Happy Birthday, Joseph Priestly!

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?

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The Science of Butternut Squash Soup

Okay, so I'm not actually going to go into the science of butternut squash soup but I did experiment with recipes...That counts, right? I bought a butternut squash from Trader Joe's a little while ago and I was determined to do something with it. I've been on a homemade soup kick lately so it seemed pretty obvious what I should make! I looked up recipes all over the interwebs and decided that I would combine a couple of these two: Nom and NOM. It turned out pretty darn good and I am so very pleased that there are lots of leftovers!

I didn't include sage since the reviews made me think that I could light my house on fire if I tried...So instead I topped it with rosemary! Which, in my opinion, was the perfect little kick it needed!

It turned out pretty darn good and I am so very pleased that there are lots of leftovers! 

Sprout Out

Out of this World Jewelry, ShopGibberish

The wonderful folks over at Sprout-Out.com featured us today! Please check it out and look around at the website...It's very cool and features some really amazing local Santa Cruz artists! 

Speak Gibberish! Rock the Post

Hey everyone! We just launched our Speak Gibberish project on Rock the Post.

Rock the Post is a platform that uses crowdfunding to fund projects for small businesses like ours! We would really appreciate it if you could pass the link along to your friends! Donations can be as little as $5 and up to $1000! This is a really exciting opportunity for us and we're so happy to be able to share it with all of you! :)

http://www.rockthepost.com/posts/view/2271/Speak-Gibberish-Science
http://www.rockthepost.com/posts/view/2271/Speak-Gibberish-Science
http://www.rockthepost.com/posts/view/2271/Speak-Gibberish-Science

Our Booth from the CSTA Conference

The California Science Education Conference in San Jose, CA was TONS of fun! We loved meeting all the wonderful teachers that attended the event! We will definitely be there next year in Palm Springs! 

Look what's new!

 

Check out our new geeky cuffs! They are available with geek or with nerd and can even be personalized with your monogram or with a short name. Wear them proudly to show your love of all that is nerdy!  www.shopgibberish.etsy.com

California Science Education Conference - San Jose 2012

Phew. We just finished an amazing two day experience at the CSTA meeting in San Jose! So many friendly and enthusiastic science teachers. I found such great comfort in knowing that even during troubling financial times with so much controversy in education, great teachers remain great teachers. Not only did A LOT of them love our geeky stuff, they engaged in meaningful conversations about their classrooms and their student's achievement. It was exhausting and yet I'm once again rejuvenated both as a maker of nerdy stuff AND as a teacher! Thank you California Science Teacher's Association! (Stay tuned for pics!)