pressing matters.

There are many ways to brew coffee. Some people are picky about that, others just need to get caffeine in their veins somehow, like this guy here:

At uni however, the only free coffee available was either drip filter or instant (shudder). I was constantly tempted to give in to my urges and get nice, espresso based coffee at a cafe. That's fine and all, but at prices of 3-4$ a bit dangerous in the long term ... So, a way to get espresso in the office was needed. As decent espresso machines are not exactly cheap, and need a lot of maintenance, buying one just for the office was not an option. Enter the Presso!

James found this mechanical espresso machine, and I'm baffled that no one had come up with something like this earlier. The basket is filled with fine espresso grounds as usual. Then boiling water (you still need a kettle) is poured in on top, and after ~10s pressed through the basket using the 2 levers. That generates enough pressure to produce true espresso with crema and all (one or two shots), and the quality beats most home-grade espresso machines. It's also very easy on the eyes, like a love child of Philippe Starck's famous lemon squeezer and a wing corkscrew. All at the price of 200 measly dollars. It comes with a handy milk frother included. We bought it for the office a few weeks ago, now it is in constant use. Love it.

one laughing and one crying eye

It's funny cause it's true!



But seriously, it's an awesome life choice. They're totally exaggerating things. I might be 30 and make no money, but I don't have a pony tail!

Have Net? Will inevitably be interupted ...

“Are you catching Butterflies?”

“No, No, No … not butterflies, dragonflies. “

“What?” (I have the tendency to mumble when distracted from the task at hand)

“DRAGON. Flies.”

“Oh. I see... Why?”

“I study their vision, It's quite fascinating they're the top aerial insect predator. Their eyes are ...”

“Ok. Thanks. Bye!”

“Wait don't you … ?”

“Got. To. Go. Bye.”

When out collecting dragonflies you tend to stand out. You're usually in a small group of people carrying nets and bags. Occasionally, the bags are responsibly and gently gently-placed on the ground, usually in the shade. Then, to the casual observer the group appears to come under the collective delusion that they are “hunting wabbits”. Granted aerial “wabbits” but I can understand why the casual observer may be interested in what we are doing / concerned for our sanity.

“Excuse me .. are you catching buht...”

“Dragonflies”

“Oh. Why?”

...

What I do. Part 1 - why jumping spiders?

Many of you who found this new blog probably know that I work with jumping spiders. Those who don't know will likely have one of two reactions that I get a lot: Either it's "Ewww!", or "wow cool!". There really isn't much in between. Well, it's a step up from the raised eyebrows and bewildered "why??" that I got when I was doing my diploma thesis on beetles ...

The Ewww-reaction usually comes from non-biologists. Spiders in general are of course scary to many people, whether they are dangerous or not. "Wow cool" comes from almost everyone who knows what a jumping spider is. Despite the images the name might invoke, jumping spiders (salticids) are probably the least scary group of spiders. They are small, completely harmless, and, yes, cute.