I have been learning a lot about stainless steel cookware these past few days. The best guide to pots and pans on the whole internet is arguably this page:

Apparently, when you are buying stainless steel pots and pans, it better to get tri-ply construction for the entire pan (bottom as well as walls) instead of an encapsulated bottom alone. Food is more likely to burn or cook non-uniformly where the encapsulation ends.

According to most cooking pan guides I read through, a complete copper tri-ply with stainless steel is the best type of cooking pan construction but is quite impractical for people on a budget. It is almost like buying a pan made fully out of one of the "precious" metals. The next best thing is aluminium tri-ply construction.

Riveted handles are better. So are pots and pans made of 18/10 (Chromium/Nickel) stainless steel.

Looks like satisfies pretty much all of those criteria... and doesn't break the budget.

You would like "Young Victoria" very much. :-)

I agree with all the praise heaped on that poster. And I love that royal purple. An awesome colour, in general.

I now think stretching is the key to being fit. Every element of ballet and yoga that make me feel awesome about myself involve stretching in some form. I think this post summarizes the value of stretching:

Also has this nifty basic stretches diagram:


What if you used every small timespan of just twiddling your thumbs to stretch a muscle instead? How many stretches could you accumulate in a day? How much fitness would you gain? What if you stretched whenever you remembered to throughout the week, throughout the month, pretty much whenever it was feasible? Would it make a difference to your body?

I am going to find out!! Mid-year resolution #1!

If (e:strip) is not about stalking people from my 3rd grade or shouting in clipped sentences, then what is it about for me? I just came to a conclusion that I don't use it enough or rather, I have set some artificial limits for what I want to write here. I was telling (e:Paul) that (e:strip) is like the Fedora of online technology. Why not make it the Fedora of my thoughts and life as well?

I think writing for an audience tempers all of my posts here. What if I didn't write for an audience and wrote exclusively for myself? I am going to try that experiment starting today. I want to be able to write whatever I am thinking about, whenever I am thinking about it here and include links and references in context to those thoughts along with my posts.

(e:Paul) already publishes most of his life on his journal. I think that is the true meaning of (e:strip) - to be able to come online and just document what is going on in your conscious and subconscious mind and not really worry about why you are driven to put it online. The alternate meaning of (e:strip) is to be able to electronically strip the clouds, the salt scales and the tartar away from your core thoughts and just put them here for reference and sometimes, increased clarity.

Of course, I will not put work-related writing here... That is reserved for my citation manager. :)

(e:Paul), (e:Terry) and I were discussing the relative merits of Claritin (Loratadine) in comparison with Benedryl (Diphenhydramine) in combating symptoms of allergy. Apart from remembering that Benedryl is a 1st generation antihistamine and that Loratadine is a 2nd generation antihistamine, I was sorry to note that I remembered nothing more about their pharmacology or specifics of how they differed from each other in their mechanism of action.

What follows is a dry account of the differences. Well... maybe not so dry because I am interested. :-)

Any allergic episode has two components: the early and late component. The early component is when the immunoglobulins (type E) recognize allergens, interact with the foot-soldier cells of the immune system. This interaction promotes the release of histamine, prostaglandins and leukotrienes from granules within not only mast cells, but also basophils, lymphocytes, and other reservoirs. Histamine then binds to receptors on nerves and blood vessels and leads to sneezing, tearing up, congestion and whatnots. Antihistamines compete with histamine for spots on the receptor and thus competitively reduce or completely block its action.

1st generation drugs such as diphenhydramine (Benedryl) also have additional anticholinergic, anti-serotonin, local anaesthetic, as well as sedative effects that might either provide a broader spectrum of relief from allergies or might just end up giving people more side effects (which explains the trippy experience I had.)

The late component of allergy is a plain inflammation reaction in the tissues mediated by immune cells called T-helper cells type-2 (Th2) and a host of cytokines (hormones/signalling molecules of the immune system). The inflammatory component feels exactly like a cold with the same reactions. In addition, the inflammatory component primes the immune response or "sensitizes" the immune system to even swifter allergy-induction in response to future allergens.

Loratadine (Claritin) not only binds to the histamine receptor, it also prevents the release of histamine as well as prostaglandins from mast cells - thus preventing "mast cell activation". Loratadine also has some effect on Th2 cells and suppresses some of the later inflammatory phase. It decreases the production of some of the late-phase cytokines. So it's not just an antihistamine. It also has none of the other wider receptor blocking effects of 1st gen antihistamines.

If you are inclined to read the nitty-gritties or how Loratadine acts on the immune system, here's a good review:
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