• for science

    March 12, 2019

    Back in the fall, my brother did a report about an NIMH bipolar research study that was targeting people of Anabaptist heritage. Bipolar runs in my family and we’re Anabaptist, so I signed up. So did my husband (even though he’s Catholic), my older son, my parents, and one of my brothers.

    Over the last few months, we completed paperwork and some of us did phone interviews, and then, Friday afternoon, we all gathered at my parents’ to meet the research team who had traveled down from Washington to study us. There were six of them, including the head of the research project (who told us he only goes out to the field about once every two months). We were a bit surprised that so many researchers came, but they explained that having a whole family like ours participating all in one go is rather unusual so Party!

    Photo credit: older son

    We spread out all over the house: blood draws at the kitchen table, private interviews in the upstairs bedroom, more tests — face recognition, memory, decision-making, and a bunch of other stuff for who-knows-what — in the downstairs bedroom and study. At the end, they did skin biopsies on my mom, brother, and son. (They wanted to do biopsies on all of us, I think, but they ran out of gloves.)

    I had the most fun with the psychological tests. To me, they felt more like puzzles, or games. The word memorization test (celery, squirrel, truck, cabbage, desk, spinach, cabinet, motorcycle, zebra, bookcase, boat, cow, subway, giraffe, onion, lamp) was a hoot. And the pattern recognition test (it was very much like Question 4 in this article, and it reminded me of Set) actually made my brain hurt.

    After they left, we all stood around comparing answers and the logic behind them. Who knew getting studied could be so much fun?

    And then it occured to me that these sorts of tests — the shape one, in particular — would be a great family reunion activity: simply project these problems up on a wall and then figure out, as a family, which pattern fits and why.

    This same time, years previous: another adventure!, kitchen concert, the singing bowl, family weekending, adventuring, the quotidian (3.12.12), perfect pretzels, with a side of poison.

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  • quotidian (3.11.19)

    March 11, 2019
    Quotidian: daily, usual or customary; 
    everyday; ordinary; commonplace

    The search continues.

    Egg custards.
    A regular gig, finally.

    We miss her.

    Digger.
    Airborn: the girl is fast.

    Strummers.

    Tucked away in his Harry Potter office.
    Upon discovering that long, long ago their very UN-sparkly and UN-pink father collected unicorns, my children purchased this decal and, without asking permission (he’s an UN-decal
    person, too), slapped it on his computer. And now I call him Mr. Magical.

    This same time, years previous: one-pan roasted sausages with vegetables, Shannon’s creamy broccoli soup, the quotidian (3.7.16), by the skin of my gritted teeth, the quotidian (3.10.14), work, oatcakes.

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  • a few good things

    March 5, 2019

    When I’m feeling at odds with the world (which has been more than usual these last few days), I like watching these cooking videos by Dianxi Xiaoge.

    Calm and soothing, almost zen-like, they remind me of those “satisfying videos” that are all the rage (though those clips make me want to crawl out of my skin). Xiaoge’s videos, on the other hand, are utterly entrancing and I usually only get about a minute in before I hit pause and yell at everyone to come watch with me. I’m particularly intrigued by the water-sealed jugs and that she rarely — like, rarely rarely — uses plastic. A couple favorites to get you started: lard-sealed meat and hairy tofu.

    ***

    Look what I discovered! Costco is carrying a knock-off version of Nutella that tastes exactly the same but at a fraction of the price, and in hefty-sized containers, to boot.

    Confession: We’re not huge Nutella fanatics — I know, I know, call us weird — but I am rather fond of leftover croissants, split lengthwise and spread with Nutella, alongside my morning coffee.

    ***

    For my younger daughter’s birthday, we gave her an irresistably cute Zoe Dawn make-up bag.

    The best part? Now she has no excuse to steal my bags whenever she has an overnight.

    (More on Zoe here.)

    ***

    I recently participated in an anti-racism Sunday school class at our church. During one of the sessions, the class leaders showed this time-lapse map illustrating the seizure of Native American land in the United States.

    This information wasn’t exactly new to me, but watching it in one tidy little morsel was — or is, rather — both sobering and eye-opening. (As part of the class, we were encouraged to do some reading, so I read Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew Hart, and this weekend I finished Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryon Stevenson. Next up: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo.)

    ***

    And while I’m on the topic: Have you heard of Code Switch? 

    One of the Sunday school class participants suggested this podcast, which discusses “the overlapping issues of race, ethnicity and culture.” Both my husband and I have been listening to it in our free time, and then, together in the evening, discussing what we’ve heard. Good stuff, that.

    ***

    P.S. Good News! Season four of Catastrophe is almost here! A couple months back, my cousin-in-law emailed to tell me season four was coming out, but then, after some frantic searching, we realized that the date she thought was the release was actually just Great Britain’s release date, so now, thanks to that false alarm, it feels like I’ve been waiting for forever. Hurry up, March 15!

    This same time, years previous: the quotidian (3.5.18), the quotidian (3.6.17), creamy, Costco-esque cake filling, tradition!, wintry days, to market, to market, the quotidian (3.5.12), sky-high biscuits.

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