sciencewoman
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Minnow is really fun these days. She loves to "help" me unload the dishwasher, fold the laundry, carry things, and close doors. She is also starting to really enjoy reading books. She's not just cuddling with me while I read, and she's not just trying to eat them anymore. She's starting to point at…
There's an article this week on Science Careers talking about impostor syndrome. The writer does a good job exposing the problem:
"Impostor syndrome" is the name given to the feelings that Abigail and many other young scientists describe: Their accomplishments are just luck or deceit, and they're…
Today is Happy Woman Professor Day and the associated mandate is to blog about the good aspects of our jobs. It's the end of my teaching week, and I'm up for the challenge, because I always feel a little giddy when I walk out of the classroom on Thursday afternoons. In fact, I'm going to try to…
As long as we're rolling out great new things this week on this soon-to-be-renamed(?) blog, here's another one.
Wouldn't it be cool if a bunch of us read the same book at the same time and then got together virtually to discuss it? Rather than one of us reading a good book and reviewing it, and…
Minnow and I are really good at the breast-feeding thing. It makes her happy and gives her nutrition. It makes me happy and gives me cuddle time. We like breast-feeding and don't intend to wean anytime soon.
BUT...
Minnow has now transitioned to the toddler room at daycare. And in the toddler room…
It is my great pleasure to announce that "On Being a Scientist and a Woman" has a co-blogger debuting today. Alice Pawley is a first-year faculty member in engineering education at Purdue University, and she'll bring a wonderful new dimension to the stories on the blog. Alice and I "met" on the '…
I should say up front that I work in a fairly family-friendly department. They were fantastic when I interviewed (Minnow was just 1 month old) and my colleagues have occasionally asked after her development. I brought her to class once last semester and nobody said anything negative.
And there's a…
I've got a lot of posts gestating in my head, but right now my fingers are busy grading papers and writing lectures. But I promise you that I will get a decent post out later this week.
And to keep you checking back...I promise that soon, very soon, there's going to be a big exciting announcement…
Bitch PhD pretty well sums up how I feel about today's primary choices.
To those of you who live in states that have primaries or caucuses today, please go out and make your voice heard.
Even if you're not quite sure who to vote for.
I'm swamped (and last night's early bedtime did not help matters. I've got lectures to write, papers to grade, and exam to write (then grade), a lab to prepare...oh yeah, and some service obligations and the ever-elusive research time.
Fortunately, there are lots of wonderful things on the…
The pregame show: Minnow decides to forgo her usual 2-3 hours of naptime in favor of 2 30-minute power naps. Bets are taken as to what time Minnow will crash (i.e, irretrievably collapse into a sobbing heap).
10 minutes before kick-off: We're racing to finish dinner because the crash seems imminent…
In my upper level course this semester, I am really trying to interject personality into the lectures and discussions. By personality, I don't (just) mean humor and compassion. What I also mean is that I am trying to convey that our subject matter is an area of active research, done by (gasp!) real…
Thinkstart (Joshua Potter) was the winner of the last Where on Google Earth challenge, finding my fossil forest in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, comes this installment of the game.
Joshua says:
As this was only my second try at WoGE, I'm not very versed with
technique or trends/standards of the…
A reader recently sent me this email:
I have a question that perhaps you and your readers can help with. I'm currently at a cross-road in my academic career. A year ago I started a Master's program in one of the "ologies" with potential to switch over to the Ph.D if things progressed well over the…
Where on (Google) Earth is a roving internet game played for the past year+ by the geoblogsphere. In this game, a snapshot of somewhere on the planet is taken using Google Earth (a free downloadable program). The object is to identify the location with latitude and longitude and try to say…
On Saturday, my dearest Minnow turned one. It's hard to believe that it was already a year ago that she was born after an mostly uneventful pregnancy and a natural, and manageable, labor and delivery. She was so tiny, and so fragile, and it seemed like all I could do was hold her and watch her and…
In the past week and a half, a series of both anticipated and unforeseen circumstances have been keeping me away from campus almost half of the time. First it was the snow day, then the MLK holiday, both of which meant no daycare. Tuesday I lost an afternoon to something unbloggable, Wednesday day…
Back in August, in the midst of finding daycare, getting ready to teach, paying two mortgages, and reeling from my mother's illness, I got a most unwelcome piece of mail from the IRS. Actually, I think the timing of getting that letter is bad no matter when it occurs.
The IRS had selected me for an…
It's mid-January and you are probably contemplating whether we'll get another snow day this week. Or maybe you are thinking about your upcoming ski trip? Or how you'll pay your heating bills? any case, winter is probably on your mind.
Ah winter, that time of year when the Earth is farthest from…
Mommy Monday is indefinitely delayed pending me actually getting last Thursday's lecture written for tomorrow. Given today's holiday and the corresponding lack of daycare, I suspect that Mommy Monday will return next week in it's regularly scheduled slot.
Next week I'll tell you about Minnow's…
Minnow's big adventure this weekend was attending the 2nd Annual NC Science Blogging Conference (and staying with one of my college roomies).
In the morning she went to the discussion on ethics in science blogging, lead by the incomparable Janet Stemwedel. Afterwards she had a little bonus…
...that classes are cancelled today due to "inclement weather"
Seriously, I cannot recall being this happy about a "snow day" at any point since middle school. It might have something do to with the fact that I am scheduled to teach for four hours on Thursdays and as of 5:45 am when the…
Dear Sciencewoman:
So, I'm pregnant for the first time. My husband's family is on
the whole really great and loving people. They rarely leave
their "red state world", however. My husband's immediate family
Gets It, they understand that neither I (nor my husband for that
matter, who is also a…
Having previously taught (and described) my intro class, my other course this semester has been occupy most of my mental and physical energy of late. To compound the amount of work required, I am also teaching the labs for the course.
The course is taught every year at Mystery U, and from here on…
Since arriving in Mystery City, Minnow has been in a daycare room with 7 other infants. As each child has past their first birthday, they have been "transitioned" into a toddler room. Now, Minnow at 11.5 months, is approaching her own transition point, scheduled for early February. Minnow's mommy…
Having declared that the theme for the year is "seeking strategies for survival, sanity, and success," it seems fitting that its taken me until the 11th to come up with goals for the month. I've been too busy surviving. But I do better when I explicitly lay out goals for a month or so at a time. I…
Warning: Do not read on if descriptions of women's natural bodily functions makes you queasy.
Last night as I was changing a diaper, I was suddenly debilitated by intense abdominal pain the likes of which I hadn't experienced since, oh, say, labor. The pain was sharp enough that I barely managed…
I'm teaching two classes this semester: one introductory course which is a repeat from last semester and one upper-level course with laboratory, which is a new prep.
The intro course: I was reasonably happy with how this course went last semester, so by-and-large my goal is to put minimal…
The semester is barrelling down on me. In fact, I have about three unoccupied work hours available to me before I give my first lecture. Thus, while I'd like to be reflective about my upcoming courses and how I'm going to fit research into my life, I'm too damn busy.