Mac Love, part deux January 22, 2009

The Mac continues to knock my socks off with its intuitive ease and quiet efficiency.  I found a citation management program for Mac called Bookends and it is, in two words, the shit: basic database, fast as lightning, logical organization.  You can try it for free and store up to 50 citations before you decide (that you can’t possibly live without it).

I’m going to have to spring for Time Capsule; I’m investing a huge amount of time and PDF storage into this computer and while I trust it completely, well, you know.

For the first time since I have owned a computer – and I started with XTs and DOS thankyou – I have my entire life on a computer and I’m not micromanaging file storage and setup.  I actually use all the applications and bells and whistles.  I didn’t take it out of the box and immediately start trying to delete useless applications and circumnavigate shortcuts and paths I didn’t want.  This computer is smarter than I am, and we both know it.

I’m going to stop going on and on about it now, but I have a little tear in my eye.

Grad school is going okay.  Did I tell you I have a new computer?

 

ps – I’m reading the biography of Stephen Hawking (A Life in Science) and it’s quite good.  Of course I do most of my voracious reading when I’m supposed to be doing something else (likewise knitting).  The biographical bit is good as is the primer on cosmology and quantum physics.  This is a very pleasant way to learn about something I can’t possibly understand.

Trick Chair January 22, 2009

I arrived at my desk in my home office, turned on the computer and sat down. The left back leg of my chair broke off just then, delivering me loudly to the floor, in somewhat slow motion. I didn’t fight it, and when I arrived at my destination, I lied there a moment and took stock. Everything okay.

Quiet hilarity ensued as it was 5:00am and the rest of the house was sleeping. The dogs didn’t even come to check on me.

I used to have this friend who, when she would start to fall, would go totally limp and surrender to gravity. One time the result was an empty barstool with just her feet sticking up over the bar. It made for exquisitely funny sight gags that forced me to concentrate on holding my bladder rather than rush to her aid.

I think I would have done her proud this morning.

Barack Obama January 20, 2009

Makes me want to be a better person.

Favs from the speech:

“What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.”

“…we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

The benediction, with the “brown can stick around…white can do what’s right” had me in stitches.

This is such a proud moment; it doesn’t affect me at all in this moment, not in a practical way, but it has made my day. Week. Four years. Whatever.

Village in Texas, we’re sending your you-know-what back.

BTW, I want to say I was embarrassed that Bush Sr. and Jr. received so little applause on their entrance from those on the platform. I don’t agree with anything Jr. did, but the incivility of it made me uncomfortable; let’s not stoop to his level, shall we?  As for Sr., how can you disrespect a man who asks to be rolled under the table until dinner is over because he doesn’t feel well? Srsly. Props to Sr.

Defection: PC January 10, 2009

I’m in the midst of migrating all of my files from one laptop to the new one; already I am smitten with the intuitive simplicity of the Mac platform.  I thought about the move for a long time, but then the MacBook Pros went on sale for less than half of full retail; meanwhile PCs have been giving me the business in just about every venue where I use them: the decision was made.

This morning I went to set up the internet connection and I plugged in the ethernet cord ready to tell the Mac about the network and all that good stuff, and it said, “I’ve got it – don’t need your help.  Behold!  The intarwebs.”

Everything is so much easier and I’m ready to trust a computer.  I never have before, but I’m feeling more confident in this machine than in any of the 5 computers I’ve owned in the past.  Old Faithful, a lovely Fujitsu Lifebook that weighs 13+ pounds and takes about 15 minutes to boot up: buh bye now.

That’s what they said January 4, 2009

Tomorrow this blog becomes that of a graduate student.  I love grad student blogs, but many of the ones I read are nearing terminal as people move on into post-docs, academia and beyond.  If you know of any good, in progress, grad student blogs, link me!

I want to say a few things about graduate school, based on the tiny base of knowledge I have about it right now.  When I was trying to decide what to do and where to go after undergrad, I did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions.  These are the tidbits that were news to me.

1.  Science majors don’t pay for graduate school (usually).  It probably makes sense to pay for a top tier graduate education, provided you are confident in your ability to earn commensurate with what you’ve spent.  The rule at my university is: we pay you unless we don’t really want you or unless we genuinely have no funding for what you want to do.  There are good reasons besides the obvious to hold out for a graduate assistantship or fellowship or stipend: most importantly (to me), it demonstrates a commitment to you as a student and a researcher.

2.  Choose your program by institution and content, but also by professor.  Make sure you want to work with this person/these people for the forseeable future.  Obviously your mentor will shape your experience, but your lab cohorts will too.  Know your threshold for unsupportive or contentious working conditions and choose accordingly (my threshold is low, and I’ll be working with a harmonious group).  Most labs will have some sort of reputation: know what yours is.

3.  Be prepared to be treated differently than you were as an undergrad.  The shift is subtle at first: your hand shan’t be held, you won’t be stroked very often, you’re expected to excel in all your coursework because your real work is research now.  I was prepared for this early and I’m grateful now that I knew to expect it.

4.  Your graduate research is your first serious job in your field: act accordingly.  The shift in the way you are treated is part of the process of transitioning from a student to a researcher.  Whatever being a professional means to you, start doing it now.

5.  Reading all those subtle shifts and changing dynamics in your cohorts, professors, advisors and industry pros is part of the job.  The expectations are so clear in undergrad, but in my opinion, navigating the unknown is a clear and deliberate part of the graduate school process.  That confidence in your own judgment and clarity about your role that were newly placed in your hand on graduation: no more.  New learning curve.

6.  That said, your own judgment is still to be trusted: it’s not usual for my fellows and I have to diametrically different perceptions of courses, people, and situations.  Intellectual autonomy: you need it.

If you’re thinking about grad school and you’re currently an undergrad, here’s what I can tell you:

1.  Ask for research opportunities.  They are often available but not advertised.  It’s not unheard of for a position to be created for you when you have the interest and ask the right person.  Those experiences open door after door.

2.  In undergrad, your grades are your credibility.  I never knew until I got good grades how many doors it opens and how eager people are to help you.  Obviously a high GPA is important for grad school admissions, but it also conjures money, jobs, and esteem.  Oh, and confidence.

3.  The GRE is negotiable, even when it is a stated requirement.  I didn’t take it, and I’m in good company.

4.  Your undergrad courseload is probably also negotiable.  Ask for subsitutions that cater to your interests and aspirations.

5.  A good relationship with your undergrad advisor is a tremendous asset.  Cultivate this relationship.

The Ride Home January 2, 2009

The whole time I was in California, the Pacific Northwest was having Weather.  Coming home, it had mostly blown over except for the remnant snow, sleet, ice, rutted roads and general hysteria on the I-5 corridor.  Unfortunately, there are about 75 miles of I-5 corridor between the airport and my home, but still, I boarded the shuttle innocent of what was to come.

Boarding time was 3:45 for my 2:15 reservation, and that should have tipped me off.  But no, I didn’t give it any thought.  The slight cold that had become magnified on the airplane was clouding my thoughts with a tiny fever.  I ate a french truffle and snuggled into my seat next to Talky Tina and we headed out into the fray.

Talky Tina was one of those who when you interrupted to agree/acknowledge that they had spoken or made a good point, would say, “Anyway….”   He also transitioned from one subject to the next by saying, “Next….”  Next?  What is this?  A lecture series?

Indeed it was.  Long story short, I eventually had to feign torporous sleep to get him to stop.  I kept thinking about that scene in Airplane where Robert Hays’ seat mates hang themselves or practice self immolation because he won’t stop talking.

So after 2 hours (and this is before I started the faking sleep routine) we were about 5 miles from the airport.  The roads looked like Michigan in January and it was about to get oh so much worse.  When we finally reached the 5 – that’s right, we haven’t even achieved a major interstate after 2 hours – we had that moment of actual movement forward and we all relaxed a little.  Then it happened.  Ten miles outside the airport, we ground to a complete stop.

Cars turned off their engines, people wandered around the highway, little kids went pee on the roadway with their parents draped over them as human modesty shields.  Off the side of the road were little frantic footprints leading behind trees where the coniferous modesty shields hid mounds of presumably very yellow snow.

We moved 10 miles in 5 hours.

10 miles.  5 hours.

My fever had arrived in full force now, and I don’t remember as a kid fevers actually hurting, but as an adult, they are an ass-kicker.  I had one really inappropriate conversation on the cell with my best friend and that kept Talky Tina from taking up again when it was clear I was awake.

At hour 3.5, someone in the back asked to stop at the rest stop that was 2 miles away and to her credit, she didn’t make another peep about it during 1.5 hours it took to get there.  I guess we kept thinking it was just about to start moving and that’s why we didn’t use the snow path on the shoulder.  We didn’t know it at the time, but we were waiting for snow plows that were nearly 50 miles away.

I hadn’t had anything to drink, so at least my bladder wasn’t screaming.  The dehydration of sitting in a very heated van is probably what pushed my feverish misery over the edge.  I was a mouthbreathing moron by the time we arrived at my destination 9 hours later.  That’s right – it took 9 hours to make a trip that normally takes 2.  Did I mention that my flight was filled infants who screamed their displeasure at the cabin pressure changes and toddlers who screamed just for fun?

Good times.

Growing up Green December 15, 2008

Jakob: You know I like to do when I save the world?

Me: What?

Jakob: Turn everything off.

Century Egg December 9, 2008

See that black and green region on this plate?  Century egg.  Why is it that color you ask?  Well, because it’s rotten.  Why is it on a plate instead of in the trash?  Because it’s a delicacy.  You will eat some, and you will like it.

And I did, and I did.  It’s got an earthy flavor and creamy texture, and you only taste the “offness” of it a few seconds after you’ve swallowed it.  I split it with 2 other people, and we pretty much ate it with great relish and exclamations of bravado.  The tofu chaser next to it makes everything okay again.  Follow with white fungus soup and a steamed pork bun.  Yum!

I expected to have stomach distress of various kinds in Taiwan but it never happened.  In fact, the relative richness of food back here in the states after being on a pretty clean diet for 2 weeks caused the most distress.  The richest thing I ate was fried duck – served whole, of course, so we could make meaningful eye contact while I dined on his innards with a nice guava nectar.

My lizard brings all the boys to the yard December 8, 2008

Nothing will make hoards of children descend upon you faster than picking up a lizard and talking to it.

Sunday Bullets: more innocuous than it sounds December 7, 2008

• My blog stats are better when I’m not writing every day.  The minute I start posting, my hits drop.  I would be insulted, but I don’t actually care.
• I have to go to a review for a final this afternoon.  Please note, it is Sunday.  Review has been scheduled because Instructor Flakey cancelled class the last week, and because course material has been “taught” in a manner somewhat reminiscent of a Cheech and Chong slow chase scene.  At least, I hope someone’s high or this is really sad.
• This week I found an old high school buddy on Facebook and a couple emails back and forth reveal she is unhappily married and feeling trapped.  That makes me sad.
• It’s fun to watch movies and know something about plants: you say this story takes place in Maryland?  With a grove of mature red bananas in the backyard?  Nice try.
• I’m trying to decide what book I’ll be applying myself to over the winter break, and I keep coming back to The Decameron.  It’s kind of funny how each of the stories has a little spoiler in the beginning.  Maybe you’re not in the mood for the one about the wife who cheats with the priest and you’d rather a nice shipwreck story.
• I’ll probably just try to finish Guns, Germs, and Steel which is a dense read I am taking forever to get through.  I read a few pages, and then I need to go away and think about it for awhile.  I may have one more renewal left with the library, so I should just tear through the rest and think about it later.
• I also need to reread On Writing Well, the William Zinsser missive because my writing is once again waxing wordy <- see what I did there?
• I did recently read Blasphemy, a sci-fi story about particle accelerators and christian zealots.  It was awesome, in a I-had-a-nightmare-and-now-I-feel-all-weird kind of a way.
• Other books on the “Read Me” shelf of my bookcase include the rest of the Mark Twain collection and Asimov’s Realm of Algebra, but I have to be in the right mood for the latter.
• My favorite book of all time:  How to Make Yourself Miserable, Greenberg & Jacobs.  It’s funny, but it’s also revealing.  It’s the bible of self sabotage.  And now you know.