arts and crafts
cagapakis | April 1, 2011Perhaps you have noticed that I haven't been blogging very much lately. Probably not, which is why I don't ever do these "sorry for not posting" posts, but I'm making an exception this time because it is a very special occasion. So, apologies for my recent lack of posts, but I got married last weekend! Of course, my wedding was not without biologically inspired design appropriate for mention on this blog. On my special day I wore Nervous System's algae inspired Filament Necklace.
Nervous System is a small and awesome company that combines background in biology, architecture, math, and…
cagapakis | May 18, 2010My silkworms are starting to turn into silkmoths! The first moth emerged from his cocoon this weekend, I hope more are close behind so that he can mate before he dies! I didn't expect him to come out so soon so I didn't have my real camera but I wanted to share my blurry phone pictures of the event:
In industrial silk production they can't use the cocoon that gets left behind because the moth uses an enzyme called cocoonase to chew his way out, breaking the otherwise continuous silk thread. I'm starting to explore ways that I can use this silk though--so far I've only made friendship…
sciencewoman | November 15, 2009I even stole the title from Lady Scientist, because I am just that original these days.
I spent the week teaching, advising, mothering, and making some progress on my InaDWriMo goals for the month. As of last week the goals stood like this:
Done! Finish revisions on the paper-that-won't-die (goal: November 13)
Done! Internal release time application (due November 18)
Read around proposed grad student topics enough to ensure we're not reinventing the wheel/pursuing proven dead ends (amorphous, I know)
Finish GIS work left-over from 2008 AGU poster.
The paper got re-submitted on Wednesday! May…
sciencewoman | September 11, 2009Did you know that after a 26 year run, Reading Rainbow is no longer producing episodes? "Butterfly in the sky, I can fly twice as high. Take a look, it's in a book, a reading rainbow" is no longer enchanting thousands of young children. The series, in case you never watched it, featured the reading of a children's book, a related adventure, and reccomendations of other books by child reviewers. The whole thing was wonderful for creating future bibliophiles. Apparently, it's no longer the educational mission of public television to encourage a love of reading, rather the focus of educational…
sciencewoman | July 31, 2009I need some new teaching shoes for fall semester. My trustworthy, if utilitarian, Keens always look incongruous with the feminine tailoring I prefer for my teaching/meeting outfits. Plus, my black Keens are a bit too big for my feet, since they were purchased late in pregnancy. So I've been looking for some new shoes - somewhat feminine, somewhat fun, but still they must be comfortable. I need to be able to walk around campus in them, even if I switch to Keens or Chacos when I go to pick up Minnow.
Like all good shoe-lovers would, I started with Isis's weekly shoe selections. But many of the…
sciencewoman | July 27, 2009Sprinklers. Wading pools. Picnics. Dogs. Playing with Minnow. Hanging out with good friends. The hallmarks of well-spent summer weekends. Just don't forget the cucumbers...
One day's worth of cucumbers, after a few days of rain. This picture was from a few weeks back, and fortunately the cucumber flux has eased somewhat, but it's still difficult to maintain the cucumber mass balance in our house. Anybody want some?
What do you do with so many cucumbers? Make 2 versions of cucumber-tomato salad for a friend's house-warming party, and bring 2 extra cucumbers as her housewarming gift. Too bad…
sciencewoman | March 25, 2009There's a crafty meme going around the blogosphere and lovely academic blogger phd me is going to be sending me a craft of her making. In order to be deserving of her crafty goodness, I've promised to make crafts for 5 others. If you'd like to get something from me (probably photo-oriented), be one of the first five to leave a comment on this post.
Here are the complete rules:
The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
* I make no guarantees that you will like what I…
sciencewoman | March 16, 2009For several months, Minnow has thought that Mommy's computer exists mainly to let her look at pictures and videos of herself. But now she knows it can also access Elmo at any time of day. It was rainy here this weekend, and we must have watched this clip at least 37 times.
Sometimes we mixed it up by watching this one.
And, when Mommy needs some math, sometimes she sneaks this one into the mix:
But, it doesn't feature Elmo, so it is not favored. When my daughter becomes an English major, I will blame Elmo.
At least I'm culturing a good taste in music.
(And, yes this is a shameless ploy to…
sciencewoman | March 12, 2009When the Overlordz announced a pie contest in honor of Pi day, I thought that I might be able to muster something up. But after seeing Janet's seven(!) delectable pies, Maria's pie + cocktail, Jess's "yes pecan" pie, and Zuska's bird pie, I realized that I don't have the skills or the time to compete with these kitchen mavens. I'm a busy woman. Most nights dinner is done in a hurry and deserts are a rare luxury. Baked deserts even more so.
But I can make a mean pot pie. It's quick, it's easy, and it's comfort food. I got the original inspiration from Real Simple, but the recipe is…
sciencewoman | October 10, 2008Isis and Physioprof aren't the only ones who can cook, you know. I don't get to cook on a regular basis, but every couple of weeks there's some piece of produce just begging to be cooked into deliciousness. This past week, it was a batch of organic Italian plums that came with our produce delivery (my one indulgence).
I wasn't quite sure what to do with so many plums, so I consulted my shelf of cookbooks and decided upon a recipe from a 1950's book on freezing and canning for farm wives. I updated the techniques and downgraded the quantities a bit, and methods and results are below the fold…
sciencewoman | September 29, 2008I justed wanted to give a shout-out to my friends at YellowIbis.com, a science t-shirt shop. They specialize in wonderful shirts featuring all sorts of molecules (pick your favorite, they'll make it), sciencey one-liners, and "science varsity" shirts. Minnow and I were recently outfitted with some of their shirts and we debuted them at the zoo blogger meet-up.
I have coveted one of Yellow Ibis's shirts ever since I first heard about them. I love, love, love their "this is what a scientist looks like" t-shirt, and now I own it. Pictures of the shirt, and Minnow's adorable shirts below the…
sciencewoman | September 27, 2008Domestic goddess, I am definitely not. But I do love to bake, though it is rare that I get the occasion. So when I saw a couple of bananas getting too brown on the counter, I seized the opportunity.
Banana bread is too much work for a busy scientist-mama, but banana oatmeal muffins can easily be in the oven 10 minutes after you start. Even if you don't have quite all the right ingredients. Recipe and a photo below the fold.
1.5 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
0.5 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
0.5 tsp salt
2 eggs
0.25 cup milk
Ingredients as written in my cookbook…
sciencewoman | August 8, 2008One of our favorite books in the Science household is Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This book teaches science, counting, fruits, and nutrition (when the caterpillar gorges on junk food he gets a tummy-ache) and it is beautifully illustrated. So when I found this wonderful fabric, and neither Minnow nor I could resist it.
With a coordinating dot print on the reverse, a layer of flannel in the middle, and a baby blanket binding on the outside (Minnow picked the color), ta-da we had a new blankie. I put the whole thing together in just a few hours, and it's the only sewing I've had…
sciencewoman | April 25, 2008I saw this over at Addy's and absolutely should not have spent the time on it. But I did. And here you go.
Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike through when someone gets them right I'm doing italics
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING.
Some of these are not very hard - particularly for the song title - though the artist to which I'm listening…
sciencewoman | April 11, 2008
This is Minnow's baby quilt. I started working on it in my second trimester, just after turning in my dissertation. I was working on it the evening I went into labor, using some of the nervous anticipation and energy that I couldn't channel into any academic work. After Minnow arrived, the nearly-finished quilt sat out for a while, until I couldn't stand it anymore and hid it away for several months. Around Christmas, I decided that I really wanted to finish the quilt for Minnow's 1st birthday. I didn't quite make it in time, but now it is done, and I dare say it is fabulous. And I'm already…