John Burridge

Slightly delayed post because there was some kind of funny delay with my photos... it's fixed now.   Saturday (11/16) we went to the coast and spent a lot of time at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.  I'm trying to think when I was there last and I want to say it must have been over a decade.

We managed to catch an octopus feeding session.  The most interesting part was how the handler kept having to peel octopus suckers off of her forearm and fingers.  The octopus gets a ton of toys; apparently each arm has its own brain, so it has the capacity to tactilely explore multiple items at one time.

There were some baby rays, which were spookily adorable.

And some tube fish.

I gathered up enough pluck to touch a sea urchin, but it was slightly freaky.




There were a multitude of manipulative wave-science displays for exploring electrical generation, erosion and TSUNAMIS!  I think the tsunami display got the most play because artificially generated waves knock over (loose) lego "houses."



I had to put my camera into manual, because the infra-red range finder is in the same category as flashes.  I need to find the control for changing the ISO; the default seems to be 100, which is too slow for photographing fish (and birds, now that I think about it).  On automatic, the camera will kick the ISO up to 800, so I know it's possible to change the setting.

On the Gym Front:  Did The New Routine Friday (11/15) followed with some cable presses and cable pulls, and some lat pull-downs.  With all the focus on aerobics and ab-work, I'm suspicious I'm losing definition in my arms and chest.  Part of me feels a little like going to the gym six days a week and alternating between the New and Old Routines... but that feels a little like overkill.

 Ages ago, I tried a Queer Eye Recipe for home-made fish sticks.  The idea was to make something that was gluten-free and marginally healthier for you than batter-breaded cod.

I went to the fish store and made a New Best Friend when I told them I was trying a new Queer Eye Recipe.  They didn't have the fish I was looking for--I think it was mahi-mahi--but found a suitable replacement. 

I cut the fish into strips and then coated them with egg (peers at photo to refresh memory... yeah, looks like two whole eggs).

The idea was to substitute macadamia nuts for the bread crumbs.  I ground them up in a food processor and put them into a bowl. 

Then it was a kind of assembly line:  pick up a fish strip, dunk it in the egg, flip it into the macadamia nuts, put on a plate.

Then fry them in canola oil.

I think next time I'll chop the nuts more finely because they had a tendency to fall off of the side of the fish during the frying process.  Also, the egg worked its way off of the fish and onto the chopped nuts, which made them clump up and harder to make stick to the fish.  I think next time I'll reserve some of the nuts so I can freshen the mix as I do the coating.

They came out okay.  Between the fish and nuts, it was a rich dish.  The family liked them, at least, and devoured them fairly quickly.  I think they'd go well with greens, and maybe a sweet mashed potato.