Cool! "Science for Adults"

Otona no Kagaku (Science for Adults) is a magazine + science project line popular in Japan.  I just think it's so darn cool.

http://www.jbox.com/product/GAK036 - gramaphone project.

http://www.jbox.com/product/GAK035 - steam engine project.

http://www.jbox.com/product/GAK003 - robot project.

Sometimes I really wish I lived in Japan.  Not because I'm dying to do one of these projects (although I think any of them would be way cool fun to do), but because American attitudes toward science, math, and technology are so dismissive and generally hateful.  

I always remember how dismissive someone was in one of my college math class "discussion" sections (as opposed to the actual lecture) when I jumped up to work a problem on the board, because I was excited to do it (I also had the wrong solution!), like it was wrong to be excited about math.  It was my major, asshole!  (Double major, physics w/a concentration in astrophysics and mathematics.  And I shouldn't have been made to feel defensive about it, dammit.)

20 years later and I'm still angered by that moment, whether it was shut-me-up b/c math isn't supposed to be cool, or shut-me-up people aren't supposed to be passionate and engaged, or shut-me-up because I am female.  (Not that America has a lock on the latter, to be sure.  I'd sure hate to be pigeonholed as an "office lady" in a Japanese company.)

Anyways, popular science is a wonderful thing.

There are Days

There are days when I am tempted to become a beauty blogger (in part so I can sing the praises of Besame Cosmetics - love their lipsticks and their crimson cream rouge is wonderful, wonderful stuff), but overall I'm sure it would require me to break my cardinal rule of No Photos Online.

You know, I've been online since what, 1991?  And I've managed to keep the number of photos of me down to about 5, and nearly all are professional in one way or another (whether they are about writer Sidra, or lawyer Sidra, or whatever).

Why have I bothered?  Well, plenty of reasons, but first and foremost, I'm a feminist, and when I say "I don't appreciate being policed or having my appearance made a point of argument," what I really mean is "this world is so stupid that we actually gauge the merits of people's ideas based on their looks".  That's like the "I have an owl, your argument is invalid" memes.  And I object so strongly to that idiocy that I will not enable it.

Dying to decide what kind of person I must be based on my looks?  Well, your loss, if you've never met me in person. Consider reading me instead.  Trying to divine my character or capability based on a headshot is stupid.

Over a Month Since a Post

Chalk it up to the flu.

Link of Note: Revival of nearly extinct Yurok language is a success story

Last fall, Eureka High became the fifth and largest school in Northern California to launch a Yurok-language program, marking the latest victory in a Native American language revitalization program widely lauded as the most successful in the state.
At last count, there were more than 300 basic Yurok speakers, 60 with intermediate skills, 37 who are advanced and 17 who are considered conversationally fluent.

This is damn cool.

Otherwise, I've lost 30 pounds and am mostly keeping it off, had my photo taken for professional purposes and didn't immediately hate it (obvious corollary there), and have really enjoyed several books recently, in addition to sending the first few Clockwork Century books by Cherie Priest to my nephew for his birthday which I think HE will enjoy greatly, and...well, I guess that's about it.

Oh, and there's a couple feet of snow out there, but if you've been paying any attention to newscasters in the United States at all, you'd know that already.

Emily Barker - Wallender theme

So, thanks to Wallender w/Kenneth Branagh, I'm now hooked on Emily Barker, and quite thankful for it.  A small selection of her work is available for download on iTunes, enough to call a self-assembled album if you like.  Good stuff.

Now it Feels Like Christmas

The requisite meltdown by young person - overstimulated chemically and experientially - has occurred.

It's been a pleasant Christmas.  I found time to do a little yoga today, which is particularly good since I won't have acupuncture this week.  I could feel myself calming and becoming more centered during certain poses.  Bonus - worked kinks out from sleeping on foldout couch!

And now, some work.

10 Arguments Gun Advocates Make

Ten Arguments Gun Advocates Make, and Why They're Wrong

As an attorney, the one that catches my attention the most is the following:

6. The Constitution says I have a right to own guns.
Yes it does, but for some reason gun advocates think that the right to bear arms is the only constitutional right that is virtually without limit. You have the right to practice your religion, but not if your religion involves human sacrifice. You have the right to free speech, but you can still be prosecuted for incitement or conspiracy, and you can be sued for libel. Every right is subject to limitation when it begins to threaten others, and the Supreme Court has affirmed that even though there is an individual right to gun ownership, the government can put reasonable restrictions on that right.
And we all know that if this shooter turns out to have a Muslim name, plenty of Americans, including plenty of gun owners, will be more than happy to give up all kinds of rights in the name of fighting terrorism. Have the government read my email? Have my cell phone company turn over my call records? Check which books I'm taking out of the library? Make me take my shoes off before getting on a plane, just because some idiot tried to blow up his sneakers? Sure, do what you've got to do. But don't make it harder to buy thousands of rounds of ammunition, because if we couldn't do that we'd no longer be free.

Aside from the sarcasm towards the end, it's a really valid point.

Snow in D.C.!

It's snowing right now - so, a little White Christmas, which is always nice.

For everyone else travelling as this year draws to a close, here is Frigga's blessing for Odin:  Unharmed go forth, unharmed return, unharmed safe home.

Incredible

My uncle Charlie had a massive stroke recently and received an innovative treatment being pioneered at the hospital in Tennessee to which he was taken, and now he's fine.

Yes, that's what I wrote. Fine.

You can watch him play guitar in his hospital room on this TV clip. WZTV Exclusive: Man Goes From Suffering Stroke to Making Music in One Day.

Word of the day: gobsmacked.

Birthday!

Attention Internet! Today I am the Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything.

Odd Realization

I was listening to NPR this morning on the new NFL labor agreement, and I suddenly thought to myself that this is probably the first time I've heard of a labor dispute where the general consensus is that the workers got what they wanted. Hopefully it's just me. Or just recently. But I doubt it.

[ETA: See? Moments later I hear of how disappointed Atlanta Symphony musicians are that they are shouldering the brunt of making up a deficit after making $5M in "concessions" (or maybe the deficit is $5M), losing jobs, and how Management isn't shouldering anything.]

Latest Quantum Muse is out!

The latest issue of Quantum Muse (http://www.quantummuse.com) is out!

Sudden Thought About Tweety Bird

Sudden thought:

Is the poor grammar shown by Tweety Bird of Looney Toons (I thought I thaw a puddytat.  I did, I did thaw a puddytat!) precurser to LOLCat grammar?  (I can has cheezburger?)

There's your conundrum for Sunday!

On the Set of 'Captain Blood, The Series'

My story, "On the Set of 'Captain Blood, The Series'" is available now for your persual in Issue 11 of Luna Station Quarterly. You can read it, free, on the website.

For only $2.99 if you download it in various epub formats, this magazine contains a heckuva lot of good fiction. Available in multiple electronic formats, and payment via Paypal accepted - makes it easy for you to get to the fic!

DOD Opening Land for Renewable Energy Development

“The U.S. Department of Defense plans to open up 16 million acres of its land for renewable energy development, which it hopes will create a boom of solar, wind and geothermal projects and provide clean power to military bases, the department announced Monday.”

“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on promoting renewable energy generation projects on public land that has historically been restricted for military uses. About 13 million of those 16 million acres are located in western U.S., where a lot of solar, wind and geothermal power development already has been taking place on private and other types of public land.”

16 Million Acres

Living Fences Benefit Farmers, Livestock, Environment, in Costa Rica

Living Fences in Costa Rica a Growing Idea

Farmers across Central America plant living fences because these green barriers are a more economically feasible and readily accessible method for containing livestock and protecting crops.

....

By providing some shade and serving as windbreaks, living fences can significantly decrease the amount of energy farm animals need to regulate their body temperatures. As livestock allot this extra energy to growth and, in dairy cows, producing milk, farmers experience higher yields, whether in meat or milk, for planting living fences.

This is simply cool.  (Ha!  Literally, too!)