Scientific Ink

Author: Dunrie

  • Silly stuff

    1. What is your occupation? Director of Happiness (aka project manager).
    2. What color are your socks right now? No socks. Bare feet.
    3. What are you listening to right now? Girish.
    4. What was the last thing that you ate? Leftover paella from New Bedford Portugese joint.
    5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes.
    6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Fuschia.
    7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Patrick, a colleague at PV.
    8. How old are you today? 37.
    9. Favorite drink? Oolong tea in the morning. Sometimes jasmine, sometimes Earl Gray.
    10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football.
    11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Nope.
    12. Pets? 1 Cat + lot of inverts in a salt water tank.
    13. Favorite food? Whatever my husband cooks, he’s a really good cook. Whatever we get from our CSA.
    14. What was the last movie you watched? Don’t recall.
    15. Favorite day of the year? Any day I’m up north at the cabin, especially in winter when the wind is really blowing.
    16. What do you do to vent anger? Sulk, pout, fret, then I go for a walk or go for a intense bike ride.
    17. What was your favorite toy as a child? My stuffed bear, “Bear”.
    18. What is your favorite fall or spring? Fall, it’s moodier.
    19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs from friends, chocolate kisses from everyone else.
    20. Cherries or Blueberries? Blueberry pie. Fresh, unadulterated cherries.
    21. Do you want your friends to email you back? Ummmm, this is a blog entry.
    22. Who is most likely to respond? don’t know.
    23. Who is least likely to respond? don’t know.
    24. Living arrangements? Own a home.
    25. When was the last time you cried? Not keeping track…. Reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, yesterday.
    26. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes & cat hair.
    27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? My sister.
    28. What did you do last night? Hung out with family.
    29. Favorite smells? Good cooking.
    30. What inspires you? Good books.
    31. What are you afraid of? Loneliness.
    32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese please.
    33. Favorite dog breed? My stepmom’s springer spaniel Nikita is awesome.
    34. How many years at your current job? 2 months.
    35. Favorite days of the week? It varies, any days I can get out cycling or do yoga.
    36. How many states have you lived in? 2.
    37. Ever driven motorcycle or heavy machinery? Nah.
    38. Who’s your favorite NFL team? My heart says the Lions. Reality says the Patriots.
    39. Do you have a house phone that is NOT cordless? Yes, in case of a power outage.

  • Becoming a yoga teacher in Ann Arbor

    Today I went to a yoga class in Osterville, MA with my mother-in-law and her neighbor. After class I had a quick chat with the instructor, who out of the blue asked me what type of yoga I studied and whether I was considering becoming a yoga teacher. I had a hard time answering the first question, and the answer to the second was “yes!”

    (more…)

  • Stadium near Trader Joe’s is the center of Ann Arbor Dentistry

    Ok, ok, the sample size is 6. But 3 of the recommended dentists within walking distance of downtown Ann Arbor or on a bus line all fall in the same spot on this map. The lower right “pin” in the map is actually 3 pins. You’ll notice Google maps gave it a “thicker”/”deeper” shadow.

    Hmmm. Because all 3 dentists have the exact same street address–Sandra Embree 2340 Stadium, Tammy Trullard 2340 Stadium, and Maryann Griffith 2340 Stadium, it appears to be impossible to get their tacks to “resolve” into 3 no matter how much I zoom in! It also looks like the last one I added is the only one that is clickable here. If you click “view larger map” at the bottom, you’ll see all 6 on maps.google.com.

    Yes, this post is really me just fooling with putting a map in my blog.


    View Larger Map

  • Unintentional experiment

    So, I was looking for a new dentist because my former dentist is not on a bus line and too far to walk. I twittered the request and then posted here in my blog. Then, the blog post got pulled into facebook as a note. Sample sizes are small, but….

    • twitter.com/dunrie – 33 followers – 1 recommendation
    • facebook – 57 friends – 1 recommendation
    • pownce – 15 friends – 1 recommendation
    • this blog – 8 17 subscribers – 3 recommendations (note: subscriber number from FeedSmith plugin, was collecting subscribers a week ago and didn’t have the full set, 17 number as of 9/9/2007)

    First, thanks to all who recommended someone!

    Second, I have to admit I was surprised by the numbers. Sure, it is a teeny sample size, but I would have predicted that twitter would have the most reach and return the most dentists. I would have thought that the facebook version of my blog would have had more reach than the blog itself. I expected that my blog would have the least reach.

    So I have two hypotheses for why.

    • The blog may have lower reach but it is less transitory than a tweet or even itself fed into facebook as a note. Perhaps the sheer volume of other distractions on those media mean that my question only had a brief window to be read and acted upon, and that window of attention is longer with the blog.
    • The tweets, facebook items, and pownce items go to the same network, and the blog has the least similar audience (guessing here, I don’t actually know). Supporting evidence: the blog comments included someone I had known in grad school but wasn’t in my current “network” on the other services.

    Anyone got a better idea?

  • Have no car = need new dentist?

    So, this whole “not having a car thing” is rippling into other things. The current struggle is whether to change dentists. I have been going to Enspire Dental, formerly Farah & Associates, for several years now. Well, they’re out on Liberty and not on a bus line, so I pretty much can’t get to them without renting a car or riding my bike or begging a ride. Seems like it might be simpler to move to a more local dentist. Must be some in/around downtown Ann Arbor. Anyone got a recommendation?

  • Owl Scream Social

    Young Bald Eagle

    Guy invited us to his house tonight for an ice cream social. He had all the usual trimmings: chocolate sprinkles, almonds, various ice cream flavors (strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate), chocolate syrup, neighborhood kids, and raptors.

    Ummm…raptors?

    Yup, raptors.

    A woman from the Leslie Science Center brought a kestrel, a barred owl, and a juvenile bald eagle. All the birds were injured (kestrel, owl) or imprinted on humans (eagle) and so would not survive in the wild. The birds were wonderful. The day reminded me of the amazing Raptor Trust in New Jersey. And, of course, the Onion article about owls.

    You should have heard the birds in the nearby trees all twittering away “Do. Not. Want.”