Wow, it's been awhile. Here's what's been happening since last we met.
I went to Germany.
I got sick.
Some friends visited. We had lot's of fun.
I got sick.
We went to Texas. I did some work. We visited some friends. It was fun.
I got a flu shot. (ah ha, I'm going to break the cycle!)
I went to a conference in San Francisco.
I got sick.
That pretty much brings us to the day before Christmas, which pretty much takes up up to well, now.
This would be a more interesting post if I put in the pictures from all of the above activities, but if I take the time to track them down there will never be a post! I'm feeling better and looking forward to a healthier new year!
Oh yea, I also wrote a proposal, taught a really difficult class, turned a student in for academic misconduct and survived (barely) my first semester as an advisor. This is one busy life!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Look what I did!
I spun something that mostly resembled yarn:
A whole 228 yards of it:
It was really pretty (to me at least):
So I made a hat:
And I like it a lot:
The Details:
Fiber: Hello Yarn Fiber Club, May 2009, Falkland
Color: Five Plume Pie
Weight: 4 oz
Spinning style: ummm I just split it down the middle and spun
Finished Yarn: 2-ply, 228 yards (about a worsted)
Hat Pattern: Stella
Modifications: two repeats before decreasing, three was a bit "rasta"
Thoughts: LOVE (10000) The wool was great and pretty easy to spin, my spinning got much better during the process. The colors were fun and it was neat to see it all come together. There was something very gratifying about the whole process start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised that the yarn/pattern combo worked out so well, it almost seems like I planned the color changes, which I absolutely did not. Hub kept asking how does the yarn "know" when to change colors like that. I guess the stars just aligned on that one. :)
A whole 228 yards of it:
It was really pretty (to me at least):
So I made a hat:
And I like it a lot:
The Details:
Fiber: Hello Yarn Fiber Club, May 2009, Falkland
Color: Five Plume Pie
Weight: 4 oz
Spinning style: ummm I just split it down the middle and spun
Finished Yarn: 2-ply, 228 yards (about a worsted)
Hat Pattern: Stella
Modifications: two repeats before decreasing, three was a bit "rasta"
Thoughts: LOVE (10000) The wool was great and pretty easy to spin, my spinning got much better during the process. The colors were fun and it was neat to see it all come together. There was something very gratifying about the whole process start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised that the yarn/pattern combo worked out so well, it almost seems like I planned the color changes, which I absolutely did not. Hub kept asking how does the yarn "know" when to change colors like that. I guess the stars just aligned on that one. :)
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Back on the Ride
Well I came be back from the field and jumped right back on that TT rollar coaster. It has been 3+ weeks of non-stop chaos. I'm exhausted and there is no end in sight. This is a recurring theme here, and somedays I'm not sure that it's the theme I want to be living. At the same time I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing, so I slog on. (That's not entirely true, I'd rather be traveling the world, but that's a bit unrealistic methinks).
This semester adds a couple of new dimensions to the ride though, so I thought it might be worthy of a blog post. I am an advisor. Yup, you heard me right, the shoe is most definitely on the other foot now, and I've got to tell you it's terrifying, fun, and frustrating all at once. I have two students, different as night and day. Both are going to be great graduate students and I'm sure they will succeed, but all that stuff between know and then is definitely going to be interesting.
This experience has gotten me doing some self-reflection. I've been trying to remember what it was like to be in their shoes. A brand new graduate student, fresh out of undergrad, trying to figure out what's what and make a go of it. Moving farther away from home, having a pseudo salary, balancing courses and research, narrowing down a research topic at all. Figuring out just what research is anyways.
I've been doing this mostly to remind myself that I shouldn't expect them to know everything all at once; what's natural to my trained research brain is completely foreign to an untrained one. In the process it's made me remember some stuff too. Over the course of my graduate school career I had two different advisers (one for my M.S. and one for my PhD). I had very close relationships with both of them, but at the same time, both relationships were very different. Which reminds me that there are many different ways this can succeed, there is no magic formula.
Both were fantastic advisers and both taught me different things.
AND both probably deserve very nice letters thanking them for what the gave me, and apologizing for what I gave them, particularly the one that got me first, because if I had even a little in common with my new students, I'm sure I'm responsible for some gray hairs on his head!!
This semester adds a couple of new dimensions to the ride though, so I thought it might be worthy of a blog post. I am an advisor. Yup, you heard me right, the shoe is most definitely on the other foot now, and I've got to tell you it's terrifying, fun, and frustrating all at once. I have two students, different as night and day. Both are going to be great graduate students and I'm sure they will succeed, but all that stuff between know and then is definitely going to be interesting.
This experience has gotten me doing some self-reflection. I've been trying to remember what it was like to be in their shoes. A brand new graduate student, fresh out of undergrad, trying to figure out what's what and make a go of it. Moving farther away from home, having a pseudo salary, balancing courses and research, narrowing down a research topic at all. Figuring out just what research is anyways.
I've been doing this mostly to remind myself that I shouldn't expect them to know everything all at once; what's natural to my trained research brain is completely foreign to an untrained one. In the process it's made me remember some stuff too. Over the course of my graduate school career I had two different advisers (one for my M.S. and one for my PhD). I had very close relationships with both of them, but at the same time, both relationships were very different. Which reminds me that there are many different ways this can succeed, there is no magic formula.
Both were fantastic advisers and both taught me different things.
AND both probably deserve very nice letters thanking them for what the gave me, and apologizing for what I gave them, particularly the one that got me first, because if I had even a little in common with my new students, I'm sure I'm responsible for some gray hairs on his head!!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Summer Reading 2009
Well it seems that there is one good thing that comes out of all the running around every summer. I find a chance to read. Mostly this is because I'm often alone on these trips and books make good companions. This summer I've been doing some reading at night before I go to sleep. More reading than knitting actually, but I'm still doing some of that as well.
I've spent much of this summer in some pretty remote towns (currently in one with a population of 1400), so my path hasn't really crossed any book stores. On a trip into Amarillo last month to drop off and pick up folks at the airport, I found myself with some free time and within 10 miles of a Barnes and Noble and so off I went. Needless to say I went a little wild in there. Not only did I score copies of Vogue's Stichionary Vol II and Vol III at 50% off, but I also I hit the buy 2 get 1 table without abadon. I'm a non-discrimatory reader, if it has words I will read it, so I often just grab based on whatever happens to strike my fancy on any given day. It's a strange thing really, I'll read anything because I don't want to judge a book by it's cover, but ultimately, when shopping in a bookstore without a specific genre/author/book in mind, the cover is really all you have to go on....
I should note that this doesn't mean I like everything I read, I have definitley been disappointed by books, I just truely believe that all the words that are written and published deserve a chance. Writing well enough to get published is an amazing feat, which requires passion and grit. Every one of those books deserves to be purchased and read by someone. To be honest, sometimes bookstores make me sad because I know I'll never be able to read everything in them.
Anyways, as usual, I digress (this is why I'll never have a novel published), on to the books. I, have, of course, finished all three in just over four weeks, which means I'm bookless for the plane ride home (Ugh). The first, was "Confessions of a Shopaholic", pretty mainstream, and for a good reason. The character is strangley lovable, I think the rest of the confessions will be in my future. The other two, however, are very much not mainstream, or at leas they weren't to me. Both were great in their own ways.
Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
The best word to describe this book is clever. I was attracted to it for two reasons. 1) The sheep of course! and 2) The Carl Hiaasen blurb on the front. I read "Nature Girl" sometime last year and laughed out loud, people on the plane thought I was nuts!
A little googling tells me that this was originally published under the title Glenkill in Germany. It is witty and entertaining and I'd definitely recommend it. It's the type of book that you could read on the beach because it's a good story, or you could read more seriously as well because it has some really interesting perspectives.
The last book I read did something that a book hasn't done to me in a long time. Kept me up all night. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. Three evenings is all this one took. It's not a page turning mystery, although it does have a bit of intrigue in it, but it is one of those books that just consumes you. I felt like the characters were with me, living right here next door. I was pulling for Josey to find happiness, and stayed up until the last page to find out if she did. It's one of those books that just gets to you, but it's really hard to say why. This is a good summer read. No tears, no crying, just a story that you want to know the end of, but your sad to leave the world it portrays when you finish.
I've spent much of this summer in some pretty remote towns (currently in one with a population of 1400), so my path hasn't really crossed any book stores. On a trip into Amarillo last month to drop off and pick up folks at the airport, I found myself with some free time and within 10 miles of a Barnes and Noble and so off I went. Needless to say I went a little wild in there. Not only did I score copies of Vogue's Stichionary Vol II and Vol III at 50% off, but I also I hit the buy 2 get 1 table without abadon. I'm a non-discrimatory reader, if it has words I will read it, so I often just grab based on whatever happens to strike my fancy on any given day. It's a strange thing really, I'll read anything because I don't want to judge a book by it's cover, but ultimately, when shopping in a bookstore without a specific genre/author/book in mind, the cover is really all you have to go on....
I should note that this doesn't mean I like everything I read, I have definitley been disappointed by books, I just truely believe that all the words that are written and published deserve a chance. Writing well enough to get published is an amazing feat, which requires passion and grit. Every one of those books deserves to be purchased and read by someone. To be honest, sometimes bookstores make me sad because I know I'll never be able to read everything in them.
Anyways, as usual, I digress (this is why I'll never have a novel published), on to the books. I, have, of course, finished all three in just over four weeks, which means I'm bookless for the plane ride home (Ugh). The first, was "Confessions of a Shopaholic", pretty mainstream, and for a good reason. The character is strangley lovable, I think the rest of the confessions will be in my future. The other two, however, are very much not mainstream, or at leas they weren't to me. Both were great in their own ways.
Three Bags Full by Leonie SwannThe best word to describe this book is clever. I was attracted to it for two reasons. 1) The sheep of course! and 2) The Carl Hiaasen blurb on the front. I read "Nature Girl" sometime last year and laughed out loud, people on the plane thought I was nuts!
A little googling tells me that this was originally published under the title Glenkill in Germany. It is witty and entertaining and I'd definitely recommend it. It's the type of book that you could read on the beach because it's a good story, or you could read more seriously as well because it has some really interesting perspectives.
The last book I read did something that a book hasn't done to me in a long time. Kept me up all night. The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. Three evenings is all this one took. It's not a page turning mystery, although it does have a bit of intrigue in it, but it is one of those books that just consumes you. I felt like the characters were with me, living right here next door. I was pulling for Josey to find happiness, and stayed up until the last page to find out if she did. It's one of those books that just gets to you, but it's really hard to say why. This is a good summer read. No tears, no crying, just a story that you want to know the end of, but your sad to leave the world it portrays when you finish.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Still alive...`
...and kicking and climbing. Just so the blog doesn't feel ignored, there are 400+ unread posts in my google reader, 214 unread messages in my gmail and 100+ things I need to deal with or file in my school email. Life in the field is busy. Work hard play hard. But for those of you who wonder what I've been up to since I left the feedlot last month, it's exactly that. I've been up this:
That's me up there. Boy are my arms tired. Home and hopefully to regular posts and updates in ~1.5 weeks.
That's me up there. Boy are my arms tired. Home and hopefully to regular posts and updates in ~1.5 weeks.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Stinky stuff
I stink like cow poop. Actually the whole town does, but right now, I'm pretty sure it's me, but we are going back into the field in an hour and they are still cleaning my hotel room, so I really can't take a shower. So I'm just sitting here stinky.
Now doesn't that make the TT sound super-glam?
I'm actually loving this project (smell aside of course). It's going very well. We had a minor equipment catastrophe, but we dealt with it calmly and efficiently and I only lost a day of data, which we've made up*. The data is looking good (Yes, I'm knocking on wood). The students seem happy and all in all I feel good about it. Being in the field is great, and it sure beats an office, although I'm sure I'll be happy to see that again soon.
We've been working very hard, and I'm very tired, so I'm going to stop typing. Just wanted to check in.
*I can't take full credit, I do have to thank Hub for making me a spanner wrench when there wasn't one to be found anywhere in the town.
Now doesn't that make the TT sound super-glam?
I'm actually loving this project (smell aside of course). It's going very well. We had a minor equipment catastrophe, but we dealt with it calmly and efficiently and I only lost a day of data, which we've made up*. The data is looking good (Yes, I'm knocking on wood). The students seem happy and all in all I feel good about it. Being in the field is great, and it sure beats an office, although I'm sure I'll be happy to see that again soon.
We've been working very hard, and I'm very tired, so I'm going to stop typing. Just wanted to check in.
*I can't take full credit, I do have to thank Hub for making me a spanner wrench when there wasn't one to be found anywhere in the town.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The harried professor
Last week my old adviser called, just to check up on me, and because he had "one more piece of advise". When he called I couldn't talk because I was running of to a student exam. Then to some other meetings. When I called back, he said "you sound just like a typical harried professor, I guess you don't need any more advising".
I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The pre project jitters
I'm here in a hotel room the night before my first field project. Not my actual first field project, you all know I've been in the field before. The blogging started because of a field project. But this is the first one that I'm actually responsible for. I wrote the proposal (very small one to my University) that got some of the money. I hired the students. I did the planning with the collaborators. I got all the stuff here. I did have some driving help from hub, so I can't take all the credit for that.
I am very nervous.
I know I shouldn't be very nervous, I've done all the planning. At least I think I have: I have the nagging feeling that I forgot something but that's just life. I mostly know what to expect even though I haven't seen the site, I've studied the maps and all that jazz. I've gotten all the right permissions, blah blah blah. Planning a field project of any scale is no small task, but I think we've done it. It's all gone pretty smoothly since we started planning early, so maybe that's why I'm nervous. No last minute craziness, hence I have time to worry? (and apparently blog)
Still I'm nervous.
Maybe it's because the last one went so bad.
I'm trying not to think about that. On top of the nervous I'm very excited. My own project, mostly on my terms, and with a collaborator I couldn't be more excited to work with. That's all really exciting. She's just a few years older than me, here research fills in the gaps of mine and vice versa, and she is supersmart, award winning smart, so I know that this work will be top notch. I just hope I'm up to snuff for her. There's that nervous again.
This is one of those situations where I feel decidedly un-professorial. Like I'm really just a kid playing at grown-up. Just one more hill on the tenure track I guess.
I am very nervous.
I know I shouldn't be very nervous, I've done all the planning. At least I think I have: I have the nagging feeling that I forgot something but that's just life. I mostly know what to expect even though I haven't seen the site, I've studied the maps and all that jazz. I've gotten all the right permissions, blah blah blah. Planning a field project of any scale is no small task, but I think we've done it. It's all gone pretty smoothly since we started planning early, so maybe that's why I'm nervous. No last minute craziness, hence I have time to worry? (and apparently blog)
Still I'm nervous.
Maybe it's because the last one went so bad.
I'm trying not to think about that. On top of the nervous I'm very excited. My own project, mostly on my terms, and with a collaborator I couldn't be more excited to work with. That's all really exciting. She's just a few years older than me, here research fills in the gaps of mine and vice versa, and she is supersmart, award winning smart, so I know that this work will be top notch. I just hope I'm up to snuff for her. There's that nervous again.
This is one of those situations where I feel decidedly un-professorial. Like I'm really just a kid playing at grown-up. Just one more hill on the tenure track I guess.
Now for the real stuff
Within 24 hours of Moira's arrival, I had discovered that I was in love and ordered up some more fiber from the bargin bin at Paradise Fibers. Since my skills are still...let's say...lacking, I wanted something that would be affordable. 8 oz. of Ashland Bay Colonial Wool came to my doorstep a few days later.
It took a while but this is what it became:
It's about 200 yards or so. 2 ply (I need to buy some more bobbins to do more than that). It's probably a heavy worsted. It still has a very home made quality to it, but I'm pretty happy with it.
It took a while but this is what it became:
It's about 200 yards or so. 2 ply (I need to buy some more bobbins to do more than that). It's probably a heavy worsted. It still has a very home made quality to it, but I'm pretty happy with it.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Spinning
So, now that we know that I'm back, so are the crafts. Let's start out with the spinning.
Spinning was my thing to learn in 2009. I pick a new thing every year. I started off with the drop spindle earlier in the year, but it never really took. I did get to spend a couple of minutes on a wheel at a spinning gathering and well I was hooked. Thus began the search for a wheel. Wheel's are a bit of an investment, so it took a while to save some pennies to make the spinning wheel budget a reality. Then began the weeks of stalking ravelry and ebay, when my spinning enabler, Leah, found a deal for me. Moira (that's what I named the wheel) arrived a few weeks later and we were fast friends. Moria and my husband also became fast friends, but that's a whole other story.
Here are the results of my first few attempts:
The gray is a mystery fiber that Leah kindly donated to the cause. It's wool of some kind and it is a joint effort between Hub and I. It's a two ply, I spun one of the singles and he spun the other. There is about 70 yards in total of what we'll call a Thick and thin yarn. The teal is some fiber I treated myself too on the Christmas trip to Webs. It is from the Kangaroo dyer and it's some superwash merino, 4 oz.
This is the fiber I started on my drop spindle, but just couldn't get the hang of it. I think it might be the superwash aspect of it. It was difficult on the wheel too, but I got through it. It's Navajo Plied. About 50 yards or so. The NP was an adventure. I just taught myself how to do it from some you tube videos. It ended up being a family affair, with hub treadling, while I plied, but ultimately it came out ok.
For now both yarns are decorating our mantle. I just like looking at them. :)
Spinning was my thing to learn in 2009. I pick a new thing every year. I started off with the drop spindle earlier in the year, but it never really took. I did get to spend a couple of minutes on a wheel at a spinning gathering and well I was hooked. Thus began the search for a wheel. Wheel's are a bit of an investment, so it took a while to save some pennies to make the spinning wheel budget a reality. Then began the weeks of stalking ravelry and ebay, when my spinning enabler, Leah, found a deal for me. Moira (that's what I named the wheel) arrived a few weeks later and we were fast friends. Moria and my husband also became fast friends, but that's a whole other story.
Here are the results of my first few attempts:
The gray is a mystery fiber that Leah kindly donated to the cause. It's wool of some kind and it is a joint effort between Hub and I. It's a two ply, I spun one of the singles and he spun the other. There is about 70 yards in total of what we'll call a Thick and thin yarn. The teal is some fiber I treated myself too on the Christmas trip to Webs. It is from the Kangaroo dyer and it's some superwash merino, 4 oz.
This is the fiber I started on my drop spindle, but just couldn't get the hang of it. I think it might be the superwash aspect of it. It was difficult on the wheel too, but I got through it. It's Navajo Plied. About 50 yards or so. The NP was an adventure. I just taught myself how to do it from some you tube videos. It ended up being a family affair, with hub treadling, while I plied, but ultimately it came out ok.
For now both yarns are decorating our mantle. I just like looking at them. :)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
So many things...
Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated here. This hiatus was not the self-imposed internet striker like last time. This was just plain old life keeping me away from nearly everything. I'm on the travel cycle again. I overbooked this summer by quite a bit and it's all good stuff, but I'm going to be very tired before it's over. I've very tired now and I've only just scratched the surface. In the last 2.5 weeks I've gone from here to Colorado to CT to Nevada and back. I'm off again on Friday morning to go from here to NM to TX to here to CT to ME and then back six weeks from now. Like I said, I over booked. TT lesson number 1: Learn to say no!
Which you'll be happy to know I have been doing more of lately, which will hopefully make year 2 of this endeavor go better than year 1. I actually feel like I have my feet under me now, which is a good thing, so maybe I can return to regular blogging rather than just regular bitching like you got last year.
There are so many thoughts in my head I don't even know where to start. The last two weeks were really great. This thing in CO was FABULOUS! I even met some knitters, who are scientists. It just doesn't get better than that. There are so many great things I learned and so much I got out of it that isn't truely science. There is a lot of good women in science blog material that may appear later, but mostly I got a new lease on me and my career. That's not to say I've got it all figured out, but I feel like I know what I have to do and how to define my path a little better. A bit of self-discovery came out of it all, and with it a new perspective. Like I said it was FABULOUS.
Then we went to a wedding. A wedding which makes me smile just thinking about it. The love story between these two people is just so romantic that it makes me little girl giddy to just think about it. Hub and I did a little reading during the ceremony and the energy that comes from so many people attending such a happy affair really could carry the world.
Then I went to another conference in Nevada, and while it was not great, it served to put a little more perspective on the path I'm going to try to take with my research and my career, so ultimately that was a good thing.
Hey, would you all look at that, my optimism has returned. Watch out world. I'M BACK!
Which you'll be happy to know I have been doing more of lately, which will hopefully make year 2 of this endeavor go better than year 1. I actually feel like I have my feet under me now, which is a good thing, so maybe I can return to regular blogging rather than just regular bitching like you got last year.
There are so many thoughts in my head I don't even know where to start. The last two weeks were really great. This thing in CO was FABULOUS! I even met some knitters, who are scientists. It just doesn't get better than that. There are so many great things I learned and so much I got out of it that isn't truely science. There is a lot of good women in science blog material that may appear later, but mostly I got a new lease on me and my career. That's not to say I've got it all figured out, but I feel like I know what I have to do and how to define my path a little better. A bit of self-discovery came out of it all, and with it a new perspective. Like I said it was FABULOUS.
Then we went to a wedding. A wedding which makes me smile just thinking about it. The love story between these two people is just so romantic that it makes me little girl giddy to just think about it. Hub and I did a little reading during the ceremony and the energy that comes from so many people attending such a happy affair really could carry the world.
Then I went to another conference in Nevada, and while it was not great, it served to put a little more perspective on the path I'm going to try to take with my research and my career, so ultimately that was a good thing.
Hey, would you all look at that, my optimism has returned. Watch out world. I'M BACK!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
I can see cleary now
When I was talking to a friend the other day, she asked about what was going on. We hadn't talked in a while and the last post worried her a little bit. I didn't really have a good response, just that I needed to leave it for a little while. She understood perfectly, as any good friend would and she made the most perfect analogy. She said it was like a carb diet, "you have to go cold turkey for a while, and then you can ease back into it, a peice of toast here, an occasional bagel, but never back all the way to carb heaven". Well it was something like that at least, I'm sure she'll forgive me for paraphrasing. :)
She was right, I had to leave it for a while. The blog and the internet was taking over my life and subsequently I wasn't living my life. I was spending time on facebook and the blog and I was just whining about being here, but not really being here. I had to cut off and get out in the world. And I did, and it wasn't so bad. I feel like I can see things a little clearer now. Partly because I got some new glasses, and partly because I'm can separate the reality from the emotional spiral.
So, things are better. Hub and I are in a better place. I'm not entirely sure if was our change of attitude, just having hit the 6 month mark in a new place, or the elimination of some big stressors (we rented out the old house, we've come up with a plan for his employment, and while he doesn't yet have a salary, he has a position at the University that let's him put out proposals, which is way better than sitting at home, I got another small grant, and while things aren't necessary great in my department, I'm learning to navigate my way around the politics), or if it's just a little bit of all three, but whatever the case, things are better. And I feel like I can start to reintroduce those carbs, a little at a time of course.
So what did you miss in my world. Well, some new stuff like this:
these:
and shortly the single treadle version of this:
She was right, I had to leave it for a while. The blog and the internet was taking over my life and subsequently I wasn't living my life. I was spending time on facebook and the blog and I was just whining about being here, but not really being here. I had to cut off and get out in the world. And I did, and it wasn't so bad. I feel like I can see things a little clearer now. Partly because I got some new glasses, and partly because I'm can separate the reality from the emotional spiral.
So, things are better. Hub and I are in a better place. I'm not entirely sure if was our change of attitude, just having hit the 6 month mark in a new place, or the elimination of some big stressors (we rented out the old house, we've come up with a plan for his employment, and while he doesn't yet have a salary, he has a position at the University that let's him put out proposals, which is way better than sitting at home, I got another small grant, and while things aren't necessary great in my department, I'm learning to navigate my way around the politics), or if it's just a little bit of all three, but whatever the case, things are better. And I feel like I can start to reintroduce those carbs, a little at a time of course.
So what did you miss in my world. Well, some new stuff like this:
these:
and shortly the single treadle version of this:
Monday, March 16, 2009
Good Night Blog!
I'm sure that you are all familiar with the saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"
Well, I don't have anything nice to say. Or at least is seems that way. I'm trying, really hard, but here, at this moment in my "transplant shock" (thanks fillyjonk, that is a fabulous term for it), I just don't. Nothing nice about the 2 hours at the eye doctor, nothing nice about having to leave the exam not completed, nothing nice about the kickboxing class that can't start on time and runs longer than advertised, nothing nice about the lawn guy that can't call back, nothing nice about well, pretty much anything.
This blog has become a whine-fest, and that's not me, at least it's not usually me, and it's not what I want this blog to be. So, I think I'm not going to say anything at all, for a little while at least. Maybe I'll change my mind, maybe I'll come out of the shock, or maybe I'll find something nice to say.
But for now, the blog is going to settle down for a good long nap.
Just wanted you all to know so you don't start to worry. :)
ETA: Maybe some crafty, if I ever finish anything again.
Well, I don't have anything nice to say. Or at least is seems that way. I'm trying, really hard, but here, at this moment in my "transplant shock" (thanks fillyjonk, that is a fabulous term for it), I just don't. Nothing nice about the 2 hours at the eye doctor, nothing nice about having to leave the exam not completed, nothing nice about the kickboxing class that can't start on time and runs longer than advertised, nothing nice about the lawn guy that can't call back, nothing nice about well, pretty much anything.
This blog has become a whine-fest, and that's not me, at least it's not usually me, and it's not what I want this blog to be. So, I think I'm not going to say anything at all, for a little while at least. Maybe I'll change my mind, maybe I'll come out of the shock, or maybe I'll find something nice to say.
But for now, the blog is going to settle down for a good long nap.
Just wanted you all to know so you don't start to worry. :)
ETA: Maybe some crafty, if I ever finish anything again.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
It's the little things
I think I've had an ah-ha moment.
I started keeping track of the good days and bad days as a way to figure out why I wasn't happy here. I thought it would be enlightening and I thought overall that I'd find that things weren't as bad as I thought they were. I documented the first three weeks and it seemed that my hypothesis was right. More days were good than bad. Weeks 4 and 5 were more of the same. Some really bad stuff, mixed in with some really good stuff. I took a trip home and got knocked out by a major cold somewhere in there so they updates didn't happen, but rest assured, while a 4 hour budget meeting truly sucks, I find joy and satisfaction in starting new collaborations so good > bad.
This discovery, however, has not solved the problem. While I mostly love my job, and can mostly handle the craptacular politics that come with it, I'm still finding myself not overly happy here.
Here's the ah-ha. It's not the job. It's not the tenure track (which I'm starting to think might be worthy of it's own blog). It's not my house, or my stress about finances, or the stress of still owning that other house, or being away from everyone I love, or even my husband's joblessness. I'm sure all of those things contribute to the general blahs, but I've come to terms with them, and rarely think about them these days.
What is it? It's the little things. It's not being able to easily make a Doctor's appointment (we had take two on that today, it didn't go much better), or the pains of finding a new hairstylist, or relearning how to vote, or regularly getting lost, or filing paperwork for health insurance, or learning a new driving style, or walking barefoot in the yard (fireants yikes!), or the million other little things that we do every day without thinking about them...that is until we can't do them, or worse get very strange looks when we do do them. It's the constant low-level anxiety that exists when you are a stranger in a strange land.
It's kind of like traveling. I love to travel. But, no matter how much I love exploring a new place, after 2 weeks in an environment where you don't speak the language and can't read the menus a McDonald's is a really welcome sight. It's not that you hate being where you are, or even enjoy the culture any less, but there is a certain level of anxiety that wears on you, mentally and physically, when you are constantly in an environment where the simple things become difficult, and a glimpse of something safe can take it all away.
But, I didn't move to another country, just another state. There's a McDonald's and Burger King on every corner, and for sure they speak English here.
Last week I went to a Burger King that didn't have any burger's and y'all and yat were not in my version of Webster's, but I hear them quite often.
So there it is. I'm in a foreign country and I don't think I'm going to find a McDonald's anytime soon. I suppose I'll learn the language and culture over time, but right now, I'd kill for some fries. :)
I started keeping track of the good days and bad days as a way to figure out why I wasn't happy here. I thought it would be enlightening and I thought overall that I'd find that things weren't as bad as I thought they were. I documented the first three weeks and it seemed that my hypothesis was right. More days were good than bad. Weeks 4 and 5 were more of the same. Some really bad stuff, mixed in with some really good stuff. I took a trip home and got knocked out by a major cold somewhere in there so they updates didn't happen, but rest assured, while a 4 hour budget meeting truly sucks, I find joy and satisfaction in starting new collaborations so good > bad.
This discovery, however, has not solved the problem. While I mostly love my job, and can mostly handle the craptacular politics that come with it, I'm still finding myself not overly happy here.
Here's the ah-ha. It's not the job. It's not the tenure track (which I'm starting to think might be worthy of it's own blog). It's not my house, or my stress about finances, or the stress of still owning that other house, or being away from everyone I love, or even my husband's joblessness. I'm sure all of those things contribute to the general blahs, but I've come to terms with them, and rarely think about them these days.
What is it? It's the little things. It's not being able to easily make a Doctor's appointment (we had take two on that today, it didn't go much better), or the pains of finding a new hairstylist, or relearning how to vote, or regularly getting lost, or filing paperwork for health insurance, or learning a new driving style, or walking barefoot in the yard (fireants yikes!), or the million other little things that we do every day without thinking about them...that is until we can't do them, or worse get very strange looks when we do do them. It's the constant low-level anxiety that exists when you are a stranger in a strange land.
It's kind of like traveling. I love to travel. But, no matter how much I love exploring a new place, after 2 weeks in an environment where you don't speak the language and can't read the menus a McDonald's is a really welcome sight. It's not that you hate being where you are, or even enjoy the culture any less, but there is a certain level of anxiety that wears on you, mentally and physically, when you are constantly in an environment where the simple things become difficult, and a glimpse of something safe can take it all away.
But, I didn't move to another country, just another state. There's a McDonald's and Burger King on every corner, and for sure they speak English here.
Last week I went to a Burger King that didn't have any burger's and y'all and yat were not in my version of Webster's, but I hear them quite often.
So there it is. I'm in a foreign country and I don't think I'm going to find a McDonald's anytime soon. I suppose I'll learn the language and culture over time, but right now, I'd kill for some fries. :)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Random links part 2
Part 1 was getting too long for a single post and I felt this one really deserved it's own special time.
She finds this guy kind of offensive. So do I. So much so that it makes me mad. I've been an engineer, now I'm a scientist. Both have a place, both can be good and both can be bad. But, the truely great stuff, the stuff that can change the world, is the stuff that has one foot in both. This particular article cites our impending energy crisis and seems to imply that science has no place in a solution. I can't beleive that someone has the gall to imply such a thing. (Then again, I left engineering for a reason, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.) Go ahead dude, build a windmill for renewable energy. I'm sure you'll do a really great job, but do you know where to put it? Do you have any understanding of how the wind blows, or any knowledge of recent observations of the natural world that could make that windmill even more efficient? I do. Scientists do. Are you going to ask? I sure hope so? Otherwise that windmill, while well-engineered, is a complete waste.
A real solution to the energy problem we face is going to come from engineering of new technology, that I will not deny. But that engineering means nothing without an understanding of the natural world (science anyone?) Technology that uses biofuel is useless without enough understanding of the natural world to know if biofuel is sustainable. AND, all of it's crap if we don't do some solid social science understanding of what people want and are willing to accept into their lives. We better watch out, or our sustainable energy technology will be more akin to an edsel than an acutal solution. Sure it worked, but no one bought it.
While he correctly points out some great engineering achievements, he seems to forget that engineers were also responsible for the betamax, the edsel, (30+ other disasters) and oh yea, those space shuttles (technical problems aside) that never would have gone anywhere in the first place if science hadn't first figured out gravity!
Collaboration is the way the future of science, technology and humanity. Crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries is really the way to go. I believe it, and most "academics" I encounter are starting to believe it. The attitude expounded in this article "can actually get in the way", in my humble opinion.
She finds this guy kind of offensive. So do I. So much so that it makes me mad. I've been an engineer, now I'm a scientist. Both have a place, both can be good and both can be bad. But, the truely great stuff, the stuff that can change the world, is the stuff that has one foot in both. This particular article cites our impending energy crisis and seems to imply that science has no place in a solution. I can't beleive that someone has the gall to imply such a thing. (Then again, I left engineering for a reason, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.) Go ahead dude, build a windmill for renewable energy. I'm sure you'll do a really great job, but do you know where to put it? Do you have any understanding of how the wind blows, or any knowledge of recent observations of the natural world that could make that windmill even more efficient? I do. Scientists do. Are you going to ask? I sure hope so? Otherwise that windmill, while well-engineered, is a complete waste.
A real solution to the energy problem we face is going to come from engineering of new technology, that I will not deny. But that engineering means nothing without an understanding of the natural world (science anyone?) Technology that uses biofuel is useless without enough understanding of the natural world to know if biofuel is sustainable. AND, all of it's crap if we don't do some solid social science understanding of what people want and are willing to accept into their lives. We better watch out, or our sustainable energy technology will be more akin to an edsel than an acutal solution. Sure it worked, but no one bought it.
While he correctly points out some great engineering achievements, he seems to forget that engineers were also responsible for the betamax, the edsel, (30+ other disasters) and oh yea, those space shuttles (technical problems aside) that never would have gone anywhere in the first place if science hadn't first figured out gravity!
Collaboration is the way the future of science, technology and humanity. Crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries is really the way to go. I believe it, and most "academics" I encounter are starting to believe it. The attitude expounded in this article "can actually get in the way", in my humble opinion.
Friday, February 20, 2009
random links part 1
Here are a couple of things I came across in my web travels that struck me as interesting.
This guy keeps all his journals. I do the same thing. Well, not exactly the same, but I love love love blank journals (stationary of all kinds really) and my "research notebook" is never too far away. It's partly a carry over from engineering school, when it was required in senior design and partly because I just feel the need. I wish that I could be as diligent about it being the same size and shape everytime I fill it up like he was, but I'm not. Not even close, but each one is loved and worn in it's own special way, and some are even referred back to now and then. When the rest of the trail goes cold, I can usually flip through the page and find what I'm looking for. It takes me about 2 years to fill one up, so the pile is growing. Maybe in another 26 years I'll have a really good story to tell.
This guy finds social networking somewhat of a burden. Sometimes I do too. Hence the facebook re-org. What I didn't tell you in that post is that I put alot of "friends" in a separate category that basically represents the people that I'm obligated to maintain an electronic social connection, but in reality, they weren't really friendships to start with and the connections would not have been maintained at all if technology didn't burden me to do so. I've also started to use the filter feature in AlertThingy, so that I don't have to waste my brain cells reading status updates from this particular group of "friends". The truth is, the feeling is probably mutal. But no one will say it out loud. People come and go from our lives for a reason.
This guy keeps all his journals. I do the same thing. Well, not exactly the same, but I love love love blank journals (stationary of all kinds really) and my "research notebook" is never too far away. It's partly a carry over from engineering school, when it was required in senior design and partly because I just feel the need. I wish that I could be as diligent about it being the same size and shape everytime I fill it up like he was, but I'm not. Not even close, but each one is loved and worn in it's own special way, and some are even referred back to now and then. When the rest of the trail goes cold, I can usually flip through the page and find what I'm looking for. It takes me about 2 years to fill one up, so the pile is growing. Maybe in another 26 years I'll have a really good story to tell.
This guy finds social networking somewhat of a burden. Sometimes I do too. Hence the facebook re-org. What I didn't tell you in that post is that I put alot of "friends" in a separate category that basically represents the people that I'm obligated to maintain an electronic social connection, but in reality, they weren't really friendships to start with and the connections would not have been maintained at all if technology didn't burden me to do so. I've also started to use the filter feature in AlertThingy, so that I don't have to waste my brain cells reading status updates from this particular group of "friends". The truth is, the feeling is probably mutal. But no one will say it out loud. People come and go from our lives for a reason.
- MAJOR SIDE NOTE: If you are reading this blog, and know me in real life, and are on facebook you most definitely did not fall into this cateogry. You fall into the category of people that I would have exchanged letters and phone calls with before the days of social networking. I miss letters, I think it has something to do with my weird love of paper and all stationary products (see above). If you are reading this blog and don't know me in real life you aren't in my facebook entourage anyways so this doesn't apply to you, but I'm very happy to have you share in my corner of the world.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Roller Coaster Week # 3
Sorry, it's almost the end of week 4, I'm a bit behind. Week 3 was meh.
Nothing good, nothing bad. Class took a lot of my time, and I didn't really feel like I was on top it. I did manage to find some time to work on a paper and get back to science which was good. I had one phone conversation with that annoying colleague, which, while the subtext is always sexist and insulting, he can also be kind of funny. I'm mostly just learning to laugh at him. Maybe if I can take the high road I'll eventually convince him girls aren't all that bad. Beyond that, I don't really remember much. Just a normal busy week. I'm going to tally it at 4 oks and 1 good.
Nothing good, nothing bad. Class took a lot of my time, and I didn't really feel like I was on top it. I did manage to find some time to work on a paper and get back to science which was good. I had one phone conversation with that annoying colleague, which, while the subtext is always sexist and insulting, he can also be kind of funny. I'm mostly just learning to laugh at him. Maybe if I can take the high road I'll eventually convince him girls aren't all that bad. Beyond that, I don't really remember much. Just a normal busy week. I'm going to tally it at 4 oks and 1 good.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Fixing my facebook problem
With all the buzz in the news this week about FB* and their rights to what we post and all of that stuff**, I got to thinking about my online life. I go through this every few months or so, and last time I talked about it here on the blog so I thought I'd give a little update.
My main problem with facebook, twitter, and even this blog to some extent is the line between my personal and my professional life. The two do mix somewhat, sometimes, but I try very hard to keep them separate. I was good on twitter (using my dr. rini persona), and mostly good on this blog (the real life people who know me and my actual situation can be trusted to be discrete). Aside from that, I figure if someone does go through the trouble to put the pieces together, I haven't done anything actually wrong. I talk in vague terms about people and events and my own opinions, none of which can get me in too much trouble. Facebook on the other hand has always been a little bit of a gray area. Colleagues are on there, it's rude not to friend them, and it may actually have some uses in my professional life.
Today, my attention was brought to this article and I actually gained a little more confidence in the system. I've spent a little time on my profile tonight and by grouping my friends, family and colleagues and carefully choosing who can see what, I feel a little more comfortable with professional Rini and personal Rini exisiting in the same place and a little less like I'm being watched. Go read it, I thought that I was being pretty good about my settings, but even I didn't know about all of these tricks.
* I'm too lazy to find the links, google facebook TOS and you should be good.
**I'm not going to get into the debate on the good, the bad, and the legal of all of this. I have my own opinions and skeptism but I have come to terms with the fact that online social networking is a necessary evil in our lives. It's going to take the laws and licensing rules awhile to catch up with us. That's the beauty of a democracy, after many years we'll end up with a system that the majority of people feel comforatble with. The wheels of democracy move slower than those of innovators, always have, always will.
My main problem with facebook, twitter, and even this blog to some extent is the line between my personal and my professional life. The two do mix somewhat, sometimes, but I try very hard to keep them separate. I was good on twitter (using my dr. rini persona), and mostly good on this blog (the real life people who know me and my actual situation can be trusted to be discrete). Aside from that, I figure if someone does go through the trouble to put the pieces together, I haven't done anything actually wrong. I talk in vague terms about people and events and my own opinions, none of which can get me in too much trouble. Facebook on the other hand has always been a little bit of a gray area. Colleagues are on there, it's rude not to friend them, and it may actually have some uses in my professional life.
Today, my attention was brought to this article and I actually gained a little more confidence in the system. I've spent a little time on my profile tonight and by grouping my friends, family and colleagues and carefully choosing who can see what, I feel a little more comfortable with professional Rini and personal Rini exisiting in the same place and a little less like I'm being watched. Go read it, I thought that I was being pretty good about my settings, but even I didn't know about all of these tricks.
* I'm too lazy to find the links, google facebook TOS and you should be good.
**I'm not going to get into the debate on the good, the bad, and the legal of all of this. I have my own opinions and skeptism but I have come to terms with the fact that online social networking is a necessary evil in our lives. It's going to take the laws and licensing rules awhile to catch up with us. That's the beauty of a democracy, after many years we'll end up with a system that the majority of people feel comforatble with. The wheels of democracy move slower than those of innovators, always have, always will.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
knitting
I've got some finished stuff to show off. It took me a while to get some pictures so some are little old, but better late than never. Last week the knitting gals got together and did a little photoshoot. Thanks very much to ashpags for taking all the pictures for us. These are just a few shots, it was so hard to pick from all of the beautiful ones she took.
This sweater got done the night before we took of for home in December. Good thing too because I wore it almost everyday since it was so cold and snowy up there. You can see it already has the fuzz of a well loved comfy sweater.
Pattern: Petra from Cocoknits
Yarn: Classic Elite Two.Two. from Webs. The very first time I ever went there. It's discontinued, and this is it's second life as a sweater. One horribly bad crocheted nightmare was frogged before the move and this is a much better use of this very bulky yarn.
This is the hat I knit a few weekends ago. I am so in love with it, I can't explain it. The yarn is divine. Also from Webs, maybe summer sale of 2007? I'm doing a little stash-busting in light of the failing economy and that (still unsold) second house.Patttern: Lace Grace Beret from Loop.
Yarn: Grace from Louisa Harding in dark teal. 1 ball and little bit of a second one.
I used different needle sizes because I couldn't locate a size 9 16" circular anywhere, so I used size 8 for the body, I stuck with size 6 or the ribbing. It seemed to work out fine. The pattern is easy to follow and quick to knit. The yarn is lucious and a joy to work with. I'm making some fingerless mitts to complement the hat. This was the first time I've ever done a tubular cast on and it was a neat trick with a pleasing result.
Since I don't think I have any knitting lovelies to show off anytime soon, and I want to make the pretty photographs last as long as possible, I just give you a tease of the other project. Remember that last pair of socks I promised. Well I'm still writing up the pattern, but this should give you something to think about:
Saturday, February 7, 2009
I spoke too soon...
Just when I was seduced back into my optimism, the new culture strikes back, and I have the crooked hair to prove it.
One of the hard things about moving to a place is finding the new stuff. New doctors (ugh, we aren't even going to talk about that), new shopping places, new bank, new everything, including the dreaded hair dresser. I've had an ongoing battle with my hair and some struggles with maintaining a consistent hairdresser even back home, and some really bad haircuts as a result, so I had been a little gun shy about this particular process, but hair grows and needs to be cut.
The first try was really bad. When you have an entire conversation with the guy about how you have really straight thin hair and need products to add more volume and then he takes out a flattening iron...bad only begins to describe it. I finally got around to making another appointment before the holidays, and despite some confusion and cancellations, a really nice women cut my hair really well. She took time and care and it was very nice and I was very happy with it. So much so, I made a second appointment in 8 weeks time before I left (something I never do.) The management of this particular salon was a mess, but I figured the good haircut was worth the hassle. That was 8 weeks ago. Yesterday I realized that I knew my appointment was today, but I didn't know what time, it took 2 phone calls to the salon to figure it out, but again, I knew my haircut would be ok so I went with it. Today, after a lovely morning of exploring the city a little, Hub dropped me off at 1pm (the appointed time) and was going to pick me up an hour later, so we could continue our day together with a little antiquing.
My hairdresser was running a bit behind because someone had "called in". At 1:30 I sent a text to hub to say take his time, I hadn't gone in yet. At 1:40 she started to wash my hair, and put in some kind of free conditioning treatment, then left me under the heat lamp for it to cure (?). At 2 she told me to get out from under the lamp and sit by the sink, she'd be "right with me". ~10 minutes (I gave up on paying attention at this point) later she came and rinsed me and brought be out front. Where I sat for another 15 or 20 minutes while she finished up flat-ironing another patron who had shown up sometime during this process. She started combing my hair when hubby showed up at 2:30 and assured him it would be quick, just a trim and reshape, "15 minutes or so". At 3:02 I finally got into the car. Agitated as could be.
I'm not a girly girl, and while I enjoy a good pampering now and then, 2 hours for a trim is WAY beyond my comfort zone. I read an entire In-Style magazine, cover to cover, admittedly not alot of actual reading in such a publication, but still. We have just reached the point were we can start to expect and plan for the phenomenon that we are calling "southern time", everything moves much slower here than it does back home, but this was well outside of the parameters.
And, the haircut, the one that I was willing to put up with a little BS for becuase I was going to be happy with? Terrible. So bad, that I for the first time in my life, went back to have it fixed. Somewhere in between her ordering lunch, discussing color options with the next client and searching for her round brush, the entire left side of my head was left uncut. Leaving it a full inch longer than the right side. And the bangs that had reached that really annoying place where they hit you right in your eye: yup, still right in the eye. After about 20 minutes, hub convinced me to go back, which I hate doing, and get it fixed. Which she kindly did and we left at 4:00. The three hour ordeal was awful and we never did get to go antiquing.
And, there is still a chunk of hair uncut, which Hub will take the sisscors too for me in the morning.
That'll teach me to get too optimisitic.
One of the hard things about moving to a place is finding the new stuff. New doctors (ugh, we aren't even going to talk about that), new shopping places, new bank, new everything, including the dreaded hair dresser. I've had an ongoing battle with my hair and some struggles with maintaining a consistent hairdresser even back home, and some really bad haircuts as a result, so I had been a little gun shy about this particular process, but hair grows and needs to be cut.
The first try was really bad. When you have an entire conversation with the guy about how you have really straight thin hair and need products to add more volume and then he takes out a flattening iron...bad only begins to describe it. I finally got around to making another appointment before the holidays, and despite some confusion and cancellations, a really nice women cut my hair really well. She took time and care and it was very nice and I was very happy with it. So much so, I made a second appointment in 8 weeks time before I left (something I never do.) The management of this particular salon was a mess, but I figured the good haircut was worth the hassle. That was 8 weeks ago. Yesterday I realized that I knew my appointment was today, but I didn't know what time, it took 2 phone calls to the salon to figure it out, but again, I knew my haircut would be ok so I went with it. Today, after a lovely morning of exploring the city a little, Hub dropped me off at 1pm (the appointed time) and was going to pick me up an hour later, so we could continue our day together with a little antiquing.
My hairdresser was running a bit behind because someone had "called in". At 1:30 I sent a text to hub to say take his time, I hadn't gone in yet. At 1:40 she started to wash my hair, and put in some kind of free conditioning treatment, then left me under the heat lamp for it to cure (?). At 2 she told me to get out from under the lamp and sit by the sink, she'd be "right with me". ~10 minutes (I gave up on paying attention at this point) later she came and rinsed me and brought be out front. Where I sat for another 15 or 20 minutes while she finished up flat-ironing another patron who had shown up sometime during this process. She started combing my hair when hubby showed up at 2:30 and assured him it would be quick, just a trim and reshape, "15 minutes or so". At 3:02 I finally got into the car. Agitated as could be.
I'm not a girly girl, and while I enjoy a good pampering now and then, 2 hours for a trim is WAY beyond my comfort zone. I read an entire In-Style magazine, cover to cover, admittedly not alot of actual reading in such a publication, but still. We have just reached the point were we can start to expect and plan for the phenomenon that we are calling "southern time", everything moves much slower here than it does back home, but this was well outside of the parameters.
And, the haircut, the one that I was willing to put up with a little BS for becuase I was going to be happy with? Terrible. So bad, that I for the first time in my life, went back to have it fixed. Somewhere in between her ordering lunch, discussing color options with the next client and searching for her round brush, the entire left side of my head was left uncut. Leaving it a full inch longer than the right side. And the bangs that had reached that really annoying place where they hit you right in your eye: yup, still right in the eye. After about 20 minutes, hub convinced me to go back, which I hate doing, and get it fixed. Which she kindly did and we left at 4:00. The three hour ordeal was awful and we never did get to go antiquing.
And, there is still a chunk of hair uncut, which Hub will take the sisscors too for me in the morning.
That'll teach me to get too optimisitic.
Roller Coaster Week 2
So many things to blog, so little time. Just a quick roller coaster update before we go enjoy the beautiful weather outside, and hopefully I'll get to the knitting and those beautiful pictures ashpags took last week.
Here we go...hold on to your pants....this week was...good...shocker I know!
One mildly frustrating incident with some inter-departmental competitive politics that seem to be a) more prevalent in my particular University and department and b) heightened because of the impending budget cuts. It did result in one rude/insulting email. Keeping my average at 1 per week. But since this time it was over a fairly isolated and less important topic, it was easier to let it go. Plus it was on the same day as knit night, which always cheers me up. I'm starting to come to realize that these rude emails may be due to some generational gaps and potentially sexist personalities and may not be simply because the senders are jerks. Although, arguably, someone who can't get over the generational gaps and women working in academia may inherently be a jerk.
Teaching also went well this week, my students are starting to open up and discuss issues in class, which is the benefit of small classes. To top that off I gave a research seminar in another department and people were interested in what I do. For the first time, I found other faculty and students interested in what I do. I'm kind of hoping that I can get some type of appointment in this other department since it's where I actually belong. And, in said other department the women faculty are trying to get together for group bag lunch once a week and they invited me and I went and it was so nice to not eat at my desk! Overall it was a big week at the U.
In addition we had dinner last night. I'm sure most of you had dinner last night, but this was especially important because we had dinner with other people!! One of the things we have been struggling with here is the lack of socialization. We had a big social network back home, and there was rarely a weekend/week that went by when we didn't share at least one meal with other people. Now that they are gone, I realize how precious those moments, the simple act of eating and talking, really were. Aside, from all of the crap in academia, this has been the hardest part of the move. The isolation that comes from having no friends is killing people like us who value friendship so dearly. (I don't want my family to be offended, I miss them more, but family is always family, you can't grow more) So last night, going out to dinner with new people, fun people, young faculty-types, both hub and I together, was very nice. Will they become the support network we left behind, I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But just talking and laughing felt so good.
So, total roller coaster count: good(6), ok(3), bad(1)
Yea, the good is winning, for now I feel a little more is right in the world.
Here we go...hold on to your pants....this week was...good...shocker I know!
One mildly frustrating incident with some inter-departmental competitive politics that seem to be a) more prevalent in my particular University and department and b) heightened because of the impending budget cuts. It did result in one rude/insulting email. Keeping my average at 1 per week. But since this time it was over a fairly isolated and less important topic, it was easier to let it go. Plus it was on the same day as knit night, which always cheers me up. I'm starting to come to realize that these rude emails may be due to some generational gaps and potentially sexist personalities and may not be simply because the senders are jerks. Although, arguably, someone who can't get over the generational gaps and women working in academia may inherently be a jerk.
Teaching also went well this week, my students are starting to open up and discuss issues in class, which is the benefit of small classes. To top that off I gave a research seminar in another department and people were interested in what I do. For the first time, I found other faculty and students interested in what I do. I'm kind of hoping that I can get some type of appointment in this other department since it's where I actually belong. And, in said other department the women faculty are trying to get together for group bag lunch once a week and they invited me and I went and it was so nice to not eat at my desk! Overall it was a big week at the U.
In addition we had dinner last night. I'm sure most of you had dinner last night, but this was especially important because we had dinner with other people!! One of the things we have been struggling with here is the lack of socialization. We had a big social network back home, and there was rarely a weekend/week that went by when we didn't share at least one meal with other people. Now that they are gone, I realize how precious those moments, the simple act of eating and talking, really were. Aside, from all of the crap in academia, this has been the hardest part of the move. The isolation that comes from having no friends is killing people like us who value friendship so dearly. (I don't want my family to be offended, I miss them more, but family is always family, you can't grow more) So last night, going out to dinner with new people, fun people, young faculty-types, both hub and I together, was very nice. Will they become the support network we left behind, I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But just talking and laughing felt so good.
So, total roller coaster count: good(6), ok(3), bad(1)
Yea, the good is winning, for now I feel a little more is right in the world.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Some baby knitting
I know that I have this general rule about baby knitting. I only do it for a) relatives or b) children of people who were in our wedding. I know that seems like a very arbitrary cut off, but when kids were popping out left and right a few years back (and then again earlier this year), we had to set some kind of limit, my little fingers just couldn't move fast enough. With all that in mind, what I did earlier this week doesn't really make much sense. We'll just chalk it up to one of those things that my brain latched onto and just had to do.
Some good friends, (who we didn't meet until after we were married), are having a baby. The shower is this weekend and I, of course, couldn't get home for it. This is really the first such event I had to miss since we moved away and I'm a little sad about it. I think that I was even a little sadder since I didn't get to see the momma when I was home for Xmas because she was in the hospital with pneumonia (yikes!) For some unknown reason I just had to knit. Nothing major, just a few little things to keep the little guy warm. I started a sweater, but the pattern was really wacked and the arms were coming out super long so I switched to the classic bootie and hat combo in the last hours. I sent them off a bit later than I would have liked given that I was completely unaware of how soon February actually was and I thought I had another week. Oops! So I hope they got there in time for the party, if not, such is life. I'll never be the kind of person who has her act completely together and I'm ok with that.
Cute, quick and fun.
Some good friends, (who we didn't meet until after we were married), are having a baby. The shower is this weekend and I, of course, couldn't get home for it. This is really the first such event I had to miss since we moved away and I'm a little sad about it. I think that I was even a little sadder since I didn't get to see the momma when I was home for Xmas because she was in the hospital with pneumonia (yikes!) For some unknown reason I just had to knit. Nothing major, just a few little things to keep the little guy warm. I started a sweater, but the pattern was really wacked and the arms were coming out super long so I switched to the classic bootie and hat combo in the last hours. I sent them off a bit later than I would have liked given that I was completely unaware of how soon February actually was and I thought I had another week. Oops! So I hope they got there in time for the party, if not, such is life. I'll never be the kind of person who has her act completely together and I'm ok with that.
Cute, quick and fun.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Roller Coaster Week 1
I got alot of encouragement about Monday's post, and I thank everyone for that. I have been keeping track and I thought that I might try to do a weekly(ish) update on the life of a new tenure track faculty. This is partly because I think the whole exercise will be good for me and partly because I think it might be good for others.
So here we go, week 1. Good (2), Bad (1), OK (2).
Overall the week was more good than bad, which surprised me a bit. The bad day was caused by some major rudeness from another professor across campus, whom I've never met, but gave me the vague feeling that a "conflict" might be in my near future. That was early Monday morning, and I had a similiar rude experience with another professor last week so it was hard to take it lightly. For the record, the rudeness is not in my head, others read the emails for both instances, and had similar feelings, and my department head offered to back me up in both situations, and took great care to make sure that I knew that I had done nothing out of line to deserve this treatment. Last week's situation was resolved; not to my liking, but I at least stood my ground and carried it out to the best of my abilities, without having pissed anyone off. A skill that I am rapidly learning to master.
Tuesday's grant news was very good and it's hard to get knocked down off that high. Even a killer sinus headache that stuck around for most of the rest of the week didn't completely ruin my days. Neither did the faculty meeting for that matter. The grant also required me to get back in touch with the collaborators and the joy of science was reignited. It also reminded me that I can pick up the phone and have someone to work with and comiserate with a bit, which made me feel less alone. It is important to keep those professional/friendly contacts alive, especially since I haven't really made any at the new U yet. Teaching could have gone better this week, but it wasn't dreadful, I'm still new and I'm still learning, everyone says that you will improve your teaching with time and practice. The students tell me they are learning, so that's what really matters.
Today was good. I did some socialization with the other knitters on campus, which was very nice. Several in my regular knit night are grad students here, so they are going through what I went through a few years back, are headed towards what I'm going through now, and they knit, so there is always lots to talk about :) They are much closer to my age then any of the faculty I see on a regular basis (by about 15 years or so) and I enjoy spending time with them and they've been super nice to me, even if I am an old woman!
I still feel like I'm behind on my work, but I think in some sense ever faculty feels like that all the time. The thing is no one says it.
So there you have it. I like that I'm starting this experiment on a positive note. I know that not every week will have more good than bad, but I don't feel like I'm in the hole or anything.
So here we go, week 1. Good (2), Bad (1), OK (2).
Overall the week was more good than bad, which surprised me a bit. The bad day was caused by some major rudeness from another professor across campus, whom I've never met, but gave me the vague feeling that a "conflict" might be in my near future. That was early Monday morning, and I had a similiar rude experience with another professor last week so it was hard to take it lightly. For the record, the rudeness is not in my head, others read the emails for both instances, and had similar feelings, and my department head offered to back me up in both situations, and took great care to make sure that I knew that I had done nothing out of line to deserve this treatment. Last week's situation was resolved; not to my liking, but I at least stood my ground and carried it out to the best of my abilities, without having pissed anyone off. A skill that I am rapidly learning to master.
Tuesday's grant news was very good and it's hard to get knocked down off that high. Even a killer sinus headache that stuck around for most of the rest of the week didn't completely ruin my days. Neither did the faculty meeting for that matter. The grant also required me to get back in touch with the collaborators and the joy of science was reignited. It also reminded me that I can pick up the phone and have someone to work with and comiserate with a bit, which made me feel less alone. It is important to keep those professional/friendly contacts alive, especially since I haven't really made any at the new U yet. Teaching could have gone better this week, but it wasn't dreadful, I'm still new and I'm still learning, everyone says that you will improve your teaching with time and practice. The students tell me they are learning, so that's what really matters.
Today was good. I did some socialization with the other knitters on campus, which was very nice. Several in my regular knit night are grad students here, so they are going through what I went through a few years back, are headed towards what I'm going through now, and they knit, so there is always lots to talk about :) They are much closer to my age then any of the faculty I see on a regular basis (by about 15 years or so) and I enjoy spending time with them and they've been super nice to me, even if I am an old woman!
I still feel like I'm behind on my work, but I think in some sense ever faculty feels like that all the time. The thing is no one says it.
So there you have it. I like that I'm starting this experiment on a positive note. I know that not every week will have more good than bad, but I don't feel like I'm in the hole or anything.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Riding the Roller Coaster
You might have been able to guess from the snarky edition last week that things weren't going so well around here. This is both the complete truth and a blatant lie at the same time. It is the enigma we all know as life. Yesterday was bad (bad enough for me to start looking at job postings), today is good (NSF grant! woohoo!), and it's anyone's guess what tomorrow will hold. It's a roller coaster with the ups and downs coming faster than you can handle. Mornings can be good, one email can change it all and make you feel like the gum on the bottom of someone's shoe. I've always maintained a "c'est la vie" mostly optimistic attitude, beleiving that as long as the good outweighed the bad, I was leading a quality life and couldn't really ask for much more.
Here's the thing: What to do when the ups and downs are just about equal, or the balance starts to tip and your're feeling like you want off the ride more often than you are enjoying it? Is it just a rough patch? Does the long term average count for more? Or is it an indication that it's time to take a long hard look and figure out what's causing the imbalance?
There have been times in my life when I knew a change was required. The balance was clearly tipped and the long term average just wasn't ever going to make it ok. I've always been pretty good about knowing myself well enough to know what was right and what was wrong, for me and then taking the steps to fix it. I do beleive that to some extent our fate is in our own hands, so I rarely take the wait an see approach, preferring to be a little more pro-active in my life.
But here I am on a rollar coaster bigger, scarier and more stressful than I've been on before, and I'm not sure I like it, and I'm not sure I want to ride it until it's over. (I guess all new rollar coasters feel that way the first time you ride them, but once you survive they feel like kiddie rides in the rear-view mirror, but still...)
We are just shy of 6 months post move so I no longer consider my life to be "in transition". You see, to me the rules of self-evaluation don't apply to the transistion periods, all bets are off.
When I discuss this situation with others who have riden on the tenure track, they say the first year is just like that, give it a year before making any drastic decisions. So as difficult as it might be I'll give it the year, but I need a plan.
So, here's my plan, in a pseudo-scientific manor, I'm going to keep track, (mostly) day by day. Good, bad, ugly, ok. I'm going to keep track of why good, bad, ugly, or ok (i.e. is is my doing or someone elses that I can learn to shrug off) and I"m going to try to tell the stories behind the good, bad, ugly, and ok. I'm going to take a tally. Then we'll see where we are.
This is the roller coast we call the tenure track. My internal optimistic, hopes (and very nearly beleives) that this will be an inspirational activity for any tenure track riders just slightly behind me, but we'll see, I don't like my science to be tainted by preconceived notions, then it's not science :)
Here's the thing: What to do when the ups and downs are just about equal, or the balance starts to tip and your're feeling like you want off the ride more often than you are enjoying it? Is it just a rough patch? Does the long term average count for more? Or is it an indication that it's time to take a long hard look and figure out what's causing the imbalance?
There have been times in my life when I knew a change was required. The balance was clearly tipped and the long term average just wasn't ever going to make it ok. I've always been pretty good about knowing myself well enough to know what was right and what was wrong, for me and then taking the steps to fix it. I do beleive that to some extent our fate is in our own hands, so I rarely take the wait an see approach, preferring to be a little more pro-active in my life.
But here I am on a rollar coaster bigger, scarier and more stressful than I've been on before, and I'm not sure I like it, and I'm not sure I want to ride it until it's over. (I guess all new rollar coasters feel that way the first time you ride them, but once you survive they feel like kiddie rides in the rear-view mirror, but still...)
We are just shy of 6 months post move so I no longer consider my life to be "in transition". You see, to me the rules of self-evaluation don't apply to the transistion periods, all bets are off.
When I discuss this situation with others who have riden on the tenure track, they say the first year is just like that, give it a year before making any drastic decisions. So as difficult as it might be I'll give it the year, but I need a plan.
So, here's my plan, in a pseudo-scientific manor, I'm going to keep track, (mostly) day by day. Good, bad, ugly, ok. I'm going to keep track of why good, bad, ugly, or ok (i.e. is is my doing or someone elses that I can learn to shrug off) and I"m going to try to tell the stories behind the good, bad, ugly, and ok. I'm going to take a tally. Then we'll see where we are.
This is the roller coast we call the tenure track. My internal optimistic, hopes (and very nearly beleives) that this will be an inspirational activity for any tenure track riders just slightly behind me, but we'll see, I don't like my science to be tainted by preconceived notions, then it's not science :)
Saturday, January 24, 2009
good saturday
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
What I did on my winter break AKA the yarn ball of doom
For the New Year, I'm not going to make resolutions or announce goals or anything this year, but rather provide a story about one of those things that can only happen to me, because they seem to be quite popular among my readers. Just think of me as comic relief. :)
I was fortunate enough to have enough time allowed away from the University to spend a substantial amount of my winter break home with my family. My dad had some surgery right before the holidays and he was in recovery mode during my visit (comical right from the start, no?...he's fine btw, and I don't really want to go in more details about it on the blog, but I will happily report that he'll be good as new soon) What the surgery meant for me was that instead of the usual exhaustive running around that accompanies the holiday's I was given a free pass to stay in and help out Dad and Mom in a low key holiday/recovery scenario. I honestly can't remember the last time I spent this much time in the family homestead and while it was imposed under less than ideal circumstances, it was just what my soul needed to recover from what has been one of the toughest years I can remember. (6 interviews, the ill fated field project, more time away from home than at it, a 1500 mile move, the tumultuous first month's of tenure track, the culture shock of a less than friendly university, dad's surgery and whatever else I'm blocking out from the trauma of it all, phew, I'm happy to be moving on)
Mom and I spent some quality time with the fiber arts too. I brought with me a bunch of little projects in various states of completion to finish up. Those socks I talked about last time and that are still waiting for their photoshoot, and this scarf:
I was happily crocheting away on it and providing some moral support to Mom while she finished up a sweater that she has been knitting for a very long time. I learned to knit from both my Mom and my maternal grandmother at various stages in my youth. My grandmother was a prolific knitter and she churned out sweater after sweater in all styles, shapes and colors for all the time I knew her. My mother is quite a good knitter in her own right, but she never knit quite as much. Her craft of choice being more centered around the sewing machine, with which, she has skills I could never hope to master.
Anyways, she started this sweater awhile ago, thought she might not have enough yarn and put it aside, until my visit when I forced her to pick it up and finish it.
While snuggling up with some tea, a blanket and my crocheting. My mother revealled yet another unknown talent she had hidden in her arsenal. A technique for hand winding the most perfect center pull ball of yarn you have ever seen. Seriously it's a thing of beauty, almost better than my ball winder could do. See:
Sorry about the blur, I don't really know what was going on there.
While being distracted by this wonderful technique, I spilt a little tea. Just a little on the blanket and my scarf. Now, you should know, I'm a big tea drinker and a big clutz. I spill tea on something at least once a week. Usually myself on my way out the door, or in the car on my way to work. This weekly occurance is quickly remedied with a quick swipe of the hand or paper towel. The occasional residual stain is easily eliminated with a Tide pen or regular laundering. I quickly did my paper towel swipe on the scarf and the blanket and it was clearly not enough. The blanket was in the washing machine less than 5 minutes after the offending tea had touched it. The (unfinished) scarf was soaking in the sink with some mild detergent immeadiately after that. You know where this is going don't you.
Yup. Tea stains. Bad ones, the likes of which I have never seen. To make the cleaning process easier, I finished the scarf, I was only a few rows away anyways, and a few days later we went to work. First we consulted the internet. Lemon Juice. We soaked, we rinsed, we washed. No go. Then we called my sister, who consulted the bible of all things domestic. Vinegar. We soaked, we rinsed, we washed. No go. We drank some wine. Mom went into the depths of her library. Enzyme cleaner like Biz. No go. Not in the pre treatment paste like regime or the long term soaking one. We went to the big guns with the Shout pre treatment stick. No go. By the end of the night the kitchen looked like this:
And I still have a stained scarf. Damn my mother and her amazing yarn magic tricks! Oh well, you win some you loose some. I hear peroxide might work, but I haven't gotten up the gumption to give it a go yet.
I was fortunate enough to have enough time allowed away from the University to spend a substantial amount of my winter break home with my family. My dad had some surgery right before the holidays and he was in recovery mode during my visit (comical right from the start, no?...he's fine btw, and I don't really want to go in more details about it on the blog, but I will happily report that he'll be good as new soon) What the surgery meant for me was that instead of the usual exhaustive running around that accompanies the holiday's I was given a free pass to stay in and help out Dad and Mom in a low key holiday/recovery scenario. I honestly can't remember the last time I spent this much time in the family homestead and while it was imposed under less than ideal circumstances, it was just what my soul needed to recover from what has been one of the toughest years I can remember. (6 interviews, the ill fated field project, more time away from home than at it, a 1500 mile move, the tumultuous first month's of tenure track, the culture shock of a less than friendly university, dad's surgery and whatever else I'm blocking out from the trauma of it all, phew, I'm happy to be moving on)
Mom and I spent some quality time with the fiber arts too. I brought with me a bunch of little projects in various states of completion to finish up. Those socks I talked about last time and that are still waiting for their photoshoot, and this scarf:
I was happily crocheting away on it and providing some moral support to Mom while she finished up a sweater that she has been knitting for a very long time. I learned to knit from both my Mom and my maternal grandmother at various stages in my youth. My grandmother was a prolific knitter and she churned out sweater after sweater in all styles, shapes and colors for all the time I knew her. My mother is quite a good knitter in her own right, but she never knit quite as much. Her craft of choice being more centered around the sewing machine, with which, she has skills I could never hope to master.Anyways, she started this sweater awhile ago, thought she might not have enough yarn and put it aside, until my visit when I forced her to pick it up and finish it.
While snuggling up with some tea, a blanket and my crocheting. My mother revealled yet another unknown talent she had hidden in her arsenal. A technique for hand winding the most perfect center pull ball of yarn you have ever seen. Seriously it's a thing of beauty, almost better than my ball winder could do. See:
Sorry about the blur, I don't really know what was going on there.While being distracted by this wonderful technique, I spilt a little tea. Just a little on the blanket and my scarf. Now, you should know, I'm a big tea drinker and a big clutz. I spill tea on something at least once a week. Usually myself on my way out the door, or in the car on my way to work. This weekly occurance is quickly remedied with a quick swipe of the hand or paper towel. The occasional residual stain is easily eliminated with a Tide pen or regular laundering. I quickly did my paper towel swipe on the scarf and the blanket and it was clearly not enough. The blanket was in the washing machine less than 5 minutes after the offending tea had touched it. The (unfinished) scarf was soaking in the sink with some mild detergent immeadiately after that. You know where this is going don't you.
Yup. Tea stains. Bad ones, the likes of which I have never seen. To make the cleaning process easier, I finished the scarf, I was only a few rows away anyways, and a few days later we went to work. First we consulted the internet. Lemon Juice. We soaked, we rinsed, we washed. No go. Then we called my sister, who consulted the bible of all things domestic. Vinegar. We soaked, we rinsed, we washed. No go. We drank some wine. Mom went into the depths of her library. Enzyme cleaner like Biz. No go. Not in the pre treatment paste like regime or the long term soaking one. We went to the big guns with the Shout pre treatment stick. No go. By the end of the night the kitchen looked like this:
And I still have a stained scarf. Damn my mother and her amazing yarn magic tricks! Oh well, you win some you loose some. I hear peroxide might work, but I haven't gotten up the gumption to give it a go yet.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Choosing a School: Tips for New Faculty. The snarky edition
I hate it here. I hate it here. I hate it here. Why can't I have magical shoes to click my heels and go home. These suede boots I've got on are hot, but I'd take magic over hot any day.
There now it's out of my system. I don't hate it here. The newness just makes every stupid inconvenience boil my blood just faster than necessary. I thought that I was at a football school. It's January, we don't play Football in January, bowl season is over, campus is safe again. I should be able to be at my office any time without fear of the traffic-sports clusterf*@&. Buzz. WRONG! Having stayed late at the office today to prep for class tomorrow (I'm finding new an unique challenges associated with teaching to the much smaller class size at my much larger U-no the irony is not lost on me), I was shocked to be stuck in campus traffic at 9:00 pm. Which is when it dawned on me that we are also a basketball school. Ugh. Haveing spent the majority of my academic breeding at the Mecca of College Basketball, I should know better than to stay late on campus on a bball game night. I adeptly scheduled around these events for years. Now that I know that this situation exisits, I can adapt, but for the love of god why didn't anyone warn me????
In light of this new development (and a few others of recent weeks) I present my top three tips for choosing a tenure track faculty position...should you of course find yourself luckier than I and with an actual choice...unlikely in this current economic time, I know, but I'm sure you lucky ones are out there, and I'm equally sure that you are reading my little blog. ;)
1) The two-body situation. (I know I promised more on this topic and really it's coming). Negotitate it up front. Ask for a dual career office, if they hedge, don't have one, or try to brush you off, get uppity.
2) Start-up funds. Make sure that a) they aren't in any way tied to the stock market in some hinky incomprehensible funding sort of way and b) that they won't be the first thing attacked in budget cuts leaving you with plans you may not be able to follow through on.
3) Sports. Ask the real questions. How will the sports teams impact my chances of tenure? How often will I be unable to get to or from campus in a reasonable time frame because of sporting events. How many home games are there? Should I plan my teaching around them in order to get the best possible ratings (e.g. no exams the week before or after homecoming, opening game, senior night, etc.) From my own personal experience I would shy away from any University that has won or come very close to a National Championship in the last 5 years and those that are > 1 hour away from any other professional sporting teams, making the U the defacto team spirit for all of the surrounding population.
I wonder if there is a correlation between home games and tenure rates? Maybe I should do a study. Do you think I could get grant money for that? If I could my chances of tenure would really go up, but then that would skew the results. Two complicated. I'll just settle with the N=1 sample I have now. Yes, tenure is impacted by sports. Of course, with such a small sample size, it wouldn't hold up to peer-review...but hey it's my blog, I don't have go through peer review. I save that hell for my real life. :)
There now it's out of my system. I don't hate it here. The newness just makes every stupid inconvenience boil my blood just faster than necessary. I thought that I was at a football school. It's January, we don't play Football in January, bowl season is over, campus is safe again. I should be able to be at my office any time without fear of the traffic-sports clusterf*@&. Buzz. WRONG! Having stayed late at the office today to prep for class tomorrow (I'm finding new an unique challenges associated with teaching to the much smaller class size at my much larger U-no the irony is not lost on me), I was shocked to be stuck in campus traffic at 9:00 pm. Which is when it dawned on me that we are also a basketball school. Ugh. Haveing spent the majority of my academic breeding at the Mecca of College Basketball, I should know better than to stay late on campus on a bball game night. I adeptly scheduled around these events for years. Now that I know that this situation exisits, I can adapt, but for the love of god why didn't anyone warn me????
In light of this new development (and a few others of recent weeks) I present my top three tips for choosing a tenure track faculty position...should you of course find yourself luckier than I and with an actual choice...unlikely in this current economic time, I know, but I'm sure you lucky ones are out there, and I'm equally sure that you are reading my little blog. ;)
1) The two-body situation. (I know I promised more on this topic and really it's coming). Negotitate it up front. Ask for a dual career office, if they hedge, don't have one, or try to brush you off, get uppity.
2) Start-up funds. Make sure that a) they aren't in any way tied to the stock market in some hinky incomprehensible funding sort of way and b) that they won't be the first thing attacked in budget cuts leaving you with plans you may not be able to follow through on.
3) Sports. Ask the real questions. How will the sports teams impact my chances of tenure? How often will I be unable to get to or from campus in a reasonable time frame because of sporting events. How many home games are there? Should I plan my teaching around them in order to get the best possible ratings (e.g. no exams the week before or after homecoming, opening game, senior night, etc.) From my own personal experience I would shy away from any University that has won or come very close to a National Championship in the last 5 years and those that are > 1 hour away from any other professional sporting teams, making the U the defacto team spirit for all of the surrounding population.
I wonder if there is a correlation between home games and tenure rates? Maybe I should do a study. Do you think I could get grant money for that? If I could my chances of tenure would really go up, but then that would skew the results. Two complicated. I'll just settle with the N=1 sample I have now. Yes, tenure is impacted by sports. Of course, with such a small sample size, it wouldn't hold up to peer-review...but hey it's my blog, I don't have go through peer review. I save that hell for my real life. :)
My Wordle
Came across this today and needing to get my head outside of the depressing world of academic budget cuts, and re-budgeting under the potential of losing half of my start up money. I took a few minutes and gave it a try.
I limited to the top 50 words on from this blog. I was surprised, I would have guessed that there would be some science or academic like words in there. I thought that I had a pretty even balance of the science and craft, but I must prefer to talk about the craft rather than the science.
If you need a distraction go play, it's fun.
I limited to the top 50 words on from this blog. I was surprised, I would have guessed that there would be some science or academic like words in there. I thought that I had a pretty even balance of the science and craft, but I must prefer to talk about the craft rather than the science. If you need a distraction go play, it's fun.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Under the wire
Hi! Welcome to the New Year. I have many random tidbits that will be posted over the next few weeks in the truely random fashion that my brain works in.
First up: Socks. Remember those 6 pairs of socks I was going to make in 2008? Well I did it, just under the wire the last toe was kitchnered and the ends were woven in on December 30. Just shy of my personal deadline. I actually knit 15 individual socks this year, but three are still mateless.
Here's the skinny on two of them. The third is waiting for a photoshoot and possibly a full pattern release type thing.
Andalusion Socks. I'm calling them that because I based them off of the stitch pattern I found here. This were for my dear husband who love his socks more than he really needs to. He was quite sad when the first half of the year was producing socks for everyone but him, but he was pretty happy with the results. I didn't follow a pattern for this, just shoved the stitch pattern onto a 72 stitch standard top down sock on size 1 needles. I started off with about an inch of 1x1 rib. The yarn is my favorite workhouse sock yarn Trekking XXL, which was accidently* purchased at Webs sometime 2007.
I finished them sometime in July. The first I distinctly remember finishing when I briefly saw my husband in Florida in May for the fitting. They were mostly knit on airplanes. I thought about doing the whole pattern write up thing, which is why it's taken so long for them to make an appearance on the blog. I found it a really fun pattern to work up, not as boring at straight stockinette stitch, but super easy to remember. Just enough visual interest for a funky psuedo-striping yarn like this one. But, then as they saw more wear, I don't think they fit as well as they should and although hub denys it, they fall down, so I decided that it's not really a worthy "pattern" in that sense. If you like it just make a regular plain vanilla sock like the YH does but do a knit one purl one on every 4th round.
Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 years. From my favorite sock book. There is just something so cool about these old patterns finding new life. Sometimes I think I have an old soul and that's why I like the old stuff. Sometimes I think I like the connection with the past it reminds me of all the history that forms a person (family, culture, etc.). Anyways, this is the the 3rd pattern I've made from this book and I'm working on my fourth now. These were my mom's pair for this year. She had previously expressed that her other "woolies" were a bit warm for everyday wear so they didn't see the light of day as often as they might, so I opted for this lace pattern, to give a little more breathing room. Although I think that in my mind these were picked out for mom the minute I saw them in the book. I used some Valley Yarns Franklin in color blueberry. Loved the yarn and loved the pattern, although the scallopy edge was bit finicky to start with, but it's only for a few rows so it's not a big deal. I eliminated the double decrease thingy on the foot section because I thought it might be uncomfortable in shoes.
While I was home for the holidays I also got mom to do a photo shoot with the original "woolies" as she calls them since they never had blog time when I made them two years ago.
They are the Handpaint Highlights pattern from 101 One Skein Wonders (the original one), with Fyberspates Sock Yarn in color "Foxglove". I don't think you can get this yarn anymore, it was when she was just new and it's not even superwash.
So there you have it, the 2008 sock round up. Now it's time to start the sock queue up again for 09. Sis you're up next!
*The scene in the checkout line with my friend was something like this. Friend: do you think my BF would wear socks made out of this or is it too wild. Me: why not? My husband would. Friend: but BF is quite picky. Me: Well then I don't know what to tell you. Friend (as my yarn is ringing up): Well if you're husband will wear it you should buy it. Bleep bleep, it's in my bag.
First up: Socks. Remember those 6 pairs of socks I was going to make in 2008? Well I did it, just under the wire the last toe was kitchnered and the ends were woven in on December 30. Just shy of my personal deadline. I actually knit 15 individual socks this year, but three are still mateless.
Here's the skinny on two of them. The third is waiting for a photoshoot and possibly a full pattern release type thing.
Andalusion Socks. I'm calling them that because I based them off of the stitch pattern I found here. This were for my dear husband who love his socks more than he really needs to. He was quite sad when the first half of the year was producing socks for everyone but him, but he was pretty happy with the results. I didn't follow a pattern for this, just shoved the stitch pattern onto a 72 stitch standard top down sock on size 1 needles. I started off with about an inch of 1x1 rib. The yarn is my favorite workhouse sock yarn Trekking XXL, which was accidently* purchased at Webs sometime 2007.
I finished them sometime in July. The first I distinctly remember finishing when I briefly saw my husband in Florida in May for the fitting. They were mostly knit on airplanes. I thought about doing the whole pattern write up thing, which is why it's taken so long for them to make an appearance on the blog. I found it a really fun pattern to work up, not as boring at straight stockinette stitch, but super easy to remember. Just enough visual interest for a funky psuedo-striping yarn like this one. But, then as they saw more wear, I don't think they fit as well as they should and although hub denys it, they fall down, so I decided that it's not really a worthy "pattern" in that sense. If you like it just make a regular plain vanilla sock like the YH does but do a knit one purl one on every 4th round.
Fancy Silk Sock for a Child of 5 or 6 years. From my favorite sock book. There is just something so cool about these old patterns finding new life. Sometimes I think I have an old soul and that's why I like the old stuff. Sometimes I think I like the connection with the past it reminds me of all the history that forms a person (family, culture, etc.). Anyways, this is the the 3rd pattern I've made from this book and I'm working on my fourth now. These were my mom's pair for this year. She had previously expressed that her other "woolies" were a bit warm for everyday wear so they didn't see the light of day as often as they might, so I opted for this lace pattern, to give a little more breathing room. Although I think that in my mind these were picked out for mom the minute I saw them in the book. I used some Valley Yarns Franklin in color blueberry. Loved the yarn and loved the pattern, although the scallopy edge was bit finicky to start with, but it's only for a few rows so it's not a big deal. I eliminated the double decrease thingy on the foot section because I thought it might be uncomfortable in shoes.
While I was home for the holidays I also got mom to do a photo shoot with the original "woolies" as she calls them since they never had blog time when I made them two years ago.
They are the Handpaint Highlights pattern from 101 One Skein Wonders (the original one), with Fyberspates Sock Yarn in color "Foxglove". I don't think you can get this yarn anymore, it was when she was just new and it's not even superwash.
So there you have it, the 2008 sock round up. Now it's time to start the sock queue up again for 09. Sis you're up next!
*The scene in the checkout line with my friend was something like this. Friend: do you think my BF would wear socks made out of this or is it too wild. Me: why not? My husband would. Friend: but BF is quite picky. Me: Well then I don't know what to tell you. Friend (as my yarn is ringing up): Well if you're husband will wear it you should buy it. Bleep bleep, it's in my bag.
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