Ode to Norm

I found out today that my favorite entomologist has passed away. Dr. Norm Penny was one of the nicest, kindest scientists I have ever met. He gave me one of my first professional jobs doing scientific illustration. A couple of the neuropteran wings I illustrated for him were new species (see below). He always made sure to send me copies of the papers my illustrations got published in. He gave a great tour of the entomology collection at the California Academy of Sciences. I learned so much from him over the years. Thanks, Norm.

Penny, N. (2002) "Lacewings of Costa Rica" Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, vol. 52 no. 12. Image 117 by Diane T Sands. Images 118, 119 by Victoria Saxe

Brain roll-up

One of my favorite things about brains is they way you feed questions in, let them rattle around for a bit and a solution occurs to you some point down the line. Usually when you are doing something completely different - walking, driving, singing in the shower. Recently, I had one dilemma and, much later, a thought that did not seem related to me at the time.

I like to preserve fruit through canning or freezing.