Pancakes and quantum chemistry

I don’t know if the tradition follows in the US as well, but on Mardi Gras in most Commonwealth countries it’s usual to have pancakes for supper. The idea, apparently, is to use up all the eggs, grease and milk before going into Lent and making pancakes is a good way to do that.

Growing up in Canada, we had pancakes for supper from time to time during the rest of the year, which is why I don’t exclusively associate them with breakfast. We also used to have baked beans for supper—just that and nothing else, except a side of thick slices of homemade bread with molasses. Another meal was corn-on-the-cob. Compared to the way we eat now, it seems strange. How about smelt? Nothing but plate after plate of fried smelt. Oh, I’m sure we must have had something as a side dish, but as I remember it now, it was just fish.

One reason I enjoy How I Met Your Mother is the character of Robin, who is a Canadian and every now and then comes out with something that reminds me of the character’s nationality. I’ve lived outside the country for going on eighteen years now, but I’m still Canadian with every fibre [sic] of my being.

I had a good time judging ninth grade chemistry projects on Saturday morning. There were only five entrants, so we got to spend a lot of time with the students, as opposed to the 10-12th grade judges, who had to cover 24 projects in the same time period. Saturday night we went to a Mardi Gras party. I also continued work on our taxes—one more weekend, maybe, and I’ll be done. Continued my quest to saturate my iPod, but after 1800 songs, the sucker’s still less than 1/3 full.

Watched the premiere of the new All Star run of Amazing Race. Some familiar faces and some from the early seasons before I started watching the show. Loved the exchange that went “Peru is nice.” “I’m sure it is—we’re in Ecuador.” It will be interesting to see how the experienced racers handle things. No clear favorite yet. I’m not among the Rob & Amber haters. I regard them as strong competitors and Rob usually surprises me by how he handles people who help them. Even though he can appear arrogant at time, he’s almost always gracious with people who aren’t competing against him.

I’m sticking with my first season watching 24, too. I find James Cromwell’s character completely unbelievable, and wish the Chloe/Morris soap opera would go on the back burner. Other than that, it’s not bad, but, geez, Kiefer Sutherland’s voice sounds like crap.

Other than my Storytellers Unplugged essay, I haven’t written much lately. I’ve been getting up and going to my desk, but mostly either proof-reading or doing research reading. I got the galley of my short story “Sufficiently Advanced” for Apex Digest over the weekend and today received the full galley of Into the Dreamlands from Simian Publications. This latter contains a completely rewritten version of my story “Before the Fall.” I look forward to reading it again when I proof the story, because I haven’t looked at it in ages.

I also wrote a blurb letter for The Science of Stephen King by by Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg. I’m not very good yet at writing just a sentence or two for a blurb. I take the scatter-shot approach, essentially writing a mini-review in about 150-200 words, hoping there’s something they can use in it. Their editor at John Wiley liked the whole thing and planned to reproduce it in its entirety on some promotional material, and reducing it to the final two sentences in places where space is an issue. The book uses science or pseudoscience elements from King’s novels and stories as a launching pad to discuss the reality of the science—or the lack thereof in some instances. They manage to tackle some deep subjects (like string theory and quantum chemistry) without going over people’s heads. Their clear style is reminiscent of Carl Sagan or Isaac Asimov. It was a fun read.