A little boogie woogie, everyday --Daily Anthem

The kids and I like to start our mornings with the "Move It, Move It" song. I think I can add this Jerry Lee Lewis song to the morning wake-up routine. I heard it on NPR while I was driving home from the library and it made me want to get out of the car and dance in the street. You also have to know that Paul and I love to swing!

I do my little boogie woogie everyday.

A Daily Anthem

I think part of getting through the Ph.D. "thing" is getting into the correct mindset. Having a mantra last semester really helped me with this. For my mantra, I pictured the WWII poster of the woman rolling up her sleeves. Yes, "we can do it" became really important to me. This semester, in addition to a mantra, I've decided a daily anthem will be helpful.

You can help. What are your favorite anthems? You know, the songs that put a smile on your face and a spring in your step. Songs that stick with you, which you can continue to "play" in your head as you go through your day.

My first anthem is from Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate. Many thanks to Patsy and Randolph for reintroducing me to the song.

Child Hunger in Philly

Chilton has done some research on child hunger in the United States. The Washington Post has an interesting write up about this issue.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/11/AR2009121102697.html?sid%3DST2009121103445&sub=AR

Diet Change in the Atacama: the Coprolite Evidence

This write up in the Scarlet at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln highlights research that I and my colleagues recently published in the journal PloSOne. After reading Santoro's dissertation about the archaeological site from which the coprolites came, I questioned whether they would reveal evidence of verticality, now called ecological complementarity. This research demonstrates how collaboration can reveal a greater understanding of diet change in the Atacama Desert at the time of the Inka.


http://scarlet.unl.edu/?p=5805

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008069

http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2009/11/new_and_exciting_in_plos_one_220.php

Michael Pollan in the NYT on the history of cooking in the United States

I appreciate Michael Pollen's take on the history of cooking in the United States. He discussing why Americans like cooking shows and the Food Network. He discusses the incongruity between the obsession with cooking shows while actual time in the kitchen has diminished.

When I cook I like to tell a story

Or more accurately, I like to tell a story just before I serve food to my guests. It's my teachable moment as a nutritional anthropologist. Luckily, most of my friends humor me as I launch into an explanation of traditional kimchi making practices (where the savory, spicy cabbage was buried in the ground in large clay pots to preserve it for the winter: see I couldn't resist!) when I'm about to serve a Korean meal of bulgogi.

I also love to demonstrate assembly. Do you know the proper way to roll maki sushi?...Let me show you. I was not really aware of this particular quirk of mine until I recently asked a friend if she would like me to demonstrate how to construct a fish taco. She said, "well, I think I can figure it out...but go ahead. I know how you like to teach about food."

Some Good Advice About Grad School

Some good advice about graduate school http://www.physlink.com/Education/grad_how2.cfm