March 2004 Archives

Just a quick hello from freezing-cold-and-too-far-north Edinburgh. No, not that bad, but pretty nippy on the whole compared to the mid-teens weather dahn-saaf ("down south" to the foreigners). I have four minutes allocated time at this terminal, so I'm not going to elaborate, but oh-so-much science; there's some really fantastic things going on in the Universe of academia. Bleh - have to push on. Someone do the spell checking for me in arrears. Tschuess.

Back in the lab again this morning; it's not a bad place to be on a Sunday, given the relative quiet, with only the whirr of odd pieces of equipment to distract me. All the same, I would rather be elsewhere, but it's my last chance to get an important experiment done before I head for a conference on Tuesday.

I miss relaxing; every waking moment seems these days dominated by the stresses and concerns of work, and to lose out on my weekends time and time again is so tiring. I'm still feeling unwell this morning, though nothing like I did last night; my temperature reached 39.8 C some time after ten, making it too difficult to concentrate, so I set my work aside, wriggled into a jumper and climbed into bed, at which point I started shivering violently. The shakes lasted almost until midnight; it was a wretched feeling, lying there in the dark in the foetal position, unable to get comfortable and unable to fall asleep.

The last time I ever felt as bad as this, I had someone there to look after me, to drive me loopy with attentiveness, love and kindly pampering, but I denied myself that luxury when I broke up with him. My sense of frailty and weakness during the long night was humbling, and being too delirious to make the distinction, I can't say whether the tears gliding down onto my pillow were borne of sorrow, or simply the devious work of the fever. Last night was the loneliest I've felt in a very long time.

I know that I put myself here; my hand shaping my Universe as always. Sometimes it hurts, but it was my move to make, and for the greater part, I feel content being alone right now; we get on, me and I, and it'll do until I feel ready to become vulnerable again.

My favourite aeronautical-engineering endeavour gets its first vehicular tryout today, after last year's successful test of a scramjet engine by Queensland University; NASA's unmanned X-43A, a hypersonic scramjet-powered research aircraft designed to fly at speeds of up to Mach 10, which is pretty zippy (7650 mph ish), will be dropped from a B52 bomber off the California coast at some time after 12:00 PST (20:00 here) according to NASA's schedule, after which they hope to send it to Mach 7 (5000 mph). NASA TV will have a live feed here.

Things like this always explode. And they want to turn it into mass-transport technology? I'd like to be able to bite my tongue over the following words, but... not in my lifetime.

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EDIT: Well that was just about the coolest thing I've ever seen. It didn't explode, reaching Mach 5 before the data stream failed, thereafter coming back online as it dropped back to Mach 1 before wiping out in the Pacific; the onboard computer will reveal all when recovered. Feeds included all the pre-launch checks, live views of the rudder tests on both the vehicle and the rocket it sat upon, the exciting ignition sequence ("On my mark... five... four... three... !"), flyby shots from the F18s, and plenty of footage of the B52 itself; that mechanical marvel is sex on wings. Somehow, I don't ever see myself in the cockpit of one of those -- well, I do, I just can't -- but vicarious living isn't entirely lacking in satisfaction. Wicked.

My body temperature is 102.5 F; I feel rough. Grrr, perfect timing.

I know she's like god to some people, but isn't 145 quid a bit steep for the cheapest tickets to Madonna's Reinvention Tour in August? It could well be her last big jaunt - she's hinted as much - and I've always thought it'd be good to see her on stage, but that's a lot of money for most people, let alone a student.

If I were a real die-hard, there'd be no hesitation, I suppose; I don't love any popular icon that much.

Yesterday afternoon, I discovered that the local supermarket had stocked a small quantity of belacan (pron. blah-chan) in its gourmet section. wtf?! I was thrilled.

So I made a Thai green curry - traitor to my roots, yes, but it's what I felt like. Oh hell, share recipe why do you not?

Heat some vegetable and sesame oil in pan till its angry, chuck in a teaspoon of belacan and break it up in the oil (this is where the housemate says "Wow, that smells great!" or, "Whoah, what the fuck is that stench?!").
Chuck in a couple of chopped shallots and two cloves of chopped garlic. Sautée lightly, then dump in half a kilo of dead, chopped bird - chicken breast is ideal - and cook till lightly browned.
At this point, add two or three tablespoons of green curry paste, which you've painstakingly prepared in advance (below), or purchased, and stir in. Then pour over 400 ml coconut milk, making sure that some of it ends up in the pan.
Stir more, and allow to simmer for fifteen or twenty, lest you end up with curry soup instead of just curry. When the consistency is a little on the wetter side of perfect - subjective, of course - add vegetables; I opted for butternut squash, which I boiled and cubed beforehand, sugarsnap peas, baby corn, coarsely sliced red peppers (capsicum) and an extra fresno chili (because I'm a bit stupid).
Cook, cook, cook, serve on a bed of brown rice, or egg noodles if you prefer.

It made enough to last through to Tuesday. Crumbs, but more than edible on consecutive days, I'm finding. Apologies for not listing the ingredients; who steals recipes from online journals anyway?

Curry paste as follows:

3 tbsp chopped shallots
15 green medium to hot chilies
1 tsp chopped galangal (or ginger if your Asian markets are pants)
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 tsp chopped kaffir lime rind (or lime, ditto)
1 tbsp chopped lemon grass (citronella to some)
1 tsp chopped coriander root
5 peppercorns
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp belacan (if you like, but better added en route)

Lightly toast the coriander and cumin seeds in hot oil or beneath a grill before blending to a powder; combine with all the rest and blend to a paste. Survives adequately for 3 months in a jar in the fridge.

I can't believe how quiet you're being! You take the trouble to pull together your own template, graphics, bits of code, present it all to the world, attract an audience with measure upon measure of tantalising vacuousness and then... go silent?

Actually, yes.

...

Don't look at me - I'm not the one with the problem.

But!

That said, I'm here now; I was just sent a picture of my sis' by a girlfriend in Paris, who found her face mounted on a bus shelter.

What we'd really like is one of these posters in Japanese, Russian, Scandic, Arabic or Greek. Bus shelter size, please. No? Didn't think so. Minor fixation with foreign alphabets, is all.

If you believe that Pluto is a planet - and rest assured that this is contested to the day - then we have another addition to Solar system, an icy blob called Sedna. Welcome!

"Hey everyone, my name's Sedna and I'm an alcoho..."

If not, then we just have ourselves an extraordinarily large KBO with an exceptionally large heliocentric orbit. Excitement. More relevant to me is my new Seagate hard disc; just installed on top of the IBM drive that originally shipped with my baby (Apple doesn't just do computers); works a charm, and ohso quietly zippy. How long does a hundred and sixty gigs last these days anyway?

...because they're quick and easy. These from a random day-fellow:

What is your favourite colour?

It varies within a range, but if I had to choose, I guess it'd be a deep steel-blue.
And if you have eyes that colour?

...post them to me.

Sweet or savoury?

I have a minor weakness for one or two desserts in particular, but all of my comfort foods are savoury. One is an Italian dish, one a broad class of a breakfast-type concoction, and one a Malaysian dish so hot it makes my eyes water to eat it.

Ignorance is bliss

Provided you're ignorant of your ignorance, ignorance could very well be bliss. It strikes me as a less interesting way to experience life, however, and though I can't be sure of how ignorant I am - or otherwise - I'd like to think that the enjoyment I do derive from the day to day pleasures and pains of life isn't borne of what I don't know. I so want to pull a cheesy grin right about now.

When did you last cry?

This weekend, on a train, while I read through the eyewitness accounts of the Madrid bombings in the Guardian newspaper. It was unexpected, but being pretty much alone in the carriage made it easier to explore; there were no facades to maintain.

When did you last feel uncertainty?

I waivered a little over how to answer these piccolinos, but really, meh; what I really don't know is whether the urgent moans coming through the partitioning wall require intervention on my part. Hrm. She obviously wants something.

Back in the land of fresh air, I already find myself in the clammy security of routine, but while it's a little too familiar to earn my affections, it is nice to be back in some respects.

No signs of mega-jet-lag, with a full night's sleep through to this morning, but I have been a wee bit drowsy for most of the day, which makes sense whether taken as the result of 28 hours of very little by way of sleep, or the 8 hour shift in timezone. Too jaded now to write anything substantial, I'll leave you with a Greek translation of mild gaïety. My, those Greeks knew liberty.

The blog is due for an update, but certain authors are a little busy, on the whole, and my potential co-authors just refuse to contribute.

I'm flying back to the United Kingdom tomorrow, arriving Sunday, which is a shame, because southern California is due for a spring heatwave (30+ C). Bugger. In other news, went for a fantastic run along the Santa Clarita valley; I could so live here. Maybe in my next life.