Today's bookbag

Today, I'm carrying:
The Best American Science Writing of 2007 (ed. Kulata)
A Field Guide for Science Writers (ed. Blum, Knudson, Henig)
Bechara Kachar's newest science article on hair cells
Spiral bound, quad rule notebook
An apple, an orange and a banana
Water in a plastic bottle- I need to switch to metal
Gym clothes for pilates class
Tissues, cough drops, and chap stick
At least 3 pens and a pencil

Another Reason to Go Green

Today, I got my green power coupon book in the mail! Some of Portland's enviro-friendly businesses use green source power and use these coupon books to let us know (and encourage those of us who have already chosen green power).
Portland General Electric offers several ways to start moving toward sustainability, letting individual customers choose to get some percentage of energy from renewable sources for fractions of pennies more per unit (a few dollars a month for most people). Look at how much coal is in the typical mix-- 41%! This is an easy way to feel better about energy use in my house. If you're in Portland and thinking about energy options, go to Green Power Oregon to find out more.

Do You Remember Yahtzee?

What to do on a Tuesday evening? My friend and I brought our own game of Yahtzee to a casual restaurant and set up shop for an hour or two while we enjoyed the good food and atmosphere. I may not have played Yahtzee in at least fifteen years, so it was fun to rediscover an old favorite. It's a bit like poker, but a lot simpler. And Yahtzee, which means rolling a five-of-a-kind, comes up more than I would have guessed.

Pizza Bagels

Each week, one person in my lab is responsible for bringing bagels or some other snack to our lab meeting. Somehow, I got mixed up and brought bagels a week early, and so ended up taking home over 20 bagels. Some are still in my fridge after two weeks, but I've managed to eat a lot of them. One night, we had pizza bagels, and they were so pretty and good I had to take a picture.

EurekAlert!

I just started a science writing class, and one of the first challenges (and ongoing challenges) is figuring out what to write about. Here's a site where science press releases are posted. The news is broken into sections, like biology, medicine and health, policy and ethics, agriculture, etc. Stay ahead of the NY Times, and even Science Daily.

Cool New Toy

I am really enamored with my new magnetic bracelet/necklace that my mom gave me for my birthday. The hematite beads are magnetic, and also attract the small steel beads, so by sticking it together, I can make it a bracelet, anklet, choker or long chain. Pretty neat. Plus, the tiny pearls are pretty with the black and silver metals.

Locked Out

I left my keys at work today, but didn't realize it until after coming home for dinner, leaving again for class and returning to a then empty apartment. Fortunately, I'd picked a really lovely evening to be locked out. In addition to perfect weather, it was the first Thursday of the month, and art galleries in the Pearl district were open late. So, I picked myself up off the porch, and headed through downtown to enjoy an evening out.

Parenting Beyond Belief

I'm excited to read a collection of essays compiled in the book Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion. The primary compelling arguments I hear in favor of organized religion are about establishing a moral framework and a reason to be or do good. I think kids don't necessarily need religion to motivate morality, but they do need some guidance. Parents need guidance too. I think this book will have some interesting ideas. Plus, it looks like the editor will be speaking in Portland sometime this year (dates not yet set).

Posole, Hold the Pork

Posole (or pozole) is Mexican/Amerindian soup made with pork and hominy (a corn family member). It was on many a menu when I visited New Mexico with my family last winter, and I never really got a taste since I didn't want to eat the pork. Last weekend, I hosted a Mexican food dinner party, and I wanted to include a posole that we all could eat. The spices and most ingredients remained the same, but I used seitan instead of pork. This was my first attempt cooking with seitan, which is just wheat protein (gluten) that is textured and flavored to imitate meat. I thought it worked pretty well, but its more uniform consistency was a tip off that it's not actually animal muscle. Here's an approximation of what I put into the soup (there was a lot going on
that day in the kitchen, and who knows what really happened!). Yum, spicy!

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
2 onions
some cumin, paprika, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper
4 jalapeños
1 qt nonfat broth
some water
4 tomatoes
1-2 cups seitan
1 big can of white hominy
some cilantro

Procedure:
Chop the vegetables and seitan, put everything in a pot basically in the order listed. Simmer for several hours while other things are happening.