Gemini: Drifting With the Current

Sometimes it is best to simply let events unfold. However, doing so for the last 25 years was probably a mistake.

(Photo: čolinica)

Life is a Mix Tape: Max Richter & Limitations

Walking home after work, I was listening to Radiolab's podcast The Obama Effect, Perhaps, which discussed the result Barack Obama's presidency may be having on the stereotype threat or the influence of group stereotypes to affect intellectual performance.

Since Obama's presidential nomination, some researchers have noticed a performance gap between whites and blacks narrow (on a 20-question test). *The findings have yet to be peer reviewed, and further replication is expected. However, the stereotype threat is a well documented phenomenon that can affect all groups of people.

While Radiolab's Jad Abumrad was discussing the power of stereotypes to distract and then discourage achievement, the song "Vladimir's Blues" by Max Richter played.

The music made the metro car glide on the rails, rather than speed forcefully onward. People began waltzing past, instead of rushing about gracelessly. And I stood at the center of it all, waiting for my train, wondering about my limitations.

The real subtle power of a stereotype isn't that it prevents you from doing what you want to do, it distracts you, for just a beat, from doing the thing you want to do. And that may be all the difference.

- Jad Abumrad, Radio Lab

This is another gem by Max Richter, "Fragments."

I also recommend "The Nature of Daylight."

Gluttony Primer: Rainbow & Unicorn Cake

Part 1 - Rainbow Cake

Years ago, while enduring late night pancake cravings with Ash Mae, we were inspired to make pancakes out of cake mix. Some inspiration comes from an inner voice, and some inspiration stares at you like a Duncan Hines mix adjacent an empty bag of Bisquick.

We colored every pancake green and then stacked them with vanilla pudding in-between each layer. We covered the cake with Cool Whip and devoured the best midnight snack every created.

While making cakes for a friend's birthday, I got A LITTLE carried away. This time around, I decided to make a rainbow cake by coloring each pancake a different color.

I told the birthday girl, "Pretend that I'm Ace of Cakes (and therefore insanely unlimited by reason or artistic ability). Name three things you want." She said, "Chocolate, Raspberry, Unicorn." If she had said, "Starship Enterprise, Non-Fat, Barack Obama," she would have been out of luck, and the whole "Pretend I'm Ace of Cakes and you can have anything you want..." exercise would have been a complete waste. Luckily, she picked the only three things I am capable of.

I decided to make an accompanying rainbow cake, because 1) I needed an excuse to try it out, and 2) she is one of a handful of people that can appreciate that much food coloring.

*It looks slightly burnt, and it is, in that "I'm-so-overwhelmed-by-frosting-and-color-that-I-can't-even-tell" kinda way.

In the end, I covered the colored pancakes in cream cheese frosting resulting in a very sad minimalist-looking rainbow-shaped cake (sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the final product).

However, when someone cut the first slice, the people rejoiced, Pocahontas appeared singing "Every Color of the Wind," and sparkles fell from the stars turning us all into our spirit animal.

Instructions
1. Make cake mix.
2. Color a 1/2 cup of batter any color of the rainbow.
3. Fry it like a pancake (Use lots of cooking spray)

Part 2-The Last Unicorn Cake

The chocolate cake & raspberry filling recipes are here. Smitten Kitchen, marry me.

The marshmallow fondant recipe is here. I'm convinced MM Fondant would have made more Republicans vote for the stimulus bill (I've forwarded this recipe to Obama's Chief of Staff).

Mandrew made the raspberry filling for the cake and then listened to me freak out as I tried to roll the fondant without tearing it.

"AAARRRHHHH. I'm RUINING it!!!!"

"Calm down. It's just a cake for a friend."

"NO! THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I WILL EVER DO... [unreasonableness] [more unreasonableness] [long tirade of childish unreasonableness]."

Somehow Mandrew managed to calm me down, and I placed the fondant on the cake and decorated it. The party-goers loved it, and the birthday girl was happy.

And here it is, the pinnacle of my life's work. Every moment has only been in preparation for this cake.

Gemini: You'll Need to Google "Rhombus"

Jealousy, suspicion, and utter confusion will be yours this week when you find yourself at the center of a bizarre love rhombus.

Happy Freakin' Valentine's Day

(Photo: julianrod)

This I Believe: Making Friends at the Office

Meet Stanton the Office Cat. A co-worker found him in the park across from the office when he was a kitten. He’s been at The Firm for ten years. The first day we met he was anything but standoffish. He followed me around the office, making sure I felt at home.

Unfortunately things deteriorated quickly thereafter. When I petted his spit-shined coat, I promptly rubbed my fingers in my eyes. Every five-year-old with allergies knows you wash your hands after touching an animal you’re allergic to, but in a rush to make new friends, I forgot my allergy-smarts.

The rest of the day was spent sneezing and fumbling blindly around the office in search of eye drops. Stanton got the message that I was more of a dog person and started ignoring me around the copy machine.

He’s taken our relationship to the next level by scratching his cat-parts all over my keyboard and puking hairballs under my desk. Sometimes if he’s feeling especially cooperative, he’ll poop in my office, rather than his litter box.

I’m returning the favor by forcing him to watch Live Puppy Cam and making Lolcats out of his pictures.

Hey STANTON! SUCK IT!

Gemini: Pancakes are the Root of All Evil

They say you love money more than anything else in the world, but then, they've never seen you around a stack of pancakes.

(Photo: Bunnyrel)

Underage: Pants on Fire

It would appear I began telling lies the moment I exited the womb. At the time of this writing, I was in 3rd grade.

My mother says this actually happened when I was in 2nd grade, while we were living in Arizona. At a parent teacher conference, my teacher congratulated my father on the great season the Phoenix Suns were having and asked how he found time to attend parent teacher conferences.

After a moment of confusion, my mother asked my teacher what she was talking about. My teacher told them I had told the class my dad was an NBA All-Star.

Most likely my dad paused to ponder where he failed as a father before explaining that he was not indeed the great Charles Barkley, but merely an engineer at Intel with regular hours.

I can only imagine that the meeting moved forward with my teacher explaining to my parents that I was a special child that might need more attention in spelling and truth-telling.

My Mother and Father
have told ME stories about
When I was a little kid.
Here is one of the Stories
I like best. I was when
I was two years old.
I was watching basket-
ball. My dad has a hop
I saw the hop and
I saw the basketball
then when I went to
school. I mean preskol
I told my teacher
my dad was
in NBA.