vodka comparison

On Friday, as I was organizing my apartment, I came upon a little limoncello that I brought back from Rome 5 years ago & forgot about. (I was there to play a concert, stayed a week with just my accompanist - learned how to shop, order wine with dinner & I even met a guy. So much better than family vacations. Plus I nailed the horrifically difficult & nearly atonal sonata to the composer's countrymen's liking.) I decided to try drinking at home for the first time & bought a little bottle of Ciroc to make lemon drops. When I was at the liquor store the guy was discussing vodkas with me, & I've been a diehard Grey Goose girl after a blind taste test between that, Belvedere & Ketel straight, but his "ewww" reaction to GG made me think about trying something new. He suggested Imperia & Ciroc as very smooth & nice so I tried the Ciroc since it comes in a small bottle. As I mentioned before, I can't really taste alcohol until it's about 80% of the drink so that little 250 mL limoncello bottle lasted about 3 martinis. By which time I was surprisingly quite hammered, especially after being a tidy tornado in my house - physical exertion speeds up alcohol absorption - so I went to the store again to get a bottle of Imperia before they closed. That Africa detox & sober-weekdays-while-working policy were clearly not a good idea, as they have lowered my tolerance appreciably. Anyhow, after tasting the Ciroc & Imperia straight, I have to say I agree with the liquor store guy. I don't think it'd matter much in a vodka soda, but they do truly go down a lot more smoothly than Grey Goose. & today at Citarella I found bellini mix from Cipriani's ("good with vodka, gin, white rum & sparkling wine"), which of course I had to try. Fortunately Imperia comes in a nice big bottle & I have a lot of chores for myself tonight, so I should stay fairly well-behaved. Plus I'm practicing now which forces my brain to stay focused. Wish me luck!

women & science

Check out this NY Times article: isn't it amazing? Basically they did a study in Canada where they gave women 2 math tests & an essay to read in between. Women who read that they are bad at math because they're women did twice as badly as those who read that scores are different because men & women are taught differently or that there is no difference between the sexes in that respect. Cosmic Variance analyzes the data more thoroughly. But basically, reading that we do badly in math because we're women is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm shocked that such a little thing has such a huge impact.

Dawkins interview

Just found this thought-provoking interview with scientist Richard Dawkins in Salon through Pharyngula. He discusses why he is an atheist & how it is the logical, intelligent position to take. He is the author of The Selfish Gene & The Blind Watchmaker, among other books about evolution. It's nice to know that there are still thinking, questioning people out there.

dark matter revisited

More info on dark matter...

Forbes woman-baiting

I know everyone's already flogged this dead horse to pieces, but as a "career woman" by Michael Noer's definition, I'm putting in my 2 cents of protest. (If you haven't read the articles, Gawker has found non-Forbes links here. Let's not increase Forbes traffic.) From a scientific standpoint, his conclusions are nonsense. He looks at all the data as though the men's behavior isn't a variable along with the women's. Almost every sentence in that article is skewed or nonsensical. One of the most glaringly stupid statements is that "working outside the home actually increases marital stability, at least when the marriage is a happy one. But even in these studies, wives' employment does correlate positively to divorce rates, when the marriage is of 'low marital quality.'" So - basically, divorce is correlated to whether a marriage is happy or not. Wow, what a newsflash. How did he get "don't marry career women" from that?

The best part is his definition of marriage-killing harpy as one who works more than 35 hours a week & makes more than $30,000 a year. So guys should stay away from most of the women in Manhattan? By his illogic, marrying a golddigger who does nothing but shop & party on other people's money will make a better wife than a woman who has her own career & interests & can help support the family. That's brilliant. & the unspoken assumption of the entire article is that men are doing it right but these educated bitches are fucking it up. Maybe if husbands helped out around the house, took care of the kids sometimes & made sure to demonstrate their love to their wives, marriages would last longer.

This dumbass seems to have issues with strong, successful women. My guess is he's actually very attracted to them but he can't admit it to himself, so he lashes out this way as camouflage. Maybe he just needs to see how much fun it can be... I'm going to keep a picture of him on my computer in case he ever comes to the dungeon. I hope he asks for heavy corporal punishment so I can beat his sorry little ass black & blue.

Anyway, it's almost time to leave work (oh no! maybe I should go back to starving idly so I can snag a lazy-ass husband!) so I'll leave additional criticism to more qualified people.

Update: there is a rebuttal in book form coming out next year.

Pluto now just a dwarf planet

Pluto's been demoted - I guess it was too small to make the cut. BBC has details, I'm too tired to summarize.

Dark matter is real!

This is incredible - dark matter is really out there! I don't understand all the reasons scientists have inferred this, but as far as I can make out, they can tell because two galaxies have collided & swept away the usual debris of ordinary matter. Usually their gravitational fields would point at all the matter, ordinary & dark, which doesn't answer any questions, but now that the ordinary matter is out of the way, & the field is still pointing at something, it must be the dark matter. (See here & here for much better explanations.) I love that despite the complete nonsense many people believe in, such as creationism, intelligent design, geocentrism, etc., there are still scientists out there trying to find the truth. Now, if they could just explain it in a way that sticks in my brain. :)

fun experiment

I am so bored here I'm dozing off in front of the computer. Join me in my drowsiness, won't you? Read entries here* (unless you are a string theorist), & soon we will all be doing the nod-&-jerk!!
----------------
*Note: I think string theory, & physics in general, is fascinating. However, that blog is almost incomprehensible to me. Even as I try to understand all the unfamiliar terms my consciousness skates away... For an easier way to learn about it, try Brian Greene's Elegant Universe.

thank god the Adderall kicked in...

because the program we use at work to review docs is half-frozen & therefore we have very little to do. I think I'll take advantage of the enforced break to rave about a book I'm reading: Cyteen, by C.J. Cherryh. When I started it I found it difficult & kind of slow but it's such a sci-fi classic I gave it 50 pages to get good, & boy did it. These are my impressions after reading about 1/3 of the book.

It's about humanity a few hundred years from now, when we've colonized a couple other planets. We understand so much about humans that we can play with their genes, keep them alive an extra 50-100 years, & fix psychological issues by directly instructing the mind, among other advances. Now the woman, Ariane, who pioneered many of the psychological developments & pretty much rules the planet Cyteen where she lives, starts a project to clone herself, which will essentially give her a daughter since she's 132 years old. Before it gets going, she's murdered. Her successors change the plan & decide to make the clone exactly like her, so they have to replicate her childhood exactly. It's fascinating to watch this poor girl grow up completely in the dark while everyone else knows why such bewildering things happen (e.g., several people died in Ariane's childhood so people keep disappearing from the new Ari's life). Also, Ariane was so feared & powerful & brilliant that I can already see the maneuverings & emotions swirling around little Ari. The best part is that she is so smart & perceptive, she can see it as well. When she manipulates a roomful of adults into having fun at her 7th birthday party instead of concentrating on their political intrigues I was blown away.

The other book I'm reading is House of Morgan, by Ron Chernow. The subject is interesting but he needs a good editor. The book is over 700 pages long! There is too much extraneous information, considering how much on-point material there is to cover. Also, I've never seen anyone use the word spike so many times. He uses it to mean nix, which is a new definition to me, & every time he means that he says spike & it's distracting. FDR spiked this project. Jack Morgan spiked that loan. I keep thinking these guys are having some stiff drinks & then I remember no, Chernow's just weird about that word. Fortunately I'm almost done with it.

This has been your bookaholic broadcast of the day. Please tune in tomorrow for more exciting developments in Cyteen!

Welcome to my world

I had the best drink ever the other day. The Girlfriend & I got mango mojitos at Yuca on 7th & A. I normally don't like mojitos, what with all the crushed leaves, but this drink was amazing! It was the best mango product I have ever tasted. Now go forth & pester your local bartender for alcoholic mango goodness. :)

In other news... Pluto is a planet! & so are 3 more, bringing the total to 12. The International Astronomical Union has decided what constitutes a planet. It must: be big enough that its gravity makes it round, orbit a star, & not be a star or a planet's satellite. The largest asteroid, Ceres, between Mars & Jupiter; Pluto's erstwhile moon Charon; & another object even further out, nicknamed Xena, also make the cut. (Charon & Pluto are now considered a double planet because they basically revolve around each other.) Check here for updates.

Feel free to leave encouraging comments & pass this blog along to your friends!