for a laugh

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/europe/23crapstone.html?_r=1

happy 2009

to sum up 2008: i'm glad it's over. 

here's to a better 2009.

in case you haven't heard, i'm moving to chicago the first week of february!  i'll be starting a new position with the university of chicago's center for elementary math and science education.  i'm really excited about it, but have a lot to do in the next month!  it will be crazy, not to mention cold... the weather channel tells me it currently feels like 17F in chicago.  sends shivers down my spine! 

required reading

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/science/16prasher.html

is it fall?

i think it's fall here now. or as close as we get to fall. the highs this weekends are supposed to be in the 70s. some "wintry western storm" is gonna make it snow up north, and it brings us nice weather! how convenient! finally i got to start riding my bike to work again this week since the highs were below 100. and i haven't had the a/c on in almost a week! it's craziness, this season of change.

the most important thing about fall, those cooler temperatures mean i can turn the oven on without getting heat stroke! so i baked a loaf of no-knead whole wheat bread this week. it was not that fantastic, but not bad. just denser than i'd imagined.

i also got some mexican limes (they are small limes, like key limes, but i think they call them mexican because slices often are served with mexican food) from my friend barbara at work. she has a tree at her house. so i made her a lime pie and we shared it with the people at work. i swear, it is the easiest pie to make. 4 ingredients in that filling. but it is so delicious. so everyone at work wanted the recipe. i adapted it from various key lime pie recipes until i liked it. i think the real key is the zest, it gives it a real nice tang. so, in case you are in need of a lime pie, here is my recipe. barbara likes to remind certain people at work that she thinks i'm smarter than them by calling me dr. liz, so she named this pie...

dr. liz's lime pie
1 graham cracker crust (make your own or buy one, doesn't matter to me)
14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
3/4 cup lime juice
1 tbsp lime zest

mix together the milk and eggs. gradually stir in the lime juice and zest. pour this mixture into the crust. bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes, i take it out when the edges just are starting to crack. serve with whipped cream--you can buy some ready-whip or make your own with 1 cup whipping cream+1 tbsp powdered sugar.

feral

i seem to have inherited 4 feral cats.  a mom and her 3 kittens.  i call them momma cat, orange, black and ugly.  i think you can guess what orange and black look like.  poor ugly has, i think, a tortoiseshell coat and is just not that cute.  i haven't seen ugly and black the last couple of days, so i'm not sure if they are still around.  last night at about 3am luna had a fight through the window with momma cat.  that is just annoying.  i thought luna had figured out that they can't get in and won't really bother her... oh well.  and then this morning there was a luna-mimic cat, too, and it was bothering orange.  turns out it's a tomcat, i got a good view of the balls.  i hope he's not trying to get orange or momma cat pregnant!! 

anyway, i called the feral cat trap-neuter-release program.  they are setting me up with humane traps and got me an appointment with a vet just like 2 blocks away, so that i handy.  hopefully i'll catch the family and the tomcat, too.  no more cats!

happy birthday to me

Thanks, Max and Molly!

wildfire

there's a 1200 acre wildfire burning west of the city right now, 15 to 20 miles from my office.  it looks dark outside, like it might rain soon, but its because the smoke is blocking out the sun.