“Boudinage” and “transtensional” are #1 in my geo-lexicon, but Callan Bentley took boudinage and I’ll leave “transtensional” for another day as it was the topic of my first graduate thesis. “Crenulation” it is for Accretionary Wedge Episode 35: What’s Your Favorite Geology Word? This comes from my fascination with polyphase deformation, or multiple episodes of deformation, leaving their imprints on rocks in the form of cross-cutting fabric.

I used to explain crenulation to my students with their own palms, as shown in the image below. Start out with your palm facing up. Then, cup your palm until you see creases (folds) in it. Following that, take your other palm and push your folded palm in a direction roughly perpendicular to the folded palm’s fingers. See the interference pattern as new folds (D2) overprint the old ones (D1).

1. Flat open palm 2. Folds (indicated by blue lines) form perpendicular to fingers when hand is curled 3. Palm is folded again in direction perpendicular to previous curling. New folds (red lines) form; note deformation of previous folds.

No demonstration of deformation is complete without Play-Doh, which is luckily available from VatulBlog HQ’s always freshly-stocked shelves. (Gotta love the warning: Fun to play with, but not to eat. NOTICE TO PARENTS: CONTAINS WHEAT.)

Left: Folds form in Play-Doh roughly perpendicular to direction of squishing (yes, that's a technical term, and indicated by the black arrow; black lines are fold axes). Right: Second episode of deformation (indicated by red arrows and red fold axes) overprint previous folds (note that black fold axes are now folded themselves).

Now, my hands smell like Mmmm Play-Doh. Is there anything it cannot do?

Earlier, I mentioned the term “fabric.” Rock is not a homogeneous, isotropic substance like Play-Doh, but instead a collection of minerals that have different physical and chemical characteristics and geometrically rearrange themselves differently under varying stress-time/pressure-temperature conditions. Therefore, crenulation is best viewed at the microscopic level. At this scale, we can see what really happens to the rock’s constituent minerals when they undergo successive episodes of deformation.

Metamorphic thin sections in the next exciting installment of CRENULATION!

Katrina’s Secrets. It’s a new book by Ray Nagin, the ex-former-gone-but-comes-back-like-exzcema mayor of New Orleans. Self-published. Mmmm hmmm. Barely ridiculed on The Daily Show. The title reminiscent of a discount lingerie store where, as I said on the twubes, there is always a “50% off sale on purple-green-gold thongs, misspelled tourist tees & adult diapers embroidered with family values and laced with eau d’oil spill.”

This is my favorite Nagin line from a presser that The Gambit attended: “There were recovery strategies put in place early that are now paying dividends” By the way, El Gambito reads the book so we don’t have to … just yet.

Politicians have gone beyond lying. They are now shamelessly turning lies into the truth. Right is wrong, who controls the present controls the past, ignorance is fraking strength. What you see is not what you see.

bry4n sent me a video on “diminished reality.” Amazing how you can alter reality with a bit of upscaling. Just because you’re looking at something doesn’t mean you see things as they are.

Through, from the Once Upon A Wall series by artist Aakash Nihalani. (more at Sepia Mutiny)

While talking with my dad yesterday, he mentioned that now that both of his parents have passed, he often performs a Hindu ceremony called Amavasya Dharpanam in their and other ancestors’ honor. This ritual is conducted on the day of a new moon, and to keep a long explanation short, is the equivalent of the Catholic All Saints Day or Dia de los Muertos when family members who have died are remembered and honored. Every culture seems to have its version of flatbread, meatballs and the Day of the Dead.

At the South Asian Journalists Association annual convention this past weekend, Oberlin College (and Smithsonian Institute) sociologist Pawan Dhingra announced that he wants home movies and stories for the Smithsonian’s HomeSpun Indian-Am Heritage project. My family’s experience as Indian-Americans starts in 1990, coincidentally when my dad discovered the Hi-8 camcorder and started to take it everywhere he traveled in his new home. Once I get these over to a digital format (and after editing out portions of the program in which I am seen in neon wear and Keds), I will be sharing them with HomeSpun. Whether you are Indian-American or have Indian-American friends, please get the word out and send any good videos HomeSpun’s way.

The project reminds me that I have a National Day Of Listening interview in mind for both of my parents. Here are the questions I’ve chosen for them. What would you ask your parents?

• What is your earliest memory?
• Where is your mom’s family from? Where is your dad’s family from?
• What were your grandparents like?
• What were your parents like?
• Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
• Who were your favorite relatives?
• How did you meet mom/dad?
• What are the classic family stories? Jokes? Songs?
• How has your life been different than what you’d imagined?
• What are you proudest of in your life?
• What advice would you give me about raising my own kids?
• Is there any message you want to give or anything you want to say to your great-great-great grandchildren when they listen to this?
• Turn the tables: This is your chance to tell the person you’re interviewing what you’ve learned from them and what they’ve meant to you.