woodstock... moon landing... bar-code... dave...
As of last night, I have officially blogged the entirety of my 30s. (If sporadically, of late.) Which is just one more depressing thought to add to the whole litany of depressing thoughts that this particular milestone inspires. I can no longer pretend to be the hip, young, just out of grad school professor. I can no longer pretend that I'm an "early-career" scientist and that it is anything other than pathetic that I haven't published anything in a peer-reviewed journal since I got my PhD. I can no longer deny that the music I listened to in college is "classic rock", or that when I go to a concert by any band that ISN'T classic rock, I'm not "that old guy" who I used to make fun of when I was someone who belonged at those concerts. But mostly, I can no longer deny that, by anything but the most unrealistically optimistic actuarial fantasy, my life isn't more than halfway over.
Wednesday, September 16
baa...
Today on the wall at school, I saw a sign for a student Christian organization, which featured a picture of a cartoon sheep with a thought bubble that said "The Lord is my Shepherd..."
I'm not advertising executive or anything, but I would think that if you are a student at a college that regularly finishes in the top 5 of US News's "Most Liberal Colleges" listing, and at which the vast majority of students are vocal in their outward contempt for organized religion of any kind... I'm thinking the image you want to use on your poster so as NOT to aid in their heaping of disdain upon you would be something other than a SHEEP!
Today on the wall at school, I saw a sign for a student Christian organization, which featured a picture of a cartoon sheep with a thought bubble that said "The Lord is my Shepherd..."
I'm not advertising executive or anything, but I would think that if you are a student at a college that regularly finishes in the top 5 of US News's "Most Liberal Colleges" listing, and at which the vast majority of students are vocal in their outward contempt for organized religion of any kind... I'm thinking the image you want to use on your poster so as NOT to aid in their heaping of disdain upon you would be something other than a SHEEP!
daily ground...
The thing is, if I made it a point - a habit - to, when I sit down on the train, pull out my laptop and type for the first 10 minutes of the 90 minute ride, that would be enough, I would have a blog again. It might not be a GREAT blog, but... it hasn't been that since about 2001, if it ever was. It would be SOMETHING, though.
My brain just feels SO full this semester. It's not necessarily in a bad way. Between the three classes, three student research projects, committee chairmanship, event coordinating... it's one of those times when slacking off is simply NOT an option. So I'm feeling pretty motivated, although maybe that's not quite the right word. It's more like a full-time-panic-mode kind of deal. Point being, that I've actually been WORKING the whole 90 minute ride every morning.
I'm also trying to keep eating real food, keep going to bed before 11:30, and trying to keep running, which is REALLY tough. But I busted my ass too hard all summer to slack off on the healthy-living crap, and I have too damned much work to do to sleep on the train every day.
Which is all to say - I'm trying to figure out how to work this little activity back into my life, along with things like yoga and playing guitar and reading books that I always forget are supposed to be things I enjoy when I get buried underneath all the other crap.
The thing is, if I made it a point - a habit - to, when I sit down on the train, pull out my laptop and type for the first 10 minutes of the 90 minute ride, that would be enough, I would have a blog again. It might not be a GREAT blog, but... it hasn't been that since about 2001, if it ever was. It would be SOMETHING, though.
My brain just feels SO full this semester. It's not necessarily in a bad way. Between the three classes, three student research projects, committee chairmanship, event coordinating... it's one of those times when slacking off is simply NOT an option. So I'm feeling pretty motivated, although maybe that's not quite the right word. It's more like a full-time-panic-mode kind of deal. Point being, that I've actually been WORKING the whole 90 minute ride every morning.
I'm also trying to keep eating real food, keep going to bed before 11:30, and trying to keep running, which is REALLY tough. But I busted my ass too hard all summer to slack off on the healthy-living crap, and I have too damned much work to do to sleep on the train every day.
Which is all to say - I'm trying to figure out how to work this little activity back into my life, along with things like yoga and playing guitar and reading books that I always forget are supposed to be things I enjoy when I get buried underneath all the other crap.
Saturday, September 5
i laughed for 3 minutes at my own joke...
Backstory - The wife and daughter went to a friend's today. Some kind of girl scout event, I don't know. But apparently they made "sun tea" and also "sun jam". Who knew? Anyway, it was sitting on the table on the deck all afternoon. But I had no idea what it was. The jam. I don't ask questions.
At midnight we have the following exchange.
Wife: Did Katie bring in the jam?
Me: Um. What?
Wife: Did Katie bring in the JAM?
Me: (beat) No, but she did bring in 'da FUNK.
Backstory - The wife and daughter went to a friend's today. Some kind of girl scout event, I don't know. But apparently they made "sun tea" and also "sun jam". Who knew? Anyway, it was sitting on the table on the deck all afternoon. But I had no idea what it was. The jam. I don't ask questions.
At midnight we have the following exchange.
Wife: Did Katie bring in the jam?
Me: Um. What?
Wife: Did Katie bring in the JAM?
Me: (beat) No, but she did bring in 'da FUNK.
Friday, September 4
I think I'm supposed to find this blog inspiring, but...
From Unclutterer...
A: Go fuck yourself in one of them.
From Unclutterer...
Dear Unclutterer: I am a fanatic unclutterer. Our kitchen is very organized. But we actually have too much storage space (tons and tons of drawers and cabinets). What should I do with these empty drawers?
A: Go fuck yourself in one of them.
Thursday, September 3
nerd vs. nerd...
At one of the train stops on the way to work, a wireless network shows up in my Airport menu called "baggins". It's password protected, so every day I've taken to spending the 60 seconds that the train is stationary trying out as many Tolkien-mythos passwords as I can before the train starts moving again. Today I tried "Mordor", "mithril" and "theonering".
Some day I'll get it.
At one of the train stops on the way to work, a wireless network shows up in my Airport menu called "baggins". It's password protected, so every day I've taken to spending the 60 seconds that the train is stationary trying out as many Tolkien-mythos passwords as I can before the train starts moving again. Today I tried "Mordor", "mithril" and "theonering".
Some day I'll get it.
Tuesday, September 1
Thursday, August 27
killin' (trees) in the name of...
I pulled out one of my little blank Moleskine notebooks, and started a to-do file for myself this morning. Given that this is my last day in the city before classes start, I want to make sure I get all my nitpicky tasks straightened out before Monday. Anyway, I quickly filled the page with things-to-do, and nearly every entry begins with the word "print" or "copy". Clearly, although I've gone all-digital in terms of my personal documents and research, I haven't figured out how to conduct a class the same way.
I'll be ready for the first day, but just *barely*. The class I wanted to have a whole semester's worth of reading guides done for? Half done. The new course that requires me to basically "GM" a historical role-playing game? I have quickly skimmed the instructor's guide. The course that should be my most important foundational science course, but instead is a last-minute after-thought every year? I just tweaked the syllabus as a last-minute after-thought.
The thing is - I have a couple of courses that could be REALLY GOOD this semester. That is, if I wasn't also teaching two OTHER courses, mentoring 3 senior research projects, doing consulting work, and being distracted by the siren song of the sabbatical on the horizon. Oh, also, there is a chance I could be chairing one of the most important committees at the college.
If I can stay ahead of it all, it could be a decent semester. If not, it could be a fucking nightmare.
Place your bets, kids...
I pulled out one of my little blank Moleskine notebooks, and started a to-do file for myself this morning. Given that this is my last day in the city before classes start, I want to make sure I get all my nitpicky tasks straightened out before Monday. Anyway, I quickly filled the page with things-to-do, and nearly every entry begins with the word "print" or "copy". Clearly, although I've gone all-digital in terms of my personal documents and research, I haven't figured out how to conduct a class the same way.
I'll be ready for the first day, but just *barely*. The class I wanted to have a whole semester's worth of reading guides done for? Half done. The new course that requires me to basically "GM" a historical role-playing game? I have quickly skimmed the instructor's guide. The course that should be my most important foundational science course, but instead is a last-minute after-thought every year? I just tweaked the syllabus as a last-minute after-thought.
The thing is - I have a couple of courses that could be REALLY GOOD this semester. That is, if I wasn't also teaching two OTHER courses, mentoring 3 senior research projects, doing consulting work, and being distracted by the siren song of the sabbatical on the horizon. Oh, also, there is a chance I could be chairing one of the most important committees at the college.
If I can stay ahead of it all, it could be a decent semester. If not, it could be a fucking nightmare.
Place your bets, kids...
Thursday, August 13
what Dave has to say to science crackpots...
There is particular technique used by physics crackpots (of which there are LOTS) when they are defending their own theories. What they do is to assail Quantum Mechanics or General Relativity on some conceptual ground, and if you try to explain to them how the equations work or how their predictions are confirmed by experience, or god forbid you ask them to show you the equations in THEIR theory... they accuse physics of being a priestood/cult that uses mathematics as a weapon to deny ordinary people admittance. Almost every physics crackpot will use some version of that line somewhere.
The reason physics seems closed off and "cultish" is that there is a significant barrier to entry- which is- in order to be part of the conversation you need to understand the theory. You can not do this by watching the Discovery Channel, reading paperback pop-sci from Borders, and then thinking about it really hard. You learn the theories by working WITH the theories, and just to do THAT takes a minimum of 2-3 years of mathematics courses. Which is why the great majority of crackpots conveniently decree that REAL science doesn't NEED all that math.
But without a familiarity with the tools and techniques of the theories themselves, you have as much chance of making a sensible contribution to the scientific process as someone who has spent the past year in their room playing "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" has of doing a good job filling in for Joe Perry on the next tour. Call it the CULT OF MUSIC PRIESTS if you want, but pushing the colored buttons on your PS3 controller is not even close to the real thing, no matter how much the fake crowd cheers.
(adapted from YouTube comment thread)
There is particular technique used by physics crackpots (of which there are LOTS) when they are defending their own theories. What they do is to assail Quantum Mechanics or General Relativity on some conceptual ground, and if you try to explain to them how the equations work or how their predictions are confirmed by experience, or god forbid you ask them to show you the equations in THEIR theory... they accuse physics of being a priestood/cult that uses mathematics as a weapon to deny ordinary people admittance. Almost every physics crackpot will use some version of that line somewhere.
The reason physics seems closed off and "cultish" is that there is a significant barrier to entry- which is- in order to be part of the conversation you need to understand the theory. You can not do this by watching the Discovery Channel, reading paperback pop-sci from Borders, and then thinking about it really hard. You learn the theories by working WITH the theories, and just to do THAT takes a minimum of 2-3 years of mathematics courses. Which is why the great majority of crackpots conveniently decree that REAL science doesn't NEED all that math.
But without a familiarity with the tools and techniques of the theories themselves, you have as much chance of making a sensible contribution to the scientific process as someone who has spent the past year in their room playing "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" has of doing a good job filling in for Joe Perry on the next tour. Call it the CULT OF MUSIC PRIESTS if you want, but pushing the colored buttons on your PS3 controller is not even close to the real thing, no matter how much the fake crowd cheers.
(adapted from YouTube comment thread)
Wednesday, August 12
summer in brief...
Heading in to the city on the train this morning. I have to say - 6:45 comes awfully fucking early when you've spent the summer staying up until 2 and sleeping until 9 or 10:00. I have a meeting today for some new consulting work. I figured the train would give me a chance to post something on the blog. Where to start? Since last I blogged, I have...
* Finished Moby Dick on my Kindle
* Worked up from 1 mile to three miles of running at a stretch
* Lost 10-12 pounds
* Harassed crackpots on YouTube
* Gone to yoga class exactly twice
* Played at 2 open blues jams, neither impressively nor embarrassingly
* Reactivated Netflix
* Played multiple 10-year-old Zelda series games w/ the kids.
* Worked up a half dozen peculiar acoustic cover tunes
* Made $5000 in consulting income, yet remain broke and in debt
* Got a kitten that I did not want.
* All but ignored the impending semester of classes.
So. The usual.
Heading in to the city on the train this morning. I have to say - 6:45 comes awfully fucking early when you've spent the summer staying up until 2 and sleeping until 9 or 10:00. I have a meeting today for some new consulting work. I figured the train would give me a chance to post something on the blog. Where to start? Since last I blogged, I have...
* Finished Moby Dick on my Kindle
* Worked up from 1 mile to three miles of running at a stretch
* Lost 10-12 pounds
* Harassed crackpots on YouTube
* Gone to yoga class exactly twice
* Played at 2 open blues jams, neither impressively nor embarrassingly
* Reactivated Netflix
* Played multiple 10-year-old Zelda series games w/ the kids.
* Worked up a half dozen peculiar acoustic cover tunes
* Made $5000 in consulting income, yet remain broke and in debt
* Got a kitten that I did not want.
* All but ignored the impending semester of classes.
So. The usual.
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