personal
drorzel | September 15, 2011The current quasi-hiatus has the goal of preserving my sanity through reducing stress. Somewhat surprisingly, Thursday Toddler Blogging has actually been fairly stressful lately, because SteelyKid is mostly in a "no pictures" phase, which makes getting a usable shot of her a huge hassle. Which is why there was no toddler blogging photo last week.
This week, though, I got this shot which is well worth sharing:
The notable thing here is not just the cute toddler, but the figure in the sand at her feet, which you can just make out. This is a self-portrait of sorts, drawn on the sand playground…
drorzel | September 6, 2011Classes for the 2011-2012 academic year start tomorrow, which means that blogging will come to a nearly complete stop. I have an exceptionally heavy teaching load this term (deliberately, because I'm developing a new course in the winter term, and FutureSibling! is due in November), and it's become clear that there are not enough hours in the day to fulfill all my professional and family obligations and still generate worthwhile content for the blog.
It's not a total shutdown-- I'll still be reading things, so there may continue to be Links Dumps, and I've got some book reviews in the queue…
drorzel | September 4, 2011Twinkle, twinkle
Have you any wool?
H I J K
L-M-N-O-P
Up above the world so high
One for the little boy who lives down the lane
Now I know my A-B-C's
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full
Baa, baa black sheep
E F G
How I wonder what you are
Q R S
One for the dame
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Next time won't you sing with me?
A B C D
Little star
Yes sir, yes sir,three bags full
One for the master
T U V W X Y and Z
Baa, baa black sheep,
Have you any wool?
How I wonder what you are.
drorzel | September 1, 2011Our next-door neighbors are awesomely nice, and helped Kate move all the breakable stuff in the back yard out of harm's way before the big storm this past weekend (since I left town before it was clear that Albany would get hit). as a thank-you, Kate and SteelyKid baked cookies for them. But you don't have to just watch-- you can help, too:
(Seriously, that's what she's saying, here: "You can help, too, Daddy.")
A couple more pictures showing the mixing process are below the fold. Kate measured everything out, and controlled the mixer, but SteelyKid was in charge of carefully adding…
kbonham | September 1, 2011I got this e-mail from the president of my school yesterday:
Dear Members of the Harvard Community:
Starting this October, Harvard will celebrate its 375th birthday. Such milestones encourage us to reflect on our institution's remarkable past--to remember that all we aspire to today finds inspiration in the creativity and commitment of those who have come before.
Even more, our forebears' example reminds us that, while we stand on the foundations they have built, we must never stand still. Our history not only provides us with a sense of continuity and confidence; it highlights Harvard's…
pharyngula | August 29, 2011Now I have a Life Before the Dinosaurs t-shirt, and you probably don't. So there.
This is the science blog by a 7-year-old kid. One of the networks ought to snap him up, he's good … I wonder if we should draft him for Freethought Blogs.
(Also on FtB)
drorzel | August 29, 2011As previously noted, I was in Denver for a long weekend with friends from college. I spent a fair bit of time checking the projected storm track and airport closings, but they kept saying Albany was going to stay open until late Saturday, when there wasn't time to do anything about it. Yesterday morning, every flight listed on the Albany International Airport web site was canceled (except for a few Delta flights that showed as arriving early, which knowing Delta, I attribute to incompetent data entry), except mine and a few later Southwest flights. I fully expected to be spending last night…
drorzel | August 25, 2011SteelyKid has recently discovered the game hide-and-seek. Shhh! She's hiding right now. Can you guess where she is?
You can't tell from the picture, of course, but just in case it wasn't obvious where she's hiding, she usually calls out when you get kind of close. Or even jumps out of her hiding place yelling "Ta-da!"
She's got a ways to go before she's ready for the Olympics. the important thing is to have fun, though:
This is from an extended period of "hiding" with Kate under the green blanket, then pulling the blanket down and laughing uproariously. It was the funniest thing in the…
jdupuis | August 24, 2011Whoa. Now that was a intellectual reset button hitting if there ever was one.
From July 31 to August 5 I attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education's Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians (LIAL) in Boston. It was a one-week, intensive, immersive course not so much on how to be a leader but how to think like a leader and how to understand a little more about the leadership process.
Not solely aimed academic library leadership per se, but more broadly about leadership situated in an academic environment. In other words, it was about people who happen to be librarians leading…
kbonham | August 24, 2011A 5.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the east coast yesterday, freaking everyone out, causing schools and offices to close, and causing general mayhem:
(Source)
I didn't feel it, and growing up in California, it might not have even registered. Then again, the reaction (general fear, disbelief, and confusion) is about what I would expect if we received even a half inch of snow in San Diego. But maybe now people out here in Boston won't be so confused when I mention my deep-seated fear of brick buildings.
In other "disaster" related news, my computer has a fresh hard-drive, though I had to…
pharyngula | August 23, 2011Today is the day I get together with all of my new advisees and tell them how to survive the next four years.
Tomorrow, the new semester begins — once again, I've got an 8am course to teach on developmental neurobiology.
The madness begins.
But at least this year I've got a new tie!
(Also on FtB)
jdupuis | August 22, 2011It's a very sad day today all across Canada as Jack Layton, leader of the Federal NDP and Leader of the Official Opposition, has died of cancer.
A widely respected career politician -- a rarity these days -- his passion for social justice and commitment to the people of Canada will be greatly missed.
His family released A letter to Canadians which, while very focused on Canada and Canadian politics, is also very relevant beyond our borders.
To young Canadians:...As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world…
oracknows | August 21, 2011Sadly, a crank has silenced another skeptic.
Many of you may know EpiRen, which is the Twitter and blog handle (and sometimes commenting handle here) of René Najera. René is an epidemiologist employed by the state public health department of health of an East Coast state and has been a force for reality- and science-based discussions of medicine, in particular vaccines. In fact, he's come out as a strong defender of vaccines against anti-vaccine lies.
Unfortunately, EpiRen is no more, at least online; that is, if he wants to keep his job.
As related to my by Liz Ditz, A Public Servant,…
oracknows | August 21, 2011I realize that this has nothing to do with science, skepticism, or medicine. However, it's Sunday, and I found it amusing. Nothing like a little fluff before diving back into the usual topics next week. It's also cool that David Mitchell has his own YouTube series of videos.
Given that Christmas is a mere four months away, it's never too early to discuss these issues.
kbonham | August 20, 2011I'm on vacation this week, but was working on a post about the evolution of antibodies to be posted yesterday. Unfortunately, what greeted me when I turned on my computer thursday was this:
(source)
I'm actually a little surprised at how well I'm handling it, I would have expected that I'd be a wreck. Maybe it's my current idyllic location, or watching season 5 of Six Feet Under to give me perspective, or maybe it's the fact that I just decided to to a time-machine back up for the first time just before I left (which means, barring a meltdown on my external hard drive, the worst case is that…
jdupuis | August 19, 2011According to DrugMonkey's recent post, ScienceBlogs' new overlords The National Geogrpaphic Society will no longer allow pseudonymous to continue blogging here.
I have just been informed that ScienceBlogs will no longer be hosting anonymous or pseudonymous bloggers. In case you are interested, despite extensive communication from many of us as to why we blog under pseudonyms, I have not been given any rationale or reason for this move. Particularly, no rationale or reason that responds to the many valid points raised by the pseudonymous folks.
This is, as they say, not unexpected. It is…
drorzel | August 18, 2011For this week's Toddler Blogging, here's a dad's eye view of one of today's playground activities: walking the 4x4 border on the sand playground as if it was a balance beam.
She doesn't actually need to hold my hand to walk this, but it makes her happier.
I snapped that with my phone, expecting her to still be in "No Pictures" mode at home. Surprisingly, though, she agreed to have her picture taking reading books with Mommy:
That's the sea turtle book that Grandma and Grandpa gave her (after a trip to the Virgin Islands where they saw turtles while snorkeling, I believe). She spread a huge…
drorzel | August 16, 2011Two "small world" items, involving people I know turning up unexpectedly, doing well for themselves:
1) As mentioned previously, I've been thinking a lot about physics education stuff (even though I have other things I ought to be doing), and reading a lot more education-oriented blogs. I was surprised, though, to find a physics-related post from Dan Meyer, featuring an example from Greg Schwanbeck. Unless there's a truly amazing name coincidence at work, here, Greg's a former student, Union Class of 2003, I believe. I knew he was teaching high school in Massachusetts, but it's nice to see…
pharyngula | August 14, 2011I guess you lazy people who didn't travel to Oslo still get to see me: here's my talk at the World Humanist Congress.
(Also on FtB)
drorzel | August 8, 2011SteelyKid has used a pacifier from very shortly after she was born. We've been slowly working her off it-- she's stopped taking it to day care, or using it other than at bedtime or in the car-- but she's resisted giving it up entirely.
since she's now a great big three-year old, we decided it was time to ditch the pacifier completely. For help in this, we turned to her favorite tv show: MythBusters:
In that clip, Adam and Jamie investigate how difficult it is to take candy from a baby. This, predictably enough, results in a bunch of unhappy babies. SteelyKid has watched this clip a lot, so…