Back from the family Christmukkah to-do. Was very nice seeing most of the folks on my mom's side of the family, particularly the two new toddlers now that they can run and do other stuff besides cry. I am filled to the brim with beef tenderloin, cheese, and olives, and the dirty Santa gift I took was a big hit with its eventual recipient. Also, I snagged one of those over-the-toilet storage units that closely matches the colors in my bathroom.
Mal: Okay. She won't be winning any beauty contests anytime soon. But she is solid. Ship like this, be with ya 'til the day you die. Zoe: 'Cause it's a deathtrap.
'Out Of Gas'
Natter 69: Practically names itself.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Matt the Bruins fan - Dec 22, 2011 6:42:31 pm PST #12712 of 30001
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Allyson - Dec 22, 2011 6:52:15 pm PST #12713 of 30001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
Abraham Lincoln created the National Academy of Sciences.
Party of Lincoln, amirite?
msbelle - Dec 22, 2011 6:52:32 pm PST #12714 of 30001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
is ita going to jamaica?
y'all I shopped for hours today with an adult friend and no kid. awesome!
Ginger - Dec 22, 2011 6:55:06 pm PST #12715 of 30001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
Party of Lincoln, amirite?
If it was the current party, they'd still be amending the Emancipation Proclamation.
Liese S. - Dec 22, 2011 6:57:59 pm PST #12716 of 30001
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."
Party of Lincoln, whoot!
Apropos, actually, because we took the SO's folks over to the Presidential library & museum for Lincoln today. It was an amazing, amazing trip. His dad likened it to climbing Everest, and beforehand his mom really didn't want to because of his health, but they made it and it was grand. Somber, but grand. I am so glad they went. And I learned lots!
Anyway, in the Big Pharma column, there's def lots of bad for which I harbor resentment, but Big Pharma has funded me a bunch, albeit through their foundation's employee matching program. As a religious org we don't qualify for regular foundation support, but for their employees/retirees it's looser.
Allyson - Dec 22, 2011 6:58:42 pm PST #12717 of 30001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
I've been writing about science funding, so am cranky.
Did i ever tell you people about the amazing Hawaiian squid?
Allyson - Dec 22, 2011 6:59:40 pm PST #12718 of 30001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
Oh hey! I start my Official Guitar Lessons on Thursday next week!
Am nervous and excited.
Steph L. - Dec 22, 2011 7:00:25 pm PST #12719 of 30001
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
Did i ever tell you people about the amazing Hawaiian squid?
I want to hear about all things squidtastic, but I especially hope this one is wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt.
Liese S. - Dec 22, 2011 7:01:01 pm PST #12720 of 30001
"Faded like the lilac, he thought."
Tell me about the Hawaiian squid!
And oh, awesome! Yay for you! I asked my socal peeps, but they couldn't turn up a teacher local enough to you, although they tried.
Allyson - Dec 22, 2011 7:09:49 pm PST #12721 of 30001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
There is an amazing squid that lives around the Hawaii area over yonder. It hunts at night. It really blows for the amazing squid when there is little moonlight for to hunt by, so it gathers up all these bacteria in a pouchy thing. The bacteria then glow, when they're all scooped together in a tight bunch.
Then the squid uses the glowing pouch as a flashlight. It releases the bacteria in the morning, before it gets all toxicy.
This is a magical thing called quorum sensing. When the bacteria all get together, they sense a maximum density and then glow. When they are all spread out, they don't.
Science-type people have figured out how to shut off the quorum sensing mechanism in the bacteria, so they won't glow.
WHY? WHY?
I will tell you.
If you can do that with these things, then maybe, JUST MAYBE you can shut off quorum sensing in other things. Maybe you can shut off whatever it is that makes you get the e coli. You know, shit I'm not terribly familiar with since the article is not open in front of me. Maybe you can shut off mechanisms in cells that say, "HEY HERE WE ARE IN YOUR BOOB, THERE IS A LOT OF US! LET'S MAKE CANCER!" You know, that's a reach. But still, lots of bacteria getting together can make sick happen.
Quorum sensing and the figuring out how to shut it down is one of those awesome discoveries that happens when you spend a couple million on one of those silly wasteful squid studies that Sen. Coburn writes long rants against without actually looking at what the fuck is going on.
I'm rantypants tired girl.