Sweet potatoes

     I need to get that depressing post off of the top of my blog. Things are looking better: my work trip to Michigan went well, I have a root canal scheduled for next week, and I like the endodontist. For those as clueless as I was a week ago, an endodontist is a dentist who specializes in root canals. I pondered this, as I waited for him in the dental chair. What causes someone to choose that profession? At least when I teach physics (which plenty of people have told me they hate), I know that I like physics, and that I may possibly convince some of my students that physics is fun and/or useful. But if you conduct root canals, one of the most feared dental procedures, you would always be associated with dread and pain. It makes me happy to be a physicist, I guess.
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      I have finally found a satisfactory way to eat the box of sweet potatoes resting under my bed. While I like growing sweet potatoes (beautiful, easy to grow, store well during the winter), I'm not always keen to eat them. Mainly, I'm not a big fan of sweet main courses. But in my efforts to work through them, I discovered several new ways to use the: in nachos, in smoothies, and in potato latkes. I'll admit, I made the nachos first, and haven't even tried the other recipes. In fact, I've made the nachos about six times in the last month. That would be shameful, if they weren't so healthy. Sure, I use a ton of cheese, but the chips are sweet potatoes!
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     The picture on top has nothing to do with this post except that it makes me happy. My niece and nephew drew cat pictures at Christmas, and they are now hanging in my office. The one of the left appears to be an intellectual, as he is wearing a pince-nez, reading the book The BFG, and has a reading lamp. On the right is my cat Phi, helpfully labeled.