Under the Skin

Memes are fun.  But they are also a wonderful way to spread Pseudoscience.  So, as a professional scientist, I am going to take on my mission to save the world from pseudoscience, one meme at a time. First, you may well ask:  What is pseudoscience? Pseudoscience is beliefs or practices that one keeps, and then believes is based in scientific fact, or explained with science-sounding words, but is actually not based in science at all. Second, you  may well ask:  Why is pseudoscience bad? Here's the thing.  A lot of pseudoscience works sometimes.  Why?  Because of this fantastic thing called the placebo effect.  Let me tell you something about the placebo effect.  A little story, if you'll indulge me.  I get frightfully motion sick. It's a huge problem.  But there is one way to stop it on airplanes, and its name is ginger.  I believe in ginger.  I believe in it whole-heartedly. So, before I fly, I drink ginger al...

You may remember when I reviewed The Five Ancestors serie s.  Well, the author wrote a spin-off series, and since they're short middle-grade readers, and I didn't hate The Five Ancestors, I decided to read the spin-off series. I was actually quite surprised by it.  As you may recall, I was kind of neutral but strangely unsatisfied about the Five Ancestors series, and spin-off series, though they can be good, tend to be merely a desperate attempt to make more money because the author is out of ideas.  Occasionally, a spin-off series is just that the author loved the characters, and had another story to tell.  But usually, the author just doesn't have any more ideas (cough Cassandra Clare cough Cough cough cough  Kiera Cass cough cough cough cough.)  I was sort of expecting this one to be of the latter variety.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that this spin-off took some ideas from the first series, but actually created an entirely new story, c...

Since I have been making a habit of criticizing those who criticize pop culture:  You know what bothers me today?  You've all seen the meme of Justin Bieber's lyrics juxtaposed with Frank Sinatra's and then people will decry how our culture is so simple and stupid. You have to remember, every era has different levels of music.  Justin Bieber's music is short-lived, pop music for tweens.  It was never intended to be up next to Frank Sinatra's music, which was considered a little higher end, even at the time.  We have deeper lyrics in some of our pop songs, and less deep in others. That's just how it is.  Let's compare Sinatra's same lyrics: With each word  your tenderness grows.   Tearing my fear apart And that laugh that wrinkles your nose, It touches my foolish heart. To Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud": Take me into your loving arms Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars Place your head on my beating heart I'...

Back to book reviews, right? So, remember when I told you about the Gallagher Girls series?  That series that I was ashamed to like, but then it grew on me.  Well, I didn't want to read it for a long while, because it looked like smutty chick-lit for thirteen-year-olds.  But after a recommendation from a friend whose book-tastes I trust very much, I read them.  And I loved them.  So, we went onto the other series written by Ally Carter, Heist Society.  Katarina Bishop (Kat) comes from a family business.  Not just any family business.  They are thieves.  And not just any thieves.  They are legendary thieves--the best of the best.  Not common criminals.  But, fifteen-year-old Kat feels that she is done with the thief life.  Just when she can't be, because a mafioso is missing his art, and he is sure that her family did it.  And he wants it back.  When he doesn't believe that they didn't, he tells Kat that h...

Just so you know, that title is intended to be read with the inflection of the Dodo birds in Ice Age when they say, "The LAST melon..." And that is a scary thought, because it means that, people, you only have three months to complete your New Year's Resolutions!  And that's just frankly scary.  It scares me a bit.  So, how am I doing? Health Goals Eat at least one meal every day: Let's be honest, I have, frankly, been awful about this one recently.  I did well when I was at camp, because they were scheduled and I ate to set a good example for the kids (even breakfast!), but other than that...it's bad. Carry around a water bottle: I haven't been that great this past week, but I will be better this coming week. Writing Goals Finish first draft of novel "War to End All Wars": I think I can do this one, but it's not done yet. Finish first draft of novel "Passing the Setting Sun": COMPLETE! Complete NaNoWriMo in Novembe...