personal
terrasig | August 6, 2008It appears that a number of bloggers who write under the ScienceBlogs.com masthead will be converging on New York City this coming weekend. For those of you who know my background, I simply call this "The City."
I mentioned earlier that it was unlikely that I would be there due to family and job commitments (and the fact that my sister and her family were elsewhere that weekend when we could've otherwise had a lovely family gathering).
But with the generous blessings of PharmGirl and PharmKid, I will indeed venture to New Amsterdam for about 32 hours that will include the highly-touted 'meet…
sa smith | August 5, 2008Home again, home again, jiggety jog. Arnie and I are back in OK (on the way home we learned how The Evidence(TM) supports Creation!).
Unfortunately, teh puppahs arent as happy as I am. Arnie spent the entire week playing with my parents ~1 year old black lab, Daisy. From the second we arrived to the second I drug him out of the backyard, these two wrestled/chased/tug-of-wared. I actually didnt get much sleep on my 'vacation' because Arnie was up at 5 am every morning, wanting to play. His front paws are red and swollen from playing so much. He has rug burn on his tummy from wrestling on…
jstemwedel | August 4, 2008A quick update on the details for the meet-up in Manhattan this coming Saturday:
Owing to the number of people who say they'll be coming (large) and the weather forecast (chance of thundershowers), we will not be meeting at the Arthur Ross Terrace at the American Museum of Natural History.
We'll be meeting somewhere else. Once that somewhere else is known to me, I will post details (including information on how to get there by subway).
UPDATE: The location is now known!
We'll be at: Social, 795 8th Ave (close to 48th St.), New York, NY 10019.
Google maps it thusly. It appears to be close to…
pharyngula | August 3, 2008If you've ever wondered what a couple of Molly winners, Sastra and Blake Stacey, look like…
It's true. Blake is a creature of Kong-like immensity, beware!
terrasig | August 2, 2008
Yes, I owned this album when it first came out in 1978.
A recent post by Prof Matt Nisbet raised some Saturday night reflections for me as to how one measures one's impact as a blogger if one is so inclined to do so. But does this apparent impact or "influence" actually mean anything?
I've got to admit: I'm a numbers guy. When I first started this blog on Blogger, I was so stoked to see when more than 10 people per day were dialing up. I was delighted when I started getting international visitors and, moreover, those international folks would actually come back.
That is the intoxication…
sa smith | August 2, 2008Whoooo!
Thank you for your interest in the Noble Foundation's Workshop in Virus Evolution. Your abstract has been accepted for presentation as a POSTER. Registration for the meeting is now open...
Whoooo! My first conference! And is in... Ardmore... LOL! I have no idea why/how this workshop started, or why its in Ardmore Oklahoma, but Ill take it!
Invited Speakers for this year's meeting are:
Marco Vignuzzi, Pastuer Institute
Holly Wichman, University of Idaho
Valerian Dolja, Oregon State University
Alice Telesnitsky, University of Michigan
Frank Ryan, Sheffield Health Authority…
terrasig | August 1, 2008This morning our dear friend and colleague whose wine escapades often fill this spot awoke to the rewards of retirement. My senior cancer research colleague, Erleichda, has just closed the book on 30 years with a single pharmaceutical company, unheard of in today's climate of layoffs and jumping from one company to the next.
My friend began in this industry when it was still considered a noble pursuit and continued to be an ambassador for all that is good about pharmaceutical research & development, with his primary concern the welfare of those stricken with cancer and the cultivation…
sa smith | July 31, 2008Two words:
New T-shirt.
Ive had my eye on these shirts for a while, but it took an 'I hate all of my clothes' moment, plus a plug from Skepchick to get me to finally order one of these (taken with a digital camera from 1992 Mom and Dad still cant figure out how to use):
I really wanted to get one of those 'teach the controversy' shirts... But I was genuinely worried that some in OK might not 'get' the joke... I also loved the 'SCIENCE!' with the scientists cheering over a mushroom cloud... but again... afraid no one would get the joke...
So just the microbe wrangler for now :)
jstemwedel | July 31, 2008For those of you who expressed an interest (even telepathically) in the meet-up of ScienceBlogs bloggers and readers in the three-dimensional world (specifically, Manhattan) next Saturday, I now have much more precise details:
UPDATE: We won't be meeting at the Arthur Ross Terrace. (Thundershowers are in the forecast, and our group looks like it will be large.) When I have information on the actual venue (and how to get there) I will post it here.
We'll be meeting at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 9, at the Arthur Ross Terrace at the American Museum of Natural History in Central Park. Once…
sa smith | July 30, 2008*sigh*
Its that time of year, again. Before school starts every fall, Bossman kicks me out of the lab for a week. Ugh. He calls it a 'vacation'. Whatever.
So now Im back home on The Farm, with my 28.8 kbps dial-up internet, and no wireless. Its like I went back in time 15 years... *shudder* Oh! And, my annual trip home also means its time for my annual Extremely Sophisticated Faith Bible Study! You see, I grew up in the middle of BFE, and the only radio stations that come in are the Christian networks, so I just use my 8 hour drive home as Evangelicals chance to win me over!
Not…
revere | July 29, 2008If you read the comments you know that in the last day or so Mrs. R. and I have had the excitement and anxiety of expecting a new grandchild. He is number three but the only thing that gets old about being a grand parent is the grand parent. The little guy is cute as a button, the mom (our daughter) is resting comfortably after her C-section, dad is happy and snapping pics and wondering how he is going to cope on his own with the 14 month old sib until his spouse returns home and Mrs. R. and I are relieved and pleased as punch. While we, too, cope with events we bring you this:
Product…
jstemwedel | July 28, 2008For those of you following the chronicle of my raised garden beds, here's the first update.
I planted the seeds in the garden beds on July 20.
As of today, July 28, a bunch of the seeds I planted have sprouted.
First up, as expected, were the radishes. Those of us who get impatient should always plant radishes. Not only can they be counted on to sprout in about 5 days, but they also grow to maturity in about a month.
Pictured here are the daikon radish sprouts. Assuming that vermin do not get to them, we'll probably use some of the daikons we harvest in salads and we'll probably pickle…
pharyngula | July 28, 2008So many people are asking where I got my "Knowledge is Power, Power Corrupts, Study Hard, Be Evil" t-shirt, as modeled here, and I wish I could help you, but I don't know where you could order your own. I can tell you exactly where I got it: in Detroit, at Moonbase ConFusion, from one of the many vendors in the dealer's room. I know, that doesn't help much. Sorry.
Someone could always go to Cryptic ConFusion in January and hope that the same t-shirts are available then…it's a great con, even if this particular shirt isn't always available.
Hooray! ElfPirateMonarch found that identical t-…
cmooney | July 28, 2008Not to be outstaged by Juno, over the past two days I spent most of my energies on this:
Note to Philip H.: Sydney thanks you for blogging and providing me some relief. At 10 weeks, this Boston Terrier needs much of my attention...
pharyngula | July 28, 2008And she has pictures to prove it! You can also download the podcast in which we both speak. Oh, and there's about 40 people who showed up at the Pharyngubrunch at Q. Cumbers who can testify that we all had a wonderful time.
jstemwedel | July 26, 2008I have a little bit more (tentative) information on the upcoming meet-up in Manhattan on Saturday, August 9 (which is only two weeks away):
The time looks like it will fall in the 2:00-4:00 PM time slot.
The location is looking like it will be in or near Central Park.
I know that a meet-up in Central Park undercuts the initial promise of air conditioning. Nonetheless, I am convinced it will still be a fun time, and that no one will melt into a puddle of dissatisfaction. I say this as a former denizen of the East Coast who lost her ability to hold up under humidity within 8 months of…
jstemwedel | July 24, 2008PhysioProf tagged me using his Feministe guest blogger bully-pulpit. The idea is to identify the five most embarrassing tracks on your iPod. (Since I use the iTunes library on my iBook more than my iPod, that's what I used.)
This was harder than it might have been. It turns out, when it comes to my musical tastes, I have very little shame.
Sure, there's plenty of music in my collection that isn't in my computer (CDs and LPs), so I suppose there may be some real stinkers hiding on my shelves. But one of the most listened to albums on my computer is William Shatner's Has Been.
My music-…
pharyngula | July 23, 2008Yes, the sad little cracker has met its undignified end, so stop pestering me. The cracker, the koran, and another surprise entry have been violated and are gone. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for the details, what little of them there are. I must quickly apologize to all you good Catholics who were hoping to attend Mass, since you can't anymore — I have been told many hundreds of times now that cracker abuse violates your right to practice your religion. I guess you'll have to adapt. Secular humanism is a good alternative, if you aren't already flocking to join the Mormons.
Anyway, I've…