Finished Bloodchild [2/25/2010]

This book is comprised of Butler's collected short stories. I really liked Speech Sounds. The Evening and the Morning and the Night was interesting as well. Most of these stories are quite dark and dire. There is much less compromise, symbiosis, and hope here than in Xenogenesis/Lilith's Brood or Fledgling.

Finished Tea Time for the Traditionally Built [2/21/2010]

This is the 10th book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I like these books because they are easy and generally entertaining. However, this one was frustrating because I found it had too much of Grace Makutsi's drama and too little of Mma Ramotswe. I liked having Puso get more attention. I wish one of these would be longer with a bit more meat to it.

Valentine's Day Brownies [2/14/2010]

Valentine's Day Brownies

1 cup butter
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup all purpose white flour
2 Tablespoons and 2 Teaspoons of brown rice flour
2 Tablespoons and 2 Teaspoons of almond flour
2 Tablespoons and 2 Teaspoons of potato starch
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2-1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan. Melt the butter. Beat the eggs, mix in the vanilla and sugar. Next stir in the melted butter, cocoa powder, and salt. Slowly add in the flours and starch. Continue stirring until batter is thoroughly mixed. Stir in walnuts and chocolate chips. Pour into pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Homebrewing: Hayfever Hefeweizen [2/14/2010]

We made an American style wheat. We added a jar of local honey purchased at the farmer's market from Kenny the Fishhugger. We also added lemon peel at the end of the brew, and lemon extract into the secondary and at racking. A few pictures from the brewing are in the slide show below.

Finished The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature [2/11/2010]

Steven Pinker is entertaining and easy to read. The section on Radical Pragmatics seemed a bit sloppy, and I wasn't too happy with the Linguistic Determinism part either. However, most of the rest was compelling and powerful. I really like the way Pinker isn't afraid to take a multi-disciplinary approach to examining human nature. And he isn't afraid to say things that might offend others. I hope he will continue to use bits of anthropology in the future.