personal
pharyngula | December 29, 2010I'm struggling with some annoying problems with my computer right now: every once in a while, it spontaneously dies without warning, and the system says there's something wrong with the battery. It's happened now several times today, always right when I'm in the middle of writing something. I've ordered a new battery, but until then, I may be spending some time getting apoplectic with the stupid friggin' unreliable machine.
Do not be alarmed if updates are irregular, I'm busy punching the keyboard.
pharyngula | December 28, 2010A slightly late Christmas present arrived on my doorstep this afternoon: Søren from Denmark had a case of 12 interesting beers sent to me. Thank you! Now, of course, I must drink them all. Immediately.
No, wait, that would be unwise. I shall drink one a night until they are gone. Tonight, I am sipping on Trout Slayer Ale, just because the combination of mighty fish and slaying makes me feel macho.
Mmmm. Mild. Lemony. Not very ferocious at all.
drorzel | December 28, 2010I'm slowly sifting through the Christmas pictures, many of which were rendered blurry by SteelyKid's constant motion, but there are some good shots in there:
This one shows her playing with the wooden train set she got from Grandma and Grandpa (the same gauge as the Thomas branded ones they have set up at Barnes & Noble stores, though without the price-doubling connection to a tv show, which is fine by us). She spent a bunch of time running the train around and over and under the bridge, which was really cute, as you can tell.
(This was taken before I got the fancy flash unit, if you're…
drorzel | December 27, 2010We caught only a glancing blow from the latest Snowpocalypse event, with maybe six inches of light, powdery snow. It's difficult to estimate depth, because it's so light and powdery, and very, very windy.
To give you an idea of the local conditions, here's a picture of the thistle-seed feeder hanging outside our front window:
What you see there is a couple of inches worth of snow that blew through the fine screen on the outside of the feeder, and piled up inside. The wind continues to howl 'round the outside of Chateau Steelypips, so while the roads are plenty clear enough for travel, I don'…
drorzel | December 27, 2010I spent a lot of time on my feet over the weekend, probably more than I should've given my ankle. Thus, I plan to spend most of today lying on the couch with my foot up and on ice. I've got a bunch of things to work on that I can do from this position, but extensive blogging is not one of them. Thus, an audience-participation thread:
If you celebrated some solstice-linked holiday in the last month or so, what was the highlight of it for you?
This could be a gift you received, a gift you gave, or just some moment that was particularly nice. If you've got something you'd like to share, leave…
pharyngula | December 27, 2010I hope you all had a pleasant holiday—I had the strange experience of having all three kids come back to our house for the weekend. We'd just gotten rid of them all, and here they were, hangin' about, being normal people, having a quiet couple of days together.
It's a good thing none of the kids have kids of their own yet, or I'd start feeling all patriarchal, and we can't have none of that.
Anyway, everything is getting back to normal now.
drorzel | December 26, 2010My big Christmas present this year was an external flash unit for my camera. Which means that, among the 354 (!!) pictures I took while at my parents' were a bunch playing with different flash settings. Why? These two pictures should give you the idea:
The first is taken with the flash angled straight ahead, and the second with the flash angled upward so it bounced off the ceiling first. I definitely think the second looks better-- there isn't the same glare off SteelyKid's forehead, and the background is illuminated more uniformly.
Both of these show SteelyKid watching "Rudolph the Red-…
pharyngula | December 24, 2010Did you know that if you decorate your Christmas tree with squids and octopuses and cuttlefish, like ours:
…that on Christmas Eve, you'll be visited by Santa Squid?
We have our nets and harpoons and great big barrel of formaldehyde waiting by the fireplace, in hopes that the Tentacled One will stop by.
We're also expecting all three of our kids to be here for Christmas dinner, which will be groovy. Right now, the house is resounding with the traditional sounds of Christmas, the gunfire and zombie growls of Black Ops on the home theater system.
Merry Christmas to all of you, too!
drorzel | December 23, 2010I foolishly neglected to get an Appa picture this morning, but I wouldn't want to deprive you of your cute toddler fix for the week. And, of course, it's important to get at least one picture of SteelyKid playing with her spiffy new kitchen out:
We gave this to her last night, and it was a huge hit. It's got a stove burner that lights up and makes noise when you put a pot or pan on it, an oven, a sink, a fridge, and a cordless phone. And a bunch of fake food.
We had hoped to reveal this to her at the same time as the refinished basement (where it will be living permanently), but alas, the…
oracknows | December 22, 2010My readers might not think that a Plexiglass box full of blinking colored lights cum most advanced computer in the galaxy would go to the trouble of celebrating Christmas, much less putting up an actual Christmas tree. Well, actually, he didn't. His wife did. But, then, Orac is a Plexiglass box of blinking colored lights. Be that as it may, there are a couple of cool decorations that I can't resist showing off. First, courtesy of the James Randi Educational Foundation, we have the infamous Season of Reason ornament:
By the way, if you're looking for a good secular organization dedicated to…
drorzel | December 21, 2010As mentioned previously, I sprained my ankle last Thursday. Just to be safe, I went to the doctor on Friday, to make sure it wasn't anything worse. He poked it a little, sent me to get an x-ray, and gave me a prescription for crutches. The x-ray took a while, and the crutch prescription could apparently only be filled at a surgical supply store half an hour away, so I didn't bother. Saturday, it felt dramatically better, and Sunday it felt better by enough that I was able to take SteelyKid food shopping as usual, after strapping on one of the ankle braces I use playing basketball (having…
pharyngula | December 20, 2010I want a prize. I just submitted the grades for two of my three classes this term, including the big intro biology class with two lecture sections. No one gave me a beer when I mentioned my classes were done…I need one now.
OK, so I have to finish the one last class — but that one had the take-home essay final. I want a reward now, not tomorrow when I finish that pile.
Fine, be that way. I'll get back to work on the papers, right after I get the driveway and sidewalk cleared (we're in the middle of a big snowstorm predicted to drop 5"-7" of snow on us by the morning). But I better get that…
drorzel | December 17, 2010I sprained my ankle yesterday. That's not an official medical diagnosis-- I have a doctor appointment later today to get that-- but I've done this before, and I know the feeling.
Sadly, I did not injure myself saving orphans from a burning building (as I usually do on Thursdays), or while dunking a depleted-uranium basketball through a flaming hoop into the face of a Yeti (because how cool would that be?), but by stepping off our front porch in the wrong place while carrying stuff out to the trash. I'm not sure, but I think the stupidity of the injury actually makes it hurt more-- somebody…
drorzel | December 16, 2010SteelyKid has started to demonstrate a real flair for decoration, which she proudly shows off here:
That's Appa decked out with the three bead necklaces we have for SteelyKid to play with. She tends to take the longest one, the white beads, and wrap it behind her so she has one loop over each arm. She refers to this as her "backpack," and we have a few pictures of her dressed up like this. tonight, She decided Appa needed the backpack which didn't work out so well, given the disparity in size. So he got the smallest (red) necklace as a belt/ backpack thing, and the other two wrapped around…
pharyngula | December 16, 2010Last final exam for my intro biology class has just been turned in.
Somebody gimme a beer. Now.
pharyngula | December 16, 2010It's the last day of finals week here at UMM, and lucky me, I have two exams scheduled back-to-back today…so I'm about to go into the classroom and proctor away (the most boring task in all of teaching), and I don't emerge again until at least 3:30. But then the semester is done!
Except for the grading.
The awful, horrible, daunting stacks of papers that must all be graded before I can live again.
If you don't see me again, it means the grues got me.
drorzel | December 16, 2010I'm very pleased to announce that the Uncertain Principles Person of the Year for 2010 is... SteelyKid:
Why do I say this? Well...
First, as lots of people will tell you, we're all citizen journalists now. Which means that I'm every bit as entitled to declare a person of the year as Time magazine is.
Second, everything in Chateau Steelypips revolves around her, so she is clearly the most important and influential person here.
Third, she's way cuter than Mark Zuckerberg. Granted, I don't have a picture of Mark Zuckerberg wearing a napkin as a hat for direct comparison, but I like my odds on…
oracknows | December 11, 2010Has it really been six years?
Six years ago today, on a dim and dreary Saturday in December, almost on a whim I sat down, went to Blogspot, and started up the first version of Respectful Insolence with an introductory post with the cliched title, Please allow me to introduce myself. Here it is, six years later. On this cold December Saturday, I still find it difficult to his blog is considered one of the "top" medical blogs by one measure, and some actually--shockingly--consider me somewhat of a "famous" skeptic. I know, I know, I still can't wrap my head around the concept myself. At least,…
drorzel | December 9, 2010SteelyKid is off spending a weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's, so this week's picture was actually taken early Wednesday morning:
The early hour accounts for both the pacifier (she wasn't willing to give it up yet) and the frizzy hair (bed-head toddler!). I'm pretty sure she hasn't grown measurably since yesterday, though.
This photo is in honor of SteelyKid's sporting activities, as part of the SoccerTots program. Several weeks ago, before the time change, I was lamenting the fact that cold weather and early sunsets were going to make it harder to tire SteelyKid out by letting her run around…
pharyngula | December 6, 2010This will be an anxious week. It's the last week of classes, I have piles of stuff to finish grading and get back to the students, and the students themselves are looking more than a little stressed. The last labs in my development course are falling apart thanks to animal intransigence and the incompetence of shippers. We have two job candidates visiting this week, and I'm on the search committee. And the end of my book writing project is in sight, with just the last little bits of polish and duct tape needed to make it all hang together. As usual, the universe has converged on this one…