Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fun with the Periodic Table (and math)

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

What is it about the Periodic Table that inspires so many take-offs? Look at all these fun makeovers: The Periodic Table of Typefaces The Periodic Table song, “The Elements,” by my favorite mid-20th-century musical humorist (!) Tom Lehrer.  See it sung … Continue reading →

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Leaving the nest

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

One of the baby chickadees left the nest early this morning, around 5:30 a.m.  (See video of the nest I shot about a month ago here.) Shortly after letting the dogs back in, I glanced out the kitchen window and … Continue reading →

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Beautiful fluid mechanics

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I added cream to my coffee this morning and watched, mesmerized, as the white streak slowly triangulated and formed individual spirals, each of which then continued triangulating, until at last a giant, unified spiral sprawled across the surface of the liquid. … Continue reading →

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Home from the conference, the homework begins

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

Details have never been my strong suit.  I’m a big-picture thinker, which is a good thing, but I’ve learned the hard way that the only way to make things happen is to pay attention to the details. At the conference … Continue reading →

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On the road in San Antonio

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I am in San Antonio for a few days at an engineering educators conference, so I’m experimenting with using my iPod Touch to post an entry.  The flight was $500 cheaper if I came Saturday instead of Sunday, so I … Continue reading →

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Light and Shadow

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

When I got home late from the Great Books session the other night, I loved the shadows cast by the gate on our driveway and decided to take a picture.  I don’t have a tripod, so this photo is blurry and maybe … Continue reading →

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Mother Nature as Muse

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

This week’s Saturday/Sunday edition of the The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article in the “Review” section by regular columnist Jonah Lehrer, titled “Mom Was Right: Go Outside.”  He cites the findings of several scientific studies that people who … Continue reading →

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Woodpecker nest

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

I never intended for this blog to become so nature focused, but I keep noticing nature-y things.  Last weekend I saw a woodpecker angrily chasing a robin away from the upper branches of our silver maple.  The robin kept coming back … Continue reading →

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Always chasing rainbows

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

 Last night it was raining as my film studies class ended, but while I was in my office putting away my gear, I suddenly became aware of the sky brightening.  Being a parent has conditioned me ALWAYS to look for a rainbow … Continue reading →

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My little chickadees

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Katherine Wikoff

A pair of chickadees has taken up residence in a knothole in the magnolia tree just outside our kitchen window.  That hole in the tree didn’t always exist.  It was just a burled scar where a tree branch had been … Continue reading →

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