Have some Pi (or, an introduction meme)

So, I see Janet started a "get to know you" post (with a "pi" theme). I'm busy today and was swamped all weekend (and as such, don't have any more lengthy science posts finished), so...answers below the fold.

3 reasons you blog about science:

1. Because I'm a really big nerd, and all things science fascinate me.

2. Because I think bringing science to the public is critically important.

3. Because my kids aren't quite old enough to torture with the newest paper on emerging zoonoses. Yet.

Point at which you would stop blogging:

If it interfered with other parts of my life.

1 thing you frequently blog besides science:

Iowa stuff/life in the midwest.

4 words that describe your blogging style:

1. Informal

2. Opinionated

3. Rambling (I try to reign it in, I swear...)

4. Typo-'d

1 aspect of blogging you find difficult:

Narrowing down topics to write on, or turning down people who ask for a specific post on a topic. Sometimes I just don't know enough about it and don't feel it would be a good expenditure of my time to delve into that area; sometimes I just don't feel like writing about a particular topic. Other times I have 6 posts in the queue that I find fascinating, but I just don't have the time to get to all of them.

5 ScienceBlogs blogs that are new to you:

1. Chaotic Utopia

2. The Frontal Cortex

3. Mixing Memory

4. The World's Fair

5. Retrospectacle

9 blogs you read outside the ScienceBlogs universe:

1. Time's Global Health blog

2. H5N1

3. Viva la evolucion

4. Ocellated

5. Complex Medium

6. Bootstrap Analysis

7. Buridan's Ass

8. The Bad Astronomy Blog

9. The Invasive Species weblog

(and many more...)

2 important features of your blogging environment:

1. Papers. Everywhere.

2. Bottle o' diet Pepsi.

6 items you would bring to a meet-up with the other ScienceBloggers:

1. Grandma's campin' cookies. Best. cookies. ever.

2. Digital camera.

3. Laptop.

4. Pics of my kids.

5. Chocolate. (Don't leave home without it)

6. Posts/manuscripts/grants to work on. (Sad, I know).

5 conversations you would have before the end of that meet-up:

1. Mike about microbiology stuff (and why he so vehemently hates the word "meme").

2. Revere on all issues around avian flu.

3. Janet (and maybe Bora) on academia, tenure, family/work balance.

4. Orac on dealing with deniers of all types.

5. Carl and Chris about good New Haven stories.