Dispatch from an airport terminal.

Holy smokes, an airport where the WiFi is actually free! (If only San Jose International were more mass-transit friendly…)
I’m going to be offline for much of the day since I’ll be in transit on my way to PSA 2008. I’m hoping Pittsburgh’s weather will not destroy me. (The temperature ranges predicted as of yesterday don’t seem too frightening, but California can do things to a person.)

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Random question for the hive mind.

The other day, my better half and I were discussing scratching. Predictably, in the course of the discussion, I became aware of every itchy square millimeter of skin I might possibly possess.
I wondered whether scratching actually works — that is, whether scratching ever acts to make an itch go away, or even to reduce it.
“Of course it does,” my better half opined. “Why else would we do it?”
“Because we’re poorly adapted?” I ventured.
So, here’s the question*:

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Neighbor kids, ergot, and zombies.

My better half was clearing plates from the kitchen table as I was cooking something.

Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: Hey, I thought our kids like zucchini bread.

Dr. Free-Ride: They do. That piece was [the kid across the street’s] — always gladly accepts a snack, never has more than a few bites.

Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: Huh.

Dr. Free-Ride: I think that’s why when our kids are over there, there are so many snacks. If you have a kid who only eats a little at a time, you have to feed continuously.

Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: Why don’t our kids eat like birds?

Dr. Free-Ride: I’m going to guess that genetics have something to do with it. But their metabolic reserves will carry them through when zombies have disrupted Trader Joe’s supply chain.

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Garden update: day 89.

Nearly three months after we sowed the seeds in our raised garden beds, it feels like we’re on the edge of a change of seasons. The days are still quite warm (with temperatures in the mid-eighties for most of the past week), but the days are definitely cooler, and the hours or sunlight grow shorter every day.
In the garden, this means that we’re starting to look pensively at the slow-growing root vegetables (notably the carrots and the onions).

Carrots89.jpg

“Are you gonna be done soon?”

Onions89.jpg

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DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge 2008: some BIG incentives.

In a lot of ways, the DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge is a community endeavor. It is all about what you, our community of readers, can accomplish together for public school students and teachers in need. Also, it’s a great example of how citizens of the blogosphere think about community — not just a group of people clustered geographically, but people we’re connected to by common interests and values.
While you’re working together to make things better for school kids in classrooms across the fifty United States, you can also work together toward what Chad calls a ‘big incentive’. Chad is offering a ‘big incentive’ if donors get his challenge to its goal of $6,000, although it’s not quite clear at this point just what that ‘big incentive’ will be. The current contenders include Chad dancing like a monkey, slipping a dialogue with his dog into the abstract of his next peer-reviewed publication, or growing full mutton-chop whiskers.
Competitive git that I am, I figured I should offer some big incentives, too. In order to tell you about those, first I need to introduce you to my midlife crisis.

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DonorsChoose Blogger Challenge 2008: more incentives for your donations.

Today is day 10 of Blogger Challenge 2008, in which generous ScienceBlogs readers help public school teachers come up with the funds to deliver the educational goods to their students. As I write this post, challenges mounted by ScienceBloggers have crossed the $10,000 mark.
Given that this money has come from 113 donors and that there are about a bajillion ScienceBlogs readers, I’m guessing there are some folks thinking about making a donation but hanging back from actually donating. My hope is that this post will give you that little push forward you might need.

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Fabulous prizes for your donation to my DonorsChoose challenge.

You already know that we’re working with DonorsChoose to raise some money for public school teachers who are trying to give their students the engaging educational experiences they deserve. You also know that our benevolent overlords at Seed will be randomly selecting some donors to receive nifty prizes (details about this to be posted as soon as I get them).
As I did last year, I’m going sweeten the deal by offering some incentive to everyone who donates to my challenge. And I’m adding a few new options this time around. Here’s what you can get:

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