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NINE THOUSAND MONKEYS. AND ME.

That's really exciting stuff. I won't ever forget my murine myeloma cultures; I liked taking care of nine million cells a day. Studying biology was probably the only good decision I've ever made.

That seems very similar to "did not learn to discriminate between two different proprioceptive inputs in this test." It might have been because of their reliance on that really cool mechanoreceptor that apparently operates off sucker deformation, but if a creature cannot learn to discriminate between two sensory inputs can it be said to have that sense?

I absolutely accept that I've probably misread this entire thing but that was the exact process I followed to get to where I got.

Cephalopods lack proprioception entirely, if I'm not mistaken. Behaviorally, it's very interesting.

M. J. Wells (1964). Tactile Discrimination of Surface Curvature and Shape by the Octopus Journal of Experimental Biology, 41, 433-445

And please allow me to amend my statement: I find it very interesting.

Cephalopods lack proprioception entirely, if I'm not mistaken. Behaviorally, it's very interesting.

$5 says he changes it to something "Shocking".

... were you trying to get me to change it, literally, to "Shocking," thinking I would think I was clever? If not, cool. But if so, that's downright devious and I'm highly impressed.

... making diagrams showing the interlinked pathways worked better for me than listing the steps, in Biochem and Molecular Cell Biology. Form IS function, at that level, and drawing an arrow was easier to remember than the full text of pages of notes. First thing I did on every exam was flip to a blank back page and draw out all the diagrams I had made myself.

... it's such a miserable rush.

I value sanity more than any other resource I have. I don't find zaniness or wackiness amusing unless being performed by small children. Even then, it gets old quickly.

I don't think what has happened to me is a good thing. I don't like talking about it. I mentioned it because it was related directly to an enquiry; I'll try to avoid narcissistic paeans. It's hard, when you're the topic of discussion. In the past few months, I've been nearly crushed to death helping a friend move, hit a deer, on a separate occasion totaled a car, divorced. None of those came up because they weren't relevant.

As for not making a great impression... I guess I'll just have to practice. Gotta start somewhere or you never start. I didn't come here to act out. I'm here to contribute. As I can.

Self indulgent tripe.

Well, no one else is going to indulge me. Especially around here.

Considering how frigging long it takes to crystallize a protein that news is extremely big. Too bad XFELs ard so expensive...

So with it being the Holidays, Saturnalia and Thanksgiving and the Solstice and New Year's and possibly Twelfth Night (by Billy Shakes), a few naked goods recipes might be in order. I have five cookie recipes that are worth a damn; these two were taken almost right off the package. But first some backstory.

A decade ago I was living in a... it's too complicated to describe but I had solo access several days a week to a kitchen suitable for cooking for 300.

I decided to settle the question of whose chocolate chips were best once and for all. I went to the grocery store and bought one of every kind of chip they had, and produced cookies according to package directions. If you knew me that year you got cookies as a gift.

They stopped producing the winner within a year: Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Chips are no more. Introduced a replacement product with similar packaging, and that's the first cookie now.

Fair warning, I live in America, and these are the units as I was given them.

60% Cacao Chip cookies by Ghirardelli

Sift together 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp of salt. Set aside.

Cream together 2 sticks of butter, and 3/4 of a cup each of brown sugar and white sugar. Doing the creaming with a metal tablespoon actually makes them taste better at the end for some reason. Beat in two eggs. Add some real vanilla extract, at least two tablespoons. More is better.

Stir the dry mix into the wet mix slowly. When finished, mix in an entire bag of chips.

Drop balls onto cookie sheets and bake at 375○F until golden. They do not need greasing due to the butter content. There is enough baking powder here to make them puff up quite a bit.

The chocolate flavor here is nearly overpowering.

The next recipe is similar but: we use Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips; put in a bit more baking powder; and add 2-4 tbsp cinnamon to the dry mix. This ends up being quite balanced flavorwise. It looks like a lot of cinnamon; but 2 heaping tablespoons is about a half teaspoon short of the right amount. Properly sifted, the dry mix should have flecks of brown but mostly be the color of maple walnut ice cream.

I still keep hoping the conspiracy theory I came up with catches on: the fluoride in the water powers the batteries in the transmitters in your fillings. I introduced a few places a while back, intending to see firsthand how these things spread. Sadly, it never caught on.

Let us know how it goes with your case study. Errr. Cubemate.

You mean the spinoff from the far superior but shortlived Grim & Evil?

Evil Con Carne was great. Classic villain.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I read these forums quite a bit. Liked reading the old BIP ones too. Never registered, but looking to be more active in the movement. Opening communications seems to increase that likelihood.

Also, I recently finished losing my mind. It was a long, painful process. I could feel it going, and now I dare not trust any of my perceptions.

Hoping to find a place to occasionally post adventures and exploits.

"We aren't a movement, movements are systems and systems kill. "~punks

"We aren't a movement, movements are systems, and systems belong to Grey face." ~ Grey faced discordianists.

"We aren't a movement, movements are systems, and the only system I want inside me is a carrot." ~the rest of us.

"You're making a bad impression for the new guy." ~you?

Of course, "we" aren't a movement. I hardly know you. Dinner and drinks and then maybe the movement can begin? You're quite forward but I like that.

Less in jest...

I can't remember if I meant movement or moment.

LMNO, thanks for the heads up. I frequently have minor auditory hallucinations; I've gotten pretty good at sorting them out but it gets taxing. More seriously, I could feel something in my mind giving way, and sometime in the last six months or so it gave out. I can no longer describe it for the lack. It had something to do with thinking about how two things were connected with---with like a web in between.

Mad is meant as: I dare not trust my own perceptions, so why should you trust me? I'm angry, mad, possibly at things I've only imagined. I'm also madcap, prone to ranting.

I do not knowingly make light of mental illness. It's a hell of a thing. If someone abuses me for my choice of name or description of what I've felt, trust I know I deserve it. After all, it may not be what I intended, but it's a consequence of choice regardless. And they likely need someone to rail against; getting anger at the situation out is healthy. May as well be me.

I'm really not wacky. I'm an embittered, occasionally brilliant, irrational bastard.

I read these forums quite a bit. Liked reading the old BIP ones too. Never registered, but looking to be more active in the movement. Opening communications seems to increase that likelihood.

Also, I recently finished losing my mind. It was a long, painful process. I could feel it going, and now I dare not trust any of my perceptions.

Hoping to find a place to occasionally post adventures and exploits.