| Documents and Purse |
| Travel itineraries, confirmations for flight, hotel, car/transport, tickets/passes, conference info |
| Travel info: guidebooks, articles, directions/maps, language book |
| Phone and chargers (incl. car charger) |
| Laptop and chargers |
| Camera and chargers (and card reader and mini tripod and underwater cameras and extra battery) |
| Ipod, chargers, dock |
| Wallet, license, passport, money/cards |
| Notebook and pen |
| Books/magazines |
| keys |
| Medications, tissues, toiletry kit, lip gloss, moisturizer, mints/gum |
| sunglasses |
| Comfort/travel |
| Eyemask |
| Headphones |
| Neck pillow |
| Earplugs |
| Socks |
| Snacks/tea/water |
| Foreign travel: money belt, currency, extra meds, adapters, vaccinations, check credit cards, health insurance, passport, etc. |
| Day bag/backpack; purse |
| Read the rest of this entry » |
Category Archives: Practical Lists
The ultimate packing list and travel-planning list for the travel nerd
A history of Food Blogs (and my 2 local favorites)
by Kristy
Great article on Saveur.com about the history of food blogging. Did you know the term weblog was coined in 1997? Me neither.
http://www.saveur.com/article/Kitchen/A-Brief-Food-Blog-Timeline
Two of my favorite local (Boston) food bloggers who were missing from the list:
1. Cheap Beets – a mostly vegetarian guide to eating well in the recession
2. The Food Monkey – Eat No Evil!
10 more great foodie sites:
1. Local Dirt
My 3 favorite old fashioned typewriters
by Kristy
There is something about the sleek black metal, the over-sized upright frame, the click of the keys, and ding when you reach the end of a line….old fashioned typewriters may have been functionally superseded by computers, but their ergonomic and aesthetic functions will never be replaced.
My 3 favorite old fashioned typewriters
1. Underwood
upright and fabulous
The Underwood typewriter was first produced in 1895 by John Underwood, who was the son of a typewriter ribbon manufacturer. These typewriters, including one my grandmother used to type up news stories for her local newspaper, dominated the market for decades, and are nearly worthless today, even as an antique. But regardless of value, these typewriters are certainly handsome.
Things we believe, despite mountains of data disproving them
by Kristy
Birthers believe that Obama wasn’t born in the US, Creationists believe in a divine story of why humans walk the Earth, conspiracy theorists conspire, psuedoscientific claims abound, alien watchers scope the skies, and people spend fortunes on psychic chat lines. Why do we want to believe so badly, that we ignore the convincing evidence to the contrary? Sure, this is a controversial topic, and my list could be a top 500 instead of a top 5, but here we go…
Top things we believe, despite mountains of data disproving them:
1. Psychics, Aura readers, Reiki practitioners and the like. The most troubling aspect of these beliefs is the money they cost. All these treatments are expensive (as are any “medical” treatments that may accompany them – see #5 below), and despite centuries trying to prove that the supernatural is super natural, there is not an inch of data to support it. The most outrageous claim? Psychic water, of course. One interesting aspect of these examples is the phenomenon where people cling even tighter to beliefs when they are challenged, or when their doubts are raised.
2. Where are we in the solar system? As the film “A Private Universe” uniquely displays, many intelligent children can’t wrap their minds around the solar system, how seasons occur, and what causes an eclipse. Is it a failure of the educational system? A short-circuit in our cognition? Or is it exemplary of our willingness to believe what is comfortable and easy, instead of what is real?
Latin phrases I use in the lab, but could throw-around more in common conversation to sound like an Ass
by Kristy
Science and medicine are full of Latin phraseology. Sure, I have to say these words on a day-to-day basis to communicate with my peers. But to sound like a real Ass, I could also start throwing these around in general conversation:
1. A priori/a Posteriori/ad hoc
You think that shirt will look nice with those pants? That is a priori knowledge, you better try it on first.
2. bona fide
That taxi driver was a bona fide jerk.
3. ad infinitum
I am going to listen to this album ad infinitum.
(see also: ad nauseum)
4. de facto
It may look like yellow syrup, but it is de facto cheese.
5 Criteria for Play
by Kristy
All just fun and games.
We’ve all heard about dolphins romping in the wake of a boat, we’ve seen squirrels seem to chase each other in a game of tag – but when is animal play really playing?
Biopsychologist Gordon Burghardt has decided on these 5 criteria:
BURGHARDT’S FIVE CRITERIA FOR PLAY
1- Play is not fully functional in the form or context in which it is expressed.
2- Play is spontaneous, voluntary, and/or pleasurable, and is likely done for its own sake.
3- Play is incomplete, exaggerated, or precocious.
4- Play is repeated but not in exactly the same way every time, as are more serious behaviors.
5- Play is initiated when animals are well fed, healthy, and free from acute or chronic stressors.
Batty about Bats – but even Batman can’t save them from White Nose
By Kristy
A white fungus is currently killing most of the bat population across the Eastern US. Nobody understands why, or how, and there is uncertainty as to how this will affect our ecosystem.
For five years of my Ph.D., during 7 months out of the year, I would occasionally drive an hour from Boston to capture wild-caught bats at a barn on a rural farm. A harp trap was set-up at the mouth of the barn, to catch the bats at ‘emergence’, or the time at dawn or dusk when these insectivorous bats arouse in order to feed on bugs.
When autumn approached and the bats were preparing for hibernation, they would migrate to caves in Vermont, and I would also drive there for 2 nights of bat-catching at dark, cold, mountain caves. This meant carrying the trap up the mountain, along with our supplies and the bat hotel (the small wooden cubbies that house the bats in the close-quarters they prefer).
The flying devil, Myotis lucifugus
These bats are Myotis lucifugus, or little brown bats, named for their Lucifer-style devil ears. Actually, the bats are quite adorable, quite smart, and are more closely related to humans than most other model research species. They roost in these barns in maternal colonies, with only very few young males. In the fall, the bats mate and then store sperm all through the winter, only fertilizing a single egg when spring comes. This period of hibernation during the winter is extremely energy-intensive, requiring deposition of new fat stores, and making the seasonal hibernating bat a fascinating example of beneficial obesity in the animal kingdom.
Needless to say, I am fascinated by and adore all bats.
Not all people share this feeling. Sure, Batman is a hero, but usually bats are the scary winged creatures of nightmares and horror movies. My own husband ran to the car, rolled up the windows, and locked the doors, when I tried to get him to touch one of the bats I was holding at the barn one summer.
Silly British Traditions to Adopt While Leading up to the Royal Wedding
By Kristy
While I appreciate the argument that as Americans, long ago castrated from our mother-land of Great Britain, we should not give a toss about the Royals (note: Britishism here), it is nearly impossible not to be aware of the fanfare and ceremony of a momentous occasion such as the wedding of a future King. Therefore, this week I will be adopting these rituals as a salute to my homeland (both ancestrally, and from 2007-9*). I suggest you do the same.
Silly British Traditions to Adopt While Leading up to the Royal Wedding
1. Throw a “cheerio ol’ chap” into any of your email or phone correspondence
2. 4pm is now Tea Time, whether you like it or not
3. Wear a fascinator or Philip Treacy inspired hat to the office
Nerdiest Chefs, Cookbooks and Recipes
By Kristy
Nerdiest Chefs:
1. Heston Blumenthal (Fat Duck, UK).
A centrifuge for sauces? An auditory scientist to assist in making the perfect crunch on your fish and chips? Only Blumenthal would do this. As a self-taught chef, he furthers the gastronomical education of other nerd-cooks by sponsoring a Ph.D. program in the UK, and by demonstrating his research and recipe-testing procedures through his cooking shows (which to my knowledge are not available in the US – but if you can find his series on Fantastical Feasts, where he recreates historical meals, you’ll thank me). His cookbooks are also educational, but would require an extensive scientifically-equipped kitchen to carry out the recipes. The Fat Duck is outside London, in Bray, but the newly opened Dinner is conveniently located in London proper.
2. Ferran Adria (El Bulli, Spain)
Blumenthal and Adria are constantly vying for the Top Restaurant in the World status, but in my mind Blumenthal is #1 (plus, he was the predecessor according to Herve This). El Bulli is taking a break now until 2014, in part to reformulate their recipes, but there is no doubt that Adria is a culinary God, and a masterful nerd-chef. His creations extend well beyond the look, feel, and sound of a typical meal, and he constantly strives to recreate the restaurant and culinary experience. Of note, he took part in Harvard’s science of cooking lecture series this past year, and has created a foundation to serve as a think-tank for gastronomical creativity.
3. Joel Robuchon, the French chef who may have begun the molecular gastronomy movement, and who now condemns it
Sites for Unemployed Environmental Scientists
by Kristen
Warning: this list has absolutely no humor in it. It is business time, people. I have four weeks to find new employment in my field of Professional Research Technician (translation: entry level manual laborer), before I turn to what ever job will take me. While a fantastic website, I tire of USAJobs. If you are also an out of work scientist or thinking about moving on to a new adventure, here are some other resources to check out. Positions vary from entry level to professorships.
Feel free to add on (and/or help me).
http://www.ecojobs.com/index.php
http://www.identicards.com/links/statednr.html
Tyrannosaurus Lists! 