I feel a little crochet-y

I do believe I have established, from past escapades, that I am somewhat insane. To further drive this home, I decided this year to make all my Christmas gifts. I've been crocheting hats and scarves since October with my able assistant Lucy^*, and I lovingly crocheted mistakes into every piece.^**

The original plan was to crochet something for family, then something for me, and keep alternating so I wouldn't get bored and resentful (the Selfish Seamstress called this "Sewing With a Grudge"). That worked until about the beginning of December when I still had several hats and scarves to go. My projects were generously put aside as I crocheted scarves until my fingers bled.

Pancake of the month: Gingerbread pancakes with Pears and Vanilla Yogurt

I've been waiting for 5 months to try this recipe. I figured it would very appropriate for the Christmas holidays. Plus the DC, my official taster, really, really likes gingerbread.

It comes from the 2004 October issue of Real Simple, for a change^*. I wasn't exactly sure how to work this, since it calls for 1 cup of pancake mix. Which I'm not buying just for this recipe. I used my basic pancake recipe as the base. It comes from LaVarenne Pratique, which is on my mom's bookshelf next to her Julia Childs.

The verdict?

Distillery Christmas Market

I foolishly decided to make all my Christmas gifts this year, so I have been really busy crocheting hats and scarves since October. Which means that I have been avoiding almost all stores except the yarn store, which means that I haven't been getting my seasonal dose of Christmas carols. I also haven't been watching any TV, which means I haven't seen any Christmas commercials. All of which means I haven't been getting very much into the Christmas spirit.

The DC and I took care of this by going to the Christmas Market at the Distillery. Pro tip: it's much more fun to go with someone else than by yourself, at least from a mulled wine aspect. Although I always feel guilty about taking someone shopping with me; the DC has a great deal of forbearance.

Side note: when we came here for the staff lunch in June, I noticed a pair of earrings for $100 that I really liked but couldn't justify spending money on before my trip to Europe. I said that if they were still there when I came back from Paris, I would buy them. I didn't see them when we came for brunch in August, but they're there now. When I have completely wiped out my clothes budget for the next month or so. Argh. Somebody please buy those earrings and remove them from temptation!

Ahem. The Distillery certainly gives you a lot of pretty for free:

Our ultimate goal was mulled wine and sitting by the fireside. The first was easily acquired, the second required some patience. We finally grabbed two seats, only to find that they were vacant because they were in the direct path of the smoke. Oh well.



We lingered over our mulled wine and eye-watering fire, then it was time to go. We almost stayed even longer; the furniture store we popped into was showing Christmas specials. We caught the end of Charlie Brown and the beginning of the Grinch, until it became clear that I was reciting along with the video and we didn't really need to stay and watch it.^*

More pictures, as usual, by clicking on the name and scrolling forever:

From Rambling Through Toronto

^*I do have it on CD. And also on vinyl. Boris Karloff is all very well, but Zero Mostel is probably my favourite Grinch.

Why the world won't end next Friday*

*Or even the Friday after that, which is the one the crazies are worried about.

Yesterday was the first Thursday of the month, and the topic for U of T's Astronomy public lecture was debunking the apocalypse. Anticipating a large turnout, they moved the lecture from the McLennan building to the new-since-my-time Bahen Centre. They were right to do so; by the time we got there, the room was packed and we had trouble finding seats. They even had an overflow room.

First of all: so the Mayan long-form calendar is coming to an end. Big deal. When our calendars come to an end, we don't freak out; we put up a new calendar. I'm sure the ancient Maya figured that, at the end of 5000 years, somebody would get around to making a new one.

You can see more debunking at www.2012hoax.org. I strongly suggest you read the first page at least, which explains why it is so important to debunk this crap. Think of the children, people!

The talk was excellent, and I found myself making notes for future lessons based on some of the topics (using Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation to show that the force of gravity between us and Sagittarius A*^* is less than that between us and the Moon! Earth's magnetic field won't disappear during pole reversal -- which will take about a thousand years anyway! That it would take a Mars-sized object to come past and cause a physical flip of the axis^**! Also stuff for the optics unit.

It seems that the apocalypse is a very useful teaching tool.

Anyway, after the hot chocolate (with real, add-your-own-marshmallows^***) and cupcakes, the DC and I made our way back over to the McLennan labs to see the telescopes. We had no luck with the night sky this time either, but I remembered my tripod and got some better night shots of the cityscape.



We also went up to look at the large telescopes. There wa quite a lot of people queuing to look at... nothing, actually, since there were so many clouds. Next time I'll check the weather forecast first.



The next public talk is in February. You should go! They have hot chocolate! And after all, we will still be here. Might as well learn something.


UPDATE: NASA has done the timey-wimey thing in reverse; they've posted this "Why the World Didn't End Yesterday" video a week early.


More pix by clicking on the name below and scrolling:

From Rambling Through Toronto

^*The black hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. And that's not a typo; '*' is part of the name.

^**"At which point," Lepo said, "you'll have other things to worry about."

^***Do not underestimate how much better real marshmallows make powdered hot chocolate. Or any hot chocolate, for that matter.<sup>****

****</sup>It is possible that I am easy to please.

Santa Baby

Santa baby, slip a Thurlow under the tree for me.
I've been an awful good girl, Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight.

Santa baby, a Jalie jeans pattern sew new (dark blue),
I'll wait up for you dear, Santa baby,
So hurry down the chimney tonight.

Think of all the songs I'd sing
Think of all the fun I'd have amplifying
Next year I could be oh so good
If you'd check off my Christmas thing
Boo doo bee doo

Santa honey, I must confess that I would make
This Swing dress.
I've been an angel all year, Santa baby,
And hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa cutie, there's something I really do need, indeed
Gift cards to build a fabric stash, Santa cutie,
So hurry down the chimney tonight

Santa baby, I'd fill my brain up with some objects complex:
The Joy of 'X' by that guy
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Come and trim my Christmas trees
With some dance lessons taught at The Bees' Knees
I really do believe in you
Let's see if you believe in me
Boo doo bee doo

Santa baby, forgot to mention a Kobo Touch (too much?
I read e-books and such)
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Hurry down the chimney tonight
Hurry down the chimney tonight


(Aimed at my darling family, for whom I am currently busy creating lovely gifts and who often ask me what I want. But if anybody else wanted to gift me with one of these items, I'd give it a lovely home.)

Pancake of the month: Ricotta-Oat-Bran Pancakes with Maple-Raspberry Sauce

Cooler weather means heartier pancakes. And I'm a sucker for anything made with ricotta. And bran. And raspberries.

This recipe is from the January 2011 issue of, you guessed it, Chatelaine. I do have recipes from other magazines. I think.

Anyway, the verdict?

Poutine on the ritz*: Coffeeneuring #7

Marks are in, thank heavens, and I'd like to thank MG for giving us an extension on the submissions, because somebody foolishly went to two school-related functions Wednesday and Thursday nights, both of which went until late^** and so somebody may have been a bit pooped. But I finally have time to write up my final official Coffeenuering post.

The long-awaited Poutine Ride was back on this past Sunday, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Hyedie, the DC, and I worked in our final coffeeneuring run beforehand -- which was a good thing because if we'd waited until after all that poutine, I think I might have exploded.

A Common Errand Run: Coffeeneuring #6

This past weekend I had too much on to make a special trip to another neighbourhood for Coffeeneuring, but since I was biking around anyway buying wool and birthday presents, cat food and litter, I decided to take advantage of that to visit The Common afterwards; ordinarily, this cafe wouldn't count for this challenge since it's only a few blocks away. Yay for errands.


Before I get to the cafe, a rant: Dufferin street is due for a repaving. It's getting as bad as Ossington used to be. I have to take the lane right next to Dufferin Mall because the road is so cracked even a metre away from the curb I can barely control the bike. Naturally, the drivers (especially cranky cabbies with itchy horn fingers) don't like that too much. /endrant

After my wool/present/cat stuff run, I stopped by Hoopdriver to see if the cargo nets had come in yet. No luck, but hopefully in a week or so. The Common is conveniently next door. So next door I went.

Saturday evening is the time to go, I think; usually the tiny space is packed, with people spilling out onto the sidewalk. Saturday night, however, there was a whole free table! Which I sat at. And lesson-planned, because I'm a geek.

There is no menu, so you sort of have to know what you want before you get there. Which is not helpful for someone like me who is not a coffee drinker and has no idea what to order. I went for a mocha latte (although I later discovered they can make you a great London Fog) and a shortbread cookie.


The barrista was quite excited that Rosie O'Donnell was in the night before. She had to be asked to leave because there was a private party and her entourage was getting obstreperous. Rosie was very nice about it, though.

So that's my near-brush with celebrity.


So, only one Coffeeneuring trip to go to complete the challenge. Naturally, next weekend will be extremely busy because marks are due the following Wednesday. I'm sort of out of nearby biking options. I planned well. I shall overcome this problem.

Mileage: (I'll only count the cat food run part of the trip since I'm too lazy to map the whole thing out on Google Maps) 4.2 km/2.8 miles

Not-so-starry starry night

The first Thursday of each month, the U of T Astronomy department holds a free public lecture, followed by telescope viewings and shows in an inflatable planetarium.^* I, shockingly, have never been to one, so I signed the DC and myself up for a planetarium show and dragged him off to a fairly entertaining talk about type IA supernovae,^** which the non-scientist DC said he understood, so it really is geared for the general public.^***

Afterwards, we headed up to the 14th floor to see the telescopes. Sadly, it was too cloudy to see anything but the spectacular view of the city.


It was a bit chilly, but the grad students provided hot chocolate, with marshmallows. Our planetarium session was at 9:30, so we didn't get a chance to see the larger telescopes this time 'round.

The next talk is about why the world won't end on December 21st. Should be good!

As usual, you can see a few more photos by clicking on the name below the picture and scrolling way way down to this photo:

From Rambling Through Toronto

^*No, I am not making that up. Behold:

The air compressor makes for a bit of a noisy, but nifty, session.

^**"I'm German; we don't have a sense of humour."

^***I'm not sure how much the 9 year-olds in the Scout troupe got out of it, but they certainly enjoyed the volunteer-from-the-audience component.

Hey Abbott! Coffeeneuring #5

I wasn't planning on going coffeeneuring again today, but Hyedie of the Cupcake Ride needs to catch up (although we're still waiting for her to write up her adventures and show her fabulous pictures, hint hint) (since I waited so long to post this, she has written some of them up!) and we were meeting to plan out Women Who Bike brunches^* for Toronto, so we decided to head to The Abbott in Parkdale.


There was a brief break in the rain, but it was still chilly. I followed the sign's directive and had the hot cider and a pumpkin spice muffin.


And I discovered a new use for my macaron purse hanger:


It's a nice space. It's owned by the people who own The Lakeview and named after Anderson Abbott, the first black doctor in Ontario. He lived in Parkdale, and the decor reflects the layman's idea of science: microscopes, beakers, and erlenmeyer flasks, as well as a wall dedicated to pictures and documents from Abbott's life.


I managed to not talk about work this time, and we roughed out the first Toronto Women Who Bike brunch: November 25. Go to Hyedie's page if you are a Woman Who Bikes in Toronto and want to sign up.

Mileage: 6.4 km/4 miles

A few more pictures of this trip can be found as usual by clicking on the title below and scrolling way, way down to the thumbnail.

From Rambling Through Toronto

^*Which I can now tell you about, since I'm writing this up all timey-wimey.

A rainy day in Leslieville: Coffeneuring #4

So after shamelessly exposing my ignorance of local geography and sticking close to home in my coffeneuring outings, I decided to go to a completely different part of the city. Not only that, but I went all the way over to the east side. I mean, I crossed a river, people. It was raining. I trekked.

Destination: Leslieville.

Thanks to some hurricane or other looming over the horizon, we had a lot of rain this past weekend. We could have given the coffeuring a miss, but we are nothing if not intrepid. The DC and I geared up for the journey. Rather like Scott of the Antarctic. With somewhat better results.

Pancake of the month: Harvest corn pancakes

Although my first pancake love is for the breakfast flapjack, I do collect savoury recipes too. I thought this one would be appropriate, given the time of year.

It's from, surprise surprise, Chatelaine (September 2002). I used canned corn but a red pepper that I grew with my very own hands on my deck. Well, at least I left it to get on with its business on my deck. I even bought fancy cheese from the local cheese shop, which was not at all runny ^*.

Verdict?

East West Queen West: Coffeneuring #3

We had our warm snap this past week; I'm sure it will go back to our regularly scheduled chill-fest soon, but in the meantime it's been glorious. Not too warm, not too cold. Just right for coffeneuring!
The DC and I took advantage of the fine weather to fit in a coffeeneuring trip to West Queen St. West. It is one of many sections of Queen Street with a distinctive character. Look lively, and pay attention: geography lesson ahead. There may be a quiz.

Ada Lovelace Day: A belated post on Emilie du Châtelet, badass physicist

If I were king, I would redress an abuse which cuts back, as it were, one half of human kind. I would have women participate in all human rights, especially those of the mind.

Ada Lovelace Day was yesterday, celebrating women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics^*. I was sick, and so didn't get this out in time. Better late than never.

I first learned about Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, marquise du Châtelet from David Bodanis's book E=mc², and she became one of my favourite historical figure ever. Massively intelligent, funny, polyglot, beautiful, fencer, passionate, voraciously curious, all-round badass scientist. Oh, and did I mention she did this during the so-called age of "Enlightenment," which wasn't exactly enlightened as regards to women? To illustrate: her most important lover Voltaire, with whom she established a research centre at Cirey, had to explain her thus: She was "a great man whose only fault was being a woman." Kind of on a par with binders full of women.

She might have discovered the Law of Conservation of Mass well before Lavoisier if she'd had better equipment. She wrote what is still the definitive French translation and commentary of Newton's Principia. And the story I love to share with my grade 11 physics students is how she determined how to calculate what we now know as kinetic energy.

You can read the details on the Nova site (you'll have to scroll down to the bottom to the section on ², although the rest is obviously worth reading as well). To sum up: Newton and Leibniz are at it again, this time with competing theories over what energy is. Newton's in the lead because, well, he's Newton. Du Châtelet works to understand Leibniz's mathematical arguments, and then looks around for experimental data to back up either theory. She finds experiments by a Dutch physicist, 'sGravesande, who has been dropping balls into clay with somewhat unexpected results. He doesn't know what they meant, but du Châtelet does. They confirm Leibniz's theory. Booyah.

I have been somewhat vague, but you can watch a re-enactment of her story, starting with the experiment, here, as part of Nova's adaptation of the book, and it will say pretty much what I would have said, only without the plagiarism. (You'll have to click on the previous part to see the first part of her story.)


(Incidentally, Newton's idea of energy is what we now call momentum, which is also a reasonably important concept, so at least he has that, poor thing.)

Sadly, du Châtelet died far too early. She became pregnant in her early forties, thanks to an affair with a poet, and died shortly after giving birth. She was working right up to the end.

I am convinced that many women are either unaware of their talents by reason of the fault in their education or that they bury them on account of prejudice for want of intellectual courage. My own experience confirms this. Chance made me acquainted with men of letters who extended the hand of friendship to me. ... I then began to believe that I was a being with a mind ...

Santée, Emilie!

^*aka STEM, and don't get me started on how Canada, or more specifically Ontario, doesn't really have any STEM education initiatives right now despite paying lip service to how important they are. Fairly makes my blood boil.

'Swing it' needs to become a coffee thing -- Coffeeneuring #2

Yesterday was supposed to be the last Sweet Ride of the season. Except it was really going to be a Savoury Ride. In fact, a Poutine Ride. But thanks to imminent very cold rain, it was a postponed ride.

The DC was very sad, because he loves poutine more than is reasonable. I was sad because Hyedie and I were going to work a Coffeeneuring trip in. However, H suggested we go somewhere rather closer so we could be java-ed and then get back before the heavens opened. I suggested Kensington Market as fitting our parameters, and off we went.


There are many coffee shops in Kensington, but not being coffee fiends, neither H nor I know any of them. We decided to park our bikes in the bike corral and wander up and down Augusta until we found the one recommended by Dandyhorse Magazine. As we couldn't remember the name, that might have proved to be... challenging.


What is not challenging is finding any coffee shop in Kensington. The Grind House is a few steps away from the corral and serves an excellent chai latte and s'more cookie. As well as something called a London Fog. H tried to explain that it was tea... with milk. I was skeptical, because even hipsters won't pay $1.50 more just have have milk added to their tea. The Aussie making my brew clarified for us: a London Fog is actually Earl Grey tea with vanilla syrup and steamed milk. Ah.

When he was done making my latte, the Aussie asked if I wanted him to sweeten it. Due to a combination of accent and a loud milk steamer, I heard "swing it" and was very disappointed that that wasn't what he said. I think we should start using "swing it" when we want sugar added. "I'll have a half-caf double mocha non-fat latte... and swing it!"^*

No, really. We need to make this a thing.



We found seats at the window and then H made the classic mistake of asking me about the state of education and politics; on a similar occasion it took me an hour or so to stop ranting. I'm a wee bit passionate about my job and have very decided opinions about what's going on, is what I'm saying. I think I managed to keep the ear-blisterage to a minimum^** this time, and otherwise we had an enjoyable outing.

The first drops of rain were beginning to fall as we left. H went off to run some errands and I went tamely home. I had been planning to use the coffeeneuring trips to explore various areas of the city, but first a statutory holiday and now the weather were conspiring against me. Next time I plan to spend a bit of time poking about before I leave the area.

Additional photos can be seen here:

From Rambling Through Toronto

Mileage: 5 km/3.2 miles (round-trip)

^*Timmies can keep the double-double, of course.

^**Although my minimum might be a bit higher than someone else's. Ahem.

Snakes and Lattes -- Coffeeneuring #1

One of the Best. Names. Ever.

Thanksgiving weekend has found me slightly... stressed. What with the sudden surprise new-course-planning plus staying on top of my other courses plus making far too many mashed potatoes and probably not enough cranberry sauce, I would not have had time to actually relax had I not forced myself to. I'm sure this will all settle down by the time the winter holiday rolls around. That should be right around the time division by zero becomes a good thing.

I had planned on going Coffeeneuring twice this weekend and made it out once only because I really want to finish this challenge. Today is Thanksgiving Monday, and it found me at Snakes & Lattes in the Annex with a bunch of friends. The café has a simple premise: you pay $5 and can play any of the hundred or so thousands* of board games for as long as you like. No cellphones, laptops, i-anything allowed. It's always packed.


I'm not usually a fan of board games, but I was game^** for half an hour or so -- just long enough to drink a latte. This latte:

The Nutella latte was very disappointing. I couldn't really taste anything. Not even coffee. Will not buy again.

Good thing there was a fun game to take my mind off the blah drink:

The Game of Things! A very worthy game; if you're with the right crowd, as I was, it engenders much mirth. So much so that my planned half-hour turned into several half-hours.

Sadly, it could not last. Those lessons wouldn't plan themselves, and I had to get back. I biked home through the crisp autumn air and enjoyed the scenery:


Not a bad way to start the challenge.

Mileage: 5.2 km/3.2 miles

You can see a few other pictures of the trip by clicking on the title below the thumbnail and scrolling to this pic:

From Rambling Through Toronto

^*I thought I was exaggerating when I originally said "a hundred or so games." But, um. Wow. That's a lot of games.

^**Ooh, see what I did there?

In which PhysicsGirl will go Coffeneuring

Despite all evidence to the contrary (to wit: lack of posting), I have not dropped off the face of the Earth. Work has been a trifle... crazy. Let's just say that I kind of wish they had figured out that having 40 students in many grade 12 classes was not really a great idea way back in June instead of last week. And that if they're going to switch my schedule, they tell me in advance which course I will now be teaching instead of having me prep for one course for a week, only to find out that I'm teaching a different course... the day I'm supposed to start teaching said course.

So that's been fun. Or not.

What will be fun is this: MG from chasing mailboxes (she of the Utilitaire-12) is having a Coffeneuring challenge! 7 coffee shops, 6 weekends. Happily, tea and hot chocolate are acceptable substitutes.

The rules: bike to seven different coffee shops (at least 2 miles/3.2 km round-trip) by November 11. Weekends only (or what passes as a weekend for you; Thanksgiving counts as part of this weekend^*). One shop per day, max two rides per weekend. Take photographic evidence and blog about the rides.

Excellent.

I'm going to use this challenge to motivate visits to and blogs about different parts of the city. And I can include the Sweet Ride: Poutine edition as one of the rides -- as long as I have a coffee-type beverage along with the poutine.

The DC and I decided that I should only include indie cafés if I can. Planned locations are, in no particular order:
Kensington Market
West Queen West
The Beaches
Yonge-Eglinton
The Danforth
Portugal Village^**
Leslieville

Bottoms up!

^*Silly Americans, though. They keep calling it Columbus Day.

^**Yeah, yeah. I live here and will have to ride around first to make it count. But I've been meaning to try The Common for a while, and this challenge is the impetus.

Pancake of the Month: Apple Cinnamon

It's back-to-school time, so naturally this month's pancake is apple-cinnamon. Clichés are clichés for a reason. Speaking of which, I have never, in all my years of teaching^*, received an apple. I am disappoint.

Anyway, this recipe is from the 2010 Milk Calendar. Because I am adventurous and think that cardamom is one of the best. spices. ever, I added the nutmeg and cardamom. But no pears^**.

Confession time: I think I made these once before, but I don't remember how they turned out. I must have thought they turned out well, otherwise I wouldn't have kept the recipe. One would hope. The verdict this time?

Poor man's lava lamp

Here's a demo I've been meaning to get on video for years. I like to do this for my grade 11 physics students at the beginning of the course and get them to explain what's going on. At the end, we go back and discuss all the physics involved. It's pretty cool. Before you hit play, ask yourself this:

What would happen if you added a bunch of raisins to a glass of Sprite?

Answer:

August Photo a Day and sneaky talk about Shakespeare

Here you go:


It's very interesting, but not all that surprising, to me that when I have all kinds of free time, I have not been as diligent about doing this daily. Now that school is about to start up again, I'm hoping I won't let days go by without following the prompts. September's prompts are here, if you'd like to play along.

The photo "dream" is from the Canadian Stage Company's Shakespeare in High Park version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which the DC and I saw on Wednesday with our friends A and K. I got there at 6:30 for the 8pm show, and even then had trouble securing enough space for all 4 of us. We had to squoosh in. The play was well done. There was much ripping off of parts of clothes. The players in particular were hilarious -- and in an ingenious and extremely funny bit of casting they turned into the fairies attending Bottom (the real-estate agent). Well worth having my butt go numb for 90 minutes.


The last photo, "hidden," is due to the fact that the DC and I went to Casa Loma last night to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)^*, which was also hilarious. It dragged a little at some parts, but others had me laughing until I was crying. The setting is lovely: outside on the terrace at a castle under the full moon. It's kind of nice for Romeo to be able to point to the moon when he swears by it. And I'm wondering how many objects went over the parapet when they tossed them over the screen. They've extended the run to September 5, 14, and 21, and I highly recommend getting tickets.

Anyway, I wanted to take photos of our beautiful surroundings but when I pulled my camera out of my purse, I discovered that I had forgotten to put the SD card back in! And the DC hadn't brought his brand new smart phone. So frustrating. I can take pictures with my extremely low-budget cell phone, but the quality is not very good and I need a Bluetooth dongle to retrieve them. So the pictures are hidden.


^*I've had quite a lot of Shakespeare this summer, in one way or another.

PhysicsGirl's Ex-cellent adventure

Last year, I went back to the CNE after an absence of many years to pig out try various fried foods for Science. I don't know if the Ex had that lunch deal this year, but they do have a $5 after 5pm deal, so the DC and I went last night.

As happened last year, we had rain during the day and threatened thunderstorms. The rain cleared up, or so we thought, by evening and we biked off to eat more fair food and introduce the DC to fried butter.

In which PhysicsGirl goes to the prom...

We got in. Maybe we should dance before we get besieged, bedeviled, or beheaded or something.
--Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: "The Prom"

Last Friday was my first year at Fake Prom, and sadly it would also be my last, unless someone takes it over. It was a tonne of fun. Prom without all the teenaged angst. No judgy-judgy. Awesome.

The theme this year was "Enchantment Under the Sea" and costumes are encouraged. We saw the Titanic, lobsters, mermaids, quite a few jelly-fish, several Aqua-men and Marty McFlys, and at least 20 Steve Zissous, as well as quite few people who just glammed up for the evening. I went for themed but pretty.