Why why why???

(I'm sorry if you love fudge)

So I'm finding articles that I can use to help with some of the my current work/research for my PhD. I've visited a professor in the psychology department asking her if she could help me with some of my questions about my research area. She said she had some articles that she could email to me that might help. I'm trying to figure out how and why people create personal preference. I start reading an article she sent titled "Food-related contextual factors substantially modify the disgust response".

I'm thinking this might be good because it could give insight as to why people have preference of one food over another. The first line in the abstract of the article is: "Feces-shaped chocolate fudge has been shown to evoke a significant disgust reaction." This line raised an eyebrow and my first thought is "oh really?" (sarcastically). I did a quick skim of the article and I came to the the purpose of this study. "It is not the purpose of this study to propose a general theory of disgust. All that is being attempted is to clarify why feces-shaped chocolate fudge provokes such a powerful aversive response."

So now I'm asking myself why in the world would some researcher spend time and money on trying to "clarify" this response? I just don't get it. I mean to have an idea like "I know, I'm going to research why people get disgusted at poop shaped fudge." As if that is a good idea. Then to pass this off to the IRB (internal review board) at your university and have them review it and OK it for research purposes. And finally to have a journal publish this article. I mean, holy cow people, go cure cancer, AIDS, diabetes or something. But to study poop, I just don't get it. I think after reading this post you will all look at and think about fudge in a whole new light. If you are at all interested in reading this article you can download here

Scoresby Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Scoresby Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Christmas

We had a good Christmas. Mary and I gave each other the trip to New York and we gave the girls some toys, books, clothes and candy. Here are some pictures of the girls opening their presents and also of Grace singing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. The room was dimly lit and we took the video with our digital camera so the quality is a little low. I've also included the video taken by our sister-in-law so you can see her sing from a different angle and get the whole show. The first video is from my camera and the second video is from our sister-in-law.

NEW YORK

So many of you know that we went to New York over the break to see the sights and visit my sister and her husband in Brooklyn. We took a bunch of photos and had a great time. We ate like nobody's business and it was great. We ate at French, German, and Italian restaurants. Everyone was a little apprehensive about the German food but they all liked it a lot. Don't doubt the Germans. They make good cars and good food, and large, buff women named Helga.


And Helga can be an American Gladiator if she so desires.

Saturday
Mary flew with Delta and I flew with United. We landed about a half hour apart and I was able to find Mary easily enough. We took a cab to my sister's apartment and I think we got swindled by the driver. We were so tired because we took red eye flights so we didn't care much. We got into the apartment and crashed for 3 hours.





That afternoon we visited the Museum of Natural History. It was really cool to see so many things. Plus it's the place where "Night at the Museum" was filmed. They had so many dinosaurs. It was really cool see what things exist(ed) on this earth. Plus we found Scoresby crater. (More crater images)


Look at the size of that turtle!!!




Saturday night, on our way back from the museum we stopped at the French restaurant around the corner from the apartment. The food was so good that it got to the point where me and Mary stopped talking and just enjoyed the food. Now don't tell me that you weren't surprised that food would shut me up.

Sunday
We woke up Sunday morning and had some breakfast. Sean and Jen showed up at 8 am. Mary and myself got ready and went back to the museum to see a show that my brother got us tickets to for Christmas. Thanks Jeremy and Anneka! It was really cool. It was a show in a planetarium called Cosmic Collision.


On our way back from the museum we walked past a farmer's market. It was so cool. We bought so much food and took it back to the apartment for lunch. It was really good and so much fun. It was a pretty cold day and someone was selling hot fresh apple cider.

We also visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was cool to see all of that art work. I think the best part for me was to see Mary in her natural element. I felt like I had my own tour guide with Mary (humanities major) and my brother-in-law Sean (MFA). I really liked Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir, I think it's the colors they used.







After the Met we went to find the German restaurant. Who knew that after walking through museums and walking 1 million avenue blocks would make your feet and legs hurt so much? While there we were the only people that didn't have a beer so we were the odd ones out. It was cool. Sean and Jen got a german apple drink called Apfelschorle, it's a sparkling apple drink. We took a picture of Sean and he looks a little tipsy after drinking his sparkling apple soda. So maybe we fit in more than we thought.





Monday
Monday we woke up and rested quite a bit. Jennifer and Sean didn't wake up until 11:30, so me and Mary just hung out and rested our sore feet. That afternoon we went to a really cool candy store.

That's Mary in the background under the word sexy.

After the candy store we walked around 5th avenue and went to FAO Schwartz. There was some crazy stuff there.




After FAO Schwartz, we walked some more, visited the world Nintendo store (alas, the search for the Wii continues) and then went to eat some very, very, very, let me say one more time, very tasty Italian pizza. Mary says this is the closest to authentic she has had in the states. She almost felt like she was in Italy again.




This pizza place is so popular that there was already a line formed outside when we got there at about 4:30. So while waiting Mary and I decided to walk down the block to the pier. It was very cold but still cool to see the Brooklyn/Manhattan skyline.




With our tummies full and smiles on our faces we had one more stop before going back to the apartment. We stopped off at a market called Garden of Eden to buy high-end cheeses and pastries. Yes, that is right, we needed more food after polishing off 3 huge pizzas and rootbeers.

After that stop we went back to the apartment and hung out, watched Transformers, and waited for the ball to drop in Times Square. Jennifer bought some little poppers from a guy on the street selling New Year's stuff. We popped them, I kissed Mary, we packed and went to bed. We had to get up at 4 to make sure we got to the airport in time to make the 6:50 flight.

So there you have it. That was a play-by-play of our trip to New York. We had so much fun and we want to do it again. Thanks Jen and Sean for everything.

The Book Club Question

I'm hosting a ward book club at my house this week and I'm starting to feel a little apprehensive about what I've gotten myself into. People have such different expectations, tastes, sensitivities, etc. and I'm wondering how to navigate through all of this. I was in a book club once and suggested a book, but one girl was too offended by it to finish it. Ever since then I've doubted my own judgment a bit on what's appropriate for a general Mormon audience. So I'm appealing to my blogging friends for suggestions. Do you have a favorite book that you think would be reader friendly for a Relief Society group? Also, I'm pretty open to any genre but I do think the book should have some literary merit beyond just being printed words on a page, something that merits discussion.

Back to Basics

So Mary's younger brother works for a company that is a 3rd party distributer for back to basics items. One of the items they sell is an egg/muffin machine. Once I saw this thing, I had to have one. You just get it all in there and after a few minutes you have a breakfast sandwich ready to go. It's great. I've already used it a couple of times and the sandwiches have been great. Mary has even used it with me and she has liked the sandwiches too. So basically what I'm doing here is plugging this item. It's a toaster with an egg cooker connected to it. It even has an area where you can stick ham/bacon/sausage and have it warmed up for the sandwich. It's a great thing to have in ones kitchen. I don't think McDonalds is going to be hurt by these things. The egg McMuffin is probably safe but I for one will be making my own from now on.