And speaking of spelling…

Oh, and bonus points towards a Halo Pub tiny for spotting the reference…

The Ultimate Fan

You know, I can see how these could do rather well in Boston/Northern New England. But the real fans will be sure to get theirs autographed before they head to the great ballpark in the sky.

"Googlian Monk"

Hehe.

I just love the word "smite." Alas, not unlike "gargantuan," one so rarely has the opportunity to use it in a sentence.

Quizzie Time: Seasons

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times... You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings. Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

The New Lab Sport: Extreme Sequencing

Today's mild nerdiness:

A $10 million prize for cheap and rapid sequencing of the human genome was announced [Oct. 5th] by the X Prize Foundation of Santa Monica, Calif.

The terms of the prize require competitors to sequence 100 human genomes of their
choice within 10 days, and within six months those of a further 100 people
chosen by the foundation.

[...] The announcement of the prize brought together two former rivals, Drs. J.
Craig Venter of the Venter Institute and Francis S. Collins, head of the National Human Genome Research Institute, which financed the government project to sequence, or decode, the genome.

The government and Dr. Venter sequenced draft versions of the genome. The cost of the version that the government completed in 2003 was probably around $500 million, though no precise figure has been given.

Some experts foresee a medical revolution if the cost of DNA sequencing can be brought low enough that a person’s genome could be decoded as part of routine treatment. Several companies have developed novel methods of sequencing, with the eventual goal of decoding a human genome for as little as $1,000.

The foundation has not determined a critical parameter, how complete the genomes need to be. The present “complete” human genome has many gaps and is only as complete as present technology can make it.

A worthy, if audacious goal. Perhaps the competitors would like to start by practicing on some model organisms, such as the zebrafish, for instance? Please? We're definitely in need of an improved genome build, and you all know that model organisms are crucial for research efforts to benefit humans. (Improved annotation would be lovely, too, thanks.)

Way to Go, Bro

I'd like to take advantage of this virtual soapbox to congratulate the Little Bro on his gainful re-employment: real I-banking just like he's wanted to do! Very soon he will be a denizen of San Fran, the land of Ghiradelli and shiny gold shorts, and a happy hedgehog co-owner! (All the while carrying out a torrid affair with Excel, no doubt ;)

Well done, bro, very well done, I'm really proud of you! I'm sure your soul will appreciate in value quickly...

Wait...isn't SF C.O. HQ? Now I'm jealous!

Middling to Mediocre

Up at NRO's higher ed blog this morning, more unfortunately unsurprising news regarding just how little we learn (entire post below):

"On the heels of the ISI report, which examined civic and historical knowledge, comes a report on skill levels of high school, two-year colleges, and four-year colleges by the Conference Board. The survey asked emplyers about the skills and knowledges important in the coming economy, then asked them how there recent applicants hires measured up. Here are a few results just in areas of reading and writing:

• Only 3.4 percent of respondents rated high school graduates "Excellent" in reading comprehension. 38.4 percent rated them as "Deficient."
• Only 4.2 percent rated two-year college graduates as reaching "Excellent" in reading, while 25.9 percent gave four-year college graduates "Excellent."
• For two-year college grads, 12.8 percent gave them "Deficient" in reading, while 5.1 percent judged four-year college grads deficient.
• A mere 0.8 percent of respondents gave high school grads "Excellent" in writing, while a whopping 72 percent rated them "Deficient."
• For two-year college grads, 46.4 percent gave them "Deficient" in writing, while 26.2 percent of respondents gave four-year college grads "Deficient."

[But I'll bet you a sundae many of the students feel really good! -ed.]

The study also tabulated areas of "Humanities/Arts," foreign languages, science, and government/economics."

Oh dear. I'll try to read the report later, but that doesn't make it look terribly promising. I'll readily admit that I have a long way to go before I'd consider myself well-educated* according to any standard, and that after four years of college, two years of law school, and one-plus year of grad school my writing ability is but a shadow of its former self,** but still....!

* I absolutely stand by that.

** People persist in assuming I must be a good writer. I'd like to believe it, but sitting down to try to write anything coherent these days (say, for my grant writing class) forces me to question that assumption. I would like to lay the blame on the difficulty of trying clearly to express complex subject matter, but I think it falls much more heavily on Yours Truly.

A Little Humor Goes a Long Way?

Hmmm...I could be waaay behind the curve--not an infrequent occurrence, mind you--but if it's accurate, then this report is (1) reasonably funny, and (2) interesting, no? Shades of Florence* & Co., what?


*Florence of Arabia was probably my second-favorite book of the year, the first being Reading Lolita in Teheran.

Sculptural Science

You know it took all of one sentence to convince me I want to go stroll through this nifty-looking "Quark Park" installation! According to the website, it's only up through November--is this not an injustice to the out-of-towners?--so you'd better hurry over, if you're in the area. Enjoy!

Front Row Seats

Yes indeed, just noticed that the GOP has selected my next-door neighbor for the 2008 convention venue. Way to go, guys! Who knows what the next two years will bring, but regardless, it will be fascinating to see the convention hoopla up close and personal-ish.

How Little Students Know

Unfortunately, this report is incredibly unsurprising.

Expression of the Day

"the great ganglions of history"

Snipped from Francis Collins quoting C.S. Lewis in Collins' The Language of God, for which I splurged over the weekend and am not supposed to be reading until the assignment for my grant writing class is finished. Oops. I return to (re)writing anon.

On a completely unrelated note, Happy Shostakovich's 100th Birthday! Consequently, MPR has been featuring him all day, which not only makes for wonderfully interesting and provocative listening but also makes the listener mindful of the history of his time and place. In addition, Shostakovich is a welcome respite from the year-long Mozart 250th celebrations: one can have too much Mozart.

Tidings of Great Joy?

I have long lamented that my phenotype is one of straight brown hair with nary a freckle in view, rather than curly red hair with an abundance of freckles. (Just one of the reasons I love Weasleys, can you tell?) However, I do not envy the redheads everything, for both they and I have the pale skin plague. Is there yet hope for us persons of pallor?* I wonder whether or not we have the same allele, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. Much good all that would do in the Minnesota winter, of course!

* I don't know the original source of "persons of pallor," but as far as I know, it's borrowed from James Taranto. I give the expression points for being both delightfully cheeky and for allowing me succinctly to express the perennial disappointment of being sorely lacking in the melanin department.

The Mighty Zebrafish

As you, friends and readers, may well know, I love my lab. For that reason, I am pleased to note that a subset of our previous and current fish work has been featured today on the UMN website. After all, one can't have too much science (although I do have a good deal to do before I sleep).

**Disclaimer: the ideas, opinions, and other scribblings of this blogger are in no way affiliated with or representative of her laboratory--likely the opposite--and ought not be taken as such.**

Just One of Those Things

I kind of hate to admit this, but I will probably never love opera. Who knows, someday I may be utterly blown away by one and change my mind, but I suspect the likelihood is rather small: there's just too much singing. The orchestral parts, mind you, can be lovely. But the singing...

Nugget of the Day

Goes to Victor Davis Hansen for his pithy "immune to notions of deterrence." As with all things, it's best in context. RTWT.

A little Friday amusement, at least for the Mainers and Bean's devotees out there, at a New Yorker's expense:

Travelers in Maine have long flocked to L.L. Bean's mother-ship store in Freeport and been delighted to discover that it really is open 24/7 and buzzes with shoppers even at 3 a.m. But none was so surprised perhaps as Alex Kuczynski on a recent visit. "I've long been a customer of Bean's fleece jackets and flannel pajamas," she reported in yesterday's New York Times, "and it never occurred to me that the company makes much of its profits from hunting gear.
Wandering among the camouflage hunting outfits and Gerber Ripstop knives is like finding out your new beau is a member of the N.R.A., hates his mother and splits the check at dinner." The secret is out.

Hmmmmmmmmm. You don't say. In all fairness, the full article is here, in which Ms. Kuczynski demonstrates she is not entirely unaware of the origins of L.L. Bean and not completely insensitive. But I still get to poke fun at New Yorkers! ...If only they knew what chuckles they provide for the poor-relation blue staters, who, nevertheless, do appreciate the tourist dollars (even not always so appreciative of the tourists themselves).

Although, just to be on the safe side, I do suggest never showing her the Cabela's catalog. (And no, I will never own that.)

FYI, the proper technical terms, at least in my household, are "Bean boots" and "Bean bags."

Oh, and by the way...

...don't mind us, we'll be building another building or 47. Hmmm. I don't recall hearing about anything other than a new chemistry building and the walkways and whatnot. Then again, I've been pretty distracted this summer, so I'm willing to give the PTBs the benefit of the doubt. However, I request full disclosure of all further building plans for the next 30 years or so. In triplicate, on acid-free paper. Thanks.

Reminds me of a classmate's quip a few years back that when he was a rich alum, he'd give money to tear down a building and replant some grass. (I'm paraphrasing, but I think that's pretty close.) And you know, I may be a peniless young alum yet to really make her way in the world, but I shudder to think of how little green space may be left by the time my currently nonexistent children matriculate. (Yes, El Novio has been informed that is where my children will be going.) Oh well, I'll just be relieved it's not another Frank Gehry heap o' metal.

I should stop procrastinating, shouldn't I.

Happy First Day of School...Now Please Give Me Back My Summer, Thanks

This, in a nutshell, is how today has felt.

Here's to you,

Mr. Political Blogger Guy. So funny, so true! [h/t TH]

What about Ms. Political Blogger? I guess she'll just have to settle for good beer ;)

That's "Dr." to you!

That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Ladies and Gents, Friends and Loved Ones, I am exceedingly pleased to announce that I received word just today that the admissions committee has unanimously approved my request to change from JD/MS to JD/PhD and the requisite paperwork is being processed.

This is thrilling news indeed, especially because it means I get to hang out in an academic lab for the next couple of years! (Yes, I'm still a starry-eyed grad student, not yet a bitter one.) And, honestly, it makes one's day to hear oneself called a "strong applicant," even if one personally doesn't feel that way.

And on that note, I wish you a wonderful long weekend! As for the future Dr. Nomad, well she's going to go sit in the Comfy Chair and attempt to simultaneously read for Patents and deny that classes begin on Tuesday...or just pester El Novio. We shall see.

Just that side of ordinary

This is for all those who are not the biggest fan of green apples--you know, those sweet-tart ones?--but yet inherited one from their roomate and didn't want it to go to waste. Plus, it's a Wednesday night, which needs a little spicing up.

Green apple roll-ups
Materials
Small tortillas
Smoked gouda with black peppercorns
Green apple, thinly sliced

Methods
Lay the gouda slices on tortilla and microwave ~30 seconds or so.
Add apple slices.
Roll.
Munch.
(Well, you try writing an highbrow methods section for this one.)

Results
I know it sounds weird, but it worked surprisingly well. The apples and cheese complemented each other and the tortilla did alot to tone them down. In fact, I thought they were rather tasty. Trust me. If I had more apple, I'd make another one.

"Yes, yes," you say impatiently, "Why another fridge post when there is so much else of real concern in the world?" Because, friends, sometimes I am frustrated with those concerns here (whatever it is, just stop it) and abroad (yes, Ahmenawhatsit and his cronies are nasty pieces of work and no, they ain't gonna like you whatever you do 'cuz they don't want to be your friends). Sometimes, I want to cross my arms and frown at the rest of the world and say "Why don't you get back to me when you're done screwing around?" Sometimes, I want to do some laundry and miss El Novio and mix together the mismatched contents of my fridge in creative ways in the relative quiet of my own wee bachelorette pad.

Then, having overindulged in bread and queso, I want to go to the gym--for which activity I think I still have a little bit of time. After all, if a girl gets to dress up on Friday, she should make a little bit of effort, no?

And then sometimes...

...I'm just plain ol' puzzled. Why is there a feather in my strawberries?

Quizzie Time

Because I don't feel like getting ready to go to work just yet...

Your Linguistic Profile:

50% General American English

30% Yankee

15% Upper Midwestern

0% Dixie

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak? (h/t Deb)

Ok, now I do.

Welcome, Sibling!

***News Flash***

Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please!

It gives me great pleasure to present the newest member of the Blogosphere, the Armchair Nomad's one and only Little Brother*! You may find him, styling himself "a cosmopolitan stag" at A Stag's Mental Leap, wherein he shall take up keyboard and pixel whenever the inspiration (or vexation, as the case may be) strikes.

So, dear readers, please join me in raising your pints of blueberry beer in a warm Bienvenido! and an Evax! for not only having graduated as a proud member of the CMC Class of 2006 but also for having a Real Job! (Dude, I think you have me beat...)


* Note: he prefers Younger Brother, but I am loathe to part with Little. He may also be pleased to hear that I have recently subscribed to the Claremont Review of Books and eagerly await my first issue.

Results?

Data? What are these "data" of which you speak?

Saucy Adventures

Since it was suggested a while back that I "update [my] own darned blog," here 'tis...sort of...

It may happen that after a lass returns from a fabulous and relaxing lake weekend with El Novio, she finds herself very happy--albeit slightly water-bruised and sun-crisped, but all the better for the wear--but with fruit in the fridge that hasn't much longer to live. Whereupon, she, having no prior experience in creative berry usage but encouraged by previous positive responses to her culinary adventures by that sweetest and most supportive of Novios, decides to make--all by herself!--a raspberry sauce for an as yet undetermined future use. Or rather, a raspberry-plus sauce.

Hence...

Clean-Out-Your-Fridge Berry Sauce Protocol*
Materials
Raspberries--handful (or more)
Blueberries--handful (or more)
Yellow cherries--handful, diced

1 dried apricot, sliced

1 blackberry (or more)

Some sort of sugar

Crystalized ginger, diced

Methods
To small saucepan add more than enough water to cover the bottom. Note that the yield of actual sauce liquid will be less than this amount, so adjust accordingly.

Boil. Add berries, diced cherries, and sliced apricot to boiling water; bring to medium/medium boil and stir. In order to avoid burning anything, I further reduced the heat closer to simmer as it continued and the berries broke apart, but I have no idea if that's actually necessary.

When liquid is nice and dark, stir in Sugar in the Raw (or your preferred type of sugar) and diced crystalized ginger, both to taste; simmer a bit more.

Strain out berry remains. Return sauce liquid to pot. Again on low-ish heat, add cornstarch to thicken (if desired). Add back in some of berry remains, if desired. Final sweetening/ ginger to taste. I went easy on both, but you might like yours sweet and/or with more than a hint of ginger.

Results
Judged yummy in initial taste test (n = me).
Feeds: No idea; probably varies.

Conclusions
Happy Boyfriend Rating (HBR): data not yet available.

*Disclosures: This follows the general outline of sauce recipes available via Google search, but the additional ingredients add, IMNSHO, a dash of creativity and balance out the raspberries.

Souvenir...

...from a lovely weekend. Not exactly Petersburg, I know, but a good time was still had...

(Other pictures may go up later if I aquire them.)

Turning the Page

New chapters begin so abruptly...

I know there are words there, but I can't decipher them just yet. Perhaps it begins "Frei aber einsam..."

"I Won't Revise"

Nicked from a friend finishing up exams 'cross the Pond...(you don't mind, do you, KBee?)

'I won't Revise' (to the tune of 'I will Survive')

At first I was afraid, I was petrified!
Kept thinking I could never pass with no revision guide,
But then I spent so many nights, getting all the questions wrong,
And I grew strong,
And I learned I could scrape along,

I won't look back, to any place,
When I can swallow 15 shots and get completely off my face,
I would have revised by the clock,
I would have had no spare time free,
If I'd thought for just one second my exams would bother me...


So all my notes, are on the floor,
Don't even matter... that there's no rock night anymore...
Weren't you the one who tried to get me to revise?
You think I'd crumble?
You think I'd work towards the skies?

Oh no, not I!
I won't revise!
Unless I die of beer stains, I know I'll stay alive,
Though my money's at an end,
I've my overdraft to spend,
I won't revise,
I won't revise!!

Hey, hey

It took all the strength I had, not to act the part,
But in the end my real revision didn't even start.
I used to sit at home at night, feeling guilty to myself,
I used to try, but now I hold my head up high ..

And you see me! Somebody new!
I'm not that mixed up weird girl who wants a good 2:2
So if you feel like dropping in,chances are that I'll be free,
Coz I've done sod all revision,and I'm failing my degree ...

So all my notes are on the floor,
Don't even matter... that there's no rock night anymore...
Weren't you the one who tried to get me to revise?
You think I'd crumble?
You think I'd work towards the skies?

Oh no, not I!
I won't revise,I think that I may scrape a third,
But I could be telling lies!
Let the lecturers all scorn,
My bed's far too nice and warm,
I won't revise,
I won't revise!!!

Rising Star

It's always heartwarming to see good things happen to people you know, whether it is someone you know well and love dearly, or one you knew only fleetingly.

Many years ago, I auditioned for Bay Chamber Concerts' summer chamber music camp for the first time, and received in return a part for a four-violin piece (by Telemann?). Upon our arrival at the first rehearsal, we discovered that the first violinist was not from Maine but from Chicago--a nice little girl named Tai, who was already quite good. Somewhere is the picture I had in my case for a long time: four little girls in concert clothes standing in front of the Rockport Opera House stage and smiling in the afternoon sunlight.

As it turns out, Tai is not so little anymore, and is doing well, as per an article the Nomad Mom sent along just this morning:

Violinist Tai Murray, a 23-year-old from Chicago who spent two years getting her artist's diploma, is also among the lucky ones. She had a budding career before she got to Juilliard, starting with solo concerts when she was 9. She now has a New York manager and a CD on the way, and she lives in her own Manhattan apartment on money earned playing concerts.

"For me, Juilliard was a haven. It gave me a base to hold on to in the bigness of New York," said Murray, who recently returned from an appearance with an orchestra in Denmark.

So, congratulations, Tai, whatever notes you're playing at the moment--here's to your passion, your talent, and to what I hope is your continuing success! You may never see this, but...Make beautiful music, and I hope to hear you play someday!

Yet another quizzie: Intuition

Very Well-Rounded You have: 62% SCIENTIFIC INTUITION and 70% EMOTIONAL INTUITION

The graph on the right represents your place in Intuition 2-Space. As you can see, you scored above average on emotional intuition and above average on scientific intuition. (Weirdly, your emotional and scientific intuitions are equally strong.) Your Emotional Intuition score is a measure of how well you understand people, especially their unspoken needs and sympathies. A high score score usually indicates social grace and persuasiveness. A low score usually means you're good at Quake. Your Scientific Intuition score tells you how in tune you are with the world around you; how well you understand your physical and intellectual environment. People with high scores here are apt to succeed in business and, of course, the sciences. Try my other test! The 3 Variable Funny Test It rules.

My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on Scientific You scored higher than 99% on Interpersonal The 2-Variable Intuition Test

Whoa

Today the Joint Degree Program sent the current members an end-of-year email, including a list of those who will be entering the program this fall and what their other degree will be. There are not one, but TWO brave souls signed up for JD/MD.

Wow.

I bow. Seriously. That's hard core.

(That, and I lived in mortal fear of the MCAT and had no intention of taking it, so I applaud those who did.)

Be the gene

Be the gene...

Repeat ad infinitum.

One Red Paperclip

Has the last good idea been taken? I don't know, but it's crazy and creative...and I wish I'd thought of it first!! Although I don't think I'd trade for a house just yet--probably couldn't afford the property taxes. Of course, if someone out there wants to make an offer for a binder clip (small or large) or a GOP elephant Beanie Baby, I won't stop you... (Although, the elephant is kinda cute; might require a particularly good offer to part with it.)

An interesting study in valuation, Little Bro?

(h/t Table of Malcontents)

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Body Works arrives in Minnesota...I have secured a ticket for later this month and am eager to attend!

[Disclaimer: You may find the pictures available through those links shocking or disturbing--please don't feel compelled to look, but I hope you do browse! These exhibits are not without inherent controversy, although the official program publicly maintains that all bodies have been ethically obtained. I don't think I see anything in those promotional materials of previous exhibits that I would term vulgar or disrespectful to the real persons who lived in those bodies, and hope to find the actual exhibit consistent with that theme. I hope it is a way for all of us to better appreciate and understand the marvel of the body.]

Making Sense of History

A brief perusal of the news this morning before turning to the last day to work on the paper (not a good thing--there is yet much to be done) yielded this warm tribute by Fouad Ajami to Bernard Lewis, full of deepest respect for Lewis as a gifted and perceptive historian. The following four paragraphs struck me particularly, further brightening the proverbial light bulb. (Any emphasis added is mine.)

The rage of Islam was no mystery to Mr. Lewis. To no great surprise, it issued out of his respect for the Muslim logic of things. For 14 centuries, he wrote, Islam and Christendom had feuded and fought across a bloody and shifting frontier, their enmity a "series of attacks and counterattacks, jihads and crusades, conquests and reconquests." For nearly a millennium, Islam had the upper hand. The new faith conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa--old Christian lands, it should be recalled. It struck into Europe, established dominions in Sicily, Spain, Portugal and in parts of France. Before the tide turned, there had been panic in Europe that Christendom was doomed. In a series of letters written from Constantinople between 1555 and 1560, Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, imperial ambassador to the court of Suleyman the Magnificent, anguished over Europe's fate; he was sure that the Turks were about to "fly at our throats, supported by the might of the whole East." Europe, he worried, was squandering its wealth, "seeking the Indies and the Antipodes across vast fields of ocean, in search of gold."

But Busbecq, we know, had it wrong. The threat of Islam was turned back. The wealth brought back from the New World helped turn the terms of trade against Islam. Europe's confidence soared. The great turning point came in 1683, when a Turkish siege of Vienna ended in failure and defeat. With the Turks on the run, the terms of engagement between Europe and Islam were transformed. Russia overthrew the Tatar yoke; there was the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula. Instead of winning every war, Mr. Lewis observes, the Muslims were losing every war. Britain, France, the Netherlands and Russia all soon spilled into Islamic lands. "Europe and her daughters" now disposed of the fate of Muslim domains. Americans and Europeans may regard this new arrangement of power as natural. But Mr. Lewis has been relentless in his admonition that Muslims were under no obligation to accept the new order of things.

A pain afflicts modern Islam--the loss of power. And Mr. Lewis has a keen sense of the Muslim redeemers and would-be avengers who promise to alter Islam's place in the world. This pain, the historian tells us, derives from Islam's early success, from the very triumph of the prophet Muhammad. Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land; he had led his people through wilderness. Jesus had been crucified. But Muhammad had prevailed and had governed. The faith he would bequeath his followers would forever insist on the oneness of religion and politics. Where Christians are enjoined in their scripture to "render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's," no such demarcation would be drawn in the theory and practice of Islam.

It was vintage Lewis--reading the sources, in this case a marginal Arabic newspaper published out of London, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, in February of 1998--to come across a declaration of war on the United States by a self-designated holy warrior he had "never heard of," Osama bin Laden. In one of those essays that reveal the historian's eye for things that matter, "A License to Kill," Mr. Lewis would render into sublime English prose the declaration of bin Laden and would give it its exegesis. The historian might have never heard of bin Laden, but the terrorist from Arabia practically walks out of the pages of Mr. Lewis's own histories. Consider this passage from the Arabian plotter: "Since God laid down the Arabian Peninsula, created its desert, and surrounded it with seas, no calamity has ever befallen it like these crusader hosts that have spread in it like locusts, eating its fruits and destroying its verdure; and this at a time when the nations contend against Muslims like diners jostling around a bowl of food. . . . By God's leave, we call on every Muslim who believes in God and hopes for reward to obey God's command to kill the Americans and plunder their possessions whenever he finds them and whenever he can."

Mr. Ajami's full article is here, do give it a read. (I wouldn't be surprised if TigerHawk comments on the same thing when he's out from under the weather. But consider this recommendation for now.)

"Cornelia’s opinion was not recorded"

[Snicker Alert]

Present-day developmental biology is indebted to both the tremendous efforts of centuries past and also to those fascinating cells, the gametes, without which there would be no new embryonic organisms to awe and intrigue us.

That said, OxBlog has ever so kindly provided the teaser for today's history of science interlude, a review with the delightful opening paragraphs:

Not for Antoni van Leeuwenhoek the post-coital cigarette that day in 1677. No sooner had he finished making love to his wife Cornelia than he was up at his home-made microscope, discovering in his semen a “vast number of living animalcules”, little wriggling creatures with rounded bodies and long, vigorous tails. The Dutch draper and microscopist had confirmed, for the first time, the existence of spermatozoa.

Van Leeuwenhoek’s discovery is the climax of Cobb’s lively if sometimes uneven account of the endeavours of 17th-century scholars to understand the reproductive process in man and other animals. It was a period of remarkable process. In 1650, knowledge had hardly advanced beyond the misguided imaginings of the Ancient Greeks - Aristotle believed the embryo originated from the union of semen and menstrual blood. Yet by the early years of the new century, the roles of the human egg and sperm had been established and a reasonably accurate account of embryonic development published.

Grins aside--I saw that--I think this will probably be going on the to-read list.

Egregious Procrastination...

...does yield interesting items. Among them, Likelihood of Confusion's mention (under the catchy title "No More Star Chamber Rulings") of a new ruling handed down from On High: starting next year, lawyers in federal courts may cite unpublished opinions. (The non-lawyers or non-law students out there may in fact have been unaware that there are such things as unpublished opinions--yes, there are, and there are lots of them.)

This move is, I think, correct--to my mind the continued existence of unpublished opinions is an uncomfortable concept of questionable constitutionality--and am therefore in agreement with Mr. Coleman's comments:

"The issue of non-citability and “not precedential” rulings in the federal courts is a troubling one, because it goes square against the idea of the common law and statutory interpretations as being based on accretions of precedent. There is usually no way for the mortal to know why one decision is regarded as worthy of being deemed precedential and others are not, nor to understand why, if it is not good enough for precedent, the ratio decidendi (if you will!) of a given opinion was good enough for that case. Judge Kozinski takes a shot at explaining why citation to unpublished opinions is not allowed here, essentially arguing from the not-too-principled position that they’re not written all that well, but this still leaves us with the question of published TTAB decisions not being citable."

...Back to work...