sciencewoman | January 29, 2008Where 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 something* about the geology or geography of the area. The first one to post the correct results (at least in terms of location) is the winner and gets the honor of choosing the location and hosting the next round.
After watching many rounds go by and not having time to do much playing, BGC posted the…
sciencewoman | January 28, 2008On 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 marvel in her.
And now, just 52 weeks later, she's a little person who walks and babbles and has distinct likes (peaches, her stuffed polar bear, and falling asleep in Mommy's arms) and dislikes (changing into jammies, getting her head rinsed off). She can happily play for 20 minutes or so without…
sciencewoman | January 24, 2008In 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 care called to tell me that Minnow was feverish and had thrown up and could I please come get her. According to state laws (and common sense) if daycare sends a kid home early, they can't come back until the fever has been gone (without Tylenol) for at least 24 hours. Today, Fish took care of her…
sciencewoman | January 23, 2008Back 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 audit and declared that I owed them $1X00 in back taxes because I had failed to pay self-employment taxes on my graduate fellowship income. I had paid income taxes on the stipend, but not self-employment taxes.
Upon reading that, I did what any normal human being would do. I freaked out. When I…
sciencewoman | January 22, 2008It'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 the Sun. Right?
Wrong. The Earth is actually closest to the Sun in early January. It's called the perihelion and this year it occurred on January 3rd.
My readers in the Southern Hemisphere are probably feeling pretty smug right now. After all, it's pretty obvious that they are in the heat of summer…
sciencewoman | January 21, 2008Mommy 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 birthday (it's Saturday the 26th), but after that I'm open to suggestions of topics.
sciencewoman | January 20, 2008Minnow'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 discussion.
Then Minnow participated in a panel on Gender and Race in Science: Online and Offline, moderated by the excellent Zuska. Other panel participants were Karen Ventii of Science to Life and Pat Campbell of Fairer Science.
After a great box lunch, Minnow went to Dave Munger's session on Building…
sciencewoman | January 17, 2008...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 announcement was made, I still had a lot of prep to do.
Of course, unlike some of my colleagues, today for me will not be a full day of unexpected research time. With schools closed, so is daycare, so I will be enjoying a full day of unexpected mommy time. Not that I mind really, but it is just another…
sciencewoman | January 16, 2008Dear 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 scientist, same flavor as me) will be
quitting science when we become parents. The extended clan,
however, I am less confident about.
The clan wants to throw me a baby shower, for which I have to
travel across the country and be there by myself. Don't get me
wrong, they want to do this as a nice,…
sciencewoman | January 15, 2008Having 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 out, it will be my course every other year, alternating with another faculty member. For both of us teaching the course, the topic represents a secondary area of research. The other faculty member provided me with copies of his labs and a >10 year old syllabus. Since the textbook, and the field in…
sciencewoman | January 14, 2008Since 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 is feeling a bit of trepidation about the upcoming move.
There are a lot of things that will be great for Minnow once she moves into the "big kid" room. She needs some older children to play with, and she'll get a lot more outdoor time. She'll get to do more art projects, and eventually she'll work…
sciencewoman | January 11, 2008Having 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 post them here, I write them on my white board, and I keep them in my PDA. It helps keep me focused.
Here are my goals for the month:
Survival
Keep my head above water with my classes
Stay proactive on the Unbloggable Issue
Not give up blogging completely
Sanity
Take first two steps for my next (…
sciencewoman | January 9, 2008Warning: 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 to get Minnow dinner and to bed, and I did beg Fish to come home from work early in case it progressed to vomitting. (I ate a place with "local color" for lunch.)
Eventually the pain eased, and the cause revealed itself.
My period returned overnight.
Mind you, I shouldn't complain because it's been…
sciencewoman | January 8, 2008I'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 preparation effort into the course. That said, I couldn't quite manage to leave the course alone.
For details, venture below the fold.
Last semester, I gave both on-line (blackboard) and in-class quizzes. It was a lot for both the students and me to keep track of. Plus, while the paper quizzes provided a…
sciencewoman | January 7, 2008The 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.
sciencewoman | January 7, 2008
There. Now I've contributed to the clogging of the internet with another pointless youtube video. Don't I feel special.
But I thought that readers of this blog might enjoy seeing Minnow's newfound ability to walk. She was starting to take tentative steps in mid-December, but the fluid in her ears really set her back for a while. Nonetheless, the urge to walk is strong, and by New Year's day she was able to walk from one side of a room to another.
sciencewoman | January 4, 2008for three reasons.
The January Scientiae party is up at Jokerine's. Check out all the awesome writing and witty conversation.
Open Lab, the best science blogging of 2007 has been announced. I'm looking forward to buying my copy.
There's a new blog around these parts, and it's got a really amusing name.
sciencewoman | January 3, 2008I "worked" at home this morning and finally made it into the office around 2 pm. When I arrived, I discovered that:
The syllabus for my new course that I had started before leaving for holiday has disappeared off my computer. It will not be quick to reconstruct.
I was rejected for a grant that would have been really good for me, despite receiving excellent reviews.
Sigh. I suppose now I really need to get to work.
sciencewoman | January 3, 2008We all know examples of successful women scientists. They are constantly held up as examples to us, used to say: "see, it can be done." Some of those successful women scientists are single, some are married, some are married with children. But are any of those women single mothers? Are any of them divorced with young children in their custody? Are any of them mothers of severely disabled children? Are any of them disabled themselves? How many of those successful women scientists are under-represented minorities? And do those minority women have children? At what point are the hurdles simply…
sciencewoman | January 3, 2008Scene: In mid to late December, in a nearly deserted building on a nearly deserted campus (finals over, grades in), a young assistant professor and a department chair pass in the hallway. Chair asks something generic along the lines of "How's it going?". Young assistant professor replies "I'm hanging in there." Chair gives the young assistant professor a quizzical look, but decides to let it pass. Young assistant professor suddenly realizes that "hanging in there" was not the standard acceptable response in that situation. She contemplates a moment more and decides that it really does…