“Angelinos” (as those of us that live in the Los Angeles area are called) are very lucky to have a lovely zoo, located in Griffith Park near Dodger Stadium. We bought a membership last year and we try to visit  as often as we can to commune with the animals. We went for a visit this week and saw all sorts of amazing critters, including an elephant that gave us a great water show on a warm summer day. There has been great controversy surrounding the elephant habitat, but when we were visiting this pachyderm seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit!

This design was inspired one morning by two of my favorite seniors who were pouring over a final review in my chemistry class. Everyone was struggling with periodic trend concepts from the beginning of the year and, as frequently happens in my class, these two were talking big and bad because they got the right answers. They claimed to be science “thugs”. According to Urban Dictionary, and Tupac, “thug life” is…“when you have nothing, and succeed, when you have overcome all obstacles to reach your aim.” That’s the joy and fun that my amazing boys were throwing out there for the world when they nailed the right answers. We have lots of “thugs” at our school, and contrary to anyone that claims thugs are criminals, in OUR world, it is more of an endearing reference to success from struggle.  And who hasn't struggled with chemistry??

"My real love for the night skies developed while observing at Palomar Observatory in California, and that love has never diminished." - Carolyn Shoemaker

The next astronomy necklace to be named after a famous female scientist is our lovely Jupiter necklace which shall henceforth be referred to as the Carolyn necklace. It is being named after Carolyn Shoemaker, who along with her husband and scientist David Levy, discovered the comet known as Shoemaker-Levy 9 at the Palomar Observatory outside of San Diego in 1993. In July of 1994, the comet broke apart and collided with the giant planet providing spectacular knowledge to scientists around the world. ..both about Jupiter itself and space debris in general. Carolyn Shoemaker received the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1996. She is considered to be an amazing astronomer, holding the record for the greatest number of comets discovered (32 comets and 800 asteroids) even though she entered the field of astronomy at the age of 51.

Check this out! http://bunchfamily.ca/nerd-is-the-word/

Our favorite baby/toddler girl Miss Charlotte, sporting one of our Gibberish onesie’s, was featured on this lovely Canadian parenting e-mag.  It’s an interesting article which discusses the issues of “nerd-dom” and the fallout of peer pressure on our naturally clever kids.

In my opinion, both as a lover of science and as a teacher, our society struggles mightily with this topic. Being smart (for many of the teenagers I work with each day) is done on the dl, and too often it is something kids of both genders smile quietly about but RARELY want to brag about. It’s much “cooler” to just barely get by and jump on board idolizing individuals that are super-athletes and/or great performers…many of which I’m sure are smart, as well as talented. But I never hear about the great modern scientists, mathematicians, or social/political scientists with brilliant minds that are toiling away and garnering tremendous respect for improving our world, and advancing the human condition. How do we as parents and educators combat this trend? We’d love to hear your feedback…  

So we're off to sit by our firepit in the backyard...We'll keep social media on high alert for any planet or satellite sightings ...or aliens. :)

If you'd like to celebrate too but aren't able to enjoy the oxygen of the great outdoors (mosquitoes much?), why not wear your earth earrings? Of all the planets in our solar system, Earth is the only one that's oxygen rich! Which is why all of us biological organisms get to celebrate today! Yey for oxygen! 

“Do not look at stars as bright spots only. Try to take in the vastness of the universe.”
Maria Mitchell  
(1818-1889)

We are getting ready to roll out a bunch of new and gorgeous astronomy necklaces in our shop and we discovered that it is becoming increasingly difficult to name them in a way that “makes sense” both for us, and our wonderful customers. So we decided to cure this conundrum by naming them after famous women in science. Since today would be Maria Mitchell’s 195th birthday we are starting with this listing which has been renamed “The Maria Planet Necklaces”. 

Maria Mitchell was the first acknowledged American woman astronomer, was the first professor of Astronomy at Vassar College and the first director of Vassar's observatory. In protest against slavery, she stopped wearing clothes made of cotton and was friends with various suffragists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and co-founded the American Association for the Advancement of Women.   She disliked Victorian rigidity, and worked to change the confining “rules” for women in science. Mitchell also was a leader in the formation of the American Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW), which evolved into today’s American Association of University Women.  She was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was truly a founder of modern science. To learn more, please visit the Maria Mitchell Association at http://www.mariamitchell.org/Source

You may just think of today as the day that the Beatles finished recording “Hey Jude” (1968), or the day in 1981 that MTV debuted, but here at Gibberish we celebrate August 1, because this is the day that Joseph Priestly isolated Oxygen in 1774! Mr. Priestly, was a brilliant scientist who had a very colorful life due to his strong political beliefs (he supported both the American and French Revolutions) and his eventual emigration to the United States from his country of birth and work, England. If he were alive today, he would have had quite the Facebook friend list since Antoine Lavoisier, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were only a few of the famous individuals to call him friend. He took a break from friendships and teaching (his lifelong occupation) to focus sunlight on mercuric oxide that had been placed in a pool of mercury. He produced a type of gas that caused a flame to burn brightly…and voila! oxygen was isolated. I think we will celebrate by powering up our fire pit tonight and looking for satellites in our back yard! What about you?