Me: (to very happy-looking matronly but slightly intimidating tall Latino (HLMSITL) woman picking out the last piece of odd-looking squash that I wanted to try) Ah, so you like that squash?

HLMSITL woman: (waving the rather sizeable squash about as if it were made of sponge) I do. VERY much.

Me: How, would you say, is it different from Acorn squash or Butternut squash?

HLMSITL woman: Hmm... its firm.

Me: You mean firmer than butternut?

HLMSITL woman: Yes, and also (pointing to the acorn squash) this one.

Me: (persisting in the hope that she may realize that I have never tried it and maybe, just maybe give it away) Firm in what way? More fibrous?

HLMSITL woman: No, firm as in even after cooking you feel like it could get caught in your throat and choke you to death while eating it. (Makes a choking gesture at her neck with both hands and rolls eyes around, manages to look rather alarmingly like she is actually choking.) Like THAT. And I LOVE that, you know?

Me (to myself): Nopes, I definitely don't know.

Me (to HLMSITL woman): Wow. How fascinating! *Smile Smile. Edge away*

You just can't deny it [1-5].

---

References:
1. (e:theecarey,50736)
2. (e:theecarey,50766)
3. (e:theecarey,49743)
4. (e:theecarey,45899)
5. (e:theecarey,35925)

My laptop battery goes from 96% "discharging" to 5% "Critical Battery Level, Shutting down NOW" in 20 minutes flat. This is with the monitor off and on lowest power consumption settings. It never reaches 100% charge, according to the battery monitor. I always see it hovering around 95%. Worse, it takes just 20 minutes to charge to 95% .The laptop and battery are just around 1.5 years old. :/

I guess I am partially to blame for this poor battery performance because I really should have run the battery through the charge-discharge cycle all this time, instead of running it from the AC outlet power most of the time.

Maybe Sanyo makes trash batteries. Who knows... Mine is a
LION NS2P3SZNJ5WR

I have learnt my bitter battery lesson in time for my next Chrome OS powered netbook - which hopefully is just round the corner.

(e:himay), "Ack!"? Really? Think again! ;-)

Who knows what miracles you can achieve...
When you believe, somehow you will!
You will, when you believe!

::DOWNLOAD SOUND::

I love this song. I could listen to it on a loop for a solid 1 hour or more. I know, because I have done it. The lyrics are so irrationally and completely positive and that, I think is part of its magic. Of course, the other part is Whitney Houston's smashing powerful voice. Anything she sang turned into an impressive crashing waterfall of sonic gold, back in the day.

Well, what do you think? I am slowly getting through everything on my grocery shelves. The idea is to completely finish all stored grains, grain products, lentils, beans, rice and other non-perishables in the next 6 months. I am on a clean-up-the-whole-kitchen-and-start-completely-afresh drive.

I have some pasta but I am not very keen on making it because I tend to cut down on my vegetable portions if I eat too much pasta with regular meals. I do want to try my hand at some bread again - so if I take the pasta (white, acini de pepe) and grind it to a coarse powder will that make a good bread flour along with ground bulghur? I am thinking of making some kind of fruit/banana/apple based bread.

Does this sound insane? Well... it does sound a bit weird but still, do you think it might just possibly work? Thoughts?

Is pitch perfect.



Only, I think Amy Adams was a very poor choice. She is just too goody-shoes to be convincing and absolutely fades in front of Meryl Streep. That actress who played Bridget Jones could have been more effective. The real author could have been a fabulous choice.

The movie was a nice contrast between the 60s and now; a look at just how far we have come in terms of personal freedom of expression without bureaucratic constraints. Evidence is this blog that came to life as the movie. Of course, being recognized for it in the face of enormous odds of sinking into oblivion, is a fairytale and a real one. But really, that is very thin justification for casting that chirpie unreal disney fairytale fluff woman. I think the movie could have done on the "Julie side" with a lot more grittiness and conviction - would have made it happier, ironically.

Throughout the movie, I wondered about the cooking. If Julia Child's cooking was so iconic here, what influence did she really have on American home-cooking, in general. Could it be that her rich French recipes were slightly misinterpreted across the pond and people ended up with more plaque in their arteries than they could manage? I have never really read her recipes or seen her shows but what were the portion sizes she advocated? Anyone know?

My first winter share through the Community Supported Agriculture plan from Thorpe Farms was waiting for me today morning under my office desk - thanks to my wonderful officemates. :) It was quite a surprise. Given that four of us are splitting the share, I wasn't expecting much but I received:

Grapefruit


Florida Oranges


Tangelos


Carrots


Turnips


Beets


Radishes


Garlic


Onions


Parsnips


Brussel Sprouts - on a stalk!


Swiss Chard



Potatoes



I gave away the potatoes because they are banned from my kitchen. I also gave away the garlic for no particular reason.

PS: Just roasted some of these root veggies and they are incredibly tasty! They beat regular grocery veggies by oodles and oodles of awesomeness!

What odd/crazy things are people getting for other people this holiday? I am asking because I need to put together a collection of odd/crazy things for someone and a standard gift-basket seems like a boring thing to do. I already have one apparently nifty thing on my list and one thing that I know the person likes:

a) The scalp massager.
b) Super-Soft Fuzzy Blanket

But that's about it for my list. I can't think of anything else thanks to my completely dead unimaginative brain when it comes to gifts.

What small strangely crazy/useful/fun/weird things did you get or gift that you always remember or had tons of fun with? Any ideas, suggestions for random things are really really appreciated! :)

Seriously? Someone actually did a study on this and got published in a fairly good journal? I so need to get on this slipping sleigh.



[box]BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The term 'beer belly' expresses the common belief that beer consumption is a major determinant of waist circumference (WC). We studied the gender-specific associations between beer consumption and WC (partially in relation to body weight and hip circumference (HC) change).

PARTICIPANTS/METHODS: Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study (7876 men, 12 749 women), cross-sectional associations were investigated applying general linear models. Prospective analyses of baseline beer consumption and an 8.5-year WC change were assessed using multivariate general linear models and polytomous logistic regression. To test the site-specific effect of beer consumption on WC, an adjustment for concurrent changes in body weight and HC was carried out. In addition, the relationship between change in beer consumption and change in WC was studied.

RESULTS: A positive association in men and no association in women were seen between beer consumption and WC at baseline. Men consuming 1000 ml/d beer were at 17% higher risk for WC gain compared with very light consumers. Significantly lower odds for WC gain (odds ratio=0.88; 95% confidence interval 0.81, 0.96) were found in beer-abstaining women than in very-light-drinking women. The adjustment for concurrent body weight and HC change diminished effect estimates notably, explaining most of the association between beer and change in WC. Decreasing beer consumption was related to higher relative odds for WC loss, although not statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS: Beer consumption leads to WC gain, which is closely related to concurrent overall weight gain. This study does not support the common belief of a site-specific effect of beer on the abdomen, the beer belly.
[/box]

I have no idea what they set out to achieve. I hunted the paper down and read through their justification for the study and I see this weak unreferenced statement in the introduction:

Abdominal obesity is one of the most potent cardiovascular risk factors, making it of interest to understand whether beer consumption increases the risk of this site-specific fat patterning.

First, abdominal obesity was never really "the most potent risk factor" of cardiovascular disease as they claim. Second, there are a million other "potent risk factors" for cardiovascular disease and abdominal obesity figures rather low on that list. Third, there are strong hormonal, genetic and gender-related determinants of who accumulates fat near their bellies and who doesn't. Ignoring this fact completely in the justification section is rather dodgy.

Most importantly, doesn't every one pretty much know that Beer is just empty calories and that consumption without exercise will lead to weight gain? Was it so essential to wade in, and analyze a huge dataset to death just to show that it does lead to weight gain and is not really specifically associated with Beer Bellies?

What is the message they are trying to convey to the public anyway - that it is okay to drink Beer because you will only gain weight, and not grow a Belly? A truly "what-the-hell-do-epidemiologists-do-when-they-are-out-drinking-beer" study. Maybe I should start drinking beer now and coming up with random publication ideas. Or maybe I should just get that soymilk carton I have been craving and start drinking with abandon. The effect will be eerily similar to drinking beer.