Other Fascinations
Chemistry thing: Graphene – a new form of carbon, 1 millimeter thick, stronger than steel, transparent, like a giant plane of benzene, except better. Oh my, but I want something made of this. Perhaps a starship windshield? No wonder they won a Nobel prize for it.
Astronomy thing: Asteroid 2010 TD54, the size of a Winnebago (~33 feet across) passes between Earth and the moon’s orbit, October 12, 2010. Today. Didn’t know you almost died today, did you? Everybody do the Dinosaur….
Cover art thing: Ken McConnell has the rough cover for his next book, Tyrmia. It’s very cool. Come to think of it, so is Ken.
Historical Costuming thing: I belong to this listserv for historical costuming. It has SCA people on it, it has serious historical researchers on it, it has film and theater people, and they all have one thing in common–absolute fascination with the stuff people wear at any given time from the first fig leaf to tomorrow afternoon.
And they have the most interesting conversations (sometimes spirited arguments) about things like whether a raglan sleeve on a chemise would have existed in 16th century Italy or if printing a museum website photo for a workshop handout is fair use under international copyright law. I don’t always have time to give this digest the attention it deserves, but the people are absolutely lovely and generous, and they know about everything–or they have friends who they can ask.
Odd medical thing: I was researching Tamoxifen side effects recently, and I came across an abstract from the Lancet Neurology journal, March 2010. Basically, it says that the new European standard for diagnosing MS requires that celiac disease must be eliminated because it can cause MS-like symptoms. Hello. That would be me. Now I have medical-journal vindication for my decision not to go back onto my immunosuppressant after completing radiation therapy last spring. I knew I was right. Now I have proof.
Ha-hah!
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