For fans of Iron Man, Glee, engineering and good news...
Austin Whitney walked on Saturday. No faith healers were involved.
Yet when the paralyzed 22-year-old rose from his wheelchair and stepped across the UC Berkeley commencement stage to shake Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's hand, the crowd of 15,000 at Edwards Stadium went wild with cheers, as if witnessing a miracle.
In a way, they were.
"Ask anybody in a wheelchair; ask what it would mean to once again stand and shake someone's hand while facing them at eye level," Whitney said in anticipation of his momentous day. "It will be surreal, like a dream."
Or like putting on the Iron Man suit and acquiring super powers. A team of UC Berkeley mechanical engineers - four doctoral students led by Professor Homayoon Kazerooni - have been developing a computerized body brace called an exoskeleton they believe will be good enough to transform thousands of wheelchair users into walking people in a couple of years, and for an affordable price.
Also it must be noted that "Professor Homayoon Kazerooni" is a totally cool name!
Congratulations to Seska and the Girl! Wishing you much happiness.
I just caught
Legend
on some Cinemax channel. Tom Cruise's gayest role pre-
Top Gun.
And gloriously OTT Tim Curry.
And gloriously OTT Tim Curry.
Oh, lord, yes. That man must so enjoy his life.
Extra coconut milk solved: I heated it up with some strawberries and a banana, and poured it over some gluten-free waffles. Yum! (Though sadly, teh gluten-free ones tend to fall apart much more quickly than regular...and I accidentally got "apple cinnamon" at the store instead of the buckwheat berry. But still yum)
Note to dog:
If your fur has not yet actually dried off from the last walk, it's too soon to be asking for another.
Ta, me.
Oh, for anyone interested in gluten-free -- you probably already know this, but I made some flourless peanut butter cookies that were delicious, if a little odd. Just peanut butter, sugar, an egg, vanilla. And then jam in the top. Yum.
Ha!
We took Seabiscuit down to the lake yesterday and he was all Love! Bliss! And then the rest of the day complained about how his toes were messy. I dunno, dude, you were the one who decided to wade in the algae covered portion of the beach instead of the nice sandy portion.
My poor dog just got caught in a hailburst when he went out to relieve himself. Soaked with rain he doesn't mind, but covered in hail maybe he does. Toweled off and hiding under the bed, now.
Nigel Slater's ten most popular recipes with the Guardian.
About half are vegetarian and they all look tasty and relatively easy.
