Book Review: Plastic Fantastic

Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World by Eugenie Samuel Reich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I think this is the nerdiest book I have ever read. Ever. Mostly because it deals with a LOT of physics and the explanation of experiments and materials used. Organic crystals, sputtering machines, pentacene crystals and particles changing from p-type to n-type (just to name a few). And this book is about 45-50% physics explanations. But it has to be, because it's about the fraud that can be carried out in the scientific world. Especially when people don't understand what one scientist is doing and take him at face value when he makes certain claims. When he claims to be doing impossible things, the author wants to make sure you know why it would be impossible to do what he was claiming to have done.

The main point is this: Science is self-regulating. However, people need to be more on top of things and if things seem to good to be true, they just might be. Don't be afraid to call foul! Or Fraud for that matter. And the author makes a good point: Science is self-regulating. If someone makes a claim and it is false, that claim will eventually be proved so due to the inability of others to duplicate it. HOWEVER, the author also points out that until that happens, millions of dollars and years of time and energy can be wasted to prove these theories that are lies. And how do you give someone back a year of their life? (The author talks about some scientists that were turned off this kind of physics study solely based on their frustration, and chagrin at not being able to duplicate the false claims of the fraudster)

I think the author wants authority and others in position of power to not push so hard for papers and results to be printed. He thinks that the fraudster felt as though this was expected of him. And so he would print a paper as "fact" and then he hoped that others would prove his theories with their work. If he wasn't so pushed to print and publish, he might not have done what he did. Or maybe he would've no matter what. The author seems to think that he is not so much an EVIL scientist as a lazy and unimaginative one. No thoughts of his own, no way to make his own experiments work. So who knows, maybe he would been a fraudulent scientist no matter what.

Due to the fact that most people that read this book won't be physics geniuses, I think the author did a great job making the ideas and experiments easy for the layman to understand. That's why it gets 4 stars. Also because it talks about Los Alamos Labs, and UIUC where a friend is studying for her physics PhD right now as I type. I hope she's not trying to prove any of this guy's false claims!

But seriously, this is a geeky book. ENJOY, MY GEEK FRIENDS!

Dinner Al Fresco

I gave the baby some dinner the other night and this is where she went to go eat it.


She decided an al fresco dinner would be nice this evening. Don't you love how the rabbit is always included in whatever she does?

They were checking out the view of the "Y" this fine summer evening.

The Big Six

"I would totally marry you again, Ali"

What more can you ask for on your 6th wedding anniversary?

Oh, I know! How about a child that isn't sick? I would've really appreciated it if my kid didn't get a hand and mouth virus that has caused blistering hives to break out on her palms, soles, and her ENTIRE "diaper zone." They almost look like festering boils. Yech. And i guess it's pretty contagious the first few days (Which today is) so we felt like we couldn't ask anyone to babysit our HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS and PLAGUE RIDDEN child.

So instead we took her with us to the Red Lobster. We inflicted her borderline infected corpuscles on them. . . . And their lobster tank. . . .Which YES my child stuck her hand into (and almost her face too, if you were wondering)

Did you know that they will take a live lobster out of the tank and bring it around for the kids to "pet" if they would like. Those things give me the creeps out of the water. And I just realized why. They look like spiders with tails! Flailing legs, wandering antennae, a tail that curls up into itself when the manager "tickles" it. Geee geeee geee geeeeeeeesh!! NO THANK YOU!! You can take that thing right back to the kitchen. Boil it up and bring it to me with a side of butter. Otherwise I don't want to see it again. (If you were wondering, I had the Lobster Pizza. It was FREAKING AWESOME. And nothing squirmed at me as I tried to eat it)

And for an anniversary dinner, it wasn't too bad. Even with a tag-along baby. We didn't get into any fights. We didn't let the baby's constant climbing down and getting up bother us. Mostly because we kept feeding her a steady stream of snow crab and lobster pizza. I think she ate about 2 whole legs of crab herself. So I guess we know she likes seafood! We got to talk about being in San Diego (where we were married and where we went just a few months before she was born) and about how Marcelo wants to live somewhere close to the coast so he can eat seafood everyday. And even though it was our anniversary, I don't mind spending it with the sweet, sweet Bibbers.

Because, as Mar says, she is the fruit of our time together.

Happy Anniversary, Amorcito. I would totally marry you again, too!

Curly Girl

At our family Reunion last week, my sister produced a book for myself and my niece to read and enjoy. It was called Curly Girl and it talks about the care and maintenance of curly hair, which all three of us have.

And while my hair is much MUCH less curlier than my sister's or my niece's, it's interesting to learn about the different things this woman suggests for those with curly hair who like to wear their hair curly.

First, she thinks that everyone with curly hair SHOULD wear their hair curly! So you should immediately throw out your flat iron, blow dryer (for straightening purposes, that is) and other like hair torture devices. She gives a few products to use, but she never comes out and gives NAMES. I wish she would just give a NAME! I mean "spray gel" what is that? Does leave in conditioner count as spray gel? What about a root booster? What about mousse? Can I put some in a spray bottle, fill it with water and call it "spray gel?" Also, she says your conditioner is very important (as you will see why in a minute) and so you need to make sure your conditioner is good quality and has all these things in it. Like emollients and humectants and the like. But she never says WHERE we can find these conditioners. Do I have to go to a salon? Does Pantene have these in them? Can you just give me a list of "acceptable" conditioners, PLEASE? (I understand, legally, why she can't do this. But it's still quite annoying for us in the real world who is trying to wrestle a 2 year old octopus-child in a shopping cart. Those people don't have 30 min to read the back of every bottle of shampoo to check if it contains the certain chemical formula she says to look for. Come on! Help a sister out!)

Moving on. She advocates throwing away ALL shampoo. She says shampoo is too rough on hair anyway, and is a disaster for curly hair which is much dryer than straight hair. So using your fingers, some conditioner and a little time in the shower is how your hair will get clean. And she says you can keep a little shampoo around for "spot cleaning" like you would spot clean a nice sweater. But never the whole head.

I don't know how I feel about all of her techniques. Like the certain way to cut the hair. I don't have hundreds of dollars to go and find the perfect hair stylist that will "talk" to each individual curl and find out where it wants to lay. Because to have everything PERFECT, I have to find the the Bob Ross of hair cutters. "Where does this tree want to be? How about right here. A happy little tree right here just coming out of the water." Nope, sorry. No time or money for that one.

However I would have to say that after about a week of doing what she says, I see a definite difference in my hair. I have less of a "halo" around my head because my hair tends to not be so dry. And I haven't had to use any dandruff shampoo for this whole time either! The moisturizing conditioner and my agitation while I scrub my head seems to be breaking up the loose skin cells and yet keeping things nice and moist. It really is making my curls cuter and more defined. I'm a believer. Until someone tells me my head smells from lack of shampoo, that is.

But seriously, what is spray gel? JUST ONE LITTLE NAME BRAND, PLEASE!?!?

Clown Pants

I'm losing weight. Anyone who has seen me int he last 6 months is thinking "DUH!" But that's not what I want to talk bout today. Today I want to talk about clothes. And pants in particular. Because even though I've lost 60 pounds, I'm not ready to buy pants yet.

TIME OUT!

DO NOT SAY "THAT IS AWESOME, ALICIA!" WHATEVER YOU DO.

Here's why: before you start to congratulate me, you should know I don't need to hear it. No really. If I do, I might start thinking that 60 pounds is "good enough" when really it's not. It's not where I should be, and I want to lose more. So don't tell me that it's "terrific" and "wonderful" . Instead you should say, "only 60? I mean, it's been like 7 months already! the people on Biggest Loser pound that out in like 4 weeks!" That's the kind of things I need to hear. That's going to keep me going.

TIME IN!

Anyway, I have serious buyers remorse and shopping aversions. I have VERY large feet, so shoe shopping is out. And for many years I couldn't find anything that fit me unless it was in the "clothes for large woman who want to be skinny but don't lose weight so instead we just make our clothes in the styles that were made for skinny women but on large women they look ridiculous" store. And usually those stores are crazy expensive. Because that's all a chubby girl needs. . . LESS MONEY TO FEEL WORSE ABOUT HERSELF.

Or you can go to my favorite runner up store for "people who are cheap, nasty, or are between sizes and don't want to pay full price for a pair of pants that they hope to not fit them in 3 months". You know what I'm talking about: THE D.I.

But before I tell you about my D.I. shopping trip, you should know that I made a deal to "reward" my weight loss with different things I needed. Like a new pair of church shoes (after i lost 30 pounds) and a new pair of pants after I lost 50. HOWEVER, when I got to the point of losing 50 pounds, I realized that my clothes weren't hanging off me like I wanted. I didn't want to buy any new clothes until my pants had become "clown pants" and were only being held up by a pair of ridiculous suspenders. (Or a belt that cinches things tight and makes it all bunch up around my middle. Whichever you prefer)

So, I rely on the D.I. And I did it when my mom is in town. And there is nothing that makes my mom happier than going to the D.I. She could (and often does) spend hours there. Talking on the phone, wandering the isles, and usually coming home with some sort of slotted spoon, alarm clock radio and/or juice pitcher. Those are the kinds of things she gets. And why not? I don't blame her for going there to find cheap housewares. What I DO blame her for is taking 2 and a half hours to find those things.

Anyway, as I went to the D.I. and looked for pants, I was reminded that they have the most ridiculous labeling system known to man. Because they only have 4 categories for all clothes ALLLLLL CLOTHES. Baby clothes, child clothes, men, women, plus size. It is ALL put into one of the following categories: S, M, L or XL. So you can imagine my frustration.

And jeans, there are so many of them! So many styles, and so many old pairs. But there are really REALLY nice jeans there too. So you may be sorting through a stack of "mom pants" and the happen upon a pair of Lucky's or Silver's. And they have OF COURSE been mis-labeled and are in the "L" section but really they are like a size 6. (Because D.I. employees don't understand that some pants are labeled with NUMBERS. It's a novel concept, I know)

But that's not my real problem. My real problem is that it's been so long since I've tried on jeans I'm talking YEARS. Maybe 3+ years? Just too long. And you may ask what I wore instead of Jeans? Well, I will tell you that I didn't go out much. And when I did it was usually in some sort of PJ pants or exercise/stretch pants (I'm so sorry Judd! I'm so nasty! At least they weren't gathered with elastic at the bottom or otherwise tapered. . . usually) And here is the point of all this ranting: Because it's been so long that I've even tried on a pair of pants (let alone gone into a store that SELLS pants), I don't know what is cool anymore. Dark denim? Medium colored denim? The "faded" look? Acid wash?Do people wear flared jeans now? Boot cut? Straight leg? Is everyone wearing those "skinny" jeans? Who over the age of 11 (that's a PRE-PUBESCENT 11, mind you) looks good in those? Is that what I have to wear now? Does it have to say "Ed Hardy" down the side or have holes in the knees?

I just don't know. So when I found several pairs that would work for me, I tried to decide which were the "coolest" and buy those. To judge what the current styles in pants were, I decided to look around at the D.I. to see what others were wearing.

HINT: NEVER LOOK TO SHOPPERS IN D.I. FOR ANY KIND OF FASHION RULES! There were plaid shorts and lots of camel toe to be seen. \

Not helpful. I had to wing it on my own. I think i did a good enough job.

In any event, I hope to say that they have become clown pants and are falling off of me in 3 months. Here's hoping, right?

And because my GOOD GOOD friend Lynn writes me and tells me she misses my blog and then sends me hilarious videos to inspire me to write posts, you can thank her for this video. I think that ALL my Body Rolls should have a song about them.