I helped my little sister bake these periodic table cupcakes for her birthday party tomorrow.

She’s a chemistry nerd, so everything had to be exactly correct.  Astute chem majors will notice the color-coded icing for solids, liquids, and gases, as well as the empty cupcake liner for as-yet-undiscovered element ununseptium.

(Though when it came time for me to take a picture with the completed cupcakes, she mysteriously could not find her ultra-dorky safety goggles that I wanted to wear for it.)

Shoutouts to Ellie and Marissa for helping with the other metals, metalloids, and nonmetals, as well as to the best four elements on the table: Berkelium, Californium, Lawrencium, and Seaborgium.  Oh, what?  Stanfurdium?  What?  Oh, sorry, there isn’t one.  Boom.

This website is a great companion to a science experiment testing PH. Instead of using litmus paper, this website uses a natural indicator: cabbage juice. The natural indicator allows the experiment to be inexpensive and even more enriching to the students’ knowledge about testing PH in foods and liquids. The introduction provides valuable information to the teacher and the procedures are very clear. At the end of the article, there are a few articles listed that are related to this experiment. Teachers could easily navigate from this webpage to other valuable sources.

PH Website

in a simple form, but can be easily adapted to any classroom. This particular

lesson plan advises teachers how to show students the role of emulsifiers in food

and also the importance of emulsifiers.

Polyesters and polyamides
TP 1180 P6 P64 2008

Modern biotechnology: connecting innovations in microbiology and biochemistry to engineering fundamentals
TP 248.2 M675 2009

Biohydrogen: for future engine fuel demands
TP 248.65 H9 D46 2009

Eco-friendly synthesis of fine chemicals
QD 262 E266 2009

Organic chemistry through solved problems
QD 257 B68 2007

Spectroelectrochemistry
QD 555.6 S65 S64 2008

Electrodeposition from ionic liquids
QD 561 E44 2008

Ionic liquids: physicochemical properties
QD 561 I56 2009

Peptides: chemistry and biology
QD 431 S585 2009

Selected topics in the chemistry of natural products
QD 415 S45 2008

Encyclopedia of reagents for organic synthesis
QD 77 E53 2009

Trends in chemistry of materials: selected research papers of C N R Rao
QD 478 R365 2008

The nature of the hydrogen bond: outline of a comprehensive hydrogen bond theory
QD 461 G546 2009

Catalytic asymmetric Friedel-Crafts alkylations
QD 281 A5 C38 2009

Polymer microscopy
QD 381.9 O66 S29 2008

Spectroscopic methods in organic chemistry
QD 272 S6 H4713 2008

Nitroxides: applications in chemistry, biomedicine, and materials science
QD 305 N8 N64 2008

Conducting polymers: a new era in electrochemistry
QD 382 C66 I59 2008

Portable x-ray fluorescence spectrometry: capabilities for in situ analysis
QD 96 X2 P67 2008

STM and AFM studies on (bio)molecular systems : unravelling the nanoworld
QD 1 F58

During the 16:th to 18:th centuries the art of distilling plants had grown to become an every-day matter. Every mansion had its own distillery and the pharmacies of the time distilled essential oils for medicinal purposes. The doctor would make out a recipe, and the pharmacies would blend the medicines.

In this time herbal medicine grew immensely with the founding of the Royal Society in Britain, the plant classifications by Linnaeus and the great herbals by, amongst others, Culpeper, Gerard and Parkinson. By the end of the 18:th century, essential oils were widely used in medicine alongside herbs, essential oils being the strongest form of medicine in existence.

The late 19:th and early 20:th century saw the flourishing of chemistry as a discipline. As plant cures and essential oils could be synthesized in a laboratory – the cures both stronger and faster in action, essential oils began to lose their place in the pharmacopoeiae.

In the early 1900’s a French chemist, René-Maurice Gattefossé – the father of aromatherapy, rediscovered the effectiveness of essential oils when he after a severe burn dipped his hand in pure lavender-oil and noted the speed of recovery; the pain was instantly subdued, there was no infection nor scarring. This made him devote himself to the study of esssential oils. He discovered that the oils could penetrate the skin to access the blood-stream and chemically interact with the chemistry of the body. In 1937 he published the book “L’aromathérapie” that became the first textbook on essential oils.

Dr. Jean Valnet followed in Gattefossé’s footsteps. He was an army-doctor during WW2. As antibiotics were hard to come by in wartime, he used essential oils with great success. After the war he opened a clinic where he success-fully used essential oils for both physical and psychological healing. Much of his work was based on the antiseptic properties of essential oils. In 1964 Dr Valnet published a book; “Aromathérapie se soigner par les essences de plantes”.

At this stage aromatherapy began popping up all over Europe; Italian doctors Gatti and Cojola start researching the psychological effects of essential oils in the 20:s; In the 70:s their work was followed up by Professor Paolo Rovesti at the University of Milan.

Mme Maury, an Austrian cosmetologist, introduced the idea of massage combined with essential oils in the 50:s. Not being a doctor, she was looking for other ways of administering the essential oils. By blending – or diluting – them with vegetable oil, the resulting blend was milder and could be used directly on the skin without irritating it. Most of her clients were healthy women that wanted beauty-treatments and the results of the aromatherapy was astounding; not only did it make the skin look better, it also had other effects such as relief from rheumathic pain, stronger libido, better and deeper sleep and an overall mood-enhancing effect. In the early 60:s Mme Maury opened her first clinic in London where she also held workshops and training. Some well-known names trained for her in the late 70:s; Robert Tisserand, Shirley Price and Patricia Davis are some of them.

The final break-through for aromatherapy as a valued alternative health practice came in the late 80:s and early 90:s when it finally became a recognized profession in many countries. In Britain and Sweden the training is state-supported and sometimes subsidized.

You already know about the department of OBS & Gynae, Surgery and Orthopedics from my previous posts. Now, I have just concluded the knowledge about department of Radiology and Lab Investigations.

Department of Radiology

As a part of the Malik Radix Health Care, radiology department offers a variety of diagnostic services like X-rays, Ultrasound, Barium meal, Barium enema, IVP’s etc.

X-Ray

X-rays are done with the hi-tech siemens 300MA machine. Variety of X-rays including chest, limbs, sinuses, head etc are done round the clock.

Special investigations

Barium Sallow

Barium Meal

Barium Enema

IVP

Sinogram

Fistulogram

MCU/RCU

Ultrasound

Upper Abdomen Ultrasound

Lower Abdomen Ultrasound

Antenatal Ultrasound

Ultrasound guided procedures-like drainage of pus or taking of biopsies

Colour Doppler

Obstetric Doppler

Umbilical Cord Doppler

Vascular, both arterial and venous Doppler

Lab Services

The laboratory of the Malik Radix Health Care has been established along with hospital. All the routine and specialized tests are performed by the qualified pathologist. The lab is fully computerized and equipped with auto analyzers.

Routine Test

Hemogram: – HB, TLC, DLC, ESR, Peripheral Smear Examination, Patelet count

ABO Typing

Complete Urine Analysis

Stool Examination

Semen Examination and Cytological examination of serological fluid

Mantoux

Bio Chemistry

Blood Sugar, Hb A1C Test, Mauntox Dengue Serology

Lidquid Profile

Kidney Function test: – Blood Urea, Serum Creatinie & Uric Acid

Liver function test: – Bilirubin, SGOT, SGPT and Proteins, Viral Serology

Electrolytes: – Sodium, Potassium and calcium

Hormone Assay

This category include detection of serum level of various hormones like thyroid (FT3, FT4, TSH) prolactin, FSH, LH, GH study etc.

Pap Smear Test

Carcinoma Cervix is one of the commonest cancers in women. Early screening of cancer can be done by a simple test known as Pap smear.

FNAC

This is a simple technique to detect nature of any abnormal swelling or growth.

By this we can detect pathology at an earlier stage with minimal invasion.

Histology

This is a scientific term for study of pathological tissue removed after minor or major surgical procedures i.e. examination of biopsies.

So, these are the special investigation about the department of radiology and lab investigations which is offered by Malik Radix Health Care hospital.

Material for the Stout-Hearted Reader to Ruminate

♦ Essays, Lectures & Speeches ♦

—   —   —

Oliver Sacks (1933 –) is an American Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Columbia University.  He is also the author of several popular science books, including, Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (2007), Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (2001), and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1985)

This week’s text is his Op-Ed essay in the February 8, 2004 edition of the New York Times, “Greetings from the Island of Stability”, about the discovery of elements 113 and 115.   

The essay’s title refers to the theory that certain elements with very large atomic mass can have a long half-life.  This is possible because protons and neutrons can occupy shells in the nucleus (much like electrons in orbitals) that give the nucleus increased stability and a longer half-life.

Join others from around the world in this weekly reading event! You can find Sacks’ text at this website:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/08/opinion/08SACK.html?pagewanted=all

by Hydro033

I’ve been grappling with this idea that I cannot deny, but that I wish was not true. This my startle you, but I don’t believe in free will. I just don’t think it exists, I just don’t see how it can exist. Free will, to me, seems like we have the power to change chemical and physical reactions and bend their outcomes based on our “will.” It doesn’t work like that. You have reactants and products. You have forces and results. We can’t influence these things.

I think free will was a just a way for humans to explain our differences. It was a mechanism for us to separate ourselves from each other. Well, why would we separate ourselves? One reason is to gain favor. In fact, it’s the primary reason. Separate the sinners from the non-sinners if you will to gain favor in the eyes of God. It may have evolved directly from the fear of God which influenced people’s behaviors. I don’t want to delve to deep into this little origin story, but I hope you get the picture. People will just use “free will” for the reason of evil, because they don’t want to think God created evil. People also want to blame people. People don’t want to give sinners excuses. They don’t want to be like sinners and they think they aren’t because they chose not to be because they’re “good.” In a theological sense, free will works. It is a great way to facilitate the struggle with good and evil in this world, but I will leave that origin hypothesis for another post.

I have a few fundamental hypotheses on life that will facilitate this post: 1) We only do things for ourselves. 2) We are motivated solely by fear. 3) We don’t have free will (choice). 4) We are only different because we have variable environmental influences. 5) Fate exists.

I believe that since the start of the universe, all the particles of the universe were set into motion and obey physical and chemical laws until the end of the universe. How can anyone deny this? Free will does contradict my previous statement though. If these particles (ie atoms and molecules) are just interacting like they would because of physics and chemistry (ie positive/negative charges, Newtonian mechanics, quantum mechanics), then we can in no way influence them. We are those particles so how can we influence those particles if we ourselves are the results of those particles just interacting? It is just absurd to think that. Chemical and physical reactions can’t be chosen – they just occur spontaneously. If this is true, then we cannot have free will.

So, if we cannot influence these particles, then they are just going to keep interacting in an ordered way. For example, particle 1 will hit particle 2 and then hit particle 3. This could have been predicted if we knew the positions, forces, and charges of the particles. This leads one to believe that the universe is on a strictly linear path. If the universe is on a linear path, then we should be able to predict the future though right? Well, theoretical, yes. Is it possible? Well… not by us. The universe is far and away too complex to predict the future. Each atom is a variable, so forget about it. But technically, it can only have one set path because all of the interactions are predictable (theoretically). We can’t predict them because there are just too many variables. It’s like trying to predict what type a person a newborn will be when he grows up. We can’t because we do not know the environmental influences he will experience. His parents could die, he could be orphaned, he can lose a limb, he can knock a girl up, he could have an accident that leads him to Jesus. We would not be able to see of those incoming environmental variables. The chaos theory would come into play here, but I will not touch on this subject although it almost seems necessary.

Since we cannot influence particles, and those particles are on a predetermined pathways, fate exists. The future is unchangeable. Destiny is inevitable. You can call me a determinist or a fatalist. I’m going to quote Wikipedia because it has some damn good stuff. “Determinism is a belief every event is causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences.” This is what I said before in what I believe to have begun when the universe was created.Fatalism is a little different because it believes that there is one chain and only one chain of prior occurrences. “[I]n determinism, if the past were different, the present and future would also differ. For fatalists, such a question is negligible, since no past could have happened other than the one that has happened.” It is a really fucking sad way to view life, but it is the only thing that makes sense to me.

One last quip: God is the laws of physics. This is how I sometimes look at it. They seem to be the only thing that just are and always will be. Those laws of physics are the reason why we even exists, so in a sense, he still created us. This is still taking a “God of the gaps” approach, where God is just used to fill in the gaps of scientific knowledge. Maybe someday the laws of physics could be completely explained and God will be dismissed entirely by me or even the rest of the world. So, for the time being, I bid you adieu.

I was looking for a philosopher that had the same idea as me (sigh, there is no originality left in the world) and I stumbled across this video. David Sosa is an American philosopher that addresses my (is it mine?) hypothesis. This video (which is an excerpt from the film Waking Life) nails my idea, so take it for what it’s worth because he explains it much better than me.

This magnesium name derives from the Greek taken from the name of a region in Thessaly called Magnesia. Joseph Black from England called magnesium as a kind of element in 1755. Sir Humphry Davy could produce magnesium metal by electrolysis in the year 1808 rather than a mixture of magnesia and HgO.
Magnesium is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Mg and atomic number 12 and atomic weight 24.31. Abundance of magnesium in the Earth’s crust was ranked eighth in the percentage of 2%. Alkaline earth metals are used as material for making aluminum-magnesium mixture, which is usually called magnalium.
Pure magnesium does not exist in nature as an element, but in the form of a compound in the mineral. For example magnesium carbonate in the form of compounds contained in mineral magnesit and dolomite (MgCO3.CaCO3). Sea water contains 0.13% magnesium, and is a source of magnesium, which is not limited.

2.1.1 The main properties
Magnesium is a strong metal, silvery white, light (one third lighter than aluminum) and will be dull if left in the air. In the form of powder, this metal is very reactive and can burn with a white flame when the air is humid. When burned magnesium metal ribbon and soaked in water, it will continue burning until the ribbon magnesium was out. Magnesium, when burned in air, producing a bright white light. This is used in the early days of photography as a source of lighting (flash powder). Mass meeting of magnesium is 1.738 gram/cm3. Relativitation  atomic mass is 24, and atomic number 12. Magnesium melts at a temperature of 111 ° C.

the magnesium

2.1.2 Purpose
Magnesium, particularly magnesium oxide is used as a refractory material to produce steel, glass, and cement. In the form of metal, the main purpose of this element is added as an ingredient in aluminum metal. Aluminum-magnesium metal is typically used in the manufacture of beverage cans, used in some automotive and truck components, and can protect steel structures such as pipes and water tank buried in the ground against corrosion.
Magnesium is very important role in the process of animal and plant life. Magnesium is found in chlorophyll, which is used by plants for photosynthesis. Magnesium is also taking part in the replication of DNA and RNA that has a very important role in the process of descent of all organisms. In addition, magnesium activates many enzymes that speed up chemical reactions in the human body and used as a drug neutralizing stomach acid.

Dichloromethane (DCM or methylene chloride) is the organic compound with the formula CH₂Cl₂. This colorless, volatile liquid with a moderately sweet aroma is widely used as a solvent. More than 500,000 tons were produced in 1991. Although it is not miscible with water, it is miscible with many organic solvents.^[1] It was first prepared in 1840 by the French chemist Henri Victor Regnault, who isolated it from a mixture of chloromethane and chlorine that had been exposed to sunlight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloromethane

http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s066dich.pdf

http://www.jtbaker.com/msds/englishhtml/D2895.htm

http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/DI/dichloromethane.html

complete the last sheet from the 2 paged packet and the back of the sheet that you had to write stars on.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Iceland Sea is one part of the Nordic Seas. Cold Arctic Water prevails there and the deep-water is an important source of North Atlantic Deep Water. We have evaluated time series observations of measured pCO₂ and total CO₂ concentration from discrete seawater samples during 1985–2008 for the surface and 1994–2008 for deep-water, and following changes in response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The surface pH in winter decreases at a rate of 0.0024 yr⁻¹, which is 50% faster than average yearly rates at two subtropical time series stations, BATS and ESTOC. In the deep-water regime (>1500 m), the rate of pH decline is a quarter of that observed in surface waters. The surface seawater carbonate saturation states (Ω) are about 1.5 for aragonite and 2.5 for calcite, about half of levels found in subtropical surface waters. During 1985–2008, the degree of saturation (Ω) decreased at an average rate of 0.0072 yr⁻¹ for aragonite and 0.012 yr⁻¹ for calcite. The aragonite saturation horizon is currently at 1710 m and shoaling at 4 m yr⁻¹. Based on this rate of shoaling and on the local hypsography, each year another 800 km² of seafloor becomes exposed to waters that have become undersaturated with respect to aragonite.




Olafsson, J., Olafsdottir, S. R., Benoit-Cattin, A., Danielsen, M., Arnarson, T. S., & Takahashi, T., 2009. Rate of Iceland Sea acidification from time series measurements. Biogeosciences 6(11): 2661-2668. Article.

I have changed. Everyone changes, with surroundings, with experience, with knowledge, with learning. Change is the art of life. Change is pretty much what we talk about every now and then. Remember the last joke you laughed on and fell down from your bed, remember the last “news” – all these are nothing but changes that are more intensified than others and hence worth discussing about. These often bring out an emotion in you, you laugh, you cry, you whistle, things keep changing, they just keep changing and changing.

But the other type of change I am talking about is the one which follows the concept of microscopic reversibility. These changes are a result of linear combination of all the smaller changes. These small changes are reversible and infinitesimally small as in the case of reversible isothermal expansion resulting in maximum work. These changes occur really slowly, without you knowing that you are the part of this reaction. Obviously, this is a very long process and at the end of say a month or 2 years or 5 years or more, whenever you start visualising that change, you search for older things. It is difficult to move but time does it for us.

It is like you are on an escalator in a mall. You are talking to a friend. After sometime you are down or up! You keep talking and then you realise you reach where you had to. Now consider the case when the escalator stops in the midway due to some electricity failure. At this point you realise you will have to walk your way up and you might momentarily stop talking. Bad you have to walk up! At this point, nature tried to tell you what had changed before the desired or “planned” process ended or maybe this was the “planned” process, whatever the case. You realise you were in the reaction mixture unconsciously. You never stop to make a decision like getting on an escalator which is obvious and your mind never asks you to. Its only after some considerable changes, that you figure out and try to act on it or regret your earlier decisions. There are infinite variables around you and me changing at infinitesimally small rates under certain laws and constraints set by time.

We are always in this big reaction mixture and a part of many reactions at the same time. You can apply all the laws and chemistry you have ever learned and complicate the model. Basically like chemistry is so vast with n possibilities, life too is, infact much more as life contains chemistry

Similarly, I see myself as this new zubin. I have changed by this model. I can neither laugh at it, nor cry. I can neither smile at it, nor abstain from acting on it. But still all I can do is stand and stare!

PS: My chemistry might not make sense to better chemists as well as to people without chemistry background, doesn’t matter! You will know what I mean

Today, I found myself in an internet debate over the topic of Religion. A certain blogger who shall remain anonymous has made it their duty to call out religion and any beliefs that one may have as ‘weak’ and an excuse for the ‘misguided actions’ they apparently have ‘no control over’ (because we’re all morally weak, right?). They explained that religion is like a ’safety net’ in which those who believe ‘find comfort in’ when they fall victim to peer pressure.

I’d like to say this right now – and I don’t want to sound like a freaky religious person nor do I want to force my beliefs upon anyone – you have just as much proof that God does not exist as I have proof that he does exist. This universal debate has been ongoing for centuries and I fear it will go on for many more. As much as I’d like for the world to be a simple and peaceful place, it never will be while debates like this still exist.

[Science vs God]

Anyone who raises a point on one side can always be rebutted by another point on the opposing side. Scientists have spent lifetimes trying to find breakthroughs and explanations for why things are the way they are. There would be no need for these findings if everyone believed that it was created by someone greater than we are – someone above all of humanity – someone like God. Unfortunately, there will always be people who do not believe – the ’seeing is believing’ people. To such a point; one could argue that the earth is evidence, the sun, the air we breathe, humans, animals, nature…which is what I believe. But to those who don’t it won’t do anything but spark up the debate all over again.

Likewise, man has studied the bible through and through trying to match up the pieces of info and history of our universe. Christianity is preached all over the world – in most countries – and it has the biggest population of followers. Clearly, it is most logical explanation for why things are the way they are, and most people can see that. Though, again, to the non-believers, it’s all a myth; so really there’s no way of convincing them nor is there a ‘logical argument’, they would say.

While I have read the various theories of evolution and of the big bang, and the scientific evidence that supports it; I still can’t believe that life can be controlled/occur as a result of two random atoms colliding. Something as perfect, complex and intricate as the human body surely could not have been created by accident; by anything other than someone like God. How about babies? How do they survive in the womb? How are they automatically born with the reflex action of suckling when stroked on the cheek? How can something as simple as the anatomy of spider create such versatile and complicated webs?

Lol; I’m preaching aren’t I? I don’t mean to. But anyways, back to my point. The earth we live on is but a tiny spec of dust in a vast universe which stretches out further than any horizons and expands across any of our imaginations. You cannot begin to comprehend how large it or what else exists out there. It really is amazing. I can’t seem to believe that this is all a result of an accident though – that once upon a time there was nothing, and now there is a whole galaxy and solar system.

To the non-believers who base their opinions upon real, hard evidence in front of them – the ones who let science take over their life – I would just like to say this: have. some. respect. We may not all be smart geeks like you, we may not understand the laws of physics, or the basics of chemistry and biology – but that is no reason to undermine our beliefs and faith. I am sick to death of people shunning the bible as a mythological fairytale that was created by middle-aged men with no lives; and religion as the ‘weak’ alternative to living life.

Putting your faith into something/someone greater than who we are is not at all weak. I do not believe in God because I am scared of being eternally damned or suffering during my second life. I am not forced to believe in God by my parents, nor to attend Church on Sunday mornings. This my choice.

Religion is choice. You can’t say you’re a Christian just because you’ve been to Church every Sunday of your life since the day you born and then go out and do everything the bible tells you not to do. Sure, you may have gone to Church your whole life, but by not following God’s law, you are making a choice – to not be a good follower/faithful.

I’m not saying that doing what you want and not following the bible is weak, either. Like I said, it’s a choice. I choose to follow God’s law and put my faith in Him – and because of that I feel strength, not weakness. Just like people choose not to follow Him because they don’t believe there is enough evidence. I do no fear of being eternally damned if I sin once because I know that God will forgive me if I am truly sorry. Likewise, I don’t say I’m a believer purely because I don’t want to be eternally damned – I’m a believer because I have gone to Church practically every Sunday of my life and I have listened. I read the bible and I see the evidence in my life. Believing in God does not make me fearful; but rather strong and proud. I know that wherever I go and whatever I do, I will always be safe because God will always be right by my side.

So, to conclude – this really was in retaliation to the blog I read earlier today and also an opportunity for me to vent my anger and feelings. To the non-believers – I have respect for what you believe, please have some respect for what I believe. To those who may wonder – why do good people suffer? Why is there so much evil in the world? Well I’ll tell you; these are God’s trials – tests, if you will, to measure your faithfulness and loyalty to God. Without bad, there’d be no good to separate it from. Without suffering, there would be no compassion or forgiveness.

Arguing about whether God exists or not/any religion for that matter – is always going to be a moot debate. No one will ever win. Stop doing it. Respect each other.

That’s all I have to say for now.

-Ania

[edit]

P.S I realise that in my last post I mentioned my love for the show ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Granted, my love stems only from the fact that it is an extremely hilarious show – I am not a psycho, hypocritical religious person.

So, this week, for a chem lab, our teacher decided to make us bake cookies. He gave us Metric Measurements, told us to convert them to US form, and bake those darn cookies. AND bring them to class on tuesday so we can have a mini ‘party’ after our test. party my @ss.
Let’s just say….. I can’t cook for my life.
Patrick and I decided to work together to make cookies. Being azn and saving money.
BAD idea. Put two cooking failures together and you get an even bigger failure.
First thing first, we get our supplies out. And we run into our first wall :: We have no measuring supplies. Patrick’s mommie said, ‘ Just use the liquid one. It’s fine.’ (oh the beauty and simplicity of asian-ness)
We decide that is unacceptable and run like mad to the computer to see if anybody around in the area is willing to let us steal their supplies. We wasted half an hour searching for someone, and another 45 minutes WALKING to someone’s house, IN THE PITCH DARK.
what ever happened to streetlights?!
anyways. we saw a kitty XD it followed us around for a bit ____<
Well. We followed the recipe EXACTLY. And the first batch came out looking like…….
a blob of melted butter.
*looks at each other* huh?
So we dump in some more flour… yeah yeah yeah.
STILL nasty blob. tastes decent…if not for that NASTY NASTY BUTTER BLOB.
His dad ended up salvaging the situation. Both our parents came over and stared at the cookies and said incredulously ‘Are these COOKED?!?!?! o____O” ‘
Yes they were.
So, the next morning, I pick up the salvaged cookies, and bring them to school(half asleep)
I didn’t even get to TRY a cookie, since I only had like….9.
~~~CHEM CLASS~~~
*ohkay you can eat your cookies now*
So we compare cookie failures. Everybody fails at cooking apparently. LOL
I take a bite. And my tooth cracks. Well not exactly, but the cookie has teeth marks. No Joke. I threw it at the table, and I swear the table got a dent. I’m glad my Chem class has a sense of humor. We all laughed like hell.
I guess praying to the kitchen gods before cooking doesn’t always work neh?

So, I have recently found something out about my dating style if you will.   This may not make sense for a bit, but just stick with me.

I once heard that when someone uses drugs for the first time, the high is so paramount that they are forever chasing that continual high through consistent drug use.   Beyond the additive nature of drugs, this chasing the dragon has the individual perpetually looking for that level of the first high.

Here is how I relate this to dating.  When you have that first date that is filled with chemistry and sparks, then there is no way to pretend that chemistry just isn’t a factor.   There are some people out there who have never had that moment of chemistry or as I call it, Za Za Zsu.   For those people, a fairly average date with nothing really “wrong” would continue to date that person until a real deal breaker came into fruition.  For me, not having that inital moment of a spark or chemistry is enough of a deal breaker for me.  I am on the hunt for the love of my life, not just someone to fill the time.

And for those lovely readers in the blogging world who are curious in how my blind date went, listen to the entire recap of the date on our podcast show: Penny & Ben.  Check out Episode #18 for the full blind date story.

finish the questions on the packet with stars next to them

What does a coffee filter or white fabric, markers, isopropanol, a bird drawing, have in common? 

Something I saw on Craftster from user: IamSusie  and the following post: Sharpie Dye Color Bursts gave me another experiment idea.  IamSusie got the idea from Happy Things and she saw it on Steve Spengler Science.  If you click on any of the links, you can see the Color Chromatography in action. 

Not to limit myself to finding one amazing science fiber art project on Craftster, I also found Sally Le Strange and her post about a Crochet Plant Cell Pillow who made her science craft for a school project and got an A+.  I like both of these projects enough to highlight them in my next podcast.  But first I have an idea about the chromatography one before I put it together.

It’s possible to have great chemistry with a person without being compatible and vice-versa. This is a matter which confuses a lot of people. Basically, good chemistry does not imply compatibility.

When the chemistry is there, there can be moments of indescribable perfection… at these times it’s easy to fall madly and deeply in love. But there’s a catch. The chemistry only occurs under certain favourable conditions… so what happens when, inevitably, conditions change and for a time there is no chemistry. What are you left with? If it’s a relationship which is based on chemistry alone, often what people are left with is a dysfunctional relationship. It can cause a lot of pain for both people… as such strong bonds were formed when the chemistry was there…

A relationships based on chemistry alone can be wonderful for a time… but to avoid being hurt, it’s important to look realistically at whether there’s compatibility. If there’s no compatibility, that’s fine… keep enjoying the relationship but be aware of what may happen when the chemistry disappears. It may not be wise to make any long-term commitments.

Two people who are compatible may not initially be attracted to each other (if the chemistry is lacking). But chemistry or not, there’s a good chance that it’ll work out well in the long term, so long as neither party will ‘stray’ due to temporary attraction to other people. The relationship where there is compatibility without chemistry requires both people to see the ‘big picture’.

I think that one of the reasons that the divorce rate is so high is because people are attracted to each other on the basis of chemistry… they form a strong bond and get married… then when times get tough and the chemistry disappears for a time, they’re left with nothing but a dysfunctional relationships and divorce ensures. On the other hand, people who are highly compatible may not get together in the first place due to lack of chemistry. It’s rare that there’s both chemistry and compatibility. Generally there will be a compromise.

In an ideal world, we would like to have both… in reality… there is open chemistry and compatibility in different degrees. So in the end it’s a compromise. A person who doesn’t mind some drama and is very flexible might have a successful relationship where chemistry is high but compatibility just average. But for one who seeks peace and stability, compatibility should be the focus.

Conclusions… for  fun short-term relationships, chemistry is the most important thing. For long-term relationships (incl. marriage), compatibility is absolutely vital. Each person needs to find the right balance for them.