Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Joolwe is a girl's best friend


Joolwe is actually a website, Joolwe.com, with a very clever marketing strategy. And some attractive silver earrings. Like the Athena Citrine earrings shown here.

Joolwe recently interviewed a number of bloggers about their approach to buying and wearing jewelry. I was one of the folks they talked with; you'll find the interview here.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Food, Fitness, Fashion — and Firearms?

Some of you know I've been having a wonderful time playing around with Steampunk fashion and am looking forward to attending Steamcon in Seattle this fall.

I found myself fascinated by this accessory from Muddy Mountain Pottery — a Raku pottery ray gun with a glass element and clockwork innards.

"Menacing, with delicate precision," is what the artists call it. It's intended for display, but wouldn't it be great with a Firefly-esque Desert Nomad Steampunk costume?

The artists think they got the name Heinlein Hand Howitzer from Denvention Fan Guest of Honor Tom Whitmore, who visited their booth at the WorldCon.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Making exercise less of a pain

Kinesiology professor Robert Motl, a former competitive bicyclist, is studying the effect of caffeine on people doing vigorous physical exercise.

His results indicate that "caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during cycling, across different intensities, across different people, different characteristics."

Does this reduction in pain result in improved performance? I, personally, don't care. Reduction in pain, for me, would increase my enjoyment of exercise and my willingness to do it for 90-minute periods three times a week. I'm going to grab a shot of espresso before my Trailer Park Yoga class tonight and will report the results. Something tells me I'll be wide awake!

(Yes, the Trailer Park Yoga classes with Susan are starting up again, and will be available for the next few months on a drop-in basis. The location is in Fremont. Please contact me for details if you'd like to attend, or check out one class as a guest.)