personal
pharyngula | December 20, 2008I'm a pilgrim today, traveling far to the east to the mysterious land of Wis-con-sin, where I shall spend some time in adoration of the son.
My middle child, the cute and monkey-like Connlann, is graduating from the University of Wisconsin Madison tomorrow, with a degree in English. Hooray for the hard work and success of our boy! Hooray for rituals of completion! Hooray for the end of chunky great tuition payments!
So, anyway, I shall be spending most of my time today driving, and most of tomorrow driving, and a good spell of tomorrow sitting in uncomfortable seats watching a ceremonial…
pharyngula | December 18, 2008Perhaps you have been pondering the meaning of the new traditional greeting, Happy Monkey! (important usage note: it is not Merry Monkey, nor is it Happy Monkey Day. It is simply "Happy Monkey", full stop. Trying to change the phrase means you are waging war on the Monkey, and you know how they will respond.) I haven't. I've been bogged down in the end-of-semester grind for the last week, writing tests, giving tests, grading tests, and there has been little room in my brain for deep philosophical thought.
But then, just a few minutes ago, I reached an end. The exams and papers were all marked…
clock | December 17, 2008This guy is an impostor! He is (or was) a soccer player, but if you google his name, most of the first 100 search hits are not about him at all.... (smile).
jstemwedel | December 17, 2008You may remember that last year we were inspired by Bake for a Change to dabble in "green" gingerbread construction. As 2008 draws to a close, the challenge has been issued once again to make a house both good enough to eat and eco-friendly enough to heat (or cool, etc.).
The rules are the same as they were last year:
1) Everything must be edible.
2) However half-baked (har har), there must be at least FOUR identifiable sustainable building design elements.
3) Your design must include a minimum of a floor, a door, four walls, a roof, and two windows.
This year our effort resulted in a…
drorzel | December 16, 2008We're home again, at last.
Actually, the power came on not quite 24 hours ago, but by the time we learned it was back, we were settled in for the night at the hotel. And it would've taken several hours for the house to warm back up from its sub-40-Fahrenheit temperature to a temperature at which SteelyKid would be comfortable.
We've been back in the house since about 10 am, though. Of course, there was much too much to do to read blogs, let alone post anything-- spoiled food to throw out, replacement food to be obtained, more diapers to buy, a Christmas tree to acquire, etc., etc.
The…
terrasig | December 15, 2008And happy 3rd blogoversary to Terra Sigillata.
Must be some sort of blogging stimulatory hormone in the water each December since both Orac and Greg Laden also celebrated a few days ago the anniversary of their respective blog launches.
But the reason I picked 15 December to launch Terra Sig with, "A Humble PharmBoy Begins to Sow," was because it was PharmSis' birthday and I knew I'd never forget that.
We won't mention what birthday this is for the ever-devoted little sister of mine (*cough*), but I just wanted to send best wishes out to her when she should be here in Key West with us. Turns…
sheril | December 15, 2008I can't recall the last time I traveled without the laptop (not even here), but we're parting ways for about a week. In the meantime, readers are in more than capable hands as The Intersection's original flies solo once again. And who knows what's in store...
After all, remember what happened when Chris left his computer stateside? ;)
revere | December 14, 2008I have three grandchildren (all wonderful, naturally) and the oldest is five years old today. I put wonderful in parentheses because most grandparents think their grandchildren are wonderful while the rest of the world just thinks they are a few more of the world's billions of children. Mine are luckier than most of them, having survived their first few months and more. But I got to thinking about what the world will be like when today's Birthday Boy is my age. Obviously I have no idea (nor do you), but I can at least look back on what the world was like when I was his age. That would be…
drorzel | December 14, 2008We're into our third day without power at Chateau Steelypips, and as a result, the household has temporarily been relocated to a hotel near SUNY Albany. National Grid says probably Tuesday, but they really don't know when they'll get our electricity back.
This is, of course, deeply annoying, but it feels sort of churlish to complain too much, given how much worse it could be. After all, the only physical damage thus far has been the destruction of our back yard gate by a falling limb. That's not even worth a homeowner's insurance claim.
We're also luck to be in a position where we can afford…
clock | December 12, 2008I grew up in the big city. I like visiting big cities. The moment you drop me in NYCity, San Francisco, or London, I get into my "city mode" - the quicker pace of walking, a different demeanor. It's fun - for a few days. I don't want to move into and live in a big city again. I am much happier getting out on my front porch and taking a picture of a deer in the front yard:
edyong | December 9, 2008My book's listed on Amazon! Now, because it's published print-on-demand, I think that Amazon will continue to list it as "Out of stock" until it gets about 5 or so orders in. When they have proof that people will actually buy it, they'll actually keep some copies in stock.
Sooo...
If you're interested in the book and don't mind about when you get it, please order a copy from Amazon.
If you want a copy before Christmas, I'd recommend ordering from Lulu (and before 12 December).
If you've already ordered a copy of the book and read it, I'd be grateful for any reviews on Amazon that you…
pharyngula | December 8, 2008A quick note of thanks to the UCF chapter of the Campus Freethought Alliance for the pleasant time in Florida (especially pleasant now that I've come home to the prospect of several inches of snow today). We did get a nice photo of our last supper together: pizza and beer, of course.
(Click for larger image)
revere | December 8, 2008Blogging will be light for the next day or so because the eventuality I feared most, that I would get the day care incubated norovirus-like illness that grandson #2 incubated, has come to pass. I had to cancel an extremely important trip to a scientific meeting in California. There is no hope I'd make it and I'd probably infect everyone on the plane t rows up and 5 rows back, not to mention my colleague I was going to share a room with. So I am super miserable and now my son-in-law is down with it and my daughter is feeling "seriously queasy." Mrs. R. is morosely waiting for the other shoe to…
jstemwedel | December 7, 2008Because it seems to have become a December tradition around here, it's time for the year-in-review meme.
The rule: post the first sentence of the first post for each month.
January
Younger offspring: In the summer, we went to Yosemite and stayed in a cabin.
February
Elder offspring: Do you know why eggs are egg-shaped?
March
A colleague of mine (who has time to read actual printed-on-paper newspapers in the morning) pointed me toward an essay by Andrew Vickers in the New York Times (22 January 2008) wondering why cancer researchers are so unwilling to share their data.
April
It's time to…
terrasig | December 7, 2008I used to live in a place where if you lacked proper hiking boots you could actually die, or be very badly injured.
My 1991 Vasque Sundowner hiking boots are now barely good enough to wear while cutting the lawn (damn monoculture!) in my now-suburban life. (Then again, that means they are old enough to go to college.). At least I still have some great state parks very close to me and some great national parks within 3 hr where we could backpack.
When looking to order a new pair of Sundowners online (since our local REI stopped carrying the version for my wide stubby feet), I was shocked to…
edyong | December 6, 2008And by roar, I mean babble for a straight hour. A couple of weeks ago, I did a Bloggingheads chat with fellow Scienceblogger, Abbie Smith (she of ERV fame). See video below to hear us chat about science communication, journalism, HIV research, being bloggers and, in a fantastic non-sequitur that comes out of nowhere, vampires.
A few points
This was fun! Although a bit weird, given that I could hear Abbie but not actually see her. Instead I could see my own face on the laptop screen, and it was a tad disturbing hearing the voice of an American woman seemingly coming out of my mouth.
I…
revere | December 6, 2008So here's the deal. Grandson #2 picked up some kind of norovirus-like thing at daycare and by late afternoon was seriously engaged in projectile vomiting. My daughter and I picked him and his little 'bro up (his dad was in class) and brought them to her house. Since I am getting ready for a scientific meeting across the country I didn't feature doing my own projectile vomiting high above Iowa. Yes, I know they have these airsickness bags, so it would be a convenient place. But these days they probably charge you $5 per bag. So I took care of Mr. Four Months Old and stayed away from Mr. Virus…
jstemwedel | December 5, 2008I realize that I forgot to mention here that I've been writing posts on the Invitrogen-sponsored group blog What's New in Life Science Research. The blog is hosting discussions about stem cells, cloning, biodefense, and genetically modified organisms. (The cloning discussion just started yesterday.) As you might guess, I'm primarily blogging about the ethical dimensions of these biotechnologies. We'd love to have you get involved with the conversation.
In other news:
As of this morning, we have finished nearly all of our leftovers from Thanksgiving. All that remains is some cranberry…
pharyngula | December 5, 2008I'm about to fly away, and I got word last night that the Dean of the Chapel at Rollins is suddenly getting quite irate about my visit. Finally, someone is reacting to me as if I were the antichrist! Maybe we'll get some controversy Saturday night, although more likely they'll discover I'm this terribly mild-mannered academic teddy bear and it will all blow over.
There are days I wish I were 6'6" with tattoos and leather and a voice that was all iron and fury…but it's just not my thing.