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I couldn't find a Pablo Neruda poem about lobsters

Pablo Neruda has a lot of great poems about food (Ode to the Artichoke, Ode to the Onion, Ode to the Tomato, Ode to Salt, etc.), so I didn't think it'd be weird if he wrote a poem about lobsters. (I'm about to cook and eat a lobster, thought it'd be nice to have a poem for the occasion.) 

No Neruda poems about lobster, alas. (He does mention lobsters in one poem, but it's not really about them.) 

Found this, instead (from To Sadness):

Give me your slow blood,

cold

rain,

give me your astonished flight!

Give me back

the key

of the door that was shut,

destroyed.

For a moment, for

a short lifetime,

take the light from me and let me

feel myself

lost and miserable,

trembling among the threads

of twilight,

receiving into my soul

the trembling

hands

of

the

rain.

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Another upper (sarcasm)

"Our world is unstable and unpredictable, and operates, to a great degree and despite incredible scientific advancement, outside our ability to control it." 

  We all have pre-traumatic stress disorder, according to this guy.

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Swimmer Lynne Cox meets a baby whale.

Wow.

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At first the pounds melt off and then, nothing. But diet plateaus are a normal part of the body's adjusting to a lower weight. Weight loss experts say trying a variety of tactics can help move beyond the diet plateau. For most people exercise works best.

Zumba saves the day!

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A cancer by any other name...

Interesting article in the NY Times about a report suggesting that some premalignant conditions be renamed so they're not called "cancer." Some of the research on patients' decisions about treatment after hearing the word "cancer" sounds really interesting, but this seems like an issue that won't be resolved anytime soon.

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As if we needed another reminder that Beyonce and Jay Z are the cutest couple in the music industry (and the universe, probably), a fan video of the lovebirds has surfaced. During each and every show on the Mrs. Carter Show world tour, Queen B takes a few minutes to thank her backup singers, dancers and crew. On Thursday, Beyonce got quite the surprise

Terrible video quality, but this is friggin' adorable.

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Today I diagnosed myself with an OCD-related disorder

What else are weekends and Wikipedia for?

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Anxiety

Interesting piece on anxiety at the NY Times. 

"...anxiety itself, which for all its attendant discomforts and daily horrors has at its heart a vital truth, even a transcendent wisdom. This truth — which, confusingly enough, doubles as the source of anxiety’s pain — is of the essential uncertainty and perilousness of human life. Its fragility and evanescence. Anxiety emphasizes these aspects of existence with an almost evangelical fervor. It hisses them, hour by hour, minute by minute, into the sufferer’s ear. “Anything can happen at any time,” anxiety says. “There is no sure thing. Everything you hold dear is at risk, everything is vulnerable. It can all slip through your fingers.”"

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If the earth was almost 30.

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Amazeballs.

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Nostalgia, long considered a disorder, is now recognized to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety — making life seem more meaningful and death less frightening.

"Nostalgia was originally described as a “neurological disease of essentially demonic cause��� by Johannes Hoffer, the Swiss doctor who coined the term in 1688. Military physicians speculated that its prevalence among Swiss mercenaries abroad was due to earlier damage to the soldiers’ ear drums and brain cells by the unremitting clanging of cowbells in the Alps."

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An experimental "gut check" test can tell us more about the bacteria that live inside us. By studying the way the microbial populations change over time, researchers think they may have a new tool for monitoring health.

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Cancer, etc.

This is my grandfather, who died six years ago today. It was his fifth time having cancer.

Here's a piece from the NY Times about keeping one's cancer diagnosis a secret. I think the most interesting part about it is the idea that we don't want to let cancer define us, or dictate any more of our decisions than it has to. 

When I think about Grampy I do think about cancer, but it doesn't define my memory of him. Instead I remember the story of him holding my infant self up to look at an eagle statue mounted to the wall, or him taking me out for lunch on my 10th birthday because my mom was sick and I had no one else to celebrate with. I remember the tattoo on his forearm that he got while in the Navy, and his story of drinking with fellow sailors in some port (they asked the waitress not to clear away their empty bottles and drank until the table was fully covered with bottles). I remember him telling me that he had a radar detector in the car because sometimes he liked to drive 80 mph on his way to Foxwoods. I remember how proud he was at my high school graduation and how he looked forward to seeing me graduate from college. 

Grampy passed away the summer before my senior year of college, so he didn't get to be at my graduation. He's the reason that I participate in Relay for Life, and I hope he'd be proud of who I am today. This is how cancer affects us, even if it doesn't define us. 

His last words to me were, "Love ya, Rach." 

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Science and pie: two of my favorite things. 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/03/dining/science-builds-a-better-pie.html?ref=dining

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Jadite, bitches. Most of this came from my family, but some I've acquired through ebay or antique stores. I like to imagine all the people who've used these dishes through the years.

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"Hey kids," said physicist Tadashi Tokieda, "Wanna see a magic trick?" He pulled out a Slinky and did something that amazed the kids, & their dad Steve Strogatz. Steve, along with Neil deGrasse Tyson, explains what the gravity-defying Slinky trick reveals about the nature of all things great and small (including us).

Coolest. thing. ever.

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My first pie crust made with lard! Acted like a science fair project volcano when I took it out of the oven, but I remain optimistic.