Friday, July 22, 2011

Best of the Week #29


I may melt any second. Literally. DC is the hottest place in the US today.

In light of this most uncomfortable fact, my Best of the Week is brief...blame it on my overheated brain.

Last Friday I made South Sudan independence cupcakes, modeled after the new country's flag:


They’re vegan chocolate and red velvet, all with cream cheese frosting, and were well received at my weekly staff meeting.



My most popular post this week was Cherry Cupcakes with Cherry Frosting. Oh yeah those were delish!


And per usual, here are some random stories to amuse you this Friday:

BBC reported a "500kg shark 'lands in boat'"! Listen to the story here, talk about a risky internship!!!
“Luckily the intern stepped towards me…the shark landed with all of its body in the boat…and started panicking…so all my interns made their way to the front of the boat.”
Though I complain about DC being hot, running Badwater would be worse. Check out this post for pictures. And has anyone else seen Running On The Sun? "Considered by many to be the most extreme running race in the world, the Badwater  Ultramarathon covers 135 miles from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA in temperatures up to 130F." (source)


From Popular Science, “Mice Engineered to Lack Muscle Contraction Gene Have Superior Endurance (and Humans Might, Too).”  You know that feeling towards the end of a race when your muscules tighten up? Well, it might be genetic! This study shows that “Mice that lack this gene, which is related to muscle contraction, can run much farther than their counterparts…suggesting a genetic predisposition to endurance in some athletes.”

Good news and great pictures: “Snow Leopards Rebounding in Afghanistan.” (source)


And this video is beyond adorable! Toddlers + Track = Cuteness (source)
 

For those of you on the West Coast (dare I say…the best coast?), Wharf to Wharf is this weekend! My family (this year minus me and Sister2) runs it every summer, so everyone wish them luck!


I will be spending a lovely morning tomorrow taking the GREs. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm "prepared"...but nor am I egregiously* unprepared...So think me some smart thoughts at 9am tomorrow! YIKES!

*Egregiously - adj - extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant.