Nau Côclea Residency - Log 1

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My flights were happily uneventful.  However, on the Charlotte-Barcelona leg, we were served yogurt for breakfast.  The foil top of mine was extremely puffed up.  This has occasionally happened to me before when the yogurt has begun to ferment and it's recommended that you don't eat them at that point.  I looked for the expiration date, and found it was 05.08.15.  That's actually not out of date - in Europe the dates are written day.month.year.  Yogurt can in fact ferment before its proposed expiration date, but typically it doesn't go bad two months before.  I peered around for a while trying to see other people's yogurts or a flight attendant to query, but everyone else nearby had already opened theirs up and there were no attendants on my side of the plane.

A seatmate on the other side asked me if I needed his help in getting a flight attendant since I was clearly looking around a lot.  I said I wasn't sure - what was his yogurt foil doing?  He investigated his yogurt and those of his friends, and said they were all bloated as well.  I figured that while one puffy yogurt may have snuck past quality control and onto my tray, if everyone's were like that then the staff clearly must be aware and believed they were okay to eat.  So I opened it and cautiously dug in while continuing to mull over the problem.  Then it hit me - it's because we're on an airplane.  The yogurts were packaged while on land and sealed with normal air pressure, and were then transported up with us to a lower air pressure environment so the trapped gases inside the yogurt container expanded and puffed the foil top up.  It didn't occur to me at the outset because I'd only ever encountered the problem in a different context.  This is one of the main reasons I like to travel: I love challenging expectations I don't even know I'm making (even when they're about something as quotidian as foil yogurt tops).

Best in Show Award at Wild Things National Juried Exhibition

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Confrontation won the Best in Show award at the Wild Things national juried exhibition!  Though the reception and awards ceremony have already been held, you can view my pieces (Lambs in Field is also on display) at the exhibition through June 27th.  The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is also planning on publishing an interview with me under their Let's Talk Arts series due in part to the win, so once that's published I'll put up another post with that link as well.

Aphids Are Born Pregnant (Unless They're Not Born At All...)

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Did you know that most aphids are born pregnant?  I was thinking about this odd fact since my sempervivum collection (colloquially known as Hen and Chicks) had an aphid infestation due in part to the unusually wet late spring here in Kansas.  Luckily, neem oil has so far discouraged the little ladies from successfully hatching their next two generations.  Below is a close-up of one the several sempervivum species I'm keeping in a rail planter on my porch.


First Fully Warm-Blooded Fish Identified!

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This is cool:

"The opah, or moonfish, is the first known fully warm-blooded fish, according to a study published in the journal Science.
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Certain other fish, such as some sharks and tuna, have what’s known as 'regional endothermy,' or limited warm-bloodedness. It allows them to stay active in colder depths, as well as shallower waters. But the fully warm-blooded opah are unlike all other fish, at least so far as we know it."

Wild Things National Juried Exhibition

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I have two paintings in this exhibition juried by Ruth Ann Reese: Confrontation and Lambs in Field.

Exhibition Dates: June 5 – 27, 2015
Opening Reception: June 5, 2015 from 5:00 – 9:00 pm, awards announced at 6:00 pm
Exhibition Location: Gallery 100 & Lorimier Gallery at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri on 32 N. Main Street, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701