hey, brain nerds

The idea of inducing brain state by means of binaural beats: debunked? Not, like, "BINAURAL BEATS MAKE US TELEPATHIC", but something like "listening to these can help people get to a meditative state faster than not" level of results.

I've played around with a light/sound machine a couple of times. Some of the sessions, I felt about the same as when I had spent a similar amount of time meditating, and one time I came out feeling like Dave Bowman going through the monolith. Does this actually have an effect on my brain beyond what is self-induced?

and the zest on a lemon says "mmmm, yes"

so, it's been hot and i've been grooving on lemonade. my recent discovery is that "oj from concentrate":"real oj squeezed out of oranges"::"lemonade from concentrate (or worse)":"real lemonade from fresh lemon juice". holy crap, the flavor is so much brighter and bigger. so, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup (instead of sugar so you don't get that grainy texture), and water to dilute to taste. *awesome*

since this evening was pleasantly NOT INSANELY HOT, i was finally able, inspired by this ask.metafilter comment, to try making simple syrup and threw in a bunch of lemon zest. lemony goodness. tomorrow, i think i'll squeeze some lemons and make extra-lemony lemonade with the lemon-flavored syrup.