natural history of the senses

A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
this book is "gushing" with descriptive words and phrases, purely designed to fill the senses.


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Ramachandran's brief tour of human consciousness

A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers by V.S. Ramachandran

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
summary: freud was wrong, we're just all jelly heads.


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after Chaos my mind is now mush

Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
my mind is now mush


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How to read literature like a professor

How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Why did I spend countless hours and $$ for a degree in English when I could have just read this book?



David


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Starbucks with my 11-year-old daughter

i rewarded my daughter with a "starbucks" this morning. it's sorta our thing. she doesn't get anything high in sugar unless she really earns it.

she ordered a vanilla creme frap and i ordered a tall espresso somethin-er-other.

we sat down to enjoy. i found this to be a perfect opportunity to philosophize freely about everything that didn't matter one single bit to her.

dad: "what's your purpose in life?"

daughter: "i don't know. i'm only 11."

dad: "well, you can't just go through life every day wondering what's going to be on the next hannah montana, can you?"

daughter: "i don't, dad."

dad: "so what's your future? what will you fight for? you've got lots of choices. end poverty. end child abuse. end hunger. human rights. women's rights. the environment. help find a cure for cancer. what will you do? a daughter of mine needs to do something, not do nothing. what do you wish for the world? what do you think the world needs?

daughter: "i think starbucks needs smaller cup sizes. how much caffeine is in your tall?"

dad: "too much."

Do vampires exist?

Son: Do you know vampires could exist?

Dad: No, they couldn't.

Son: Yes, they could because mosquitos suck blood. There's no reason
why vampires couldn't have evolved to suck blood and... [long
explanation about how vampires might have evolved alongside humans].

Dad: OK, but the real questions is, "Do vampires produce sperm?

Son: What? I don't know.

Dad: I mean, "How do vampires reproduce?"

Son: By biting people's necks.

Dad: That seems pretty effective to me. Don't you think evolution
would have concentrated on that and pretty much done away with sperm?

Son: Dad!

David: I'm just saying that if vampires did exist, they wouldn't be
going around making out with high-school girls because they wouldn't
have the balls.

Son: You're embarrassing me.

Dad: Sorry.

what i learned at origins

i'm nothing but an insignifant spec on a pebble of a round, pale blue
planet in an expanding, flat universe.

i might of never happened had carbon molecules not come in closely
to each other and reacted to form a replicatable existence that
eventually produced all life.

also had life not eventually produced the primate, and had that
primate not had gone through trial after trial, almost foing extinct,
then i might not be able to think about all this now.

there was a certain dark theme at origins, which may or may not have
had to with the existence of actual dark matter or the string that may
hold all of this together.

a sense of mischief throughout the event could be felt, because there
was work being done there that, while grounded in science, would send
a strong message to the world: science is back.

it was really never gone. research has continued into the origin of
humans and the universe. but its significance has laid dormant
awaiting a revolutionary resurgence.

Sent from my iPhone

Couldn't believe my luck

Somehow, I got a press pass to the Origins Symposium at the Boulders resort in Phoenix, an event with some of the top scientists in the world

Boulders 4/4-5/09 11:06 PM

gilbert riparian birdfest

eatin pizza, birdwatchin, seein raptors

kids played bird bingo

kelsea and torie both got bingo, thanks to finding a verdin and a
snowy egret

kelsea lookin at avocets

torie spotting a ring-necked duck

aster trying to spot a green heron

walking the dog

te gusta?

torie & analeigh

soulmates

our lovebirds, lucy and debbie

hi i'm mickey

i'm a bit of a loner. but always searching for a nice meal. favorite
food? i like to maintain my nimble physique with a structured diet of
pellets and supplements. favorite hobby? spinning wheels

Kelsea's thumb

Dear Mr. Zarnick,

I'm afraid Kelsea will have trouble writing anything tomorrow. And she
won't be able to attend PE this week. Her thumb is sprained, possibly
worse. It was sacrificed graciously to save her young cousin from
flying into a pile of rocks. She was giving the boy a ride on a
scooter when he decided to make an unsuspected jerk.

Rule of thumb, never ride a scooter with a four-year-old.

David

after

before haircut

move over nadal, welcome nono

nono rocks at wii tennis, and the exercise is good for his blood
pressure

the only way she eats

la bocca in tempe w nono

torie's castle

she's my artistic girl.

king of moonsand

grape juice (for badly needed brain glucose) & pathophys book in
background

moonsand art

nono comfortably watching central vs colon

but central lost 2-0

torie's moonsand

she's very proud of all the cool stuf u can do with it

studying while cycling

before pic

as i start my training program, i wonder will this serve as a "before"
pic soon?

my goals: to run a 5k without puking, to put on a few pounds muscle,
to not be the thinnest guy in every room

yes, that's aster on his new skateboard

workout summary

bench 5/5/5/20, abs 50, step climbed 20 mins, feel like i'm going to
puke or pass out

proof i went to the gym today

house in the sunset

so nice to come home to this smile

sight for eyes

sunset after a long day of meetings

newest addition to the house

library (special thanks to ikea)

heading to the gym

dad, stop takin pics w your phone and let us watch tv

take me for a walk

wall

what's that big white vertical thing over there? oh, that's the wall

Happy Nono

After the meal we had sorbet for dessert. Nono drank a glass of
cabernet. I've never seen him so happy in my life. When we dropped him
off at home, he danced into the house. At 82, he doesn't have too long
to live, so it was nice to put a smile on his face.

butter poached beef tenderloin for nono

We started with cured meats. Nono loved this small plate although I
finished it off. How could he not like mushrooms?

David's wild sturgeon lobster caviar

I hadn't ever had caviar so I ordered this plate. The lobster was
incredible, the sturgeon perfect, the caviar was gross.

Cute couple

finally a good picture

Patricia and Nono

David

Fwd:

On Valentine's Day we took Nono to Cork restaurant for the best meal
he's had in his life (well, maybe not. but it might've been the most
expensive). The photos are horrible because they were taken with
Patricia's iPhone.

David

More cork

Alexis, Susie, Patricia and me at Cork enjoying some of the most
amazing food ever.

Dinner at cork

Cork restaurant was fantastic. I had ostrich, antelope, elk pastrami
and my first raspcherry.

Aster trying to get out of homework

Son: "Dad, can you write a note to my teacher?"

Me: "Why?" (rolling my eyes--here we go again)

Son: "He needs to know that I don't need to do my math homework."

Me: "Math is really important."

Son: "No, because when I grow up I'm not going to live in America.
This country is in debt up to its eyeballs. I don't want to pay all
that."

Me: "Where are you going to live?"

Son: "I'm going somewhere I can buy some land and live on it. That's
why you need to write a note. I'm never going to need to know about
radiuses, diameters, chords and circles."

Me: "You're right. Go get me a pen."

Mom's birthday

We had salad, pizza and pasta at Sauce. Dessert: Tiramisu.

From Mom's Birthday

New Year's Eve

Pierre's skills as a gourmet chef made this one of the best new year's eves I've ever had. it was a five-hour meal, 7-midnight. first, he served cheese, bread, various olives and champagne. second, pate and cranberry bread paired with "chartnes" white wine. third, choice of fish paired with white wine or chicken and mushroom paired with a blackberry red wine. fourth, goose (no pheasant available) with baked potatoes and carrots along with risotto and couscous and paired with a "rustic" cherry red wine. fifth, Pierre's signature coffee. sixth, a layered cherry-merengue rum cake. the night finished with mandarin or extra-strong cranberry cognac.

New Year's at Pierre's

La Jolla

Rollerblading, seal joy, and fish tacos

La Jolla 12/28/08 7:54 PM

San Diego Album

San Diego 12/26-27/08

Manejando en San Diego

Mientras manejando en San Diego, Patricia navegaba usando "Maps" con su nuevo iPhone. 

David: "8 Este o 5 Norte?"

Patricia: "8 Norte."

David: "8 que?!"

Patricia: "No. Tenes que tomar Seaworld Drive."

David: "No existe Seaworld Drive! Existe solo Insane Drive!"