• greyduck.net » Blog Archive » The Pariah of Public Transit
  (tags: @lostart)

• 0045 on Flickr – Photo Sharing!
  Inro box with Kandinsky transfer. Gorgeous.
  (tags: polyclay crafts)

Blogging in Portland has certainly changed. Of the bunches of attendees who RSVPd for tonights. KATU blogger meetup, I know…one. Two, if JD decides to stop by.

If I’m not feeling too craptacular, I shall be there wearing a Blogathon shirt. I should have gotten a bunch of swag. I am a terrible, terrible networker. I shall print out a stack of cards, at least.

Just to be all friendly-like, I thought I’d link everyone who has listed their site on the guest list. If you see this, say hello.

TJ Norris
Leslie of Clever Title
Steve K
Rick Seifert
Cheekyboots
The Governor of Gayville
Nino Marchetti
Richard & Stephanie Sipe
Brian McLernon
Another Blogger
Tales from The Stump
One Wahine
re:PDX
GoBoz
The Bliss Quest
QWOC
BS Brewing
Geek in The City (Yay Aaron and Jen!)
elohi gadugi journal
My Whim is Law (I think I’ve talked to Betsy before)
Lizzy Dishes Portland

Those are just the confirmed ones who listed websites that would load. Oh, and didn’t look like spammers (there were only a couple).

Wanna crash the party?
6:30pm
KATU Channel 2 Studios
2153 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97232 US

See you tonight!

• Pho Jasmine « Stumptown Vegans
  (tags: @try)
• SciVee: Pioneering New Modes of Scientific Dissemination | Pioneering New Modes of Scientific Dissemination
  Youtube for scientists.
  (tags: spouse)

• First out-of-body experience induced in laboratory setting | Science Blog
  I would love to try this.
  (tags: science weird)

Last night finally found us at Bodyworlds 3 at OMSI. Amazing.

The first part of the exhibit is the development of a human at, I believe, every week of pregnancy. As soon as there is a difference to be seen, both male and female examples are presented. I was awed by the female at about 25 weeks, her sex delicately carved, as if she’d been marked with her name by an alien hand.

The most surprising thing about the exhibit was its accessibility. While you were asked not to touch anything, the plastinates were not at a distance, and many of them were free of glass encasement. Visitors were able to lean in nose-to-nose, as it were, and examine these fascinating people closely.

What a great place to have a biologist spouse. At one of the first specimens, two other visitors were wondering aloud about the sheath covering the torso. Bill was handy with a great explanation. He kept himself to my questions afterwards. I had a feeling people would have been trailing him like a piper otherwise. What’s that stuff that looks like tape? It’s everywhere? Wow.

I discovered that lungs are ugly, whether you smoke or not, that I do know where to deliver a kidney punch, and that the liver is larger than I thought it was. Big bloody blob, that. For learning about the body, nothing compares to seeing it. Books do not have the depth, and models are not compelling. For those who aren’t sure they could stomach seeing Bodyworlds, I recommend giving it a try. The anonymity and theatrical poses of the bodies ameliorates our natural human empathy. Well, except for wincing at the flayed penis. I had some reluctance myself, but I was utterly enthralled. It can be preachy in bits (they have Yul Brynner’s anti-smoking ad on a loop), but that’s fairly easy to ignore as you become immersed in beautiful anatomy.

And now I’m going to sound like an ad myself: Bodyworlds 3 is at OMSI for only a few more weeks. Go.

• Flax Oil Loses to Fish Oil and Borage Oil for Dieters
  (tags: health)

(so, spoiler alert, if you’re as far behind on Stargate as we are)

[JONAS QUINN has seen a huge bug that no one else sees]

[Spousal Unit]: Get thee to the infirmary!
[Me]: He’s probably faking it so he can see the pretty doctor.
[SU]: If I worked there, I’d be sick all the time.
[pause]
[Me]: I hate to break this to you, but when Daniel Jackson comes back, he comes back naked.
[SU]: [extremely displeased pout]
[Me]: Gonna find the episode and throw away the disk, aren’t you?
[SU]: [pouts, nods]
[Me]: [smirks]

PS: Shanks talks about that scene. I wasn’t going to link that (because then everyone knows I’ve been trawling youtube for Stargate crap), but it’s pretty funny.

• pee and poo plush dolls * kiss & bajs | scandinavian details
  I…I…I got nothin’.
  (tags: ahhh)

There is a black XTerra we often tail to work, which sports a “What Would Bukowski Do?” bumper sticker on the back.

We’ve taken to calling it the Chuckwagon.

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