Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
One More Thing
Yay! I want to say thank you to Gina at GiDu Designs for doing a lovely feature on my shop. Hop on over and check it out!
Here are a couple of the newer things I've been working on lately:
(p.s. Immunology exam was not the gory slaughter I envisioned).
Here are a couple of the newer things I've been working on lately:
(p.s. Immunology exam was not the gory slaughter I envisioned).
Monday, October 19, 2009
Three things
1) I want you to check out Silver Nutmeg Studio.
I used to post on the Etsy critiques forum quite regularly when I first opened my shop in July and a lot of the feedback I got was great. For kicks I decided to post in a couple of the "...shop above you" threads today and received the critique that my items were common and that the designs could be seen anywhere. My first reaction was to cry, throw something, then close down my shop and retreat into my little niche of academia. But then I thought, okay. I asked for it. I posted in the critiques section - you are freaking going to get critiqued. Then I thought, but wait, that same comment is probably true of over half the sellers on Etsy - how many jewelry designers are selling wire-wrapped briolettes on kidney hooks right at this very moment? Lots. There is so much overlap in jewelry, I think, but every piece has it's own tiny little difference that somebody might be looking for. So I reposted in the thread and received some super kind, uplifting feedback from Silver Nutmeg, and I checked out her shop and guess what? A lot of our designs are really similar. Does that make her pieces common too? Maybe - but they're also amazingly gorgeous and she seems to be doing just fine in terms of sales. So I guess what I learned today is: if you ask for feedback, accept it, but more importantly, stand by your pieces and if you love them, so will someone else.
2) Davis needs a Halloween costume. We are going to the Halloween party at the campus bar next Thursday, dressing up not optional. It should be something we can put together in that time, and not too expensive. Ideas? Last year he went as a brainless student - he found a fake plastic brain, put it in a bowl with a sign saying "selling brain to fund education - like new". Then he used fake blood and liquid latex to make a surgical scar across his forehead. It was a huge hit.
3) We watched this video in my cell physiology class a few weeks ago. Even if you are not into biology, it's worth a look - the animation and music is just beautiful. It shows the dynamic nature of the cytoskeleton (tubes and ropes), how proteins are made from RNA, and how surface proteins are involved in the adhesion of white blood cells to capillary walls. Read more about it here.
I used to post on the Etsy critiques forum quite regularly when I first opened my shop in July and a lot of the feedback I got was great. For kicks I decided to post in a couple of the "...shop above you" threads today and received the critique that my items were common and that the designs could be seen anywhere. My first reaction was to cry, throw something, then close down my shop and retreat into my little niche of academia. But then I thought, okay. I asked for it. I posted in the critiques section - you are freaking going to get critiqued. Then I thought, but wait, that same comment is probably true of over half the sellers on Etsy - how many jewelry designers are selling wire-wrapped briolettes on kidney hooks right at this very moment? Lots. There is so much overlap in jewelry, I think, but every piece has it's own tiny little difference that somebody might be looking for. So I reposted in the thread and received some super kind, uplifting feedback from Silver Nutmeg, and I checked out her shop and guess what? A lot of our designs are really similar. Does that make her pieces common too? Maybe - but they're also amazingly gorgeous and she seems to be doing just fine in terms of sales. So I guess what I learned today is: if you ask for feedback, accept it, but more importantly, stand by your pieces and if you love them, so will someone else.
2) Davis needs a Halloween costume. We are going to the Halloween party at the campus bar next Thursday, dressing up not optional. It should be something we can put together in that time, and not too expensive. Ideas? Last year he went as a brainless student - he found a fake plastic brain, put it in a bowl with a sign saying "selling brain to fund education - like new". Then he used fake blood and liquid latex to make a surgical scar across his forehead. It was a huge hit.
3) We watched this video in my cell physiology class a few weeks ago. Even if you are not into biology, it's worth a look - the animation and music is just beautiful. It shows the dynamic nature of the cytoskeleton (tubes and ropes), how proteins are made from RNA, and how surface proteins are involved in the adhesion of white blood cells to capillary walls. Read more about it here.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Double Chocolate Orange Cookies
Right now, I am slacking off from studying immunology - there is only so much of B-cell gene rearrangement, MHC codominant expression, and dendritic cell antigen cross-presentation that I can take.
My exam is at 10:30 tomorrow morning; usually I work with the campus's kestrel colony from 7:30 to 9:30, but I begged off work tomorrow morning so I wouldn't be a walking zombie for my exam. A very kind coworker offered to fill in for me, so I baked a batch of cookies to thank her. Very tasty cookies.
The recipe is courtesy of Mirj over at Recipezaar.
These make good Christmas cookies.
You will need:
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon grated orange rind (zest from a large navel orange)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
sugar to coat
Preheat oven to 350C. In a large bowl, mix sugar, butter, egg, and orange zest. Stir in flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
It can take a while to incorporate all the flour in, but trust me, it will go. I recruited Davis to help mix because my biceps curled up and cried after about 30 seconds.
Form balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter and roll them around in extra sugar. Press down slightly to flatten on baking tray. Bake for ~10-15 minutes until they form a dent when poked. Your cookies will be crunchy on the outside because of the sugar, but soft with orangey goodness on the inside.
I'm going to go eat one right now. And then - immunology.
My exam is at 10:30 tomorrow morning; usually I work with the campus's kestrel colony from 7:30 to 9:30, but I begged off work tomorrow morning so I wouldn't be a walking zombie for my exam. A very kind coworker offered to fill in for me, so I baked a batch of cookies to thank her. Very tasty cookies.
The recipe is courtesy of Mirj over at Recipezaar.
These make good Christmas cookies.
You will need:
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tablespoon grated orange rind (zest from a large navel orange)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
sugar to coat
Preheat oven to 350C. In a large bowl, mix sugar, butter, egg, and orange zest. Stir in flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
It can take a while to incorporate all the flour in, but trust me, it will go. I recruited Davis to help mix because my biceps curled up and cried after about 30 seconds.
Form balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter and roll them around in extra sugar. Press down slightly to flatten on baking tray. Bake for ~10-15 minutes until they form a dent when poked. Your cookies will be crunchy on the outside because of the sugar, but soft with orangey goodness on the inside.
I'm going to go eat one right now. And then - immunology.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Skwerl
My midterm schedule:
Thurs. Oct 15: Cell Physiology. Alternated between really easy (If a cell was the size of this classroom, how large would the proteasome be? a) desk b) computer c) a car d) single serve milk from the coffee bar e) speck of dust) to really hard - I still am boggled by the Nernst equation.
Fri. Oct 16: Mechanisms of Pathogenicity. Two essay questions, pick two of six subjects. I chose the complement system and the role of iron in infection. Went okay, I think - except I forgot to mention the specificity of bacteria for transferrin.
Mon. Oct 19: Immunology. The big scary.
Fri. Oct 23: Animal Biotechnology. The big unknown.
Added to next week's schedule is the scholarship ceremony on Tuesday night and a guest speaker (a vet) from South Africa that, as VP of the student society, I am helping to organize on Thursday night. Oh, and a paper on habitat selection of American martens that is due on Tuesday.
So. No long and detailed blog posts for a few days - instead, please enjoy this squirrel obstacle course.
Thurs. Oct 15: Cell Physiology. Alternated between really easy (If a cell was the size of this classroom, how large would the proteasome be? a) desk b) computer c) a car d) single serve milk from the coffee bar e) speck of dust) to really hard - I still am boggled by the Nernst equation.
Fri. Oct 16: Mechanisms of Pathogenicity. Two essay questions, pick two of six subjects. I chose the complement system and the role of iron in infection. Went okay, I think - except I forgot to mention the specificity of bacteria for transferrin.
Mon. Oct 19: Immunology. The big scary.
Fri. Oct 23: Animal Biotechnology. The big unknown.
Added to next week's schedule is the scholarship ceremony on Tuesday night and a guest speaker (a vet) from South Africa that, as VP of the student society, I am helping to organize on Thursday night. Oh, and a paper on habitat selection of American martens that is due on Tuesday.
So. No long and detailed blog posts for a few days - instead, please enjoy this squirrel obstacle course.
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